Caroline joined the BMC on the 12th February after having worked as a Manager for a Serviced Apartment company in Cambridge for three years. In her role as an 'Assistant Operations Manager', besides assisting with sales of Office Space, she will be raising the awareness of our other facilities for Creative and New Media businesses.

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Instead of advising estate agents on their marketing, Fresh Approach have decided to set up their own agency - Brighton & Hove Family Homes.

Director, Charlie Snell, tell's us they're approaching it from the perspective of the customer and will be doing things somewhat differently to every other estate agent in town.

Keep an eye out for the soon to be launched website: www.ourfamilyhome.co.uk

The Best of Luck from everyone at the BMC!

The Brighton and Hove Issues Forum - Email Democracy

So, instead of declaring both interim and final dividends, at the end of your accounting period, you could declare a larger final dividend and, at the same time, set out equal instalment to be paid during the following accounting year.

With this published in the company’s accounts, you will meet Corporation Tax guidelines and reduce any potential tax planning and cashflow issues by planning ahead.

If you feel you need more specific guidance on this topic, call Carole Jordan on 01273 882 200, or email carole@businessheads.co.uk

Revealed: Britain's worst banks

Eight of the country's top ten banks and building societies have cynically manipulated interest-rate rises over the past three years to net millions of pounds in excess profits at the expense of savers and borrowers.

Most institutions have failed to pass on the full benefit of rate rises to savers while borrowers have been charged hundreds of pounds over the odds, according to a survey by Moneyfacts, the data firm. The worst offenders have been Alliance & Leicester (A&L), HSBC and Northern Rock.

The banks have craftily widened the gap between their savings and mortgage rates by small amounts each time interest rates have gone up so customers have barely noticed. But overall the ploy is believed to have netted them £1.5 billion in excess revenues since November 2003, when the Bank of England started the current cycle of rate rises.

Banks then rely on customers' inertia to continue paying derisory savings rates while making record profits. City analysts expect the big five - HSBC, NatWest, Barclays, Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) and Lloyds TSB - to have made £38 billion last year, up from £34 billion in 2005, according to Digital Look, a financial website.

Northern Rock, which has given customers a particularly raw deal over the past three years, is expected to kick off the bank results season on Wednesday with pre-tax profits up 15 per cent at £582m.

Vincent Cable of the Liberal Democrats said: "These findings confirm that banks maintain a differential between mortgage rates and savings rates which bolsters their profits. The Office of Fair Trading should be looking at, and regulating, bank charging practices as a whole and not just selective corners such as credit-card charges."

Moneyfacts analysed how the 10 largest savings and mortgage providers responded to changes in Bank rate between November 2003, when interest rates were 3.5 per cent, and December 2006, when they were 5 per cent. It did not take this month's quarter-point rise to 5.25 per cent into account because only about 25 per cent of institutions have so far responded.

In one of the most comprehensive surveys ever conducted, Moneyfacts examined rate changes on all tiers of savings accounts available since November 2003. Banks often use these tiers as a smokescreen to disguise the fact that they have passed on rate rises to some customers but not others, making it difficult to assess their behaviour - until now.

The research found that despite a 1.5 percentage point hike in Bank rate, savings rates have risen by an average of only 1 point, while standard variable mortgage rates (SVRs) are 1.5 points higher.

HSBC, the survey's worst offender, has lifted savings rates by an average of 0.66 points, but its mortgage rate is 1.76 points higher at 6.25 per cent

A&L has passed on an average rise of just 0.67 points to savers, but it has hiked its SVR by 1.55 points to 7.09 per cent. Some savers in A&L's Easysaver account have even seen their rates go down, from 3 per cent in November 2003 to 2.86 per cent now on a balance of £1,000.

Lisa Taylor at Moneyfacts said: "Interest-rate changes give banks and building societies an ideal opportunity to boost profits. The differences tend to be small on a month-by-month basis, but over time they mount up."

Banks are already up to their usual tricks following the latest rate hike. ICICI, which entered the UK market in 2005 and regularly topped the best-buy tables, was among the first to announce changes, but its Hi-Save account went up by only 0.2 points to 5.65 per cent.

Rival ING Direct has still not announced whether it will pass on the full quarter-point rise to savers. It is believed to be making £174,000 a day in profits from the delay. The bank has already angered its 1.1m customers by keeping its savings rate on hold at 4.75 per cent after November's quarter-point rise. Customers are being urged to switch to Icesave, which raised its rate by a quarter point to 5.7 per cent on Friday.

Sue Hannums at AWD Chase de Vere, an adviser, said: "ING is relying on consumer apathy, expecting that most customers won't bother to move their money elsewhere. Savers need to show they won't tolerate this."

Sian Murray, 35, pictured with her three-year-old daughter, Bronwen, is doing just that. Murray, from Blackheath, southeast London, said: "When ING said it was not increasing its rate in November, it was the final nail in the coffin. Why should people pay more on their mortgages but not earn more on their savings?" The banks deny the charges. Ron Stout at Northern Rock said: "We offer a competitive mix of products, but we do not claim to provide the best rates in all categories."

HSBC argued that while its SVR had increased by 1.76 points, it remained one of the most competitive in the market.

A&L disputes the Moneyfacts findings, saying many of its best savings deals have been launched since 2003 and do not feature in the survey. However, it is one of the worst offenders when it comes to manipulating rate changes across its account range.

Jifunza Charity needs your help!

Jifunza is working with local communities in Ghana to establish libraries and learning centres, to promote literacy and help to eradicate poverty.Children, especially girl-children, will be encouraged to go on to further study. Adults, and particularly women, will be equipped with the skills to set up their own businesses and better support their families.

Jifunza believes in involving the community from the outset, and thereby help to build the social capital that will empower the community to lobby for further investment in terms of education and public health.

To find out more about the charity go to: www.jifunza.org

If you would like to help by making a donation please make your cheques payable to 'Jifunza' and send it to: 14 Somerhill Lodge, Sommerhill Road, Hove, BN3 1RU

• £10 is enough to send 20 carefully selected books to a library in Ghana
• £30 is enough to train a librarian
• £50 is enough to pay a librarian's salary for one month

All donations kindly received!

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Speakers from the BBC, Adobe, the Guardian and BT Hear informed debate, expert opinion, and controversy Be inspired by leading technology, digital media and business professionals Network, meet new clients and future employees Find out how to attract and retain more female staff

This is an inclusive conference for male and female business owners, freelancers, employees, students, educators, new entrants and enthusiasts.

The Future is Female
Women In Media Conference
Thursday 8th March, 08.30am - 5.30pm
Conference Sponsors: CogApp, Madgex, South East Media Network, Spannerworks and WPM

Book now at: www.womeninmedia.co.uk

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They have arranged for a lovely lady named Kate to come into the office on the last Friday of every month and spend the day giving each member of staff a 20 minute Indian head massage. Needless to say this has been very popular with all company members!

Kate, who is based in Portslade is keen to develop her business and offer in-house corporate massage treatments. She is qualified in Indian Head Massage as well as Holistic Full Body Massage and is able to provide a head/shoulder/neck/upper back massage for a client whilst they sit in a chair (so no-one need strip off!).

She charges £10 per person, which is a very competitive rate and is able to come in during mornings and/or afternoons and could come in on a trail or one-off basis for anyone interested.

If anyone is interested in trying out her services you can contact Kate on 01273 419204 or for recommendation you can contact Jose Gander from Argyll on 0845 458 5250 or email her at jose.gander@argyllenviro.com

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Consumer watchdog, "Which?" have put together a step by step guide along with letter templates that will help you start the process of retrieving all of your bank charges over the last 6 years.

For more information click here

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