A quarter of UK employers say that employee stress is a major reason for short-term staff absence and almost half say it impacts on long-term sick leave, according to new research from Group Risk Development (GRiD).

The survey found that 45% of UK employers considered stress and mental ill health a major cause of long-term absence amongst their employees, and 25% reported that stress is a major cause of absence in the short term too.

In addition, 36% of respondents said that managing stress and mental ill health is their number one health and wellbeing priority – up 5% on 2013. A further quarter (25%) thought that maintaining a good work/life balance amongst employees was a top priority.

As a result, 40% of employers now record the secondary cause of absence as well as the primary stated reason for long-term sick leave in order to measure the impact of mental health on their staff.

The report highlights the need for employers to make early interventions when managing stress and mental ill health cases to avoid longer employee absences.

Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD, said: "These figures prove just how big an impact stress and mental ill health can have on employers when managing the well-being of their business and the implications for absence rates if left unchecked."

She added: "It is encouraging to see that more and more businesses are recognising that stress-related absence is a major issue. Where once stress and mental ill health were commonly overlooked as a key health risk for businesses (compared to acute medical conditions such as heart attack or cancer) employers appear to be taking note."

Related resources:

• Stress: what to do when the going gets tough ARTICLE
• Workplace mental health campaign aims to help one in ten NEWS
• How to combat the stress of starting a new business BLOG

The government has announced that it is extending its Assisted Area status to several new parts of the UK, allowing eligible local businesses to bid for funding and tax breaks.

Large parts of North East England, South Yorkshire, Merseyside, Strathclyde, the West Midlands and the Welsh Valleys are already benefiting from this government support. Now, manufacturing centres in Derby, Huddersfield, Portsmouth and Scunthorpe have been added to the Assisted Areas map.

In addition, the government has added Leeds and Manchester to the map to help drive business growth across the North of England. And coastal towns including Arbroath, Blackpool, Hastings and Lowestoft have also been targeted for help with regeneration.

Business minister Michael Fallon said: "Assisted Area status can be a shot in the arm for growth and jobs across the UK. It makes local businesses eligible to bid for additional funding and support that can help them to create jobs, invest in new premises or machinery, develop and grow."

He added: "We listened carefully to local groups to identify places where regional aid can have the biggest impact and help to rebalance the economy. The regeneration of a range of industrial centres, coastal and urban areas has been given a boost today."

Assisted Area status makes businesses eligible to apply for regional aid, which is typically offered as capital investment for businesses in less prosperous local economies. Programmes in England that offer regional aid include the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) and the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI).

However, Assisted Area status does not guarantee regional aid funding and businesses in other parts of the country can also receive support, including RGF and AMSCI, for a wide range of projects.

The government's Assisted Areas map is subject to Commission approval and is expected to take effect on 1 July 2014.

Related resources:

• Businesses urged to bid for Regional Growth funding NEWS
• Why SMEs are key to boosting local economies NEWS
• How to promote your local business nationwide BLOG

The government is considering whether legislative steps should be taken to force banks to refer small firms that are rejected for funding to alternative lenders.

Research by Fleximize shows that 65% of SMEs believe banks should be forced to provide details of SMEs that they have rejected for funding to alternative lenders. Only 7% of SMEs were against banks being forced to do this and 28% were unsure.

The research also reveals that just 25% of SMEs describe their knowledge and understanding of the alternative funding sector as "good" or "excellent". Only 5% think it would be "very easy" to find an alternative lender.

According to analysis of industry data by Fleximize, around £787 million of business loan applications were rejected during the third quarter of 2013. It found that 22% of applications from small businesses were rejected.

Max Chmyshuk, founder and managing partner at Fleximize said: "It's ridiculous that so many SMEs have their applications for credit rejected by the big banks because many of them are financially viable, growing businesses that don't pose a high risk of default. They are sometimes unable to persuade the big banks to lend to them because the banks use lending criteria designed for the last century and ignore some positives even when they see them, focusing instead on catching negatives."

He added: "With new technology, data and insight, alternative lenders can often be 'smarter' than the banks when assessing applications for business credit. The ultimate goal is to increase the amount of responsible lending to SMEs and this will be helped if new legislation forces banks to forward the details of SMEs they reject for finance to professional regulated alternative lenders."

Related resources:

• Crowd funding: a realistic alternative to bank lending? ARTICLE
• SME owners dip into their own pockets for funding NEWS
• Business banking: what are the alternatives to the high street banks? ARTICLE