UK Unemployment falls - RTA Business Reports

With the news that UK unemployment has fallen to 2.16 million, RTA Business asks this week, what the current trend in employment statistics means for the savvy business owner, looking to sell their company in the current economic climate.

At RTA Business We Know Why Unemployment Numbers Matter

Here at RTA Business, we know that when you decide it’s time to part with your business, you want to receive a return on every last bit of hard work that you’ve put into your company. In order to do that, we have learned in our tenure as a business sales facilitator that if you want to receive the highest return possible, you need a favourable economic environment.

That’s why unemployment figures are key. When the unemployment rates fall, it generally means that companies are hiring; expanding to make more money. Expanding companies often look to diversify their business model, and lift their bottom lines, by buying other companies. Essentally, the lower unemployment numbers are, the more likely you are to sell your company.

An Employment Trend

The last several years have not been encouraging when it comes to unemployment numbers. The recession that hit the country due to the global economic crisis, forced companies to lay employees of in droves. At the height of the downturn, unemployment numbers were staggering.

However most financial experts agree that the UK economy is now in full-fledged recovery, partly because unemployment numbers have gradually been decreasing over the last few years. This month, the trend continues, as the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the number of people out of work fell to 2.16 million, dragging the national unemployment rate down to 6.6%. In contrast, the number of people working saw a record rise of 345,000 to hit 30.5 million; most of these people, according to the ONS, are in full time employment.

More People in Full Time Employment than Ever

David Tinsley at BNP Paribas commented on the nature of the trend to the BBC, highlighting the fact that: "The rise in employment this month is concentrated in full-time employees, not self-employment, which in the past has been used to 'talk down' the strength of the rise."

The fact that less people are unemployed since the recession, and that these people are working full time jobs, really does indicate that employers are hiring more than ever at the moment. They’re looking to expand, and we’d suggest that if you’re thinking about selling your business right now, you jump right on that!

RTA Business, Complaints Effect Businesses in These Five Ways

As part of the RTA Business complaints series this week, we want to go a little deeper into why complaints are so bad for your company.

Complaints Are Really Bad for Business

When you eventually decide that it’s time to cash up, sell your company and move on, or that you want to expand your operations by buying a new business, come to us. RTA Business are business acquisitions specialists, who ensure that you walk away with the right deal for you.

We’ve talked a lot about complaints over the past few weeks – how to avoid them, how to deal with them, why people do it etc. and we’ve told you that they’re really bad for business, especially if a potential buyer finds out about them. This week we want to go a little deeper into that.

RTA Business and the Top Five Effects of Customer Complaints

The reality is that when a customer complains about your business, it has number of ramifications that have the ability to put off a potential buyer when you decide it’s time to sell your business, including:

1)  It Damages Your Reputation: The obvious effect is that it damages your reputation because a complaint suggests you can’t deliver what you’ve promised.

2) It Costs to Deal With: Whether it’s in man hours talking the complainant down, or giving them a replacement product etc. a customer complaint will cost you money, money which you could be using to make your business more attractive to potential buyers.

3) It Encourages More People to Complain: If a dissatisfied customer discovers they aren’t the only one, they’re more likely to be willing to complain; power in numbers and all that, further damaging your reputation.

4) It Has the Potential Generates Press: If a complaint is effective enough, it could generate bad press, which makes your company look far worse to a potential buyer than a single complaint ever could. Case in point: the payday loan industry.

5) It Could Prompt a Boycott: Worse comes to worse, it could spark a campaign against you, which would combine all the previous four effects of a single complaint. Translation; you can forget making any money off the sale of your business.

Just remember, there are a number of ways that a complaint can affect your business and drive away a potential buyer so do everything you can to avoid a customer complaint!

Nestle To Pay All Contractors a Living Wage

Following on from last week’s impassioned RTA Business argument on the living wage, this week, Nestle have agreed to do so!

 RTA Business: The Business Sales Broker You Can Trust

When you decide it’s the right time to sell your business, and if you want to make sure you make as much money as humanly possible, you need to come to RTA Business. We have the expertise, the contacts and the knowledge, to make sure we can attract the best potential buyer to your business.

We’ve often found that a buyer who is looking to purchase your business to expand, factors the quality of your staff into their decision. That’s why we’ve previously argued that if you’re looking to eventually sell your business, you need to pay all your staff a living wage- it’s the most effective way to attract the best talent!

It Seems Nestle Have Been Reading Our Blog

And it seems as if one major company has been reading the RTA Business blog (ok, so they probably made their decision before we wrote the article, but a business sales broker can dream), as world’s largest food producer Nestle has announced that it will become the first major manufacturer to pay all its staff a living wage.

When it comes to this issue, Nestle is already ahead; they currently pay their 8,000 employees a living wage. However, the firm has now agreed to extend the policy to their 800 contractors. It will be fully implemented by the end of 2017.

Nestle Cares and Prospective Employees Will Like That

Fiona Kendrick, Nestle UK & Ireland chief executive, spoke out on the announcement. The BBC reported that Kendrick said: "As a major UK employer, we know that this is the right thing to do. Not only does it benefit our employees but also the communities they live and work in." 

Imagine how attractive Nestle will seem as an employment prospect in light of this. They clearly care about their employees and you’d be surprised how attractive a caring boss is as a potential boss. You can be sure that Nestle, in light of this announcement, will have its pick of the best contractors by the end of 2017. 

The moral of the story? There’s a reason a company as gigantic as Nestle have embraced the living wage, and that’s because it makes them more competitive than ever in the employment market. If you want to attract the best talent to make your business look more attractive than ever to an eventual potential buyer, take your cue from Nestle and implement the living wage.