Technology spurs homeworking trend
In news that may be of interest to Welsh businesses, the chief executive of the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA) has predicted
that the trend for running businesses from home is likely to continue, thanks to new technology.
George Derbyshire cited improved internet, telecoms and IT capacities as the main reason why working from home has emerged as a growing trend in recent years.
He said that working from home can provide "significant cost-saving" benefits for businesses, allowing owners to "focus on getting their business off the ground first and foremost without
the risk or financial pressure of workspace overheads".
A virtual office can "give the appearance of a much larger organisation", he added.
Mr Derbyshire also noted that the development of virtual incubation - in which a businesses uses facilities such as postal address, telephone number, meeting rooms and IT support in an incubation
centre, without having to pay for a permanent base - has helped small businesses working from home.
According to data from Flexibility, homeworking grew by nine per cent in 1997, ten per cent in 2001 and 11 per cent in 2005.
© Adfero Ltd