A new Government led initiative to boost enterprise will see up to 4,000 entrepreneurial university students and graduates in England connecting with small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

There is no doubt that small businesses matter. The statistics speak for themselves. There are around 4.5million small and medium sized businesses in the UK, employing nearly 14million people and generating in excess of £1500 billion worth of turnover.  SMEs account for 99% of all enterprise in the UK, 58.8% of private sector employment and 48.8% of private sector turnover.  London and the South East still appears to represent the largest share of the SME sector with a third of all SME’s located there. This I guess isn’t a big surprise when one considers existing infrastructure and the historical dominance that the “city” and the home counties has had on UK wealth creation, so it is therefore pleasing that the Chancellor remains committed to capital investment in infrastructure projects and development, although the options being muted regarding private funding for road building and possible toll roads as a result, will likely prove contentious.

A new study from Constant Contact®, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT) reveals that almost 40 per cent of UK small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) are using social media to market their business. What’s more, the study suggests that nearly eight out of ten (79 per cent) of those currently using social media marketing expect to increase their use of the tool to drive business results in the next year. Of those not using social media marketing currently, 27 per cent plan to begin using it in the next year.

Business Secretary Vince Cable today set out the next steps to diversify business finance, announcing details of an industry-led Taskforce to be led by Tim Breedon, Legal and General chief executive and current chairman of the Association of British Insurers.

Details about incentives to spur companies to innovate and grow, including £75 million of additional funding targeted at small and medium-sized businesses, have been published by the government.

 Almost a third (31%) of UK Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are retaining higher cash reserves, rather than re-investing revenue back into the business or returning monies to investors, according to new research from Robert Half Management Resources, specialist in interim accounting and finance recruitment.

Credit/lending to SMEs continues to catch the headlines. The banks' promises under Project Merlin are still not being met, though the situation has improved. Interestingly, the proportion of lending through various means of asset based finance has apparently risen, with ABFA's recent press release specifically highlighting the growth of invoice finance over the past year.

A number of key issues affecting small business must be addressed by Government in next week's Autumn Statement if the economy is to grow next year, a not-for-profit lobby group has said in a letter to ministers this week.

The global study of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) in the midmarket shows some of the key concerns that midmarket CMOs are facing today such as sustaining branding loyalty in the era of the "social consumer" and making sense of data generated from social media channels and mobile devices.

Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk today called for a more mature relationship between business and regulators. He also talked about the need for a more accountable and transparent system of local regulation and a simpler regulatory landscape.