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68-540: Business Link was a government-funded business advice and guidance service established in England in 1992. It consisted of an online portal managed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and a national telephone helpline. The service's network of local and regional advisors (under the auspices of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills ) was axed in 2011. The online portal was replaced (along with Directgov ) by

136-517: A regional basis across England and was funded by the relevant regional development agencies (RDAs). The service used an IDBT (information, diagnostic, brokerage and transaction) model to advise businesses. Regional Business Links ran a variety of events and workshops on topical issues and general business skills. The service was evaluated on a number of occasions. These assessments generally found positive impacts of Business Link on companies that received advice. However, some commentators worried about

204-777: A National Assessment Panel. Achieving and maintaining the ISO 9001 Quality Management Standard and Investors in People accreditation was a mandatory requirement, and each successful Business Link operator was granted a three-year license. By the end of 1993 (during which time the government spent some £3m on the programme), only three branches of the service had been formed. The first opened in Leicester on 27 September 1993, with others following in Birmingham and Congleton . Halfway through 1994 only 21 Business Link operators were in place. At

272-431: A business by £30,000 and created a new job. An alternative study by Bennett and Robson estimated that take-up of external advice trebled in small businesses with the incentive of grant provision. The Enterprise Initiative compounded support for intervention in the small business market place. In 2011, Heseltine said "I knew that there were very large numbers of small and medium sized enterprises out there who were running on

340-682: A collection rate of 95.3% (up from 92.7% in 2005-6). At the end of March 2009, HMRC was managing 20 million 'open' cases (where the department's systems identify discrepancies in taxpayer records or are unable to match a return to a record) which could affect around 4.5 million individuals who may have overpaid in total some £1.6 billion of tax and a further 1.5 million individuals who may have underpaid in total some £400 million of tax. HMRC guidance notes that flexible arrangements can be made, where necessary, to assist individuals and businesses who have unpaid tax debts. Such "Time to Pay arrangements", for example an agreed monthly payment schedule, are based on

408-702: A landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). This decision reversed a previous European Commission ruling from 2019 that classified a UK tax exemption as illegal state aid, requiring HMRC to collect additional taxes. The tax exemption, applicable from 2013 to 2018, was designed to support British-based multinationals by exempting certain overseas financing activities from controlled foreign company (CFC) rules. These rules generally prevent companies from reducing tax liabilities by shifting profits to foreign subsidiaries. The exemption, initially introduced by former UK Chancellor George Osborne, aimed to make

476-407: A major review of the powers required by HMRC was announced at the time of the 2004 pre-budget report on 9 December 2004, covering the suitability of existing powers, new powers that might be required, and consolidating the existing compliance regimes for surcharges, interest, penalties and appeal, which may lead to a single, consolidated enforcement regime for all UK taxes, and a consultation document

544-690: A model for businesses looking to strengthen their own fraud prevention teams. He emphasized the growing sophistication of fraudulent activities, including the use of artificial intelligence in scams. Laffont highlighted that fraud accounts for over 40% of recorded crimes in England but receives only 2% of police resources, which disproportionately affects vulnerable populations. He further pointed out that tier 2 financial institutions are becoming prime targets for sophisticated criminal enterprises, posing risks to their customers. To combat these challenges effectively, Laffont advocates for rapid skill acquisition and holistic team development within organizations. He stresses

612-714: A number of other types of offences against the Treasury. The criminal investigation department is at the head of its Customer Compliance Group, known as Fraud Investigation Service (FIS). HMRC has a strong cadre of criminal investigators responsible for investigating Serious Organised Fiscal Crime. This includes all of the previous Customs criminal work (other than drug trafficking, but used to include this up until 2008) such as tobacco, alcohol, and oils smuggling. They have aligned their previous Customs and Excise powers to tackle previous Inland Revenue criminal offences. Fraud Investigation Service are responsible for seizing (or preventing

680-432: A performance model made up of four levels: Developed, Established, Advanced, High-Performing. In order to achieve the minimum level of accreditation against this framework, an organisation must meet all nine indicators at 'Developed' level . Thousands of organisations from the public and private sector have achieved accreditation. In 1999 it was estimated that one in three UK organisations was accredited, with one quarter of

748-636: A rebranded version of the Business Link website. The Northern Ireland website retained for a time the vast majority of the Business Link website information. Most OECD countries provide similar services although they may organise them differently. Examples are the SBDC in the US and ALMI in Sweden. HM Revenue and Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs , or HMRC )

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816-462: A report from Citizens Advice highlighted frustration amongst callers to HMRC over long holding times. The report claimed that "thousands" of callers were waiting on average 47 minutes to have their call answered, often at considerable expense to the caller. HMRC alleged that the "unscientific and out-of-date survey of tweets" did "not represent the real picture" but said that 3000 extra staff had been taken on to respond to calls. A June 2015 report from

884-430: A report. The report said: "We are deeply disappointed by HMRC's handling of whistleblowers. We consider that HMRC's use of powers reserved for tackling serious criminals against Mr Osita Mba was indefensible. HMRC told us that it had changed how it deals with whistleblowers and that it now provides information to its audit and risk committee who can use this to challenge how HMRC handles whistleblowers." In September 2015,

952-571: A value of £2.6 billion. In February 2010, HMRC encountered problems following the implementation of their taxes modernisation program called Modernising Pay-as-you-Earn Processes for Customers (MPPC). The IT system was launched in June 2009 and its first real test came in a period known as annual coding. Annual coding issues certain codes to tax payers on a yearly basis. The annual coding process sent out incorrect tax coding notices to some taxpayers and their employers meaning that they would pay too much tax

1020-551: Is a non-ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for the collection of taxes , the payment of some forms of state support , the administration of other regulatory regimes including the national minimum wage and the issuance of national insurance numbers. HMRC was formed by the merger of the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise , which took effect on 18 April 2005. The department's logo

1088-564: Is the Tudor Crown enclosed within a circle. The department is responsible for the administration and collection of direct taxes including Income Tax , Corporation Tax , Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and Inheritance Tax (IHT), indirect taxes including Value Added Tax (VAT), excise duties and Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), and environmental taxes such as Air Passenger Duty and the Climate Change Levy . Other aspects of

1156-769: Is the financial secretary to the Treasury , Nigel Huddleston MP The chairman of HMRC was an executive role until 2008. Mike Clasper served as a non-executive chairman. From August 2012, the post was abolished with a 'lead non-executive director' chairing board meetings instead. The chief executive is also the first permanent secretary for HMRC and the accounting officer. Executive chair and permanent secretary Non-executive board members as of November 2019: Source: See civil service grading schemes for details. HMRC's Criminal Investigators and Mobile Enforcement Officers deployed within Fraud Investigation Service are uniformed officers. HMRC Officers have

1224-517: The Gov.uk website on 17 October 2012, although migration of all services to Gov.uk branding took several years and the telephone helpline was retained for some time. This government programme is not to be confused with Business Link Magazine Group, a magazine publisher founded in 1988. The concept for Business Link was established in 1992 by Michael Heseltine , then President of the Board of Trade, when he

1292-464: The Institute of Directors published a research paper stating that their members were worried about the declared focus on growth businesses employing between 10 and 249, because this might hurt smaller businesses and disadvantage start ups. However, contrary to popular belief at the time, businesses of all sizes were able to access Business Link services from the start. In November 1996, Richard Page ,

1360-603: The National Audit Office indicated that the total number of calls answered by HMRC fell from 79% in 2013–14, to 72.5% in 2014–15; however, a subsequent report in May 2016 suggested that performance improved following the recruitment drive. In November 2024, HM Revenue and Customs began refunding several major British companies, including firms listed on the London Stock Exchange and ITV , following

1428-568: The PAYE system, which meant it would receive information on tax and employee earnings from employers each month, rather than at the end of a tax year. A trial of the new system began in April 2012, and all employers switched by October 2013. In 2012, Revenue Scotland was formed and on 1 April 2015 it took HMRC responsibility to collect devolved taxes in Scotland . In 2015 Welsh Revenue Authority

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1496-559: The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 ) is to arrest anyone who has committed, or whom the officer has reasonable grounds to suspect has committed, any offence under the Customs and Excise Acts as well as related fraud offences. On 30 June 2006, under the authority of the new Labour home secretary , John Reid , extensive new powers were given to HMRC. Under chairman Sir David Varney, a new Criminal Taxes Unit of senior tax investigators

1564-535: The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) "to examine the belongings, emails, internet search records and phone calls of their own solicitor, Osita Mba, and the phone records of his then wife" to find if he had spoken to the investigations editor of The Guardian , David Leigh . MPs in the House of Commons public accounts committee praised Osita Mba and called for scrutiny into HMRC's use of RIPA powers in

1632-491: The Treasury , so that the Treasury became responsible for "strategy and tax policy development" and HMRC took responsibility for "policy maintenance". In addition, certain investigatory functions moved to the new Serious Organised Crime Agency , as well as prosecutions moving to the new Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office. A further programme of job cuts and office closures was announced on 16 November 2006. Whilst some of

1700-797: The Customer Compliance Group (CCG) and the Fraud Investigation Service (FIS). The CCG, responsible for enforcing tax compliance and addressing issues such as tax evasion, saw its workforce grow from 25,656 full-time equivalent staff (FTE) in November 2021 to a peak of 28,617 in October 2022, before stabilizing at 26,841 in October 2023. The FIS, which conducts both civil and criminal investigations into serious fraud cases, also experienced growth, increasing from 4,244 FTE in November 2021 to 4,956 by October 2022, although it slightly decreased to 4,735 by October 2023. The financial commitment to

1768-713: The DTI directive requiring the individual new Business Link partnerships to generate at least 25% of their income from outside central government within five years of launch, with the express advice that the most likely source would be the end consumers. As a result, the Business Links wanted their PBAs to work with growth-oriented businesses but this proved difficult to enforce and implement. PBAs were recruited from those who ran businesses. At first some were self-employed earning commission but this did not prove to be self-sustaining. Business Link's face-to-face service operated on

1836-549: The FIS is reflected in rising pay costs, which increased from £267.1 million in the 2021-2022 fiscal year to £288.8 million in 2022-2023, with an estimated expenditure of £286.2 million projected for 2023-2024. This investment underscores HMRC's ongoing dedication to protecting public revenue and ensuring tax compliance across the UK. Yves Laffont, Sector Lead for Financial Crime Consulting Services at FDM Group, noted that HMRC's efforts serve as

1904-769: The Inland Revenue and HM Customs & Excise was announced by then chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown in the budget on 17 March 2004. The name for the new department and its first executive chairman, David Varney , were announced on 9 May 2004. Varney joined the nascent department in September 2004, and staff started moving from Somerset House and New Kings Beam House into HMRC's new headquarters building at 100 Parliament Street in Whitehall on 21 November 2004. The planned new department

1972-402: The Inland Revenue's tax and National Insurance system from 1994 to 2004. In 2003, the launch of a new tax credit system led to over-payments of £2 billion to over two million people. EDS later paid £71.25 million in compensation for the disaster. In 2004, the contract was awarded to Capgemini . This contract, also with Fujitsu and BT , was one of the biggest ever IT outsourcing contracts, at

2040-485: The Investors in People framework. From April 2010 the work of the organisation was transferred to UKCES ( UK Commission for Employment and Skills ) which was responsible for the strategic ownership of Investors in People until January 2017, when the organisation transitioned into a Community Interest Company on 1 February 2017. In September 2015, Investors in People launched the sixth generation standard , evolved from

2108-482: The Minister for Small Business, Industry and Energy, stated in the House of Commons that he was "disturbed to hear that the impression has been given that we are not there to help all businesses irrespective of size. My clear message is that Business Link is there to help any business man or woman, irrespective of size of company, because from little acorns grow the big oak trees". This contradiction may be explained by

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2176-595: The Rt Hon Michael Howard QC MP. Investors in People UK was formed in 1991 to protect the integrity of the Investors in People framework. It was a non-departmental public body and received funding from the former UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The organisation was based in London, United Kingdom and managed the development, policy, promotion and quality assurance of

2244-399: The UK a more attractive headquarters for large international corporations. The European Commission initially contended that this exemption provided undue benefits to British companies, constituting illegal state aid, and required the UK to collect back taxes. However, the final appeal in 2024 sided with the UK, allowing HMRC to refund the affected companies and marking a significant moment in

2312-490: The UK workforce working for an Investors in People accredited company in 2002. In 2011, 2,873 UK schools held the Standard. As of 2013, there are four levels of accreditation: Accredited, Silver, Gold and Platinum. The original research was carried out in 2000 by Duncan Collins (architect of the Standard in 1991) and David Gittings. This was published by The Department of Education and Employment as ISBN: 1 84185 347 X and

2380-696: The annual Job Exodus Trends Report. The research looks at workers feelings towards changing job in the next 12 months and those actively looking for a new position. In 2009 Investors in People funded research together with the Health and Safety Executive and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development concluding that companies that treated their staff well had a better chance of surviving economic downturn. In 2002 Investors in People researched graduate employment trends, concluding that two thirds of graduates believe training and development

2448-405: The combined headcount of Customs (then around 23,000) and Inland Revenue (then around 68,000). In addition, 2,500 staff would be redeployed to "front-line" activities. Estimates suggested this may save around £300 million in staff costs, out of a total annual budget of £4 billion. The total number of job losses included policy functions within the former Inland Revenue and Customs which moved into

2516-414: The cost of Business Link and the variability of advice. Some of the Business Links were chosen to provide more intensive support to fewer companies and these seemed to do comparatively well. Other Business Links showed less success with a 'spreading the jam thinly' model. The Business Link regional advisory service offered advice and support to businesses until November 2011. It was then abolished along with

2584-550: The debtor's specific financial circumstances and the guidance notes that no "standard" Time to Pay arrangement exists. Interest is payable on a Time to Pay arrangement. In 2007–08 HMRC overpaid tax credits to the value of £1 billion; at the end of March 2009, HMRC had £4.4 billion of overpayments to be recovered. On 20 November 2007, the Chancellor of the Exchequer , Alistair Darling , announced that two discs that held

2652-571: The department's responsibilities include National Insurance Contributions (NIC), the distribution of Child Benefit and some other forms of state support including the Child Trust Fund , payments of Tax Credits , enforcement of the National Minimum Wage , administering anti- money laundering registrations for Money Service Businesses and collection and publication of the trade-in-goods statistics. Responsibility for

2720-510: The driving forces behind the need for the new service. Previously, the Enterprise Initiative ran from 1988 to 1994. This government-funded scheme was designed to encourage take-up of external advice (consultancy) by small businesses, by offering grant incentives. During this three-year period applications were received from 135,700 businesses. A Wren and Storey report concluded that £1,000 of grant assistance increased sales in

2788-545: The end of 1996 the national roll-out was complete. At its peak, Business Link operated through 89 regional offices employing 650 personal business advisors. In 2005, administration of Business Link services was transferred to the regional development agencies , who mostly chose to contract business support out to private companies. The Business Link network employed personal business advisors (PBAs), who worked primarily with businesses that employed between 10 and 249 people (small and medium sized enterprises). In February 1996,

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2856-476: The evidence that the advisers were the most effective part of Business Link, the Cameron–Clegg coalition , elected in 2010, declared their intention to abolish the regional business adviser programmes. New local enterprise partnerships would take their place but the national website and telephone service would continue. The website was replaced by the Gov.uk public information website on 17 October 2012. Content

2924-552: The first time, to have the same ability as customs officers to monitor suspects and arrest them. On 19 July 2006, the executive chairman of HMRC, Sir David Varney resigned. HMRC is also listed under parts of the British government which contribute to intelligence collection, analysis and assessment. Their prosecution cases may be co-ordinated with the police or the Crown Prosecution Service . The merger of

2992-493: The following year. In August 2010, seven HMRC staff were sacked for deliberately underpaying benefits to ethnic-minority claimants. Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary for tax at HMRC, said the department operates a zero-tolerance policy on racial discrimination. The whistleblower Osita Mba revealed to The Guardian that HMRC entered a deal with Goldman Sachs which allowed Goldman Sachs to escape paying £10 million interest on unpaid tax. Following this HMRC used powers under

3060-573: The importance of establishing a risk management mindset and fostering adaptability to change as key components of successful fraud prevention strategies. Investors in People In 1990 the Department of Employment was tasked with developing a national standard of good practice for training and development. Investors in People was born and officially launched at that year's CBI Conference in Glasgow by then Secretary of State for Employment,

3128-535: The legal landscape for UK tax and state aid policy. Revenue and Customs Digital Technology Services (RCDTS) is a subsidiary of HMRC established in 2015 to provide technical and digital services. The company works exclusively for HMRC and its employees are not civil servants . On 17 January 2022, HMRC announced its intention to wind up the company. HMRC has made a substantial investment of nearly £300 million to enhance its compliance and fraud investigation efforts. This funding has led to an increase in staffing within

3196-563: The loss of) billions of stolen pounds of HMG 's revenue. Their skills and resources include the full range of intrusive and covert surveillance and they are a senior partner in the Organised Crime Partnership Board. HMRC's criminal investigation department is Fraud Investigation Service (FIS). Officers deployed in their criminal investigation teams have the same powers as police officers, and have wide-ranging powers of arrest, entry, search and detention. HMRC have

3264-430: The most rudimentary systems. If they had a problem, many of them didn't come from a background where they knew of anyone who could help or advise them. We wanted a team of people who could hold their hand, listen to their problems, have a working knowledge of what business is about, make suggestions, ask questions and be a friend in need." Despite being a Conservative-sponsored initiative with apparent cross party support,

3332-454: The offices closed were in bigger cities where other offices already exist, many were in local, rural areas, where there is no other HMRC presence. Initial proposals indicated that up to 200 offices would close and a further 12,500 jobs lost from 2008 to 2011. In May 2009, staff morale in HMRC was the lowest of 11 government departments surveyed. In 2013, HMRC began to introduce an update to

3400-541: The one stop shop. That's what they should have done. We did it for them. I think they regarded Business Link as an intrusion into their fiefdom. But the reason we created Business Link was because the Chambers weren't doing a good enough job. So there was tension there from the beginning." The Department of Trade (DTI) predicted 54 Business Links would launch by the end of 1993. Progress was much slower than anticipated due to each bidder and proposal having to be evaluated by

3468-561: The personal details of all families in the United Kingdom claiming child benefit had gone missing. This is thought to affect approximately 25 million individuals and 7.5 million families in the UK. The missing discs include personal details such as name, date of birth, National Insurance number, and bank details. The then chancellor stated that there was no indication that the details had fallen into criminal hands; however, he urged people to monitor their bank accounts. EDS ran

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3536-525: The power to apply for orders requiring information to be produced; apply for and execute search warrants; make arrests; search suspects and premises following arrest; and recover criminal assets through the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. They also have extensive surveillance powers that authorised criminal investigation officers are trained to utilise. The main power, under section 138 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (as amended by section 114 of

3604-478: The previous fifth generation to keep pace with modern practices. The current framework reflects the latest workplace trends, leading practices and employee conditions required to create outperforming teams. The latest framework focuses on three key areas: leading, supporting and improving. Within these sit nine performance indicators based on the features of organisations that consistently outperform industry norms. Organisations are assessed against these indicators using

3672-644: The proposal for a government-funded "one stop shop" immediately hit political resistance. Reflecting on this period in 2011, Heseltine stated that "you would have the left wing, which wouldn't have any real interest in effective management of the capitalist system. And you would have a very powerful element on the right wing of politics that would think it's a matter for the capitalist system to manage itself and government intervention, as they would call it, would be very unattractive. In truth, when I did it, I did comprehensive presentations to Conservative back benchers so that they could see what I believed an industrial policy

3740-631: The protection of the UK's borders passed to the UK Border Agency within the Home Office on 1 April 2008 and then to UK Border Force and the National Crime Agency in 2013; however, HMRC officers are also regularly deployed at the border to assist on operations. HMRC is also a law enforcement agency, responsible for investigating and tackling tax fraud, excise (tobacco & alcohol) fraud, smuggling, money laundering and

3808-558: The provision of employment law advice direct to businesses via cold calling, mail shots, emails and their websites. However, evaluations of Business Link showed that those taking advice from Business Link were thereafter more likely to work with private consultants as they learned about the benefits of advice. The Business Link website was launched in May 2004 as part of the Transformational Government programme (an initiative to consolidate UK government websites). It

3876-426: The regional development agencies, although the Business Link website and the national helpline continued to operate. Local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) were expected to drive regional economic growth in the absence of the Business Link regional advisory service. Various business link companies have engaged in direct competition with the private sector and with governmental organisations such as ACAS . This includes

3944-441: The same powers as police officers, but their equivalent police ranks are at a higher grade (see table below): & Chief inspector HMRC collected £660 billion for the Treasury in 2018/19. It estimated that total theoretical tax liabilities in that year were £629 billion, but £31 billion was not collected due to the " tax gap ", made up of money lost to tax evasion , tax avoidance , error and unpaid tax debts. This equates to

4012-710: Was about. What they felt it was likely to be about were things like backing winners, or subsidising losers. Now I wasn't in favour of certainly the latter, but once I had done the presentations, I had no complaints." Initially, Heseltine approached the private sector to deliver a Business Link type service, specifically the British Chambers of Commerce . However, these meetings were unsuccessful. The reasons for this failure are disputed, however Heseltine stated that Chambers "should have set up this combined advisory service. They should have gone to Government and said, look you've got all these services, work with us and create

4080-532: Was administered by the private company Serco on behalf of the government. In 2010 a report from the Central Office of Information found that the site's annual costs were £35m, and it had around 1.2 million users. Information on the site came in the form of guides (pages of text information), interactive tools (in which businesses could get personalized information) and transactions (in which businesses could for example, calculate their VAT). Despite

4148-795: Was announced formally in the Queen's Speech of 2004 and a bill , the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Bill, was introduced into the House of Commons on 24 September 2004, and received royal assent as the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 on 7 April 2005. The Act also creates a Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) responsible for the prosecution of all Revenue and Customs cases. The old Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise departments had very different historical bases, internal cultures and legal powers. The merger

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4216-503: Was created to target suspected fraudsters and criminal gangs. To disrupt and clamp down on criminal activity. This HMRC/CTU would pursue suspects in the same way the US Internal Revenue Service caught out Al Capone on tax evasion . These new powers included the ability to impose penalties without needing to prove the guilt of suspected criminals; extra powers to use sophisticated surveillance techniques, and for

4284-645: Was described by the Financial Times on 9 July 2004, as "mating the C&;E terrier with the IR retriever". For an interim period officers of HMRC are empowered to use existing Inland Revenue powers in relation to matters within the remit of the old Inland Revenue (such as income tax , stamp duty and tax credits ) and existing Customs powers in relation to matters within the remit of the old Customs & Excise (such as value added tax and excise duties ). However,

4352-595: Was formed and on 1 April 2018 it took HMRC responsibility to collect devolved taxes in Wales. On 12 November 2015, HMRC proposed to replace local offices with 13 regional centres by 2027. The board is composed of members of the executive committee and non-executive directors . Its main role is to develop and approve HMRC's overall strategy, approve final business plans and advise the chief executive on key appointments. It also performs an assurance role and advises on best practice. The Treasury minister responsible for HMRC

4420-697: Was in charge of the Department of Trade and Industry . The initiative was at first referred to as "One Stop Shop", and was launched as Business Link in December 1992. It replaced a number of services which were considered to be fragmented, such as the Department of Employment's 'Small business development service'. At the time, research led the government to believe small businesses were reluctant to invest in growth, that they failed to plan ahead and invest in training, that they were swamped with paperwork and relied on too few customers. These barriers to growth were

4488-478: Was migrated to the new website, maintaining previous links to redirect users. Several online services continued, largely unchanged, for a number of years: examples included Contracts Finder (until late 2014) and the Universal Jobmatch service for employers (until at least 2016). Business Link only operated in England. The remainder of the UK still has similar regional services: Regional providers used

4556-476: Was published after the 2005 budget on 24 March 2005. Legislation to introduce new information and inspection powers was included in the Finance Act 2008 (Schedule 36). The new consolidated penalty regime was introduced via the Finance Act 2007 (Schedule 24). As part of the spending review on 12 July 2004, Gordon Brown estimated that 12,500 jobs would be lost as result of the merger by March 2008, around 14% of

4624-636: Was the first empirical proof that developing pays off financially. The Standard is regularly reviewed by Investors in People (formally as part of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills ) and independent research is conducted on the benefits of working with the Investors in People framework and the impact of achieving recognition. This research has indicated that Investors in People has a positive impact on performance. Investors in People also commissions regular research into employee views and attitudes. This includes their employment satisfaction survey,

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