Archive for January, 2010

Treasury caves in on credit union expansion: Belfast Telegraph

 
The Treasury has conceded to pressure from MPs and ministers in Northern Ireland to treat credit unions in Northern Ireland in the same way as those in Great Britain.
 
During a late night debate in the House of Commons on Monday, Treasury minister Ian Pearson gave a commitment that it would co-operate with introducing early [...]

Northern Ireland least loyal to banks: Belfast Telegraph

 
Northern Ireland consumers are the least loyal to their high street banks, according to research just published by the Which? consumer group.
 
Some 85% of Northern Ireland current account holders say they are prepared to switch banks if they get bad service. This compares to an average of 68% across the whole of the UK and [...]

Growing his own business empire: Belfast Telegraph

 
From a small beginning in 1999, John McNally’s business has risen far. Starting with a cafe in Armagh and a first year turnover of £110,000, McNally now runs a group of catering businesses with a turnover of several millions, 65 full time staff and another 65 part time.
 
There was, though, a logical progression to all [...]

Dressed to succeed: Belfast Telegraph

 
Sarah B Events started out in 2002 from a happy chance – Sarah B was asked to dress the marquee for the wedding of the daughter of Albert Reynolds, the former Irish Taoiseach. “We then realised we could do it as a business,” recalls Sarah.
 
Now Sarah’s small business – which initially employed just one employee [...]

Elevated ambitions: Belfast Telegraph

 
Elevated Aspects is a new business, but its owners – Andrew and Samantha Leonard – have a successful commercial track record. Before moving to Portadown, the Leonards ran a small firm – ‘Balloon in a Box’ - in Manchester.
 
But some businesses only work in certain locations. Balloon in a Box customers ordered pre-inflated balloons for [...]

Recession sparks start-up interest: Belfast Telegraph

 
The recession has sparked a big increase in the number of people considering starting-up their own business, figures from Invest NI reveal.
 
Between April and December last year, over 12,500 people called Invest NI’s Go For It enquiry line following a major advertising campaign promoting the Enterprise Development Programme. This was 16% ahead of the [...]

Treasury committee backs call to support credit unions: Belfast Telegraph

 
The powerful House of Commons Treasury select committee has backed calls for credit union regulation in Northern Ireland to be brought in line with that of the rest of the UK.
 
A spokeswoman for the committee confirmed that its chairman, John McFall, has written to the Treasury urging it to treat credit unions in Northern [...]

Paying the price of Christmas: MoneyTalks: Belfast Telegraph

 
The Christmas spending hangover has turned into a continuing headache for thousands of consumers. More people last year turned to paying for their Christmas presents by credit card, probably in part because of increased unemployment and reduced income because of the recession. Many now even pay their mortgages by credit card.
 
Those credit card bills [...]

Questions of Cash: ‘We have been left living in sub-zero temperatures’: The Independent

 
Q. My fiance has a Barclays premier account, for which we pay £20/£25 a month. It includes cover for various things, including boilers and parts.  On 22 November we had a problem with our boiler and called Barclays, which sent out an engineer from another company.  They temporarily fixed it, but had to order parts [...]

David Taylor MP: An appreciation: Co-operative News

 
David Taylor MP, who died on Boxing Day aged 63, was – above all – a good and decent man. He was also an excellent and hard working MP.
 
Throughout his 12 year period as a Labour MP, David remained true to his principles as a back-bencher who was willing to rebel and speak out against [...]