With new statistics from the London Business survey revealing that recruitment figures are down 43% across SMEs in South London, a capital financing firm is keen to assess whether there is a staffing crisis sweeping UK businesses.

Buying a shop has both benefits and drawbacks for new business owners. It’s a fair bet that if the previous shop owner has reaped success with the location you may also fare well and often there will be trained staff and suppliers already established.

Hiring high-quality staff is a problem for all businesses and it seems that at the moment SMEs are faring pretty badly when it comes to recruitment and retention.

SMEs are the bread and butter of the UK economy, providing millions of people with jobs and services across a plethora of different sectors.

Each of us has endured the long struggle of a seemingly pointless business meeting, only to leave it feeling very little was addressed. It’s remarkable how many terrible meetings we go through in our working lives.