Making friends at work is vital. It not only provides you with a support system for when things get tough, but also a group of cheerleaders for when things go your way. The importance of these confidants around us can easily be taken for granted. However, as full-time workers spend more of their waking hours at work than at home, it means that most of their time is spent with their colleagues instead of their family and friends.
These relationships, however, can also easily become damaged, and even the happiest of …

The winners of the 2019 Barclaycard everywoman in Retail Awards were announced at a ceremony in London attended by hundreds of business leaders from UK’s leading retail brands.
Seven inspirational winners were selected by a judging panel of industry heavyweights including senior women from Barclaycard, Specsavers, John Lewis and Hotel Chocolat.
Choosing from 23 impressive finalists, the judges recognised outstanding women and men whose roles and businesses reflect the changing face of today’s retail industry and the ways it has evolved to encompass a wider range of career opportunities than ever before.  …

From time to time, the challenges of balancing home and a busy work life can start to have an impact on your overall health and wellbeing. This presents a problem, not just for you and your team, but for the productivity of your business.
Making sure you’re able to find the right balance between competing demands of home and work, and supporting your team to do the same, can often be tricky to achieve. Below are some suggestions to help you and your team achieve a better work-life balance and help …

However good you are at your job; chances are at some point or another you’ll make a mistake. It’s just human nature – after all, nobody’s perfect. But when you do slip up, you may have to deal with criticism from your employer, clients, co-workers or even your friends and family.
Everyone will face criticism at some point. The important thing is how you react to it and whether you can use it to learn and improve yourself, both at work and in your personal life.
If you react negatively, it could …

Women face more obstacles when starting a business, meaning they need more support in order to succeed, reveals new research from ESCP Europe.
Females and males experience the support provided by the ecosystem for their start-up activities very differently. Women in contrast to men tend to majorly rely more on social support, which interestingly applies to start-ups in both highly supportive as well as non-supportive environments.
Professor of Management Christian Linder and his co-author Sonja Sperber from the ISM International School of Management in Frankfurt (Germany) explain
“We found that when starting up …

By Creative Allies Director & Award-Winning Business Woman Pavan-Riyat Ward.
Pavan Riyat-Ward, Director of creative-freelance network Creative Allies, is celebrating the rise of professional mums turning to freelance careers across the UK and has compiled her top tips to setting up solo.
Do all the sensible stuff first.
Have some savings in the bank. It will take you a few months to get paid. Ensure you set your payment terms with your clients – 30 days is standard but be prepared for this to be 60/90 days on occasion – that’s why having a …

Guest post by Craig Sams, Gusto
A changing market
When I started out in the organic products business there were hardly any organic products! Now it is possible to get every food imaginable in organic format, and in ever increasing quantities. When we first had organic brown rice the world beat a path to our door. Now it’s a commodity and you can get many different kinds; short grain, long grain, basmati, red, black – all organic. So, to succeed in the organic market now you have to innovate. Launching a …

PR can be a powerful way to raise your profile, tell your story and get your message out there. Natalie Trice, PR Director at Natalie Trice Consultancy and our publicity guru, shares how you can up your game this September so you make an impact and shine.
Shoes have been polished, lunches packed and your little darlings are back at school, which means you can start to focus on your business again.
PR is something that often gets pushed to the bottom of the to do list, but because it can really …

By Scott Haughton, COO at Envestors
When companies decide to use crowdfunding what would you expect their main motivation to be?  Raising funds sounds like the obvious answer.  However, in a recent survey of UK start-ups who have used equity crowdfunding in the past three years the answer to this question was surprising.  The report reveals that over half of all businesses undertaking a crowdfunding campaign within the past three years did not rank raising capital as their key motivator.
The findings reflect issues with perceptions among growth businesses as to what …

Creative Allies, the North’s first Freelance Creative Network, is putting heart and soul into the freelance revolution, as new statistics highlight the rise in professional Mums choosing to embrace self-employed status.
Research from IPSE – The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed – reveals that over the past 10 years, there’s be a 54% increase in Mothers leaving their full-time employment to go freelance with a sharp uptake over the past 12 months surging a boost in economy.
With 304,000 self-employed women boosting the economy across the UK, the wave of …