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Federation of Small Businesses

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No Minister - why tycoons like Lord Sugar just can't cut it in politics

05.11.09

This week in New York, Michael Bloomberg won a third term as mayor. Here, the man who most Londoners would want to challenge Boris Johnson has put his foot in it... more

Sir Alan Sugar facing backlash over rant at small firm 'moaners'

04.11.09

Gordon Brown's business tsar Lord Sugar faces calls to be fired after reportedly branding some small firms as 'moaners' who live in 'Disney World'... more

Biggest bail-out ever for banks

03.11.09

Latest: Biggest bail-out yet of British banks agreed despite evidence that small firms are still being denied the credit they desperately need to survive the recession ... more

Shops braced for tough Christmas as cautious consumers turn to Net

27.10.09

High street is set for one of its toughest Christmases as consumers rein in spending and desert shops for online bargains, research for the Evening Standard reveals... more

Home borrowers to face questions on Christmas spending

19.10.09

Home buyers will provide details of their income and spending before being granted a mortgage ... more

Transport shake-up a 'massive kick in the teeth for Londoners'

15.10.09

Boris Johnson's plans for price increases and a Ł10 congestion charge are a "kick in the teeth for Londoners", it was claimed... more

How can we persuade them to lend us more?

18.09.09

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'6,000 small firms could fail in capital as banks squeeze loans'

27.08.09

Up to 6,000 small firms in London could go bust by the end of the year as banks are failing to fund them, it was claimed... more

Mandelson puts pressure on banks over business loans

27.07.09

Downing Street stepped up pressure on banks to give struggling industry a lifeline of cheaper loans... more

'Tentative recovery' by small firms hit by credit crunch

30.06.09

Small firms hardest hit by the credit crunch a year ago are starting to report a "tentative recovery", new research showed... more

'Future bleak' for traders at historic market

14.04.09

Shops in one of London's oldest arcades warned they could close if landlords do not help during the recession... more

Businesses scorn Brown loan scheme

12.03.09

Businesses were today queuing up to condemn the Government's new scheme to persuade banks to lend... more

Tories and firms attack Brown's Ł500m jobless aid

12.01.09

Gordon Brown's plans to counter the recession came under fire from business and the Tories today as thousands of redundancies coincided with Labour's "jobs summit"... more

Firms could be outed over low pay for women

06.01.09

Companies face being shamed into closing the pay gap between men and women... more

Ministers are urged to shame employers into closing gender pay gap

06.01.09

Companies face being shamed into closing the pay gap between men and women... more

10,000 demand scrapping of Dartford crossing tolls

02.01.09

The Government is coming under growing pressure to reverse the 50 per cent increase in the Dartford river crossing charge... more

London workers to get Friday off as bosses save money

31.12.08

London's great shutdown is set to continue on Friday, despite it being the first official working day of the New Year... more

Thousands of small businesses face bankruptcy

31.12.08

More than 4,500 small businesses in London will go bust next year as Britain plunges into recession, campaigners warned... more

Small shops struggle as sales bring chain stores huge profits

29.12.08

Independent retailers told how they fear for the year ahead as they struggle to match the big discounts of major high street chains... more

Brown 'broke pledge' on pay for small firms

18.12.08

Gordon Brown was accused of breaking a pledge to protect struggling small firms from slow-paying government departments... more

Cameron calls for loans boost to help small firms

28.11.08

David Cameron called for a major expansion of the scheme to get banks lending to small businesses again... more

Mr Darling, forcing the banks to treat us better is a good idea but we need tax cuts

20.11.08

Analysis: Small businesses are demanding that the Chancellor takes urgent action to ease their plight... more

Small firms ‘need Ł1bn lifeline’

19.11.08

Business chiefs have begged Chancellor Alistair Darling for a Ł1billion lifeline to stop hundreds of thousands of small firms going bust... more

Brown: I'll get banks lending

19.11.08

New action to make it easier for small firms and homeowners to borrow from banks will be in the mini-budget next week, Gordon Brown indicated... more

Pressure builds for Bank Rate to be cut by a point

27.10.08

Credit crisis: Bank of England urged to slash interest rates by a full percentage point as central bankers around the world face mounting pressure to tackle the global recession... more

Tax relief waiting to be claimed, traders told

21.10.08

Small traders in London are being urged to claim an "invisible" tax relief that can save them Ł1,100 a year... more

The Government has begun a massive rescue operation to prop up the crumbling pillars of the City but big institutions are not the only victims of the credit crunch. Ellen Widdup heads to Islington to see how ordinary businesses are coping... more