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For a successful business, you need a viable business idea, the skills to make it work and the funding. Discover whether your idea has what it takes.

Forming your business correctly is essential to ensure you are protected and you comply with the rules. Learn how to set up your business.

Advice on protecting your wellbeing, self-confidence and mental health from the pressures of starting and running a business.

Learn why business planning is an essential exercise if your business is to start and grow successfully, attract funding or target new markets.

It is likely you will need funding to start your business unless you have your own money. Discover some of the main sources of start up funding.

Businesses and individuals must account for and pay various taxes. Understand your tax obligations and how to file, account and pay any taxes you owe.

Businesses are required to comply with a wide range of business laws. We introduce the main rules and regulations you must comply with.

Marketing matters. It drives sales and helps promote your brand and products. Discover how to market your business and reach your target customers.

Some businesses need a high street location whilst others can be run from home. Understand the key factors from cost to location, size to security.

Your employees can your biggest asset. They can also be your biggest challenge. We explain how to recruitment and manage staff successfully.

It is likely your business could not function without some form of IT. Learn how to specify, buy, maintain and secure your business IT.

Few businesses manage the leap from start up to high-growth business. Learn what it takes to scale up and take your business to the next level.

Renewed calls for ethnicity pay gap reporting

23 June 2020

Mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting for businesses will be debated in Parliament after a petition attracted more than 100,000 signatures.

The petition comes as prime minister Boris Johnson announced a new inquiry into racial inequality in the UK. However, questions are being asked about why recommendations from previous reviews have not been implemented. It is over three years since Tory peer Ruby McGregor-Smith conducted a review that recommended that companies should be compelled to publish data on how ethnically diverse they are by pay band.

The government department for business (BEIS) conducted a consultation into ethnicity pay reporting in 2018 but it has yet to publish the results. Office for National Statistics (ONS) data from 2019 suggests that white workers were paid 3.8% more than all other ethnic groups.

Baroness McGregor-Smith, who is president of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), told the Financial Times that "The big gap is ethnicity pay reporting … and that needs to change".

Frances O'Grady, TUC general secretary, said: "The government must place a legal requirement on employers to identify and tackle the barriers facing BME workers. We need much greater transparency and accountability. As Baroness McGregor-Smith rightly observed 'daylight is the best disinfectant'."

A new study by Instant Offices has found that diversity and inclusivity within British workplaces is "severely lacking". Its findings show that only 56% of British employees believe employers are trying to be more diverse and inclusive.

Lucinda Pullinger, global head of HR at The Instant Group, said: "It's important to remember that a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture are different. If you have diversity, you don't necessarily have inclusion … For things to improve, the focus on diversity in organisations needs to be on-going and measured."

Written by Rachel Miller.

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