COA Solutions – Business Accounting Software

Even the most optimistic of your employees is likely to concede it has not been an easy twelve months.

Sales are down, the UK economy is in debt and unemployment is rising. In hard times, how far would a depressed employee go? Would one of your workers commit fraud?

Research from the UK’s fraud prevention service CIFAS suggests an economic slowdown and a rise in fraud certainly go hand in hand, with a 40% increase in people being falsely impersonated last year compared with 2008.

Guest blogger Phil Hawthorn has run One Step Ahead since 1996 – a training company specialising in team and enabling skills. After 13 years, help with time management is still the most common requested workshop, so he will be passing on his experience and tips for a more efficient future.

It is the way of the world, now. Even before the phrase sub-prime morphed into world financial crisis, and finally the dreaded “R” word – recession – entered our everyday lexicon, every organisation I have ever worked with wants to improve efficiency and effectiveness….

On a recent night out with some friends our conversation turned to the real effects the newly renamed recession is having on their companies. Over several glasses of wine, we each poured out our individual woes. Whilst all of us could identify with increased workloads, grumpy colleagues and a niggling sense of concern over the future it was interesting to see in the wake of the constant bad press exactly what is causing stress and outrage within the 30 something working population.

Jon Moulton talks about the current state of private equity funding and how it needs to invest for the long term.

I attended a very useful session yesterday run by the Cranfield University School of Management on ‘Marketing and Sales in a recession’. I was doubly interested as COA Solutions is running a similar event in September, only this time aimed at financial executives with a slightly more upbeat title, ‘How to prosper in a downturn’.

Recession – it’s now pretty official – the Bank of England has finally started using the dreadful phrase in their Inflation Report.