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Taxman’s New Initiative Against Second Property Owners

Hefty fines could be in store for owners of second properties who believe they do not owe income tax because rent revenue is swallowed up by mortgage payments. They are being targeted by a fresh HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) campaign against landlords who have not declared rent on their tax returns. read more

Keep Your Network Secure While Working From Home

Remote working is one of the biggest areas of exposure when connecting to corporate networks. Any remote devices that connect to organisations infrastructure carries a greater risk of infecting the network or becoming compromised. Connecting via public internet routes also allows a greater opportunity of malware exposure as these routes do not provide any pro-active content scanning.read more

CEO And Founder Of Penny Ferguson Limited Named As Winner At Inaugural ‘Inspiring Women Awards’

Penny Ferguson – founder and CEO of specialist leadership development company Penny Ferguson Limited – has scooped the award for “Businesswomen” in SHE magazine’s Inspiring Women Awards 2008. Designed to recognise and honour the UK’s most deserving women, over the last few months SHE magazine invited its 176,000 readers to make their nominations for five award categories; Humanitarian, Survivor, Champion, Innovator and Businesswoman;read more

Dragons’ Den Entrepreneur Doug Richard Wants To Replace Business Link

The Conservative Party’s Small Business Task Force, chaired by the Dragons' Den judge, Doug Richard, has set out innovative proposals to overhaul the business support system. Doug, a serial entrepreneur, described the current system, which involves over 3,000 different schemes run by 2,000 public bodies and their contractors, as "confusing and out of control". Around two-thirds of the £2.5 billion spent on the system goes on telling companies where to find advice. read more

Top Ten Questions To Ask A Document Management Supplier

Organisations are under mounting pressure to streamline their business processes, increase their bottom line and reduce their carbon footprint. In order to meet these demands, many are turning to electronic document management (EDM) systems to gain a competitive advantage. Document management enables organisations to electronically store, retrieve, manage, deliver and authorise business documents. It also enables the automated capture and verification of purchase invoice data, reducing manual data entry.read more

CD-R Media Lifespan: Will Those Treasured Files Be Readable In Ten Years Time?

CD-R media has a rated life span. A number that is often bandied about is about 75 years. On the face of it though, the things ought to last forever. After all, what can go wrong? In reality: quite a lot. The chemicals used to coat the surfaces are quite a feat of modern technology and not to be taken for granted. The key is the dye used. The laser in the CD burner heats the dye up rapidly to around 200C causing a change of chemical composition. The burned bits reflect light differently to the non-burned areas and this difference in reflectivity mimics the pits etched in 'normal' CDs.read more

Hosting Your Own Web Site

Whilst there is no denying web site hosting is very cheap these days, typically around £5 per month for most people's needs, sometimes it's useful to have full control over your web site. What if you need more space for all those family photos? PHP? SQL Server? A shopping basket system? ASP.NET? You'll have to spend a lot of time hunting around to find any hosting firm that provides just the facilities you need at any sensible sort of price.read more

Inspiring Confidence In Customers - Establishing Trust In Independent Online Shops

Online sales are increasing year on year; but it is big brands that are making profits online. A number of surveys carried out in the last few years reflect that consumers continue to need reassurance when making a purchase online. In a recent study conducted by Eurostat, the statistics office of the EU, it was revealed that security concerns prevent one in eight EU residents from e-shopping. Shopping from independent online stores is more often than not surrounded by security fears.read more

Email Is Now The Business Tool We All Live Or Die By

This is confirmed in a survey released today, by leading email management consultancy, Mesmo, which shows that three quarters of all employees are spending around half of their day dealing with email – and of these a quarter are spending more than four hours a day. However, the survey also shows that virtually no UK companies train their employees in how to use email effectively.read more

Businesses Are Facing Two Difficult Years In 2008 & 2009

Launching the British Chambers of Commerce's May 2008 Quarterly Economic Forecast, David Kern, Economic Adviser to the British Chambers of Commerce, said: British businesses are facing two difficult years in 2008 & 2009. Prospects for 2009 have worsened. While recession is unlikely, and can certainly be avoided, the marked slowdown in the pace of economic activity will be more prolonged than initially thought.read more