Business Start Up Advice
Wide ranging commercial small business advice sites with stacks of free advice…

• Start Ups
• Startin Business
• BizHelp 24
• Smallbusiness.co.uk
• Newbusiness.co.uk
  

Other useful start up sites…

• Business Link - advice for businesses from the DTI Small Business Service.
• sbs.gov.uk - a small business agency of the DTI.
• HM Revenue & Customs - advice from Revenue and Customs on business start up issues.
• Shell Livewire - Shell Livewire assists people aged 16-30 wanting to start up their own business.
• Princes Trust - independent help for 16-30 year olds in developing their own business.

Tax

• HM Revenue and Customs
• Taxation Web - online tax community.
• Business Rates Info
• Tax Café - for tax E-Books.
• Tax Indicator Document Archive - useful tax documents and aids.
• Blackwells Books Online - for all your business, finance and law books.
• Offshore Companies - formations and lots of advice.
• Tax Aid - UK charity providing free tax advice to people who cannot afford to pay a professional adviser.
• Property Tax Toolkits - for both landlords and accountants.
• Professional Contractors Group - lots of IR35 assistance

Law

• Online UK Legislation - The full text of all new Public General Acts since 1988 are available via these Web Pages and updated regularly.
• Law Society Of England and Wales
• Law Society Of Scotland
• Office Of Fair Trading
• Trading Standards
• Data Protection/Freedom Of Information
  ( Information Commissioners Office)
• Lawyers For Your Business - a network of 1,200 solicitor firms in England and Wales offering free half-hour consultations to small businesses.
• Law on the web - online legal advice and resources.
• UK Patent Office responsible for Intellectual Property (Copyright, Designs, Patents and Trade Marks) in the UK.
• What is the key – Intellectual Property
• The UK Competition Commission

Debt Collection & Management

• Her Majesty's Courts Service – money claim online.
• Better Payment Practice
• Biz24 Debt Collection Advice
• Insolvency Service
• Citizens Advice Guide To Debt
• Consumer Credit Counselling Service
• National DebtLine

Imports and Exports

• HM Customs and Excise uktrade info site - authoritative and up to date knowledge on UK imports and exports.
• Export Credits Guarantee Department
  The UK's official export credit agency.
• British Exporters Association
• Institute Of Export
• Biz24 Import/Export Advice
• Link 2 Exports
• UK Trade & Investment

Marketing

• Marketing Law
• Chartered Institute Of Marketing
• Direct Marketing Association
• Academy Of Marketing
• Direct Selling Association
• Advertising Standards Authority
• Royal Mail
• Marketing UK
• Marketing Survival Kit
• Cardell Media - strategies to grow your business.
• eCustomerServiceWorld

For marketing lists…

• Marketing File
• Prospect Locator
• D&B

News

• Financial Times
• Daily Telegraph
• Times Online
• The Guardian
• BBC
• ITN
• Sky News
• Reuters
• thisismoney.co.uk
• Number 10 - news straight from the horses mouth
• Bloomberg - premier financial news.
• Accountancy Age - news from the accountancy profession.
• The Economist
• National Statistics Office - home of official UK statistics.
• The Sun!

Stockmarkets

• Stock Exchange
• Alternative Investment Market (AIM)
• Ofex
• FTSE
• Dow Jones
• Nasdaq

Pensions & Invesments

• Financial Services Authority
• State Pension Forecast
• Pension Calculator - a tool to help you work out how much retirement income you might receive from what you save.
• Pensions At Work
• Pensions Ombudsman
• Stakeholder Pensions
• Pension Guide
• Money Supermarket - price comparison for all sorts of financial services products, for savers and borrowers.
• Endowment Action - Which website on endowmnet mis-selling

Travel

• Currency Converter
• Multi Map useful online map of the UK and many other countries of the world.
• AA
• AA Route Planner
• Currency Data
• Google Local UK
• Lastminute.com - last minute bookings for holidays and days out
• RAC
• RAC Route Planner
• Streetmap.co.uk
• World Clock
• British Tourist Authority
• Bargain Holidays
• Cheap Flights

Motor

• DVLA Personalised Registrations
• Parkers - research tool for the buyer, seller and owner.
• Autotrader - buy or sell.
• Avis - car hire worldwide.
• Hertz - car rental.
• Top Gear - the BBC show.
• Vehicle Fuel Data

Weather

• MET Office
• BBC Weather

Local Directories

• Online Yellow Pages
• 192.com
• Scoot
• Thompsons

Humour & more

• Dullmen.com
• The Humour University
• Dilbert.com
• The Weird Site
• Bored.com
• The Office - as in David Brent.
• Worthless word for the day
• Brain Candy

DIY & Gardening

• Changing Rooms - the TV programme.
• Homebase - packed with design ideas and detailed techniques for a whole range of DIY tasks.

Homework Help

• BBC Learning
• Education Planet - all sorts of educational resources.
• Britannica - the online encyclopedia.
• How Stuff Works
• Inventors Hall of Fame - find out who invented what.
• Exploratorium - interactive guide to science.
• Ask an Expert - Free answers to all sorts of questions.
• Dictionary
• Thesaurus
• Free Translation

Food and Drink

• Square Meal - great restaurant finder
• Vegetarian Society
• Jamie Oliver Online
• Delia Smith Online
• Barbecue Bible
• Davy's of London - wine merchants

General Business Assistance

• Federation Of Small Businesses - the leading political lobby for British small business.
• Department Of Trade and Industry -a range of information including grants, exporting and industry specific issues.
• British Standards Institute
• Companies House
• Benchmarking Index - benchmark your business against others.
• British Franchise Association
• British Volunteer Mentor Programme
• Institute Of Directors
• Small Business Advice Service
• Confederation Of British Industry
• British Chambers
• Trade Association Forum

Accountancy Related

• Institute Of Chartered Accountants In England and Wales
• Institute Of Chartered Accountants Of Scotland
• Institute Of Chartered Accountants in Ireland
• Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
• Chartered Institute Of Management Accountants
• Association Of Accounting Technicians
• Chartered Institute Of Taxation
• The Association Of International Accountants
• Institute Of Internal Auditors
• Audit Commission
• Accounting Web - designed for the accounting community to provide accounting information.

Raising Finance

• British Business Angels Association
• British Venture Capital Association
• Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme
• Mortgages for business

Banks

• Abbey
• Alliance & Leicester
• Bank Of England
• Bank Of Scotland
• Barclays
• Bristol & West
• Britannia
• Cahoot
• Clydesdale
• Co-Operative
• Egg
• First Direct
• Halifax
• HSBC
• ING Direct
• Intelligent Finance
• Lloyds
• Nat West
• Northern Bank
• One Account
• Royal Bank Of Scotland
• Smile
• Virgin One Account
• Woolwich
• World Bank

Other useful banking sites…

• Moneysupermarket.com - compare business bank accounts.
• Financial Ombudsman
  

Grants

• j4b.co.uk
• Grants Online
• GrantsNet

Businesses For Sale

• Businesses For Sale.com
• Startin Business businesses for sale
• Daltons
• Nationwide Businesses
• Business Sale Report
• Startups - businesses for sale
• Times Online businesses for sale
• Businesses for sale
• Christie & Co
  

Employment Related

• Department for Work & Pensions
• Bank Holidays
• British Employment Law
• Age Positive
• Commission for racial equality
• Disability Rights Commission
• Employment Relations Directorate (DTI)
• Tiger Employment Rights Guide
• Flexible Working
• ACAS
• Employment Tribunals Online
• Trade Unions Congress
• DirectGov - the official government gateway to services online
  

Training

• The Open University
• Department for Education and Skills
• Millionaire Business Mentoring Programme
• Investors In People
• Apprenticeships
• Learn Direct - distance learning, online courses, computer courses and adult courses.
• Training Zone
  

Health & Safety

• Health & Safety Executive - Government health & safety advice.
• British Safety Council
• Health & Safety Books
• First Aid At Work
• DTI Health & Safety Indicator
• Watch Your Step
• Safe Start Up

Information Technology

• Microsoft Knowledge Base - a searchable technical support database that will help you when things go wrong with Microsoft products.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Download.com - great download site.
• ZDNet Downloads - for FREE software downloads.
• WinDrivers - one-stop source for device drivers, anti-virus updates and security patches.
• PC World - the online store
• Winzip - the zip file utility for windows.
• PC Mechanic - reference site for PC users.
• Get Safe Online - protect yourself against internet threats.

Search Engines

• Google - the world’s most popular search engine.
• MSN - the Microsoft search engine.
• Yahoo
• Alta Vista
• Ask Jeeves
• Excite
• Hotbot
• Ixquick
• Lycos
• Mirago
• Teoma
• UK Directory
• WebCrawler
• UK Plus

Creative Thinking

• Thinksmart.com
• Mindjet.com - mind mapping software
• Enchanted Mind
• The Daily Motivator - thought for the day, have it emailed to you every day.
• Motivational Moments

Always Useful

• landlordzone.co.uk - online resource for UK private landlords, tenants and letting agents.
• Unclaimed Assets Register -the Unclaimed Assets Register is a unique search service that helps you find your lost assets and re-establish contact with financial institutions.
• Find A Builder
• Find A Craftsman
• Ask the Doc - online medical answers and self-diagnosis.

Fun and Games

• Rubik's Cube
• Planetarium
• Puzzles
• JigZone
• Puzzability

Political

• Labour
• Conservatives
• Liberal Democrats

Science

• Mensa - how intelligent are you?
• NASA
• Stephen Hawking
• BBC Science and nature

Shopping

• Amazon
• WH Smith
• Argos
• Ebay
• Sainsbury's
• Tesco's
• Surprise Your Woman!
• I want one of those - gadgets galore.
• Which - online consumer guide.
• Checkaprice - lets you compare the on-line prices.
• Kelkoo - another great price checker.

Entertainment

• Hollywood.com
• The Internet Movie Database
• Disney Movies
• Aloud.com - where and when your favourite artists are on stage.
• Spice UK - UK multi-activity adventure, sports & Social Group.
• Red Letter Days - the experience company.

Museums

• 24 Hour Museum - over 3000 UK museums, galleries and heritage attractions.
• World of Museums - directory and guide to UK museums.
• Tate Online