what’s insideCleobury Country News

Networking NewsArticles & Features

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THE

September Issue 2014

CLEOBURY COUNTRY BU

LLET

IN

www.cleoburycountry.com

THE

by local business people for local business people

Next Cleobury Networking meeting date: Wednesday 15th October

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CleoburyCountry

Since the start of themonth, the CleoburyCountry Centre hasbeen performinglike a finely tunedmachine!!!We have staged 7 coursesover 13 days and trained37 students, which haskept us girls on our toes!Not sure how many teasand coffees that equatesto but we have certainlygot through some. Someof the businesses who’vesent employees on thesecourses have been ourusual customers but weare still finding “new”businesses and they arereally surprised, andimpressed, at the facilitieswe have here on theirdoorsteps!

Sam has finally got our2015 schedule of coursescompleted now, whichmeans that businesses canplan in advance their stafftraining, which we’vefound this year to haveworked really well. Thisschedule will be availableon our NEW website whichis well on its way to being

completed – watch thisspace! We’re hoping thatit will be a much easier siteto navigate and haveeasier access to localbusiness information,training courses,networking and anythingelse that going on at theCentre! We do plan to sellsome advertising space forlocal businesses and arecurrently working on howthis will be offered…..again – watch this space!

Sue is busy contacting allour local businessesregarding the CleoburyCountry Trade Card 2015,to see who would like alisting or an advert. We’vetaken on board thefeedback from the 2014Trade Card and arecurrently, increasing thespace allowed for a listingand reducing the numberof adverts, although thesewill now be offered incolour. Hopefully, this willmake the Trade Cardeasier to read and findingbusiness details, quicker.

The Business Networkingmeeting didn’t start in thebest of ways for one inparticular!

Poor William’s car took adislike to its existence andburst into flames veryshortly after he’d arrived atthe Centre! Thanks mustgo to Cleobury MortimerFire and Rescue, who werehere in a matter of minutesand dealt with the blazingcar in no time at all, muchto the joy of the poor chapwhose car was parked nextto William’s!

Then Peter had toabandon us to a familyemergency, but wemuddled on and had areally informative talk fromMike Webb from SunRGabout solar and PV panelsand the benefits of lightingand heating your homewith renewable energy.The evening ended withchatting and chips!

Clare Todd

September at the Cleobury Country Centre

Keeping it Local!Due to a familyemergency Peter wasunable to write hiscolumn this time. He willreturn next month!

One of my localcustomers is having theirChristmas Fair this month,and it’s all in aid of twocharities.

Help for Heroes andForest Dog Rescue.

So if you have time on the30th October between4pm and 9pm why nottreat yourself and getsome early Christmasshopping done?

As Clare mentioned, mycar suffered a malfunctionand caught fire in the carpark before thenetworking meeting. Thiswasn’t the sort ofexperience I canrecommend, but itcertainly gave ussomething to talk about !

Office: 01584 890 725

Mobile: 0797 414 8202

@WilliamWithers

SPECIALISTS IN HELPING YOUR BUSINESS TO: • DEVELOP A VISUAL IDENTITY TO ENHANCE YOUR REPUTATION

• BUILD A WEBSITE THAT COMPETES IN YOUR MARKETPLACE• DEVELOP AN ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY THAT DELIVERS RESULTS

www.crystalthought.co.uk

William

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The CleoburyC o u n t r yCentre on LoveLane, CleoburyMortimer hassigned up asone of the UK’s

first public collection points for theTassimo Brigade®. Enabling thepeople of Cleobury Country torecycle their Tassimo coffeemachine T-DISCS and outer foilpackaging, whilst raising funds forLacon Childe School.

Local people can now drop off theiraccepted Tassimo coffee waste to thecollection box at the Cleobury CountryCentre from 9am to 5pm on Monday toFriday, and from 10am to 1pm onSaturdays.

The T-DISCS and packaging wasteunfortunately end up in landfill but it isrecyclable, and recycling expertsTerraCycle have created these publicaccess drop off locations.

The aim is for whole communities, likeCleobury Country to collect together viaa nationwide network of drop offlocations, whilst, at the same time raisingmoney for local charities, in this caseLacon Childe School.

It’s worth mentioning that the CleoburyCountry Centre continues to offer:

• Battery recycling collection point, withthe BatteryBack free collection andrecycling service.

• Recycle point for empty inkjetcartridges and toners. Funds raisedhere also helps Lacon Childe School.

All to be found in the foyer of theCleobury Country Centre.

Improvements to the Recycling Facilitiesat The Cleobury Country Centre

whilst raising funds for Lacon Childe School

Cleobury Style: 17th September

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What’s On?

SAGE AAT Level 2 in computerised

accounting. 9.15am-12.15pm

Paediatric First Aid course, 6pm - 9pm

Fire Marshall course 9am - 2pm

Business Networking Session 6pm-8pm

PAT Testing course 9am - 4pm

Health & Safety Level 2 course 9am - 4pm

Cleobury Country Famers Market

St Mary’s Church, 9.30am - 12.30pm

Business Networking Session 6pm-8pm

Food Hygiene Level 2 course

Emergency First Aid at Work course

9am - 4pm

First Aid at Work 3 day course 9am - 4pm

Where is it

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

Cleobury Country Centre

When is it?

Fridays in September

and October

6-7th and 13-14th

October

9th October

15th October

6th November

12th November

15th November

19th November

20th November

24th November

25,26,27th November

Information on Cleobury Mortimer Parish Council can be found on their website:www.cleobury.org.uk, by ‘Liking’ their facebook page or following them on Twitter.

This month we welcomed somenewbies! Teresa & Mick Daviesfrom Wrickton Hall.

The usual suspects were:-

William from Crystal Thought, SueBrown from CleoburyChiropractic, Mike Webb fromSunRG, Bill White from Bill WhiteNurseries, Andy Snell from the

One Partnership, Nick Brown fromNick Brown Architectural Services,Penny Wadey from TitanEnvironmental.

Hope you all enjoyed the evening!

CHIPS SPONSORED BYNot only did he give an informative talk aboutrenewable energy, he paid for the chips as well! Topbloke Mike Webb!

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The Princes Initiativefor Mature EnterpriseSupporting Business Creationby the over 50s

Over the age of 50?Unemployed or facingRedundancy?

The Princes Initiative forMature Enterprise (PRIME) isthe only national organisationdedicated to providingeveryone over 50, who isunemployed or under threat ofredundancy, with the supportto achieve financial, social andpersonal fulfilment throughsustainable self-employment.

There are more than 3.5mpeople in the UK who are overthe age of 50 and do not havea job and they are more likelythan any other age group toface long term unemployment.

PRIME was established by HRHthe Price of Wales in responseto letters he was receiving frompeople desperate to work butunable to find anyone toemploy them – because oftheir age.

Since 1999 PRIME havehelped more than 25,000 over50s who are unemployed orfacing redundancy, to exploreself-employment. They helpover 50s turn their ideas,energy and experience intosuccessful and sustainablebusinesses. They offersupport through free trainingcourses, mentoring support,

networking events and onlineresources. They arerecognised as the leadingauthority on supportingenterprise by people over theage of 50, working hard toinform and advise on policyfor the over 50s to ensure thatthey have a voice in societyand in Government.

For further information visit thewebsite www.prime.org.uk

or call 020 31378525 or emailinfo@prime.org.uk

Power to ChangeSupporting community –ledenterprises and kick startingcommunity action acrossEngland.

Power to Change is a newinitiative which will invest up to£150 million to support thedevelopment of sustainablecommunity-led enterprisesacross England. The NationalLottery funding will bedelivered through anindependent grant-makingTrust from autumn 2014.

The economic climate hasmeant that many communitiesare experiencing challenges,at a local level, to the vitality oftheir neighbourhoods,prosperity of their high streetsand resilience of their socialassets. Empty shop premisesand the closures of pubs,libraries, community centresand sports facilities affect rural

and urban communities alike,and in particular those whoneed them most.

In response, manycommunities are comingtogether using creativeapproaches that involve localpeople and resources toimprove their localneighbourhoods, villages andtown centres. These havetaken many different formsfrom small-scale enterprise tolarge-scale asset managementand ownership. Solutionshave included pop-up shops,transferring resources into theownership of local residents,and using former commercialspaces to incubate socialenterprises and culturalactivities.

In short, communityenterprises providesustainable solutions to someof the most pressing social andeconomic issues of our time,and particularly benefit peoplemost in need. We want to helpmore people respond to localneed and opportunity, andchange the places in whichthey live for the better.

For more information visitwww.biglotteryfund.org.uk/powertochange.

WHAT IS AN NISA?

ISA stands for New IndividualSavings Account. There are twoways of investing your ISAallowance:

• In a cash account, or

• In a stocks and shares portfolio

You can invest your NISAallowance fully in stocks andshares, cash, or any combinationof the two.

THE TAX BENEFITS OF NISAs

What sets NISA s apart from allother savings and investments, isthat any interest earned on cashsavings or gains frominvestments are tax free. Higher-rate taxpayers don’t have to payany additional tax on dividendsfrom investments either.

Because of their tax benefits,NISAs can help your savings andinvestments grow faster overtime. Stocks and shares

NISA s have the added advantageof helping safeguard you from apotential Capital Gains Tax (CGT)bill in the future. CGT is a taxbased on the gains you makewhen you sell or dispose of assetssuch as investments and it iscurrently charged at 28% forhigher-rate taxpayers.

WHO CAN INVEST IN AN NISA?

• You need to be 16 or over toopen a cash ISA and 18 or overto open a stocks and shares ISAand you must also be ordinarilyresident in the UK

• Junior NISA s are available ifyou would like to invest onbehalf of a child

HOW MUCH CAN I PUT INTO ANNISA?

Because of their generous taxbenefits, the Government setslimits on the amount we can putinto a NISA. Each financial year

(6 April - 5 April) we get a NISAallowance.

The allowance is as follows:

2014/15

NISA £15,000

JUNIOR NISA £4,000

How you can split your NISAallowance:

Use the maximum allowance forcash or investing. For the firsttime, you can put the £15,000 ina cash NISA. Or, invest the wholelot in an investment NISA.

Mix 'n' match. Split the allowancebetween cash and stocks &shares NISAs.

The choice is yours

If you wanted to, you could invest£1,500 in a cash NISA, and£13,500 in a stocks & sharesNISA. Or do it the other wayaround. The only rule is that,combined, your tax free NISAsavings in the 2014/15 tax yeardon't exceed £15,000.

Have it all in one. Some stocks &shares NISA providers may allowyou to hold cash tax-free withinyour stocks & shares NISA. Butyou're free to open separateaccounts, as above, if you prefer.

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Maximise your Tax-Free allowance: NISA

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What are BONDS?

Have you ever borrowed money?

Of course you have. Whetherfrom our parents or asked thebank for a mortgage, or to buy acar, most of us have borrowedmoney at some point in our lives.

Companies and governmentsalso need money. A companyneeds funds to expand into newmarkets, while governmentsneed money for everything frominfrastructure to social programs.

The problem for largeorganizations and Governmentsis that they typically need farmore money than the averagebank can provide.

The solution is to raise money byissuing bonds (or other debtinstruments) to the publicmarket. Thousands / millions ofinvestors then each lend aportion of the capital needed.Really, a bond is nothing morethan a loan for which you are thelender.

The organization that sells a bondis known as the issuer. You canthink of a bond as an IOU given bya borrower (the issuer) to a lender(the investor).

Of course, nobody would loanhis or her hard-earned money fornothing. The issuer of a bondmust pay the investor somethingextra for the privilege of using hisor her money. This "extra" comes

in the form of interest payments,which are made at apredetermined rate andschedule. The interest rate isoften referred to as the coupon.

The date on which the issuer hasto repay the amount borrowed(known as face value) is calledthe maturity date.

Bonds are known as fixed-income securities because youknow the exact amount of cashyou'll get back if you hold thesecurity until maturity.

For example, say you buy a bondwith a face value of £1,000, witha coupon (Interest rate) of 8%,and a maturity of 10 years.

This means you'll receive a totalof £80 (£1,000*8%) of interestper year for the next 10 years.Actually, because most bondspay interest semi-annually, you'llreceive two payments of £40 ayear for 10 years.

When the bond matures after adecade, you'll get your £1,000back.

Stock markets; The Long View…(As of 9th September 2014)

Scottish Referendum

The YouGov pool for the SundayTimes (7th Sep 2015) puts theYES camp just ahead for the firsttime, and with under a fortnightto go the GBP dropped againstthe US$ as well as the Euro.

The FTSE100 has also lostground and there is nervousnessin European markets in general.

What will happen if the YES votewins on the 18th?

Markets do not like uncertainty,so there could be a correctionespecially in the UK markets.

On the plus side a weaker GBP isgood news to exporters whichhave suffered with a strongPound (£).

Interest Rates in the UK

After the last meeting the BoEstill held the interest rates at the0.5% low, but there were morevotes for raising the rate for thefirst time. Generally mosteconomists think the rate couldrise by the end of the year, butthe above YES vote in Scotlandmight just convince them to holdon to the same low rate for a littlelonger. Remember there is anelection in May 2015.

NOTE: Markets can go down aswell as up there are noguarantees in market movements

Bonds and borrowing...

www.cleoburycountry.com

Next Cleobury Networking meeting date: Wednesday 15th October

CleoburyCountry

Cleobury Countrypresents...

FarmersMarket 2014

Market Dates for 2014Saturday February 15thSaturday March 15thSaturday April 19th Saturday May 17th Saturday June 21stSaturday July 19thSaturday August 16thSaturday September 20thSaturday October 18thSaturday November 15thSaturday December 20th

ALL MARKETS HELD ON SATURDAY’S FROM 9.30am to 12.30pm

www.cleoburycountry.com

CLEOBURY COUNTRY

TRADE CARD 2014

THE

AVAILABLE FREE NOW in the Cleobury Country Area

Contains Useful Telephone Numbers andAlphabetical Trade Listings for Local Businessses