Wanted. Someone with passion, integrity, vision and optimism who can empathise with employees to help lead UK public limited companies (plc) to success. Judging by the recent shareholder revolts and fines being slapped on companies for questionable business practices, the queue for the above position is likely to be a frighteningly short one.

The announcement by the Charity Commission to launch a ‘blog’ style consultation process on its revised public benefit guidance provides a good opportunity to distinguish between the law on public benefit and the Commission's own guidance, says Paul Gibson, a charity expert at Mazars.

As the days of rapid company expansion and aggressive sales targets lose their shine, a new ‘age of sustainability’ has begun whereby company success and value creation will come from recognising the link between business, social and environmental factors. Understanding how these work in a business environment will be the difference between a good business leader and a great one.

As witnessed by the recent shareholder spring, investors are becoming more vocal on how they think the boards of Britain’s biggest companies should behave. Issues of executive pay, stewardship as well as investment decisions are being scrutinised as shareholders demand that executives become more aligned with the long-term outlook of the companies they run. Buoyed by Business Secretary Vince Cable’s recent package of reforms on directors’ pay, it seems the shareholder shout just might prove loudest of all as the force for change grows stronger.

Entrepreneurs quickly learn you can’t always get what you want and Phil Davies is not atypical in being a successful owner manager in a business that had very little to do with his real passion in life — rock music. But he stuck with his double glazing business for thirty years because his acumen in taking a business forward was too insistent to be ignored. Today, having successfully sold off the company, he’s the one who can afford to smile at coming back to the place where his heart belongs. And, guess what? He’s found a whole new business to expand.

The financial world we live in has changed dramatically in the past few years, leaving investors with a decidedly nasty taste in the mouth. With market volatility, bank failures, bailouts, the euro crisis, riots and disorder, it seems there are few safe investment havens left for investors. With such a negative outlook, assessing your risk tolerance will ultimately help identify better investment decisions.

With reports about the UK economy consistently gloomy, every business has to find new growth markets. In January 2012, Victoria Tomlinson, Chief Executive of Northern Lights PR* decided to look at expansion opportunities in Dubai. Her company used LinkedIn for research and to win new clients. Here she explains how the use of social media landed the company an overseas contract in the very first meeting.

There is a growing number of sponsored events where the company name can be artfully and subliminally etched upon the public’s collective conscience. But increasingly sponsorship deals are not just about publicity, they are also about aligning your own company values with something you believe in or getting involved with your local community. And the ways of doing so are becoming increasingly innovative.

Regardless of the sector in which you operate or country you plan to expand into, cultural differences will directly impact on you and the profitability of your business. By not understanding these risks, you put your company in danger of wasting time, effort and money. In an increasingly globalised world, gaining a better understanding of the psychological approach to business of an international partner may be the difference between success and failure in your chosen overseas market.

During the first stage of his trip Charles will be getting involved with a number of social and conservation projects as well as attending a number of events, some of which will be as the guest of Mazars Kenya. On these volunteer schemes he will work on education-based community initiatives and spend two weeks on the African Impact project that aims to protect the wildlife of the Masai Mara through research and tracking of the animals.

The government’s intention is to introduce a new credit which they reckon will be more effective in encouraging UK-based innovation in the large corporate sector. The aims of the new system are fiscal sustainability, simplicity and ease of administration within the tax system. We run through the main points.

Entrepreneurialism is an extraordinarily positive energy in business and society but support and practical advice are essential if they are to thrive and boost worldwide economic recovery and growth. So which countries are best equipped to nurture entrepreneurs?