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Success Stories Sought for the 2008 National Training Awards
THE 2008
National Training Awards are seeking stories of how training has
transformed businesses, organisations and communities in Southport
and Liverpool.
The closing date for this year’s Awards is Friday 25 April 2008.
Free information sessions about the Awards and how to enter are
being held in:-
Cumbria
Wednesday 27 February
2008, 7.30am to 9am
Liverpool
Tuesday 11 March 2008, 12.30pm to 2pm
Cumbria
Wednesday 19 March
2008, 12.30pm to 2pm
To book a place at an information session
email
or phone 0800 0191 475.
For the past 22 years these annual Awards have celebrated
organisations and individuals that demonstrate outstanding business
and personal success through investment in training. They are run by
UK Skills on behalf of the Department for Innovation, Universities
and Skills, and are sponsored by City & Guilds.
UK Skills Chief Executive Simon Bartley said:- “We are looking
for stories from individuals and organisations whose investment in
training has had big results.
This could be through improving a
business’s productivity, reducing costs, boosting staff morale, or
transforming a person’s career.”
He said changes had been made to this year’s Awards to meet the
needs of a 21st century economy and society. “We’ve introduced
6 new categories of awards which will recognise individuals, small
to large employers, collaborations and partnerships, and
organisations providing education and training. We’ve also
streamlined the entry process and are accepting applications online.
And while we’ll continue to give out regional training awards, we
will also give awards to the best example of training per category
in each region. These regional winners will then be considered by a
UK judging panel for the accolade of ‘Winner of the Year’ in their
category.”
For more information about the Awards visit
website. |
Chancellor highlights inequality of CGT changes
LAST night the
Chancellor, Alistair Darling, made a speech at the EEF
Manufacturers' biennial dinner. In this speech he referred to the
last minute CGT concessions that he had announced last month which
means the first £1 million of entrepreneurs gains will only be
subject to a 10% tax charge.
Darling said that:- "…around 80,000 business owners and
investors will gain from the entrepreneurs’ relief next year alone."
In contrast, an identical number of ordinary employees (80,000 a
year) are likely to be negatively affected by Government changes to
CGT. This is because the current CGT regime sees basic rate
taxpayers who have held shares in their employer for at least 2
years subject to a 5% CGT charge. The Chancellor’s changes mean that
these employee shareholders will have to pay an additional 13% tax
on any gain above £9,200 from April 2008.
Research suggests that 80,000 (16%) of the 500,000 SAYE share
schemes that mature each year have gains in excess of the £9,200 CGT
threshold.
Phil Hall, Head of Public Affairs at ifs ProShare, the
not-for-profit membership organisation that promotes Employee Share
Ownership, said:- "It's rather a sad irony that the number of
people Alistair Darling says will benefit from his concessions are
the same number as those who could lose out.
ifs ProShare
certainly doesn't begrudge the last minute concessions granted to
entrepreneurs.
All that we ask is that the hard working employees
who invest in their employer via an all-employee share plan,
supermarket workers, factory workers, bank staff and many others,
receive the same treatment when it comes to taxing the rewards of
their success.”
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IN 4 BRITONS WANT TO KEEP THEIR SECRET LOVE SECRET
ACCORDING to
new research, secrecy is still the key to a successful Valentine’s
Day romance. 76% of Britons confessed that they would only
send a Valentine’s card to the subject of their affections if they
knew it would arrive anonymously.
The survey by online greeting card service Greetz who sell real personalized cards designed online also revealed that
79% of us would like to receive an anonymous card this Valentine’s
Day. In an age of instant information and indiscretion, the idea of
a secret love is alive and well.
Greetz’s UK Country Manager, Gavin Stirrat, comments:- “It
seems we still enjoy the ‘guess who?’ scenario on Valentine’s Day
because remaining anonymous is all part of the fun. 14 February 2008 is
the last refuge of the hopeless romantic.”
The research went on to reveal that despite the array of Valentine’s
gifts and gadgets flooding the market, the majority of Britons (58%)
would prefer to receive a special card from their beloved instead of
a present like chocolates or a teddy bear. In fact, people in
Britain buy more greeting cards than any other country, with the
average person purchasing 55 cards a year.
Gavin Stirrat continues:- “It’s also interesting to see that
Britons still prefer to send and receive cards rather than gifts on
Valentine’s Day. The virtue of cards purchased online is that they
can be easily personalised for that special someone.”
With Valentine’s Day only a week away, log onto
www.greetz.co.uk to find
your perfect love the perfect card.
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