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DG Accountancy News

Welcome to this monthly Accounting News bulletin from DG Accountancy Services (http://www.businessbods.co.uk) bringing Small Business' news and information from the business world, as it happens!

 

 

Monday, 13 October 2008

EU to cut mobile phone charges

Consumers could soon be charged less for using their mobile phone, under new plans being debated in the European Parliament.

In a proposed ‘shake-up’ of the mobile phone tariff structure, the EC said it wants to slash operators’ charges for handling calls by 70%. Brussels is also scheduled to vote on proposals to impose a limit on roaming costs for text messages which, if approved, could become effective next July.

Additionally, voice calls would fall from 36 to 27 pence a minute and customers would be able to set limits on data downloads.

In a joint statement the UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) welcomed the EC’s intention to cut phone bills.
However, it warned that the proposed changes could disadvantage lower spending pay-as-you-go consumers. The organisations fear that such users may be burdened with higher costs for receiving calls as phone companies attempt to recover lost income from customers.

posted by BusinessBods.co.uk @ 07:26 0 Comments

Pension scheme membership declines

The popularity of final salary pension schemes has dipped once again, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has claimed.

According to new figures, the number of people paying into a scheme in the private sector fell from three million in 2006 to 2.7 million in 2007.

However, membership of final salary schemes in the public sector increased slightly to 5.2 million. Overall 8.8 million people paid into employer schemes last year, down from 9.2 million in 2006.

The availability of final salary pension schemes has continued to decline over recent years, with many employers opting to close such schemes on the grounds that they are too expensive to finance.

Just 57% of final salary scheme members in the private sector were in schemes still available to new joiners, the ONS said.

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posted by BusinessBods.co.uk @ 07:19 0 Comments

Banks lending to small firms despite ‘credit crunch’

Despite the current economic turbulence, new figures suggest that many of the major high street banks are still lending to small businesses.

According to data released by the British Banking Association, term lending actually grew by 11% to £44 billion in the 12 months to June 2008.

Overdraft borrowing also increased to £9.2bn – a rise of 3% on the previous year.

Meanwhile, the statistics show that 543,000 new small business banking accounts were opened during the same period.

Commenting on the findings, BBA Statistics Director, David Dooks, said: ‘Banks are still providing finance to support small businesses in the slowing economy, despite the impact of the credit crunch on lenders.

‘These figures reflect the economic climate for the small business sector, with borrowing continuing to expand, but deposit growth slowing.’

He continued: ‘In the face of weaker trading conditions, businesses are using all the cash they generate, while those seeking finance are generally taking fixed rate structured loans or using previously agreed facilities.’

posted by BusinessBods.co.uk @ 07:16 0 Comments


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