27 Nov, 2011 | Author: admin | Comments Off
PiciScan announce Christmas gift ideas in the form of slide show DVD’s and stretched canvas prints.
Christmas is worryingly approaching fast. Time is running out and so are finances. The team at PiciScan fully understand extra special gifts can be expensive, hard to find and often impersonal. Let PiciScan come to the rescue with two personal, affordable and personalised gift ideas this Christmas.
Whether it’s those old photographs, slides or negatives PiciScan will digitise these and produce an image on stretched artist quality canvas. Available in various sizes with a mortise jointed, 36mm wooden frame, satin sealed and with a 200 year ink guarantee.
With PiciScan’s high resolution scans (1200 dpi from photographs and 2400 dpi from slides and negatives) the canvas prints produced retain their original look and will take pride of place in any living space.
Enjoy your memories on your DVD player with Gift idea 2. From as little as £6.00, PiciScan will scan in photographs, slides or negatives of your choice and create a DVD with optional background music and a personalised DVD and inlay design.
PiciScan based in Kendal, Cumbria but offering a nationwide service scan all sizes of photograph for up to A4 and all sizes of mounted slide and photographic negative. They also convert a variety of different video formats to DVD, including the transfer VHS to DVD.
For all the details on how to order any of the gift ideas, photo scanning or slide scanning, visit http://piciscan.co.uk
Category Art |
26 Oct, 2011 | Author: admin | Comments Off
Invoice Finance has become the most popular choice for small, medium and large businesses to fund their working capital. It is easy and hassle free to set up with the Financial Institution taking the companies invoices and debt ledger as direct security.
It is one of the most effective and flexible funding methods available, as the facility grows with your business. Additional features can be added including customer credit checking, credit control management and debt protection.
Invoice Finance is the term given to a range of services designed to provide working capital and improved cash flow by advancing finance against newly generated unpaid invoices. It is a great way to provide flexible working capital as the finance facility has the ability to grow with the sales of your business; there are two main Invoice Finance products.
Invoice Factoring has the ability to advance up to 95% of the unpaid invoice value. The credit control is normally undertaken by the Financial Institution offering the facility but a few providers offer the option for the business to carry out their own debt collection process to reduce costs for this part of the service.
It allows your business to advance funds on invoices waiting to be paid by your customers which as you probably already know in the current climate can take some time and can represent up to two or three months sales depending on your credit terms. This means you can unlock precious working capital to fund new orders, business expansion or mergers and acquisitions, while the finance provider controls the sales ledger and collects all the outstanding debts on behalf of the company.
Invoice Discounting allows your business to raise up to 90% of outstanding invoice values immediately similar to Factoring but you remain in complete control of the collection of any outstanding debts from your customers. The invoice discounting facility is completely confidential between your business and the provider and is not disclosed to any other party, giving you peace of mind that your customers will be none the wiser.
The Key Benefits to Invoice Finance
•Immediate access to up to 95% of unpaid invoice values
•Improved cash flow for the business
•Free up working capital to reinvest and grow the business
•Allows you to get on with running the business
•Provides access to credit facilities and credit control management
While the high street banks are restricting financing for business loans and overdrafts, invoice finances two main products – invoice factoring and invoice discounting will continue to fill this cash flow need and ultimately expand or replace the banks role with SME and Corporate business finance.
For more information regarding invoice finance please visit www.sgdfinancial.co.uk
Tags: invoice discounting, invoice factoring, invoice finance
Category Finance |
31 Aug, 2011 | Author: admin | Comments Off
Formed in 1991, Electrical Testers are one of the leading companies in the UK. Offering full National Coverage they also regularly cover Northern Ireland, Eire and Central Europe. Their electrical services include PAT testing, fire alarm testing, emergency lighting testing and fixed wire testing.
Directly employing only fully qualified electricians, they offer a level of technical capability and service which is unparalleled in the Industry.
With continued growth over the last decade, the company is rated as an exceptional performer by industry analysts.
Electrical Testers have the culture, people and systems to provide the ultimate service.
UK Health & Safety legislation is extensive and requires that whatever your activity, you must provide a safe environment for your staff and your customers.
The services provided by Electrical Testers Ltd are designed to comply with a variety of legislation, regulations and British Standards.
Although not exhaustive, most of the relevant regulations and standards are listed below:
Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 PAT Testing
BS5839:Pt1:2002 – Fire Alarm Inspection & Testing
BS5266:Pt1:1999 – Emergency Lighting Inspection & Testing
BS7671:2008 – Periodic Inspection of Fixed Installations
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 – Fire Risk Assessments
Tags: fire alarm testing, fixed testing
Category Electrical |
29 Jul, 2011 | Author: admin | Comments Off
From 2012, changes to pensions law will affect all employers with at least one worker in the UK. This document is a summary of these changes, including what employers must do and how they might set about getting ready.
We have published a series of guidance that explains the new employer duties in detail and how they should be implemented. The guidance is available for download from our website: www.tpr.gov.uk/pensions-reform
The changes in a nutshell
Employers will need to:
• Automatically enrol certain workers into a pension scheme
• Make contributions on their workers’ behalf
• Register with The Pensions Regulator (‘the regulator’)
• Provide workers with certain information about
When are the changes happening?
The new employer duties will be introduced in stages over 4 years, starting in 2012. Each employer will be allocated a date from when the duties will first apply to them, known as their ‘staging date.’
This date is based on the number of people in an employer’s PAYE scheme. Employers with the largest numbers of workers in their PAYE schemes will have the earliest staging date.
Employers can check their provisional staging date on our website: www.tpr.gov.uk/staging
To allow some flexibility, employers can choose to bring forward their staging date, provided the regulator is informed. However, employers cannot choose a later date than the one they are allocated.
Finding out when the staging date is likely to be is the first thing an employer should do, so they can plan what they need to do to be ready in good time.
What will employers need to do?
• Assess their workforce
• Identify who to automAtically enrol
• Choose a pension scheme – i.e. National Employment Savings Trust – NEST Pensions
• Register with the regulator
• Make contributions
• Process any opt-out notices
• Process opt-in or joining requests
• Avoid inducements and prohibited activity
• Keep accurate records
• Provide workers with information about changes
What should employers do now?
Employers should:
• Look up their provisional staging date at www.tpr.gov.uk/staging
• Plan for when they might need their pension scheme in place and take action if necessary – including planning when and how they will assess their workforce
• Budget for these changes
• Look out for further information and guidance from the regulator. This can be done by signing up to the regulator’s free news-by-email service www.tpr.gov.uk/news
Tags: nest pension schemes, nest pensions advice
Category Pensions & Investment |
28 May, 2011 | Author: admin | Comments Off
Childs and Co is a design and make studio based in the historic market town of Kendal in the Lake District, Cumbria.
Specialising in functional solid wood furniture for the home, colourful and child friendly children’s furniture including toy storage products such as children’s personalised toy chests and toy boxes. Our home furniture product range includes breadboards, wooden platters, pegboard and footstool products, tables and ottoman products. In addition to our stylish product range Childs and Co also commission and produce one off pieces tailored to your personal needs and taste.
Using predominantly local materials, Childs and Co furniture and products are renowned for their clean lines, durability and sustainability. In traditional or contemporary styles, Childs and Co furniture and accessories are designed for you and your home.
Choose from the existing product line or call for a bespoke solution, and be comfortable in the knowledge a Childs and Co piece will add a statement to your home.
Tags: toy boxes, toy chests
Category Shopping |
23 May, 2011 | Author: admin | Comments Off
The Glenburn Hotel is an elegantly appointed Edwardian property set in the Heart of Windermere offering delightful accommodation on a Bed & Breakfast or Half Board basis.
Returning year after year, visitors have enjoyed excellent service delicious food and comfort of the charming bedrooms. Whatever your reason for visiting the Lake District whether it be for it’s natural beauty, stunning walks or just a well earned break Peter and Jackie Baister along with their friendly team will endeavour to make your stay as relaxed and as comfortable as possible.
This Windermere hotels great location is ideal for exploring the English Lake District. A ten minute stroll will take you to the vibrant area of Bowness and the Lake where boats will ferry you to many intriguing destinations. Relax and enjoy ten miles of magic during the many sight seeing cruises taking in the breathtaking scenery, secluded bays and the wooded islands that surround England’s largest natural lake. For the more energetic there are lots of walks to enjoy at your leisure including a gentle hike up to Orrest Head just a short walk from the hotel. Here you will find viewing point 750 feet high where you can sit and enjoy magnificent views of the central fells, the Yorkshire Pennines and the Lakes or just to watch the sunset over this picturesque corner of England. Enjoy an early evening stroll along the lakeside before returning to the hotel for a candlelit dinner in our lovely restaurant with food cooked to perfection by our resident chef Marcin. After dinner you can relax in the lounge on our comfy sofas enjoying a coffee or your favourite tipple from the bar.
The Glenburn has ample on site parking so you can just park up and all amenities are within a short walking distance.
If you are celebrating an anniversary or birthday why not surprise your loved one by ordering champagne, chocolates, flowers or a birthday cake to be put in your room on arrival.
At The Glenburn we will go that extra mile to make your stay in the Lake District just Perfect!
* Elegant, relaxed & stylish totally refurbished accommodation
* Excellent food, freshly prepared to order. Full Cumbrian cooked breakfasts plus buffet, and candlelit evening meals
* Special dietary needs and vegetarians catered for
* 16 Double, twin, triple, quad, superior, deluxe and deluxe four-poster rooms
* Deluxe rooms and four-poster rooms have brand new spa baths, rain showers and flat screen TVs
* Satellite TV and free wireless Internet connection
* Complimentary tea and coffee, hair dryers in all rooms
* Fully licensed bar and guest lounge
* A totally smoke and pet free environment
* FREE use of Parklands Country Club and Spa in Bowness for all guests
* Free parking throughout your stay
* Five minutes walk from Windermere and ten minutes to Bowness
* Special touches such as champagne, chocolates, flowers, birthday cakes etc
* Family rooms for three/four/people
* Gift certificates a speciality
* Two deluxe self catering holiday cottages sleeping up to six
* Private family parties and functions catered for, we’ll take care of everything
Tags: hotels, windermere
Category Travel |
03 May, 2011 | Author: admin | Comments Off
Since 1966, First in Service Ltd has been helping customers all over the UK look after their building and its environment. This includes air conditioning servicing, heating service, ventilation, electrical, catering, coffee and refrigeration equipment and building services.
First in Service will design and install air conditioning and ventilation systems, and electrical equipment and installations. Their helpdesk is manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week to take your call. Their planned, preventative maintenance contracts are available across all disciplines to ensure that your equipment is kept in peak condition. All our Engineers are employed by the company and are CRB checked.
If you are looking to save energy or utility costs within your business First in Service can help you by installing energy/utilities meters, and they can assist in your application for an interest free loan from the Carbon Trust to help you install new equipment that will save energy.
For more information about First in Service, or any of their servicing, installation and maintenance services please visit www.firstinservice.co.uk.
Tags: heating, maintenance, service
Category Industry |
01 May, 2011 | Author: admin | Comments Off
There are over 80 bodies of water in the Lake District National Park which includes the largest, Windermere to the small tarns such as Angle Tarn.
There is in fact only one piece of water that is officially a lake and that is Bassenthwaite Lake 3 miles from Keswick. All the other bodies of water are either a “mere” or “water” for example Windermere and Ullswater or a tarn which means a small body of water.
There are 20 major lakes of which the largest and busiest is Lake Windermere. The lake can be acessed from Bowness, Newby Bridge and Ambleside and visitors will find both Bowness and Ambleside to be thriving tourist destinations with an excellent choice of Lake District bed and breakfast accommodation providers, hotels and cottages. Windermere the town is located 1.5 miles from the lake but Bowness-on-Windermere sits right by the lake swarming with boats, tourists and tours. At nearly 11 miles long, Windermere can fit a lot on it including 14 islands. The speed limit of 10 miles per hour maximum has caused some controversy but of course it has also pleased some people. Another very fascinating fact is that in the heavy rain of January 2005, Windermere rose by nearly a meter overnight. That equates to an extra seventeen thousand litres of water!
The next largest lake is Ullswater in a different part of the county but which offers a much quieter experience. Ullswater is set amongst some of the largest mountains, the main one being Helvellyn, the Lake District’s 3rd largest. The Ullswater Steamers operate on the lake so not only does this area appeal to walkers, but also some sightseers for the spectacular views and quiet lake.
Derwentwater is the 3rd largest lake and offers a very good choice of Lake District guest house venues surrounding it and is located just a mile from Keswick which is a haven for walkers. Derwentwater is only 3 miles long which is significantly smaller than the Windermere and Ullswater.
The deepest lake is Wastwater, being 79 metres or 258 feet deep. At the end of Wastwater at the head of the Wasdale valley are some of the highest mountains in the Lake District, Scafell Pike (which is the highest), Great Gable and Lingfell. The Screes is a mountain that catches the eye on Wast Water. It measures 2000 feet from top to base but 200 feet of it is below the surface of Wastwater. The view towards Scafell Pike from the other end of Wast Water, won Britain’s Favourite View in the ITV programme last year.
It is not just the size of the Lake District that attracts tourists but the density of the area. No other National Park in the UK has the amount of fells and lakes so it is truly special and should be visited by everyone.
To take full advantage of the Lake District visitors should look to stay in one the area’s fine hotels, Lake District B&B accommodation, or self catering properties.
Tags: b&b, lake district
Category Travel |
25 Apr, 2011 | Author: admin | Comments Off
Industrial Air Power Ltd is the authorised distributor for Ingersoll Rand Industrial Technologies products throughout Wales and the South West of England. The two companies have made a dramatic shift from being suppliers of equipment to providers of solutions. We are fully conversant with all aspects of air generation and equipped to carry out energy audits on any installed system, regardless of size or manufacturer.
A full system audit includes leak detection, measurement of energy consumption, and flow measurement including pressure, temperature and final air quality.
As utility rates continue to rise and firms continue to look to green initiatives, energy consumption has become a growing concern for manufacturers.
One of the largest energy users within a plant is the compressed air system. Energy recovery provides a cost-effective way for manufacturers to reduce their energy bills while simultaneously benefiting the environment by capturing the thermal energy created through the compression process and putting it to work. Where the heat produced from a compressor can be fully utilised, simple payback periods of less than two years are frequently achieved.
Having already worked with Carbon Trust on a variety of projects, Terram called on its expertise when faced with rising energy costs. The specialist manufacturer of geosynthetic materials, employing 95 staff at its manufacturing plant near Pontypool, worked with Industrial Air Power to eliminate energy inefficiencies and redesign and install a new air compressor system. The result was an industry best in terms of energy usage and savings of £202,000 per annum. It also produced:
* Energy savings of approximately 11.25 million kWh over five years
* Cost savings of approximately £1m in five years
* Emission savings of 7,390 tonnes CO2 in the same period
* Payback of approximately 24 months
David Roberts, control engineer at Terram Ltd, said: “The savings we are seeing now are unbelievable but just as important is the fact that we are reducing our carbon emissions and therefore benefiting the environment.”
Although Terram had already started to investigate the costs for new compressed air systems, it hadn’t looked at where, when, how much air was being used. Carbon Trust helped it identify this and used Industrial Air Power to design a system to meet its needs.
Having a tailor-made system installed in turn allowed Terram to capitalise on secondary savings such as heat recovery and compressed air leak reduction.
Ongoing monitoring of the fully automated system allows the savings to be quantified. Monitoring also ensures that the focus on savings is maintained and remains a high priority for Terram.
The new compressor system was located into the steam boiler house. This enabled Terram to recover the waste heat generated by the compressors and use this to raise the temperature of the water in the hot well, which feeds the boiler. Increased water temperature in turn reduces the amount of gas needed to generate steam.
The aggregated savings from the installation of the new system and implementation of the measures identified represented an 11.8 per cent reduction in the site’s energy consumption and overall a 38.7 per cent reduction in the electrical energy consumption directly associated with the generation of the compressed air.
An annual CO2 saving of 1,214 tonnes has been achieved plus an additional 264 tonnes from a reduction in gas usage due to the heat recovery process.
From monitoring the system, it was calculated that Terram was using on average 85m3/min of compressed air with an efficiency of 8kW/m/min, which equated to 7.2 million kWh per annum. By installing a new compressor set supplied by Industrial Air Power, it was calculated that the efficiency could be improved to 6kW/m3/min. Post-installation monitoring has proved that the new machinery provides an average efficiency of 5.8kW/m3/min – delivering significant savings. The gas savings are on top of this.
The benefits to Terram have been fourfold: a significant reduction in energy costs, the ability to protect plant integrity, reduced maintenance cost and the added benefit of reduced gas consumption from the increased water temperature in the steam boiler hot well.
Installing new Ingersoll Rand two stage fixed speed compressors along with a Nirvana two stage trim compressor, fully automated via a control system provided Terram with primary energy savings. Secondary savings came as a result of the heat recovery process, lower maintenance costs and the leak reduction programme.
The exercise has been successful in achieving reductions of CO2 emissions and the overall costs of supplying the service of compressed air to the business.
A Carbon Trust Wales consultant worked together with Industrial Air Power and Terram engineers providing impartial, independent advice enabling the company to make an informed decision and deliver value for money. Carbon Trust independently validated the energy savings and confirmed that they exceeded Industrial Air Power’s initial projections.
Through our experience in carrying out hundreds of compressed air audits we have identified the majority of existing compressed air systems include one or more of these deadly sins. This will have and adverse affect on your reliability, productivity and energy consumption.
* System over-pressurisation resulting in increased artificial demand
* Excessive waste through air leakage
* False loading of compressors due to lack of system automation and volume
* Inefficiency caused by cycling fixed output compressors
* Excessive pressure drop
If you would like advice on calculating your savings potential and increasing your company’s profitability contact Industrial Air Power on 01656 658961, email sales@airpower.co.uk
Tags: air compressors, air power
Category Industry |
27 Mar, 2011 | Author: admin | Comments Off
The way in which we shop has changed considerably in recent years. The internet is now where many of us shop for groceries right through to larger purchases that require more thought such as furniture.
Due to the ability to shop online, it is now easier and more enjoyable to buy gifts and items for the home. The internet has enabled us to be able to choose from a far wider choice of merchandise than on the high street even if you live in a large city. For those living in smaller towns or rural locations, online shopping has become not just a convenience but a life line.
The United Kingdom is home mad, interiors mad with no home being too small for a makeover. In the last 10 to 15 years, with the help of home makeover shows on the television, the nation is obsessed with recreating a show stopping interior.
Furnishings are a very personal statement and can say a lot about you and your home. Couple that with the longing to make a house look different and the need to look further afield than a furniture chain store is a further must.
Finding the right furniture for a home is often a head ache. The choice in many large furniture stores on the retail parks around the UK is bland, replicated in every home already and not in any way exciting. Buying furniture online allows a broader choice of styles from different shops including boutique and individual retailers. The internet has also helped the retailer by giving them the chance to search all over the world for stock. Now that it is possible to source products that at one time would have been seen as specialist or exclusive due to their location, retailers are able through extensive networks of contacts to offer an impressively wide choice to customers.
Ethical furniture shopping is another change and consumers are now wanting to know where materials such as wood have been sourced from. Wooden furniture such as oak bookcases, shoe cupboard and oak coffee tables should be from sustainable and managed plantation sources. The ethical practices of manufacturers and the retailers are other ways in which people are making purchasing decisions. So to gain the best choice, the best price and the best look, online furniture shopping is the answer.
Tags: oak bookcases, shoe cupboard
Category Shopping |