The 'Gaffer'

“Unquestionably the biggest and most costly gaff of his career and one that will haunt him for years to come” was how Gareth Osborne described the enormous faux pas made by the Gordon Brown yesterday.

This is an unfortunate but none-the-less perfect lesson for PAs when working in a PR capacity or who are engaging with the press and broadcast media. One of the first lessons you must learn is never to make off the cuff, ill-considered or private sidebars when with or around the media. There is no such thing as privacy (or personal comments) and any misquote or wrong interpretation of a question will be forgiven. If you say something that can be interpreted badly, it will be used. And don’t always rely on saying ‘Is this off the record?’ That’s why people who do it for a living are so good and people who don’t appear fazed – they usually are.

And always remember ‘Mike is never your friend’. It you are wearing one, say nothing that isn’t directly related to the matter in hand. Trust me, I’ve been caught out more than once. You would have hoped that someone of Gordon Brown’s experience and media training would have learned this simple fact; he must be terribly stressed!

Gareth, APA

Hung parliament should not worry Business

Businesses should not be worried by the prospect of a hung parliament following the May 6th general election. According to new research conducted by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the concern felt by the majority of businesses has been exacerbated by over-zealous reports in the popular press.

The research suggested that two thirds of businesses are either "concerned" or "very concerned" about the prospect of a hung parliament following the next general election.

Commenting on the BCC's research, Gareth Osborne of APA, said that power sharing is a far from ideal outcome; history shows little is achieved and it usually results in an immediate or early second election process, but the result will not result in a huge catastrophe for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).The markets have so far continued to perform well since the Lib Dems gained momentum in the opinion polls; and it became a three-horse race, and the pound continues to perform well.

With just a week to go, APA would like to see clearer statements from all three main parties on there measures to recreate business stability, regenerate employment and reduce further the burden of bureaucracy. It also recognises that with such a dramatic national debt it is unlikely that any government can do anything radical that requires funding and that swathing cuts in public sector costs (including staffing) are more likely and essential.

APA

GDP slows during Q1/2010

UK gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2010, according to preliminary figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Should the figure be confirmed, it would represent a slight downturn in activity since the final three months of 2009, when GDP rose by 0.4 per cent.

Commenting on the announcement, David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said the figures were "weaker than expected, but not entirely surprising.
Lower growth in the first quarter of this year compared with the last quarter of 2009 was anticipated by the BCC's Quarterly Economic Survey, and is consistent with our forecast published in March," he stated. "Although still weak, GDP has now recovered for two quarters in a row, so it is important for policy-makers to focus on ensuring that the recovery continues and a double-dip recession is avoided."

Mr Kern said that as soon as the election is out of the way, it is "critical" for a new government to put in place a credible deficit-reduction plan, allowing business to lead a sustainable recovery. Without a credible plan, there are serious risks that the fragile economic upturn will fizzle out, he claimed.

APA

Monkey Business

A man walks into a shop, the sign says “One Stop Shop for Business”, around the walls he sees a bank of cages. Another customer walks in and says to the shopkeeper, "I'll have a C monkey, please".

The shopkeeper nods, goes over to a cage at the side of the shop and takes out a monkey. He fits a collar and leash and hands it to the customer, saying "That'll be £5,000". The customer pays and walks out with his monkey.

Startled, the man goes over to the shopkeeper and says, "That was a very expensive monkey, most of them are only a few hundred pounds. Why did it cost so much?"
"Oh", says the shopkeeper, "that monkey can program in C very fast, tight code, no bugs, well worth the money."

The man starts to look at the monkeys in the cage. He says to the shop keeper, "That one's even more expensive, £10,000! What does it do?" "Oh", says the shopkeeper, "that one's a C++ monkey; it can manage object-oriented programming, Visual C++, even some Java, all the really useful stuff."

The man looks around a little longer and sees a third monkey in a cage on its own. The price tag round its neck says £50,000. He gasps to the shop keeper, "That one costs more than all the others put together! What on earth does it do?"

"Well," says the shopkeeper, "I’ve never actually seen it do anything but it says it's a Consultant."

Sarah Tiddy FAPA
PS. We had one of these recently to advise us on HR matters!

Potholes in the road to recovery

The economic recovery is still too fragile for small businesses to consider taking on new staff, it has been claimed. According to John Walker, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the latest unemployment figures clearly demonstrate the risks faced by small enterprises.

The Office for National Statistics reported this week that an additional 43,000 people were out of work in the UK between December and February, compared to the previous quarter. At eight per cent of the population - equivalent to 2.45 million people - the jobless rate has reached its highest level in 14 years.

Mr Walker claimed that while small businesses are, on the whole, increasingly confident for the future, a degree of caution is perfectly understandable. "Small businesses are at the heart of the recovery but still need support if they are to get us firmly on that road to recovery, and if they are to begin taking on staff again," he added.

APA, along with the FSB, is calling for a renewed economic stimulus to help small businesses continue to create jobs, get access to crucial finance, innovate and start up new businesses, to get the economy squarely on the road to recovery.

APA

Pension charges set to rise

PricewaterhouseCoopers has become the latest firm to raise fears over proposed pension accounting changes.

The financial services firm said proposals by the International Accounting Standards Board to change IAS19 - expected this month - could force most firms to report higher pensions costs.
It estimated the combined pension costs for UK companies would rise by £10bn - with a corresponding decrease in reported profits.

Despite this, PwC said it was "supportive" of the improved transparency on pensions disclosure that the changes would bring. PwC's comments come just weeks after both Hewitt and Mercer issued warnings over the changes.

APA

Storm clouds follow Ash clouds

Storm clouds gather for public sector employees as job satisfaction plummets, says latest quarterly CIPD Employee Outlook survey

Official GDP figures published today confirm the UK has continued its climb out of recession, however the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's (CIPD) quarterly Employee Outlook survey suggests that things will get worse for public sector workers before they get better. The findings follow hot on the heels of new CIPD predictions this week that 500,000 public sector jobs will be lost over the next five years, whoever wins the elections.

Nearly one in five (18%) of public sector workers now think it likely they could lose their job as result of the economic climate, compared with just 7% in April 2009. Almost four in ten (39%) public sector employees say their organisation is planning to make redundancies, up from 14% a year ago. And nearly two thirds (63%) of public sector workers think it would be difficult to get a new job in contrast to 56% a year ago.

Against this backdrop it is not surprising that public sector workers feel under increasing pressure, with one in four (23%) reporting they feel under excessive pressure at work every day compared to just 13% in spring 2009. And compared with a year ago, they are also less likely to say they are satisfied with their work-life balance (52% compared to 57% last year).

APA

Research into mobiles and associated health risks

The biggest study to date into the effects of mobile-phone usage on long-term health was launched on Thursday, aiming to track at least a quarter of a million of people in five European countries for up to 30 years.

The Cohort Study on Mobile Communications (COSMOS) differs from previous attempts to examine links between cellphone use and diseases such as cancer and neurological disorders in that it will follow users' behaviour in real time. Most other large-scale studies have centred on people already suffering from cancer or other diseases and simply asked their previous mobile-phone use. They have also been shorter, since cellphones have only been widely used for about a decade.

About 5 billion mobile phones are in use worldwide. To date, groups such as the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society and the National Institutes of Health have found no evidence that cellphone use harms health.

APA

Coach Potato

Passengers fed up with long and boring train journeys will be pleased to learn that a rail company has launched the UK's first onboard TV screens.

First Great Western is introducing the on-demand service via seat-back screens on one coach of each of their high-speed trains. They are similar in size to those found on many airlines. The TV screens will be fitted into all First Great Western's high-speed trains by November. So far they have equipped 16 trains, which travel from London Paddington to southern England, the West Country and Wales.

Customers who wish to watch the latest TV shows, sports and documentaries will have to pay £3.95 or get one-hours access for £1.50. They will also need to buy a £2.50 set of headphones unless they have their own. The Volo TV touch screen allows you to choose and control what you watch, so you can pause the action if you need to pop to the toilet. Viewers can also use the TV to read the latest news headlines, follow their journey on a moving map and check out real-time journey information.

Greater internet access may be more useful for business travellers but an episode of 'The Office' could be equally enlightening.

Shelley, APA

From an item in the Daily Mail 21/04/10. Photograph copyright Volo.

Computer Health Warning!

The enforced closure of botnets (see below) is doing little to halt the rise of spam on the internet, it has been suggested. According to the latest figures from Google's worldwide analytics, spam levels held relatively steady during the first quarter of the year, despite the closure of the Mariposa and Mega-D super-botnets.

In fact, spam volumes in quarter one were six per cent higher than in the equivalent period of 2009.

Commenting on the finding, Colin Minto, Technology Director of APA, said: "The problem is that the fundamental technology for sending email is not secure, especially in terms of authentication; that is, being able to truly validate a messages origin. People continue to click and open spurious messages and spam is still getting through, allowing users' computers to become infected and new botnets to form and grow, he explained.

Earlier this month, Symantec issued a report showing that, as of March 2010, spam comprises 89.34 per cent of all email around the world.

APA
A ‘botnet’ is a group of infected PCs that are all controlled by an external "command and control centre" and their processing power used for unauthorised purposes.

Confusing Act

Smaller firms may find it difficult to understand the new Equality Act in its present form, according to the Association of Personal Assistants. The organisation is joining others in calling for greater clarity in the legislation, which has an accompanying 300-page guidance document.

Gareth Osborne, Director General of APA, said that in its present state, the guidance does not deliver the clarity necessary to achieve real change in business behaviour. "It fails to provide clear and accurate advice to business owners about the requirements of the Act," he stated. In seeking to provide best practice recommendations, the clarity of the advice becomes muddled and lost. APA believes that this confusion will lead to further costs as businesses either over-react to the legislation or are forced to bear the burden at subsequent tribunals for not engaging with the legislation."

Gareth cautioned that the document is also too long and will also prove prohibitive to small company bosses, many of whom have severe limits on their time and little patience when faced with indigestible legalese.

The Equality Act is due to come into force in October 2010, with its measures to be phased in over the next three years. PAs are recommended to watch out for abridged versions (coming soon) to ensure they remain current.

APA

When the dust settles

In the wake of the disruption caused by the cloud of volcanic dust the backlog of stranded travellers will take some time to clear. Tmpact it has and will have on businesses will be enormous. APA set out to find the best advice on how to handle staff absence. The following statement has been issued by the Legal Protection Scheme of the Federation of Small Business (FSB). They said:

“Small businesses are under no obligation to pay employees who miss work due to being stranded by the air travel ban. Wages are paid for work done, meaning firms reserve the right to withhold payment even though the circumstances are beyond individuals' control.

Employers could give staff the option of taking unpaid leave, taking further annual leave or making up the time at a later date. The employer cannot force the employee to take further annual leave retrospectively though - this would require their consent to do so. The starting point is that it's simply unpaid leave."

However, the FSB's advisers urged firms not to discipline employees who are unable to return to the UK from abroad, as this is clearly the fault of a volcanic explosion not a conscious decision on their part. Finally, the LPS said it is at the discretion of the employer whether or not they are prepared to rearrange agreed annual leave with workers due to go off on holiday.

APA encourages all employers to be tolerant and accept the inevitability that ‘Acts of God’ happen and by their nature we could all be subject to them form time to time.

Gareth, APA

Cash is no longer King!

A new report from the Payments Council shows a decline in the use of cash, as it is replaced with payments via cards.

The Way We Pay 2010 insight shows that six in ten transactions still involve cash, but almost 80 per cent of these are less than £10. Most substantial payments are now made using a credit card. And according to the study, cash transactions are expected to represent less than half the total in five years time - the first time this will ever have happened.

Commenting on the findings, APA Technology Director, Colin Minto, suggested that cash use is, "Declining as the generation that was used to cash gets older and the new technology generation takes over. Electronic payment, principally driven by the growth in ecommerce, has become the method of choice for Internet users and reservations about a lack of security have diminished as volumes increase,” he said.

"We still have to be aware that a small percentage of the population have neither credit cards nor bank accounts but the use of cash does seem to be rapidly disappearing. Last year, it was announced that the cheque will be phased out as a payment method by 2018.”

APA

PAs of Distinction

Pictured are Emma Kernan-Staines FAPA of the FA Group (left) and Laura Richardson FAPA of ELEXON Ltd (right) each is shown receivng their Diploma in Personal Assistance.

Both passed 'with distinction' - a great achievement.

Also pictured is APA Director Carly Beales FAPA (centre) of the Bank of America, herself a Diploma holder.

All APA Members will join me in congratulating them on their success.

Gareth, APA

Due date

Late payments are still a major concern for small and medium-sized enterprises struggling to deal with the fallout of the recent recession in the UK, it has been claimed. According to new research by BACS Payment Schemes, which is behind direct debit and BACS Direct Credit, UK SMEs have to wait on average 41 days longer than their originally agreed payment date.

This amounts to a 9.5-day increase on the 31.5 days small companies were waiting for their payments in 2009. Moreover, more than a third of SMEs said that large companies were the worst culprits when it came to late payments, while 17 per cent said that sole traders withheld cash for the longest.

Commenting on the research Gareth Osborne, of APA, said: "Late payment is a huge problem for small businesses and it’s alarming to hear that small firms are waiting even longer to be paid. Late payment is one of the major factors affecting the survivability of UK SMEs even eclipsing even taxation and regulation."

APA will be writing to the new Small Firms Minister on appointment following the election.

APA

APA extends its condolences to all PAs of Polish origin in Membership, whether they are Members in Poland or Polish PAs working in the UK, on the tragic loss of President Lech Aleksander Kaczyński, his wife Maria and all those killed in the plane crash in Smolensk yesterday.

APA

Flex in the workplace

Family-friendly working practices should be at the heart of every company and organisation in the UK, one minister has claimed. Speaking as the government announced new plans to increase the flexible working options available to UK professionals, children and families minister Dawn Primarolo said this remains "the best route out of poverty for families". She said the Government wished to do all it can to help parents find employment and stay employed.

However, Ms Primarolo claimed it is crucial that private sector employees also play their part by embracing new working models, including non-standard hours. "My own department is committed to flexible working and has really seen the benefits of supporting those with caring responsibilities in their careers," she stated. "We know that fathers can find it particularly difficult to juggle the responsibilities of work and family."

Ms Primarolo said the government was aiming to make it easier for mums and dads "to strike the right balance" between work and family life.

APA DG, Gareth Osborne, confirmed that APA totally supports the principle of flexible working but stressed that the flexibility afforded to every worker has to be by negotiation and not by right. He said, “Businesses have to remain profitable to survive and flexibility does potentially place a burden on productivity; especially in smaller businesses. I will be writing to the Minister to ensure she engages with the small business groups to structure any new initiatives her department may be planning.”

Member’s thoughts are welcomed.

Gareth, APA.

SME owners invest

While the mighty continue to take their bonuses, small business owners in the UK have invested more than £16 billion of their own money into their companies over the last year to survive the recession, it has been reported. Research conducted by specialist insurer Hiscox indicates that 20 per cent of entrepreneurs used their own personal finance to support their business interests, while 34 per cent cut their salary to increase cashflow.

The average amount of money poured into a small business last year was £17,030, the company reported. Some 33 per cent of entrepreneurs increased their working hours by, on average, 12.5 hours a week, while ten per cent worked more than 50 hours as they sought to keep their businesses afloat.

Alan Thomas, small business expert at Hiscox, claimed that small and medium-sized business bosses have been "the unsung heroes of the recession, They have made enormous sacrifices and taken significant personal and financial risks to pull their businesses through the last two years. Their positive outlook for the year ahead is testament to the resilience of UK entrepreneurs and with 25 per cent planning to expand in 2010, they are doing their bit to help lead the UK's recovery."

Gareth, APA.

Public employees pull fewer 'sickies'

Public sector employees are less likely to take sickness absence than their private sector counterparts, a new study has indicated. Research conducted by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) reveals that while government employees are more likely to take extended periods off work, short-term 'sickies' are far more common within private companies.

The study found that within the last month, more than one in five public sector workers have been to work when they were really too ill to do so. A further 41 per cent have gone into work poorly during the last year, compared to just 36 per cent of private sector employees, according to the research.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said people often talk about a 'sicknote culture' in the UK, but workers regularly go into work when they should not. They do this - not because they are afraid of their boss - but because they know they do vital jobs in over-stretched workplaces," he stated. "Of course positive sickness absence policies are important in the public and private sectors. But there is most to gain from tackling the causes of absence, particularly stress, and helping people return to work."

The government is in the process of introducing fit notes to the UK workplace, which detail the tasks an individual is capable of conducting during periods of illness or injury.

Gareth, APA.

Dressing for work is a taxing dilemma

Nothing too racy, dull, scruffy or posh and please don't attract comment or clash with the sofa. Frankly, it is a weekday wardrobe dilemma that nobody would wish for, and certainly not if their working day started at 4am. Breakfast presenter Sian Williams has been refused a tax rebate on her work clothes by HMRC. Judge Christopher Staker saw fit to deny her £1,800 rebate on the £4,500 she spends on her appearance because he thinks it is impossible to divide the business and private benefit of the expenditure.

When Natasha Kaplinksy moved to Channel Five she was said to have received an allowance of thousands of pounds. Rachel Riley of Countdown was reportedly given a £10,000 allowance and a stylist to advise her on what to buy. And Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue are reported to have been given ‘substantial’ clothing allowances for ‘X’ Factor. During the US presidential election, Republican Sarah Palin was vilified for her $150,000 (£98,500) allowance for clothes, hair and makeup. While here, Sarah Brown has no allowance; instead she hires clothes from her favourite designers for public functions, which are paid for with her own money.

Even those who are not in the public eye sometimes get an allowance as a perk of the job. Many fashion companies give their staff a clothing allowance, and it is not uncommon for top PAs, especially those who meet clients, to be given an annual amount to spend on business clothes.

APA supports this benefit and believes it should be totally allowable for tax purposes; after all who wants to wear a stuffy work suit after work (unless for the occasional funeral). APA will be following this up with HMRC and looking to make tax free clothing allowances a norm for PA employment contracts.

Shelley, APA

Based on an article in the Guardian today

More Degrees than a thermometer!

In a week when final-year university students turn their attention to jobhunting during the Easter break, a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) finds that nearly six in ten (59%) of employees who graduated in the last two years are not currently working in a field or profession related to the degree they studied.

The survey, Focus on graduate jobs, which is based on responses from more than 700 graduates in employment, comes against the backdrop of Government pledges to significantly increase - to 75% - the proportion of young people they want to secure a degree or equivalent level qualification.
In addition, the survey, conducted for the CIPD by YouGov, finds that among graduates not working in a field related to the degree they studied:

• 58% of those who graduated in the last two years said this was because they were unable to find a suitable job

• 28% said that their degree did not equip them with the skills that they need for the workplace

• 21% of recent graduates chose a new career path after finishing their degree

• 24% had since decided to postpone the start of the careers entirely

The figures raise questions over the Government's continued efforts to expand enrolment on university degrees, and their desire to chase the new 75% target for young people to be educated up to degree level, particularly at a time when the UK labour market has contracted significantly.

APA employment spokesperson Faye Crisp added, “A significant number of business graduates are known to have taken jobs as a PA to enter companies at a level where they will gain a broad level of exposure to business practice and access to senior staff. While this is commendable the Government does need to look again at it targets and make moves to improve its vocational qualifications to ensure they meet the needs of employers.”

APA hopes to launch its first Degree in PA Practice in late 2010.

Gareth, APA (for Faye Crisp FAPA)

Let the plane take the strain!

Private flying has never been a viable alternative to the car for business use; until now that is. Although someway off, it seems that one US Company may be achieving a practical solution and has created a real 'flyng car'.

Every pilot faces uncertain weather, rising costs, and ground transportation hassles on each end of the flight. But the solution is in sight and the long held dream of many; literally to fly-drive, may soon come true if progress continues to be made by US aircraft manufacturer, Terrafugia Inc. of Woburn, MA. It’s state-of-the-art personal aircraft, The Transition® Roadable Aircraft, developed by Terrafugia’s award-winning MIT-trained engineers, combines the unique convenience of being able to fold its wings with the ability to drive on any surface road in a modern personal airplane platform. Stowing the wings for road use and deploying them for flight at the airport is activated from inside the cockpit. This unique functionality addresses head-on the issues faced by today’s Private and Sport Pilots.

Gareth Osborne, APA’s Director General and himself a former professional pilot, is thrilled by news of the company’s achievements and will be watching their progress carefully. “This ranks with the launch of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space craft and the first flight by a woman pilot in the RAF’s Red Arrows as a major aeronautical achievement. Long may these advances in aviation continue,” he says.

APA

Non-Budget for SMEs

Just one in five small business owners believe the recent Budget will have a significant impact on their firms, a new study has indicated. Research conducted by the Forum of Private Business (FPB) indicates that just 22 per cent are factoring the Budget into their plans for 2010.

Even fewer firms think the general election will make a major difference to their activities – just 19 per cent. The study found that day-to-day concerns are much more likely to be at the forefront of owners' minds, with sales and turnover an emerging issue for 77 per cent, while 71 per cent and 69 per cent respectively said they were thinking about profitability and cash flow. In addition, staffing was said to be a major concern for 60 per cent of business owners.

FPB research manager Thomas Parry said the study pointed to a certain amount of cynicism about this year's Budget. "A lot of business owners are simply presuming that there's going to be another budget straight after the election so they're not paying it too much attention," he added. "The things they are concerned with at the moment are the more pressing issues associated with running a business in a struggling economy."

APA

A 'Robin Hood' Budget

The Budget at a glance>

Economy
• Predicted growth of 1-1.25% in 2010, in line with forecasts.
• Downgrades growth forecast for 2011 to 3-3.5%.
• Deficit £11bn lower in 2009/10 £14bn lower in 2010/11.

Spending
• Spending to increase by 2.2% above inflation 2010/11.
• 15,000 civil servants to be relocated outside London .

Taxes
• Tax allowances for those earning over £100,000 to be gradually removed.
• Inheritance tax threshold frozen for four years.
• Clampdown on tax avoidance to raise £500m, together with new tax agreements with Belize, Grenada and Dominica.
• No current plans for changes to VAT or income tax.

Borrowing
• Borrowing this year forecast to be £167bn - £11bn lower than expected.
• Borrowing to be cut from £163bn in 2010-11 to £74bn by 2014-15.
• Net debt to reach 56% of GDP this year and peak at 78% by the end of the forecast period in 2014-15.

Jobs
• The guarantee of Six month work or training for under 24s extended to 2012.
• Reduction in the amount of time over-65s have to work to receive work credits.

Education
• Funding for 20,000 new university places in science and maths.
• £35m enterprise fund to help university-launched businesses.

Pensions
• Winter fuel allowance rates extended for further year.

Environment
• £2bn investment bank to back low-carbon industries

Duties
• Duty on cider to rise by 10% above inflation from Sunday.
• Wine, beer and spirit duty up 2% a year until 2013.
• Tobacco duty up 1% this year and 2% a year in future years.
• 3p fuel duty rise to be phased in between April and January 2011.

Small businesses
• £2.5bn support for small business to boost skills and innovation.
• One year business rate cut from October to help 500,000 companies.
• Investment allowance for small firms doubled to £100,000.

The full text of the Chancellor’s speech can be found here:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2010_speech.htm

APA

BCC challenges the Chancellor

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has published its Budget submission to coincide with its annual conference. Key features of the submission – which has been delivered to the chancellor Alistair Darling - include a call for a clear deficit reduction plan that sets out detailed cuts. "This plan must include a freeze in the total public sector wage bill and fundamental reform of public sector pensions," the organisation said.

The BCC has also called on the planned one per cent rise in employer National Insurance Contributions to be scrapped, with an extra penny added to VAT to compensate for the revenue loss.

A three-year moratorium on new employment law is also required, the BCC says, since new legislation will cost a combined £25 billion over this period. Finally, the organisation has called for more support around export trade finance and sustained investment in transport, digital and energy networks.

APA supports BCC in these calls.

APA

Management Rules!

APA passionately believes that PAs are already Managers within their business; after all they manage the working life of the business’s most valuable resource, its Director. However the reality is, and is often missed, that PAs receive little training in management and have to react intuitively to the situations they face on a daily basis.

This one-day programme has been created to balance the scales and add knowledge, best practice and shared experience to the mix and better equip the PA for more managerial tasks.

It is designed to be challenging, thought provoking, insightful and fun. It would help PAs new to management or those who feel endorsement would supplement their exiting knowledge.

Enrol now for a life changing programme – The PA as a Manager.

APA

The PA as a Manager - - - - 27th April 2010 - - - - Portland Place, London, W1

Happy Birthday Dot Com

Twenty-five years ago, Charles Horning was the first man to register a .com domain name for his company, Symbolics. It was over a month before the second was registered and only three more were registered that year. Today, there are almost 90 million .coms, with half a million new ones added every week. VeriSign, the .com registry, handles over 50 billion DNS queries every day. It's difficult to imagine an internet without it.

But there very nearly wasn't a .com at all. Draft specs published in May 1984 called for a “.cor”, for anything corporate-related. The same draft called for a “.pub”. By July, these had morphed into .com and .org, but nobody seems to know why.

Paul Mockapetris, who invented the DNS said. “Back then none of this seemed important,” he said. “We set up .com so we could split off commercial issues and have all that dealt with separately. At the time, everybody thought that that was the tail and the rest was the dog, but it turned out the reverse was true.”

It wasn't until the advent of the web in the early 1990s that domain name registrations, many of them speculative, started to take off in a big way. Early movers such as Gary Kremen, the original registrant of sex.com, went on to make millions from their investments.

Even Symbolics.com was sold off last August for an undisclosed sum to a domain investor.
The engineers who created the system were not so fortunate. “I was smart enough to invent it, but not smart enough to own it,” joked Mockapetris. “If someone had asked me, do you think you'll get 10,000 names registered, I would have said, well I hope so.”

ICANN, the body now responsible for managing new additions to the DNS, is set to soon open the floodgates for potentially hundreds of new top-level domains, many of which will
compete with .com. So is .com's day over?

Gareth, APA

BA Cabin Crew strike - latest information

Unite, the trade union that represents the majority of British Airways (BA) cabin crew, has announced its intention to take strike action on the following dates:

• 20, 21 and 22 March 2010
• 27, 28, 29 and 30 March 2010

If a strike does go ahead, it is intending to operate a range of flights. Not all flights will be cancelled and it is currently finalising flight schedules for the strike period and has temporarily stopped selling seats on all flights operating on those dates.

If you have already booked travel between 19 - 31 March inclusive you will be able to rebook or have a refund on your flight.

For the latest information go to:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/strike-ballot/public/en_gb?refevent=strikelhn_latest_info

Shelley, APA

Credit where it's due

EU rules that may exempt small firms from filing annual accounts have been condemned as ‘utterly absurd’ by a leading figure in the credit industry.

At a time when the supply of credit is needed more than ever, and yet harder than ever to get, the suggestion that exempting small companies from filing accounts will help businesses grow is perverse, according to Philip King, Chief Executive of the Institute of Credit Management (ICM). “It will have exactly the opposite effect,” says Mr King. “Less information means less credit will be extended, and as a consequence, growth will be impaired rather than encouraged.The accounting exemptions already extended to SMEs do nothing to help facilitate trade, and that these latest plans will make a difficult situation worse: The British Government are not obliged to adopt this proposal, and must not do so.” .

MEPs approved changes to EU rules to waive usual reporting requirements for so-called ‘micro entities’ (firms with less than 500,000 euros on their balance sheet, a net turnover of less than one million euros, and employing an average of 10 people or less). An estimated 75% of companies in the EU are designated as micro entities. They argued, successfully, that this would free up firms from red tape, allowing them to grow more quickly and be more competitive.

“Whereas it is laudable to want to help small businesses, this is not the way to do it,” Mr King insists. “If the last 12 months have taught us anything, it is that businesses must provide more information for credit to be extended, not less.”

Gareth Osborne, APA Director General and a former member of the Small Business Council, the panel of 23 advisors to Government on matters relevant to small business, strongly supports the call for less red tape for smaller firms but recognises that some reporting is necessary for operational purposes, like credit checking. Gareth added, “APA supports ICM’s claim that this is a bad move. Annual accounts are not prepared for Government; they are prepared for business owners to ensure the company is trading legitimately and achieving its ambitions or for proving to others it can support its financial responsibilities. Many businesses would take this change as a signal to avoid the realities of [financially] health checking their enterprise and thereby frustrating their own ability to attract the credit essential to trade.”

APA

A difficult balance

The 2010 Budget will be held on March 24th, the Prime Minister has announced. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling will deliver his annual financial statement six weeks before the widely-expected date for the general election – May 6th.

He is due to set out plans to cut the UK's deficit in the Commons, which is likely to peak at £178 billion this year.

Gordon Brown claimed that the worst of the recession was over but agreed with the many forecasters who deem the recovery as being "fragile". Mr Brown said the government would use the Budget to set out in more detail how it aims to restore the public finances, while protecting the fundamental public services that we all depend on.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK emerged from a six-quarter recession in the final quarter of 2009.

APA will be issuing its Budget Report on March 24th to outline which elements of it most impact on PAs and the businesses they work for.

APA

Additional Tax on Employment

APA, in support of other professional bodies including the CBI, FSB, BCC and the CIPD, is calling on its membership to sign a national petition to protest against the one percent increase in employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) planned for April 2011.

The petition was launched last week in a letter to the Daily Telegraph calling for the Government to work with business groups to find alternative ways to close the UK's budget deficit.

Gareth Osborne of the APA said, “The planned NICs increase for businesses is another stealth tax and one clearly placed on employment. The labour market position is stabilising and employers are starting to feel more confident about recruiting new staff. Any increase in employment related tax could suppress recovery.”

APA plans to become a signatory to the petition; already signed by a number of major organisations, but is encouraging members to sign up to the petition themselves. It can be found at http://www.no-nics-rise.co.uk/

APA

Economic Update - Q2/2010

Interest rates will remain at a record low for a 12th consecutive month. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has decided to freeze the base rate at 0.5 per cent, while also keeping its quantitative easing programme on hold.

Interest rates have been at 0.5 per cent since last March, as the Bank has attempted to encourage an increase in consumer spending. Last month, it said it was halting its programme of quantitative easing, which has pumped £200 billion into the economy over the last year. However, it revealed that the initiative could be extended in future if such a move is deemed necessary.

According to Gareth Osborne, the Bank's decisions had been widely forecast and were the inevitable outcome given the uncertain position. "We expect the Bank of England to keep interest rates low throughout 2010 given recurring concerns about the strength and sustainability of the recovery," he added. "We still have some way to go before we can be sure the economy isn’t going to regress again. We should be happy for now that there are some signs of improvement and not be too surprised if we see mini highs and lows for some months to come.”

The unemployment rate now stands at 7.8% - unchanged over the quarter but up 1.4% on last year. Nearly 29 million people were in work in the period October to December according to the labour force survey (LFS). The number of people employed was down by 12,000 this quarter and down by 428,000 on the last year. The US unemployment rate is currently 9.7%.

Gareth, APA.

Spelling-bee

Spelling definitely is a problem for many people - who insist on writing it "definately".

A survey revealed definitely is the most common spelling blunder in the English language. Second place went to sacrilegious, third place went to indict, manoeuvre came fourth and bureaucracy, came fifth. Making up the top ten were; broccoli at sixth, phlegm seventh, prejudice at eighth, consensus at ninth and unnecessary at tenth.

A spokesman for researchers OnePoll.com said: "So many of us seem unable to spell, half blame computer spell-checks for their inadequacies, with one in three pointing the finger at text messaging.

The research also found that 57% of people judge other people on their spelling ability, with 42 per cent admitting they believe people who can't spell are "thick"

We all have words that tax us; my personal nemesis is ‘environment’. Gareth admits to establishment and a friend refuses to spell diet - but that's another story.

Shelley, APA

Third World Britain

I had the doubtful pleasure of driving around the majority of the M25 this week and have to say I was appalled by its current state of repair and that of other adjoining roads. In one section of road works near Watford, where outside lane traffic was maintained in a single carriageway, the potholes were so deep I feared my suspension had actually collapsed.

I remember being told when I flew around the world in the 1970’s that a third world country was one that struggled to compete because of a lack of one or usually more of the following: health, education, employment, physical infrastructure, money, and focused leadership. I wonder if the UK would stand up to close scrutiny in the current economic climate?.

APA will again be writing to Government (although recognises that they are responsible for less than 10% of the total road infrastructure) asking for its strategy for repair. Would members please let me have their stories from around the country.

If you have a problem with potholes or damage caused by them, you can also go to http://www.potholes.co.uk/

Gareth, APA

Wot Bot?

Online scammers already have the potential to take large amounts of money from business (and individual) bank accounts, small company bosses have been warned this week. APA feels this is a major concern and should be the subject of Board debate in the coming year.

Luis Corrons, technical director for Panda Security, said "Small and medium companies are a major target and have little security in place to defend against attacks and they are being mounted on an almost daily basis.”

He explained how one company in Bilbao, Spain, became infected by a Trojan virus and had £350,000 stolen from its bank account. He explained that company bosses must take precautions to protect all hardware, as a single infection on a single computer can reap havoc. He explained how bot herders can send spam from a company IP address, leading to all of a company's web connections becoming blacklisted by their internet service provider.

Security firm Symantec (Norton Security Products) reported this week that three-quarters of businesses around the world have been targeted by hackers during the last 12 months.

Gareth

Lingo translation - A bot herder (or bot master) is the originator of a botnet (a jargon term for a collection of software agents or bits, that run autonomously and automatically) and can control the group remotely for nefarious purposes

The Second Best Job in the World - after PA

It sounds like a wind-up. But one lucky person is really about to be paid £20,000 to spend the year on holiday. An online travel company has launched an unlikely search for a candidate who will receive a monthly pay packet to holiday around the world, all expenses paid for the next 12 months. The successful applicant will live the dream while travelling abroad every month as a 'real' holiday reviewer for lowcostholidays.com. All the holiday reviewer will be expected to do is to provide honest reviews of their experiences via regular online blog updates.

And don’t worry about your credentials - the role doesn't require any conventional academic qualifications - just the ability to social network and a love of travel. Paul Evans, CEO of lowcostholidays.com said: "For anyone who fancies a year out, enjoys sunning themselves and won't miss talk of the recession, this really is the dream job. "We're calling it a 'joliday' - less job, more holiday."

If you get my voicemail when you call, I may have applied.

Shelley, APA

Reported in Express.co.uk by Julian White

Controlling behaviour

Research by the NSPCC suggests that 25% of girls aged 13 to 17 had experienced physical violence from a boyfriend and a third had been pressured into sexual acts they did not want.

The children's charity said it was alarmed by the number of young people who viewed abuse in relationships as normal. Diana Sutton of the NSPCC said she hoped a new Home Office advertising campaign would encourage teenagers to come together to tackle the problem. "Many teenagers perhaps don't talk to their parents and maybe it's not that comfortable to talk to a teacher," she said.

Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos said the results of the survey were "quite startling" and felt that many girls had an expectation that "boys will be boys" and violence would happen anyway.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said it was essential to change attitudes in order to stop abuse against females. He said: "We want to see young people in safe and happy relationships and this means tackling attitudes towards abuse at an early age, before patterns of violence can occur. We hope this campaign will help teenagers to recognise the signs of abuse and equip them with the knowledge and confidence to seek help, as well as understanding the consequences of being abusive or controlling in a relationship."

APA

The Pale One speaks out!

I was hugely impressed by Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts’ challenge to the nation's obsession with tanning in her BBC 3 documentary ‘The Truth about Tanning’ (see it on BBC iPlayer). She has clearly felt pressurised in the past to ‘colour up’ and battles with the toughest problem of all, being naturally pale.

Nicola went on a quest to highlight the problems of an increasingly tan obsessed Britain as skin cancer and other serious health concerns connected with harmful sun rays are on the rise. As with Michael Jackson’s bizarre obsession to look whiter, so the extreme tanners have a fixation to look orange; not unlike an Oompa-Loompa!

She met women whose addiction had lead to early aging and malignant melanomas that had to be removed by surgery – which she pluckily watched. This took the journey down to of Westminster where she put her full support behind a bill to ban sun beds for under-18s. She met people along the way who were regularly using sun beds from a very young age. Nicola met Welshman Tom whose addiction was so strong he felt the need to inject himself with an unproven and under-certified tanning drug in order to seek the perfect colour. He was so hooked she challenged him to kick the habit for a month. Admittedly he was entertaining, and looked far better after taking time off the sun beds, but his best line was that it “took some ginger woman from Girls Aloud to make me go cold turkey.”

Nicola displayed a real passion for her quest and delivered the show in an honest and down to earth (Liverpudlian way. I thought she did a great job addressing a difficult subject and one that can have such severe consequences. The message, like everything else, is tan in moderation.

What do APA Members think and where do we stand on legislation to control sun bed tanning?

Gareth

Olympic-sized loans

Lloyds Banking Group has announced plans to help UK businesses benefit from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The lender has pledged to make at least £1 billion in credit available to companies contracting with the Olympic Development Authority, the London 2012 Organising Committee or any official Games supplier over the next two years.

According to Lloyds, the total value of contracts connected to London 2012 is estimated to be £6 billion, including £1 billion of direct arrangements. A large number of small direct contracts remain available for firms across the UK, plus work in the supply chain, the bank says.

Sebastian Coe, chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, said the events are "not just about sporting talent and not just about London". He added: "Across the UK, there are thousands of incredible businesses that could stand to benefit from the huge economic boost that will come from the Games.

APA

A thirst for work

Less than a third of British employees think the company they work for is generous to staff, it has been revealed. According to research 32% think their organisation is too thrifty, while 43% believe staff incentives are poor. A third believe that small perks such as free tea and coffee help boost their morale, but 25 per cent have seen their companies cut back on this provision during the recession. Just 57 per cent of British workers are able to enjoy a free cup of tea or coffee at work it was found. One in ten respondents said cutbacks on refreshments had changed the atmosphere for the worse at work, while 19 per cent said it had left them wondering about the future.

The research for uSwitch.com reported that 38 per cent of workers expect at the very least for an employer to provide hot drinks for staff. A spokesman said "Perks like free tea and coffee do add up, but the cost is minimal when compared with the value that staff place on them. Cutting out the free cuppas may add to the bottom line, but there may be a far greater price to be paid in staff morale."

According to the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, job satisfaction levels have hit an all-time low during the winter months.

APA

Weather causes breakdown

It would be true to say that UK roads have gone to pot [holes]! After the freak weather conditions in January, the state of our tarmac has deteriorated to an all time low and the cost of repairing it is almost unprecedented. Current estimates suggest that it will cost over £100 million to patch-up the roads and maybe as much as £1 billion to achieve a total repair. And let’s face it the coffers aren’t that flush with cash at the moment.

The Insurers are even more perplexed with estimates for repairs to cars from ‘pothole encounters’ forecast to be worse than the repair to the roads! They already believe our infrastructure is returning to the Middle Ages.

1. Potholes are a major factor in causing axle & suspension failure and costs British motorists an estimated £2.8 billion every year.
2, Authorities currently pay out more than £50 million in compensation claims due to poor roads
3. Road maintenance in England and Wales is underfunded by £1 billion every year.
4. If all authorities were given the budgets they need to fix their roads, it would take English authorities 11 years to catch up with the current backlog, and Welsh authorities 16 years.

It seems we may have to suffer them for some months to come.

APA

Kill nonsense cold calls

I don’t often use the blog to sound off but I have been called twice today by people looking to sell me services I didn’t ask for (one a bank and the other a car breakdown service). Now I have no problem with sales calls; we all need to make them, but I do object to being asked to confirm my details.

When I refused to confirm my address for the bank I added “You should know; you called me!” I was told it was for data protection purposes. Need-less-to-say, I put the phone down. Does it annoy you or is it just me? Surely I should be checking that they are really who they say they are! Giving out personal data to anyone who phones and asks seems mighty risky to me!

Aimee Lewis FAPA

APA meets Business Minister

Gareth Osborne, Director General of APA, met the Minster for Business, Ian Lucas MP, this week to discuss areas of concern to APA members and their Bosses. Also present were senior representatives of the Better Regulation Executive who shared their thoughts on ways to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses; especially small businesses, and their plans for the future.

The Minister stressed a desire to cut red tape and use regulation as a last resort in line with the EU Directive calling for a 25% reduction in bureaucratic process by 2012. Gareth asked for more attention to be paid to plain English explanations and less legalistic processes. The Minister agreed and cited his own personal preference for simple ‘How to’ Guides.

The Minister’s portfolio embraces responsibility for business sectors (aerospace; marine and defence, automotive; chemicals; construction; manufacturing, materials and engineering; retail; services), the Better Regulation Executive, better regulation within BIS, Olympic legacy, sustainable development and regulation including waste electrical and electronic equipment issues, Corporate Social Responsibility, third sector strategy and issues, corporate governance, Companies Act, Companies House, Insolvency Service (including companies investigations), export control. He was appointed Minister for Business and Regulatory Reform in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 5 June 2009.

The Better Regulation Executive (BRE) was set up to play a lead role in driving through a programme of activities to simplify regulation. It works with Government departments and regulators to; Improve the design of new regulations and how they are communicated; Simplify and modernise existing regulations; and change attitudes and approaches to regulation to become more risk-based.

Any comments of the burden of red tape, please contact: gareth.osborne@paprofessional.com
To find details of the Better Regulation Executive: http://www.betterregulation.gov.uk/

APA

More jobs on offer

The labour market is slowly starting to recover, with the biggest increase in job vacancies in two-and-a-half years and a rise in permanent placements last month, a survey of recruitment agencies showed today. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), which runs the monthly survey along with accountants KPMG, said that although the rate of growth in permanent placements slowed in January from December's two-year peak, the rebound remained on track. It added that the recovery was still tentative and could be damaged by higher employment taxes or more regulation.

The Office for National Statistics reported that the unemployment rate eased to 7.8 percent in the three months to November compared to 7.9 percent in the three months to October on the internationally comparable ILO measure. Unemployment has risen less in Britain than in many other countries which exited recession earlier - something economists attribute in part to greater wage flexibility than in previous downturns.

APA

Gone Phishing

Fraudsters are using increasingly more sophisticated methods to carry out phishing scams, it has been reported.

Research by Network Box (network-box.co.uk) has revealed that over half of all malware (software developed for the purpose of causing harm to a computer system) sent by email is an attempted phishing expedition (the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames).

The report suggested that phishing attacks soared before Christmas to 57 per cent of malware, as criminals attempted to exploit the number of people shopping online. “However, the numbers have stayed at a similarly high level through January”, Network Box said. It claimed that fraudster’s methods are becoming more and more convincing. In the early days of phishing, attacks were littered with poor spelling and grammar and not-so-realistic web sites but as users have become more savvy then fraudsters have had to up their game.

APA encourages everyone to be extremely cautious about giving out their personal details or responding to suspicious emails.

APA

No bill too big!

Money may not buy you happiness but managed well it can sure help others!

Bill and Melinda Gates announced on Friday they would spend $10 billion (6.2 billion GBP) over the next decade to develop and deliver vaccines, an increased commitment that reflects progress in the pipeline of products for immunising children in the developing world.

Over the past 10 years, the Microsoft co-founder's charity has committed $4.5 billion to vaccines and has been instrumental in establishing the GAVI alliance, a public-private partnership that channels money for vaccines in poor countries.

By increasing immunisation coverage in developing countries to 90 percent, it should be possible to prevent the deaths of 7.6 million children under five between 2010 and 2019, Gates told reporters at the World Economic Forum.

Thank goodness the philanthropic spirit lives on in the new generation of billionaires.

Gareth, APA

Slow, slow recovery

Britain only just crept out of an 18-month recession at the end of 2009, suggesting any monetary tightening remains a long way off and raising fears about the prospects for recovery ahead of an election due by June.

The Office for National Statistics said today that gross domestic product rose by 0.1 percent between October and December, well below analysts' forecasts for growth of 0.4 percent. For 2009 as a whole, the economy shrank by 4.8 percent -- the worst yearly performance since records began in 1949.

Chancellor Alistair Darling said. "I think we are now on a path to recovery.” He suggested he would be sticking with his forecast that the economy would grow by up to 1.5 percent this year. Sterling fell after further data showed output fell 3.2 percent from the same period a year ago. From peak to trough, the economy contracted six percent -- far worse than the downturns of the early 1980s and 1990s.

APA Director General Gareth Osborne said, “There is some positive news but not cause for excitement just yet. We still have a long way to go but positive signs should be enough for the more entrepreneurial business to start stretching their wings."

APA

Beware fool's gold

Companies offering cash for gold jewellery in a recent flurry of TV adverts are paying a fraction of the items' true worth. The firms, which have latched on to increases in the price of gold, are 'shockingly bad value', according to consumer group Which?

Three pieces of new jewellery purchased by Which? for a total of £729 drew offers from the firms of as little as £38.57 for the lot. One company refused to return a £399 necklace free of charge, as promised, on the inaccurate pretext that it was 'not gold' at all.

The Which? Money magazine picked out three items of jewellery on the high street, a £115 bracelet, £215 bangle and £399 necklace, and purchased four of each. In November 2009 it sent them to four TV gold buyers, as well as getting quotes from three high street pawnbrokers and three jewellers.

Which? claimed that CashMyGold offered the lowest prices on all three items, offering just £38.57 in total for the three pieces. Money4Gold told a Which? researcher that a 9ct necklace he bought for £399 was 'not gold' and it would cost him £10.95 to have it returned.

The scrap value of a necklace will be considerably less than its price as a piece of jewellery. However, this does not explain the paltry offers. Companies offering cash for gold jewellery are 'shockingly bad value', according to Which? On average, the TV gold buyers offered around 6 per cent of the retail price for gold. High street stores paid around 25 per cent.

Postal Gold surprised the researcher by upping its quote when he rejected its cheque - almost doubling its offer for the bracelet and bangle. However, these rates were still far lower than those from jewellers and pawnbrokers.

Shelley, APA

The Power of Positive Thought

On his show last night, ‘Piers Morgan on Shanghai’, Piers reported research which suggests that ‘83% of Chinese people believe tomorrow will be a better day than today’.

Now, while my first reaction was to concoct a witty retort to this claim, the reality hit home so hard that I immediately resisted and realised the power of the message. It certainly shows the level of passionate optimism amongst the Chinese population and, if the ‘power of positive thought’ is half a successful as I believe then we had better beware.

I guess that if you surveyed a statistically significant sample of UK people in the current climate you may find a similar response; in their case it would be to the unspoken sub-text, ‘It can hardly be worse’. But from the Chinese it would definitely reflect a belief that they are striding forward to be the leaders of the world-order in days to come. Piers said that Shanghai will be the world’s richest city in less than 20 years.

My message to business would be, “So, let’s regain our positivity and start thinking like the Chinese and if you haven’t formulated your Chinese strategy yet, start thinking.” And to APA members, “Forget French, start learning Chinese”.

Remember to put 14th February 2010 in your diary. Not for St. Valentine’s Day but for the start of the Chinese New Year – the Year of the Tiger. If you consult Wikipedia it tells you that the motto for the Year of the Tiger is ‘I win’ and the colour is purple – so it bodes well for APA Members!

Gareth, APA