Unite rally BA cabin crew to strike
Unite rally BA cabin crew to strike
British Airways’ cabin crew earn significantly more than their Virgin Atlantic counterparts and well above the industry standard.
According to figures the average wage of BA cabin crew is around £29,000 in comparison to £14,000 the average Virgin cabin crew member earns.
So what makes BA cabin crew think they have a right to strike over new proposals that don’t actually affect their current earnings?!
Before I go on a rather biased rant about the dreadful behaviour of their cabin crew and their union, Unite, backing them like an over-indulgent parent, let’s examine the facts of the case:
BA is losing money.
Unfortunately the airline saw a loss of £580 million last year. Consequently they have to consider what is best for the business and how to keep it afloat in a wave of economic uncertainty.
So what are BA planning on doing about this?
BA have announced that the number of cabin crew on long-haul flights will be reduced from 15 – 14 and introduce a two-year pay freeze from 2010.
They have also proposed new contracts for new recruits and newly-promoted staff. These are to include a single on-board management grade, no seniority, promotion on merit and pay set at the market rate + 10% (note – still well above the market average).
As a result of this Unite has worked itself into a frenzy because British Airways did not consult them on this first. Please bare-in-mind that the airline is not obligated to consult them anyway.
Consequently Unite are now encouraging cabin crew to strike and they are currently balloting for the 22nd February this year. It certainly makes one speculate that Unite are simply encouraging this as a result of BA not consulting them first.
So, is this simply a case of a spoilt union throwing its toys out of the pram?!
What is the backlash likely to be?
Should the ballot go through and the many hundreds of cabin crew strike for an extended period of time this could result in:
- Costing the airline millions of pounds.
- More and more existing small business and their larger counter-parts flying with a more reliable service.
- Adverse affect on private customers – resulting in more loss of business for BA.
- Increasing numbers of BA workers losing their jobs or more pay-cuts and freezes as a result of business loss.
So, like the majority of poorly thought through union action this is unlikely to “win the hearts and minds of the people.” Instead it will merely assist a growth in unemployment and upset a lot of BA travellers.
Related articles:
Making your small business more energy efficient
British Airways’ £50m loss smaller-than-expected
Bank of England calls an end to Quantitative Easing
Bank of England halts Quantitative Easing
Today the Bank of England announced a halt to its quantitative easing (QE) scheme, much to the relief of city analysts, who believe that the rise in inflation is one of the main contributors to the bank’s decision to halt the programme.
The programme saw the Bank of England pump £200 billion directly into the UK’s economy. All of the money set aside for the QE scheme has now been spent and the bank has stated that it will not be asking the Treasury for permission to print more.
A spokesperson for the Bank commented that the existing money would continue to “impart a substantial stimulus through the economy for some time to come.”
Despite this announcement the Bank of England stated that they would consider further purchases, however, this would depend on the economic climate.
Interest rates are expected to remain low for some time to come, in an effort to avoid shattering the fragile growth seen over the last quarter in 2009.
Consequently, the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) made the announcement that interest rates would remain at their current low level of 0.5%, for the eleventh consecutive month.
Many city analysts don’t expect to see interest rates rise until the second quarter of 2010 for fear of the UK falling back into a declining economy – termed as a “double-dip recession.”
The Confederation of Business Industry’s (CBI) Chief Economic Advisor, Ian McCafferty, commented that it is no surprise the Bank of England have decided to keep interest rates and QE at the same levels. He added that although the economy is stabilising it still faces some serious obstacles and recovery remains “shallow-rooted.”
Related articles:
UK creeps out of the recession
UK small businesses access over £700 million worth of loans
Inflation takes its toll on small business
Top Health Tips for Small Business Owners
Top Health Tips for Small Business Owners
As a small business owner it is an easy mistake to focus all your time and energy on your company and neglect your own personal needs.
As many of us know the pressures of running a business are considerable, and there is often no let up. However, it is important to remember that it becomes increasingly harder to work to the best of your abilities if you lead an unhealthy lifestyle.
Lets take a look at what you can do to stay healthy, happy and productive:
Diet
To stay healthy a good diet is crucial to your lifestyle. However, you may find that it is difficult to eat well at work, especially if you eat at your desk or between meetings. Try to take a proper lunch-break and get out of the office for 30 minutes or so.
Making healthy meals beforehand can be a useful way to ensure you eat well. It can be something as simple as a healthy sandwich or pasta salad to see you through the day.
Other methods to ensure you are getting the recommended amount of vitamins and minerals throughout the day are by taking supplements such as multivitamin tablets.
Exercise
Regular exercise is very important, for your physical and mental wellbeing. Many small business owners tend to work right up until the moment they go to bed and find it difficult to find time to exercise regularly.
Cardio-vascular (aerobic) exercise is crucial to your wellbeing, particularly if you want to remain fit and healthy. But what can you do to fit this into a daily schedule?
1. Try cycling, walking or jogging to work rather than driving or taking public transport (if you live close enough to work to allow this).
2. If you work from home, try to schedule a 20 – 30 minute break to allow yourself time to do some form of exercise such as walking or jogging.
Stay hydrated
Try to drink approximately 8 glasses of water a day. Many people forget about drinking water in the middle of a busy day so it’s important to keep water within easy reach to avoid dehydration.
Not drinking enough water can not only lead to dehydration but to lack of energy and, consequently, inefficiency at work. The more lethargic you become, the less productive you will be.
Rest
Many small business owners have difficulty resting as they consistently think about work and can therefore find themselves working late into the night.
It’s crucial to ensure you get the required amount of sleep as you may find that your mental capacity could suffer, you could become less productive. Even more importantly you could find that your immunity to bugs and illnesses drops.
Health and Wellbeing Policy
Try to put a health and wellbeing policy in place for all your employees and try to include yourself in this.
This could be something as simple as organising a weekly game of football with colleagues to seeking out discounted rates at the local gym for your company.
Related links:
Starting you own business – a mini guide
Help on hand for your small business
Making your small business more energy efficient
Property prices on the increase
Property prices on the increase
According to Nationwide Building Society it could Well be good news for small businesses and sole-traders in the property industry.
Nationwide believes that house prices are likely to see an increase of 10% per year. The latest survey suggests that on average Uk house prices increased by 2.6% in January, which pushed the annual rate up to 8.6%. This makes the average cost of a UK home £163,481.
According to the building society, house prices have been rising for over 9 successive months – the fastest rate of increase since October 2007.
Despite this welcome news, Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, commented that there is a risk that annual house price inflation is highly likely to move into double-digits in February for the first time since May 2007.
Mr Gahbauer added that the consistent rise in house prices was surprising considering the UK has been in the worst recession since the 1920s.
In addition to this, the Bank of England and the British Bankers Association reported further rises in the amount of mortgages being approved, which is a good short-term indicator of market future-trends.
Related Posts:
UK landlords to gain from increase in demand
Inflation takes its toll on small business
Growing confidence for buy-to-let landlords
Small business owners put their staff first
Small business owners put staff first
According to Santander Business Banking 60% of small business owners have frozen their own pay. Even more impressively, only one in three have frozen the pay of their employees.
The nationwide survey shows that small businesses, with a turnover in excess of £1 million, a whopping 59% of business owners have frozen their own pay, while only 33% have frozen the pay of their employees. In addition to this, only 5% of of small firms have reported staff redundancies, which shows how reluctant many companies are to cut jobs.
The head of Business Banking at Santander, Paula Ickinger, stated:
“It is impressive to see that just one in 20 have had to cut jobs and is a testament to the commitment of business owners that they have, where possible, protected their staff. That should stand them in good stead for the return to growth that is tentatively underway.”
She went on to say that banks play a crucial role in supporting small businesses by “focusing on customer relationships and providing support for well run and viable businesses.”
With a difficult year ahead for the UK’s economy let’s hope that Santander and its fellow banks increase this small business support and include better lending terms over 2010.
Related stories:
Retail sales dip raises questions over UK recovery
Inflation takes its toll on small business
Small businesses feel let down by banks
Small businesses taught how to “Win the Contract”
Winning The Contract
A free online public procurement course, designed to assist small businesses bid for £220 billion of public sector contracts awarded each year was launched earlier this week.
The course entitled “Winning the Contract” will help small businesses to bid for public sectorcontracts by explaining the procurement process and demonstrates how to submit tenders. Not onlydoes the course deliver help and guidance on the bidding process but it also informs firms on whereto find public contract opportunities.
This tool has been available to small businesses since 2007 at a charge of £49.99. After a reviewof the tool last year, the course has been refreshed and made freely available online to any smallbusiness owner.
The minister for Small Business, Lord Davies, commented that small businesses already sell theirgoods and services to the public sector, however, more could do so. He went on to say:
“Opening up public sector procurement to a wider range of suppliers provides new opportunities forsmall businesses as the UK economy heads towards growth.”
To access the course clicking through learndirect on the Business Link website will direct you to the relevant area.
Further reading:
Manufacturers optimistic about the year ahead
Small businesses told to back Young Britain
Has the UK finally left the recession?
Has the UK finally left the recession?
According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) the UK has finally, painfully emerged from the longest economic recession in recorded history.
The ONS reported that the UK’s economy finally saw growth of 0.1% in the final quarter of 2009. However, many city analysts were disappointed by this as they expected to see growth of at least 0.6%.
Regardless of this lower than expected growth, the fact that we ARE seeing growth is certainly promising news for small businesses.
David Frost of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), believes that for the British economy to sustain this growth, the government needs to do more to help small business in the ensuing months ahead. With the government increasing business tax and Employers’ National Insurance contributions by 1%, Mr Frost is of the opinion that the government should scrap these plans to ensure continuous, albeit fragile, growth.
The Chief Economist of the BCC, David Kern, added that for small businesses to assist growth the government needed to make it possible to enable firms to invest and export. This will only be possible by removing regulatory burdens and access to finance improved.
Fore more information please check out:
UK creeps out of the recession
Big challenges facing the economy, despite end of recession
Former Dragon calls for reform
Former Dragon, Doug Richard, calls for reform
Former Dragon’s Den star, Doug Richard, has highlighted a number of points that he believes will assist the UK’s economic growth post-recession.
1. Increase economic freedom for new and small businesses. Mr Richard believes that cutting the time it takes to start a new business, streamlining government regulation and exempting small business from many regulations will greatly improve new start-ups and small business growth.
2. Stop paying people to be unemployed and instead share the costs of them being taught to be employed. He goes on to say that apprenticeships should not only be seen as solely for trades-people but for any job in any company. Richard states that whilst employers are unable to “underwrite” the period they need to make graduates and students into productive employees then there is no real hope for them.
3. Since the UK’s largest customer is effectively our own government they need to dedicate a percentage of all their procurement to small businesses.
4. Broadband needs to be quicker across the entire length of the country. Doug Richard believes that this is the “key infrastructure” that will “kindle a wave of creative destruction and increased wealth that will match the industrial revolution.” This is an ‘interesting’ turn of phrase as I don’t think ‘creative destruction’ is quite the wording I would have chosen for it. However, I am certainly inclined to agree that faster broadband is necessary to improve online business and customer interaction.
5. Doug also goes on to speak about broadening the scope for “Social Entrepreneurs” and how new legal frameworks need to be put in place to encourage a “broad range of social business.” That’s great, but what are social entrepreneurs and what impact do they have on society? Is this just another buzz phrase he randomly plucked off the internet? I am possibly being a bit harsh but too many people fling buzz words around to easily.
Social Entrepreneurs are, in basic terms, a person that recognises a social problem and uses the principals of business to organise and manage a venture to encourage social change.
It’s important to remember that a business entrepreneur measures performance in terms of profit and return. However, a social entrepreneur will measure performance in terms of impact on society as well as profit and return. I like to think of them as charitable workers with a profitable aim. Although I’m sure they would like to be seen solely as charitable workers despite the hidden agenda.
So Doug Richard has had a lot of good ideas to help improve the UK’s economy through small businesses and new business start-ups but is it likely to have much impact? Only time will tell – your comments please people!
Relevant links:
Dragon’s Den former member suggests tax exemption for small businesses
The Entrepreneurs Manifesto Declaration of Rights – Empowering the New Wave
Top Ten Tips to Enhance Customer Service
Top ten tips to improve customer service
According to a study undertaken by Professor Merlin Stone of Oxford Brookes University, £3.39 billion of business has been lost by UK firms over the last two years.
It’s believed that UK businesses are losing trade due to their inability to adequately meet the needs of consumers. Professor Stone stated that:
“Organisations have to work harder than ever to keep their best customers.”
He went on to say that the internet has given people the ability to source and contact alternative providers. Consumers have evidently become increasingly more demanding and discerning and with the rise of price comparison websites it has become much easier to compare and “switch” products.
For any business – big or small, better value and service has to be the focus for the future, otherwise it will become increasingly difficult to compete with their rivals in the long run.
So, how can you enhance customer service?
1. Try to make your customer service staff feel valued – they ARE an important part of your business. Remember – if they’re not happy then it’s highly unlikely that they will deliver quality customer service. Good staff and good staff morale are key players in the success of your company.
2. Lead by example – it is important to show your staff respect and this should be synonymous at every level of your business. If you show employees the respect they deserve then this will be translated to your customers as well.
3. Listen to your customers and try to identify common areas of complaints and issues that come up more frequently than others. Ask your customers what you can do to help – this is a key step in preventing problems and is really the only solution when a problem arises.
4. Aim to resolve issues and complaints as soon as possible. Remember, keeping the customer happy is key, especially if you want that customer to keep coming back to buy from you again and again.
5. Enhance the workplace. If your staff are happy and comfortable in the environment they work in then you will see the benefits. Happy staff = happy customers.
6. Pay competitive salaries. It’s important to remember that the customer service industry is well known for poor pay and can result in a high turn-over of staff. Remember – customer service can be a very hard job and therefore it is important to show your staff that the company cares about them.
7. With increasing numbers of people turning to the internet for goods and services it’s important to remember that speed and quality of service is of the essence. For many customers call-centres can be increasingly difficult to get through to. Therefore, why not encourage customers to use email and live messaging (i.e. MSN/Yahoo) services? If you do plan on putting something like this in place it’s important to have competitive response times and clear, concise answers for problems prepared. Remember – online a customer has the ability to rant (positively or negatively) on a blog, Facebook, Twitter, forums or other mediums available to them. What your company delivers in terms of service can come back to haunt you.
8. Train your staff. This is crucial, poorly trained staff can lead to all manner of complications – from misunderstanding the products (and the customer’s needs) to putting the customer on hold for extended periods of time.
9. Automate your sales process if you operate online. Once a customer has bought a service / item from you then send them an automated email that gives them confirmation of the transaction. Most customers that shop online have come to expect this.
10. Celebrate successes and share failures. Success and failure can be used constructively as a means of educating staff members into the correct and wrong way to handle customers. Failure should be used as an opportunity for you and your employees to analyse what went wrong and what could be changed for the future.
Related links:
Tips for effective communication in business
Market Research for Small business
Market Research for small business
Market Research is an excellent method of collecting information about the market in which your business operates or intends to operate.
A lot of information on how to build surveys and the varying methods that can be utilised to collect market information is readily available on the internet.
However, for the purpose of this article I would like to take a look why we carry out market research and the advantages as well as the pitfalls and obstacles it can sometimes throw our way.
There are numerous reasons why a small business or any company, regardless of size, would want to carry out market research.
Top Ten Reasons to Carry out Market Research:
1. Gathering information about current customers.
2. Looking for a new or additional customer base.
3. Assessing the feasibility of creating and releasing a new product.
4. Consumer product perception.
5. What changes a company could make that would effect (improve) it’s performance.
6. Ability to monitor current advertising awareness.
7. To help new businesses / entrepreneurs understand the market before they invest time and money. Is your product a feasible fit for the market – will it be able to compete with existing products?
8. How much the customer would be willing to pay for your product in comparison to a product produced by your competitors?
9. Can you produce or provide the product for your customer base at that price?
10. Market research can also provide your investors that your business plan is based on concrete research and displays an in-depth knowledge of the market place.
Now that the reasons for market research have been established its important to take into consideration -
The Pros and Cons of carrying out market research:
| Pros of Market Research | Cons of Market Research |
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From looking at this list you could argue that the main factor acting against any company planning to undertake market research is the length of time it would take to gather a sufficient quantity of data as well as the costs involved.
But the question remains – will the data produced by the survey outweigh the invested time and money? This is really one for you to decide but let me leave you with this thought:
Knowledge is power and the more information you have about your market place and customer base the more efficient and profitable your company is likely to be.
Useful links:
Market Research – how to develop an effective customer survey
How to write a business plan – top ten tips
Business News
- Toyota recall work starts in UK February 9, 2010
- Cadbury's Bristol plant to close February 9, 2010
- Banks tax 'would raise billions' February 10, 2010
- Honda widens recall over airbags February 10, 2010
- City regulator to step down February 9, 2010
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