A survey carried out by Manpower and published on Tuesday shows that UK businesses are more reluctant to take on new staff than at any time since 1994. The credit crunch and economic slowdown has hit the construction sector, high street retailers and finance and business services companies particularly hard. (more…)

A survey of 500 small businesses by telecoms company O2 shows that since the beginning of the year nearly 10% have chosen not to renew the lease on their office or business premises, deciding instead to work remotely from home. They estimate that over 400,000 small businesses have stopped paying for premises since the onset of the credit crunch in November 2007 and that almost two thirds of those still working from a dedicated business premises are seriously thinking about quitting them within the year.

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