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OFT seeks views
on scope of study into the residential leasehold property management
market
THE Office of Fair Trading (OFT) proposes to
launch a market study into residential property management services;
such as maintenance, cleaning or building work; for leasehold homes
in England and Wales.
Ahead of its proposed market study, the OFT wants to hear from
interested people and businesses about the priority areas of concern
that may be preventing this market from working well for consumers.
The OFT is seeking views about the scope of the proposed study from
anyone who uses or provides residential management services,
including trade associations, property managers, consumer groups and
individuals.
Property management is the operation, control and oversight of a
shared property, including the provision of maintenance, cleaning or
building work. Property management companies may provide the
services themselves or through contractors. Residents typically pay
via a service charge and may also pay regular instalments, into a
'sinking fund' to cover other significant expenses, such as
roof maintenance.
The OFT is particularly interested in:-
► Whether leaseholders feel that they have
sufficient involvement in decisions taken about appointing managing
agents, and if it is difficult to establish whether the property
manager is providing value for money or a sufficient standard of
service.
► Whether property managers and
freeholders have the same interests as leaseholders in, for example,
keeping down costs of maintenance work or buildings insurance.
► Whether there is effective competition,
including evidence about how easy it is to switch between providers.
► Whether residents receive good value for
money and reasonable quality of service.
► The time, effort and resources required
to complain and seek redress.
An important part of the property management market concerns the
management of retirement properties. The OFT is particularly
concerned to examine whether residents of such properties, some of
whom may be in a particularly vulnerable position, are getting a
fair deal.
Cavendish Elithorn, OFT Executive Director, said:- "This
market is significant, with as many as 5 million people living in
leasehold properties. Costs can be very substantial and we have been
provided with a number of examples showing significant financial
impact on individual residents and the difficulty in exerting
control over the process. However, before formally launching our
study we want to hear from key players and interested parties in
this sector, as well as from the residents themselves, so we get a
clear idea of the areas on which we should be focusing."
The OFT intends to commence the market study in early 2014.
For more information including the scoping document, see the market
study page. |
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Fraudsters
Threaten Air Ambulance Donations
THE Air Ambulance
Service (TAAS) is calling upon its supporters and potential
donators to be wary of rogue collectors posing as a Charity.
The Charity is concerned that vital income could be lost as a
result of companies that carry out fraudulent activities and try
to trade on the Charity's good name and reputation.
Worried about the effect that bogus clothing collections will
have on its donations at the most important time of the year,
Chief Executive Andy Williamson said:- "Christmas
donations of money and clothing are crucial to our service and
yet we now have to worry that criminals are distributing bogus
bags that try to fool people into thinking they are giving to us
when they are not".
TAAS has recently received several reports of a hoax Charity,
simply calling themselves "Air Ambulance Service",
sending out collection leaflets (pictured above) nationwide and
encouraging people to donate to them.
These hoax leaflets ask people to donate unwanted items such as
clothing, and provide a phone number and website address, but do
not include a registered charity number. The phone number
provided is no longer in use and the website clearly states that
the service is a 'scam'.
The company originally responsible for distributing these
leaflets was caught out and closed down by the High Court over 2
years ago. The company's directors were subsequently prosecuted.
At the time, it was believed that over £1 million was extorted
from the public by rogue collectors claiming to be from Air
Ambulance Charities. However, these leaflets appear to be in
circulation once again, with reports of deliveries to addresses
throughout England.
The Air Ambulance Service would like to make it very clear that
this "Air Ambulance Service" is a hoax Charity
and, despite adopting a very similar name, is in no way
affiliated with "The Air Ambulance Service".
These misleading leaflets have a serious and detrimental impact
on the Charity's recycling operation and public image. Andy
goes on to say:- "As a Charity, we are extremely concerned
that this will affect our legitimate collections. We would
encourage everyone to please check the bags and make sure they
support a true air ambulance Charity. Criminal activities like
this put people off from donating which, particularly at
Christmas time, can be devastating for a small Charity like
ours."
TAAS is the umbrella organisation for 2 Helicopter Emergency
Medical Services (HEMS):-
►
Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) and
Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA).
►
They also run The Children's Air Ambulance (TCAA),
a national Charity that transfers critically ill children and
babies from hospitals to Paediatric Intensive Care Units across
England and Wales.
► The Charity receives no Government
funding, relying entirely on public support to keep its
helicopters flying and its crew saving lives on a regular basis.
► The Charity operates every day of
the year, including Christmas Day, and needs to raise over £3
million every year to keep each of its services running.
TAAS is currently in discussion with the Police and Trading
Standards about this new wave of rogue leaflets.
TAAS's collection bags clearly state which Charity the
collections are going to and also include the Charity's
registration number. For further information, please call:-
08454 130999, or to see an example of what their collection bags
look like, and to find out more about them click on to the
official
website.
To make a donation to
The Air Ambulance Service this Christmas, you can also call:-
08454 130999 or go
online.
Read more at
file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/This%20Week/633-6.shtml#mh7AXzO6z2XGsQkT.99
ATG AND 20TH
CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT IN NEW PANTOMIME SPONSORSHIP DEAL
THE Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) has secured
a new sponsorship deal with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment for
the 2013/14 pantomime season.
This will be the second year running that Fox have sponsored the
First Family Entertainment (FFE) produced pantomime season and will
see the continued innovation of big screen advertising between the
two companies. The news also re-establishes the partnership between
ATG and Pearl and Dean offering a truly unique opportunity for
sponsors and advertisers.
The sponsorship deal will involve the digital projection of an ad
for Dreamworks’ Shrek the Musical on DVD and Blu-ray on newly
installed dedicated screens prior to the pantomime performances.
ATG venues involved in the sponsorship deal are Aylesbury Waterside
Theatre, Bristol Hippodrome, King’s Theatre Glasgow, Liverpool
Empire, Manchester Opera House, Milton Keynes Theatre, Richmond
Theatre, Regent Theatre Stoke-on-Trent, New Victoria Theatre Woking
and New Wimbledon Theatre.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will be fully integrated into
the FFE pantomime experience and ATG will offer supplemental online
and programme advertising benefits and a promotional presence Front
of House.
Pat Westwell, ATG’s Marketing Director, said:- "To be
associated with such a huge recognisable global brand like 20th
Century Fox for the second year running is a great honour and a
fantastic opportunity for ATG to generate even more large scale
sponsorships like this in the future. This is a totally unique and
exclusive opportunity and the obvious cross over that exists between
Fox and ATG’s family audiences I’m sure will prove beneficial to
both companies."
Becky Wilson, Senior Product Manager at 20th Century Fox Home
Entertainment, said:- "We’re excited to be partnering with ATG
again this year to reach our target audience for Shrek The Musical
in such a fun, engaging and family-friendly environment that fully
complements our home entertainment strategy."
Mike Hope-Milne, Enterprise Director, Pearl & Dean said:- "In
the pursuit of constant innovation, it has been a pleasure to
collaborate with ATG and Fox again this year to further develop this
unique Christmas advertising opportunity."
In 2012, ATG, Pearl and Dean and Carat, the UK’s leading independent
media planning and buying specialist, won the “Media
Collaboration of the Year” Award at the 2012 Media Week
Awards in recognition of their Gordon’s Gin digital sponsorship
campaign.
Fraudsters
Threaten Air Ambulance Donations
THE Air Ambulance
Service (TAAS) is calling upon its supporters and potential
donators to be wary of rogue collectors posing as a Charity.
The Charity is concerned that vital income could be lost as a
result of companies that carry out fraudulent activities and try
to trade on the Charity's good name and reputation.
Worried about the effect that bogus clothing collections will
have on its donations at the most important time of the year,
Chief Executive Andy Williamson said:- "Christmas
donations of money and clothing are crucial to our service and
yet we now have to worry that criminals are distributing bogus
bags that try to fool people into thinking they are giving to us
when they are not".
TAAS has recently received several reports of a hoax Charity,
simply calling themselves "Air Ambulance Service",
sending out collection leaflets (pictured above) nationwide and
encouraging people to donate to them.
These hoax leaflets ask people to donate unwanted items such as
clothing, and provide a phone number and website address, but do
not include a registered charity number. The phone number
provided is no longer in use and the website clearly states that
the service is a 'scam'.
The company originally responsible for distributing these
leaflets was caught out and closed down by the High Court over 2
years ago. The company's directors were subsequently prosecuted.
At the time, it was believed that over £1 million was extorted
from the public by rogue collectors claiming to be from Air
Ambulance Charities. However, these leaflets appear to be in
circulation once again, with reports of deliveries to addresses
throughout England.
The Air Ambulance Service would like to make it very clear that
this "Air Ambulance Service" is a hoax Charity
and, despite adopting a very similar name, is in no way
affiliated with "The Air Ambulance Service".
These misleading leaflets have a serious and detrimental impact
on the Charity's recycling operation and public image. Andy
goes on to say:- "As a Charity, we are extremely concerned
that this will affect our legitimate collections. We would
encourage everyone to please check the bags and make sure they
support a true air ambulance Charity. Criminal activities like
this put people off from donating which, particularly at
Christmas time, can be devastating for a small Charity like
ours."
TAAS is the umbrella organisation for 2 Helicopter Emergency
Medical Services (HEMS):-
►
Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) and
Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA).
►
They also run The Children's Air Ambulance (TCAA),
a national Charity that transfers critically ill children and
babies from hospitals to Paediatric Intensive Care Units across
England and Wales.
► The Charity receives no Government
funding, relying entirely on public support to keep its
helicopters flying and its crew saving lives on a regular basis.
► The Charity operates every day of
the year, including Christmas Day, and needs to raise over £3
million every year to keep each of its services running.
TAAS is currently in discussion with the Police and Trading
Standards about this new wave of rogue leaflets.
TAAS's collection bags clearly state which Charity the
collections are going to and also include the Charity's
registration number. For further information, please call:-
08454 130999, or to see an example of what their collection bags
look like, and to find out more about them click on to the
official
website.
To make a donation to
The Air Ambulance Service this Christmas, you can also call:-
08454 130999 or go
online.
Read more at
file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/This%20Week/633-6.shtml#mh7AXzO6z2XGsQkT.99
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