According to a new report, Right to Rent is causing landlords huge stress and worry, especially in areas of the UK with a high penetration of immigrants. The study, conducted by PropertyLetByUs.com, shows that Right to Rent is the number one cause of stress for over a third of BTL
©Reuters Australian iron ore miner Fortescue has shrugged off low commodity prices to more than double its full-year net profit, rewarding investors with a sixfold dividend increase. The company, which had previously flirted with breaching its borrowing covenants, on Monday said that it had cut its net debt from $7.2bn
An engineering company in Knowsley has been fined after an employee was badly injured when he was struck by a metal structure during a lifting process. The 46 year old worker from Skelmersdale sustained serious flesh wounds and a fractured arm in the incident on the 30th June 2014. Knowsley Engineering Services Ltd
If you listen carefully that sound you can hear from those involved in the housing and mortgage markets is a collective intake of breath, as everyone involved takes stock of what has been an incredibly busy (and stressful) first three months of the year. From a conveyancing perspective, I suspect
Most people want to have a leather furniture in their home. This is because it is believed the leather sofa gives your room a more regal look. Also, the leather sofas are quite classic that help enhance the look of your house. Leather sofas are a great addition to your
The plans for Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) have been revealed by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. While the plans include a dedicated Children’s Hospital on the Leeds General Infirmary site, proposals have also been submitted to Leeds City Council for discussion at a pre-planning application presentation. The first hospital building
A purpose-built construction academy, one of the first of its kind in the UK, has been launched by Berkeley and West London College. The West London Construction Academy has officially opened in Southall Waterside and it aims the tackle the U’s construction skills crisis and address the exodus of talent
A lot of experts are predicting that there will be an availability of many companies for sale over the next decades. As such, it is a good time for you buy that business that you have been dreaming about running. However, before going ahead and buying a business, you should
OCS has been selected by Community Health Partnerships (CHP) to deliver comprehensive cleaning support under a three-year contract worth £50m. The agreement will see OCS providing the highest standard of cleaning services across 180 sites, supporting CHP tenants throughout England. Petra Moss, Managing Director for OCS Healthcare and Education said:
The Board of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has fully approved plans for a number of new health facilities, worth some £50 million. The business cases approved include £11 million for Stobhill Mental Health Wards and £19 million for Clydebank Health and Care Centre. The next and final stage of
According to a new report, Right to Rent is causing landlords huge stress and worry, especially in areas of the UK with a high penetration of immigrants. The study, conducted by PropertyLetByUs.com, shows that Right to Rent is the number one cause of stress for over a third of BTL landlords, ahead of dealing with tax and inland revenue, raising finance, handing tenant complaints and void periods. Only rent arrears and sorting out property repairs are voted as more stressful than the new immigration checks. Landlords in areas with highest level of immigration like London and the South East, the West Midlands, the East of England and the North West are suffering the most under the new legislation. What’s more, landlords are concerned that they are paying over the odds for all the reference checks that they now have to make, to ensure compliance. Research from the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) shows that in February 2016, when the new Right to Rent came into force, a staggering 90% of landlords in England and Wales had received no information from the government on their legal duties under the new rules. The research also found that 72% of landlords did not understand their obligations under Right to Rent and 44% will only rent to people who have documents that are familiar to them. Since 1 February, landlords are legally obliged to make sure their tenants have the right to be in the country and report those who do not to the authorities. Landlords found breaking the Right to Rent rules will face punitive fines of up to £3,000. Jane Morris, Managing Director of PropertyLetByUs.com comments: “Landlords are under huge pressure with constant new legislation, new mortgage lending rules and increased taxation. Right to Rent is making matters worse. While the government argues this will help crack down on illegal immigrants, it is placing far too much responsibility on the shoulders of landlords. Anyone would think the Government dislikes landlords, with what appears to be a relentless attack on the BTL market. The indisputed fact is that landlords provide essential private and social housing for a growing band of tenants, who simply can’t afford to buy. With forecasts from PwC predicting that 7.2m households will be in rented accommodation by 2025, landlords will continue to play a pivotal part in the supply of housing for a growing UK population. However, it is not just landlords that are suffering under the Right to Rent legislation. Several charities working in the West Midlands have warned that people they represent were now struggling to find accommodation and some had even become homeless. It is undoubtedly making tenants’ lives even more miserable than they already are – the same can also be said for many landlords.” Source link
©Reuters Australian iron ore miner Fortescue has shrugged off low commodity prices to more than double its full-year net profit, rewarding investors with a sixfold dividend increase. The company, which had previously flirted with breaching its borrowing covenants, on Monday said that it had cut its net debt from $7.2bn to $5.2bn during the financial year to June 30. The miner said it would continue to pay off its debt from operating cashflow. More On this topic IN Mining “They’ve done a good job of cutting their debt burden,” said Angus Nicholson, a market analyst at IG Markets in Melbourne. “They certainly will survive as a continuing entity.” Lower prices for the steelmaking raw material have piled pressure on the Australian iron ore industry. The price of ore with 62 per cent iron content fell 12.9 per cent in the 12 months to June 30, and had been down as much as 39 per cent at multi-year lows in December. But Fortescue was likely to be a beneficiary of a “steadily improving commodities environment globally”, said Mr Nicholson at IG. Last week BHP Billiton suggested that commodities prices were no longer in freefall, offering investors some reason for optimism even as the world’s most valuable miner reported a record $6.4bn annual loss and cut its dividend 75 per cent. BlueScope Steel, the Australian steel producer, also reported full year earnings on Monday, with net profit for the 12 months to June 30 up from A$136.3m to A$353.8m year-on-year. Revenue was A$9.2bn, up from A$8.5bn the year before. BlueScope offered a bullish forecast for its performance next year, saying first-half underlying earnings before interest and tax would be some 50 per cent higher than the A$340.4m it reported in the second half of its financial year through June 2016. Analysts at JPMorgan said BlueScope’s performance was “particularly strong”. Fortescue’s Sydney-listed shares fell 1 per cent to A$4.88 in early afternoon trading with the company’s strong performance already factored into the price. BlueScope’s shares were up 4 per cent at A$8.59. In the past year Fortescue and BlueScope have been among the strongest performers in the Australian market. Fortescue’s shares are up 155 per cent over the past 12 months — having touched a low of A$1.50 in early 2016 — while BlueScope’s have climbed 144 per cent. Fortescue attributed its improved results to better productivity and efficiency. Nev Power, chief executive, said: “Successful cost improvement measures and lower capital expenditure have more than offset the impact of falling iron ore prices to generate strong free cash flow”. Net post-tax profit was up 212 per cent to $985m year-on-year, overshooting analysts’ consensus forecasts for $906m. However, that was significantly lower than the $2.74bn profit it posted for 2013-14 financial year. Revenue for 2015-16 slipped 17 per cent year-on-year to $7.08bn, but this also beat analysts’ predictions of $7.03bn. Fortescue said it would pay a final dividend of A$0.12 per share — six times the A$0.02 paid out a year ago. Andrew Forrest, Fortescue chairman and owner of one-third of the miner’s shares, is poised to earn A$124.5m from the final dividend, according to Bloomberg. “We expect the market to focus on sustainability of the higher dividend, which ultimately comes down to price,” analysts at UBS said. You need JavaScript active on your browser in order to see this video. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link
An engineering company in Knowsley has been fined after an employee was badly injured when he was struck by a metal structure during a lifting process. The 46 year old worker from Skelmersdale sustained serious flesh wounds and a fractured arm in the incident on the 30th June 2014. Knowsley Engineering Services Ltd was prosecuted today by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found the company had failed to ensure that the lifting operation was suitably planned, supervised or carried out safely. Liverpool Crown Court heard that the worker and a colleague were attempting to manoeuver the structure out of the premises using a fork lift truck. Whilst trying to raise the structure from its supporting trestles it twisted, and swung towards the worker, entering the cab of the fork lift truck and striking him. The company had not carried out a risk assessment and no formal training had been provided for the employees. Knowsley Engineering Services Ltd of Peel Road Industrial Estate, Skelmersdale pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,670. Speaking after the hearing HSE Inspector Imran Siddiqui said: “Had the company taken basic steps such as providing suitable training so those undertaking the lift were in a more informed position to assess and then adequately manage the risks, this incident would have been avoided.” Information on the safe use of lifting equipment, including forklift trucks, is available at: www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/indg290.pdf Notes to Editors: The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement hse.gov.uk More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/ Further HSE news releases are available at press.hse.gov.uk. Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases. Source link
If you listen carefully that sound you can hear from those involved in the housing and mortgage markets is a collective intake of breath, as everyone involved takes stock of what has been an incredibly busy (and stressful) first three months of the year. From a conveyancing perspective, I suspect most firms have not had to cope with the sheer volume of work that came through their channels during that last three-month period, fuelled in the main by buy-to-let landlords attempting to get their purchases through before the introduction of the increased stamp duty charges from the 1st April. I will not need to tell agents just how busy this first quarter has been; indeed, judging by the figures already coming out for March, we have seen firms dealing with double, sometimes triple, the number of cases they would ordinarily deal with. In a very real sense, this was unsustainable and while many may have disagreed with the policy itself it is perhaps good news that the Chancellor did not use his Budget last month to provide an extension to the deadline. I would have genuinely feared for the coping strategies, and sanity, of most in the industry if this had been the case. The figures for the last few months of activity are now just starting to come through and they show just how the stamp duty deadline impacted on the marketplace. E-surv’s Mortgage Monitor claims that the first quarter of 2016 was the busiest start to the year in nine years with 71,710 house purchase loans granted, the highest opening quarter since the end of the boom years in 2007 which had 116,898. Council of Mortgage Lenders’ lending figures for February also reveal just how busy the buy-to-let sector has been – and I suspect when March’s data is also published we will see further growth. Indeed, February figures show that lending to buy-to-let landlords increased by almost two-thirds from February 2015 – up to 23,700 loans worth £3.7bn – a 47% rise based on volume, and 61% by value. Given the rush to complete deals before March, one can only surmise what growth we will see there. However, the point to focus on in April is what the market is doing now and what might it deliver over the rest of the year. Given the deluge of activity in quarter one, especially in buy-to-let, we have to think that quarter two will be far quieter. With the deadline gone, there may be those who believe they can squeeze a bargain out of the market, even with the added stamp duty costs, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see landlords also taking stock and seeing how the sector reacts, especially when you consider we also have the cut to income tax relief on mortgage interest payments being introduced next year, and stricter affordability guidelines for buy-to-let lenders to follow. That said, I’m not completely convinced there will be a flood of buy-to-let landlords leaving the market, putting their properties up for sale, to be snapped up by first-time buyers. I’m certain that the Government believe this will be the outcome of their forays into buy-to-let but the fundamental problems facing first-timers still remain regardless, those being securing the deposit, finding a mortgage, meeting the tightened affordability measures of lenders, not forgetting of course the still low levels of housing stock in this country. Hitting buy-to-let participants won’t necessarily smooth the path to homeownership for those new purchasers. Mortgage advisers are probably looking for increased levels of remortgage business as rates are still incredibly low and there are undoubtedly large numbers of existing borrowers who could save themselves money if they took the time and effort to engage with the market. However, this doesn’t necessarily help agents, unless they are remortgaging to release equity, buy more property or help those within their family to get their own homes. That said, remortgaging has been at relatively low levels for some time, and while there has been some improvement, the fact Base Rate remains at 0.5% means some borrowers are happy to stay put. All in all, this appears something of an uncertain time for the market. The ‘rush-to-let’ is undoubtedly over but there could still be deals to be done for landlords, even factoring in the increased stamp duty costs. We are also seeing an increase in the use of limited company vehicles to buy property, and even though this has no impact on stamp duty costs, as it stands tax relief on mortgage interest payments is still available at the higher rate within a company. So, while some have predicted a landlord exodus to be replaced by eager first-timers this outcome remains to be seen. Perhaps it will merely be a few months of quiet reflection before the housing market wheels begin turning more rapidly – the late Spring/early Summer is traditionally a positive time for the market and I suspect that 2016 will ultimately be no different in that regard. Source link
Most people want to have a leather furniture in their home. This is because it is believed the leather sofa gives your room a more regal look. Also, the leather sofas are quite classic that help enhance the look of your house. Leather sofas are a great addition to your living room area owing to its classic look. Be it any kind of ambiance or atmosphere, these leather sofas can play a great role in offering the comfort and the retro-look. However, one of the major drawbacks is that these leather sofas are at constant risk of getting damaged. Wear and tear are some of the common issues in your house. If you do not take proper care of your leather furniture, there are high chances of it being damaged. Soon, the leather sofas in the living room can become worn out and even crack. This can play a great role in disturbing the look of your living room. These leather furniture cracks usually appear like the cracks in the human skin. Thus, it is necessary to protect the leather furniture from any kind of damage. Also, if these are not cleaned properly from time to time, the color may fade thereby spoiling the beauty of the furniture. How to take care of the leather sofa? It is very necessary to take proper care of your leather furniture in order to prevent it from damage and enhance longevity. Protecting leather sofas from damage require a brief procedure. These need to be followed from time to time to enhance the look and retain the natural beauty. Clean it One of the key steps for protecting your leather sofa from damage is to clean it regularly. You should strictly avoid washing it since it can lead to faster fading of colors. Instead, make sure to sweep and vacuum on a regular basis. Cleaning and sweeping for a temporary period of time will lower the risk of any unwanted scratches and scuffs. Use sofa cleaner One of the initial mistakes that most people tend to make is washing off the furniture with soaps and detergents. This can totally ruin the look of the leather furniture in the living room. There are several cleaners made for cleaning sofa are available in the market. You should use it for cleaning your sofas. In a piece of cloth, you should apply the sofa cleaner and then use it in a circular motion over the sofa. However, you should ensure that the total leather area is cleaned effectively. Watermarks are much visible on the leather furniture if not wiped off within time. So, to avoid that from happening you should wipe off the extra water from the sofa immediately after cleaning. Keep your sofa away from sunlight Too much of sunlight or direct exposure to it can lead to faster wearing out of your leather sofa. If you’re placing the leather sofa in living room, you should refrain from keeping it towards a window. The leather would immediately become dry. You should prefer keeping your sofa in a cool place where it is away from the foundations of too much heat and sunlight. Keep changing the cushions regularly If your leather sofa has interchangeable cushions, you should make sure that you change them regularly. The sofa cushions if placed in the same position for a long time, lead to efficient damage to your sofa. Experts would often recommend you to either shift them or change them regularly. However, if your sofa doesn’t have the option of interchangeable cushions, you can switch places while sitting. Keep away the sharp objects Leather furniture is at the high risk of being damaged due to sharp objects such as scissors and knives. You need to keep it away to protect the leather furniture. Also, lit cigarettes can also mean harm to the leather sofa. Nonetheless, there is nothing much to worry about since a leather expert can help to fix the burns and wears. 6. Sofa Covers A sofa cover is a practical and stylish solution to protect your furniture from spills, stains, and everyday wear and tear. To keep your sofa cover looking fresh, it’s important to follow a few simple care tips. Regularly vacuum the cover to remove dust and debris, and treat any stains immediately using a mild detergent or a fabric-specific cleaner. Most sofa covers are machine washable, so be sure to check the care label for washing instructions and recommended temperatures. Avoid using harsh chemicals, and air dry or tumble dry on a low setting to prevent shrinkage. By taking these steps, your sofa cover will stay in great condition, extending the life of your sofa. Leather sofas are one of your most valuable assets. Protecting them is pretty much important because you just can’t let your best leather furniture wear off easily. Your small mindful steps can play an important role in preventing damage to your leather sofa.
The plans for Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) have been revealed by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. While the plans include a dedicated Children’s Hospital on the Leeds General Infirmary site, proposals have also been submitted to Leeds City Council for discussion at a pre-planning application presentation. The first hospital building will be joined to the LGI’s Jubilee Wing, extending health services for adults. Among its facilities will be a new theatre suite dedicated to day case procedures, endoscopy and radiology services and a central Outpatients department supported by key services like pharmacy. In addition, the new building will offer more critical care capacity, allowing the LGI to expand its highly specialist services, such as major trauma or cardiac care, and to develop further specialist healthcare in the future. “This is a really exciting development for our hospitals that will be a huge step forward in the way we provide healthcare for patients in Leeds and the wider region,” said Julian Hartley, Chief Executive at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. “By designing hospital buildings from the ground up, we’ll be able to embrace new technologies and innovation to deliver modern, efficient health services that are tailored to our patients’ needs, not just now but in the future,” he added. The second hospital building will be solely dedicated to children. For the first time in Leeds, this will bring together staff and services from the current Children’s Hospital in the LGI’s Clarendon and Martin wings to deliver health services for children and young people in purpose-built facilities dedicated solely to their needs.
A purpose-built construction academy, one of the first of its kind in the UK, has been launched by Berkeley and West London College. The West London Construction Academy has officially opened in Southall Waterside and it aims the tackle the U’s construction skills crisis and address the exodus of talent from the industry. More people are leaving the construction industry than joining it, threatening productivity and growth, according to recent figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. With a shortage of homes, it is vital that the sector tackles the skills crisis head on. If it does not the workforce will decrease by 20–25% in the next decade. “The West London Construction Academy aims to address the industry’s skills gap for the long term by inspiring the next generation and preparing them for the world of work, including giving them the best chance of securing a placement at the end of their apprenticeships,” said Berkeley Group Chief Executive Rob Perrins. Berkeley Group, together with West London College and trade partners, have designed a new ‘By Industry, For Industry’ curriculum. Apprentices will gain on-the-job experience alongside classroom and online learning, bridging the skills gap for the long term and allowing students to earn as they learn. The courses available are services vital to the industry, such as bricklaying, plastering, dry-lining and carpentry and are open to anyone aged 16 and above. All apprentices will benefit from individual support from business champions and mentors. Apprentices graduating from the academy will be given the best chance of securing employment at the end of their courses – putting their skills to use straight away. A number of positions will be available with Berkeley and its supply chain at Southall Waterside itself. “West London has a number of major projects either planned or underway, from Southall Waterside and HS2, to Crossrail and Old Oak Common; training local people will be integral to the success and timely delivery of these projects – and will be an incredible opportunity to build experience and establish desirable skills. West London College is thrilled to be in the position to offer such an incredible facility to the industry,” said Karen Redhead, Chief Executive at West London College.
A lot of experts are predicting that there will be an availability of many companies for sale over the next decades. As such, it is a good time for you buy that business that you have been dreaming about running. However, before going ahead and buying a business, you should ask yourself a number of questions first. These questions will ensure that you are well prepared for your new role as a business owner. There are various questions which you should ask the business owner and seller about the business to know if the business is everything that you want. Here are some of the questions which you should ask and get answers about before buying a business for sale. Is buying the business a right decision for you now? The most crucial question to ask yourself is whether the business will be a good fit for you. If you want a business to pass the time with when you are bored, then you should consider getting a hobby instead of a business. On the other hand, if owning a business has been a long-term desire for you and if you have the right skills of running it then buying a business would be the best decision for you. Also, you should ask yourself if now the ideal time for you to purchase the business is. If you are sure about it, then you should go for it. Will your spouse support you in your decision? In one way or the other owning a business will affect your relationship with your partner. You will need to invest emotionally in time together with your partner when running the business. Hence your spouse needs to be mentally and emotionally prepared for the challenge. In fact, he or she may even want to run the business jointly. If you don’t discuss this beforehand, you will find that most of your problems are emanating from home instead of your business. During the first days of acquiring the business you will be required to work long days, so your spouse needs to understand that and support you. Who operates the business when the owners go on a holiday? One important question which you should not forget to ask is when was the last time the owners went for a holiday, how long were they gone, who was left to manage the business, and the challenges the business faced when they were away. This will show you how much the owner of the business is tied to the daily activities of the business. If an owner goes for vacations often, it means that the business is in good shape. But if the business faces challenges when the owner is not around, it show that the owner babysits the business too much. Are the numbers adding up? Many new owners don’t have an idea of what their returns are supposed to be. If you decide to be a somewhat absentee owner, will the business give the required return on your investment? And if you are a full-time owner, will the business give a return which will be worth your investment and time? You should also find out what can happen to the cash flow if the sales are below what is expected and also what can happen if the costs run above what you had expected. What’s the response of the customers? A step which many business buyers omit is asking the current customers about what they think about the business. Unless you know the customers who buy from you and why they buy from you will be flying blindly. Knowing what the customers think and why they buy from you will help you in offering quality services to them when you finally seal the deal and buy the business. How does the business market itself? For a business to be successful, it needs to have a growing customer base. So, you should ask the seller the strategies which they have used to market their business and generating inquiries to get new customers. When you are aware of the strategies which were used you will be in a position to know what you need to improve on so that you can have a growing client base. For example, if you are looking for a business for sale in Houston, there may be local marketing strategies and a local market that needs to be tapped into this. This can be dependent on the industry, of course, but you need to be aware of how the location impacts the business’s marketing. Owning a business is a desire which many people have. But before buying any business, there are various questions which you should first ask yourself and the owner so that you can understand how the business is run and how it operates.
OCS has been selected by Community Health Partnerships (CHP) to deliver comprehensive cleaning support under a three-year contract worth £50m. The agreement will see OCS providing the highest standard of cleaning services across 180 sites, supporting CHP tenants throughout England. Petra Moss, Managing Director for OCS Healthcare and Education said: “We are proud of the work OCS has already done with CHP but this contract marks a very significant step in that relationship. We share CHP’s desire to ensure the highest possible standards of cleanliness and are excited that the service we provide in its buildings enables clinical excellence to take place. This partnership is a positive milestone in our mission to ‘Improve Lives’.” Mark Day, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive at CHP added: “We’re delighted to be partnering with OCS across the country. Our ambition is to deliver the most effective and best-value space for patients; this contract is an important part of that.” Owned by the Department of Health, CHP is focused on delivering better value to the NHS and its partners against a landscape of unprecedented infrastructure challenges. Starting in September, the partnership between CHP and OCS will ensure that clinicians are able to provide community services within an environment that will speed recovery and prevent infections.
The Board of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has fully approved plans for a number of new health facilities, worth some £50 million. The business cases approved include £11 million for Stobhill Mental Health Wards and £19 million for Clydebank Health and Care Centre. The next and final stage of the process of developing each facility involves the submission of a full business case to the Scottish Government Capital Investment Group for consideration in November. “I am delighted the full business case has been approved. This is another major milestone for plans to build modern, state-of-the-art facilities for our Mental Health in-patients at Stobhill,” said David Williams, chief officer, Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP), about the Stobhill development. “The HSCP’s commitment to providing high standards of effective care in appropriate settings is clearly demonstrated by NHSGGC’s decision today. This will see our patients staying in modern wards that are at the very forefront of modern Mental Health in-patient accommodation,” added David. Speaking about the Clydebank Health and Care Centre, Beth Culshaw, chief officer, West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP), said: “I am delighted that the full business case has been approved. This is another major milestone for plans to rebuild a modern, state-of-the-art health and care centre for the people of Clydebank. The HSCP’s commitment to tackling health inequalities in areas of high deprivation and promoting social regeneration is clearly demonstrated by NHSGGC’s decision today.” “The national transformation of primary care means that this project is not about a simple replacement of an existing facility. It is about taking the opportunity to create a centre where the people of Clydebank can expect to be supported by a wide range of professionals, closer to their home, and enabled to live healthier, more independent lives,” Beth concluded.
