Archive for October, 2009
How to get a bank loan: The Independent
What’s the best way to approach your bank manager for money? “The classic joke is on all fours, of course,” says Steve Everhard, of the entrepreneurial advice team at the business consultants Grant Thornton.
A more serious answer is the boy scout’s motto – be prepared. Know what you want; understand what the bank might be [...]
Helpline ‘needed to counter rising debt’: Belfast Telegraph
About 25,000 more people are unemployed today in Northern Ireland than a year ago. That probably means that 25,000 people here will be trying to work out how to survive on much less money.
This is no doubt why the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment is paying for a helpline to advise people in how [...]
Questions of Cash: ‘Why was I not told I would have to pay to check-in?’: The Independent
Q. We booked and paid for a holiday to Prague through Lastminute.com. When we arrived at Manchester Airport’s bmibaby check-in, we were told we needed to pay another £40 as a “passport fee” and for airport check-in. We were told by bmibaby staff to take up any complaint with Lastminute.com, who told me I was [...]
Mortgage market returns to life: Belfast Telegraph
There are at last the positive, if tentative, signs of a recovering mortgage market. Mortgage lending in the UK rose in August by £1bn and mortgage approvals by the major banks increased 81% compared to the year before – when confidence in the financial markets was a severe low.
Despite these strong indicators, it is not [...]
Business leaders set for Boston conference: Belfast Telegraph
usiness and civic leaders from Londonderry are meeting their counterparts in Boston this week for a major international investment conference. The ‘Gateways to Tomorrow’ conference takes place on Wednesday and Thursday and is seen as an opportunity to cement commercial relationships between the two cities.
Congressman Richard E. Neal, Chairman of the Friends of Ireland in [...]
New broom focuses on consolidation: Co-operative News
Neville Richardson is playing himself in as the first chief executive of the ’super mutual’ – the enlarged Co-operative Financial Services, which now includes the Britannia Building Society. He has been in place since the 1st August, but warns not to expect instant signs of change.
His first priority is simple – integration. The two businesses [...]
Question of Money: Belfast Telegraph
Q. I am looking to change banks because I am fed up with poor service. Which banks offer the best service? JL
A. The consumer magazine Which? gave the Co-operative Bank the award of best financial services provider for 2009 – mostly for being prudent and ethical. It has also been ranked highly in awards for [...]
Putting a value on homes: Belfast Telegraph
The credit crunch and global recession was bad news for most businesses – but not for Causeway Data Communications. With property values in meltdown, there is a good profit to be had for a company producing software that provides accurate, but affordable, property valuations.
Selling software to banks to provide up-to-date values on the homes on [...]
Accelerated success: Belfast Telegraph
As any user of the internet knows, slow data transfer speeds are the bane of productivity. It is the same for major corporations. Awareness of the problem – and the solutions – has driven the rapid growth of Replify.
The standard approach to boosting data transfer speeds within a Wide Area Network (WAN) is to upgrade [...]
Preparing for take-off: Belfast Telegraph
Remote monitoring of ill patients is one of the great business growth opportunities of the early 21st Century. It is a sector in which a Belfast company has established itself as a market leader.
“We have developed what we describe as the world’s first wearable, intelligent and non-invasive device for monitoring vital signs remotely,” says Michael [...]
