Royal Mail and post union chiefs have been meeting at TUC headquarters all week and have still failed to come to an agreement.

The CWU’s postal strikes are underway in their second phase and affect the whole country, with approximately 44,000 members going on strike on Thursday.

More 24 hour strikes are due to be held on Friday and Saturday, with CWU general secretary Billy Hayes revealing that “I can see the strike action increasing now.”

“I don’t think we’re going to put up with this messing about.”

Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier was referred to on several occasions by Mr Hayes. Mr Crozier had said over the weekend that people should “shut up” exaggerating the impact of the strike.

Mr Hayes felt angered by these comments. “Our people aren’t going to shut up, our people are very angry.”

“I’m very angry at Royal Mail’s attitude towards these talks.”

43,700 union members in mail centres, delivery units in mail centres, network logistic drivers and garage staff are on strike on Thursday.

According to Royal Mail, they had been close to an agreement on Tuesday evening, but on Wednesday morning, the CWU had brought new demands to the table.

Mark Higson, managing director for Royal Mail Letters informed the BBC that “early yesterday the CWU came up with a fresh set of demands, and we considered those and we were in fact at the TUC all day.”

“But really in an extraordinary action, the CWU then decided to carry on calling the strikes, while those talks were in progress.”

Mr Higson’s attentions are now brought to ensuring that a few people are affected by these actions as possible by the continuing strike action, expecting the majority of mail backlog cleared by the start of next week.

More strikes are due from 400 workers at Stockport, Plymouth and Stoke with 77,000 delivery and collection staff across the UK striking on Saturday.

Dave Ward, deputy general secretary at the CWU announced that “we’re very frustrated and disappointed that we were unable to break the deadlock yesterday.”

“We tabled a proposal at ten o’clock yesterday morning and we waited some eight hours for Royal Mail to respond to that proposal.”

However, Mr Ward revealed that the talks from the last three days have been “the most useful and productive discussions” since the beginning of the talks.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber has been chairing the recent talks. The TUC helped to bring the strike action to an end two years ago.

Union leaders are beginning to blame Royal Mail chiefs and Lord Mandelson for the failure to reach a deal.

Lord Mandelson declared, “I’m very disappointed that these talks broke down.”

“They seemed, yet again, so close to an agreement.”

The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) noticed that the Consumer Confidence fell dramatically and unexpectedly from 53.4 in September to 47.7 for October.

Analysts predicted that the Index would remain unchanged for October, or possible rise slightly.

Elsewhere, a major US index noted that house prices rose by more than predicted for August.

Not long after the release of the data, the US stock market saw the Dow Jones drop 24 points, or 0.2%, to 9843.93, thought to be a result of low consumer confidence.

According to the Conference board, consumer confidence received its biggest blow as a result of rising unemployment.

The US unemployment rate increased to a new 26-year high in September at 9.8%, as revealed in figures released at the start of the month.

Fresh doubts have risen over the retail industry’s upcoming strength during the Christmas holidays this year.

Lynn Franco, research director for the Conference Board, revealed that “consumers remain quite pessimistic about their future earnings, a sentiment that will likely constrain spending during the holidays.”

Approximately 70%  of all US economic activity is due to consumer spending, so a lack of spending in the run up to Christmas may have major repercussions on the US economy.

In contrary to such worry news for the US economy, the US property market saw more positive news recently released.

There was a 1.2% rise in August in relation to July according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller Home Price Index, but 11.4% lower than last years figures.

Experts feel that the optimism may be short lived, as the recent increase in house prices may be a result of temporary tax credits.

Pierre Ellis of Decision Economics considers that “the picture so far is that prices have bottomed and are beginning to revive on a broad basis.”

“The question is whether it will be sustainable with a lack of employment growth and the potential expiration of the first-time home buyer credit.”

Part of the investigation will focus on price comparison websites, which make claims to offer the best deals. It will also look into a procedure called “drip pricing,” where added charges are included as the purchase progresses.

Customised pricing, where a consumer’s internet usage is analysed and used to form a price.

The investigation is being welcomed by Which? Magazine, who feel that many companies are using tactics on the web that wouldn’t be accepted elsewhere.

Matthew Bath, the technology editor for Which? told the BBC, “with some of the extras that are added while you’re buying online, it’s like someone accompanying you on your weekly shopping and adding products into your basket without your knowledge.”

“We think consumers should be aware of the final price from the beginning.”

The investigation is set to be thorough, with the following pricing practices set to be looked into:

·         Drip pricing – customers are given part of the price immediately, but as the purchasing process continues, added optional and compulsory charges begin to mount up; a practise which is seen when purchasing flight tickets, hiring cars and buying insurance.

·         Complex pricing – when companies provide offers, where it is difficult to assess an individual price. Three-for-two offers and ‘free’ add-ons are some of the methods used, and supermarkets, mobile phone companies and computer shops are seen to operate similar tactics.

·         Reference prices – where businesses such as cruise sales, furniture sales, and supermarkets increase a price in order to offer an even bigger discount.

·         Time-limited offers – carpet sales and furniture sales often promote sales prices that only last until the end of the month or for one day.

·         Baiting sales – when a company displays discounts in order to lure customers into the store, but don’t have many items at that price.

Heather Clayton, the senior director for the Office of Fair Trading expects the investigation to result in greater protection for the customers.

She went on to say, “these studies will ensure that we keep up to date with the latest development and how new pricing and advertising practices are emerging and evolving online.”

The investigation is set to be complete by the middle of 2010.

The expectations have been raised recently, with experts predicting that the UK was on course for economic recovery, but these figures raise serious doubts, with the public still hesitant to spend.

This information arrives in advance of figures due on Friday, that are largely expected to show a growth in the UK economy for the third quarter (Q3) of 2009; the first growth in over a year.

Although monthly growth may have wilted recently, September saw retail sales up by 2.4% on September 2008 figures, but below the anticipated 2.8% predicted by forecasters.

A year ago, consumers were reluctant to spend, with the financial system in turmoil and the Lehman Brothers going bankrupt.

The figures released for the retail sector have been much poorer than many had anticipated. Food-based stores were down 0.1% for September and non food-based stores saw no growth at all. Textile, footwear and clothing sales were even worse, falling 0.5% in total.

Upon the release of this news, the pound immediately fell in value against the Dollar and the Euro.

UK economist at Capital Economics, Vicky Redwood, was taken aback by the data. “September’s official UK retail sales figures are surprisingly weak given the strong rise in the timelier CBI and BRC surveys.”

The distributive trades survey conducted by the CBI found that High Street activity was at a five-month peak during September. The British Retail Consortium also revealed that the month of September delivered the “best total sales growth figures since January 2008.”

Some experts had expected to see a rise in retail activity in advance of the VAT hike from 15% back to 17.5%.

Many retailers don’t feel as positive, however. Sir Philip Green, head of Arcadia Group, which owns Wallis and Topshop, spoke to the BBC, predicting “I don’t think it gets a lot better over the next year.”

Arcadia have announced annual pre-tax profits of £213.6m, a rise of 13% on last year’s £188.9m figure.

Others have also experienced profits. Debenhams, the High Street department store revealed that due to the “Designers at Debenhams” range, their profits were up 13% to £213.6m compared to last year’s £188.9m. Their chief executive, Rob Templeman believes that many discounts will need to be made if Christmas shoppers are to be tempted to buy, declaring “I think it will be as promotional as last year.”

Talks are back on course between the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Royal Mail in a desperate attempt to resolve all problems without the need for strikes.

Talks resumed following the Royal Mail’s decision to take on 30,000 temporary staff, an action condemned by the CWU as a “stupid move.” However, Royal Mail management see this as a reduction to the potential “unjustified and irresponsible” industrial action.

The 24-hour strikes were called by the CWU over pay, conditions and postal reforms. Mail centre staff and drivers will strike on Thursday 22 October, with delivery and collection staff striking the following day.

However, the UK’s largest private mail firm, TNT, have announced that they may be capable of delivering the “final mile” to people’s letterboxes. Royal Mail currently delivers 99% of all mail under 350 grams.

In an attempt to get their workers to the street, TNT has been lobbying the government.

Nick Wells, Chief Executive at TNT Mail UK believes that changes need to be made by central government.

“We need the market and regulatory barriers moving before we can put orange postmen on the street.”

“We have an alternative potentially for the future but not for the moment. Royal Mail has a de facto monopoly on the final mile delivery.”

A huge backlog is expected as a result of the Christmas rush, and Royal Mail are looking to keep on top of it by hiring 15,000 more temporary workers than last year.

Under the current employment law, the hiring of staff to do the work of employees on strike is illegal.

Royal Mail has justified its actions by stating that any backlogs would need to be cleared in the event of strike action and the Christmas rush.

Peter Mandelson suggested the use of conciliation service Acas; a move welcomed by CWU General Secretary Billy Hayes.

Hayes stated, “what I’d sooner Royal Mail be doing is negotiating seriously about trying to find a resolution to this dispute.”

The government has responded by warning that there are other alternatives to the postal system, with City minister, Lord Myners, commenting that “technology is providing new ways of communicating.”

The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, appeared unhappy at the prospect of strike action. Speaking with the BBC, he declared “I think the people who are calling for a strike are wrong, which isn’t to say they don’t have legitimate concerns. But taking the whole country hostage like this is the wrong thing to do.”

During the three-month period from July to September, Google unveiled a net profit of $1.64bn (£1bn), a 27% increase on last years July-September figures.

Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, feels that “the worst of the recession is clearly behind us.”

Substantial profits weren’t just limited to Google’s prowess. Computing colossus IBM took a healthy $3.2bn in profits for the same period; an increase of 14% on last year’s figures.

They also provided encouraging figures for their predicted full-year profits, with members of management revealing that they expected to see the economic environment settling down.

Advertising Revenue

Quarterly revenue for Google far surpassed expert analysts’ predictions of $1.29bn, when they announced revenues of $4.38bn.

A spokesman for Google admitted that “because of what we have seen, we now have the confidence to be optimistic about our future.”

Two further advances have recently been made by Google. They will put themselves in competition with Amazon and Apple when they begin to sell electronic books via a new e-books service.

The second advancement was made when Channel 4 reached an agreement to show its programmes through Google’s YouTube website.

Robert Scoble, the highly-respected Technology blogger, believes that “people think of online video when they think of YouTube, but now YouTube is trying to bring in movies and longer-form content, which will let [Google] bring in new advertising that is going to be very profitable for them.”

Big-Brand Advertisers are Back

The recession doesn’t appear to have hit Google quite like other companies that solely deal in advertising, with many analysts predicting that they would one of the first to bounce back from the economic crisis.

Google saw a sharp 3.1% rise of $16.44 to $546.35 on Thursday, a sign that the markets are impressed by Google’s current and future prospects.

Coin Gillis, a senior analyst with Brigantine Advisors, is confident of Google’s strength, stating that “Google has no competition. Yahoo is withering on the vine and [Microsoft's] Bing is too tiny now.”

“They did great on every single metric. We think this is sustainable.”

He went on to state that Google’s current message is very clear and concise; “big brand advertisers are back and they are spending money.”

Set a realistic goal: this is one of the first steps that you need to take when considering setting up a trade show booth. All members of your company need to agree on the goals before setting foot in the trade show, from marketing to product development and even the CEO. Often, just visiting a trade show can benefit your business and help you to learn from others at the show. Some benefits include: developing leads, clients and relationships; understanding brand management; helping others to understand your company and product; to become a known part of your industry; to help your team to bond for the good of your company; to recruit and to seek investors. Giving equal weight to all goals is most likely to result in all your goals failing. Speak to other members of your team and ask each member to provide you with a percentage weighting of the three most important goals. Remember, be realistic, not overambitious.

Forming a strategy: once equipped with goals and targets, it’s important to settle on a timeline for events. Focus on pre, during and post event, and create a checklist to prevent forgetting any vital parts. Acquiring clients, developing your product or generating leads is crucial at such events, and your company should focus on making one of these a priority. If generating leads is your main goal, set your most sociable team members with the task of socialising with those at the event and getting your brand heard. If you’re directing your attention towards achieving clients, you will need your sales people at the forefront. Developing your product may be most important for your company. In which case, you should task your developers with seeking out other developers and seeking ideas.

Create a budget: trade show booths will be between a third and two-thirds of all your financing for an event. The total costing should be looked at before booking the event, as extra costs could take you by surprise, such as travel, hotels, display material, staffing and food. If you’re breaking the budget by just paying for your stall, it may not be the right time to attend a trade show as you will end up cutting corners or leaving things out. Displaying at a trade show is a great opportunity to display your product and the professionalism of your company.

Research conducted as a part of National Identity Fraud Prevention week found that three-quarters of workers believed that their employers weren’t doing enough to protect their customers’ sensitive information.

The UK currently spends more than £1.2bn on identity fraud each year with approximately 60,000 people already targeted this year.

Theives use peoples sensitive information to apply for credit or benefits in their victims’ names and gangs are even selling peoples personal information on the black market.

As a part of a survey of 1000 people, 36% were unaware of any policies that their company had in place for handing and disposing of sensitive information.

The survey also found that 64% of people fail to shred their personal documents before disposing of them at home.

Approximately 12% of people questioned failed to use any security software whilst surfing the net at home and a mere 21% checked their credit report to see if anybody had been making applications for credit in their name.

Less than 50% of people questioned, chased up mail that was expected but hadn’t arrived.

Tyron Hill, a spokesman for National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, stated that the threat of identity fraud was “real and current.”

“People are either naive or they continue to ignore the advice that could keep their identity, their finances and their reputation safe,” he said.

“Even simple steps, like thoroughly shredding any documents with your name and address on them, will help to minimise your exposure.”

Identity fraud is continuing to rise rapidly, with experts believing it is no coincidence that we are currently in a recession.

The act of taking over an account rather than creating a new one has tripled in the past two years.

The fraud prevention service, CIFAS, have reported that 81% of us are concerned that we will be targeted by identity theives.

The two most common places for identity theft in the UK are South east London and Birmingham, 2,680 and 2,111 cases so far this year, respectively. Wales has the lowest number of identity fraud cases with the south-east England having the highest.

CIFAS Chief Executive Peter Hurst is extremely concerned, stating that ”fraud is an insidious crime. Not only does it affect consumers and businesses financially, but its impact in terms of reputation, trust and time are unquantifiable.”

The National Identity Fraud Prevention Week takes place from the 12 to 19 October.

Customer complaints aren’t usually welcomed by small business owners who have to get on with the running of their firm. But even matters that seem trivial to you can provide vital feedback to an aspect of your business that may be putting other customers off buying from you.

If enough customers experience the same problems, and tell their friends and colleagues something negative about you, poor customer service could become a serious problem.

Bending Over Backwards

John Tschohl – customer service guru – says companies should go out of their way to apologise for any mistakes and correct them as soon as they can.

He advises: “When a customer complains, you should be grateful. Research shows that only about 4% of customers will tell you when they have a problem. The other 96% simply won’t do business with you again. Instead, they quietly fume and take their business-and their money-elsewhere. They also will tell an average of 10 other people about the problem they had with your organisation.

“Handling customer complaints is a critical element in providing exceptional service, it’s also one aspect of any job that employees fear and, consequently, mishandle. They take complaints personally, and they haven’t been trained in how to deal with irate customers.”

He adds: “When employees are trained to deal with complaints, the organisation wins on two fronts. It not only retains its customers; it also retains its employees. When employees are trained to deal with complaints, the organisation wins on two fronts. It not only retains its customers; it also retains its employees.”

Six Steps

Tschohl suggests six steps to win customers loyalty:

1) Listen carefully and interestedly. Don’t be defensive. Remember the customer isn’t attacking you personally, just describing the problem he wants you to solve. Keep on topic so you can solve the problem, not find more.

2) Imagine being in the customers shoes. Respond so they know you care. Showing empathy diffuses the situation and has a calming influence on customers. Never challenge them directly, even if they are wrong, don’t try to prove it, solve it.

3) Ask questions caringly and sounding concerned. The more information you have the better armed you will be to solve it satisfactorily.

4) Suggest at least one alternative. Ask what they feel is an appropriate solution, then make your own solutions. Solve the problem together.

5) Apologise without blame. A sincere apology can diffuse a potentially volatile situation. If a customer hears an apology, they are likely to respond in a similar manner. Don’t shift the blame to another person or department.

6) Solve the problem, or find someone who can. Quickly solved complaints saves you money and makes customers happy.

What Do You Think? Comment here.

Finding it difficult to tear yourself away from the office for a summer break? Apparently, it’s not as uncommon as you may have originally thought!

Euroffice.co.uk – the UKs leading supplier of discount stationary – found in a recent survey of small and medium sized businesses that 35% of us are still contacting the office while we are on holiday this summer.

Of this 35% that will be checking-in with the office, 38% admitted that they would be in-touch with work ‘a few times’ while working on their tans, while 22% believe they will be in contact once a day, and 8% even believing they would have to stay in phone or email contact several times a day.

So, why the constant need for communication?

56% of people said they would be contacting the office simply because ‘staying on top of things makes returning from holiday easier’. 21% of people admitted that even though they are meant to be on holiday, they find they just ‘can’t disconnect completely from work.’

However, if you’re one of the ones looking forward to a week in the sun without worrying about what’s going on at work, the survey showed that 41% of people think technology – there to make our lives easier – is making it harder for us to take time off work, even for just a day without alerting the boss.

The next question may have produced a biased response from employees worried about alerting the boss, but of only 37% of people that admitted they had skived off work from time-to-time, many said they would do a lot less bunking off this summer because they have ‘too many deadlines’ or ‘too heavy workload’.

What Do The Surveyors Have To Say?

CEO of Euroffice, Simon Drakeford commented on the results of the survey: “During the summer, it’s very tempting to skip work for a day or two to enjoy the sunshine or get an early start on a holiday.

“However, with things still pretty tough out there, employees are questioning their job security and prospects.  Understandably, many see it as being in their best interest to work harder and put in the extra effort instead of bunking off.

“What’s unfortunate, though, is that our survey reveals that many diligent office workers are finding it increasingly difficult to leave their work behind and relax while taking their annual leave.  Ultimately, the extra stress will begin to take its toll – and this can negatively affect employees as well as the business.”

Euroffice is a small, multiple award winning, web-based company that offers over 35,000 office products and services for small businesses. Products include discount stationary, computer supplies, printers and faxes, ink toners and cartridges and office furniture.

What Do You Think?

Do you find it difficult to take time off work too, even when on annual leave? Is it just technology making it harder to break away from the office, or is there more to it? Leave your comments here.