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Yep, whats up?

Just emailed you Tom.

So is that the challenge finished, or is still ongoing?

Very good point. In reality he is proven to have no case to answer to by a court of law (regardless of where that is) rather than being innocent. So the prosecution didn't bring enough reliable evidence in the mind of the job for a trial to go ahead.

But he is a man who is not convicted of a crime, so is it fair for him to be punished by social or commercial means?

Now how does that relate to the non legal world? If he walks into his local cornershop and wants to buy some milk, can the owner refuse to serve him? 

If he walks into his Rangerover dealership, are they going to turn down £80k of his money on a new car? Unlikely.

Would we stop him from advertising on MLS? To be honest, a little marketing gremlin is sowing bad ideas in my brain, and maybe we would, just to be controversial and generate publicity? But allow him to debate his case in full on the forum 

So in that scenario he'd be welcome to join. But it's interesting, would you take on a customer that could possibly cause friction or complaints from existing customers or clients? As a business owner can you refuse someones custom or patronage for no given reason?

After yesterdays surprise court decision to drop the murder case against Shrien Dewani, the news networks and TV are alive with pundit speculation and amateur sloothing. (is that a real word?)

But watching the telly, it does all seem very odd. So it appears he is bi-sexual, not a crime, but must have been odd for his new wife to accept. The convicted murderers all pointed to Dewani as the bloke who had hired them, and what were such a wealthy couple doing in a notorious ropey part of town, whilst on honeymoon?

Then there is previous claims of insanity and fighting the extradition to South Africa. But now he flies home first class.

But then again so what?

He has been cleared in a court of law, regardless of anyone thinks of the outcome, so shouldn't he be allowed now to rebuild his life in private and outside the media circus?

Or how long before the Hollywood film comes out? 

A story in the Express is blowing apart the argument that EU trade is vital to the UK, which is a cornerstone argument for staying in the EU.

"Exports to the EU now make up just 36 per cent of the UK’s overseas trade, barely more than we sell to the Commonwealth...

While exports to the EU are in decline, business with the Commonwealth and Anglosphere markets such as the US, Australia and Hong Kong is booming.

Exports to the Commonwealth and the Anglosphere have reached 33 per cent of the UK total – up from 28 per cent in 1992.

The true export tally was uncovered by anti-EU campaign group Get Britain Out.

Spokesman Luke Stanley said: “These figures demonstrate how redundant our membership of the EU has become to the British economy.

“We must leave the EU now and press ahead arranging free trade agreements with our historic and cultural allies all across the globe.

“From the US and Canada in the west to India, Hong Kong and Australia in the east, the potential markets for an independent Britain’s exports are limitless.”

Full story: Express.co.uk

So another set of stats and figures being used to bolster the anti EU argument but if true, do raise an interesting point and could they collapse the pro-Euro argument which seems to be centred around Trade and the economy.

I've no doubt we will see some counter stats and argument as we crawl onwards to election propaganda, as the main parties pin their colours to their respective masts and hope to win over UKIP support.

The Express has also flagged how EU spending is set to rise, with an additional £400 million required, taking the UK's contribution to £13.7 billion. None of this is going to help the pro-Europe camp.

Do you think we should be concentrating on Commonwealth, North American and Far Eastern Trade rather on our doorstep?

Wonder if Tesco bosses are just willing 2014 to end?

Tesco had £2billion wiped from its market value in minutes today after it was plunged into a new deeper crisis because profits have slumped again.

Its share price fell off a cliff after the troubled supermarket announced its annual profits may be £550million lower than expected.

With sales falling at their steepest level in four decades and its fourth profit warning in the past year, 2014 could not get much worse for Britain's biggest supermarket.

Daily Mail Website

At least the share price recovered a bit from October. Be a great one to do some day trading on if you fancy some fun 

Originally Posted by Steve Richardson

“Dohhh, that bandaid song again  It's not Dec yet and I'm already bored of hearing it ”

Ok I'm now sick of hearing it  bah humbug....

Interesting story on the Beeb, Portuguese Brickies are being brought in due to a lack of skilled Brits, and this is driving up wages, doubling the normal rate.

The findings came from recruitment firm Manpower who has released survey results which indicate a strong demand for recruitment across the UK, but is identifying skill gaps, from traditional trades across to financial and things like credit control.

Manpowers MD claimed "2014 was a bumper year for jobseekers, with the highest level of job creation in 40 years."

He said 2015 will begin with employers in an "even more confident position and we are optimistic about job prospects for the rest of the year. The main catalyst is big business hiring."

So why haven't we got any homegrown talent? Why do we have skills shortages if we have just come through the largest recession in history? Is the issue that enough youngsters aren't getting access to training, or unemployed people access to retraining?

Surely it must be cheaper for large building firms to train up youngsters as brickies than import experienced ones at double the salary? Appreciate it may take longer to train up an electrician or maybe an accountant, but some trades can be learnt on the job can't they?

Or are some trades just not popular and we have to accept that we will need to outsource to fulfil quotas?

However you look at it though, it seems to be good news if recruitment is on the up.

Hi Pete

I'm afraid you tripped our filters with your web link. Feel free to upgrade your business listing then you can show a weblink in your forum signature.

SEO wise, not sure about any 2015 specific tips. My money would be pay close attention to semantic search as it gets established. Concentrating on Local has been the way forward for a while now, so keep on that route.

Stick to the rules, don't game the system or upset google!

One of our members has an SEO challenge going which might be worth watching, and see how he does it.

Originally Posted by Barney

“I see that RBS share price has finally broke the £4.00 price barrier on Friday it's been a bit of a roller coaster ride, I guess it won't be too long before the great sell off....”

Ahh £4, now if I the missus had let me remortgage the house when the shares were 30p I'd now be sitting in the Bahamas getting fat and burnt.

Instead I'll just have to make do with getting fat in Warwickshire and leaving share trading to people that know what they are doing 

But at least the tax payer may actually get a return.