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Welcome to the forums 

Short and sweet intro, tell us more. How long have you been trading and how are things going?

Is there anything in particular you are looking for help in, or feel free to dive in and join any discussions.

I don't think it's so much "would", I think it will be more of an economic necessity to remain competitive.

Right I'm off to register mylocalbank.co.uk

The way I read it (and might be completely off the mark) is that the number of people who became insolvent in general is down, but there has been a rise for some people who don't have access to normal borrowing or non homeowners. 

According to the news Angela Merkel says putting limits on immigration from other EU member countries would increase the risk of the UK leaving the EU. Restrictions would be seen as a violation of one of the fundamental principles of the EU, freedom for EU citizens to work in any member country.

I'm guessing we are going to see and hear a lot more EU rhetoric over the coming months as the Tories desperately try and win voters over and fight off support for UKIP.

I wonder if EU membership will end up getting caught in the crossfire rather than waiting for a referendum?

Must confess to blowing hot and cold over Europe and genuinely not sure what we should do. We do seem to be a magnet for immigration, but it worries me having a UK with no voice or power within the EU. It could become a trade club that leaves the UK on the outside.

Recent events such as been asked to fork out an extra £1.7bn hardly help the pro Euro cause.

Anyone else a floating voter or have you made your mind up? If you think we should leave, is it based just on the immigration argument or do you think the country would be better off economically?

Or any staunch pro EU fans who can put up a good counter argument?

The UK "living wage" - an hourly rate based on the amount needed to cover the basic costs of living - has been raised by 20p to £7.85.

The voluntary rate has been adopted by more than 1,000 employers across the country, benefiting 35,000 workers.

It is now 21% higher than the compulsory UK minimum wage, set at £6.50 by the government.

The rate in London will rise from £8.80 an hour to £9.15.

Full Story - BBC News

If you have any employees do you honour the living wage or do you conform to the £6.50 compulsory minimum wage?

From CAB:

A debt relief order (DRO) is one way to deal with your debts if you don’t own your own home, don’t have much spare income, and your debts are £15,000 or less. Some types of debt don’t count towards this limit, so check whether you're eligible before you decide.

Debt relief orders - what you need to know - CAB

Originally Posted by ColonWhisperer25

“Lloyds " last branch in town "promise was poorly considered. These are empty slogans, that ought to end with "as long as it makes sense to us". ”

I suppose it was dreamed up by an internal marketing department (or external agency) that didn't really understand or appreciated the huge change in the high street and banking in particular.

I think we've had people banging on about the virtual high street and how everything will change from about 1999 onwards, but with very little actual change. But it's prob only the last 5 years it's really happened, and the pace and speed has been quite breathtaking, being fuelled by a world recession and a need to reduce costs and be more efficient.

Do we need a branch for all banking brands in every town and high street? Or is it we expect there to be one on the very occasional time we actually need to use it? If so is it fair to expect the banks to pay for it?

I guess it goes back to the Comet, Woolworths etc etc argument. Use it or lose it.

I imagine in the future, there will be a hight street banking branch which will be a co-operative of all the chains, and funded by all. Small retailers still need to cash up or collect change for till floats, and you still need to visit the branch for certain functions, loans, mortgages etc. Maybe it will be an independent company born to handle the high street physical presence of all the big banks, and you can open up a Lloyds, Barclays or whatever account if you wanted.  

Did he arrive in his Scientology spaceship? 

Originally Posted by mrb

“Steve - even thought about Apprentice - Alan is looking a bit old, I could see you would make a good replacement  ”

Looking at this years bunch of clowns, I can't see it lasting much longer! Is good for a bit of comedy but that's about it  Plus I do like Alans one liners, regardless how scripted they are.

"Says on your CV you're a hypnotherapist that has helped people stop smoking and had problems with erectile dysfunction. Nick don't look into her eyes..."

Nearly fell off the sofa laughing, how everyone in the boardroom kept a straight face showed it had to be edited! 

We bid (and got) a .scot domain, but applied as a priority before the landrush so had to shell out to pre-order one. Looks like you can do the same for the welsh ones.

The idea is companies have a chance to bag one before they go on sale for general availability if they meet set criteria, ie domain is similar to one they use, or they are based in the country/region in question. 

General availability is just everything that is left and is a free for all. Our .scot cost £250, but we could have had it for a tenner if we'd waited, but it was a name we needed, so put had to cough up