Sales and payments and bank balances...oh my!

Posted by Katie Pringle on July 3, 2007 11:04 AM

Today has been a good day. Given that it is only five past eleven as I write this one might argue that I'm counting the chickens before they've hatched but nevertheless I say it again - today has been a good day. I woke up this morning, came down stairs, picked up the post and there in amongst the guff were three beautiful cheques, encased in perfect brown kraft envelopes.

All these cheques are for orders that have already been sent out, one in particular comes from a stockist that has been somewhat laxidasical in their attitude to prompt payment. Several polite but firm conversations and a duplicate invoice have been required. However today all was forgiven of said stockist and following on from this blog I'm saying farewell to the munchkins and following the yellow brick road all the way to my bank.

The bank you may be suprised to hear is one of my favourite places to go. As so much business is done via card and on the internet, almost all our out goings are paid for in the virtual realm. No cash transactions and very little cheque writing. All this means that the bank does not hold negative connotations for me. I check and manage all our accounts online and so it is the misleadingly labelled 'favourties box' that holds most of my dread where money is involved.

The consequence of all this is that I really only go to our bank when paying money in. This ladies and gentleman makes a huge difference. Like Pavlov's dog, conditioning has now taught me that going to the bank equates to sales and can be rewarded with happy feelings and a positive spring in my step. My palms do not sweat, I feel no shame, I walk in head held high and say these magical words 'Hi, I'd like to pay some cheques into my account please.'

Bliss.

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Not in our best interest

Posted by Ross Smith on July 5, 2007 3:43 PM

It's disappointing, though not exactly unexpected, to see interest rates raised once again today - the fifth time in the space of a year.

It's understandable that the MPC has decided to do this - there are enough inflationary pressures in the economy to prompt its members to act.

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Business Link checks my pulse.

Posted by Katie Pringle on July 12, 2007 10:12 PM

I received a questionnaire from Business Link today. Basically it wanted to know whether my business was still alive and kicking and whether the support they gave me had helped in any way.

The 12 Month Survival Questionnaire, to give it it's full title was a little despressing to say they least. The second question asked abruptly: 'Are you still trading?' and then expectantly 'If no, when did you cease trading?' A small box was provided for the date of your businesses untimely demise.

You would think then that I took some pleasure in circling the Y on this particular question but instead I found it put me in a reflective mood. I found myself reminiscing on a meeting myself and my business partner had over two years ago with a business advisor. We were full of ideas and energy and enthusiasm. They were full of tax and business plans and bank accounts.

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The region awaits

Posted by Andrew Mernin on July 16, 2007 1:50 PM

With the dust now settled on Gordon Brown's appointment at number 10, the Prime Minister is set to announce his plan to tackle the impending skills shortage.

The Government will reveal its tactics to meet the recommendations of the Leitch Review of Skills, which was published in 2006.

The study, conducted by Lord Leitch, found that the UK must urgently up its achievements at all levels of skills to become a world leader by 2020.

Among the many objectives set out by the report, the Government is looking to boost the number of apprentices by 500,000 a year and ensure that 40% of adults are skilled to graduate level and above by 2020.

So what could the implementation plan mean for the region? Hopefully we'll see more investment aimed at keeping talented workers in the North-East. Perhaps there'll be the launch of initiatives to increase employer investment into skills development from the region’s corporate heavyweights. And, we could even see the creation of new specialist training academies across the North-East.

See nebusiness later this week for an exclusive interview with Chris Roberts, regional director of the Learning and Skills Council North East to find out more on the Government's plans for the region..

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The review from the afternoon

Posted by Ross Smith on July 17, 2007 4:39 PM

Among those of us who dwell in the murky world of regional policy, waiting for this afternoon's Review of Sub-National Economic Development has had us on the edge of our seats for days. Perhaps we should get out more.

But now it has finally arrived, the result is not disappointing. Bringing responsibility for economic and planning strategy together is so obviously sensible, one wonders why they didn't do it in the first place - but better late than never.

One NorthEast did a good job with the Regional Economic Strategy, so it seems the right body to carry this out.

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Progress at Business Link North East

Posted by Alastair MacColl on July 20, 2007 3:11 PM

This is the first entry on my new nebusiness.co.uk blog. So as it’s my first time, I’m going to shamelessly use the opportunity to advertise the progress being made by Business Link North East. Who we are, what we do and how to use us.

We were launched on April 1st this year as an independent, private-sector-led organisation, with two main contracts, from One NorthEast and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).

One single, regional business support service, with one clear set of priorities. Easy to get to and speaking the same language as business.

Making better use of our resources and streamlining our services to deliver more value. Our aim is quite simply to help businesses in the North East to establish, succeed and grow.

Helping to transform the regional economy by supporting businesses of all sizes and from all sectors. From businesses that are just starting up to established and successful businesses seeking to grow.

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B.U.S.E (pronounced busy!)

Posted by Katie Pringle on July 22, 2007 5:14 PM

B.uckling U.nder the S.train of E.nterprise

I say this in my most not complainingest voice but man I am busy!! So busy!!! Four exclamation marks busy!!!! A flury of orders has come in a week before I go on holiday and I'm frantically working away trying to get them all made up and ready to be sent out before I go.

I haven't had a big order in a little while so it stands to reason that one would come in as soon as you get the suitcase down from the loft.

Still I am emphatically not moaning or whinging or any of those negatives that we business types must expunge from our vocabularies, because orders are great and I wouldn't be able to do what I do without them. Well I would but it would be very sad and people would pity me in the street.

So this week in between writing up invoices and printing off labels and cursing whatever packaging god decreed that only things smaller than a box of a certain size will fit into that box of a certain size (which is not the right size!) I drifted off into the realms of fantasy and wondered to myself...

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Kelly's zeroes

Posted by Ross Smith on July 25, 2007 10:11 AM

The £10,000,000,000 investment in the railways announced by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly yesterday should prompt some concern among businesses in the North East.

That's because she is signalling that passengers will have to provide a hefty slice of that cash - and recent history suggests it is businesses that will be hardest hit.

The type of tickets needed by business travellers can be seen as an easy target because most people who use them simply stick them down on an expenses claim. But these rising costs are just one more thing which makes running a business 300 miles from London that little bit harder.

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Virtualisation serves up benefits to business

Posted by Judith on July 25, 2007 4:13 PM

One of the most exciting technologies which has come of age in recent months is server virtualisation. Echoing 1960’s mainframe principles, it allows one physical server host to run multiple “virtual� servers simultaneously.

The business benefits are potentially huge. Computer Weekly recently documented how Newcastle under Lyme’s Borough Council will make savings of £280,000 over the next three years, by converting over fifty physical servers into six virtual servers – this represents nearly a 90% energy saving. So by reducing the number of servers which need powering and cooling, they are doing their bit for the environment too.

But low total cost of ownership (TCO) and green aren’t the only benefits...

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The end of the newspaper?

Posted by Julian christopher on July 26, 2007 4:35 PM

For me, one of life’s simplest and greatest pleasures is wandering down to the newsagent on a Sunday morning, scooping up a rainforest’s worth of newspapers and then working my way through them over the next couple of hours with the help of a large cup of coffee and a couple of croissants – or at least it was, until I had kids…

Now that weekend lie-ins last until about 7am, this sort of self-indulgence is just a distant memory – but in another decade or so, when I hope to get my Sunday mornings back, there’s a growing likelihood that my trips to the newsagent might well be obsolete.

Newspaper circulation figures have been steadily falling over the last few years, and the latest ABC statistics, which measure readerships month-by-month and year-on-year, show that there’s no sign of this trend abating.

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