My Vegan Space

A new report reveals that business deposits far outweigh loans to businesses, particularly among small firms facing an ongoing struggle to access finance.

The report, published by banking research and advisory firm East amp; Partners, comes as major banks insist that they are keen to lend to small companies, many of which have found it difficult to access finance since the global financial crisis.

Small business is already struggling with pessimistic consumer sentiment, which recorded its third consecutive monthly fall in July to hit its lowest level since May 2009, according to the Westpac-Melbourne Institute index.

Data from East amp; Partners, whose clients include about 30 banks, shows business deposits far outweigh loans to businesses, especially small firms.

According to the report the business banking ratio has reached 1.25, up from 1.18 a year ago, which means 25% more in deposits is being taken from businesses than is being lent back to business customers.

Westpac, the second largest home lender, has by far the highest business deposit-lending ratio of the big four banks, scoring 1.67, which means Westpac has 67% more business deposits than business loans.

The Commonwealth Bank recorded the next highest ratio, with 48% more business deposits than business loans. The business deposit-business lending ratio is the highest on record for Westpac and equal highest for CBA.

According to the survey firm’s principal analyst and report author Paul Dowling NAB is the only bank that hasn’t reduced its lending to SMEs since the global financial crisis.

“Banks are saying there’s no demand from SMEs for borrowing and our research shows less than 10% of SMEs have demand for borrowing over the next six months,” Dowling says.

“However part of the reason for that depressed demand is the experience they’ve had over the past few years trying to access credit. A lot of them have decided it’s too hard, too expensive and the hurdles are too high.”

Dowling says anecdotal evidence, based on the firm’s interaction with 35,000 businesses, is that SMEs are finding it hard to borrow money, which is cause for concern.

“SMEs are the wealth generators and drivers of employment and innovation, and if they are not growing it raises questions for the economy,” Dowling says.

The report reveals that small businesses may be subsidising borrowing by big business.

Micro firms (less than $5 million turnover) and small businesses ($5-20 million) deposit more than double the amount they borrow while institutional clients (with at least $530 million turnover) deposit only about half of what they borrow.

The gap between the small end of town and large corporations has increased sharply since the GFC, when small business borrowing roughly matched deposits.

Forbes.com

Mary Morrison, who has taught a personal finance class to Stanford University seniors for 13 years, has seen it all, like the young woman who thought paid vacation meant all her travel and leisure activities would be paid for by the boss, and the student who threatened to call the police on the work study office because it was letting the government withhold money she earned and not give it back. Morrison shared with us what she thinks are the most important financial tips of all for people starting out on their own.

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Dont make career decisions based on dollar amounts.

Think big picture. If youre offered X dollars in New York City, its not the same as the same amount in Kansas City. You have to evaluate what you want out of your career and what the benefits are of those decisions, Mary Morrison says. Know the difference between benefits and perks when accepting a job offer, too. You might think its cool to be able to throw a Frisbee down the hall, but whats that compared with dental insurance? she asks.

Figure out how much you will need up front to move and start your life.

Apartment rentals require deposits, as do some utility companies. You may need a moving van, and you may have to wait four weeks for a first paycheck. You have to figure out what youll need to live on before that first paycheck, Morrison says. Few peoples parents can write them a check for $3,000.

Know what your take-home pay is–its not as much as you think.

This starts with filling out your W-4 tax withholding form correctly and getting the right amount of tax taken out of your paycheck. You cant start fashioning a budget without knowing what you have to work with. A paycheck and the dollars into your hand are not the same thing, Morrison says. You and the married guy next door with three kids will not get the same check for the same salary.

Be realistic about your expenses and essentials.

Some students have lived in an apartment before, but after college its not a big party and eating your roommates food late at night, Morrison says. Rather its concerns like transportation, medicines, food, entertainment and incidentals. Plan everything. Many students expect to live on $50 a week for food, so Morrison brings to her class an unappetizing selection of $50 worth of groceries to show them what that money will really buy. You will not live on rice and beans. You will go to the deli. You will buy coffee, she says. You dont have to deprive yourself. Just be realistic. I dont care if they get a pet snake, Morrison says. Just know how much it costs.

Understand cash flow.

Find out not only exactly how much youll be paid, but also precisely when, and when your bills will arrive.

Keep an emergency account.

Bad things happen, and they will happen to you. Youll be sick. Youll be hurt. Life will happen to you the same ways it does to everyone else, Morrison says. Be prepared mentally and financially for this reality.

Know when to use a debit card or credit card.

I think students should have credit cards, Morrison says. They are safer from theft than debit cards, and paying off a credit card every month will help a young person build a credit history and, hopefully, a good credit score. However, for routine purchases like going out to eat, buying gasoline or going to a movie, students should use a debit card, she advises. It will protect them from the typical I spent how much this month? experience. Credit cards should be for major, hopefully planned, significant purchases.

Get renters insurance.

While youre at it, look carefully at the insurance options provided by your employer–everyone needs workers compensation insurance. Never drive with minimum liability auto insurance. Financially protect yourself from a roommate who might run off to Puerto Rico, as Morrison puts it, with a security deposit or legal agreement.

Begin contributing immediately to a 401(k) plan or an IRA account.

Even if you start off slow and modest, it will make a huge difference, Morrison says. You may miss the $50 or so you put aside out of each paycheck, but it will grow and grow and save you from panic later.

Dont be afraid to invest.

I tell them that a savings account is a risky investment, because it means youre betting that there wont be inflation, Morrison says. Diversify, diversify, diversify.

UPS Store sets up contests to help small business marketers
By: Mark Haslan

July 13th, 2011

For the small business owners struggling to market their business with brochures, letterheads and postcards, help may be on the way in the form of a reward for the hard work from the UPS Store.

The Promotion Promotion, a contest to be launched on Facebook by the UPS Store, will award the grand prize winner with an integrated marketing campaigned valued at up to $50,000. Small businesses can enter the contest by visiting the UPS Stores corporate Facebook page starting July 18.

Every UPS Store franchisee is a small business owner, so we know how challenging it can be to promote and grow a company, said UPS Store marketing executive Michelle Van Slyke. She continued by saying the promotion is about providing business owners with resources to grow their business. Weekly prizes will include gift cards, tablets and more.

According to the Small Business Associations website, a small business marketing plan should understand the business target market and have a flexible budget. If business owners see a positive return on investment response from their marketing plan, they should be able to increase the amount of money put into the budget.

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SAN DIEGO, Jul 13, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
The
UPS Store (R) network announced today that it will
launch a Facebook contest called “The Promotion Promotion” on July 18.
The contest, designed to arm small business owners with tools and
resources to promote their business, runs through Aug. 31. The grand
prize winner will receive an integrated marketing campaign valued up to
$50,000.

Small business owners can enter the contest by visiting The
UPS Store corporate Facebook page. Grand prize submissions will
be evaluated by a panel of experts and the winner will be chosen based
on the contestant’s passion for small business. Official rules,
including criteria for the grand prize and contest eligibility, will be
available on The UPS Store corporate Facebook page starting July
18.

“Every The
UPS Store franchisee is a small business owner, so we know how
challenging it can be to promote and grow a company,” said Michelle Van
Slyke, who oversees marketing for The UPS Store network. “The
Promotion Promotion contest is all about providing small business owners
with resources they can use to help grow their business.”

The Promotion Promotion sweepstakes also will award up to $3,000 in
weekly prizes, including an Apple(R) iPad 2(R) with
Square and gift cards from American Express(R), The UPS Store
and Costco. Contestants can enter for a chance to win the weekly prize
drawing by dropping their name into a virtual fishbowl.

Doner,
The UPS Store network’s advertising agency of record, will work
with the grand prize winner to examine the business’ needs, develop a
marketing plan, produce creative and run it in appropriate media.

In addition, The UPS Store network will offer Facebook-only
coupons for discounts on business-related services at participating The
UPS Store franchise locations. Starting the second week, fans
choose the next week’s offer by crowdsourcing via Facebook Questions.
The Promotion Promotion tab also will stream relevant articles from the
business section of msnbc.com.

The UPS Store centers help with the logistics of running a small
business, including mailboxes with a real street address, packing and
shipping services and professional printing services such as: color and
black-and white prints; binding; lamination; finishing, and folding.
Customers can select from a variety of print products, including
presentations, flyers and brochures, business cards, menus and more.
Participating locations also offer online
printing and wide-format printing.

For more information on The UPS Store products or services, or to
find a location near you, please visit
www.theupsstore.com/logistics .

With more than 4,700 locations, The UPS Store and Mail Boxes
Etc. network comprises the world’s largest franchise system of
retail shipping, postal, print and business service centers throughout
the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. In the U.S. and Puerto Rico, The
UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. locations are independently
owned and operated by licensed franchisees of Mail Boxes Etc., Inc., a
UPS subsidiary. In Canada, locations are independently owned and
operated by licensed franchisees of master licensee MBEC Communications,
L.P. For additional information on The UPS Store, including
information on franchise opportunities for opening
a The UPS Store location*, visit
www.theupsstore.com .

*This is not an offer of a franchise. Any franchise offer is made only
after a Franchise Disclosure Document has been provided.

SOURCE: The UPS Store

MBE, a UPS company
Becca Andrews, 858-997-5297
raandrews@mbe.com

Copyright Business Wire 2011

Learn to view the world from a different perspective this summer at Renvyle House with a free weekly try-a-dive in its outdoor heated swimming pool with PADI Centre Scubadive West as part of the hotels Club Atlantic being run this summer.

The two family businesses on the Renvyle peninsula have come together to give you an opportunity to learn a new skill while on holidays at the hotel. This weekly class will be free to residential guests at the hotel and if you enjoy the experience Scubadive West have a discount offer for Renvyle House guests.

Renvyle House Hotel is located on the shores of the Atlantic and is situated on 200 acres which include a private lake at the front door, a beach at the back door, a nine-hole (par 3) golf course, gardens and numerous leisure activities which are free to all its residents. This historic hotel has been looking after guests since 1883 and Ronnie and his team continue this great tradition of Irish hospitality. John McKenna describes it in the Bridgestone 100 Best Places to Stay in Ireland 2011 as lsquo;It is hard to know who loves Renvyle more: McKenna adults? Or McKenna children? Guess we will have to just take another trip to this magical little universe..

Renvyle House has a great reputation for hospitality, delicious food and is a relaxing place to take a holiday. Other activities being run at the hotel this summer include a daily kids club, tennis tournaments, fly-fishing lessons twice weekly, and golf competitions. Leisure facilities free to residents include an outdoor heated swimming pool, tennis courts, lawn bowls, croquet and much more. Tegolins Tales Theatre Group will host a drama workshop evening and a story telling evening for children each week. Adults can also enjoy evening entertainment in the bar most nights. At Renvyle House, the only stress is on relaxation.

For more information, telephone 095 46100 or visit the website www.renvyle.com

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When it comes to solar power, small- and mid-sized business have faced a Goldilocks dilemma. Existing solar financing solutions for homeowners and corporations have been too small and too big, respectively. But now there’s something that fits them just right.

Solar@Work, a new program announced today San Francisco’s Department of the Environment at the Intersolar North America conference held in the city, will offer solar systems to Bay Area business via a group purchase or aggregation model. “We think of it like a Groupon for solar,” said Melanie Nutter, department director.

This overcomes historic barriers for small and mid-sized businesses that aren’t issues for big businesses, said Jenna Goodward, an associate with the World Resources Institute, an adviser to the program. “They’re smaller, so it’s that’s much more important to aggregate demand and negotiate as a buying group,” she said. “And a lot of them don’t have the cash flow to do an up-front purchase.” Nor do they have access to prime credit, she said.

Jason Coughlin, project leader at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), another adviser, explained further. “You’ll talk to bankers, and they’ll say, ‘The work we have to do for a 200 kilowatt installation is similar to the work we have to do on a 2 megawatt system.’ So if we can do twenty 100 kilowatt systems using standardized documents, and use one solar installer and one financial partner, in effect we create a 2 megawatt installation project, which is interesting to the financial partner, to the installer, and to the independent small businesses who are getting the benefits as if they were doing one large system.

Solar@Work aims to install 2 megawatts by the end of the year, which is a modest target of about 20 buildings. However, this is just a pilot project that organizers hope will be expanded in the Bay Area and replicated elsewhere in the United States and throughout the world.

Nutter said she expects the program to be popular in San Francisco because they designed it in response to feedback from small business. “We anticipate there will be huge interest,” she said.

Optony, a global research and consulting services firm focused on solar development, is also an adviser. SolarCity, a distributed generation firm that recently gained star power with a $280 million investment from Google, was selected as the vendor. The company, based in the Bay Area, has more than 15,000 projects completed or underway and expects to hire more than 400 new workers in the second half of 2011, including 100 in the Bay Area.

Solar@Work offers several financing options for businesses and commercial property owners to install solar power: cash purchase, solar lease, capital loan, power purchase agreements, property-assessed financing, and others, said Nutter. The program will help match the buyers with appropriate financing.

“We anticipate that buildings that participate in the program will have energy bills at the current rate or lower,” said Nutter. “The program has performance guarantee to deliver savings.”

The more businesses that sign up, the lower the prices will be for the entire buying group. The largest reductions will be available if the group purchases more than 3 megawatts by the end of 2011.

Aside from the discounted group price and performance guarantee, program participants will get a special pre-negotiated lease for 10 years with a buyout and free technical assistance from the city to evaluate their solar options.

“Sometimes it can be intimidating for folks who haven’t purchased solar to review bids, to know what’s a good price, what’s a proper inverter warranty, and how to choose among these ancillary services that come with a solar installation,” said NREL’s Coughlin. “Providing unbiased technological assistance is really valuable.”

San Francisco’s Department of Environment also offers free energy audits to small businesses, so all participants will get that service as well to help them reduce energy costs and gain access to energy efficiency rebates, said Nutter.

Part of what makes the performance guarantee equation work at this point is American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding from the US Department of Energy’s Solar America Cities program and support from US DOE’s SunShot Initiative,

“The Treasury grant, which offers cash payments for 30 percent of the cost of a solar installation (in lieu of a tax credit) is currently expected to expire at the end 2011,” said Nutter. But “we are confident that by leveraging the Federal Renewable Energy Investment Tax Credit that offers 30 percent in tax credits through 2016, we will be able to provide the needed financial incentive for small and medium-sized commercial buildings to participate in the program in 2012 and beyond.”

Nutter said the federal subsidies and Solar@Work are stepping stones to driving down costs for solar. “We envision a future in which subsidies will no longer be needed as an incentive,” she said. “Until then, we will be utilizing the rebates and credits that are available in our current and future group purchasing programs.”

While San Francisco is leading the way, this type of program is easily scalable and replicable elsewhere, said the partners. “One of the reasons why we’re so excited about participating in this program is that there is replicability,” said Alex Perera, codirector of business engagement for World Resources Institute. We see this is something that could be rolled out to other cities and even other countries. WRI is working in China and other big markets.”

After enduring four pregnancies, Project Runway host Heidi Klum is revealing four supermodel diet and fitness tips for staying trum. Inside the August issue of Glamour magazine, the mother of four and Victorias Secret legend divulges in four supermodel diet secrets that can help anyone achieve the supermodel body they crave.

By Donald C. Stewart

There was a time when people ran in fear of Rupert Murdoch. And they were Prime Ministers and Presidents. In the UK some high ranking politicians were accused of being in thrall or in bed with the media mogul. Policy was created to appease the readers of one of his newspapers and we all knew the devil was in the room.

Since the revelations that his News of the World newspaper was involved in hacking into the phone messages of celebrities things became hard for his Empire. When they were found to have been involved in the hacking into of politicians and the Royal Family we became outraged. When it was revealed that the newspaper may have been involved in paying police officers for stories we became incredulous. When we heard that people who had been engaged by the News of the World had hacked into the phone messages of an abducted child and DELETED messages making the family believe that the child WAS STILL ALIVE when she had been sickeningly murdered we became sickened ourselves.

Murdoch has dropped his attempt to buy BSkyB in the UK and closed down the News of the World after over 100 years of the paper supplying news on a Sunday. The people responsible seem to be soldiering on for Murdoch. The ordinary workers – about 4/500 ordinary workers who did not know what was being done “in their name” – will become unemployed and pay for a policy that many have denied and few have stood up to explain. The Evil Empire will march on but the next time you buy from the Murdoch Empire have a thought. Make it Milly Dowler and her family. Milly is the schoolgirl who was brutally murdered and wonder how the news report you are reading managed to get itself there

Popularity: 1%

David Lloyd Leisure Sees Rise in Kids Membership

Growth comes amid concerns over childhood obesity.

London, UK (PRWEB UK) 14 July 2011

Health, sport and leisure operator David Lloyd Leisure has seen an increase in the number of parents wanting their youngsters to keep fit, as concerns rise about levels of childhood obesity in the UK.

In the wake of government guidelines issued this week to tackle worries that both children and adults are spending too much time sitting down, the group reported a marked growth in enquiries and in the number of youngsters taking part in sports and activities.

NHS figures show that nearly a quarter of four and five-year-olds are now overweight or obese and forecasts are for the trend to rise. The government now wants under-fives to be active for at least three hours a day.

David Lloyd Leisure, whose DL Kids programme encourages youngsters to be active while having fun, has seen three per cent net growth in junior members since the beginning of 2011. Participations in kids activities currently stand at 266,000 per month, or an average of 3.2m a year.

The companys head of family, Sarah Hobbs, said educating children about health and fitness from a very early age is fundamental in forming lifelong habits.

“At David Lloyd Leisure, we understand the need to engage under fives in regular exercise that is fun and will give them a great start into the world of physical activity. We provide a range of options for them to help support their development of their major and fine motor skills, building on their experiences through play and imagination games.

“In the last two years, DL Kids has seen a significant growth in participations; to date we have over 3.2 million participations in DL Kids every year. Our junior membership continues to grow with thousands of small children learning to get active, swim, play tennis, supporting parents in the future exercise habits of their children.”

“We believe that if children have a strong habit to be active, then they will continue as they get older and supporting parents and families to this end is what we do.

“Many parents find it difficult to find the time to co-ordinate all of their childrens sporting and leisure activities, so our programmes are designed to do that effectively for them, and all under one roof.”

A recent survey carried out by David Lloyd Leisure found that one in five children aged 6-11 years do not receive any support from their parents when it comes to getting involved in sport outside of school, with a further 50 per cent of boys and 15 per cent of girls saying they would play more sport if their parents were prepared to drive them to sports clubs.

The poll, which surveyed more than 1,000 children aged 6-11 and 2,000 parents across the UK, found that despite these figures, a third of parents believe their children should be playing more sport.

“Parents play a vital role in determining how physically active their children are. The results reveal that while parents feel their children should be more active, behaviour is not supporting this belief,” says Sarah Hobbs.

When asked specifically how parents would like to see their children spend their leisure time, playing sport came out on top with 39 per cent, followed by doing homework (16 per cent), playing a musical instrument (15 per cent), arts amp; crafts (8 per cent) and watching television (6 per cent).

Despite this, half of parents confess to watching more than four hours of television per week as a family compared to just 25 per cent who play more than four hours of sport a week with their children.

Note to editors:

For further information about this press release contact Anna-Marie Muldowney on 01707 289833 or email press(at)davidlloyd(dot)co.uk

About David Lloyd Leisure Group

The David Lloyd Leisure Group operates 79 clubs in the UK and a further 10 clubs across Europe.

David Lloyd Leisure has over 450,000 members and employs 6,000 people. This includes an expert health and fitness team of over 750 and more than 450 tennis professionals.

Across all clubs, David Lloyd Leisure has over 150 swimming pools (of which half are indoor) and offers over 10,000 exercise classes per week. Every week 20,000 children learn to swim at David Lloyd Leisure and 14,000 learn to play tennis.

Its racquets facilities are unparalleled with 700 tennis courts as well as 180 badminton courts and 140 squash courts. Additional facilities include health and beauty spas, club lounges with free internet access, crèches, nurseries and specialist sports shops.

# # #

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/7/prweb8640925.htm

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