New City Magazine published in London, UK is a terrific monthly magazine with a global universal perspective on Life and all it involves.
It may seem strange to say this, but it is a slim publication so it can be read in a single sitting, and certainly in two. Time is such a critical resource today, but so is intellectual and spiritual nourishment. What one puts in, one gets out.
New City comes from a deeply Christian perspective, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, nor is it offensive or demeaning. I can only describe it as ‘transparent’ or lucent.
It does contain extracts from the Gospel, but only one sentence – what a powerful sentence it is! One sentence a month, with a brief commentary.
It includes interviews, news, even lovely recipes as well as ‘Editor’s notes’.
One of the most important dimensions is the universal or global perspective. Looking back, taking September 2012 as a random example, there were short interesting articles entitled ‘A Burmese Housewife’ – an article about Aung San Suu Kyi (Burmese Politician and human rights activist); a Message from Belfast
- St Anne’s Church of Ireland cathedral address and an interview with Ms Alex Gaffikin, a senior manager at Kensington Palace.
Don’t JUST take my word for it. Order your FREE ISSUE of New City magazine. You never need be bored again!
Debt collection laws – Protective armor for American consumers
FDCPA is the abbreviation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which was passed in order to watch over the business of debt collection. The main objective of this Act is to prevent and redress any kind of unethical debt collection practices in the country. These laws are a boon for the consumers who want to become debt free without being exploited by the scheming debt collectors. A summarized version of these laws is mentioned below:
- Communication with the third party – A debt collector must introduce himself clearly and politely before enquiring about a debtor’s residential details. During his enquiry process, he cannot state that a particular consumer owes any kind of debt to consumer’s acquaintances, relatives and neighbors.
- Communication for debt collection – Debt collectors are barred from calling at unreasonable hours of the day. This means collections calls are not allowed before 8 a.m and after 9 p.m according to local time of the debtor, or when the debtor is with family and friends. Moreover, a debt collector should not make calls during a debtor’s working hours without prior permission.
- Harassment to the debtor – Debt collectors are strictly prohibited from conducts that result in aggression, causing intrusion into a debtor’s privacy. They cannot publicly abuse him to collect debts. Debt collectors cannot use violence or other illicit means such as physical harm or damaging anyone’s property that forces a debtor to make the payments.
- Misrepresentation of facts – It is deemed as an offence by the federal law when collecting debts. A debt collector cannot provide false personal details while introducing himself to the debtor. Moreover, he cannot threaten legal action for non-payment of any dues; he can only suggest such step to the creditor.
- Use of unfair means – Debt collection practices that amount to violation of this clause are collection of debts for services like interests and fees that are not legally approved by the creditor.
- Conformation of debts – Debt collectors are entitled to convey the debt amount in a formal notice within five days of their first communication regarding the consumer’s debts with all the essential details of the debtor’s credit account. Debt collectors are obliged to reveal the name and contact details of the creditor on receipt of a written notification from the consumer. An individual’s debt amount will taken as valid if he doesn’t dispute the alleged debt amount within 30 days of the initial communication from the servicers, whereas if a debtor disputes the debt amount, then the debt collector has to cut off any kind of further communication regarding debt collection.
Consumers with debts who suffered harassment at the hands of debt collectors can lodge their complaints to the state Attorney General’s office and the Federal Trade Commission.
Google is the most used search engine on the web today, and one of the most viewed websites on the world wide web. Occasionally you will notice that on a particually significant day, the google homepage changes its theme. It so happens that today, Gideon Sundback, business man and inventor of the zipper, would be celebrating his 132nd birthday. To commemorate him, Google have set a special theme consisting of a zipper which unzips through the Google logo, opening search results for Gideon Sundback. Search engine optimisation is the practice of learning the algorithms that search engines use to display results, and optimising a website around it. Because Google is the most popular search engine out there, Webmasters are constantly figuring out more behind how they display their results, therefore Google are constantly changing things to make the most relevant sites show at the top of the SERP’s.
Last August Stoke On Trent council announced that the budget cuts they have planned for the coming year, 2012, are in fact equal to the amount owed in unpaid council tax. The figures from Stoke Tax Accountants and the local council show that they have already made cuts cuts accounting to about £10m, but with more than double that owed in unpaid council tax, they still plan to make a further £20m in cuts. Included in these cuts are libraries and care homes which many would agree are important to the community and should be saved if they can.
Many councils in the UK have a bad reputation when it comes to being on top of collecting their council tax but I can safely say that the Stoke council are one of the worst.
Julie Latham campaigned against the closure of the Shelton swimming pool said ”Yes, cuts have to be made but cuts in the right places.” I agree with this completely, as do many Stoke On Trent tax accountants, so why do the council think it’s easier to make cuts than collect the money that is already owed?
Pretty much every business across the world needs help with their tax accounts in some way, shape or form. Whether its year end tax return, Payroll services, VAT or just tax advice their looking for, they will need to find an accountant to help them get their accounts straight.
Many small businesses don’t understand the concept of finding the right accountant for them, but it is definitely very important. Most just believe that any accountant will suffice, with many people turning to the big expensive accountancy firms for help. This is usually the wrong decision.
By choosing a smaller firm, who specialise in small enterprises, can completely transform your business. Generally speaking, these firms have much more time to invest, not only in your accounts, but in your overall business as well, almost assuming the role of a business adviser.
By not choosing to work with a Tax Accountant, you leave yourself open to a lot of extra responsibility. If you miss tax induced deadlines etc. you could be liable for penalties which can incur additional charges. Tax penalties and VAT penalties are amongst the most common to produce extra charges, but things like missing invoices etc. can also cause big problems with the accounts.
A lot of small businesses in the UK struggle to find the right accountant that meets their specification. To put it simply – most of the bigger and more established accountancy firms choose to work with mainly the bigger and more established businesses. This makes perfect sense as bigger companies bring in more money, and therefore their accounts are harder to manage and involve more work, which in turn, means more money for the accountancy firm.
The problem is, this means it is harder for small and medium sized enterprises to find a suitable and experienced accountant, in their area, willing to work with them. The truth is, smaller businesses may only need help with the smaller jobs like their year end return or simply just tax advice, however, there are ways to make this job of finding an accountant, much easier for these businesses.
By searching online you will find endless lists of directories and contact details for accountancy firms all over UK, but this doesn’t help you filter the results into the smaller firms that might be willing to help, and the big firms that will be less inclined to help.
Small Business Accountants specialists can be more easily found through online customer finder sites where the consumer submits their details and then receives responses from registered chartered accountants with quotes about how much they will charge for the job. They also provide responses from multiple firms at once, cutting your time involved in the searching process.
Key economies and markets with the lack of access to capital will make 2012 a very difficult year for the majority of north west manufacturers, say the Manchester office of accountants and business advisers BDO. However, the firm said government initiatives to promote innovation and export opportunities in emerging markets provide some rays of hope.
Manchester partner Philip Storer said: “After 30 years of decline, there is now widespread consensus that a strong and vibrant manufacturing sector is fundamental to the economy.”
“In 2012 we expect that the government will continue to focus attention on the rebuilding of manufacturing.”
Careless mistakes made by some accountants throughout the UK (which means from Guildford Accountancy Firms in the South, to Carlisle in the North and beyond) are allegedly causing problems and harming small businesses.
Large parts of the accountancy profession are costing clients a huge £1.8bn in poor advice. The entire accounting profession has to sit up and do something about this as a matter of urgency.
In a surprising private survey, figures collected by Wickersham and Pipe seemingly evidence accountants making mistakes with 40% of the 4.5m private sector businesses in the UK, therefore affecting 1.8m clients. We are unaware whether this report is mirrored by IACEW research which is one of the leading accounting authorities here in the UK.
If this research is typical of the UK, the data supports the innovative activities such as that of Accountant Now, the free service to start ups, as well as small and medium sized enterprises in the UK, with its assistance in helping SMEs find the right accountant is one of the critical success factors in business success. Accountant Now also benefits accountants by helping them find the right kind of clients with significant savings in time and inconvenience.
From its UK-based manufacturing site in Normanton, West Yorkshire, Really Useful Products produces and distributes a large range of innovative storage products, including plastic storage boxes, craft boxes, archiving solutions, trays and racking.
Originally, the mould circuit was cooled by a single water chiller with a 316kW cooling capacity, plus an air blast cooler for the hydraulic oil cooling circuit – a system that cost approximately £33,000 a year to run. Based on the chilled water system working 8,400 hours per year at 85% load, IsoCool calculated that the IsoFC would lower the running costs of the cooling system to approximately £14,500 a year.
The world’s fourth-biggest accountancy and consulting network said its member firms collectively reported sales of $22.7bn.
Big accountants have been expanding aggressively in consulting in recent years through internal investment and acquisitions – such as KPMG’s purchase of EquaTerra, an outsourcing adviser, earlier this year. However, the conflicts of interest that can arise when an auditor offers consulting services or tax help to its audit clients has prompted the European Commission to push for a crackdown. KPMG’s main offices are in London and these figures are collect by certified London accountants.
Charles Dunstone of CarPhoneWarehouse has written an article for James Hurley’s Telegraph Business Club entitled ‘Don’t listen to the experts’ suggesting that entrepreneurs should not listen to management consultants in the main, and goes on to suggest that small might be beautiful.
Well, small may not be necessarily beautiful. It perhaps might be in terms of people, but business economies of scale are often vital for competitive advantage.
The truth is entrepreneurs often do not know how to grow, and end up filling offices full of people, increasing the vulnerability of the business and working for little of the benefits. This is often why business people revert to a small size.
Dunstone hasn’t done this. He grew in a chaotic way, upsetting millions of telecom customers along the way, and not focusing on customer value.
I am pleased he has survived. He might have done better to have humbly asked for and accepted help from the right business consultants, nearer the beginning of his empire building. He highlights that this is difficult to do.
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is no longer a toothless bulldog
says David Smith, the deputy information commissioner, after it was given the authority and muscle might to issue civil commercial fines of up to £500,000 for offences relating to data protection violations.
In a report titled, Referral fees and the theft of personal data, the committee says: “Currently the only available penalty is a fine, which we feel is inadequate in cases where people have been endangered by the data disclosed, or where the intrusion or disclosure was particularly traumatic for the victim, or where there is no deterrent because the financial gain resulting from the crime far exceeds the possible penalty.”
This is another example as to why all British companies need e-risks insurance cover in the business insurance policy, and it might also act as a warning for particualrly the small amdn medium sized enteprises (SMES) in the UK who think they can ignore the data protection guidelines. I would always recommend SMEs consulting with a legal expert on business intellectual property regarding their website or how they transact business online.
Read more of Guardian article “MPs back more powers for Information Commissioner’s Office”
Why UK British economy has deteriorated so quickly.
Thanks to Dr. Tim Morgan who was quoted in the reader comments of the FT article ‘UK Economy off track’ who helps share his following analysis:
The first problem faced by the UK, then, is that both of the economic drivers of the last decade private borrowing and public spending are dead in the water. The second (and bigger) problem lies in the way in which the era of recklessness skewed the economy against organic growth.
Morgan goes on to highlight the biggest beneficiaries of private borrowing
- real estate,
- construction and
- financial services.
These sectors are unable to grow further. Morgan correctly surmises “is a bit of a snag”, since these important sectors account for nearly forty percent of UK GDP.
Furthermore, as there is likely to be no more public spending on such large scale growth is halted in some other areas, and some of the most vital sectors to UK growth (i.e. the sectors with some of the most growth potential, according to UK Entrepreneur, Luke Johnson)
- healthcare,
- education and
- public administration
Jointly Morgan says this adds up to nearly another twenty percent of the British economy.
Then finally with reducing real incomes which affects the UK High Street and Retail sector then Morgan calculates total amount of the UK economy affected and now ‘ex-growth’ reaches seventy per cent {“O My God!”}
Is it any wonder Sir Mervyn Rees, Bank of England head, warned British economy had derailed:
“We were on track but the problems in the euro area and the marked slowing in the world economy have lengthened the period over which a return to normality is likely”.
Sir Mervyn has previously highlighted BOE’s weakness in dealing with inflationary pressures yet wages were no higher in 2011 than in 2005.
UK Small Business Sector
UK accounting software company Access have revealed they have received £50million as part of an ambitious expansion strategy.
Access software is used by around 6% of accounting companies throughout the UK and this is something they aim to increase.
The injection of cash will be covered by the management team, led by Chief Executive Chris Bayne with Lyceum making up the rest.
The expansion will be part of a rapid organic growth, acquisition of complementary solutions and the continuing development of software-as-a service.
Bayne said the deal would “Mark a significant step-change in the speed and scale of expansion” and that the charity sector would continue to be an important part of these plans.
Companies such as Access play an important part in the financial stability of small businesses, their software is used in many companies in conjunction with UK accountants.
Jeremy Hand, leader of the deal for Lyceum Capital said:
“Access is a highly attractive company with a successful operating model, proven management team and a strong position in the rapidly growing business segment of the software market.
“This deal will give the business the funding and additional insight and expertise to broaden its services and penetrate further into key vertical industries.”
Access has offices throughout the UK and provides accounting help to companies around the world with its innovative software and developments.
Accountancy services software is crucial for any business from SME’s to established enterprises, financial mismanagement is still listed as one of the number one reasons for business failure.
End of year tax returns and annual accounts preparation is always a hassle for all organisations no matter how big or small. HMRC is getting better at monitoring the quality of accounts and adminstering the penalties for late submission. Therefore it has never been more vital to guarantee that not only are all your company’s accounts in order, and ready for inspection, but that the management information is utilised thanks to a good accounting systems in place.
UK Card Merchant Services – how do they compare? I am not going to offer bland pseudo recommendations about leading UK Card Merchant Services, but something much more valuable – real experience. It is a commercial minefield. Just make sure it does become a door to a commercial graveyard.
Hiring a business consultant on a monthly basis, who seasoned professional who you keep in touch with on a regular basis, needn’t be expensive, will pay for itself and reduce the stresses and strains of business ownership and management. Take Card payments for your business. Can a Business Consultant can help with UK Card Merchant Service comparisons?
Well, firstly, choosing the wrong Merchant services can send you bust (if the services go bust themselves). A good business support professional should be able to help you avoid that one, and if you’ve sought their advice and they’ve given you poor advice and it costs you money they have professional indemnity insurance cover so you would be able to sue. The moral of the story is choose a large player.
Secondly, choosing the right merchant services provider can a huge amount of time. A consultant may be able to give you some useful background, such as that margins in merchant services card payment processing have steadily decreased, banks outsourced their in-house operations.
This explains why a UK Bank with excellent customer service, such as HSBC, can provide such poor HSBC Merchant Services operated by Global Payments UK Limited (part of the Global Payments Inc).
As a business owners, I too have had such poor sevice from UK banks in the past from Abbey Business, now Santander (see previous blog) and Alliance & Leicester Business (now also Santander) that HSBC is a breath of fresh air. The same does not apply to its outsourced merchant services.
In March 2011 Global Payments UK rolled out a new charging structure. In short this was badly managed, poor communicated and poor executed. The net effect was a seemingly 300%+ increase in processing charges. Back this up with appalling customer service, where the outsourced call centre in the Far East as the front line help desk (who are quite capable, but poorly managed using the ‘mushroom theory’) forwarded calls to Global Payments floor in the HSBC De Montfort Street building in Leicester (LE1 7BB). Promised of calls back within 2 WEEKS tell you the magnitude of the mistake they have been making. When asked why such a long delay, the poor female representative conceded it was due in large part to the volume of calls complaining of the lack of clarity plus the increase in charges. You can request a renegotiation of rates, which your business consultant would no doubt recommend and follow through for you if you don’t want to do it yourself. This might be the solution. Alternatively they might recommend switching to a UK bank that has in-house or a sister business that handles card processing such as BarclayCard Merchant Services.
Previously I had had poor experience with NatWest Streamline. Again the story was a failure in administration, with the feeble excuse ‘in the name of security’. The incompetence over change of address stretched in months, and annual quarters. This mirrors the incompetence of Santander when it came to managing accounts, and perhaps more seriously (see BBC Watchdog article of the most complained about bank). I was denied access to business accounts for over 6 weeks. It was a jolly good job I had a separate business bank as well, but what about those who do not. Here a business consultant can advise on banking strategy, as well as cash management, working capital and raising finance. If they can’t then either you need a different business consultant, because many can provide that level of support easily, or you need to find a good small business accountant.
My message is that having a professional business consultant at hand means that day to day problems like Card Merchant Services can be resolved easily, and better still many pitfalls and wasted resources can be avoided, as well as experiencing all the positive benefits that a good business consultant can bring such as performance improvement, increased productivity and a growth in net profits. All these things easily compensate for the considerably smaller financial outlay requested in exchange and negotiated at the time.
North London Accountants Comment On Oil-Tax Rise
Some of the UK’s most prestigious accounting bodies have commented on the recent announcement on North Sea Oil Tax saying it could damage the industry in the UK.
Chancellor George Osborne announced a 12% increase in tax in March as part of the governments bid to ensure stability and increase growth, but experts have said that the 32% tax would make the UK an ‘unattractive prospect for investment’.
Guilford accountants body The Chartered Institute of Taxation said that the tax increase was "likely to cause damage to the U.K.’s competitiveness."
The hike which has come as a bit of a shock to oil and gas companies effectively raises the tax paid on older oil fields to a maximum 81%.
Owners of British Gas, Centrica halted production on a gas plant in Morecambe Bay last Sunday (1/5/11) for four weeks of planned maintenance have said they may not restart work as a result of the tax announcement.
Investors from Norway, France and Germany have all said they will be reassessing their funding plans should the tax charge be enforced after discussions between The House of Commons’ Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne and Economic Secretary Justine Greening.
Fashion retailer Next have announced that they will be raising sales guidance after anticipated figures were beaten easily.
The firm which has over 500 stores nationwide revealed that sales figures rose over 5% compared to the anticipated 0.5%. Despite this announcement the company have remained cautious over the outlook for the rest of 2011 as no significant changes have happened in the economic climate.
The boost in sales has been put down to the recent run of Bank Holiday Weekends and the warm weather with a bulk of the spending coming within the four days before the Royal Wedding.
The announcement comes as other British retailers announced a profit warning in the wake of government cuts and the possible rise in interest payments.
Business Analysts have said that this week quarters figures have been ‘”heartening”. Business support finders have also recorded an increase in requests for experts in accounting services and finance.
Many experts are expecting a price rise of between 5-8% coming in the second half of the year for retailers so it will be interesting to see what will happen especially given that retailers have said they expect this month (May) to be their worst month since September 2009.
A North East company who promote the industry in the area have attacked the government’s StartUp Britain campaign for not supporting UK developers.
The initiative aims to encourage new business as part of the economic recovery, but Sunderland Software City has claimed that 79% of online business tools available for start ups are actually developed by overseas companies, something the company has called “hardly a vote of confidence”.
CEO of the firm Bernie Callaghan made the government aware of his companies feeling by sending an open letter to government officials , Mr Callaghan added:
"It seems bizarre that a government-backed scheme claiming to be the cheerleader for British innovation should be actively signposting people away from…British innovation."
Callaghan ended the letter with an open invitation for the board of StartUpBritain to visit the North East to discuss discounted services from companies.
This is not the first time that the scheme has had criticism brought upon it with experts arguing that it may offer cheapen tangible products and doesn’t offer the real help that businesses need such as accounting services. SME’s have also criticised the governments alignment with blue chip corporations.
Business service finders have reported an increase in requests this placed alongside recent Google and Experian figures revealing that business help search terms are up more than 50% for April, something highly unusual given it is the end of the financial year
UK banks plan to introduce a system for small businesses to appeal against loan applications getting rejected.
The new process will allow a business the right to appeal to a more senior bank official and have the decision reversed if they deem fit.
Angela Knight, head of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) said:
"We are trying to set out very clearly what is the commitment of the industry in how it is going to deal with small businesses."
However the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) have said they feel the announcement does nothing to improve the current situation, head of policy Andrew Cave said:
“The banks still hold all the cards,"
"Businesses still have to go through each individual bank’s appeal process, and can still be turned down without triggering an independent appeal."
Business mentors are also being introduced by many banks to prevent the need for initial rejection of the applications.
But independent business service finders have already said they feel that mentors should be catered towards the industry required not just generic.
It was also revealed that the appeal would only be available to businesses that employ less that 10 people and turnover of less than £2 million.
London accountants have already expressed their disappointment with the new offer as businesses based in the city may turnover more than this but are still a small business in relative terms.
In his ft.com management article “I’ve taken bribes and I would do it again.” Andrew Hill details what hoops he has had to jump to get a story, which included rubbing shoulders with Silvio Berlusconi in the tribuna d’onore at Milan’s San Siro stadium as well as listening to Robert Maxwell’s on his yacht (no quick escape) to hear Maxwell talk about his latest acquisition (on the deck where he later tragically threw himself off the side in despair).
The UK government has tried to deal with these kind of business arrangements in guidelines under a new bribery act (Ministry of Justice guidelines. It focuses on business hospitality and Andrew Hill explores in his ft management article how ‘benefits & gifts in kind’ can be used to influence people. Hill also goes on to discuss how this might affect key employees of major corporations arguing and eventually concluding that the British media is one of the best ways to police these kind of situations.
He argues that many business people operate close to the bone, trying to take advantage of another’s human frailties in order to influence or obtain something. If there was no law, he seems to suggest that open bribery would result. He also implies the dangers are getting worse, although that is not my impression, as I see the business world all around me as, little by little, improving and raising its standards in its drive to compete. The change is often brought about by younger employees bringing in new standards, and firms need to embrace those standards to attract and keep good staff.
This topic only serves to heighten my belief and reminding me that all good business consultants who are brought in to work within a business must employ the highest standards of business ethics otherwise they find they are despatched swiftly by their clients.
Professionals in the accounting profession need to remind themselves that they are also central to raising standards in business, and not solely to getting the accounting done and fee collected. Nor solely also amongst major UK corporations, but also to raise the standards amongst the budding UK small and medium enterprise community. Accountants and Auditors in particular need to keep abreast of the the government legislation and incorporate it in their provision of accounting practices. This means allocating some time each month to follow UK audit and accounting news in the media, within their own professional association, and connected to the many excellent legal websites, for current topics top advise their clients such as Wining, Dining and Prosecution Under the U.K. Bribery Act.
For calories and cancer many business people try their best to keep their calorie intake down as much as possible to keep healthy. A lot of executives and professionals view calories as fat and you must burn calories in order to loose weight. A view that is widely believed to be incorrect.
A calorie is simply a unit of energy. The explanation as to why they are so important is: the human body needs energy to function. Just moping around as a couch potato staring at a screen burns some calories. Really, the only real reason calories turn into a problem is when they are not burnt up or consumed in the course of a busy day. What happens then is they get turn into energy storage in the body, known as fat.
Prominent research proves that by reducing calorie consumption on a regular basis each day, can contribute to lowering the levels and therefore the risks of cancer. This is because lots of fat in the human body can limit the production of the hormone called adiponectin. This particular hormone has been shown to prevent the growth of cancer cells. This is why you should do your best to try and keep your calorie intake to just the right amount to get you through the day so you don’t have to store too many up as fat.
Fat loss supplements can help you loose weight and cut unwanted fat, therefore making a contribution to reducing the risk of cancer.
Any specific research need we would refer you to consult the World Health Organisation
Is the Government realistic to place so much importance on UK Economy’s growth on promising manufacturing data showing improvement. The Telegraph – UK Manufacturing sector has posted its most robust success in performance for 16 years, in December 2010. Philip Aldrick, telegraph journalist and online economics editor reports that UK Manufacturing output in December 2010 grew at its most rapid for sixteen years, i.e. not from 1994 have UK exports for new orders increased so fast. Manufacturing still claims to be the UK’s largest single industry and the impressive manufacturing sector performance is incredible since many retail business suffered as a result of the weather. How come they were not disrupted?
UK Employment seems positive as it too rose, and has been positively increasing for nine months in succession. So all seems good news as Accountants In The City of London, and the financial markets as a whole, seem to be including manufacturing performance, as well as employment, as major contributors to increasing UK’s economic prospects. Is manufacturing significant for the UK economy as they make out? How much are the UK’s 2010 Quarter 4’s employment results part of the solid foundation of an economic turnaround? What impact will the UK Government’s stringent monetary measures taking effect in 2011, starting with the VAT increase, have?”
Many Accountants and Auditors and Economists are more worried about a double-dip recession and UK inflation rising. The exorbitant price of crude oil and the steady increase in the price of food products are continually pushing inflation higher.
UK SME’s can always beat the trends, and swim against the current with help from professional advisers. My suggestion to UK business owners is seek advice now and take a fresh look at the economic landscape for 2011-2012. Small upward spikes in economic data do not make turnaround or suggest recovery. Caution and courage with business support for managing risk is the motto. If you need suggestions of management consultants, or have a skills shortage, message me and I can point you in the right direction.
The website optimisation and search engine specialists panel
Carolyn Shelby- Christine Churchill – Derrick Wheeler speaking at Pub Con
Christine Churchill started with netmechanic sold out and now runs Key Relevance (Dallas)
Derrick Wheeler has a career in Internet Marketing startups.
First site analysis www.accountantnow.co.uk
- Anchor text overkill for Accountant – should optimise for Brand Accountantnow – unlikely to be a problem since accountant is in url. So focus links on brand name. Could also be filtered by Google as a ‘contrived site’.
- Location – make it more clear what topic of page is about e.g. Accountants in Luton (Beds).
- Call to Action – form button must be the best position / strongest image and colours on page – above fold.
- sitemaps – better way to deal with all location links.
Duplicate title report on Google webmaster tools.
Telegraph Finance says Fathom Consulting report warns of threat of tipping UK economy into Japan-style economic frozen wasteland.
Fathom Consulting offer the main solution of another phase of quantitative easing (QE) .
However, what is still unclear to me is what Fathom Consulting view as the likely impact of such action. What would the real cost be, to the UK Treasury Spending review and the Bank Of England? They would need to go to the global money markets, already strained after the past 3-4 years of heavy demand and increased risks. There is little sentiment in the financial markets, despite the safety of lending to a European Government such the UK.
As I see it there are two likely outcomes:
- UK will seriously threaten the fragile Triple AAA credit status the present coalition administration is working hard to preserve. If it loses it, then costs will mushroom.
- Cost of Borrowing will increase in any event, and become almost unsustainable if the Triple AAA status is ever lost.
In balancing the threat of future heavy costs against leaving interest rates low and maintaining a status quo of 3m domestic mortgages that are potentially
“Put simply, [banks] have lent too much money against assets that have fallen in value, and those losses have to be fully recognised. Until they are, the economy will not be free to move forward,” quotes Fathom Consulting
Mr Gabay, of Fathom Consulting compares the UK today to the Japanese Economy in the late nineties. They are very similar. Then Japanese companies stagnated, in a frozen or comatose state. Mr Gabay draws our attention to the fact that the UK is in danger of creating stagnation homes – frozen property values. Quasi-zero interest rates are not the solution since [a] they are not for eternity and [b] it stunts and severely constrains a healthy growing economy. Fathom Consulting support their case after serious discussions with Monetary Policy Committee members and other significant stakeholders.
The British Council of Mortgage Lenders has recently published market research and analysis which claims evidence of almost 3 million UK Home owners would have domestic mortgages that failed to comply with the rules and guidelines for financial affordability even with a modest increase of 2 percent above the current Bank of England lending rate of half of one percent. (0.5pc).
The financial and political bombshell that the Fathom Consulting’s report suggests is that if UK house prices were to fall by 20pc by 2012 there would be a financial hole of nearly £200bn, which means another credit crunch and much greater implications.
If property values were to fall by 20%, which is not inconceivable, then Fathom Consulting’s solutions may well represent a better fiscal option for the UK Treasury, and would be a good incentive to return to the financial markets. The new UK “bad bank” should be allowed to issue bonds to fund the Toxic debt. The Bank of England would need to apply QE to buy the bonds. Long term it may make a healthy profit, and this could be an incentive to the markets. Toxic domestic mortgages would be purchased at a good discount to their book value – by as much a one quarter of their value.
Fathom Consulting suggest the buy-to-let mortgages which it estimates as just over 10% of the UK Housing market as the first place to start. This is unnecessary in my opinion since this sector, reputedly worth £150bn is currently performing well, and the rental market is buoyant with the shortage of lending choices and the reluctance of UK Financial Institutions to take any risks whatsoever in this uncertain climate. However the concept is good. The problem is that if the UK Treasury waits till the situation is more clear, the option to go to the markets may have been lost.
The head of Barclays’ head of small business unit Steve Cooper has said that the bank will not be joining any government schemes that set targets for small business lending, in fact they will “refuse”.
Mr Cooper told the Financial Times that he felt any targets implemented would result in a repeat of the irresponsible lending that saw Britain spiral into the current situation.
He added that it may mean banks will start dishing out loans to meet figures rather than on the merits of the application.
The coalition government is currently looking at implementing nationwide business targets for all banks, nothing has been approved as yet but as the government had pledged to increase the cash flow for all small and medium sized businesses it is expected that something will be implemented soon.
Business Secretary Vince Cable has said that the targets could be implemented but with dividends and bonuses used as an incentive for banks in what was described my Dr Cable as a “carrot and stick” approach.
Recent figures suggest that a total of £598m in new loans had been authorised in June, £70m more than in May.
A new business has been launched to try and help smaller business and is called Funding Circle, it acts as an online market place allowing private lenders to offer money directly to smaller companies.
Funding Circle has estimated that typical interest rates charged on the loans will be between 6% and 9%, borrowers will pay the website a £50 fee to register and also 2% of the amount borrowed, but if this happens then the £50 joining fee will be refunded.