THE NUTCRACKER

THE highly acclaimed Vienna Festival Ballet Company will Jeté into St Helens with Tchaikovsky’s world famous classical ballet The Nutcracker, which comes to the Theatre Royal on Sunday, 6 November 2011 for just ONE performance only.

The stunning show has been choreography by Sheila Styles (Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet) and is about the enchanting tale of The Nutcracker. The story is one of the best-loved ballets of all time, based on Alexander Dumas Père’s The Nutcracker of Nuremberg, which was an adaptation of an earlier story by E.T.A. Hoffmann called The Nutcracker and The Mouse King. It premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 17 December 1892. The Story of The Nutcracker focuses on Clara and her nutcracker doll, which magically transforms into a princely soldier. Their adventures see the Prince and Clara combat the Mouse King and join the Sugar Plum Fairy for a wonderful trip to a Kingdom made entirely of sweets add in some dancing snowflakes and a Christmas tree that grows to spectacular heights and you end up with a charming ballet that is full of magic and colour.

This production of the heart-warming, traditional tale offers all the essential ingredients of ballet, glamorous costumes, beautiful sets and energetic performances by the dancers, backed to some of Tchaikovsky’s most beloved music, including “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and “Waltz of the Snowflakes” in what will be a stunning production for all the family to enjoy.

Vienna Festival Ballet’s, the hugely experienced Austrian dancer and artistic director, Peter Mallek, has hand-picked a group of young, international, talented dancers for this production, giving each performance vivacity, energy and freshness.

Now in their 32nd year of producing quality ballet productions, the company continues to experience remarkable success and perform great classical ballets all over the world.

Returning by popular demand following several successful performances including Cinderella earlier this year, Vienna Festival Ballet’s The Nutcracker promises to be a delightful treat for everyone, a perfect way to start thinking about the festive season.

To find out more about the Company visit their website or go to their facebook page.

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Performance by:- Vienna Festival Ballet
At:- St Helens Theatre Royal
On:- Sunday, 6 November 2011
starts:- 6pm
Tickets:- £18.50, Children:- £12.50

How to book:- Book in person at the Theatre Royal Box Office Corporation Street, St. Helens, Merseyside WA10 1LQ, from Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. Alternatively you can call:- 01744 756 000 or go to:- sthelenstheatreroyal.com.

Would Tax breaks for private lenders ease credit conditions?

TAX breaks for private lenders as well as equity investors would ease credit conditions for small firms now, says Forum of Private Business.  The Forum of Private Business is urging the Government to cut taxes for private lenders as well as equity investors in order to boost credit conditions for small businesses.

During a speech at the Conservative Party conference the Chancellor, George Osborne, announced a ‘credit easing’ scheme, likely to involve creating bond markets from mixed SME debt packages, reminiscent of the debt trading that sparked the credit crunch and a medium-term strategy at best.

The Forum is calling for further measures to allow alternative lenders to compete with mainstream banks, in addition to a plan to boost equity investment via tax breaks for venture capitalists.

In a letter to HM Treasury in response to the Government’s ‘tax-advantaged venture capital schemes’ the Forum welcomed a proposal increase to 30% tax relief available for equity investors under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), but also called for tax incentives for private lenders to boost the provision of non-equity finance for small firms.

“The Government is trying to make the right noises by announcing a ‘credit easing’ scheme but doubts remain as to the form it will take and how it will work to free up credit for small businesses. At best, is a medium-term strategy that will require the creation of small business bond markets in the first place, and there is a concern that the principle of bundling together mixed risk debt for bond trading is what sparked the credit crunch. We need to focus not just on incentivising equity investors but on giving private lenders the tax breaks they need to be able to compete in the finance markets dominated by big banks. That would be a definite step towards creating the credit conditions small firms need now if they are to create jobs and drive economic growth.” said the Forum’s Chief Executive, Phil Orford, who is attending the conference in Manchester.

The not-for-profit Forum is arguing that private funders take real risks by lending to companies that struggle to access bank finance and believes this risk should be rewarded.

The Forum is calling on the Government to adapt the existing EIS to private lenders paying the top rate of tax. We believe the enhanced scheme would work by:-

► Giving a 20% income tax relief on loans – meaning a loan of £100,000 would effectively cost a lender paying the top rate of tax £80,000.

► Reducing to 20% the tax on interest received during the lifetime of a loan – instead of the 50% top tax rate, providing the loan is outstanding after 3 years.

► Providing an additional tax relief if a business fails before the loan is repaid – the lender could claw back up to 50% income tax relief (at the top rate) on money lost if the firm fails, in addition to tax saved when the loan was issued.

Figures from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), which promotes innovation in the UK, show the importance of tax breaks in encouraging investment.

According to NESTA's 2009 study tax incentives have a ‘material effect' on encouraging business angel investing. In all, 80% of investors surveyed had used the EIS at least once and 57% of businesses invested in also made use of it. Further, 24% of investments would not have been made without tax incentives.

The Forum believes that similar incentives should be given to private lenders without delay.   The Forum is calling for tax breaks for private lenders on par with those benefitting equity investors, and in addition to schemes such as credit easing, as part of its Get Britain Trading campaign.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the contribution of small firms to the UK’s economy and remove the barriers to starting and growing a business.

Email us your views on this issue. Do you agree with the FPB or do you disagree? Email us to news24@southportreporter.com and let our newsroom know what you think!