The Government is advising businesses to prepare for the National Living Wage well in advance of its introduction in 2016.

A new online marketplace for public sector contracts is just one of the initiatives the Government is to launch in order to make it easier and fairer for SMEs to do business in the UK.

Our round-up of other small business stories making the headlines this week...

Small businesses are lagging behind residential homes when it come to access to superfast broadband, according to new data from Ofcom.

Almost half of small business owners are aged over 55, and yet few have made plans to cover serious illness or physical or mental incapacity.

The Bank of England and HM Treasury have announced a two-year extension to the Funding for Lending Scheme.

The Government's Business Growth Service - which includes Growth Accelerator and the Manufacturing Advisory Service - is to close in April 2016, despite the fact that it has a 94% approval rating from businesses.

Our round-up of other small business stories making the headlines this week...

George Osborne's Autumn Statement has been broadly welcomed by businesses - as much for what he left out as for the measures he announced.

Most consumers acknowledge that data breaches are now "a part of life", but shoppers are warning UK businesses that they will go elsewhere if cyber security is not part of the customer service promise.