Posts

Oh Andy, you philistine  Devout Queen fan since I was a nipper. Biggest regret in my life was not seeing him at Wembley

I see Swiss group UBS has said it will move part of it's London workforce once we formally leave the EU, along with Lloyds of London (which seems like an irony).

Ryan Air boss Michael O’Leary has been vocal about his thoughts on Brexit and how he will be relocating planes away from the UK. There have been other sabre rattlings from other International companies, but by and large, it's all gone a bit quiet.

The economies not collapsed, housing market hasn't imploded, and things appear to be plodding along as usual.

But the confusion that was obvious during the Leave/remain campaign seems to be even worse now. The key vocal personalities during the campaign have now fallen silent, and there seems to be a sense of general uncertainty. At least talking amongst some small business owners.

The feeling is that a countdown clock has started to leave the EU, but no one really knows what to do, how to do it, or what will happen when somebody works out what it is we are supposed to be doing  

The PM had a Brexit brainstorm recently with the cabinet, but there seems to be a sense of making it up as we go along, with the EU seems to be just as confused as we are. We are in uncharted waters, as no-one has actually left the EU before, so I suppose we can forgive our politicians for having no idea.

But how does this affect our business decision making, planning or strategy? Do we have to sit tight for two years and see which way the wind blows?

Do you have any capital expenditure planned in the next 12 months? Or maybe looking at expanding, moving premise or taking on staff? Does Brexit come into any of your decisions or is it simply business as usual?

Be interesting to hear any feedback. 

What a shame that a post about scams started in 2011 is still relevant today and nothing has changed

Just saw Forum member Trena post this on Facebook...

Unfortunately this scam is alive and well

Advice though remains the same.

Never, ever, ever agree to anything from a cold call.

If remotely interesting, get a contact number, and tell them you will contact them, then put the phone down. Do 5 minutes worth of research on Google. That's all it normally takes to unearth a dodgy business or scam.

If they can't give you a contact number, get pushy, or come out with "this offer is only valid for right now", put the phone down. You have just saved yourself form being scammed.

Business owners wise up!

This scam and variations of it are as old as the hills. If you really feel the need to hand over money from a cold call, then give me your number 

It doesn't seem possible Freddie Mercury died 25 years ago, but had he lived it would have been his 70th birthday this week.

I bet he still would have been performing.

RIP Freddie 

I see this as a win for Brexit, we can now start flirting with these big firms and say come here with your huge work forces, we'll look after you, let you pay lower corp tax than those mean EU countries 

Bit of a thread bump Gail? It's old hat now, and I'm a happy Win 10 convert. Just don't upgrade, get a clean install.

Windows 10 as a business platform - thoughts?

Originally Posted by Andy-C27

“ie if google is penalising that particular site and if you add your details it may harm your site too ... As usual I don't make claim to this only what I read  ”

Unfortunately there is lots of scare mongering, particularly from SEO or people offering "clean up services".

It would only be a problem if the only links to your site came from low quality directories. In reality you have links form all over the place, including more unscrupulous ones you're not probably even aware of. But if Google detects that your linking profile is unnatural, the it will beat you over the head with a cuddly penguin.

I've had countless of emails over the years from panic stricken biz owners who have been "advised" to remove all links to their site. Utter cobblers, but Google hasn't helped in quelling the hysteria which has only recently died down.

Moved you over to rants  Can't beat a Friday rant 

I have to admit, being an ex wagon and coach driver in my squaddie days, hats off to anyone driving round London!

The parking regulations must be a total nightmare to wade through, and like you say, no allowance for common sense! It's bad enough in a car navigating bus lanes, emission zones, trying not kill motorcyclists and scooters who all seem to have a death wish

I've noticed an upsurge in the direct debit tactic. It's normally dogs or some animal to entice the kids to stop, then its a DD hard sell.

No problems with doing DD for a charity, but I like to choose the charity, not get the hard sell.

Maybe a sign of the times. My more cynical side does think there seems to be an explosion in tiny charities, most of them started by genuine conviction or a need to do something positive, maybe after losing a loved one. But a lot have no idea what they are doing, and money raised is wasted or frittered away due to inexperience or incompetence.

Surely it would be better to put your motivation and efforts into an existing charity and help them.

Then you see bigger charities having turf wars. My charity of choice is the Air Ambulance Service, which operates the national Childrens Air Ambulance, and Air Ambulance for Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Why this isn't a national service, centrally funded, economies of scale blah blah is another argument. But they get no government funding, so it is (wrongly) funded by donations. Then you get the West Midlands Air Ambulance fund raising descending on Warwickshire, and rattling their tins and setting up stalls outside the big supermarkets. The unsuspecting public then donate, thinking they are supporting their local Air Ambulance, not Birmingham's.

I don't knock some of the amazing work done by charities, but there does seem to be so much overlap and duplication with multiple groups championing the same causes.

No wonder they get so competitive for our spare change...

I'm definitely getting old! Had this business listing come through this morning.

UK IP address, not tripped any spam filters, and was created from a Smartphone. But I've been asked if it's ok to publish by our moderator.

I have absolutely no idea  

Is this a business? Is this some kind of spam, scam, hidden message, or a listing by a 12 year old? Have approved it and will see what happens. Maybe they will join the forum and tell us

Plumbers, builders, garages and PC repairs are so much more obvious!