Catch up on the big issues with our weekly Small Business Bites. We cut through the noise to dig out the week’s stories that really matter to the UK’s small business owners. It’s been another busy week of political conventions, corporate buy outs, Brexit surveys and economic growth reports – here’s our roundup of the things you need to know.

Monday

So the $4.83bn deal struck by Verizon to buy the internet search company Yahoo was announced this week in a buyout that will create a huge global telecommunications and search giant. While it’s happening over in the US, the effects will surely be felt over here too over the coming years. For a comprehensive roundup, here’s City AM’s in-depth guide.

In other news, the week started with news that trials for delivery drones had started again. In the (not to distant) future they could be delivering goods to your business or your customers less than an hour after an order’s placed.

Tuesday

Access to finance is an ever-present issue for startups, so the news that Virgin Money has shelved its plans to move into the small business lending market won’t help matters. The bank blamed its decision on Brexit and the resulting uncertainty, and it’s unclear at this stage whether the move is temporary or permanent (read more in The Times).

Wednesday 

Good news came out about the economy midweek – according to the latest ONS figures the UK economy grew by 0.6% during the three months to June; faster than expected and defying fears that uncertainty in the run up to the referendum would have an adverse affect on business. It’s the 14th consecutive period of growth we’ve had since 2013, as The Business Desk reports.

“Given the uncertainty leading up to the EU Referendum, these figures are a lot more positive than might have been expected…The real test will be the Q3 figures which will give the first quarterly indication of the impact of the exit vote and subsequent collapse of governance.”
Scott Knowles, chief executive of East Midlands Chamber

However, as the FSB’s Martin McTague wrote in The Guardian, some of the UK’s biggest banks have written to some 1.3million small business customers warning that they could soon face charges for their deposits. The banks blame low interest rates, but McTague suggests the solution to this ‘deeply troubling’ issue could be simple; switch.

Thursday 

If you’re a small business owner, what’s the one thing that keeps you awake at night? Well, according to a new study out this week, it’s most likely to be what other people think about you. A third (30%) of the business owners questioned said that threats to their company’s reputation was the biggest concern. Word of mouth was a bigger worry than online reputation, according to the 500 businesses who were asked. In second place, 24% cited ‘red tape’ regulations as their biggest gripe, followed by 17% who said employee issues such as staffing or wage rises. You can read the full story here at Small Business.

Did you know that there are now more than 60 million active business Pages on Facebook? Well the social media giant certainly does and as Business Insider reported, it ‘has its eyes’ on small businesses as it tries to increase the number that spend money on paid Facebook advertising. Currently only three million do…

Friday

If you’re trying to grow your business and take things to the next level, where can you go to get access to finance apart from the big, traditional banks. The answer could be found in The Telegraph’s round up of new alternative funding options from an industry it says is now worth £3.2bn. Peer-to-peer lending, angel investment and even invoice trading are all covered and explained in more detail.

According to the manufacturing lobby group EEF, manufacturers confidence has slumped since the vote to leave the EU. The East Midlands and the North West were reported to be the least confident, while London and the South East experienced the biggest falls in confidence.

In other news

• Investors have not let Brexit put them off funding UK startups, according to this poll reported in City AM
• Company Check’s annual Business Census will launch this autumn, asking thousands of businesses for their views and predictions for 2017 – sign up to our newsletter below to keep informed about when it launches.