Setting Up or Expanding Your Business

Inflation, Fake Banks Profits and the Rape of Britain

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:21:00 +0000

Article courtesy of Nadeem Walayat

The Bank of England kept UK interests on hold at 0.5% last week as it continues its policy of IGNORING HIGH UK inflation that continues to stand above the Bank of England's 3% upper limit for the purpose of the BoE continuing to funnel tax payer cash onto the balance sheet of bailed out bankrupt banks as illustrated by the most recent banking sector profit announcements, most of which are fictitious as in actual fact the banks are not generating any profits because they continue to only partially write down bad debts.

The only reason why bankrupt banks are announcing profits is so as to allow them to pay their chief officers huge bonuses as a reward for succeeding in conning the tax payers by means of threats of financial armageddon as inept regulators with themselves having one hand in the cookie jar watch on as they intend to return to commercial banking themselves so as to have their turn at getting a piece of the tax payer funded bailout pie.

The ways and means by which these fictitious profits are being achieved are many, such as The Bank of England loaning the banks at 0.5% which they then run along and invest at zero risk in longer dated UK government stock at 3.5% and thus make a 3% risk free profit with the tax payers money, meanwhile the ordinary tax payers who have been saving hard all their working lives are seeing the value of their savings being stolen by means of the stealth inflation tax as banks drunk on central bank cash pay a pittance of less than 2% in interest whilst even the official doctored CPI inflation rages at 3.2%, well above the BOE target of 2%. And not to forget the government adding insult to injury by TAXING the pittance of interest received at 20% for basic rate and 40% for higher rate tax payers.

Similarly borrowers are not receiving anywhere near 0.5% for loans and mortgages as most mortgage borrowers will be lucky to see any rate below 4% with many on rates of as high as 6% which is resulting in huge profit margins for the banks that continue to penalise their customers for their own mistakes.

Where savers and borrowers are concerned Britain would be far better off with a nationalised banking sector that exists purely to service the loans and savings market rather than the bankster elite maximising the amount of money that can be stolen from tax payers, savers and borrowers by means of an officially sanctioned artificial banking system.

Safer Means Double Dip - Bring Back Reckless Lending

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:41:00 +0000

As the Bank of England (BoE) published data showing yet another month when more loans had been repaid than had been granted, Vince Cable admitted the level of anxiety in the government about the flow of funds to smaller companies. He said: "The green paper will acknowledge the scale of the problem and how the recovery could be aborted if we don't get on top of this.

"There is a fundamental policy conflict between efforts to make the banks safer and our wish to get them lending more freely to promote growth," Cable said.

He has been presented with research from the banks – which have given the work by PricewaterhouseCoopers the name "Project Oak" – showing that tougher capital rules and the end of emergency liquidity injections from the BoE could drain the banking system by £1 trillion in the coming years.

Cable believes there is a "very frustrating standoff" between the banks and small businesses: banks argue there is no demand, while businesses say they are not applying for loans because they expect to be rejected or the cost is too high.

"We have to acknowledge there is an issue," said Cable. Even so, he does not appear to be ready to alter the current lending targets for Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, which run until next March.

Since the 2008 banking crisis, lending figures from the banks compiled by the BoE have been positive in only three months. The Liberal Democrats calculated that £46bn of loans had been withdrawn in the past year alone.

Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight, agreed with Cable that the BoE data showed "several worrying traits". Archer said: "The survey very much maintains concern that tight credit conditions could hold back the recovery. This is even allowing for the fact that ongoing muted bank lending to companies is being influenced significantly by low demand for credit in addition to restricted supply.

"Lack of access to credit for smaller businesses is still a serious problem despite some reports that it has risen slightly in recent months," said Archer.

The low level of activity in the mortgage market – where June's 48,000 approvals were the lowest since May 2009 – also prompted Archer to forecast that house prices would fall by 3% to 5% over the second half of the year

Bank Lending for Businesses Very Difficult to Get

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:33:00 +0000

Access to finance for businesses remains difficult, says IoD survey

Dated: 13 July 2010
New data released today by the Institute of Directors (IoD) reveals that businesses are still having difficulty accessing finance from their banks despite a fall in decline rates.
Key Findings

1 in 3 firms that applied for finance in the time period 1 January 2010 – June 2010 were declined by their bank.

There is evidence that lending criteria have become more restrictive with regard to the amount of security requested by banks.

The Survey
From a survey of 899 company directors carried out at the beginning of June 2010 the IoD can reveal the following data:
Applications and decline rates for finance

39% of IoD members’ firms applied for finance with a bank (applications include requests for renewals/extensions/new requests for overdrafts and loans) in the time period 1 January 2010 – June 2010.

This compares with an application rate of 25% in our last survey, which covered the longer time period, 1 January 2009 to December 2009 (the survey was carried out in December).

Of the 39% of IoD members’ firms which applied for finance in the time period 1 January 2010 – June 2010, 33% had an application for finance declined by a bank.

This compares with a decline rate of 57% in our last survey which covered the longer time period, 1 January 2009 to December 2009.
Security requested against loans

37% of IoD members stated that in the period 1 January 2010 – June 2010 they had noticed an increase in the amount of security being requested against any lending that their organisation sought.

This follows 29% of IoD members in our previous survey having noticed an increase in the period 1 January 2009 to December 2009. No respondents in the latest survey noticed a decrease in the amount of security being requested.

Commenting on the survey results, Miles Templeman, Director-General of the Institute of Directors, said:
“Although there is clear evidence of a drop in decline rates we’re still concerned that access to finance for businesses remains difficult. The survey indicates that some access problems relate to lending criteria becoming more restrictive with regard to the amount of security requested by banks. This raises a question about the functioning of the Government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme (EFG).

“The IoD would like the Government to clarify the relationship between the state-backed guarantee scheme and bank requirements for personal security. We continue to hear from IoD members who’ve had 75% of a loan underwritten through the EFG but who are still required by their bank to put up personal securities equivalent to over half of the loan value. Of course businesses should have some ‘skin in the game’, but this seems excessive.

“But we remain convinced that the best way to improve access to finance in the longer-term is getting a lot more competition into the banking sector. Only when firms can choose more easily where they can place their business and switch banks will we have a banking sector that is better focussed on the needs of business customers.”

The UK is Bankrupt with Nowhere to Go

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 11:40:00 +0000

With thanks to Brendan on the Telegraph Comment today

"I disagree that Greece and Ireland are more extreme cases than ours.

The official balance sheet debt of the UK does not include the state and public sector pension liabilities, nor PFI. Those three are respectively £1.4 trillion, £800bn and £250bn, so around £2.4 trillion in aggregate. And no, it’s not a typo, it really is trillion.

Added to the on-balance sheet debt, the UK taxpayer is now on the hook for liabilities amounting to more than 200% of GDP.

That would not be such a problem but for the fact that UK economy has just shrunk by 6% and does not have an obvious means of generating rapid and sustained economic growth over the next decade or so. Most commentators have overlooked the fact that the two other major countries that had significant financial centres – the US and Japan – are well diversified economies with strong manufacturing and export sectors.

What makes the UK so uniquely vulnerable is that beyond the City of London there isn’t really any world beating commercial base of any scale. Yes we are world leaders in Scotch whisky and cheddar cheese but this isn’t going to make a difference to a £2 trillion debt. Under Labour we have lost 1 million manufacturing jobs and added around 1 million public sector jobs, a straight swap of productive, wealth-generating employment for non-productive wealth-draining employment.

There is no easy route out of this. We do not have raw materials like Australia or Russia, cheap labour like China, specialist agriculture like Brazil or technology skills like India. We have over 5 million unemployed adults of working age and not really any prospect of putting them to work. Paying for their benefits, healthcare, education and pensions has brought the country to its knees.

It isn’t society that is broken, it’s the business model of UK plc.

So while France, Germany, the US and Japan can see a way out, we can’t. It’s remotely plausible, I suppose, that the City will spark back to life and save us, that private equity and hedge funds will ramp up again and borrowing will explode as before but I can’t see that happening in the current bank-bashing climate. Besides most of them will relocate to Switzerland to avoid the punitive taxes.

The UK is holed below the water line and it is in fact necessary now for there to be a major shock to allow the downsizing of our prosperity to occur without civil unrest. Ireland gives some encouragement that the population can be persuaded to accept much lower living standards without burning cars and throwing rocks at the police, let’s hope the same will be true here."

Stop The Bank Tax Madness: Only Governments to Benefit

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 23:12:00 +0000

Brown hails move on global bank tax: This is WHY

Governments must be rubbing their hands together to try and balance THEIR books with massive tax grab on banks. Politicians of every colour can't wait to demonize the banks for the worst reasons: they want their money. Hang on that's OUR money in all those banks!

AT first they just wanted to help the banks with cash injections for shareholding, deals (and maybe a place on a board here and there) and to stop the banks that are too big to fail. Now for this they got their deals and equity stakes. NOW they want to tax banks as well. Well, how is this going to make banking any cheaper, or make bank lend any more money when our Governments want to tax them?

A tax on banks will come out of tax payers and businesses pockets. Come on think about this and WAKE UP! Read the article below to see how the Government PR machine is in full flow to get their hands of more of our money.

By George Parker in London FT Saturday Sorry but direct Copy below
Published: April 4 2010 22:01 | Last updated: April 4 2010 22:01
"Gordon Brown on Sunday said the large economies were close to agreeing a global tax on banks that would cost the financial sector billions of pounds a year but played down expectations that a deal could be struck at the next Group of 20 meeting in June.

The UK prime minister, who held talks with Angela Merkel, German chancellor, last week, said the scene was set for a “global responsibility levy”.

He said Britain, France and Germany were now broadly agreed on the need for a levy, and he hoped the US would come on board.

“Britain, France and Germany have talked about what we can do together,” he said. “We are agreed on the need for a common basis.”

Last week, France and Germany jointly backed an internationally co-ordinated levy.

Mr Brown told the Financial Times he wanted to reignite the spirit of global co-operation, which had faltered in the year since last April’s G20 summit in London.

Although a British election is expected in little more than a month, Mr Brown is engaged in frenetic international diplomacy to broker a global settlement for banks. “The relationship between banks and society has to change,” he said.

He wants a global levy to be agreed at the G20 summit in Seoul in November, along with capital rules to reinforce banks against a future crisis.

Many bank watchers had been geared up for an initiative at the June summit in Toronto but Canada is sceptical. Mr Brown wants the tax agreed on a multilateral basis, using a common base if possible.

The US has used a levy on wholesale funding but Mr Brown says he has an open mind on whether the tax should target assets or liabilities.

He declined to say how much the tax might raise from UK banks, but cited the annual €1.2bn envisaged by Ms Merkel for German banks and $10bn (€7.4bn) planned for the US levy as examples.

Given the relative size of the UK banking sector, that would suggest Mr Brown is eyeing a levy in Britain of several billion pounds.

Mr Brown said he had agreed with Ms Merkel it should be left to individual countries to decide how to spend the proceeds of the levy.

Germany wants to create an insurance fund to protect against future bank failures but Mr Brown fears this could create moral hazard and encourage risky behaviour by banks.

He is also concerned that any extension of the US bank tax – designed to pay for past bail-outs – could run into congressional problems.

The prime minister believes that the problems in the banking sector have not been fully resolved."

Well thanks FT, now lets do some analysis.

Customer Care Is Dead: Debt Collectors Rule

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:37:00 +0000

RIP Customer Care:

Replaced by call centres, poor administration and the propensity to terminate agreements and send out for the debt collection agencies.

In fact some loan agreement terms and conditions are so generous to the client (due to base rates at 0.5%) that finance houses appear to be forced into termination in order to turn a profit.

Unfortunately I cannot name names but car loans are a perfect example. Fall behind (there is still an ongoing recession in full flight) and they will send out default notices and terminations like confetti. But when you read the fine print, they have within their remit the ability to charge you with base rate plus 5%, (total 5.5%) but via the courts they can apply 8% and ask for all outstanding premiums to be paid in one lump (even though you may not have completed on the term of the loan). Then they can get the car back as well. What a way to turn a profit!

It's called churning. And churning is big business. But big business has a guilty secret of making mistakes, and burying them into your account. Then they take you to court. If you have the temerity to defend yourself they capitulate, but if you don't they take your money, even if you do not owe all they say. And worse, the court system adds in it's fee, and costs. And then there is the unbelievable statutory interest at a princely 8% yes, thats 7.5 % over base.

All in all there is a game going on in the UK called 'churn the debtor'. Every company, bank, mortgage lender, finance house and debt buying agency is in on the scam. They are aiming to transfer unsecured debts into secured debts via the court system. Then, hey presto, they will sell on the secures debt at around 3-10 times the price they paid for it. It's the bad side of capitalism, but the legal system has to take some of the heat - they love it. They get paid by the hour whether the case is right or wrong, even if they make mistakes and you pick up the bill - it's called chargeable hours.

It's a "reprehensible business" (to quote one District Judge), but hey it's legal.

So the tip of the day is to challenge everything. If your lender or credit card co or even the debt collector say you own £XXXXX, then challenge it. 9 times out of 10 the figures are wrong. Or worse, some debt collecting agencies actually fabricate debts. Yes really!

Times are becoming bad, customer care is a sham and few can see it at the moment.

Tom Peters Cures Recession

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 04:17:00 +0000

Tom Peters on his own website quotes

"It" (the current economic mess) is 100% about psychology. Fixes must first and second and third and fourth be directly aimed at our inherent irrationality—times ten in periods of high stress, and at least as true of the "bestest and brightest" as of the rest of us.

Tom Peters posted this on 11 February 2009.

We hope to see Tom Peters in the UK in June in a series of high profile Seminars run by Inspirational Seminars, who will shortly announce details. This type of event is likely to be advertised on their sister web site at http://www.inspirational-speakers.org

How Big is Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:57:00 +0000

I was doing some research into the size of the African continent and I came across this amazing map from the Times Atlas

Expensive Business Training Needs to be Good, but Good Training Needn’t be Expensive

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:31:00 +0000

A new type of training seminar offers the high quality companies are used to but at a truly affordable price. Inspirational Seminars Ltd is using the medium of seminars, which they have branded ‘Quick & Dirty!’ Instead of asking companies to book their staff on a 2 or 3 day programme, they have encapsulated the ‘real meat’ of these programmes in seminars just 3 hours long.

Training staff and management in the ‘Soft-Skills’ is seen as an investment in people however when the economic outlook is bleak, what was previously thought of as an investment becomes seen as a cost. But how can a company be fit to weather the storm if for example they stop motivating their sales people and line managers with good training? Companies shouldn’t be as much concerned about the economic outlook, as much as they should be on the look-out for good training that will continue to build their business.

Inspirational Seminars is a training company that is offering companies a new way to continue development of their staff but at a very affordable price. The ‘Quick & Dirty!’ concept allows organisations to continue with the essence of vital training whist allowing them breathing space to recover. When the budget allows, more in depth face to face training can take place using the same world class trainers and course writers to maintain continuity.

In recent years, the training industry has seen quite a lot of seminars that are really only vehicles to sell companies and individuals longer and more expensive courses; they contain very little in the form of usable information. The ‘Quick & Dirty!’ seminars offer people a stream of ideas during the 3 hours that people can go away and use immediately. These seminars will be rolled out over the UK and Europe after a series of pilot schemes starting in Oxfordshire.

John Burke, a director of Inspirational Seminars Ltd says; ‘the benefits to companies who take advantage of this type of training is that they get high quality training with low investment, they do not lose people from the office for more than half a day and there are no hotel costs involved. But perhaps one of the most important benefits is that both the material and delivery are of the highest quality because the seminars are run by very experienced, world-class trainers of international acclaim. Another benefit that companies find is that this type of training fills a gap until they are in a situation whereby they can undertake more in-depth training’.

He continues, ‘since people are the ‘life-blood’ of any company it is of course important for companies to continue the learning and development of people within the organisation. Most HR Departments are inundated with information from training companies and so the process of making decisions as to which company to use can be very much like a minefield these days. What companies should bear in mind is this: although expensive training needs to be good, good training needn’t be expensive’.

For additional information on the availability of these seminars, please send your email to info@inspirational-seminars.com or visit http://www.inspirational-seminars.com and visit the ‘Quick & Dirty!’ Seminar text at the top right hand side.

About Inspirational Seminars Ltd

Inspirational Seminars (ISL) is a consortium of trainers who have all worked with well established training companies over the last 20 years. These are people who have worked closely with each other and have now come together to provide unsurpassed quality training programmes to companies in the UK and Europe. Some of their trainers are psychologists, some are NLP Practitioners and all have personal experience in every subject in which they train.

Inspirational Seminars’ team of dedicated professionals aim to bring to companies first class, world-class results-oriented ideas that will improve the performance of individuals thus improving the overall performance of a client company. This is done with well developed and established methodologies and close working relationships with customers.

Inspirational Seminars offers Public Courses and Seminars throughout the UK and parts of Europe covering a wide range of sales, management and personal development. And because these programmes can be adapted for individual customer needs it means ISL can provide around 80% of most companies development requirements.

Should we Bail Out the Banks or Have a Recession?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:47:00 +0000

As the Banks sit there wringing their hands in anguish at the problems they are in, let's step back to see what they are actually causing in the rest of the economy.

First we have to understand about the "paradox of thrift", the concept introduced by that great British economist John Maynard Keynes, who has been very much misrepresented over the years. This concept states that if we all start saving too much, then we are not spending. This will then causes a slow down in the economy as goods and services are not being purchased in the same volumes.

Now lets consider what the banks are doing right now in their misguided attempts to correct the real problems that they have caused and with their desperate need for refinancing from Governments and Sovereign Wealth Funds. Yes, they are taking money out of the production cycle for debt re-financing. And as they are reducing the amount of lending, they are deflating global economies.

Are they mad? They are only concerned with their own survival, but it seems at the expense of the rest of the economy. Because they have got everybody's bank accounts online they are now indispensable/compulsory [just try to do without one, your tax office will go ape]. Worst luck. We need an alternative to bank accounts. An alternative that will not try and gear up your money to fund their profits and then pocket your cash when they screw up. How else can we interpret their actions.

At best a bank is only a marginal business. How can it possibly make money from holding our money? They do it by using our money for their own gain. But when their assumptions and their miscalculations mean that they have lost our money, its only natural that we the customers are going to feel a bit angry. No wonder there are "runs on the bank". No bank can survive a loss of confidence in the system. That's why we have problems now - we have lost confidence in "the system".

The only solution is to re-build that confidence, hence massive inter-governmental support, or to come up with alternatives. Well Governments are doing their bit but....

So lets as responsible business folk with creative minds come up with some alternatives to the traditional banks.

First is the internet concept of ZORPA

Next is anybody's best guess. Please lets come up with some solutions.

Over to you.

John Burke, Ecadamist, and International Worrier!

BOE cut interest rates by 1.50% to 3.00%

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:53:00 +0000

After one of the most hotly debated rate decisions in recent times, the Bank of England delivered its largest interest rate cut in 15 years today, slashing the UK base rate by a full 1.50% to 3.00%, in an effort to shield the ailing British economy from the fallout of the global credit crisis. The move follows on from last month’s coordinated 0.50% cut with other major Central Banks, as the credit crisis increased its stranglehold on the global economy.

Faced with mounting evidence that the UK economy is headed for recession, the Monetary Policy Committee has come under increased pressure to take more decisive action. Earlier this week Britain’s service sector, the backbone of the UK economy, was seen contracting at its sharpest rate on record while factory output posted its longest decline since the 1980’s recession, heralding further job losses. However, the most influential of recent developments was the sharp contraction in third quarter GDP, confirming the UK economy is on the brink of a recession, sharply reducing consumer and business confidence for the coming year.

Recent comments by Governor Mervyn King stating that “it now seems likely that the UK economy is entering a recession” signals further monetary easing is in the pipeline.

Major Interest Rates

Major Interest Rates
US Fed Fund Rate 1.00% 29th Oct 2008
EU Min. Bid Rate 3.75% 8th Oct 2008
UK Base Rate 3.00% 6th Nov 2008

Source: HIFX Financial Services Ltd

Tax Strategy Hurting Businesses

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:01:00 +0000

Call to end tax on vacant properties

A group of the largest property owning companies have called on the government to scrap or amend legislation covering business rates on empty properties in the pre-Budget report.

Companies began paying full rates on vacant properties for the first time this year, following an initial grace period. It has been criticised as an extra financial burden on an already struggling property sector.

Many companies and organisations outside the sector also own real estate, including pension funds. Local councils have suffered as they also pay tax on empty properties. Campaigners say the tax is stifling regeneration.

The letter to Gordon Brown has been signed by companies with a combined market capitalisation of £370bn.

These include companies from AstraZeneca and McDonald’s to Next, Tesco and Nokia, as well as Land Securities, British Land and Canary Wharf.

Segro and Brixton, among the other supporters of the letter, which was collated by the British Property Federation with Property Week magazine, estimate that the tax will cost them £8m and £5m this year respectively.

The letter asks for a 50 per cent relief on the tax for shops and offices for two years, and an indefinite stay on industrial buildings.

The government scrapped a former relief for empty properties in April. It estimates the move could generate up to £1bn in extra revenue.

The Communities and Local Government Department said: “There are no plans to reverse the changes to empty property rate relief introduced on April 1. However, as with all taxes the position is kept under review and the government has engaged with industry and local authorities to understand how the reforms are working overall.”

Ian Coull, chief executive of Segro, said: “This outrageous piece of taxation is hitting the whole of the British economy at a time of severe downturn.”

Source: FT; By Daniel Thomas
Published: October 23 2008 22:47 | Last updated: October 23 2008 22:47

Make Sure You Do Not Waste Money with Google Adwords

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:52:00 +0000

Free Google Adwords Strategy Report

Don't Expect Too Much Support from Your Bank

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:09:00 +0000

The following article re-printed below is not good news at all. As the recriminations start, Banks will have to defend themselves and by the look of things end up paying off angry investors.

Either way the credit crunch is only starting to seriously unfold.

Barclays dismisses San Marino lawsuit

Barclays Capital will fight vigorously a lawsuit filed against it in London’s High Court by a banking client Cassa di Risparmio di San Marino, which alleges misrepresentation by the UK investment bank in the sale of complex debt products.

The San Marino-based bank is seeking damages of at least €170m (£134m) in losses and lost income related to five complex credit-linked notes bought by CRSM for €450m in 2004 and 2005.

It is also seeking unspecified damages related to the restructuring of three other complex notes in June 2005.

“The legal action has no merit and we will contest it vigorously,” Barclays said on Tuesday.

The suit is part of an increasing number of actions faced by banks over their complex credit products since the market turmoil that began last year led to widespread losses in the financial industry.

Lawyers said that many disgruntled clients are pursuing the banks that had arranged complex debt products, but that claims are mostly settled well before they near a court filing, which is seen very much as a last resort, particularly in Europe.

Barclays has faced a number of similar lawsuits over collateralised debt obligations it has structured and sold.

In 2005 it settled a $151m claim brought by HSH Nordbank of Germany.

HSH is also currently suing UBS, the Swiss bank, over alleged mismanagement of a $500m portfolio of collateralised debt obligations to London. The case, which is set to be heard in New York, was among the first to be filed over subprime mortgage losses in the wake of the credit crunch.

Barclays, meanwhile, is also named in a lawsuit filed this month by Oddo Asset Management of France in New York, which relates to two investment funds known as “SIV-lites”.

That suit also seeks damages from Solent, a London-based hedge fund that managed one of the investment funds, and from McGraw-Hill, the owner of Standard & Poor’s, the rating agency.

Bankers said Italy was beginning to discover the depths of its problems with structured products. Marco Elser, senior manager in Rome at Advicorp, an independent investment banking group, said: “Half of Italian banks don’t know what they have in their accounts, because the derivatives around which the structured products were sold are so complex that it would take an Einstein to figure it out.”

Additional reporting by Guy Dinmore in Rome
By Paul J Davies

Published: July 29 2008 19:05 | Last updated: July 29 2008 19:06
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

The action above could be the first in an avalanche of law suits filed by investors who could feel a little hoodwinked by the avaricious banks and their rush to sell "products" to their clients in the headlong desire to make ever increasing profits from a "business" that should only be marginal at best.

When you run a business that has its hands in your pockets, the tendency is for it to help itself.

John Burke

Join Technorati

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:58:00 +0000

Technorati Profile

Its all about cross networking and interconnections!

Or is it just to get Technorati up the google rankings by inward links? So to balance things here are a list of my blog and web interests with lots of great partners and projects: No particular order.

G8way
Jamie Lawrence Football Academy
JLFA Blog
Refill Food
Cherrie Box Media
Emerging Markets Investor Services Ltd
Watersons Marketing Group
Inspirational Seminars Ltd
Inspirational Seminars Blog
Sylvia Modu
Faye Klein Lingerie
DMR Ltd
Bevin Fagan (who sadly died in April 2008)
Gold Investments
Property Investment and Credit Crunch
Business Start Ups
Yorkshire Network
Gold Bullion Trading
Click4Marketing
Affordable Seminars
Barbur Realty
Canal Craft
Management Resource
Unique Sounds

Plus a whole load of ongoing projects in Africa to build Solar Tower Power Stations, renewable energy systems and exploding the myth of global warming and the great carbon tax con.

I am also very keen on lean government along the lines that Hong Kong adopted and not the over-bloated British Model!

New Business in London

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 May 2008 02:35:00 +0000

Having helped several businesses this month with a flurry of new web sites to show off their successes.

Cherrie Box Media
Is a web and print media company run by my nephew Jason Fagan in SW2. Plenty of new clients are helping Jason and Clive in this new venture.

Jamie Lawrence Football Academy
Jamie is a star with his team with their support of disadvantaged youth in SW17 whee they work with the Nightingale School. We have also created his first blog site as well.

Emerging Markets Investor Services Ltd
Is an inward investment company based in the UK and Ghana which has got some pretty big projects on the go. From Oil tank farms to Solar Power Stations. Good liuck to Yacoba and Richard

G8way Youth Support
This is a fantastic outlet for music, videos, unsigned stars of music and modelling and lots lots more. Run out of 49 Effra Road its ideal for central London. Well done Jason and Beverley

Next month there are even more projects to tackle

Web Sites for Grown Ups

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:52:00 +0000

In today's world its the adults that seem to shoulder all the responsibility and provide our children with guidance and advice.

However, there comes a time when adults of all age need some time to relax and enjoy themselves. So hide the kids eyes, here is a simple business idea aimed squarely at the masses.

Just like the pioneering work of Ann Summers in de-sleezing porn and bringing the sex industry to the high street in an acceptable and fun format, now comes FAYE KLEIN (http://www.faye-klein.com/).

Its a replicatable website that allows anybody to own an exotic lingerie store. Thats right a web store, with no stock lines to buy, no unsold stock sitting in the warehouse, no wondering what the next fashion will be. Its all out of the box. AND ITS FREE!!

Its a take on the PARTY PLAN. The web master and supplier give you a series of web sites to promote a range of 10,000 lingerie items, complete with shopping cart facilities, secure payment systems and everything you could possibly want. They provide banner images, and customisable web sites that you can put your own logo and images on.

Takes about a day to get up and running, including all the customising. What more could any budding young or old(!) entreprenuer want.

The trick though is to drive traffic to the web site so it will start to sell products. So link to other web sites, get into directories, e-zines, newsgroups, use contacts and friends alike to get it promoted.

Their best affiliate is earning $50,000 per month!

Now that is not to say that just anyone can do this, but with effort and expertise people are earning good money on the web in the most unusual businesses and ways.

Where has Banking Support Gone To?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 09:23:00 +0000

Post Sub Prime (see my blogs from JANUARY 2007) and Northern Rock in the UK, the banks have taken their bat and ball and gone home.

Whilst the Banks were happy enough to flog derivatives to make themselves billions, now that their errors of judgement have materialised, it's business that will pay the price. Banks are not lending, they want to reduce overdrafts and defer decisions concerning investment propositions.

All of a sudden they have become too risk adverse. But now they risk causing a severe recession, they have to lend to keep the economy on track. Without liquidity industry will suffer. The Banks should take their pain from the sub-prime debacle, but no, its us who will suffer.

A set of recent proposals sent to various banks have all met with a similar fate. The lending ratio is dropping to nearly 50/50, security needs are getting to a point where those with this much free assets would not need the facility anyway. And cases are being deferred for 6 months.

So what are we to make of this?

The recession is already here.

Internet Shopping

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 10:49:00 +0000

There is no denying that more and more people are using the internet to buy good and services. Both retail and whole sale transactions are occuring at a phenominal pace measured in £billions.

And is it any wonder, when a site can be set up for several £,000's tailor made to your business or concept. With strategic and well planned marketing and PR customer can be buying within days.

Just contrast the difficulties faced when opening a shop!!

Rent
Rates
Heating and Lighting
Security
Fire alarms
Insurances and Public Liability
Health and Safety
Disability Discrimination and Access
Fitting Out
Planning and Building Regulations
Local Authority Regulations

It goes on and on, and thats before you sell a bean.

But apart form the loss of face to face contact, the web is a must-even if you already have a shop, business or idea to sell products, services and concepts.

Look at the following 3 examples

Shopping Web Site

Wholesale Specialist

Local Community Web Site (Not for Profit)

Notice the amount of actual material availabale to build-up that all important customer relationship, plus all the electronic tools to automate this process. These sites are full of news and articles, which can be submitted (after being moderated) by customers and suppliers alike, as well as the owners.

E-mails
Newsletters
Blogs
RSS Feeds
PDF downloads
E-mail a friend

This is the future, be warned.

New Resource in Yorkshire

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 03:41:00 +0000

A great idea is being piloted in Yorkshire by IBD Yorkshire. Its a FREE to join Networking Forum aimed at all businesses and anyone wishing to start up a business.

Whilst forums are nothing new, nor network groups for that matter, the neat thing here is that the buyer or seller can "post" their needs into the forum and then will be e-mailed when a responce is made to their post.

It's ideally suited to those many busy owners and mangers who just can't seem to find the time to do face to face networking.

There are regular articles, grant alerts and a whole host of benefits, which will increase as the membership rises. They can be e-mailed here too!

Good Luck to Yorkshire Network Online

Also there is the North East Network Online which was started up last year, along the same lines as the fore-runner. Thanks to Mark Flanighan.

Make a Business From Your Skills

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 18:45:00 +0000

One of a clutch of new clients picked up in the last two weeks, is a great example of turning your skills and employment history into a new business for yourself.

First step is to list your achievements, skills, strengths and testimonials from third parties. Then work out the weaknesses, threats and marketing needed to promote your new idea. This has been done with Inspirational Seminars Ltd. A strong skill set in presentation seminars has been augmented by a commercial and marketing team to create a "rounded" business plan.

We are at the point where finance plans are being drawn up and market research is being conducted. Please remember that with e-mail and internet sites, that marketing feedback need not cost a fortune. So a business can be floated at a low cost, that is able to target the right niche market segment profitably.

Get the legal structures right, take advice, insure the assets (including the Talent), find a few "old contacts" to exploit and you have the makings of a business. Plough the initial earnings back into marketing and PR, build a sales "machine" from Web Sites, Blogs, Podcasts and e-mail campaignes to pick up any traffic produced from the PR. This will "kick start" the business.

But remember that returns in the early months will be modest and do not count on a profit in the first year as a minimum. If you beat these targets, its a bonus, and put it towards more marketing.

The Way Ahead

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:15:00 +0000

We have recently seen a client with a web re-design requirement.

His current web site had plenty of content but:

He was having to put product information into an admin area in 10 separate places to populate the site! Utter madness and a complete waste of time, let alone risks with accidentally tying in an error.

However worse was to come. Having fallen out with the web designer, I have just discovered that his web designer is the registered owner of his .com domain!!. Oh dear.

This leads to one key point in any business relationship. The legal side, who owns what. Whilst it is probably possible to get back the domain ownership, this clearly an issue that can happen quite a lot.

With the ownership back into the company's control, we can get on with the task of re-design, complete with all our normal Marketing Initiatives.

Real World Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 23:22:00 +0000

Well, it's happened again. Another sizable firm this time with International Business Trade, and yet apparently oblivious to what is required in terms of Marketing.

Indeed it reminds me of my friend Kevin W McCarthy and his crusade to get his clients "On Purpose" in their business and life planning. It just seems so many people and businesses just survive in spite of their own actions.

Anyway back to my latest client, web site so introspective that the browser will have to do a lot of research on the site to find out what any of the 100 or so products actually do!! I mean its so secretive that site traffic will be giving up before they find out just what they supply. But don't misunderstand me, this is a "classic" web site and by no means unusual.

The problem is that it is designed by the owners and outside consultants but exclusively from the owners point of view. I mean its his business, his designs and products!

But, all material whether web, blog, newspaper advert, editorial, PR or flyer HAS TO BE WRITTEN FROM THE CUSTOMERS VIEWPOINT. I mean they are the ones that are supposed to read it, aren't they?

It's so obvious to me, an outsider.

But that's also the point. Most business owners are too close to the day to day issues. It is very difficult to step back and look at the "big picture", to see strategy, to look beyond next week's deadlines.

That's really my function whether it's a poor marketing web site, or poor strategy, I can arrive without the "baggage" of tradition, procedures or corporate or social history that has shaped these businesses. As an outsider I just see the "bones" of the business, indeed I do not have the time (nor would any sane client pay for) me to learn all the histrionics that make each business unique.

So I will let you know how it goes, when I open with "Your Web Site is Rubbish"

But I will help them build up this business with a fully rounded marketing plan that will encompass the web site and make it a worthwhile addition to the "family".

mail me for comments, ideas and help.

Christmas Period

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 15:01:00 +0000

Remember that when you are driving to your Christmas Break you could be listening to an educational, business or marketing CD on your journey.

But on that note please concentrate on your driving, anticipate the road ahead, and take plenty of rest breaks.

And by the way Happy Christmas and Goodwill to All Men (and Women)!

Capture 41.6% of Your Web Site's Visitors? You Bet!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 22:22:00 +0000

Just tried a new system to capture visitors to my web site. You know all those unique visitors who visit-but you have not got a clue who they are.

Well, my pilot study from a web site getting traffic from a newspaper ad, has got a 41.6% conversion rate. "What!", I hear you say, that's not possible. Well 41.6% of the traffic has completed the 'sign-in' form and I have their names and e-mail addresses to prove it.

It's so successful because it combines streaming video and audio to tackle all of the "suspects" [the name we call web viewers] senses. They can see, hear and read the message, which is asking them to look further.

So my 41.6% are now called prospects [they will only be clients when they buy something]. But for now I am just amazed with the response. So look at the service I used to achieve this conversion rates, just click here

Here, Alex Mandossian, Rick Raddatz, Armand Morin have produced a template driven system that allows you to add audio and video to your "squuze page" to boost returns. You also get an autoresponder, the ability to export the names and set up market surveys. There is even an exit survey to get feedback from those that don't sign. Better still why don't you see and hear Rick Raddatz (and his Wife) tell you all about it by clicking here.

So lets see you better 41.6% conversion. Well you just might becauae the team have set up a 50% club-for all those that get that level of conversion. Still it was only my first day!!.