A new scheme to encourage self-employmant is arriving in Jobcentres across the country on the 1st of August 2011. With little more than a week to go it’s not yet clear whether all Jobcentres will be ready. But, after earlier pilots and trials, the New Enterprise Allowance is scheduled to go live across the UK - – - read more >

A major upgrade to the Resources section of this website means you now have access to over 1,700 pages of up-to-date, high- quality content about things like tax, marketing and accounting. The upgrade means you no longer have to login or register, so can go straight to the stuff you are interested in. But please note that if you have - – - read more >

With over 30 years of experience in the construction industry and 15 years service with the same employer, Tony was made redundant in October 2009. Since then, he applied for countless jobs but due to the recession and being over 50, the outcome was fruitless. He still had to maintain all his regular outgoings which - – - read more >

Bob Rawal, 57, contacted PRIME in April 2010 and was sent a free start-up pack. Later that month he went onto apply for a Zopa-PRIME Olderpreneur loan. Bob decided to start up his own business after being made redundant twice in three years. Up until this point he had spent 35 years in the medical - – - read more >

www.turn2us.org.uk have a free web-based calculator that can help you work out which – if any, benefits you are entitled to receive, and give an indication of how much. It can also give a quick figure for any tax credits you should get, so you can decide whether to claim. Many people setting up a - – - read more >

HMRC’s online calculator for working tax credit and child tax credit is back online, after a gap of several years. It allows you to enter your details to see if it’s worth claiming – you’re not asked for a name. The over 50s are one of the groups most likely to NOT claim tax credits - – - read more >

Last week the basic state pension went up to £95.25 for a single person and £152.30 for a couple. This isn’t much, and the earliest you can get it is when you reach 65 if you’re a man (so you’d qualify if born on or before 5 April 1959) or 60 if you are a - – - read more >

Peter Melling from Liverpool asks: I need training to trade as a locksmith. Where do I find a grant or funding for the training?     Dick Stroud, Author, managing director, lecturer  replies: Trying to understand the Government’s training grants system is a non-trivial task! There are multiple schemes in place and some of them - – - read more >

Finding the funds to help start a new business has never been more difficult. Despite almost daily announcements from the banks and different government agencies, the lending famine in practice remains a harsh reality for most people. So PRIME has decided to go ahead and start piloting its own scheme, set up with two commercial - – - read more >

Here’s a summary of places to go in the UK for a business loan if you are having trouble finding the funds to start a new small business. These are alternatives to PRIME’s own new scheme, which we know isn’t suitable for everyone. The credit crunch means that what is available from the High Street - – - read more >

With the credit famine now biting hard all over the country there’s a glimmer of hope in the North West. The Northwest Regional Development Agency, which is part of government, has put together a scheme with local partners aimed at new and small businesses. You can apply for any size of loan between £3,000 and - – - read more >

Peter Mandelson has announced a package of measures to end the business loan famine and get banks lending again. It involves giving the big High Street lenders more taxpayers’ money – this time up to £20 billion to guarantee up to 50% of the value of any loans advanced to small and medium sized businesses. - – - read more >

If you’ve got a poor credit history one of the problems is that it can be hard to get a credit or debit card. This can make it difficult to buy online, and it can be very inconvenient when travelling. There’s a good article on Martin Lewis’ excellent Money Saving Expert site about pre-paid cards. - – - read more >

Over half a million women could benefit from changes to the pension bill currently going through Parliament. They will be able to buy back up to 12 years of contributions to fill in gaps in their National Insurance record, enabling them to then qualify to receive the full state pension. Currently only around a third - – - read more >

With spending on London’s 2012 Olympic bid now projected to top £9 billion, what chance have small businesses of getting their hands on any of the loot? Well, at least some. You may not be able to grab 10-digit sums, but you can at least bid for some of the smaller contracts on the www.competefor.com - – - read more >