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<title><![CDATA[ BusinessZone.co.uk ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ BusinessZone offers a wealth of news and features covering all aspects of small to medium business: starting up, finances, technology, managing people and more... ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk</link>
<language>en</language>
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	<url>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/images/logos/businesszone.gif</url>
	<title>BusinessZone</title>
	<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Keeping the hacks happy ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ Ask any journalist like me about their relationships with public relations representatives and they are likely to say it's very much a love-hate one. I'm happy to admit that my job would be a lot harder without them as trying to get in touch with company spokespeople and arranging interviews would certainly be tricky. However, on too many occasions PRs are often more trouble than they're worth and, perhaps more importantly, don't paint a good picture of the clients like represent. An experience I had last week was a case in point.      ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/187529/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Benefiting from the credit crunch ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ A year on from the start of the so-called credit crunch, businesses are bracing themselves for the worse downturn since the 1990s. With that in mind, I was amused by an advert I spotted recently. Promoting a Chinese restaurant in Bristol, it trumpeted a &#163;3.80 deal as part of its 'credit crunch menu'. Clever marketing! When times are tough, people like to treat themselves to an occasional night out and what better than a cheap meal. The restaurant's tactic got me thinking: despite all the bad news, how many other businesses are actually benefiting from the credit crunch? After doing a bit of research, I discovered quite a few are.         ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/187254/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ The secret behind the Wispa revival ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ If like me you're a child of the 80s, you were no doubt delighted to hear the news that Wispa is making a comeback. Pleasing sweet toothed people everywhere, Cadbury announced on Monday that the classic chocolate bar will return to the shelves on 6 October. The key driver for the resurrection of the iconic brand, which temporarily returned last October, were online social networks Facebook, Bebo and MySpace.   ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/186945/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Booting out the late payers ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ Late payment is the scourge of many an entrepreneur. An invoice settled promptly can be the difference between life and death for a small business. With limited cashflow, many simply can't afford to leave bills outstanding. The money has to come in on time so the company can continue to operate. Research has shown that ironically the worst offenders are the ones with huge pots of cash, the nation's big corporates who bully the small guys by changing payments terms and keeping their SME suppliers waiting. With this in mind, it was great to see a David getting one over on a Goliath this week.         ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/186475/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Up the revolution! ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ Small business owners are so completely and utterly peeved off with the UK's tax system, many may soon refuse to hand over what they should to the taxman! An outrageous statement you may think but it's a claim made today by the Professional Contractors Group.     ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/186109/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Suited and booted? ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ The entrepreneurs who recently took part in BusinessZone.co.uk's The Pitch were all every different but not just in terms of the businesses they were pitching. They also varied hugely in terms of what they were wearing.          ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/185949/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Fail once and get promoted; fail twice and become the boss! ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ I've adapted the title of this blog from a quote contained in a fascinating report released this week by the CBI and QinetiQ. Revealing how the world's most profitable service sector firms drive innovation, the study's key point for me is how the companies embrace failure.    ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/185587/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Glastonbury: It's not just about the music ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ I'm writing this blog just 24 miles or so from the site of the world famous Glastonbury festival. If my current view out of the window is anything to go by, the thousands of revellers gathered at Worthy Farm waiting for the fun to begin are likely to be pretty wet. But I'm sure it won't dampen their spirits or it appears the passion of a bunch of entrepreneurs who every year benefit hugely from the festival.       ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/185464/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Business Link: Things can only get better ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ By now you probably know about my issues with Business Link, the government's flagship business advisory service - lack of consistency, too much box ticking etc, etc. In my seven years writing about entrepreneurs, these sorts of complaints have arisen time and time again. But I had hoped things were getting better, especially as a result of the government's so-called Enterprise Strategy announced earlier this year, but a conversation at an event in Bristol this week suggested the depressing status quo remains.     ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/185165/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ The whole truth and nothing but the truth ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ I'm sure I wasn't the only viewer who gasped at the moment Lee McQueen, the world's best reverse pterodactyl impersonator, was named Sir Alan Sugar's latest apprentice this week. My surprise was not just because he beat bookies' favourites Alex and Claire to the &#163;100,000 a year job but also down to his securing of the position despite being exposed for lieing on his CV. Admittedly saying he studied for two years at Thames Valley University instead of the four months he actually spent at the institution isn't the fib of the century but it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.             ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/184772/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ The future of social enterprise ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ Regular readers of my blog will know I'm a big fan of social enterprises. I  believe they are the future of business and are much better at solving society's ills than traditional, public sector driven methods. With that point in mind, recent news that ECT Recycling, one of the UK's most successful social enterprises and a supplier of waste disposal service to the public sector, has been bought out by May Gurney, a maintenance and support services company listed on AIM, interested me greatly.   ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/184664/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ The lightbulb moment ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ Please indulge me for a moment because it's my birthday today! I was born on the 3 June 1976 in west London but it wasn't until 2001 I discovered the wonderful world of entrepreneurship when I became editorial assistant of the now defunct BusinessEurope.com. However, despite writing about entrepreneurs for seven years, I'm still waiting for my lightbulb moment - the big idea that could make me millions. I'm sure it's just around the corner though!<BR>        ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/184322/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Flexible working: Why the government should butt out ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ The government's decision to extend the right to flexible working to millions more parents is fundamentally wrong and once again it's entrepreneurs running small businesses who will suffer.           ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/183888/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Don't be afraid to tweet ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ Digg, Facebook, del.icio.us, Zimbio....the lists goes on. Every day it seems that some new quirky way of sharing content, networking and engaging with an audience enters the brave new world of social media. But it's hard to know whether these sort of services can benefit your business and many entrepreneurs just simply haven't got the time to spend digging articles or poke people. I admit I've been guilty of that many times.<BR>     ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/183472/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Sir Tom Hunter: A billion reasons to listen ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ It's not often that one is in the presence of a billionaire but I was this week when entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter, ranked 68th in 2008's Sunday Times Rich List, delivered the keynote address at Good Deals, the UK's first national conference on social investment.                ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/183172/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ The future's bright, the future's entrepreneurs ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ Very often we hear complaints that the "youth of today" lack ambition and are more interested in drinking cheap beer and voting in reality television shows than achieving anything worthwhile. Well, that was certainly not the case for the individuals I had the pleasure of mixing with in London recently.        ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/182930/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Dragon gets his comeuppance ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ Entrepreneur Peter Jones, known for terrifying hundreds of budding entrepreneurs in BBC TV series Dragons Dens', has finally got a taste of his own medicine after being attacked by Gremlins. The freaky monsters, who scared a generation of children in the 1980s, have left the sleepy town of Kingston Falls, Pennsylvania to cause mayhem for one the Britain's best known businessmen.             ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/182955/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Dragon kicks Gordon out of the kitchen ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ I wonder how many four letters words celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay uttered when he was told he has been replaced as the face of BT Business by Dragons' Den millionaire Peter Jones?     ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/182589/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Are you a culture carrier?  ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ Back To The Floor is my favourite of the business television reality shows. The BBC2 series from the late 1990s and early 2000s featured the CEOs of large companies mixing with the workers on the 'coalface' to hear their opinions and frustrations.  ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/182371/1095/1097/1096</link>
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<title><![CDATA[ Sexual harassment rules: The plot thickens  ]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[ I spoke to an employment law journalist this morning about our campaign to force the government to delay Sunday's implementation of new sexual harassment rules. She told me she has been speaking to employment lawyers for many months about the forthcoming discrimination rules coming into force on 6 April but not one has mentioned the particular laws we're referring to.  ]]></description>
<link>http://www.businesszone.co.uk/item/181807/1095/1097/1096</link>
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