Home Blog Page 208

Banjos top Norfolk Christmas gift list

The Editor
-
0
Banjos top Norfolk Christmas gift list
Norfolk banjos

Amazon has revealed that banjos are the most-purchased Christmas gift in Norfolk.

Figures released by the online retail giant show the country bumkin instrument has already been delivered to more than 6,000 Norfolk homes this December.

Second on the list of popular Norfolk presents was six-fingered gloves.

Amazon’s director of commerce in the East of England, Lorraine Fisher, 34, said: “It’s always interesting to see regional variations in our sales data.

“Clearly, banjo playing is popular in rural Norfolk, helping to keep traditions alive.”

The Amazon delivery figures confirmed these top 5 delivery items in the busy two-week period before Christmas…

  • Banjos
  • Six-fingered gloves
  • DNA testing kits
  • Hay forks
  • Oxon pedicure kits

Ms Fisher said Norfolk stood apart from other counties in the Amazon data, with absolutely no soap or washing products ordered in the run-up to Christmas.

Better management through business-minded dashboards

The Editor
-
0
Better management through business-minded dashboards

In today’s world, everything, including business, runs at the speed of light. Economic crises and evolving customer expectations make companies transform and improve management practices. To stay afloat in a very competitive market, it’s essential to keep track of data and communicate in teams effectively. How to organize meetings for parties located in different cities or even countries? How to ensure that a company’s documents are well organized? How to work on reports collectively? Plunging into these tasks can be challenging and time-consuming.

Board portal software with powerful business-minded dashboards boosts all processes utilizing some visual flair to help managers work on complex tasks and interact with teams more effectively. These solutions are very configurable, so the dashboard demonstrates the most relevant aspects at that moment. How can they boost business and help with operational tasks? In the fast-paced world of business management, virtual board software presents the workflow processes in a way that encourages smart decision-making and proactivity. Good communication and document management mean business success. 

Virtual board software: what is used for? 

Virtual board software helps ensure productive digital communication between members of a board. A virtual boardroom and a board portal are created for boards and, of course, for good management. These platforms usually include:

  • messaging functions;
  • voting features;
  • a paperless meeting solution;
  • agenda features;
  • and other tools to make business communication as smooth as possible. 

The well-designed portal software can boost communication and assist the board operating efficiently. In simple words, virtual board software saves time and money if a top executive decides to organize an online board meeting. 

How to choose virtual board software for better management 

There are a lot of virtual board solutions on the market, but all of them are created equal. Some of them are better for meetings, others for task tracking. When searching for board portal software for your business, consider five essential things.

  • Security 

Security is crucial when it comes to business communication. Hackers try hard to break your system and get access to your business secrets. Therefore, if you want to stay safe, you need advanced security methodologies and encryption algorithms for all your business processes. While adopting a virtual board solution, ensure that your confidential and financial info is in good hands. Use the link to the vendor’s site like this https://board-room.org/ to learn more about its security practices. 

  • User experience 

It is essential to check how easy the board portal is to use. If you or your team is uncomfortable with the portal, it’ll be the worst investment ever. The portal should be accessible from a broad array of devices, easy-to-navigate, and accompanied with support when you need it. Virtual board software should be as easy as possible. 

  • Governance

While selecting board management software, try to answer whether the solution improves your governance and productivity. Some portals allow members to sign docs, vote on them, comment, and share notes to assist the board in collaborating whenever they have time and resources. This approach helps to free more time for strategic planning and is especially useful for companies that join board members from different geographical locations. 

  • Functionality 

What features are available, and how can they improve management? When it comes to board meetings, they can be time-consuming or sometimes even confusing. Docs are frequently changed, making it difficult for stakeholders to keep updated. Real-time notifications can easily solve this problem. If board members must make notes and share them, the solution should provide them with this opportunity. Basic functionality seems the same in many board management tools, but if you require something more sophisticated, check if a potential vendor offers the extra features.

  • Visualization 

Visualization is new black nowadays, and for a good reason. Virtual board software containing visualization tools can entirely change how a business runs. They help to present data to business owners and board members in a convenient manner. Pie charts, histograms, and corporate graphs allow all participants to understand information and make better management decisions. They also aid in processing massive sets of data and are useful for detecting trends in the industry. 

Final thoughts

Good management practices are essential for any company, but it can be difficult to govern a large business and consider all board members’ opinions. Thanks to the modern virtual board software, all these management tasks can be easily improved. Virtual calendars, online meeting rooms, tools to sign and share documents, note recording – all these features ensure great communication between the parties and boost productivity. Plus, business-minded dashboards deliver a high level of virtualization to make it easier to process and present important information. 

How can I get rid of debt?

The Editor
-
0
How can I get rid of debt?

Being in debt may not only affect your finances, but it can also create a lot of mental turmoil, especially if you are uncertain about how you can clear your balance and still stay afloat in the coming months. Finding ways to nullify debt as quickly as possible and prevent it from occurring again, can help you to find a bit more financial freedom. This may be especially useful to those who struggle with managing their finances, or are on a lower income than they may like.

One of the important aspects of learning to be free of debt can be to put measures in place to reduce the likelihood of you needing to borrow money again. While avoiding impulsive purchases can be helpful, you might also want to think about how you can provide for your family, especially if large costs arise that are necessary to your daily life.

Car repairs, especially to expensive cars like Audis or a problem with your home, can quickly lead to a large bill. Setting up an ISA with Wealthify can allow you to save small amounts of money each month, which can then grow thanks to the interest provided. The money you save may also be free from any tax, which can enable you to keep all of the profits. An ISA may come with a maximum yearly limit, so you might want to check how much is in the account before you attempt to deposit more. Getting into a habit of saving money may come in handy should expenses arise.

When paying off existing debt, you may want to consider the method you are using. Trying to pay off a larger debt first may actually work against you, as you will still be gaining interest, alongside your other debts. Many people find the snowball method to be a bit more successful. This involves making the required minimum payment on all debts that you currently have, and then putting as much money as possible onto smaller ones. That way, you can completely erase your lower debts a lot quicker, and then focus on the others.

You may also want to look into the ways you manage any credit card debt. When a promotional period ends, you could then see fees and interest added to your existing balance. Due to this, you may want to consider transferring your balance to a new card that has 0% interest. It can be helpful to consider doing this until your balance is at 0, and then simply cancel the card entirely so that you aren’t tempted to use it again. This way, you can then live within your means and reduce the temptation of borrowing money that you don’t have.

Getting into debt can be quite a vicious circle. You may borrow money one month, but then find yourself continuing to borrow when you don’t have enough money due to paying off your previous loans. Finding ways to neutralise them completely, and then live only on the money you physically have in your bank, can help to free you from this spiral.

How to choose data room software for your effective business: experts’ guide

The Editor
-
0
How to choose data room software for your effective business: experts’ guide

Does your business require optimisation, security, and protection of sensitive documents and files? It sounds like a good task for virtual data rooms. Especially, it concerns the tasks and files linked to due diligence work. Lots of small-/medium-/large-scale businesses have already integrated this software, reduced half of the routine tasks among workers, and boosted productivity. However, there are also novices to such tools. This data room review is dedicated to sharing step-by-step instructions on how to pick the best virtual data room in 2021/2022.

The profile of online data room software

Before recommending you any measures to purchase a virtual data room, you have to clearly understand whether it may fit your business particularly. So, virtual data rooms are an advanced and secure online environment in which vast amounts of secret or sensitive files may be securely exchanged outside of a business’s boundaries. Besides, you should know that a VDR is distinct from a corporate extranet because it is primarily intended to securely communicate sensitive documents outside of the corporate firewall.

As for the additional tasks, the business may benefit from data room services when it is engaged in due diligence, particularly in mergers and acquisitions, litigation, bankruptcies, fundraising, and audits. Does it cater to your daily business tasks? If yes, let’s go to the actual step-by-step guidance on how to pick the best virtual data room vendors.

A step-by-step guide to VDR purchase

There is a myriad of VDRs in the market which makes it hard to pick the best. Looking ahead, you should bear in mind the next key criteria: security and compliance, affordability, usability, and dependability. Apart from that do the following.

#1 Prioritize the functionalities and specify your business needs

If you are a business owner, you understand what tasks and responsibilities are on your shoulders. Virtual data room providers ensure to help you allocate hardly all due diligence data with their software. From your side, you should seek solutions that will meet specific security requirements including ISO/IEC 27001:2013 or SOC 1, and include file protection features such as watermarking, restricted viewing, two-factor authentication.

Then, great functionalities may lay in controlling the access. For instance, you can complete an audit trail and access user activity.

#2 Establish your budget

As was said above, lots of VDRs exist, the same as pricing policies for each. First of all, overlook the market, and check the average cost. Secondly, understand how much you are willing to contribute to pay for data room software. On most occasions, pricing is determined by the amount of storage required, the number of team members who will use the program, the features desired by your business, as well as the level of protection required.

Some vendors have flat-rate pricing (a monthly charge). Here is one important tip – do not try to go for expensive solutions if some add-ons are not necessary for your business.

#3 Compare the vendors with a table

You should gather at least 3 data room services to use for your comparison table. Divide the table by Offered Features, Pricing Plan and Flat Rate, Security, and Compliance. Additionally, you should compare all the picked vendors by reading the existing feedback on their software. Try to refer to third-party services where only REAL people leave comments.

#4 Learn about free trial

Fortunately, you can now request a free trial to work with an electronic data room during a fixed timeframe. On most occasions, it is granted to potential customers for 14 days. Test the functionality, check how all the features are activated and what benefits they provide for your due diligence tasks. Beyond that, check how user-friendly navigations and layouts are. If you plan to use software from your mobile gadgets, ensure it is compatible with Android, iOS OS among others.

#5 Test the customer support

Either during your free trial or upon purchasing a virtual data room, you should ensure a vendor offers a professional, 24/7 customer support team. Learn what issues they can address, and how quickly you can have responses on integrations of new features, and so on. By the way, many VDRs (with higher flat rates) provide their clients with a personal project manager who will walk them through the deal to ensure they get the most out of the software.

The verdict

After all your research is done, you should come up with software that can reduce needless travel and delays caused by couriering papers or interacting with several parties. You should avoid the need for several costly printing providers. Once your transactional work is completed, you literally have a deal bible and DVD archive created from your data room. If you come across the need for additional features within your VDR, you should learn about the integration of adds-on, and their accompanying prices.

Allaho lands Willie Mullins eighth win in the John Durkan Memorial Chase

The Editor
-
0
Allaho lands Willie Mullins eighth win in the John Durkan Memorial Chase

Willie Mullins is pretty used to success in the John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown. The Irish trainer has now landed the winner in four consecutive editions of the race, making eight wins for Mullins overall in his career.

After Min won the prestigious race for three years running between 2018 and 2020, Allaho picked up the mantle and produced a stunning performance, with Willie’s son Patrick the man in the saddle for the victory. It’s hard to believe that, 20 years on from his first John Durkan Chase win in 2001, Mullins is still landing winners at the highest level.

It was a cracking race that brought him this latest triumph, as Allaho overcame a mid-race setback to triumph. Having led for much of the early exchanges, Allaho was overtaken by stablemate Asterion Forlonge, before the latter inexplicably unseated his rider, allowing Allaho to regain the lead and navigate his way to victory. Neither second-place Janidil nor third-place Melon — both Mullins horses — could catch up, whilst pre-race favourite Envoi Allen was consigned to a disappointing sixth.

“I was delighted how he fought back,” Mullins said. “When Asterion Forlonge came up alongside him I thought that would take the stuffing out of him. Each challenger that came, he kept pulling it out. He raced very lazily today which is not like him and he was going a bit to his left which is not like him, so we will have to look at all that for the future.”

When you look at the horse betting sites UK and see that many of the entries are from Mullins’ stables, it’s perhaps no surprise that the Irishman reigned supreme at Punchestown once again, but it is still an impressive achievement to boast so many victories in one specific race.

Without the mercurial presence of Min this year, there were no guarantees that a Mullins horse would claim first place, especially with Envoi Allen in the field of participants. But Allaho is a horse with plenty of experience in the tank. The seven-year-old won the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival back in March, with Rachael Blackmore in the saddle, and it’s clear that the horse has the potential to win any race he is entered in.

It’ll be interesting to see how this season pans out for Mullins. He had a good campaign in 2020-21, but in many ways, his achievements were overshadowed by those of fellow trainer Henry De Bromhead.

Indeed, Mullins won the Leading Trainer accolade at the Cheltenham Festival, but if you asked most racing fans which trainer was the standout competitor at the Prestbury Park meeting, they’d probably say De Bromhead.

Mullins’ aim this year will be to make his mark in the biggest races. Whether it’s the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, the Cheltenham showpiece races in March, or indeed the Grand National at Aintree in April, Mullins will have his sights set on landing victories in some of the biggest races of the year.

Allaho’s win at Punchestown is a fine result in a race where Mullins always excels, but the ambitious trainer will be gunning for bigger and better things this season.

Police reveal officer investigating Downing Street Christmas parties

The Editor
-
0
Police reveal officer investigating Downing Street Christmas parties
Sgt John Borrison
Sgt John Borisson says he is investigating the Downing Street Christmas parties

By Hugh Dunnett, Crime Correspondent

The Metropolitan Police has moved to reassure the public that a top officer is now reviewing whether last year’s Downing Street Christmas parties broke any laws.

Sergeant John Borisson was put in front of the media today to put minds at rest.

“This will be a fair-minded, independent review of the evidence,” Sgt Borisson said.

“My preliminary findings show absolutely no wrongdoing whatsoever.

“But believe me, I will leave no stone unturned.”

Labour MPs have made complaints that two social gatherings at Downing Street last Christmas broke strict COVID regulations.

Labour insider Lorraine Fisher, 34, was not convinced by the Met Police reaction.

“There is something about this Sgt Borisson that is not quite right,” she said. “We will be taking it up with the Police Commissioner.”

Buy Christmas gifts people will love

If you’re stuck for Christmas gift ideas, our Suffolk Gazette mugs will be enjoyed every day for years. See all collections at DirtyOldGoat mugs, or buy directly below. All mugs come with free UK delivery…

Should you lease or buy your next car?

The Editor
-
0
Should you lease or buy your next car?

In the UK, you can lease or purchase a vehicle depending on your preference. While many people prefer to buy a car, some prefer leasing and paying monthly rent or fees. Different vehicles are calculated differently, based on the year, make, model, and miles travelled. Most people also choose depending on how much money they’ve saved up.

Personal Contract Purchasing (PCP) finance and Personal Contract Hire (PCH) are excellent methods to become more mobile. Both options offer great chances to drive a brand new car without paying for the entire amount outright or with cash.

Cars come with several liabilities like taxes, insurance, and paying for parking. While it is mandatory to pay a fixed price for government taxes, insurances, and more, you do not need to stress about parking anymore. It is easy to book a convenient, safe, and secure spot at affordable hourly, weekly or monthly rates with YourParkingSpace.

Let us look at whether you should lease or buy your next car.

Before we start, there are a few similarities between PCP and leasing. These similarities are:

  • Mandatory deposit required
  • Fixed monthly payments offered
  • Limits on mileage
  • Excess mileage charges
  • Payments usually include the warranty, breakdown, road tax, and delivery

Let us look at each in detail.

Personal Contract Purchase (PCP):

A PCP is like a car loan, but owners only borrow a small amount equal to the difference between the car’s current value and expected value at the end of the contractual agreement. There is a mandatory deposit, but these amounts are flexible and pre-decided by the car dealership and the car owner. Many times, there is no deposit. However, putting down a decently-sized amount can make the monthly car payments much lesser in the long term.

PCP terms are pretty flexible too. The usual payment terms are based on a duration of two, three, or four years total. However, most people can pay it off earlier depending on the agreement terms with the dealer. At the end of the period, you can also choose to make balloon payments to fully own the car. If you decide not to own the vehicle, you can finish the payments according to the terms and simply return the car. You are not under any obligations to own the vehicle once you’re done using it and making the payments.

Many times, PCP has the servicing and maintenance included in the deal. However, there would also be an additional allowable mileage allowance. You could be charged if you cross those limits.

Personal Contract Hire (PCH):

Personal Contract Hire (PCH) or leasing is nearly always done for new cars. Many times the ticket prices on these cars can be lower than PCP and cash deals. This decrease in the rates is because leasing companies purchase cars from manufacturers at heavily discounted rates. They then pass on the savings to leasing customers to make the offer more lucrative.

While most of the conditions between PCP and PCH are the same, the main difference is that you cannot make a balloon payment to own the car at the end of the term. You must return the vehicle once the terms are fulfilled. Most people who enjoy changing cars every few years and like to drive newer models opt for PCH options so they can keep experiencing the thrill of driving newer models and varieties of vehicles.

However, the leasing company runs a thorough credit check on the borrower, and the payment terms could change based on the credit ratings. You would require a good credit score to get approved for lower monthly payments.

Like PCP, PCH also requires an upfront deposit with a series of regular monthly instalments or payments and usually has a mileage limit. Crossing the limit could attract additional charges.

Is Leasing Or Buying Better?

From an investment perspective, you have nothing to show at the end of the lease. However, PCH allows you to use brand new cars at a much lower price. If you purchased such expensive cars, the down payment and loan instalments would probably be much higher. Leasing also makes sense for cheaper, smaller utility cars to run errands, chores and drive the kids to school.

PCP options are suitable for people looking to make an investment. At the end of the term, the car ownership can get transferred with a sizable payment. However, you must also include the depreciation costs and run a cost vs value analysis.

You could opt for either PCP or PCH, depending on the reason for needing a car.

New Eurotunnel to link Lowestoft with Amsterdam

The Editor
-
0
New Eurotunnel to link Lowestoft with Amsterdam
All aboard! New Eurotunnel link will go from Lowestoft

A second Eurotunnel linking Lowestoft with Amsterdam is being planned by the Government, we can exclusively reveal.

Officials have pinned the new undersea rail link to its levelling up agenda for rural Suffolk – and it has the added advantage that we will no longer have to go to France by train.

Costing £80 billion, the new tunnel will be financed by the UK and Dutch Governments, although private sponsorship is possible to reduce the bill to taxpayers.

Planners have identified the Lowestoft side of the tunnel should emerge in the old fish market area, a delightful part of the attractive Suffolk resort that will be a welcome sight for European visitors.

Grand new Eurotunnel entrance in Lowestoft
And the planned Amsterdam entrance

Lowestoft town councillor Lorraine Fisher, 34, said: “The rail tracks and infrastructure is basically at the fish market already, so all they have to do is dig.”

The tunnel will run 213 miles and take just over two hours to complete by fast train.

Tourist bosses in the region are excited about welcoming tens of thousands of European visitors each day, and are said to be working on a marketing campaign.

Meanwhile, Amsterdam officials can’t wait for the evening trains to arrive, packed with English folk looking to explore the city’s famous liberal attractions.

The huge project is expected to take seven years to complete, once approval is given next month. It is a significantly more challenging construction project than the Channel Tunnel, given that it is seven times longer.

A Downing Street insider told the Suffolk Gazette: “We have chosen Lowestoft not just because it is Britain’s most easterly town, but also because it is so lovely.”

£80 billion? Our mugs are cheaper

Suffolk Gazette mugs make a lovely Christmas gift and come with free UK delivery. View Dirty Old Goat mugs online or buy directly below!

1...207208209...428Page 208 of 428