More than half of independent retailers in England think that their town centre is performing 'poorly' but 70 per cent think that better relationships with local authorities would improve the situation, according to research from the Federation of Small Businesses.
Businesses in Northern Ireland are expecting a £40 million boost from the G8 Summit being held in County Fermanagh next month, research carried out by the Northern Ireland Centre for Economic Policy (NICEP) has found.
Official figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the employment rate for those aged 16-64 fell by 0.2 per cent in the first quarter of the year, when compared with the final three months of 2012.
