British Airways Christmas strike curbed by court ruling

There must be so many people who breathed a big sigh of relief today when British Airways won a High Court injunction blocking a 12 day cabin crew strike that would have brought Christmas travel chaos to almost one million travellers.

British Airways said it was "delighted for our customers that the threat of a Christmas strike has been lifted by the court."

There must have been a giant cheer by hundreds of thousands of families in the UK and around the world.

The strike had been planned for December 22 to January 2 and threatened to ground much of the BA fleet and would have brought travel chaos to hundreds of thousands of passengers.

I do hope the BA cabin crew look at the Globespan collapse this week and see that their union leaders could have risked the entire BA company going under. When the Royal Mail recently striked many companies found alternative postal arrangements and haven't gone back to using Royal Mail, costing the Royal Mail thousands of pounds in revenue. BA can ill afford any financial loses at the moment. Do BA staff really believe that striking and risking the wrath of a disgruntled public, would bring them job security?

Hip debate reignited

Shadow housing Minister Grant Shapps’ recent confirmation that he would scrap home information packs (HIPs) has re-ignited the debate over what should replace them.

We have been preparing Legal Sellers Packs, which involves the Conveyancer collating all of the relevant documentation in relation to the sale transaction immediately upon receipt of instructions, for our clients for the best part of ten years. This process has helped to reduce transaction timelines by several weeks. The existing legislation is ill founded as it presumes that it takes a long time to obtain searches and that adverse search results are a major reason for transaction failure, neither of which is true. The delays in property transactions are often caused by certain important documents such as guarantee certificates, planning documentation or leasehold management information not being readily available or not being sought out early enough in the transaction to avoid delay.

The Conservatives can change the legislation easily and effectively by insisting that a Conveyancer is instructed to collate a Legal Sellers Pack immediately or before the property is placed on the market for sale. This service is likely to be provided on a no sale no fee basis by the lawyer, at no up front cost to the seller, and hence encouraging more properties onto the market place. This process will allow the purchaser, and their lender, to choose their own searches, which they can rely upon and avoid the duplication process that exists at present.

I hope that Grant Shapps and the Conservatives will listen to the views of practicing Conveyancers, unlike the Labour Party who were keen to rely on the opinion of Estate Agents and Surveyors who, whilst playing an important role in the transaction process, do not fully understand the logistics of conveying property. Let’s hope that the Conservatives consult appropriately and make the correct decisions – we can’t afford another HIP debacle.

With the ‘Office Do’s’ in full swing, How do you avoid a hangover?

Well it’s that time of year again, office parties, soirees of one kind or another.

Now I do enjoy the odd tipple or two and like thousands of others I hate that awful morning after feeling. So, if you’re like me and often wonder what would be the best alcohol to drink - to minimise that awful hangover? Here are a few booze facts from an article I’ve recently read that may help all you other party goers this season.

 

 

VODKA or GIN - HANGOVER SEVERITY: 3/10

Vodka is the least likely alcoholic drink to leave you with a hangover, said a study by the British Medical Association.

 

WHISKEY- HANGOVER SEVERITY: 8/10

Bourbon Whiskey is twice as likely to cause a hangover as the same amount of vodka.

 

WHITE WINE - HANGOVER SEVERITY: 6/10

The sulphites formed naturally or added to white wine as preservatives cause the 'white wine hangover' many people complain of. Also white wines can wear away tooth enamel faster, making teeth more sensitive. Great for spilling on your clothes, no stains.

 

RED WINE - HANGOVER SEVERITY: 7/10

Red wine drinkers can get worse hangovers than beer or white wine drinkers. Because of the way it's made, red wine produces two types of alcohol - ethanol and methanol. The liver processes the ethanol part of the drink first and leaves methanol until last. Awful for spilling on your clothes, stains, stains and more stains - not a good look for your teeth and lips either.

 

BEER - HANGOVER SEVERITY: 4/10

Beer is the least dangerous to drink and makes you feel you’ve drunk the slowest. It has the lowest alcohol content - between 3 and 6 per cent for lager, and up to 8 per cent for ale and stout.

 

BRANDY - HANGOVER SEVERITY: 9/10

Could give you the worst headache of all, according to research at London's National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. This was though very closely followed by red wine, then rum, whisky and gin.

 

CHAMPAGNE - HANGOVER SEVERITY: 7/10

The bubbles speed up the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream. And contrary to popular belief, Champagne won't lift your spirits - alcohol affects brain receptors in the same way, whatever its source.

 

After reading all those facts maybe the best drink for me this festive season would be water? Or maybe not. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hopefully now that you are armed with the above alcohol facts, you won’t get too painful a hangover.

Why is youth unemployment at such a record high?

High in the news again this week is youth unemployment with the unemployment rate reaching a record high of almost 20per cent as the jobless total continues to increase.

 

Here are just some of the figures published:

 

• The number of people out of work increased by 30,000 between July and September to just under two and a half million.

 

• Jobseeker's allowance rose by 12,900 in October to 1.64 million, the 20th consecutive monthly increase, giving the worst total for 12 years.

 

• The number of people classed as economically inactive, including those on long-term sick leave, looking after a relative or who have given up looking for work, reached a record high of eight million after a 41,000 increase over the latest quarter.

 

• Youth unemployment also continued to rise, with the number of 16 to 24-year-olds up by 15,000 to 943,000, giving a rate of 19.8 per cent, a record high.  

 

Call me old and maybe cynical but when youth unemployment continues to rise at such a rate, I think you can’t help but begin to wonder if it is because there aren’t enough jobs out there for the young? or is it because we’ve created a generation that have no work ethic and no sense of drive and ambition?

How do we avoid a hangover?

Well it’s that time of year again, office parties, soirees of one kind or another.

Being a young girl, I enjoy the odd tipple or two. I, like thousands of others hate that awful morning after feeling. I often wonder what would be the best drink for me. (Probably water!)

I have just read an article that may help all you other party goers this season, a few tips on how to minimise that awful hangover1

VODKA

calories:

Because vodka contains no carbohydrates or sugars, it contains only calories from ethanol (around 7 calories per gram), making it the least-fattening alcoholic beverage. So a 35ml shot of vodka would contain about 72 calories.

pros:

Vodka is the 'cleanest' alcoholic beverage because it contains hardly any 'congeners' - impurities normally formed during fermentation. These play a big part in how bad your hangover is.

Despite its high alcohol content - around 40 per cent - vodka is the least likely alcoholic drink to leave you with a hangover, said a study by the British Medical Association.

cons:

Vodka is often a factor in binge drinking deaths because it is relatively tasteless when mixed with fruit juices or other drinks.

HANGOVER SEVERITY: 3/10

WHISKEY

calories:

About 80 calories per 35ml shot.

pros:

Single malt whiskies have been found to contain high levels of ellagic acid. This powerful acid inhibits the growth of tumours caused by certain carcinogens and kills cancer cells without damaging healthy cells.

cons:

Whisky 'madness' - erratic and unpredictable behaviour - is a common problem with drinking whisky. It's caused by the way most people drink it

– neat. His experiments show that among people drinking the same amount of ethanol, those drinking it in. Whisky also contains lots of congeners, which tend to form during the ageing process in oak casks. A study by the BMA found that as a result, Bourbon Whiskey is twice as likely to cause a hangover as the same amount of vodka.

HANGOVER SEVERITY: 8/10

WHITE WINE

calories:

Around 130 calories per 175 ml glass; slightly more in sweeter wines.

pros:

American researchers found that grape flesh contains the chemicals tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol, which help lower artery clogging LDL cholesterol.

cons:

It's the sulphites formed naturally or added to white wine as preservatives to stop it going brown which are the most likely cause of the 'white wine hangover' many people complain of. Sulphites also carry the risk of an allergic reaction which can worsen symptoms such as a headache, or asthma. White wines also wear away tooth enamel faster, making teeth more sensitive.

HANGOVER SEVERITY: 6/10

RED WINE

calories:

Around 120 calories in a standard glass - it's slightly lower in sugar content than white wine.

pros:

Contains more reservatrol - a plant anti- oxidant - than white wine. This helps to prevent blood clots and reduce inflammation, which is now considered to play a key role in heart disease. Also, the pips and skins used in red wines contain tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol, chemicals which help lower artery-clogging LDL cholesterol.

cons:

Red wine drinkers can get worse hangovers than beer or white wine drinkers. Because of the way it's made, red wine produces two types of alcohol - ethanol and methanol. The liver processes the ethanol part of the drink first and leaves methanol until last.

HANGOVER SEVERITY: 7/10

BEER

calories:

It's the most calorie rich alcoholic beverage - just one pint contains between 170 and 200 calories, about the same as seven chocolate fingers biscuits.

pros:

Beer is the least dangerous to drink and makes you feel you drunk the slowest. It has the lowest alcohol content - between 3 and 6 per cent for lager, and up to 8 per cent for ale and stout. A pint also contains more than a quarter of an adult's recommended dose of Vitamin B folate, which stops the build-up of homocysteinea chemical linked to heart attacks.

cons:

Beer is high in compounds called purines, which boost the levels of uric acid in the blood; this can form crystals in joints, leading to painful attacks of gout. The 12-year study found that drinking more than two beers a day doubled the risk. Meanwhile, research published in the International Journal of Cancer showed that one pint a day adds a 10 per cent risk of bowel cancer, while two pints a day increases the risk by 25 per cent.

HANGOVER SEVERITY: 4/10

BRANDY

calories: Around 80 in every 35ml shot.

pros:

Because brandy is a distillation of red wine, it contains a high concentration of antioxidants which mop-up 'free radicals' which, it's claimed, can damage the body organs and tissues and lead to deadly diseases. Australian scientists discovered that the antioxidants created during the distilling process mean that 30ml of good brandy would give the equivalent antioxidant hit of the daily recommended intake of vitamin C.

cons:

It could give you the worst headache of all, according to research at London's National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. This was closely followed by red wine, then rum, whisky and gin. Not only does brandy contain at least 40 per cent alcohol, the high quality cask-aged variety is likely to have the highest amounts of congeners, which are formed during the lengthy storage and fermentation process.

HANGOVER SEVERITY: 9/10

CHAMPAGNE

calories:

An average 175 ml glass of Champagne contains 133 calories, slightly more than a glass of white wine because syrup is added to improve taste.

pros:

The antioxidants in Champagne may help protect your brain against damage incurred during a stroke and against neurological disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

cons:

The bubbles speed up the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream. And contrary to popular belief, Champagne won't lift your spirits - alcohol affects brain receptors in the same way, whatever its source.

HANGOVER SEVERITY: 7/10

What does the Dubai crisis tell us?

As we come to the end of a Global ‘Nightmare’ signs continue to grow across the globe that the world economy is stirring back to life. The U.S. finally returned to growth in the third quarter, with its strongest showing in two years, India posted inspiring 7.9% growth and the results out of tiny Taiwan, one of the economies slammed the hardest by the global recession, were  impressive. Stock markets, aside from a downward blip here and there, have generally been buoyant.

The worst of the crisis is almost certainly behind us, but that doesn't mean the crisis is over. Lying ahead are a barrel of unresolved problems, policy challenges and, no doubt, further surprises. Unemployment remains a serious global issue; excess capacity left over from the boom years haunts the recovery; and the drastic stimulus programs utilized to fight the recession are creating a new menu of potential troubles.

That was made clear on Nov. 25 when the city-state of Dubai shocked the global investment community by asking creditors of its main corporate arm, ports-and-property conglomerate Dubai World, for a six-month payment standstill on its almost $60 billion of liabilities. The surprise hit stock markets in Asia and the U.S., while sending investors running for safe havens like the U.S. dollar. Experts have since engaged in a rabid round of speculation over what the Dubai debt crisis might mean for the world economy. Some see the problem as little more than a big real estate bust. "I don't see what the big deal is," Willem Buiter, economist at the London School of Economics and Political Science, wrote bluntly. Others see the Dubai crisis as the potential flashpoint for a new stage of the global crisis, a sign that heavily indebted sovereign states might begin having trouble financing their deficits, or that investors will reassess their exposure to risky emerging markets in some kind of financial ‘swine flu’

Stuff of horror movies, indeed, but so far, that worst-case scenario doesn't appear to be materialising. The central bank of the United Arab Emirates promised on Sunday to stand behind the country's banks with fresh cash, causing stock markets in Asia to rebound on Monday. Nevertheless, the Dubai fiasco is just the kind of dangerous unknown that can still arise out of the financial crisis, even while a general recovery is under way. Financial crises change the rules of the game, especially when it comes to determining how money flows, and where and to whom. Perceptions of risk among bankers and investors can change — but the ramifications of that change are often delayed, and not easy to predict.

Since the global financial crisis hit, the more sober Gulf economies have fared relatively well. Not only is the Middle East less integrated into global financial market than other regions, but oil prices have risen again since their initial decline last year. Unlike Dubai, the oil economies of the Middle East have been more sober during the boom years, putting their money in massive infrastructure projects, building cultural institutions, and keeping big piles of cash on hand for a rainy day. Dubai may want to do the same.

It seems to me that there is still quite a bumpy road ahead, who knows what will happen next. Giles Chance when talking of China and the credit crisis says ‘it’s like watching a duck swim, on the surface it seems fine, but underneath its quite chaotic’. That is an apt metaphor and could well describe the world economy. The rising economy is masking a lot of chaos. Please let that duck keep swimming!

 

Christmas burglaries

An interesting article caught my eye this lunch time, (not just randomly reading ‘Grazia’, a proper informative work article) “Christmas time for burglars” stated the heading. It started me thinking. Is my own property vulnerable? Have I left the ten foot tree bedecked with baubles and twinkling lights, surrounded by mounds of enticing gifts, all to the mercy of the overworked Christmas burglar?

Granted the ‘sweater’ from Gran could go, but how devastating to find it all gone, and that feeling of having uninvited pillagers in your domain.

We all at some point over Yuletide leave our properties  empty, shopping trips, social events and visits, while with the elongated break, some of us even take holidays in the sun, (If only). Add this to the fact that the prospective booty is fantastically easy to target- conveniently left either in the hall or sitting room, well its like heaven for the potential thief!

 

The statistics tell us; burglaries peak not in the holiday month of August, but in the November to January period. One poor lady told of how she was visited on Christmas day!

"We had gone to visit my parents in Wales, and spent a lovely Christmas day with the family," she says. "We were enjoying the break from London - in fact, we were in the middle of a country walk when we got the phone call. It seems the burglars had got in on Christmas morning. Our holiday came to an abrupt end and we went back to face a ransacked flat. Everything had gone - cameras, video recorders, jewellery and my brand new computer."

It seems that the burglars had come through a communal front door that should have been secure, but the security lock had been left undone.

 

What can we do? Well, apparently most burglars are essentially opportunist, zoning in on the weakest link in a property’s security. There are a few things that can be done to strengthen a property’s defense-

Strong, secure doors with adequate locks are the first line of defense. Over half of all burglaries involve the thief gaining access from the back, so back doors and windows need at least as much attention as the front entrance. But security awareness and cooperation is equally vital - however advanced the specifications of the locking system a nifty thief can rapidly burgle several flats in one property given just one communal entrance carelessly left undone.

 

Well, I am going to check all our locks. While away at the outlaws I will ask our nosy neighbour to check on our house (she has been dying to do that) I will leave lights on. Not a problem in our house, as no one turns them off! So with a bit of care and attention, we won’t be visited by the ghost of burglaries past this Christmas!

High net worth investor confidence in property is back.

1/12/2009

High net worth investor confidence in property is returning, with 76% of investors seeing opportunities in residential investment and 68% seeing opportunities in commercial investment, according to a report by Barclays Wealth.

Investors in nine of the 10 biggest markets are planning to increase their property allocation over the next two years, the survey found. Internationally, nine in 10 investors planned to hike their portfolio allocation by 1-4 percentage points. In Spain, where there is a glut of property, investors planned to pare back their allocation by 15 percentage points.

Twice as many investors – 35% of the 2,000 surveyed – plan to increase their property allocation rather than decrease it over the next two years.

The global report in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit, Prospects for Property: On Solid Foundations, showed that investors believe that property has better long term prospects than other asset classes.

In the survey, 25% of investors also believed that recent price falls have made property seem cheap.

Respondents rated the US as the most popular nation for investment, with 16 per cent saying they expected to see the best returns there, followed by China and the UK, with 7 per cent expecting the best returns in each of those markets.

However, Lloyd Davies,CEO of Convey Law, comments,

“The fall in property values has shaken the most seasoned investors’ confidence. Despite this, these findings suggest that investors believe we are approaching the beginning of the end of the downturn. It appears that those surveyed are prepared to not only exploit undervalued opportunities, but also to commit further to property over the next two years in the belief that they will benefit from favourable returns. Given the past turmoil in other investment opportunities it is not surprising that investors are looking at bricks and mortar as a good sustainable investment that can provide solid returns.”

Extracts taken from Property week.com and Wealth Briefing 

High net worth investor confidence in property is back.

1/12/2009

High net worth investor confidence in property is returning, with 76% of investors seeing opportunities in residential investment and 68% seeing opportunities in commercial investment, according to a report by Barclays Wealth.

Investors in nine of the 10 biggest markets are planning to increase their property allocation over the next two years, the survey found. Internationally, nine in 10 investors planned to hike their portfolio allocation by 1-4 percentage points. In Spain, where there is a glut of property, investors planned to pare back their allocation by 15 percentage points.

Twice as many investors – 35% of the 2,000 surveyed – plan to increase their property allocation rather than decrease it over the next two years.

The global report in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit, Prospects for Property: On Solid Foundations, showed that investors believe that property has better long term prospects than other asset classes.

In the survey, 25% of investors also believed that recent price falls have made property seem cheap.

Respondents rated the US as the most popular nation for investment, with 16 per cent saying they expected to see the best returns there, followed by China and the UK, with 7 per cent expecting the best returns in each of those markets.

However, Lloyd Davies,CEO of Convey Law, comments,

“The fall in property values has shaken the most seasoned investors’ confidence. Despite this, these findings suggest that investors believe we are approaching the beginning of the end of the downturn. It appears that those surveyed are prepared to not only exploit undervalued opportunities, but also to commit further to property over the next two years in the belief that they will benefit from favourable returns. Given the past turmoil in other investment opportunities it is not surprising that investors are looking at bricks and mortar as a good sustainable investment that can provide solid returns.”

Extracts taken from Property week.com and Wealth Briefing