What are your thoughts on working into old age?

Don't worry: we're not trying to sell you the idea of working long after you wished you'd been exploring the world on exotic holidays, or indulging an idle interest like painting or theatre-going. Nonetheless, here at the senior citizens online guide Ask Granny (http://www.askgranny.com), we thought we'd ask: what is the attraction of working into old age? Would you like to do it, for reasons other than strict financial necessity? Or would you rather just put your feet up or do something completely different?

For some seniors, there's a definite attraction to continuing to work, into their 70s, 80s or even 90s. They may possess certain specialised skills in their job that young people no longer have, keeping them in demand with their present employer. Or they might love their job so much, that it seems a waste to stop for simple reasons of age. Others may feel, far from their job leading to their physical and/or mental deterioration, that the opposite applies - that retiring would leave them floundering. We're sure that there is a vast range of views on the subject amongst yourselves, the readers of our grandparents journal.

There are various other factors that might determine whether you plough ahead with work, or call it a day. The employment market is presently uncertain in many countries, of course, and you may simply find it too difficult to find work - a sad situation if you would actually like to continue working, of course, but true all the same. Or if you are in a job, you may be feeling a little guilty about potentially denying the chance of work to someone decades your junior. By all means, feel free to make your own decision on that one - but this particular grandparents guide certainly believes that you should never move over, simply because you feel that you 'should'.

Then, there's the simple, physical reality of ageing to consider. If your job involves hard labour or is highly intellectually demanding, remaining in the same post into old age becomes immediately less feasible or desirable. That is not to suggest that opportunities don't exist to switch to another, perhaps similar role, or even just one that calls upon much of the same knowledge and expertise, while being much less physically and/or mentally taxing. We'd suggest that you keep an open mind if you are in this situation and would like to continue working - while bearing in mind the importance to your loved ones of their grandparent's health.

Or maybe there's an activity that you have long wanted to do, but that has quickly become a paying job? It could be that your oil painted landscapes are proving in demand with buyers, or you may have made some money from writing work, perhaps as a novelist. If you've concluded this blog thinking that working into old age might not be quite so bad after all, then maybe Ask Granny (http://www.askgranny.com), the online guide for grandparents, has done its job!

Editor’s Note: Ask Granny (http://www.askgranny.com) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

How to build the right team of sales people

Here at Web recruit (http://www.webrecruit.co.uk) we understand that recruitment can be a complex operation in every industry. That’s why we have created services which aim to simplify the process wherever possible, such as the ability to extensively search major databases online and the free access to our ATS. However, we often receive feedback that sales recruitment is particularly challenging.

One thing that companies involved in sales recruitment can overlook is the importance of building an efficient and robust team. All too often, a company will have their eye caught by one or two sales people who they somehow expect to fix all of the damage that was caused by their last ill-advised recruit. This is one area of your business where there really is no ‘quick fix’.

Of course, what this means is that there are two components to successful sales recruitment... the identification of the right person for your position, and ensuring that they will fit in well with the existing team. Both new and well-established star performers need to be effectively managed, and you need to ensure that they have the opportunity to develop within your company. By including them in the important projects and pitches, they will feel valued and see the role as a career, not merely a job.

Helping new and existing sales people alike to achieve their potential is definitely one part of building a team that works together, and you’ll need to constantly monitor the progress of your team to ensure that it is working well. Sometimes, current processes aren’t giving the desired end results, and you need to carefully consider why this might be so, before making any decisions that you may come to regret.

With the wrong sales people potentially costing you thousands of pounds, in addition to valuable client accounts, it makes sense to be cautious in your approach to sales recruitment. Bear in mind that as your sales professionals are effectively the public face of your company, being the people with whom customers primarily or entirely interact, choosing the wrong person can also adversely affect your corporate reputation.

In addition to all of this, truly great sales people are in many ways in short supply. That’s why it’s not only so important to effectively highlight the opportunities that you provide to candidates, but also ensure that they want to stay once they do arrive. You can do that by effectively inducting, training and coaching new sales staff members and flagging up the opportunities that exist to develop the role.

The services of an agency such as webrecruit (http://www.webrecruit.co.uk), which speciliases in sales recruitment as part of a wider scope of industry specialisation, may only be part of the process, but we can certainly greatly assist those recruiters that do have the right team-building strategy.

Editor’s Note: webrecruit (http://www.webrecruit.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

The importance of marketing your freelance business

With so many people now considering ‘going freelance’ rather than trying to compete for an ever-narrowing pool of conventional full-time jobs, there is also an increasing need for education on many aspects of life as a freelancer or contractor. Certainly, as important as it is to make use of the best-qualified accountants in London, like those of Freelancer Accounting (http://www.freelanceraccounting.com), in the management of your accounting and tax affairs, you’ll also need to ensure that a market exists for any new services that you offer.

Many new freelancers and contractors fail at even the most basic steps when they first go into business, with many of them confusing the terms ‘sales’ and ‘marketing’. For the sake of clarity, marketing involves the identification and reaching of certain segments of the population that may actually wish to invest in your products or services. There may be an overlap between the tactics used for sales and marketing, but the two disciplines are not the same.

The latter depends on a good standard of research of the existing market, so that you are aware in good time not only of your potential target audience, but also the basis on which they may choose products or services from you and for what cost. Contractor accountancy clients may decide that a market does not exist for their proposed product or service, or they may need to modify the service to suit demand. The right sales techniques are then used in the meeting of that demand.

There are all kinds of means by which those that use accountants for freelancers may market their business, in a world in which potential customers are constantly stimulated by wide-ranging online and offline media. The key to successful marketing lies in the identification of the most appropriate marketing channels for communicating the essence of your brand and services to your chosen audience. There is both an art and a science aspect to successful marketing as you pursue your target customers, with creativity being needed for relevant and attention-grabbing marketing and advertising, while interest and sales can be tracked by various sophisticated mechanisms.

Many forms of marketing exist that may be relevant at different stages of the life of a freelance business. These can include direct marketing, viral marketing, affiliate marketing, ‘social’ marketing and more. In addition to making use of the best accountants in Reading and beyond, freelance businesses are urged to keep abreast of the latest marketing developments, as well as pre-empting, monitoring and researching changing demands from their existing customers to ensure maximum customer retention.

Effective marketing is a vital part of the grand scheme of running a freelance business. By using the right techniques and taking advantage of specialist accountancy services such as those of Freelancer Accounting (http://www.freelanceraccounting.com), freelancers and contractors can better ensure the sales that give them a healthy turnover.

Editor’s Note: Freelancer Accounting (http://www.freelanceraccounting.com) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

Should your children be taught taxation?

When you think back to your school days, you might imagine swapping football stickers in the playground and some boring science lessons, but if the Chartered Institute of Taxation (COIT) had its way, your children would also receive compulsory lessons in taxation. A good idea to teach those important financial lessons early, or taking taxation just that bit too seriously? We're sure that there will be a wide range of opinions on the matter among the clients of our accountants Richmond here at Freelancer Accounting (http://www.freelanceraccounting.com).

The idea of such lessons, according to the body of chartered advisors, is that they would give school children a better idea of how tax works, why it is necessary and the obligations that they will have in their post-school life. The COIT's recommendation came as it expressed its disappointment at the removal of a specific mention of education on taxes for 5 to 16 year olds from a new version of the draft national curriculum.

The most recent draft of the curriculum does still mention the teaching of "financial skills", but clients of our contractor accountants will be interested to read that this was not enough for the COIT, which described tax as "one of the least understood areas of personal finance" faced by citizens. The body's president Stephen Coleclough argued that with most schoolchildren eventually becoming employees, they would need to be able to understand a PAYE coding notice or payslip, in addition to identifying when it is wrong.

He added, in words that might make many of the clients of our IR35 accountants rue their own lack of knowledge of certain  taxes prior to becoming self-employed, that many of today's schoolchildren "will go into business where tax is a key cost and administrative burden that cannot be ignored. An understanding of taxation - how it works, why it is necessary and what the obligations of the taxpayer are – is an essential part of financial education."

There are various roles that schoolchildren can find themselves playing as adults in relation to tax. These include students needing to understand the by no means straightforward effect of PAYE, investors like those with an interest in investing in ISA and tax credit claimants. The institute therefore emphasized the importance of tax becoming "as familiar a feature of school education as Bunsen burner experiments and football" - something with which many of those using accountants for freelancers may feel inclined to agree.

In addition, the COIT drew attention to about a sixth of the 'tax gap' being attributable to error and carelessness on the part of taxpayers, according to HM Revenue & Customs. It said that public education could be instrumental in tackling this. This perhaps suggests that if such teaching ever became a reality, the sons and daughters of those turning to Freelancer Accounting (http://www.freelanceraccounting.com) for accountancy services could yet be rather better informed on tax than their often struggling parents. In the meantime, contact us now for more information on our tax accounting expertise.

Funding reduction doesn't dent WRAP confidence

The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has used its 2012/13 annual report to express confidence in its future, despite the UK government having overseen "significant" cuts in its funding this year. Such a positive report should please many of those using Collect and Recycle (http://www.collectandrecycle.com) for services like cardboard recycling.

Nonetheless, the not-for-profit organisation conceded in its Annual Report and Consolidated Accounts for the year ended March 31 2013 that the cut in funding from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) would force it to focus on "fewer priorities".

The organisation said that the reduction in its Defra funding was reflected in its drop in total income for the year, from £65.6 million last year to £63.2 million in 2013. The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolved institutions also contribute to the funding of WRAP. There was also a reduction in the amount the organisation spent on programmes this year, by around £2 million from the almost £50 million expenditure recorded for 2012.

Although £25.7 million is presently received by the organisation from Defra, 2015/16 will see a "significantly reduced" level of funding of £15.5 million, after Defra launched a review and consultation of its funding for WRAP's projects in England.

The Local Authority Advisory Committee (LARAC) warned waste recycling stakeholders in June 2013 that cutting WRAP funding would bring "wide-ranging indirect effects". However, WRAP chairman Peter Stone commented in the report that the decision to reduce funding was "neither unexpected nor surprising given the UK government’s commitment to reducing the budget deficit".

In addition, although the report admitted to "uncertainty" surrounding future funding levels, it said that WRAP directors had "a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future".

Mr Stone stated: "Despite the inevitable cut, we view the settlement as a huge vote of confidence in the work WRAP does. Less money means rightly that we will need to focus on fewer priorities and we will be discussing the detail of our future work with Defra over the coming months."

He added that there would still be "significant funding" for WRAP, claiming that the organisation "is in very good shape and we are confident about the future."

Also highlighted in the report were WRAP's successes over the year, including the third phase of the Courtauld Commitment for retailers, with food waste an increased focus; a new voluntary agreement for the reduction of food and packaging waste in the hospitality sector; and research conducted by the organisation showing that textiles amounting to a value of £238 million are sent to landfill in the UK each year, rather than being recycled, reused or sent for energy recovery.

Such news on the continued success of WRAP is likely to be welcomed by a wide range of UK recycling stakeholders, including ourselves here at Collect and Recycle (http://www.collectandrecycle.com), as we maintain our own commitment to the most efficient, affordable and fully compliant business waste services.

Editor’s Note: Collect and Recycle (http://www.collectandrecycle.com) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

Eliminate the Stress of Christmas and Book a Festive Break

Christmas is only a few months away, which may seem like an eternity for some people.  However, for others it is just around the corner.  The kids are already in school.  Soon Halloween will be over, and before you know it the Christmas season will be in full swing.  While there is something wonderful about the magic of Christmas, it is also stressful.  For this reason, it might be wise to take advantage of Christmas hotel packages at the Regency Park Hotel, ones which allow you to skip the stress of Christmas and still have a great festive season.

Avoid Holiday Expenses

One reason many people like to book Christmas hotel deals at the Regency Park is because they avoid other expenses that come during the holiday season because they will be out of town.  For example, they no longer feel obligated to give gifts to their neighbors and friends.  In addition, they will not waste money on festive decorations for the home.  They can also avoid holiday parties that they commit to out of obligation, and all of the money they save can go towards a fantastic festive break.

Arrive With Christmas Ready for You

When you arrive at the Regency Park Hotel, Christmas will be ready for you.  Holiday music will be playing, the lights will be hanging on the trees, and Christmas décor will be abundant in the hotel, immediately putting you in a cheerful mood.  You will be greeted by welcoming staff that are ready and willing to assist you.  This is what Christmas should be like!  If you were to stay at home and forgo the Christmas hotel packages, you would probably be doing the serving and would have little time to enjoy the beauty of the season and relax.

Shop for Presents When You Arrive

As part of your travel itinerary, you can schedule in some time to shop for Christmas presents.  This is a fun activity, especially if you have older children who prefer to pick out their own presents.  It will minimize your stress and make the gift giving more enjoyable.  You won’t have to worry about buying them something they may or may not like.  Instead, you can just plan time to shop together.  It may not be an old-fashioned Christmas, but it is less stressful.  Even better, it will be yet another great memory from your festive holiday.

Give yourself a break this Christmas.  Take advantage of Christmas hotel deals at the Regency Park that can provide your family with a memorable Christmas experience without all of the hassle.  You will be glad you did.

Editor’s Note: Regency Park Hotel (http://www.regencyparkhotel.co.uk/ )is represented by the search engine optimisation and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959.

What reasons are there to choose Oriel Systems over any other telemetry provider?

People who have spent a decent amount of time perusing the Oriel Systems (http://www.orielsystems.com) website are likely to appreciate one thing, above so many other things: that telemetry really does serve a vital purpose in so many industries, particularly at a time when there is pressure to become more competitive on a backdrop of reduced revenues. For a process that seemingly amounts simply to an instrument’s readings being recorded and then transmitted via radio, telemetry has an astonishing range of increasingly essential real world applications.

Telemetry solutions have long been used in fields ranging from meteorology, space science and motor racing to flight testing, military intelligence and medicine. Oriel Systems does not provide solutions for all of the fields in which telemetry could possibly have an impact, but does provide the most reputable, reliable and scalable hardware and software for those in the water, chemical, oil and gas and printing industries. Having been in business now for more than a quarter of a century, the company has an enviable manufacturing, research and development facility in south west England, and maintains strategic alliances and agents across Europe and the Far East.

But for those in the UK who require a well-tailored remote data acquisition solution, the main benefits of doing business with Oriel Systems remain clear. The company’s solutions are flexible, reliable and cost-effective, as can be vouched for by a large installed user base worldwide. These systems are able to connect to various remote plant and equipment, including the client’s existing telemetry equipment that they may have had to dispose of, had they opted for another supplier. The system really can be added to as and when requirements change, with the client only paying for the size of system that they need.

A remote tank monitoring solution from Oriel Systems can also be quickly and easily installed, saving the client manpower and labour and minimising both start-up and operational costs. The products themselves include an intelligent video unit that can transmit up to 8 live feeds – optionally with audio – simultaneously from the client’s remote site over the Internet. Meanwhile, Oriel Systems’ well-regarded software includes Awax VMI telemetry software that enables the simple and confident monitoring and control of remote sites.

Various industry-specific needs can be catered for by these hardware and software options, and Oriel Systems (http://www.orielsystems.com) also grants access to experienced software consultants who can develop simple user interfaces and more advanced measurement and analysis functions alike. Indeed, Oriel Systems’ people are central to its offering. Customer support can be provided over the phone or via the remote control of customer telemetry systems, and whatever the client’s exact requirements, members of the technical team can be contacted by phone during the day for further discussions. These technicians and consultants are as comfortable with small projects as they are with large ones, and are happy to listen to the most distinctive of requests.

Editor’s Note: Oriel Systems (http://www.orielsystems.com) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

The art of Ericksonian permissive, indirect inductions

Have you ever been interested in achieving an altered state of mind via hypnosis, and wondered whether the induction process amounted to anything more than “You are going into a trance”? In our previous blog post at Opt2XL (http://www.opt2xl.co.uk), we covered some of the basics of hypnosis, even touching on the methods of one man who we refer to regularly in each hypnosis seminar in Birmingham – the highly influential American psychiatrist Milton Hyland Erickson.

Erickson is so prominent in our hypnosis training in Birmingham, because he took such a different view of hypnosis than the authoritative and direct stereotype – a permissive, accommodating and indirect approach. An Ericksonian practitioner is unlikely to command someone to enter a trance, for example, instead possibly suggesting that the client remembers a time when they were experiencing a natural sensation that one may interpret as hypnotic. Erickson did not believe that the unconscious mind could be consciously instructed, and felt that resistance was the more likely response to authoritarian suggestions. He therefore took an approach that gave the subject the freedom to accept the suggestions with which they were most comfortable, at their own pace. 

This approach means that the subject does not feel forced, and can therefore completely participate in and take ownership of their transformation. Ericksonian inductions take place during the course of a normal conversation, leading to the term ‘covert’ or ‘conversational’ hypnosis. Such an approach, making use of permissive words such as ‘can’, ‘might’, ‘maybe’ and ‘perhaps’, has had a significant influence on our hypnotherapy training in Birmingham. The seemingly subtle, but nonetheless vital difference between such a phrase as “relax deeply” and “perhaps you can relax deeply now” informs the success of Ericksonian permissive and indirect inductions.

By enrolling with Opt2XL, you can learn more about prepositions that clients will not only enter trance, but also get the changes that they desire – such as “don’t enter trance too quickly” or “would you prefer to go into trance in this chair, or that one?” Utilization is also a key element of Eriksonian inductions that you will learn about on a hypnosis course in Birmingham with Opt2XL. What it basically means is, “use whatever happens”. Rather than attempting to force an induction along predetermined lines, an Ericksonian hypnotherapist will use what is offered by the client and environment – perhaps by making the client aware of the noise of cars passing outside, or including a sudden loud noise in the room in the deepening process.

An Ericksonian induction also frequently involves cues being given to the client that something different is happening. The hypnotherapist may change to their ‘hypnosis voice’, for example, or alter the lighting, seating or another aspect of the immediate environment. There is so much more to learn about such aspects of Ericksonian inductions as conscious/unconscious dissociation and the evocation of hypnotic phenomena. With Opt2XL’s (http://www.opt2xl.co.uk) hypnotherapy training in Birmingham, you can do exactly that to help to transform your and other people’s lives for the better.

Editor’s Note: Opt2xl (http://www.opt2xl.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

Make Tuffa Your First Choice for a Bunded Heating Oil Tank

Heating oil is undoubtedly dispensable to a great number of people in the United Kingdom, with some 1.5 million Britons estimated to be using oil for their home heating. Certainly, if you require heating oil, you are most likely to be using it to heat an indoor space, making use of furnaces and boilers for the burning of the oil, which generates heat. Radiators, or a combination of heat exchangers and fans, are then used for the radiation of that heat into the air. But what if the time has come for you to purchase new fuel tanks, and why should you do so from Tuffa (http://www.tuffa.co.uk)?

Aside from our lofty reputation for the development, design and manufacture of fuel tanks, there is - of course - the bunded tanks themselves to consider. You might have previous familiarity with single skin tanks, and just as much familiarity with them eventually splitting. That is why most heating oil tanks these days are plastic bunded tanks, rather than steel. Single skin plastic models and steel tanks alike are susceptible to splitting or weather damage, which makes them an environmental risk. This led to the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) Regulations coming into effect in the UK in March 2011.

Those regulations state that at all relevant oil tank installations where more than 200 litres of oil need to be stored, a secondary containment system - otherwise known as a bund - must be incorporated. The law dictated that all new tank installations had to be in compliance with the regulations by 20th September 2011. The easy way to define a bund is that it is the structure surrounding your tank, designed to prevent environmental pollution in the event of any accidental leakage or spillage of the contents. In heating oil fuel tanks, it equates to a 'tank within a tank' design.

Ensuring that your fuel tanks for heating oil are bunded tanks is important on a number of levels - such as in preventing the oil spill that it could cost you thousands of pounds to clean up, bearing in mind as well that a domestic oil spill is not covered by most home insurance policies. But there are so many other aspects of the bunded heating oil tanks of Tuffa that help to make them such a strong choice for all manner of domestic, agricultural, commercial and industrial applications.

Such qualities include the compliance of these fuel tanks with the Environment Agency guidelines, as well as their manufacture to the highest specifications. Available sizes range from 1350L to 15000L, with interlinking a possibility up to 100,000 litres. Exact specifications vary across the product range in line with varying individual requirements, incorporating the likes of a clock gauge and lockable hinged flip lid on lower capacity models, and a contents gauge and overfill prevention valve in the case of the range-toppers. It all helps to make Tuffa (http://www.tuffa.co.uk) the logical choice for those requiring the best-built and designed heating oil tanks.    

Editor’s Note: Tuffa (http://www.tuffa.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

Wales celebrating find of 6,000-year-old decorative wood carving

In a recent article here at The ToolPost (http://www.toolpost.co.uk), we gave a brief summary of the history of woodturning, encompassing thousands of years from the ancient Egyptians and Romans, through to the Industrial Revolution and this wonderful art's present widespread applications. But physical examples of that history don't come much more authentic or fascinating than a 6,000-year-old decorative wood carving recently unearthed on a mountainside in Wales.

It has attracted plenty of attention since being exposed by workmen constructing Maerdy Wind Farm in the Rhondda Valley, and it is believed by archaeologists to be one of the oldest decorative wood carvings in Europe - likely dating back 6,270 years to the Late Mesolithic/Early Neolithic period, according to Heritage Recording Services Wales archaeologist Richard Scott Jones.

The piece of wood, described as "priceless" and "in archaeological circles ... the equivalent to winning the lottery" by Scott Jones, is set for a public unveiling at the National History Museum in St Fagans in 2014.

The archaeologist added: "Finding a piece of decorative art like this is incredibly rare in this area of Wales, especially on uplands. And in terms of timber, this is truly unique. It gives us an idea of the sophistication in terms of artwork around at that time."

It was while a substation for the wind farm was being built last September that workmen discovered around 12 lengths of timber in waterlogged peat deposits, with one elaborately carved piece being subsequently removed off-site and cleaned so that it could be inspected.

The timber is around 1.7m long and features an oval motif at one end, with one side also sporting an intricate pattern. It is thought that the timber was formerly a tribal marker post indicating a hunting ground, sacred site or tribal boundary.

On the discovery of the significance of the timber, it was sent to Newport Ship Centre so that it could be temporarily preserved in a water holding tank and scanned with a 3D laser. The find was also examined by various paleo-entomologists and experts from the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust and University of Wales Trinity St David.

The woodcarving is now undergoing a wax-glycol conservation treatment at the York Archaeological Trust in York, before it is hoped to be transferred to Cardiff next year.

In the words of Alan Baker of 2020 Renewables, "It’s very exciting that this discovery has proved to be of such international significance and fully justifies our company policy of protecting sites of historic interest" - and here at the specialists in the finest wood turning equipment, The ToolPost, we couldn't agree more.

The ToolPost (http://www.toolpost.co.uk) will certainly be following the news about one of Europe's oldest examples of decorative wood carving with interest, and we hope that many of our customers will be in St Fagans to see it on its museum appearance next year! In the meantime, customers can trust us with the sale of timbers, turning tools, woodturning lathes and more to meet their specific amateur or professional needs.

Editor’s Note: The ToolPost (http://www.toolpost.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

What you never knew about the history of the Venetian blind

Of all types of blinds, it is surely Venetian blinds that are the most curious mix of the distant past and the cutting-edge present. On one hand, they couldn’t possibly seem more contemporary, with their crisp and clean aesthetic, which has helped to make them a widespread sight in offices as well as homes. But on the other hand, they are also of a deceptively simple design that has been in use for centuries. Here at Express Nets (http://www.expressnets.co.uk), we thought we’d delve into the history of these fascinating blinds.

Venetian blinds today remain instantly identifiable, due to their slats – tending to be made from wood, metal or vinyl – which have been strung together to form an entire set of blinds, operating as one blind. You can swirl or turn a simple adjuster rod to uniformly move the slats into an open position to allow in more light, or close them to block light. The basic principle has been the same since people first began to use a form of slattered covering on their windows. In hot temperatures, wet cloths would once be placed on the slats, and whenever there was a sufficient breeze, a cooling effect would be produced from the air being forced through the slats and over the damp cloths – a precursor to air conditioning, one might say.

Fast-forward a few years, and the Egyptians were using reeds harvested from bulrush plants to make their own window blinds, while the Chinese were to favour the stalks of native bamboo plants. It is thought that the name Venetian blinds, together with the blinds as we now know them, originated from Persia, where traders on their journeys from Venice would spot the blinds and bring them home for the benefit of their compatriots.

By the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, Venetian blinds were becoming a familiar sight in office buildings, by which time their structure and operation had significantly evolved to increase their functionality, ease of use and attractiveness to the average buyer. This helped to make them preferable to other types of curtains and blinds for the regulation of light and air. Venetian blinds were adopted for Rockefeller Center’s RCA Building in New York City, and it wasn’t long until other large modern complexes in the US followed suit – including the iconic Empire State Building. 

Today, the Venetian blind unsurprisingly remains a massive hit among homeowners and business owners alike, with a wide range of styles and colours making it easy for someone to find a version of this highly practical window covering to match their own requirements. Featuring such more recent innovations as excess slat storage integrated into the bottom bar and unique easy rise systems rendering awkward free-hanging cords unnecessary, the current Venetian cheap blinds of Express Nets (http://www.expressnets.co.uk) routinely combine the best of both the past and present of this wonderfully functional and visually pleasing blind.

Editor’s Note: Express Nets (http://www.expressnets.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

Benefits tenants increasingly denied by buy-to-let landlords

Such products as Rent Guaranteed from Advanced Rent (http://www.advancedrent.co.uk) are designed to cater for a very real need among buy-to-let landlords for the enhanced financial security that allows them to plan their budget in advance with more confidence, even possibly expanding their portfolio. If any more evidence was required of this being a major concern for many landlords in the present financial climate, one only needs to look at the way benefit reforms seem to be impacting on the buy-to-let market.

An industry survey has suggested that there has been a sharp drop in the number of landlords renting to tenants claiming benefits. Last month, the proportion of landlords with tenants receiving Local Housing Allowance (LHA) was 27 per cent, compared to the 34 per cent figure recorded in March, the last time the poll was conducted. April saw changes to welfare in which the amount of total benefit that families with children could claim was capped at £500 per week, with individuals being limited to £350.

Such a rule, which was initially introduced in several London boroughs in mid-April ahead of a roll-out to the rest of the country over the summer, understandably prompts many landlords to reconsider their landlord rent insurance policy, given the impact that it has on the amount paid under the LHA. The London buy-to-let market was expected to be affected most, given the far higher rents in the capital than elsewhere, with large families also especially feeling the pinch. Fast-rising rents and high income yields have led to millions of Britons becoming landlords, and subsequently rent guarantee insurance policyholders.

Now, however, the National Landlord Association (NLA) has conducted research showing the depth of concern over the changes among all landlords -  not just those renting to what it estimates to be one million tenants receiving help with their housing costs. It found that 38 per cent of all landlords were worried about the impact of Universal Credit, while more than half (51 per cent) were making the active choice to avoid letting to benefit claimants. Whereas housing benefit is presently paid to landlords rent insurance policyholders directly, Universal Credit will include it as part of a single payment made to claimants.

The NLA has cited fear among its members of budgeting problems arising as a result of tenants being paid on a monthly, as opposed to a weekly or fortnightly basis, with landlord payments not being the greatest priority. Concern was most pronounced among landlords with single properties or smaller portfolios, with letting to benefits claimants having already been ruled out by six in 10. This is not good news for a government that depends on the private rented sector to support housing provision for benefit recipients.

Nor is it a positive development, of course, for the landlords that are becoming more and more dependent on rent indemnity in economically straitened times. Thankfully, Advanced Rent (http://www.advancedrent.co.uk) offers Rent In Advance and Rent Guaranteed, two highly regarded and trusted industry products.

Editor’s Note: Advanced Rent (http://www.advancedrent.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

Which foods are suitable for cooking with a Sous Vide machine?

The fact that you are on the Burton website suggests that you have heard that Sous Vide is a fantastic way to cook wonderfully tasty food, to the extent that friends and guests will begin to wonder what your culinery secret is. There’s a reason such top chefs as Heston Blumenthal, Michael Carlson and Thomas Keller have all embraced Sous Vide in their high-end gourmet restaurants.

That does beg the question, though… which foods are suitable for cooking with a Sous Vide cooker for the home? The answer is pretty much every conceivable type of food, with the exception of chips and similar foods for which other cooking methods are necessary. You see, Sous Vide cooking is all about avoiding overcooking via the most precise temperature control. It’s about having food cooked in sealed airtight plastic bags at temperatures much lower than is customary for cooking, so that the item is cooked evenly.

The exact temperature does differ slightly depending on the exact kind of food, with vegetables requiring higher temperatures than meats, for example. Nonetheless, the advantages of Sous Vide cooking machines are clear for different types of food. One man who adopted the method in 1974 for the Restaurant Troisgros in Rosanne in France, Georges Pralus, discovered that cooking foie gras in this manner resulted in it retaining its original appearance while having better texture and not losing excess amounts of fat.

The lower temperatures used in Sous Vide cooking compared to conventional cooking are vital to its success, ensuring that the cell walls in the foods do not burst, which results in a much more succulent dish. Those cooking meat, for example, love the effectiveness of this technique in hydrolysing the tough collagen in connective tissue into gelatin, while avoiding the meat’s proteins being heated so much that they significantly denature. Sous Vide cooking is therefore a great way of preventing your meat becoming overly dry and gaining too tough a texture.

But of course, those cooking vegetables love their Sous Vide cooking machine as well, given that its temperatures below the boiling point of water allow for the thorough cooking and possible pasteurisation of vegetables while keeping their texture crisp or firm. After all, you wouldn’t want your vegetables to exhibit the extreme flaccidness of overcooking.

Meats that are especially well suited to domestic Sous Vide cooking machines include those with a higher fat content, and for which longer cooking times assist in the breakdown of the collagen, resulting in tastier and juicier cuisine. But even lean filet steaks and other meats with a much reduced fat content can be cooked wonderfully ‘Sous Vide’, and it is a cooking method that gives you a great deal of freedom. Investigate the recipes section of the Burton website at http://burtonsousvide.co.uk/recipes/1/ to get a sense of its endless possibilities.

Editor’s Note: Burton (http://www.burtonsousvide.co.uk/) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

FCA adopts business plan and risk outlook for the year ahead

On Monday April 1, 2013, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) ceased to be, being split into two new regulatory bodies for the financial services industry, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA). In news that will interest many of the clients of the company secretarial services of London Registrars (http://www.london-registrars.co.uk), the FCA has equipped itself with a business plan and risk outlook for its governing of the industry in the year to come.

The FCA has stated that its approach to supervision will be much more risk-based, which it says will make it a much more proactive, decisive and earlier-acting regulator than the FSA. The authority will place a particular emphasis on the assessment of longer-term risks, which it says arises when firms fail to invest in innovative new products to meet society’s changing needs, as well as when sales forces are withdrawn and there are not enough new firms entering the industry for adequate competition. Such an approach will interest many of those firms with an interest in achieving the best corporate governance.

Martin Wheatley, Chief Executive at the FCA, has reiterated that firms have a responsibility towards their customers and the financial services industry as a whole, commenting that they “need to ensure that they are putting the consumer and the integrity of markets at the heart of their business models and strategies [for example] making cultural changes which promote good conduct; establishing oversight around the design and innovation of products and services; and ensuring they are transparent in their dealings with consumers”.

It is so that the FCA better knows how to assess market conditions and identify future risks that the risk outlook has been established, while the job of the business plan is to outline how, over the coming year, these risks are to be managed. The risks that the FCA has identified as the biggest over the year to come include firms failing to design products or services that are in the long-term interests of consumers; an over-reliance on payment and product technologies; and structures that lack oversight and pose risks to consumer protection and market integrity, among other risks that will interest clients of process agency services.

Also now identified by the new regulatory body are its more exact priorities with regard to its business plan in its first year in power, including a renewed focus on consumers’ needs to ensure the alignment of firms’ strategies with the production of appropriate outcomes, as well as taking strong enforcement action to ward off the possibility of future market abuse. There will also be a continued focus on ongoing misconduct, covering such controversies as Payment Protection Insurance, Libor and interest rate swaps.

Wheatley has said that the new regulator is well-prepared and “will be much more transparent, so we can learn from our mistakes”. London Registrars (http://www.london-registrars.co.uk) will keep its many company compliance clients up to date with the latest developments relating to the FCA and its work.

Editor’s Note: London Registrars (http://www.london-registrars.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.