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Oxford clinch memorable university Boat Race

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Oxford have beaten Cambridge to claim the 2009 university Boat Race.

The Guardian says: “As the heaviest crew in the 180-year history of the race, Oxford were the strong pre-race favourites to claim the 155th edition of the varsity event but they trailed their old adversaries heading into the Surrey bend after Cambridge had made a quick start. The Light Blues, who had won the toss and opted for the Surrey station, led by half a length at the two-mile mark but could not take advantage of the sweeping middle bend. The crews clashed oars as Oxford began the fightback at the Chiswick Reach and, in a repeat of last year’s victory, the Dark Blues powered clear for their fourth victory in the last five years and their seventh this decade under coach Sean Bowden”.

The challenge is not finished: the next appointment will be in March 2010!

Special Offer: only £10 a month to have an office in London

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Only 4 days to the end of our special offer that provides you with a virtual office in London for only £10 a month!
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Top schools by county

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The Financial Times has published the list of the top 1000 schools of the Country. Attending a good school is essential to have a good culture, the right formation and an attractive curriculum vitae: so parents and children have a look on the map and on the list to find the best for your future!

And here you are the first 10 position of the list 2008

  1. Westminster School   –   Westminster
  2. Perse School for Girls   –   Cambridge
  3. Wycombe Abbey School   –   High Wycombe
  4. Magdalen College School   –   Oxford
  5. Queen Elizabeth’s School   –   Barnet
  6. St Paul’s Girls’ School   –   Hammersmith
  7. Winchester College   –   Winchester
  8. North London Collegiate (IB)   –   Edgware
  9. Colchester Royal Gram Sch   –   Colchester
  10. Eton College   –   Windsor

To find out all the rankings and some more about the previous positions click here. And here is the link to check the best schools in your area (the map gives information for all 2,188 schools in the sample, which had at least 20 pupils in their sixth form studying at least two A’levels. Only the top 1,000 are ranked).

Bonus rates fall again for employee share schemes

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The Treasury has announced another reduction in the bonus rates for the Save As You Earn (SAYE) sharesave scheme.

The scheme was set up to encourage more employees to own shares in their companies. Employers pay a proportion of an employee’s monthly earnings into a bank or building society for a period of 3, 5 or 7 years.

At the end of the period, the employee can take their savings and a tax-free bonus or they can use the cash to buy shares in their employers’ company, usually at a discount of 20 per cent below the share price as it stood at the start of the period. The Treasury said that the latest move was intended to keep the rates in line with other interest rates.

For three-year contracts, the new bonus rate is 0.6 times instead of 1.5 times the value of an employee’s monthly payments. This represents a cut in the interest from 2.67 per cent to 1.08 per cent.

For five-year contracts, the new bonus rate is 2.6 times instead of 4.8 times the value of an employee’s monthly payments, reducing the interest from 3.04 per cent to 1.67 per cent.

In the case of seven-year contracts, the new bonus rate is 5.6 times rather than 9.3 times the value of an employee’s monthly payments, with the rate of interest coming down from 3.20 per cent to 1.98 per cent.

To be always updated on all news about rates & tax please see the westbury’s website!

Amazing numbers from Companies House in January

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Even in these very difficult times people from all over the UK are forming new companies. The numbers are down, but still respectable as the figures below from Companies House clearly show for the month of January:

04/01/2009                                      1,672

11/01/2009                                      6,077

18/01/2009                                      6,660

25/01/2009                                      6,790

01/02/2009                                      6,302

Howard Graham explains in his blog: “Over 6,000 companies were formed in the UK last week alone, companies that represent the hopes and dreams of many people from all over the country who are possibly making a new start. measure and monitor the performance of our business and this is something I would encourage new businesses to do. Knowing the numbers is key to growing a business. As we make and implement decisions, it is only with this sort of data, that we can measure the extent to which they are successful.Of course , not every company is able to get such up to date data on market share, but there are plenty of numbers in a business that can be readily ascertained and measured over time and far too few businesses actually do this.”

Prepare for another snow fall… the spring is still far away.

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From the Timesonline.co.uk: “It hardly seems possible, but Britain’s big freeze is to get worse. Just as the country digs itself out of Monday’s snow and ice, another belt of snowstorms threatens to strike the southern half of the country on Thursday and Friday with the risk of another major shutdown of the economy. The depression that brought the first mass of snow has slipped southwards and is now slowly wheeling around in the Bay of Biscay. It is ready for a second attack, later today, beginning with rainshowers along the South Coast. Because the ground is already covered in snow, it behaves like a refrigerator chilling the air — so the rain will rapidly turn to snow as the depression heads inland.”

But when will the spring arrive? And why is Britain so badly prepared for snow? Read here to discover more!

Heaviest snow in 20 years hits London!

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Timesonline.co.uk reports: “The heaviest snowfall in 20 years has closed thousands of schools and caused transport chaos up the eastern side of Britain, with London and the surrounding areas the hardest hit.

Six million bus passengers were left in the lurch as all London’s bus services were halted because of dangerous driving conditions, and every Tube line except the Victoria line was at least partially suspended.

Many mainline commuter rail services were also cancelled or seriously delayed, and flights at London’s airports were decimated, with both of Heathrow’s runways shut, Luton and London City closed, and Gatwick and Stansted flights subject to delays and short-notice cancellations.”

All the Europe is freezing and the weather forecast for the rest of the week is not one of the best… Have a look at the BBC website for the latest update!

£50 free Google voucher for you

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Good news for all the people who are signing up for a mail forwarding or telephone answering virtual office package: they will receive £50 Google Adwords voucher!

Google Adwords are a simple solution to online advertising. It can help you target customers who are actually looking for your products and services online. – For some tips and information on Google Adwords, please visit our Google Zone on Business Made Simple. And remind that it’s a time limited offer and cannot be used in conjunction with any other special offer. Vouchers are sent out in batches once a day, so you may not receive your voucher until one working day after your account has been set up.

Do you want to learn more about Google Adwords? Click here to understand what they are and how to create and use them!

Top 10 Business Tips for 2009

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2009 will be a very difficult year: every media carries on giving us terrible news and dark predictions.

And 2009 could be a very hard year moreover for new and young businesses: “the credit squeeze and the onset of recession could combine to make the trading environment during 2009 somewhat challenging”, explains the Westbury Blog. So here are some top tips written by Howard Graham to make you stand above the crowd and ensure that your business is well placed to grow and prosper during the year:

1. Have a plan.

2. Differentiate yourself.

3. Know the numbers.

4. Use your time well.

5. Get good people around you.

6. Streamline internal processes and systems.

7. Get online.

8. Manage that cash.

9. Work “on” not “in” the business.

10. Continually improve yourself.

Do you need to know more about them? Click on Westbury Blog!

Recession Britain, it’s official: but don’t lose hope!

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It’s a a hard Friday for the UK: it’s official we are in recession. Probably it’s not exactly news, but all the newspapers have opened today with new even darker predictions for the future.

The BBC.co.uk reports: “The UK is now in recession for the first time since 1991, official government figures have confirmed. … That means that the widely accepted definition of a recession – two consecutive quarters of falling economic growth – has been met”.

The Guardian.co.uk says: “Britain has officially entered recession for the first time since 1991, after the economy shrank at the fastest pace for nearly 30 years in the fourth quarter”.

The Timesonline.co.uk explains: “Britain is in the grip of its sharpest recession for three decades, grim official figures confirmed today. The economy suffered a brutal 1.5 per cent drop in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the past three months, shrinking at its fastest quarterly pace since 1980”.

People in London feel the pressure: unemployment is accelerating sharply, with 1.92 million people now out of work, the housing market remains severely depressed and retail sales are weak. There are no ‘green shoots of recovery’, no light at the end of the tunnel. The average recession in the UK since 1955 has lasted for three quarters, but the past two recessions have lasted for five. But people don’t lose the hope and the will to do and work.