Hotshot academy: how to boost productivity 10 per cent

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In the slipstream of the global financial crisis, small business skill shortages are returning. So Small Business Victoria executive director Roger Arwas announced in September.
One coping strategy is to harness the wisdom of Skills for Growth: the Victorian Government workforce development program that targets small and medium-sized businesses and recently notched up its 15,000th trainee.

http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/coaching/hotshot-academy-how-to-boost-productivity-10-per-cent-20100930-15xxx.html

Nationwide clamps down on business accounts

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Nationwide, the country's largest building society, has restricted banking services to 30,000 small businesses just as business leaders and the Government call for more competition in the market. The decision will come as a particular set back to the Government, which believes the mutual sector could take on the dominant high street banks in the provision of services to small businesses.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/8027427/Nationwide-clamps-down-on-business-accounts.html

Bristol business software start up attracts Silicon Valley veteran

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A high profile Silicon Valley entrepreneur has shunned a return to the US in favour of becoming CEO of a Bristol-based business software company. Salman Malik, a Siebel Systems veteran, has joined the board of BrightPearl, a fast-growing hosted business software venture, that was spun out of a skateboard company three years ago.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/8041529/Bristol-business-software-start-up-attracts-Silicon-Valley-veteran.html

The last great hope. Emerging markets may be the next bubble

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THE internet allowed people to pay lower prices for books but also encouraged them to pay stratospheric prices for shares in lossmaking dotcom companies. During the subprime boom Americans believed the illusion that they could get rich by buying each other’s houses.

http://www.economist.com/node/17155967?story_id=17155967

Five ways to get a cheaper loan

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Despite rock-bottom interest rates, borrowing money can still be an expensive business. Research from the Bank of England, published yesterday, shows that banks now charge a markup on personal loans and mortgages that is "substantially higher than before the financial crisis".
However, it's not all bad news, particularly if you haven't had problems obtaining credit in the past. "There are some incredibly attractive offers for those eligible," says David Black, from Defaqto. "The keenest rates are the preserve of those with the best credit ratings.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/8014963/Five-ways-to-get-a-cheaper-loan.html

Android tablets: what you need to know

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It has been a few months since we published our feature detailing the rising force that is the Android tablet. However, a lot has happened in those few months, and we are on the brink of a wave of Android tablets all trying to steal the limelight from the Apple iPad.

http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/portable-computing/android-tablets-what-you-need-to-know-698602