About

Ben Lobel was the editor of SmallBusiness.co.uk from 2010 to 2018. He specialises in writing for start-up and scale-up companies in the areas of finance, marketing and HR.

Business Ideas & Planning

EU citizen

What are the requirements for a European citizen to start a small business in the UK?

Business management

Rising Star: Kay Russell

Kay Russell emerged from the Dragons’ Den with £100,000 and the backing of Deborah Meaden, having won the fiery entrepreneur over with her reusable cooling bandages Physicool.

Business management

Rising Star: Neil Holland

Neil Holland decided to take his bespoke Formula 1 simulator to the road and is on track to race the business into poll position.

Finding and selling to customers

The benefits of a joint venture

Even Simon Cowell and Sir Philip Green are seeing the benefits of a joint venture.

News

CBI: Recession changing working arrangements

Employers are changing how they organise their workforce in light of the recession, new research from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) suggests.

Success stories

Rising star: Jo Young on starting her Urban Sprawl sofa covers business

It's brave to start a business, but even braver to ditch it in favour of something else. Jo Young did just that and has turned her sofa throw company, Urban Sprawl, into a spreading success.

News

Sir Alan Sugar named as enterprise tsar

Sir Alan Sugar has been appointed as the UK's enterprise champion by prime minister Gordon Brown.

Success stories

Rising Star: Simeone Salik of Blinds in a Box

67-year-old Dragons' Den contestant Simeone Salik drew Duncan Bannatyne and James Caan to the potential of her product Blinds in a Box, after appearing on the show.

News

Smart meters ‘will help firms’

Small businesses will benefit from greater control of their energy usage from government plans to introduce smart meters.

Blog

Banking on a pension

Put yourself in Sir Fred Goodwin's shoes.

Business management

Relocate to Scotland

With its dwindling North Sea reserves and national GDP contracting faster than the UK average, Scotland looks set for a rough ride. Encouragingly, the entrepreneurs living and working there have a different take on the situation.

Legal advice

Return of company property

An employee has left the business and refuses to return a company laptop. How can we recover it?