UK Business News

Following months of hard bargaining between the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and the Royal Mail an agreement has been struck that appears to suit both parties.

Postal workers walked out last year throwing the UK postal service into chaos and threatening the future of the mail service that businesses and the general public have relied upon for many years.

It now appears that talks between the CWU and Royal Mail have achieved their purpose and the deal which gives postal workers greater job security, a shorter working week and a 6.9% pay rise over three years has been accepted by both parties.

There has also been agreement to plans by the Royal Mail to substantially transform the business and services over this three year period.

The CWU said workers will also receive lump sums of about £2,500 as well as weekly pay supplements and other improvements such as extra maternity and paternity pay, through the agreement.

Royal Mail boss Adam Crozier said: “This agreement is good for the business as it allows Royal Mail to get on with its modernisation, it’s a good and fair deal for our people, and it’s a good deal for our customers as it ensures stability over the next three years.”

karen birch

On Monday March 1st the UK’s first online journal aimed at women in business was launched by the brother and sister team of Karen and Phil Birch, themselves serial entrepreneurs.

The name 3rdi derives from that ‘extra’ intuition that women have; their intrinsic ability to empathise, communicate, share, spread their ideas and “network.”

The magazine has been ‘beta’ testing over the last six months and is now available live online at the 3rdi website. The publication is offered as an inspiration to its readers rather than a marketplace or networking site.  It is a magazine with high editorial standards using new technology and the internet to deliver its content.

The magazine will be available on a regular monthly basis on the first Monday of each month.

“Our aim is to challenge the norm, to encourage our readers to think and act. Intelligence is too readily associated with tests and measurement; typical in a male-oriented business world but we feel that intelligence is far wider reaching. Business intelligence, market intelligence, social intelligence, relationship intelligence, communication intelligence, emotional intelligence are not the sole domain of the male ego,” explains co-founder Karen Birch.

Brother Phil Birch adds; “I have no issues whatsoever in stating that we’re primarily a journal for women – women ARE more intuitive. In my business experience it’s important to value this intuition and I hope The3rdi encourages more women to take advantage of their “sixth-sense”.

Every month a range of experts and regular columnists contribute to the magazine on a variety of subjects covering business, lifestyle, self development, family and contribution (charity and volunteering).

“We are an ethically-driven team of professionals, with the united goal of passing on our knowledge, experience and, hopefully, wisdom to our readers. We hope that they will benefit from this information and use it to make their own business and private lives as rewarding as possible,” said Managing Editor Karen Birch.

If you are among the many small business owners who feel that they get a raw deal acting as unpaid tax collectors for the Treasury, you may be interested to read the latest publication from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Taxation and Red Tape.

Sub titled The Cost to British Business of Complying with the UK Tax System, the authors claim that tax related red tape costs UK business £20 billion a year.

The book reveals that the UK has the longest tax code in the developed world, running to 8,300 pages of primary legislation compared with 1,700 in Germany and 1,300 in France.

The report also reveals that the average Finance Act in the 2000’s has been three times as long as the average Finance Act in the 1980’s – a damningindictment of New Labour’s record on red tape. The UK is one of only 3 out of 43 most advanced economies where the cost of tax collection is not falling.

It is suggested that the impact on small businesses is particularly devestating, with the costs of tax collection bearingaround sixteen times more heavily on the smallest business than on the largest.

The authors consider that this acts as an impediment to competetion and to the expansion of employment among small firms.

The report calls for a radical reform of the tax system and the book contains examples of how this could be achieved. Examples of this would be:

• Definitions and procedures should be consistent across all taxes
• Taxable and accounting profits should be aligned
• Special tax reliefs on company investment should be abolished
• Investments returns that are disguised as capital gains should be taxed in the same way that income is taxed
• Taxes generating minimal revenue with high compliance costs (eg inheritance tax) should be scrapped

The report further argues for the abolition of the annual Finance Act to reduce the political pressure on Chancellors to complicate further the tax sysyem with headline – grabbing measures in eacj Budget.

Director General of the IEA, Mark Littlewood comments:

“Often debate focuses on the overall level of taxation, but this report clearly shows that merely complying with tax laws is an enormous burden on the British business. Not only do we need to slash tax, we need to simplify it to allow enterprise ro thrive.”

The publication Taxation and Red Tape is available in PDF format here.

Equality and Diversity charity Stonewall today publishes its Top 100 Employers list showcasing Britain’s best employers for lesbian, gay and bisexual staff.

This year, as in 2009, the list includes four major law firms.

The Law Society’s Diversity Champion Stephen Ward welcomed the results. The Director of Communications, Inclusion & Corporate Responsibility at the Law Society says:

“It is great news that four firms are in the Stonewall Top 100 again this year as we know there was huge competition from other sectors.

We have seen a dramatic change in the environment in law firms for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) employees in the past couple of years.

The Interlaw Forum for LGBT Networks particularly has made a huge impact and the Law Society is proud to be working closely with Daniel Winterfeldt (corporate partner at Simmons & Simmons and founder of InterLaw) and colleagues to promote diversity across the profession.

Agenda for action

We start the new decade knowing there is still a lot to do as the soon-to-be published report on a joint Law Society and Interlaw survey of LGB lawyers will reveal. That report will help us set an agenda for action,” he said.

The Law Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Charter provides a clear framework for progress on diversity and inclusion across the legal sector. More and more practices are signing up and taking advantage of the support available from the Law Society.  In March we will be launching an associated toolkit that is structured to help practices of every type and size achieve their diversity goals.

Further evidence of our commitment to inclusion is the Law Society’s Diversity Access Scheme, supported by the Law Society Charity and designed to support promising entrants to the solicitors’ profession who also face exceptional social, educational, financial or personal obstacles to qualification.

Scotland’s biggest airline FlyGlobeSpan has mounted an operation to repatriate it’s flight crews and passengers that are covered by insurance, following the financial collapse of parent company GlobeSpan yesterday.

Over 4,500 passengers are said to be stranded by the airlines sudden collapse, with most in Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Egypt, the Civil Aviation Authority will repatriate around 1,100 of those stranded overseas.

GlobeSpan were put into administration yesterday putting 800 jobs under threat and causing untold misery to the many passengers and staff that have been stranded abroad.

Customers who booked directly through flyglobespan.com website are unprotected and will not get a refund, but they may qualify for a reduced rate repatriation fare, although some may also have credit card protection or personal travel insurance in place.

Earlier this year FlyGlobeSpan announced profits of £1.2 million, following a disastrous £19 million loss in the previous year.