http://bit.ly/r4G1E0 National Small Business Week Day 1

The U.S. Small Business Administration's National Small Business Week was held in Washington, D.C., marking the 56th anniversary of the agency, and the 46th annual proclamation of National Small Business Week.

More than 100 small business owners from across the country gathered at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel along with keynotes and panels fro leading speakers including Karen Mills,Administrator , U.S. Small Business Administration and Michael Porter
Bishop William Lawrence University Professor,based at Harvard Business School

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Tesco Bank’s long-awaited move into the mortgage lending market is set to be delayed until after the busy Christmas trading season.The supermarket giant was due to offer its first home loans this autumn but its entry is not now expected until early 2012, according to sources cited by Press Association. They suggest the company wants to ensure its systems work properly after online savers were locked out of their accounts in June. Thousands of This is Money readers were in uproar after being locked out of their online savings accounts for a prolonged period in June– and Tesco is keen to avoid a similar disaster.

Mortgage delay: Tesco bank is set to delay the launch of its mortgage products
The company is also reported to be focusing on Christmas trading, amid rumours new chief executive Philip Clarke will trigger a supermarket price war next week with a new offensive to kick-start sales.Tesco is expected to shift the grocery battleground from special offers, which have become increasingly common since the recession, on to everyday low pricing and greater rewards through its Clubcard loyalty scheme.Its fledgling banking arm is expected to provide heavyweight competition to the existing players when it starts offering mortgages, current accounts and credit cards.
 



First Tesco Bank savers get refunds as supermarket apologises for four-day lock-out

Tesco Bank savers suffer FOURTH day locked out of online bank accounts as crisis drags on

But Tesco is still testing its systems to make sure there are no technical problems. Earlier this year, savers were locked out of their accounts after a new IT system was installed.And the Cheshunt-based chain is still waiting for approval from the Financial Services Authority to launch products, such as mortgages and credit cards.Matthew Truman, an analyst at JP Morgan Cazenove, said Tesco ‘is very close’ to being able to launch new products, but they are more likely to be in early 2012.He added: ‘Mr Clarke will likely hold off launching a push on credit cards and new products such as mortgages until he is entirely comfortable that the Tesco brand will not be tarnished by any future problems with the systems.’A Tesco Bank spokesman said: ‘We are in the advanced stages of the regulatory process and will be in position to provide details of the launch soon.’Meanwhile, Tesco is rumoured to be plotting a significant price offensive as it looks to stem recent losses in grocery market share amid strong competition from discounters Lidl and Aldi.Asda has upped the stakes in the supermarket pricing war this year with a scheme that sees it guarantee to be 10 per cent cheaper than its rivals while Ocado and Waitrose have matched their prices with Tesco's. Sainsbury's is also trialling a price matching scheme in Northern Ireland.Many of Tesco's price initiatives in recent years have been based around offering more rewards through its Clubcard loyalty scheme, which it claims gives it a unique point of difference over its competitors.