Scoot Blog

It has recently been revealed that Britain’s largest firms are more confident on spending now than at any point since the start of the credit crunch. TouchLocal carried out a poll amongst a sample of UK SMEs registered on our directory to find out if this sentiment is shared by small to medium sized businesses.

The Survey

Apparently, Britain’s largest firms are more confident now about spending and taking on staff than at any time since the start of the credit crunch. As a small business owner, do you share this outlook?

The Results

Yes: 296 (25%)
No: 781 (66%)
Don’t Know: 121 (9%)

*Total responses: 1198

The businesses who took the survey are all listed on http://touchlocal.com

Summary

Nearly two-thirds of small business respondents (66%) who took the survey do not share the same optimism as their large firm counterparts. Many give a contradictory outlook and are less confident than ever about spending, envisaging that this year will in fact be the hardest since the start of the credit crunch. A quarter of respondents (25%) share this positive outlook, with some businesses experiencing an upturn in revenue or deeming optimism a necessary trait in the business environment. Others however, are positive only due the belief that things cannot get any worse. 9% of respondents believe that the future is too uncertain to establish any upturn in confidence at this moment in time.
See below a selection of comments received from respondents:

• It’s too early to tell. Government policy looks like focusing on large business or encouraging business start ups, but doing nothing or even abandoning existing SME’s
• No Chance, we are at our lowest turnover now.
• Business has improved over the last six months so it feels right to invest in new products and to support that new staff
• Things can only improve
• I think things are still tight as the uncertain future of the ever arising costs
• Business up by 25% since Nov 10 not taking on staff at this point but trade far better
• I certainly hope that this is the case but as with many things of this nature only time will tell. We need to stay positive however, and remember that things never stay the same for long – better times will soon emerge again.
• This year will be more challenging than the last.
• I feel that things could change at a moment’s notice, and I want to keep things tight to weather any storm. I don’t want to be caught out again.
• Too early to say. We’re not out of the woods yet.
• We are small service company working to small businesses. Cash flow very bad, clients cutting back. Considering staff hour’s reductions.
• I feel it is a bit too early to say for my business. Most people I know are still cautious.
• Too early to say how can absorb VAT rise NI rise fuel rises
• With vat at 20% and the Governments major cut backs this is not the time to try and expand.
• There is absolutely no money out there, people were cutting back in November I can see it continue The VAT increase will have little effect on our business and consumer confidence has grown in our sector. Since the election our sales are 14% up and our bank is fully supporting us, a huge difference on the previous year.
• this is the worst it has been
• And I am seeing a more confident outlook from my clients too.
• We’ve already hired 1 new marketer, and are looking to take on 1 web designer and 1 graphic designer later this year!
• As a freight forwarding company we are finding the export market has certainly picked up, we had a great December, and January has started the same way.
• As a business you can’t put things on hold indefinitely, you still need to work and spending is a part of that
• It is still uncertain times for small business. Outlook is good, but cash flow is difficult
• The only way forward is to be positive and it’s working!!!

Issued: 11am – 11/01/2011
Do you have a question for UK businesses? Email kris.lea@touchlocal.com to submit your suggestion.

Whilst drink driving is an issue throughout the year, during the festive period it is regularly in the headlines as it is one of the most common causes of accidents across the UK. Scotland have proposed measures to lower the drink drive limit at the earliest opportunity, with provisions in the Scotland Bill allowing the Scottish Parliament to change the limit north of the border (without involving Westminster). Given the proposals in Scotland, it will be interesting to see if the rest of the UK follows their lead and proposes similar measures moving forward.

Survey Overview
With Scotland planning to reduce the drink driving limit, TouchLocal conducted a poll amongst a sample of UK businesses to see if SMEs would support a complete ban on drink driving in the UK.

The Survey
Following the recent talk of reducing the drink drive limit in Scotland, do you think that drink driving should be banned altogether on UK roads?

The Results

Yes: 621 (58%)
No: 448 (42%)
*Total responses: 1069

The businesses who took the survey are all listed on Touchlocal.com

Summary
Over half of the respondents (58%) feel that drink driving should be banned altogether on UK roads, with feedback including that we should follow other countries by having a zero tolerance policy. 42% felt that there should not be a complete ban, however many commented on how a lower limit (like the proposal in Scotland) would be welcome. Interestingly, respondents from those for and against a complete ban commented on other factors that they felt were equally (or more) dangerous when behind the wheel, such as driving whilst under the influence of drugs.

Selection of comments and suggestions from respondents
• A reduction would be good, but it wouldn’t need to be banned. Drinking while under the influence of drugs should receive higher sentences than they do
• It’s too confusing saying you can drink X amount, just make it illegal from drinking at all then driving
• I don’t think you should drink anything if you intend on driving
• Current limits serve the purpose
• That would be completely impractical
• It will save many lives
• The present law seems to work fine
• This would criminalize the sensible driver who has limited themselves to a glass of wine with their dinner whilst doing nothing to curb the habitual drunk who risks lives by driving when well over the limit
• People have different tolerance levels. However, limits should be lowered and more random stop checks and call lines should be set up
• As long as there are safeguards for people with small amounts of alcohol in their blood the following morning
• Could cause issues for persons on medication that may have alcohol in it
• It would finish off many rural pubs
• I do think something should be done, but a complete ban would kill the country pub!
• More often than not that it is innocent victims that suffer most from drunken drivers so the limit should be lowered nationwide
• Should this become law there would be no margin for error, so perhaps it would cut down on the people who seldom drink and may save them making an irrational judgment
• I believe that more could be done to educate drivers on drink/driving as I firmly believe that at least half of the drivers prosecuted honestly think that they are under the limit. Breathalyzers in Pubs and Clubs would reduce the numbers of drink/driving offences
• We are too strict on this. More people die from falling off a ladder than drink driving FACT keep it as it is and raise drinking age to 22
• If someone has had any alcohol in previous 24 hours, it will show up on a test. Sensible people stick to below the limit and most will not drink if they are driving. However to deny a person one glass of wine with a meal seems ridiculous, considering that the majority of people are killed in accidents that do not involve alcohol and some of the alcohol related accidents are drunk pedestrians as well. Those who drink and drive will probably not be deterred from doing so, as they already flout the law. Of course Scotland has its own problem with drink which is very severe. They should concentrate more on prosecuting landlords who serve people who are intoxicated and this may well save more lives and prolong others rather than denying the vast majority of responsible citizens who might like to enjoy a glass of wine with a meal
• I think it’s hard to determine when you have had your quota and therefore it would be much simpler just to ban drinking totally
• It is unworkable and immoral to catch people the morning after. However the existing limit should be enforced more rigorously
• We have a respected law in this country, respected by the huge majority who see drink driving as a serious, anti-social crime. There is no need for a lower limit but it is now time to give the police the ability to carry out random tests and more of them. In France 64% of all motorists have been tested for alcohol in the last 3 years, in Holland it is 63%. In the UK it is 9%. Just not good enough
• Other countries, especially those with dark winters (Scandinavia) have lower limits. The UK has a drink problem and making drinking and driving even more difficult may help reduce the problem. Losing your driving license is career threatening
• As a trainer to those who have lost their driving license due to drink & the state I see them in, I am in support of this! Attitudes of drink drivers are dreadful & they seem to take it quite lightly (an excuse to drink themselves stupid once they have lost their license) unless they have killed someone in the process. I have worked in Sweden & everyone is much more thoughtful!
• Having a low sensible limit is manageable. Having a zero limit will encourage people who have only one drink to continue as they will already be over the limit. It will also decimate rural/country pubs where they are reliant on car driving customers
• Rural pubs will go out of business
• Too many people drive after ’1 or 2′ not realizing that they reaction times and ability to drive can still be impaired especially if they are tired or haven’t eaten well. Save lives and stop anyone drinking while driving – there is no need to drink then drive and it might encourage people to help the environment and their local community by taking public transport
• Other countries have a zero tolerance on drink driving so should UK
• Empower people so they can think for themselves

Issued by TouchLocal 14:19 – 08/12/10

Scoot’s parent company TouchLocal are conducting weekly polls to UK SMEs. These polls are undertaken so business owners have a forum where they can share their thoughts on business, economic and general developments that may well have an impact on their operation.

As the ‘Voice of Local SMEs’, TouchLocal will circulate poll results and feedback with appropriate news publishers and websites.

About TouchLocal

TouchLocal are experts in connecting local businesses with local consumers, each and every day. The TouchLocal online business directory, www.touchlocal.com, offers blanket UK coverage and contains over 2 million business listings. It attracts 4 million unique visitors a month who in-turn undertake 6 million searches for local businesses. TouchLocal also enables users to review and rate businesses they have used, so local people can make an informed choice based on the feedback of others.

As of 24th September, local search and business reviews website, Touch Local, acquired 100% of the share capital of Enable Media, the company that owns and operates Scoot.  Touch Local’s CEO, Mark Livingstone, summarised the key benefits of bringing the 2 companies together:

• A combined customer base in excess of 25,000 local business advertisers on annual subscriptions and growing at some 8% per month
• More than 2m UK businesses listed, 500,000 of whom have activated their profiles
• Over 3.5m uniques and 6m searches per month
• A field and telesales team in excess of 130 people and a really established platform for further growth
• A forward combined revenue run rate in excess of $32m and EBITDA in excess of $7.5m
• Strengthening of distribution strategy that will enable more exclusive partners to be added this year in addition to our local search partnership with AOL.

We’re really looking forward to bringing some great new products to our combined customer base!

A new report from Berg Insight predicts that the number of mobile users in Europe using location-based services (LBS) will grow from 20 million in 2008 to reach 130 million in 2014.  That’s a healthy 37% growth rate.  Local search, navigation services and social networking look like being the top applications in terms of number of users.  Berg also estimates that more than 20% of mobile handsets shipped in 2009 will feature GPS and that the number in Europe will surpass 50% of total handsets in 2013.

For those of you with iPhones already, try the Scoot LBS.  Free to download from the iPhone App Store, Scoot uses the iPhone’s GPS capability to locate you, then find your nearest cafe, bank, restaurant, petrol station and much more.

The iPhone app includes a number of standard icons as default

Scoot has launched a new location-based iPhone application that helps mobile users find information about local businesses in just a couple of taps.

Free to download from the iPhone App Store, Scoot uses the iPhone’s GPS capability to locate the user, then find the nearest cafe, bank, restaurant, petrol station and much more.  It’s so quick and easy to use when you’re on the move.  There’s no need to type anything in: you just open the app and tap the relevant icon – cafe, for example.  Scoot will then show your nearest cafes with name, address, phone number and distance from your current location. 

You can also use Scoot to find your nearest special offer!  Just tap the Offers icon to see a list of nearby businesses that have posted a special offer or coupon on Scoot.

If you tap the ‘More’ button on each business listed, you can see additional information which might include descriptions, opening times, payment methods, special offers/coupons, pictures and even videos.  You can also see the business on a map, get directions, click to call or view their website.

The app includes a number of standard icons as the default, representing some of the more popular business categories on Scoot.  However, you can easily customise the application by using a simple on/off toggle button to add search icons for more categories or even your favourite brands.  We’ll be adding more categories and brands in future releases of the app, so will keep you posted.

Find futher details here, or visit the App Store

To receive information about the very latest special offers added to Scoot, follow ScootSpoffers on Twitter
 - http://twitter.com/ScootSpoffers

If you own a business and would like to post your special offers on Scoot, click here  for more information.