If you have a great idea and are planning to start-up a small business in the UK (or are already the owner of a successful SME), one of the very first decisions you need to make is about the location in which you plan to base your enterprise. Which city is best for you?

Depending on the industry, some entrepreneurs will automatically choose to start their business in a location close to home – after all, assembling products in your parlour may have been where you got your start, and now you may feel compelled to keep your business near to your beginnings. With that said, in order to truly grow, thrive and make it past your next important milestones, you might need to relocate a few miles – or a few hundred miles – away.

Moving further afield or staying close to home: read ahead to learn about the factors that may affect your decisions.

Factors that may influence your decision to move your small business

As a rapidly expanding small business owner, you probably have many complex issues and challenges on your mind; even if this is the case, you should ensure that you set aside some time to plan for your growth and potential relocation. Here are some of the myriad factors that may influence or even completely change your decision to move your business to a new city or county.

• Access to necessary resources – If your small to medium sized business relies on a natural resource or material that is more readily available in one part of the UK than another, you might find it a boon to your business to move close by. Some good examples would include someone who uses fresh seafood, woodland materials or quarried stone from specific regions.

• Proximity to a transportation hub – Are you located smack in the middle of the country when your business relies on shipping and international exports? While Birmingham and Nottingham are lovely places to live and work, they may be a hindrance when it comes to getting your goods and products on the necessary freighters and international transport for your success. Depending on your industry, pay keen attention to where your competitors are located; this may be an advantageous place for you to relocate your business.

• Location of your target demographic – If your product or service is aimed at young urban professionals, then London or Glasgow may be your best bet; however, if you are keen to attract a client with a surfer vibe, then St. Ives is more appropriate. Paying attention to the location where your desired clientele is located is smart business sense – you will be well located to the pulse of your brand.

• Support of family and friends – Does your mum or your brother give you countless hours of free or discounted labour out of the kindness of their hearts and a desire to see you succeed? If you answered yes, then you might want to consider staying put for the time being (unless you can afford part time help and the benefits of moving outweigh the impact of this free labour).

Where should you move? Some top UK cities for start-ups

If you are planning to make your move in the UK, here are some cities that you should be looking at. They can each boast an attractive mix of business savvy, transport connections, enticing business markets and other attractive factors that will make a move worth your while.

• Hull – While Hull may not offer the most thrilling local cultural scene, it is increasingly becoming a desirable location for start ups around the country owing to its affordability and ports. Offering excellent transport connections and ferries directly to Ireland, Holland and France, one would be remiss to discount Hull as a great place to do business.
• Milton Keynes – Tech start-ups can rejoice: Milton Keynes was designed just for you. This technology hub is known throughout the world as a brilliant place in which to do business – after all, it was designed as a so-called “New Town” for exactly this purpose. Home to many successful UK corporation headquarters such as Argos, Domino’s Pizza, Marshall Amps and Mercedes-Benz, this town was deliberately built near London, Birmingham, Leicester, Oxford and Cambridge, yet the cost of living and doing business is substantially lower than in any of these major centres.
• Liverpool – With the low cost of living in the Midlands, a bustling port that can rival London and a unique cultural history of its own, Liverpool is attracting businesses large and small to its thriving start-up scene. Home to dozens of business hot spots, work space hubs and businesses of all sizes, Liverpool hosted the Festival for Business in 2014 and is set to host again this year. Perhaps Liverpool is your perfect locale?
• Bristol – Recently voted the number one place in the UK to start or operate a business by the Start-up Cities Index 2015, the West Country city of Bristol is simply a brilliant place to live, work or visit. Known for fantastic transport infrastructure, one of the busiest ports in the UK, Bristol also boasts a huge new business regeneration project called the Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone. Well situated in relation to London, the South and Wales, Bristol is fast becoming an economic force to be reckoned with in Great Britain.

There’s no place like home

No matter where you decide to relocate for business reasons, you might ultimately choose to keep your headquarters close to your home – and the place where you founded your brand. International success stories such as Lush Cosmetics and Cambridge Satchel Company have grown to reach huge success around the world, but have chosen to maintain their headquarters in otherwise small towns (Poole and Cambridge, respectively).

Whether you choose to stay located in your hometown, make the move to the capital or settle on a business friendly locale in between, doing research and choosing the best city for your unique brand is always a good idea.

On the 6^th April 2016, new guidance came into effect for companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) for registering people with what is termed ‘significant control’. The PSC register requires companies and LLPs to hold a register of those people who have a say over how they operate. This includes any individual that holds 25% or more of the shares in a company, 25% of the votes, or any other right to exert influence on the business. This effect can be either through direct or indirect means.

The change in law means that organisations have to register those with such interests and failure to do so could result in criminal convictions and possible fines. The legislation guidance issued outlines what individuals and legal entities need to do to comply with the legislation and what it means.

For instance, details of the PSCs will need to be registered with Companies House on the new Annual Confirmation Statement and the information can be accessed by the public free of charge. The company will also be required to allow those with a legitimate interest to inspect the PSC register at their office, for a small fee.

Why Has the PSC Register Been Introduced?

It’s hoped that the introduction of a PSC register in conjunction with the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 will create greater transparency, helping to combat problem areas such as terrorism, money laundering and tax evasion by showing who actually owns or has control over a particular organisation. It follows on from an EU ruling in 2015 under the Fourth Money Laundering Directive that member states need to implement before 2017.

Who Needs to Register?

If you are an individual who meets any of the following requirements, then you will need to be entered on the PSC Register:

1. You have 25% of the shares of the company, held either directly or indirectly.
2. You have 25% of the voting rights of the company, either directly or indirectly.
3. You have the right to remove and appoint most of the directors in the company, either directly or indirectly.
4. You have the right to exercise influence or control over the company.
5. You have the right to exercise influence or control over the company via a trust or firm or other entity in a way which would satisfy the four terms above.

Not all companies will have individuals that meet the requirements for going on the PSC register, though you may wish to seek the appropriate clarification as to what your status is. One area where confusion might arise is that the PSC is perceived to be intended for individuals to register rather than legal entities such as a particular company or LLP. However, if a legal entity is itself required to maintain a PSC register then it must be entered into the PSC register of the company in which it exerts significant control.

Who Doesn’t It Apply To?

The PSC register doesn’t apply to those companies that are subject to DTR 5 requirements and those that have voting shares which are admitted to share trading on an EEA regulated market (other than the UK) or other specified markets. The reason for this is that these companies already have to make disclosures and the register would be seen as a duplication.

When Do You Need to Register By?

Companies are required to begin keeping a PSC register from April 2016 and that information needs to be filed with Companies House by the end of June 2016.

What Happens Next?

If you are an individual or legal entity that needs to go onto a PSC register, then you can contact the company directly and offer your details. If you have not done so, then the company will contact you to ask for the details. Failure to provide these without a valid reason could mean you are guilty of a criminal offence and lead to prosecution. If the company has failed to contact you and you know that you are a person with significant control you must supply your details to the company. Again, failure to do so can lead to a criminal conviction.

The company will need to register which of the five requirements a particular PSC meets. For instance, if they have more than 25% of the voting rights then the company will need to note the extent of the holding. Details that are recorded will depend on whether it is an individual or a registerable legal entity. The exact nature of what should be included and excluded in the register is routinely under review and may well include more in the future. Normal information that will be included are name and address, date of birth and nationality and whether there are any restrictions on disclosing your PSC information.

Timelines for Responding

A company must actively seek out PSCs and ask for their information. If someone has not volunteered their information, the company must send a notification within 1 month of finding out that they are a PSC. The person receiving the notification then has 1 month further in which to reply.

If you do not reply in a timely manner, then the company can issue a warning and put restrictions in place, including your ability to sell shares and stipulate that no rights in respect of your interest can be exercised.

Keeping Information Up-to-Date

The onus is on the PSC to inform the company that there has been a change in their status whether that is the possession of more shares or their no longer meeting the PSC requirements, necessitating removal from the register.

Where is the PSC Register Kept?

The company must keep its own register accessible and anyone with a proper purpose can access it for a small fee of £12.

The information must also be filed with Companies House and this will be available on the central public register. This will also be made available to law enforcement agencies. A private company can also choose to keep its own register at Companies House but must inform all PSCs that it is doing so.

Finding PSC Information

The Government has produced a good deal of guidance for companies to enable them to register PSCs and you can view this on their website. All companies with PSCs need to make sure that they have registered interests and logged their information with Companies House by 30^th June 2016.

Everywhere you look, it seems like new start-up success stories are appearing on both online media sources and in more traditional news outlets like magazines, newspapers and television. It seems that the general public just can’t get enough of start-ups – the ‘small time idea made good’ narrative is a popular one, and with crowdfunding successes at an all time high, many people have a personal stake in a local start-up business.

A lot of the start-up success stories publicised around the world are businesses solidly rooted in technology and design – software firms, coding entrepreneurs and online crowdsourcing platforms (such as Uber and People Per Hour) that are changing the way we do business on a daily basis. But what about the non-tech start-ups out there?

There are a plethora of thriving, exciting new non-tech related start-ups who are making a name for themselves in myriad different industries. From edible treats to wearable innovations, successful start-up businesses are not limited to the technological fields. Here are just a few of our favourite non-tech start-ups who are changing the game in their chosen sector.

• Rent the Runway – When it comes to high fashion in the capital, you need to be able to keep up with the richest of the rich if you want to be considered a sartorial force to be reckoned with. As posh designer frocks and Louboutin shoes can be priced in the thousands – and even tens of thousands – there is often a financial impediment to wearing the latest looks. That is where Rent the Runway steps in – this start-up has gone from zero to over 4 million members in just four years time. Boasting a closet worth over $800 million USD, Rent the Runway raised $116 million in venture capital last year alone. Expect big things from this novel rental business.
• Boomf – You might not associate success with marshmallows, but that is exactly what James Middleton (yes, of those Middletons) has done with Boomf. He has leveraged his cute and quirky idea for photo printed marshmallows into a million+ a year company. His marshmallow empire is rapidly expanding to North America and China, and he expects massive growth over the next five years. Puffy, sweet, silly – and very lucrative indeed.
• Air BnB – Undoubtedly the Queen Bee of the non-tech start-up world, Air BnB has skyrocketed past anyone’s wildest expectations to become a leader in accommodation around the world. Founded in San Francisco in 2008, this crowd sourcing platform allows individuals to rent out their spare rooms, entire houses and even a castle or two to eager guests. Despite a few legal hiccups here and there, Air BnB seems poised to take an even larger piece of the hotel industry’s pie as time goes on and more people feel comfortable with renting from perfect – although vetted – strangers. Experts predict that Air BnB is set to grow ever bigger, and customers are thrilled to travel, save money and experience local life in a foreign city.
• Innocent Smoothies – You can’t visit the cold drinks section of a market or corner shop in the UK without noticing the colourful little selection of Innocent Smoothies and juices. From a fledgling company selling fruit concoctions at music festivals to one of the biggest British names in beverages, the team at Innocent are an example of the success that can happen as the result of one ‘Angel Investor.’ They now sell millions of bottles a year and have become the number one chilled juice brand in Germany, Austria and Denmark. With plans for expansion, Innocent has recently launched a line of coconut water and children’s juices.
• Hello Fresh – Do you fancy freshly made, healthy and innovative meal ingredients delivered to your door on a weekly basis? If you said yes, you are not alone – Hello Fresh has 250,000 subscribers across the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Australia, Germany, and Belgium. Hello Fresh delivers weekly meal kits that have proven to be a huge hit across the globe, and investors agree – Bloomberg reports that they have recently raised €75 million (£54 million) in funding from Scottish investment firm Baille Gifford, lifting their valuation to €2.6 billion (£1.8 billion). Not too bad for a small start-up launched only in 2012!
• Handy – Perfect for people who don’t really know their way around a toolbox and have no idea how to deep clean a toilet seat, Handy provides on-demand cleaning, household chores and furniture assembly. Clients can order freelance cleaners, handy people and skilled service providers to take care of the little chores they just don’t get to on a regular basis, or complete daunting one off tasks. Founded by Oisin Hanrahan in 2012, Handy is now worth over $500 million USD, and has recently rebranded and rolled out a new app.
• Birchbox – Like a child looking forward to a box of candy, women (and some men) all over the UK, Ireland, Spain, France and the US look forward to their Birchbox subscription arriving each and every month. Packed with deluxe samples of hair care, make up, skin products and other handpicked goodies, this company is gaining accolades with its subscribers all around the world. Launched in September 2010, they now ship thousands of boxes each month and are looking to expand even further.

If you are a non-tech small to medium sized enterprise, you are not alone. More and more businesses across every industry imaginable are utilising the start-up model. While some people might automatically imagine technological products and software innovation when they think of start-ups, the above examples prove that the start-up world is anything but limited to tech. Non-tech start-up businesses are lucrative, successful and paving the way for the future of entrepreneurship in the UK and around the world.

If you are involved in a family business, you know better than anyone about the intense mixture of pride, responsibility and family honour that goes into a simple day at the office. Of course, independent entrepreneurs also face stresses and challenges, but there is something uniquely high pressure about running a company in which your entire family (and in some cases, your heritage and ancestral history) are invested.

Studies have shown that family run businesses tend to outperform others over the long run – this can truly be a brilliant way to operate an enterprise of any size.

While an average business person has to worry about keeping their own career on track and giving their employees the best opportunities possible, a family business owner must do all of this – and keep the family’s livelihood and good name afloat. It isn’t easy – but of course, it comes with great rewards.

Business people who are involved in family owned and operated enterprises will usually have the advantage of a built in support system and a team of people who are intrinsically connected to and concerned with the success of the business in a way that average employees are not.

As you can see, the issue is far from cut and dry. If you are considering entering into your own family business, read ahead to assess a list of pros and cons that may help you to decide just how involved you would like to get with your own kith and kin.

Should you Enter into a Family Business? – Pros and Cons

PROs

• Loyalty – As mentioned above, your family (providing that they are a supportive and generally well balanced lot) will often be loyal to you in a way that hired employees can never hope to match. You will usually not have to worry about them taking meetings with competitors behind your back, spilling trade secrets to their friends and handing in two weeks notice at the busiest time of year.
• They are invested in the business and will work hard – As their own name and profits are invested in your brand and business, everyone involved in a family business is likely to give their all every single day. It can be difficult to get motivated to help a faceless corporation succeed; your family members will not have this problem, as everything they do contributes directly to their own pocketbooks and bank accounts.
• They’ll be honest (brutally so) when needed – If you own a small to medium sized enterprise and are surrounded by hired employees, management and assistants, you may not be getting the most honest opinions when you ask for them. No matter how much your team respects you, they are still your subordinates and there is an innate power dynamic built into the relationship that might prevent them from telling you how they really feel about your ideas. Your brother/sister/cousin/niece/father is far less likely to smile and nod when you suggest an idea that they regard poorly. Their critique and honest feedback can be the difference between launching an unsuccessful initiative and putting some more research and time into the strategy.
• Family is more likely to be flexible – Do you need to occasionally bring your little one or even your pup to the workplace? Need a last minute day off in order to take your child to the doctor? Feeling poorly and want an extra day at home to nurse yourself back to health? Chances are, your family members are more likely to be flexible and understanding when it comes to personal matters and childcare emergencies.
• You will save money on recruitment and limit turnover – As your family grows over the generations, you have a built-in talent pool! That’s right, recruitment can become very simple when you are selecting most candidates from within your family tree. Your nieces, nephews and children are also less likely to leave you in the lurch, which means that your turnover will be a lot lower than your competitors. In addition, many of the children in your family will grow up enmeshed in your industry, meaning that they will understand your business in a deep way that others can never parallel, and they will need far less training.

CONs

While your family members have financial and pride investments in this business, they may also feel comfortable enough to let some of their more negative traits shine through. This can lead to complacency (“I can’t lose this job – it belongs to me and my family!”) and a sense that they don’t have to work hard every day. Worst case scenario is that other hired employees see this behaviour and begin to mimic the bad example.

• Family baggage can cause conflict – Let’s face it – we all have conflict in our families. Whether someone is still holding a grudge from 1989, or the baby of the family always feels judged – there are countless points for potential clashes. The key to avoiding this is getting it all out in the open and agreeing to leave personal grievances at the door – this is business, and getting into petty skirmishes (no matter how emotional and urgent they feel) will hinder your bottom line.
• You can get stuck in a rut – By keeping most senior positions within your family, you risk getting stuck in a creative rut, as most of the people you will be working with have a similar background and point of view. Ensure that you mix things up and hire consultants and management from outside your inner circle.

 

Whether you choose to strike out on your own, start a new family business with your brothers, sisters and cousins or commit and join a long established familial firm, the differences between family run businesses and independent entrepreneurship are many. It is up to you to weigh the pros and cons and choose the option that works best for you.

 

The Business Show, an annual free exhibition for business leaders and investors, is taking place at the ExCel Centre in London on the 11^th & 12^th of May. Sponsored by Hyve Managed Hosting and E. ON Energy, The Business Show has gone from strength to strength during its 12 years of running, causing some to call it the “the country’s leading business exhibition”.

A combination of Prysm’s previous events ‘The Great British Business Show’ and ‘Business Startup’, the event is held with the primary focus of encouraging businesses to both improve and expand. This year The Business Show boasts 350 exhibitors and a host of key guest speakers, who will be providing a wealth of advice for both start-up businesses and those looking to go global. The Show welcomes investors, so there’s something for everyone!

What Can You Expect From The Business Show?

The Business Show is proud to announce yet another exciting list of speakers, including Brad Burton, the UK’s No1 motivational speaker, and Raja Saggi, the Head of Marketing at Google. Hilary Devey CBE will also be present, an award winning businesswoman and entrepreneur who revolutionised the palletised distribution industry nationwide when she launched Pall-Ex in 1996, and has appeared on popular British TV shows such as Dragon’s Den and The Secret Millionaire due to her innovation. The above names are just a few amongst the large number of speakers that will be present over the two day period; a full list is present on The Business Show website.

A number of different ‘Zones’ will be present throughout the event, including the Marketing Zone, where tips and techniques will be given in order to help businesses expand. Visitors can then find themselves receiving information and help on the latest financial technologies in the Finance Zone, where they can also pitch to a panel of multi-millionaire investors. The Business Show prides itself on aiding start-ups and SMEs and the Startup Zone will be hosting a number of successful business leaders providing their secrets; there’s a reason it’s Europe’s leading event for starting a business! Information on these Zones and the others that will be present can be found on the website.

Over 170 masterclasses will be held at The Business Show, providing businesses and investors with everything they need in order to aid development. These classes range from ‘Business Oomph’ held by representatives from KPMG to protecting your business from theft held by talkers from The Intellectual Property Office.

The Business Show Awards 2016

For the first time in The Business Show’s 12 year history, it will be hosting an awards ceremony at the ExCel Centre on the 11^th & 12^th of May, coinciding with the main event itself. A judge of panels, including the Head of Marketing at KPMG, will present the SME Website, SME Marketing and SME Finance awards 2016. Aimed specifically at SMEs, these awards will be given to businesses or individuals that have provided the best product or service in these categories to aid the growth of SMEs in a challenging economy.

Why The Business Show Is Not Something To Be Missed

The Business Show hosts a wealth of information and advice for business start-ups or for those looking to expand their business globally, as well as aiding investors in what to look for when investing. Expecting 25,000 business owners, hosting 350 exhibitors, 170 masterclasses and 250 seminars, The Business Show is a fantastic way to network your business and learn vital tips and guidance. As well as this, it’s completely free so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

The event is sponsored by companies such as 4Networking, London Entrepreneurs Network (LEN) and Conex, and is managed by Barclaycard, so you can be sure that this will be a must-attend event. Bianca Miller, founder of The BE Group, a company that provides services to help businesses become more profitable, productive and competitive, said about the event “it is a great networking opportunity, it’s great to find out about new businesses, opportunities and propositions, and all in all just a great event.” Make sure you do not miss out on this fantastic opportunity taking place at ExCel London (E16 1XL), a 10 minute walk from Canary Wharf, in the heart of London’s Royal Docks, on the 11^th & 12^th May 2016. Be sure to order your free tickets here.

Unless you have spent the last decade in hibernation, surely you have heard about the ongoing – and growing – trend of companies going ‘green.’ Eco-friendly firms are taking the countless small and medium sized businesses around the world and making adjustments to their business models and overall ethos in order to ensure that they are as easy on the environment as possible.

So-called green technologies and environmentally friendly business practices are taking off in popularity, and while their positive effects on the planet are laudable, they can be quite costly to enact. Read ahead to learn more about making this transition, and find out if it pays to be ‘green.’

What does ‘Going Green’ mean?

With so many business people around the world espousing the virtues of going green, it pays to try to define the term. The definitions of ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘green’ can be vague, and can change dramatically depending on who is doing the talking! ‘Green’ is a term that is normally used to refer to strategies and materials that are perceived to be better for the environment than others.

When someone states they are ‘going green,’ they often mean that they are pursuing new knowledge and planning to enact ecologically minded strategies in order to help protect the environment and to sustain the planet’s natural resources for future generations.

This is certainly a noble goal, but the resulting benefits are not always so cut and dry, as there is a bit of a problem with the term ‘green.’ Experts around the world can hardly agree on what is the best course of action when one wants to be environmentally friendly, and so there is a lot of misinformation out there.

Green actions favoured by small businesses

Here are just a few simple actions you can take to go green around the office.

• Going paperless – Choosing to do away with paper copies of documents and instead, storing everything digitally can be a great way to save paper – and save money.
• Enacting energy saving strategies – Educating your staff and enforcing energy saving tips can be a great way to lower your electric bills.
• Donating money – Putting a percentage of your profits toward environmental causes can be a great way to contribute to the planet.
• Commit to using eco-friendly supplies – It is relatively simple and inexpensive to make the switch to eco-friendly cleansers, materials and supplies of all kinds. Buy in bulk to see big savings.
• Recycle, reduce and reuse – This old slogan still holds true; don’t settle for simple recycling – ensure that you are also reusing old items (buying second hand furniture is cheaper and better for the planet) and reducing your waste as much as possible.

Pros and cons of ‘going green’

While the tips above are simple and require little spending, larger initiatives take time, money and planning. Read ahead for a comprehensive list of the pros and cons of ‘going green.’

PRO – You can substantially cut your energy costs

Depending on the measures that you elect to enact, you might immediately start to see increased energy efficiency and a substantial reduction in material waste. By cutting your energy costs you can expect to see lower electric bills, and some small companies report savings of over £7000 per year simply by going paperless. This chunk of money will certainly help any small or medium sized enterprise increase their bottom line and end their year in the black.

CON – The initial costs can be very high

Transforming your business model to include green measures (including where you source your raw materials, how you travel around the globe and how you power your machinery) can be a time consuming and costly endeavour. Even though the pay off might be worth it in the long run, can your small business handle such a large investment at this time?

PRO – You can build trust and rapport with the community

Being able to brand yourself as ‘eco-friendly’ can be a huge boon to your standing in the local community, helping you to impress your existing clients and earn new ones in the process. People like to know that the companies they support are trying to make the world a better place, and this goodwill will often translate to customer loyalty and an increase in sales.

CON – You might have to ditch longtime suppliers

As you strive to make the transition into becoming a ‘green’ firm, you may need to say goodbye to treasured relationships with longtime suppliers. If you have a supplier or use a product that is known for its poor environmental policies, it will be hard to tout yourself as ‘eco-friendly’ – and it can take years to form strong relationships with new vendors.

PRO – You can take advantage of lucrative tax breaks

By reorganising your business to be more environmentally minded, you are not only helping to save the planet, you are helping to put pennies into your coffers come tax time. The UK offers many diverse environmental tax credits and schemes for small businesses – click on the link to see if you qualify.

PRO – You will probably see an increase in profits

Reports suggest that going green can earn savvy businesses an increase in profits of up to 10% annually. This increase is based on new clientele, lowered electricity costs and the other financial benefits of reducing waste.

It ain’t easy being green

As you can see above, the decision about whether or not to go green is not cut and dry – different companies in different industries will find that they have to assess myriad factors before making this decision. If you elect to undergo this transition, you can expect upfront costs that hopefully lead to a healthier company, positive long term forecasts and, of course, a strong financial result.