Reaching the finals of any competition is an achievement but for Alistair Lindsay getting through to the final 10 of a major business competition is definitely a reason to celebrate. Along with 3 colleagues, Alistair set up Rate My Placement in 2007 to enable students on work experience to provide feedback and ratings on their placements and idea has now taken them through to the finals of the 2008 HSBC Unipreneur Awards.

The overall winner will be chosen by an invited audience on April 23 and will receive a £20000 prize.

As well as providing a rating and feedback system Rate My Placement also enables students, employers and universities to talk with each other and provides students with other valuable information and advice.

While the majority of accountants do an excellent job at handling historical data - company accounts, tax returns and the like - Wow takes an unusually proactive approach. Read more...

Reading based photographer Neil Palmer has been named as one of the top 100 global photographers in a competition run by the Wedding Photojournalists Association (WPJA). Neil who has been a full-time photographer for over 25 years has been ranked 68 in a poll the 1400 WPJA members.

Neil is just one of two photographers from England to be named in the top 100. 

iStadia.com, the Global Sport and Exercise Network, yesterday launched their new venture, a marketplace for sports and fitness books, and other resources for sport and exercise professionals and students.

Initially selling a range of over 800 books in areas including sports coaching, sport and exercise science, sport psychology, sports management and fitness, the product range will be enhanced over the coming weeks with a greater number of titles and other products.

An overwhelming majority of small businesses have said that their confidence in the Government has diminished since the 2007 Budget.

In a snap poll conducted by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), 93 per cent of small business owners said that their confidence in the Government had decreased since last year's Budget, while just 7 per cent said that it had increased or remained the same.

Ahead of the Budget on Wednesday March 12, the UK's biggest business organisation is calling for the Government not to go ahead with an attack on family-run businesses' tax arrangements and a planned 2p per litre rise in fuel duty.

John Wright, FSB National Chairman, said:

"A series of damaging tax rises and increases in red tape in the last year have totally undermined the Government's position with the UK's 4.5 million-strong small business community.

Changes to income shifting rules will force family business owners to create and maintain an unrealistic amount of paperwork on individuals' contributions to their business. It totally contradicts promises the Government has made about reducing red tape.

The fiasco over capital gains tax rules and the increases in corporation tax for small companies have also undermined the Government's credibility. The Chancellor should use this Budget to mend some bridges."