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Stock markets around the world slump further

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The panic is spreading worldwide: the slump of every stock market can take the global economy into a deep recession. After Wall Street fell to a five-year low last night with the Dow Jones closing at 7.3% down, the day started very badly in Asia, where Singapore slid into recession, and quickly spread to Europe. In London, the FTSE 100 plunged more than 10% in the first 30 mins of trading.
What will happen in Wall Street today? And in Europe?

What does ‘recession’ mean? And what does it mean for your business and for your livelihood?

Here is a quick press review for you:

BBC News : Fear grips global stock markets

Reuters : Global rout, bank woes roil Wall Street

Guardian : Markets crash: How panic spread around the globe

Timesonline.co.uk : Wall St shares plummet, following London and Asia, as G7 gathers

Bloomberg : Most U.S. Stocks Decline on Credit Crisis; Regional Banks Gain

The best banks for you, with the Made Simple Group

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The Made Simple Group has established relationships with a range of banks, providing clients with access to the best banking solutions. All the banking partners have been selected for their packages specifically aimed at the start-up and small business markets. Find here a list of banking services that could save you money:

HSBC
• High street presence
• Interest free credit card
• Online banking
• Free banking
• £20 cash back

ALLIANCE & LEICESTER
• 2 years free banking
• Bank via internet, fax, or phone
• No minimum balance required
• Free legal and tax advice
• Free internet business guidance service

NAT WEST
• 24 months free banking
• Appointment facility at EC1 offices
• Online and telephone banking
• Fee free credit card
• Best business banking provider 3 times by “Your money” magazine
• £20 cash back

BARCLAYS
• Dedicated Local Business Manager
• 24 hour access to an award winning support team of qualified Business Managers
• Your choice of start up account packages with up to 2 years free banking
• Free local seminars to help your business
• Free no obligation meeting with accounting, marking and law experts

ABBEY
• Free banking – forever!
• Up to 3.75% AER
• Range of account cards
• Online banking
• £20 cash back

RBS
• 24 months free banking
• Appointment facility at EC1 offices
• Online and telephone banking
• Fee free credit card
• 20 cash back

Safe/banks? Protect your money from dark Mondays

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UK interest rates cut by 0.5% as US Federal Reserve leads co-ordinated effort across the world to restore economic confidence. In this catastrophic period for financial markets and particularly after the disastrous events of Monday, people are questioning the safety of their savings, pensions and nest-eggs.

So let’s have a look at which is the best bank for you and your business, taking in to account the recent turn of events. On this page you can find a form with the main UK bank accounts that compares and applies 40 UK bank accounts, savings, current accounts and ISAs.

Made Simple Group provides you with 5 banking and special services for start-up businesses: check here tomorrow for all the details!

The dark Monday increases the fear of a recession

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After a terrible day for worldwide economic stability, banks and governments are taking steps to try and save their country’s businesses from feeling the effects of the ‘credit crunch’. National banks mint more money and Finance Ministers work on new rules to control and protect the savers and the investors.

Many are calling for an official statement on the crisis today, feeling that this latest fall in bank shares is juts the latest chapter in a seemingly endless economic downturn.

Here is our selection of some of today’s essential Business headlines.

  • Panic swept through the world’s financial markets yesterday, wiping $2.5 trillion from share values, amid concern that regulators and politicians were struggling to get a grip on the worsening crisis of confidence. [Timesonline.co.uk]
  • The really urgent issue is the breakdown of wholesale markets, and the increasing difficulty that almost all banks are having in funding themselves on a day-to-day basis. [BBCNews]
  • After the worst day’s trading in over 20 years, analysts had hoped for a relief rally, with speculation growing of concerted central bank action on global interest rates. … Yesterday £93bn was wiped off the FTSE 100 as the leading index plunged by 391.1 points – its third worst daily decline in percentage terms ever. [Guardian.co.uk]
  • Iceland sought a 4 billion-euro ($5.43 billion) loan from Russia, pegged the slumping Kroner to a basket of currencies and took control of its second biggest bank to stem a collapse of the financial system. [Bloomberg.com]

3 quick news bites for your small business

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In the current business news storm, here are three things that you should know if you have a small business:

  1. Business regulation is exhaustive, confusing and constantly changing. Are you aware of the current and new legislation that affects your business? Recently the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has criticised the huge number of new rules that will add to the administrative burden on many firms, and expressed concern that the sheer volume of new rules could overwhelm small businesses. This goes against government pledges to cut back on the amount of regulation. [Read more here…]
  2. After the last bout of crumbling banks, it might seem more sensible to keep your money under the bed than in a bank, but Gordon Brown has said that the government would do “whatever is necessary” to protect savings. Therefore, the Financial Services Authority is set to begin negotiations with the banks to raise the threshold at which deposits are guaranteed to £50,000. [Read more here…]
  3. It might be useful to switch on the TV and have a look at The Business Channel on Sky 547. Companies from the entire world are introducing their businesses and telling their stories through the voices of their directors, customers, partners and investors. The channel also offers you the chance to produce a short promo spot that you can use for your website or for your meeting. What could you say about your business in 60 seconds?  [Read more here…]

The 5 best venues for events in London

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Hello! Are you looking for events in London? Would you like to organise an event here? Here you can find the 5 biggest and most famous venues in London:

  • Alexndra Palace – This is one of the most versatile and visually unique venues in London. It is set within 196 acres of glorious parkland, the Palace features an extraordinary blend of Victorian splendour, fascinating history and modern technology.
  • Barbican Centre – As the largest multi-arts centre in Europe it features art, film, music, theatre, dance and education all under one roof and under one creative direction. The Barbican comprises the 1,949 seat Barbican Hall, the 1,166-seat Barbican Theatre, the 200-seat Pit theatre, 3 cinemas, the 1,393 m² Barbican Art Gallery, a 2nd gallery; The Curve, 4,645 m² of foyers and public spaces, the Lakeside Terrace, a roof-top tropical conservatory, 7 conference suites, 2 trade exhibition halls, private function rooms and the 3 restaurants; Searcy’s, Waterside Café and Balcony Bistro.
  • Earl’s Court and Olympia – This a privately owned company and its owners have a clearly defined vision for the future – to create a landmark leisure attraction centred around the core business of exhibitions, conferences and special events. Earls Court and Olympia have been hosting events since 1886 and 1937 respectively and now receive over 2 million visitors annually and generate more than £1.2 billion in business and tourism income. 25,000 companies exhibit there each year.
  • ExCeL – This an international exhibition and conference centre, it is the host venue for a variety of events from award winning exhibitions and conferences to international association meetings, product launches, banquets, award ceremonies, sporting events and great days out. Situated in a stunning waterfront location, ExCeL London is located in the heart of London’s Royal Docks, within easy reach of central London.
  • Royal Horticultural Halls – Situated in the heart of London’s Westminster, the two Halls and the Conference Centre have all been used for a variety of events including: exhibitions, banquets, conferences, examinations, fashion shows, festivals and fairs.

Business Events UK: the value of networking

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A significant element in growing a business is to attend events, conferences and exhibitions; Ideal for networking, it also gives you a chance to assess your competition and find new ideas and solutions. Meeting colleagues and people who deal in your field is very important for the success of your business: it makes for good public relations. Every week London and all of England offer new events aimed at different aspects of business.

In Yorkshire for today and tomorrow there is the Business North West; an event designed for company directors and entrepreneurs who run small and medium-sized businesses in England. It’s an important event to provide thousands of small businesses with information, advice and inspiration whilst offering several seminar programmes to provide training within a networking environment.

In London, on Wednesday 15th of October, the International M&A conference will be held in the prestigious Sofitel London St James: it will examine the benefits and practice of running a business abroad. Experienced speakers will look at all aspects of cross-border deal-making, from finding initial targets to post-acquisition integration.

To find out more about the next business events have a look at the main venues for these events in tomorrow’s post!

Google AdWords

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If you want to be on the first page of Google search results then start promoting your business with Google AdWords.

If you are a member of the Made Simple Group then click here and claim your FREE £30 voucher. To learn how to manage your promotion, find the best ways to attract new customers and further understand all the solutions that Google can provide – visit our Google Education Zone at www.businessmadesimple.com.

So don’t worry if you don’t know where to start. Watch this introductory video from Google and see how it works…

The 5 best pubs for a good English brunch

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Sunny Friday and the mind is running away from business towards the weekend… It’s time to take a break – have a look in Time Out to find some fresh ideas and discover a new part of London.

Time Out has just published the results of the Time Out Eating & Drinking Awards 2008. Similarly we thought we’d compile a list of 5 great pubs where you can have a good English Brunch:

  1. Princess Victoria (Shepherds Bush) – It’s a new pub, born to win its customers with the freshest and tastiest ingredients from the market close-by: freshly baked bread, cheese, wine, sausage and mash. Perfect!
  2. Founders Arms (South side of the river very close to Blackfriars bridge) – It offers the usual Young’s range of drinks and pretty decent food but its location is what makes this place popular: it has a large terrace with seats and tables by the river, there are no major roads nearby and there’s an amazing view.
  3. The Punch Bowl (Mayfair) -It’s “the Madonna and Guy Ritchie” pub that boasts flowers and hanging baskets outside, whilst inside there’s dark oak paneling, candles wedged in champagne bottles and artwork that ups the nostalgia ante. Food and wine are excellent and the location maintains that this is a classy place (even if Madonna’s name’s in there somewhere).
  4. Monkey Chews (Camden Town) – This little hidden bar is in the residential area of Camden. The antique furniture contributes to this atmospheric and unique establishment that serves high quality food. Whilst the menu lacks depth, everything is cooked to perfection in the open kitchen.
  5. The Trafalgar (Chelsea) – This trendy pub on the Kings Road may not appear to be anything special from the outside, but inside it’s huge and aimed at making their customers feel as comfortable as they can. The food’s great, not cheap of course but then you pay fro the location!

Have you eaten at any of these restaurants? What others haven’t we mentioned that you’d recommend?

New Business Support Programme

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A new business support programme goes on trial: today we’re looking at an interesting news item found on Westbury.co.uk! The Government plan will introduce a new simplified system support business. This Business Support Simplification Programme (BSSP) was announced in the 2006 Budget to reduce the number of publicly funded business support schemes from over 3,000 to less than 100 by 2010. Because easier is better!

And a select number of local authorities are already starting this new system!

To get more news about business here are the two links to follow: westbury.co.uk and businessmadesimple.co.uk! Don’t waste a second.