Virgin Money launches two new savings products

Virgin Money has announced the addition of two new accounts to its growing range of savings products. The new Virgin Fixed Rate Bond and Virgin Fixed Rate Cash ISA both offer competitive rates and the accounts are available in Northern Rock branches, online, by post and over the telephone. Interest rates are the same through all distribution channels and ISA customers receive the same great rates as those with a non-ISA account.

The Virgin Fixed Rate Bond offers customers a fixed rate of 3.00% for one year (issue 1) and 3.30% for three years (issue 2). It is a simple, straightforward, fixed rate savings account, available through Northern Rock branches, online or by post. Customers choosing to receive their interest monthly receive the same AER as those receiving annual interest.

The Virgin Fixed Rate Cash ISA offers customers a rate of 3.00% for one year (issue 1) and 3.30% for three years (issue 2) respectively. This matches the rate available for a non-ISA savings account and savers also benefit from the tax-efficiency of the ISA wrapper. These accounts are also available across all Northern Rock channels, and allow transfers in from existing ISAs. Customers can withdraw subject to a charge equivalent to 60 and 120 days loss of interest respectively.

These Virgin Money branded accounts are personal deposit accounts with Northern Rock plc. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) provides protection to customers with these accounts under Northern Rock plc's existing FSCS membership up to a maximum of £85,000 per person. The £85,000 limit relates to a customer's combined deposits with Northern Rock plc under the Northern Rock brand or Virgin Money brand names.

Pete Wood, Head of Savings Products said: "We saw a great response from customers to the first Virgin Money savings accounts we launched in January. Following this I am delighted to announce the addition of a new fixed rate bond and a fixed rate cash ISA account to our range. These products are designed to be simple, fair and transparent."

More information on the savings range is available at www.northernrock.co.uk/savings.

Tips for home-workers from Endsleigh Insurance

The current job market is encouraging many people, especially working mums, to try self-employed life for the first time. Endsleigh Insurance provides tips for people setting up their own businesses.

Kate Jenner Commercial Team Manager of http://www.endsleigh.co.uk/ commented: “We’re getting more and more enquiries from people setting up in business on their own for the first time. The internet has made it easier and cheaper for people to trade, but so many are naïve about how to go about it.”

Top 5 tips

1. Benefit from business accounts
It may not seem like a priority if you’re not expecting to make much money initially, but it’s important to separate your personal and business finances – also there are free gifts and other benefits to enjoy.

All the main high street banks will be competing for your business and will offer all manner of perks and gifts to get you to bank with them. When you are starting off on your own, every little helps.

At the same time, get your mobile phone transferred to a business account. Welcome improved customer service and special deals that only apply to business users! Moving your mobile phone to a business account can be a great money saver. You might be able to combine with a broadband package and often benefit from attractive phone upgrades as well as free calls between business users.

2. Put all “sundries” through the company account
“Working from home” can mean sitting at a computer, or driving around your local community, either way you are going to clock up a lot of payments for small items.

This can mean paying for tea bags, buying a new computer keyboard, or simply stocking up on pens! Make sure you get a VAT receipt for all payments as it all stacks up.

3. Use your social networks to market yourself as cheaply as possible
Advertising in the local paper, or online, might be necessary to get yourself started, but there’s nothing like using your network of friends, family and former business contacts to find work.

This isn’t the time to be bashful – make sure everyone knows about your new business by updating your LinkedIn profile and sending out messages through Facebook and Twitter.

4. Join relevant groups & organisations
Is there a union or organisation that covers your particular sector? Joining up can reap huge rewards, by offering you discounted training and advertising opportunities, as well as widening your network of contacts.

As well as official bodies, look out for collectives that work with people like you. There are lots of excellent organisations representing your focus or network, working mums, local business forums for example. Or if you are a blogger you will find a number of groups to join.

5. Protect yourself
Whatever service or product you are selling, you are liable for its safety, accuracy and general adherence to the law. Whatever your line of business, whether a beautician, writer or plumber you will need cover for Business and Office Equipment, Stock, Business Travel, Revenue Protection, Tools and Goods in Transit.

Endsleigh strongly recommended that sole traders and the self-employed ask an advisor about Public Liability insurance costs and benefits for their sector.

FACTFILE:
Endsleigh is an independent intermediary specialising in the provision of insurance and financial products for career people.

The team have access to the leading insurers and lenders in the UK market, offering comprehensive advice on all areas of financial planning. Along with offering advice on financial protection, investments and retirement planning, Endsleigh also has dedicated mortgage and corporate advisers.

Endsleigh online http://www.endsleigh.co.uk
Endsleigh Insurance on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Endsleigh
Endsleigh Press Office on Twitter http://twitter.com/EndsleighPR
Endsleigh on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/endsleigh

EPOS Software Leader, Total Retail Control Ltd., Selected as HRVision Distributor for UK & Ireland Retail Solutions Market

Integrity Testing Software will Help Ireland and UK Retailers Stop Employee Theft.

Employee theft is not something that any business wants to think about. But sadly, it can be a reality. And all retailers need to be able to deal with the problem before it becomes a problem.

HRVision Ltd., is pleased to announce the appointment of Total Retail Control Ltd. as their distributor for the Ireland and UK retail market. A leader in retail epos solutions, TRC will be offering HRVision's highly accurate and cost effective integrity testing software, SavvyIntegrity to complement the TRC Ltd. current retail solutions product suite.

"In the retail segment where employee theft is an especially crucial issue, TRC recognises the need to offer our clients innovative technologies that can effectively aid retailers in identifying dishonest candidates before they become employees," says Gavin Peacock, CEO, TRC.

SavvyIntegrity is HRVision’s revolutionary SaaS tool for the recruiting or loss-prevention division of an organization. It has high sensitivity to theft and fraud and lets recruiters identify potentially dishonest candidates before they become employees. Utilising proven and patented technology, the SavvyIntegrity system extends recruiters' ability to immediately identify the level of integrity of candidates.

“Having established a reputation for providing excellence in retail and hospitality solutions to a wide variety of clients across Ireland and the UK, TRC is keen on delivering the most advanced retail intelligence solutions to solve real-world retail challenges,” says Gavin Peacock, CEO, TRC. "As a comprehensive retail solutions provider, we are pleased to partner with a company known around the globe for their highly predictive tools in the field of employee assessment".

Sandy Erez, Director of Business Development, HRVision adds, "TRC customers can now accurately screen potential candidates without the cost and complexity associated with lengthy intensive screening. The 20-minute web-based test can be a game changer for TRC’s wide base of client retailers, who are unaware that such technologies exist. Retailers would be surprised to know that these technologies are user friendly and affordable."

FACTFILE:
Retail solutions empowered by TRC deliver the best retail intelligence to grow your retail operation. TRC retail insights help managing retail staff, managing retail suppliers, controlling retail cash, managing retail customers and managing your retail stock to boost your bottom line.

Total Retail Control (TRC) was launched in 1991 and over the past 21 years, the company has established a reputation for providing excellence in retail and hospitality solutions to a wide variety of clients across Ireland and the UK.  For more information about Total Retail Control, please visit: www.trcepos.ie or email sales@trcepos.ie.

Established in 1997, HRVision, is a leading provider of highly sophisticated employee assessment solutions software for organizations seeking a highly accurate and cost effective recruitment solutions suitable to the workplace environment and its diversity demands.

Seeking to address key challenges faced by organizations to perform cost effective but highly qualified mass recruitment, HRVision has created a suite of empiric employee assessment software solutions (Savvy Recruiter, SavvyIntegrity, SavvyExpert, SavvyCompetencies) that revolutionizes the way recruitment is done. Empowered by this breakthrough technology that hit the market in 2005, the HRVision solution has since proven its ability to significantly improve performance and reduce turnover for organizations worldwide.

Headquartered in Israel, HRVision has sold over 500,000 SavvyRecruiter Assessment and Integrity software tests worldwide, with sales channels in Brazil, UK, Holland, South Africa Israel, and Mexico. Available in 9 languages, HRVision's fully integrated, internet-based system utilizes sophisticated technology on a user friendly, multimedia testing and reporting platform making it the most advanced employee assessment system in the world. For more information please visit: http://www.hrvision.com/products-and-solutions/Integrity/.

That's Technology: Insight Completes Acquisition of Inmac

That's Technology: Insight Completes Acquisition of Inmac: Insight has announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of Frankfurt-ba...

BrocklebankPenn says: "Avoid video marketing at your peril!"

Innovative agency BrocklebankPenn says video has moved from an expensive ‘nice to have’ to pivotal in persuading customers to buy.


BrocklebankPenn has reported a sea change in the role of video within ad and marketing campaigns. Craig Penn, Founder and Director of Strategy & Planning at BrocklebankPenn states; “As online marketing becomes an ever larger slice of the marketing mix, with online ad spend now overtaking TV as the UK’s largest media (source: IAB), so we are seeing a huge interest from brands to give video greater prominence within campaigns.”
A recent study from Experian Hitwise reports that visits to online video sites were up 36% in the UK last year, and Digital TV Research says that online advertising spend is set to reach £60.6bn by 2016 (almost double what it was in 2010), all of which supports the empirical findings from BrocklebankPenn.

In an article published today, Craig Penn explains how video is becoming the pivotal element in both the Zero Moment – the point at which the consumer starts researching a new purchase – and the Last Ten Feet, when they are in store (or on the website) with credit card in hand ready to make the purchase.

Penn continues, “Nine times out of ten, consumers buy one of the brands that they found when they first started looking. If a brand is not there at the beginning of the search, they are very unlikely to be selected after all the research, product reviews, customer comments and friends’ opinions have been digested. Video has become the media of choice for consumers, and now that Google counts video as part of its ‘relevance’ metrics, making it an important element of SEO, brands who avoid video do so at their peril.’’

FACTFILE:
What IS BrocklebankPenn?
A team of highly experienced individuals with diverse marketing backgrounds yet shared values, including serial entrepreneur Gary Brine. BrocklebankPenn was founded to ensure that clients always get direct, honest dialogue with the key people driving each project.

The executive team at BrocklebankPenn has together more than 100 years of client and agency experience. Whether working on a comprehensive international marketing strategy or delivering a multi-channel tactical campaign, BrocklebankPenn brings the same ‘big agency’ processes, standards and capacity while holding onto the small agency adaptability, responsiveness and nimbleness.

One Brand World
No matter where customers see, hear, discuss or touch a brand, it must leave an immediate and lasting impression. BrocklebankPenn understands that every form of media has a relevant part to play, and all must come together to build confidence, drive awareness, open engagement, answer any questions, entertain, help and of course sell product/service.

From the Zero Moment when a consumer first starts looking and researching a new purchase, to the Last Ten Feet, when they make a decision about what and where to buy, BrocklebankPenn builds campaigns that will engage with the customer at every touch point.

From Zero to Ten, the customer sees the brand all at once – it’s what BrocklebankPenn call a One Brand World.

For more information and inspiration please visit: www.brocklebankpenn.com

Intellicig expands UK retail team

Success stories are always nice to read, even more so in the current economic climate of gloom and doom. The electroniccigarette industry has been expanding steadily over the past few years, mostly as an online offering, but with companies such as Intellicig also bringing this revolutionary device into the mainstream retail and pharmacy sectors.

Intellicig has experienced incredible growth and continues to expand in the UK, Europe, and worldwide. A groundswell of awareness amongst smokers wishing to try a less harmful alternative to tobacco has seen demand for Intellicig products rocket.

With around 5,000 UK retail outlets, including convenience stores, newsagents, tobacconists, pharmacies, and petrol stations, Intellicig has proven that structured planning, intense reinvestment, and a very hands-on approach to managing customer expectations, all contribute to their current and future success.

Having regularly expanded their retail team, Intellicig has recently recruited Carl Welch, who brings with him many years of retail experience in sales. Faythe Halsall, Intellicig’s UK Retail Manager commented, “We are so happy to have been able to tempt Carl to relocate to the North of England and join the Intellicig team. He has an impeccable track record in sales and is every retailers dream, as he delivers a very high standard of professionalism with an endearing personal touch. All of our team are hand-picked, not just for their skills and abilities, but for their special personal qualities and their passion for achieving great things. Those are the qualities that have enabled our worldwide business success”.

Having recently secured partnerships with Colorama and Costcutter, two key players in the pharmacy and retail markets, Intellicig will no doubt be recruiting again in the not-too-distant future, a future that looks very bright indeed.

E-Cigarettes and Eliquid by Intellicig

Tel: 0845 527 6115

Corporate responsibility. Is it part of your firm's DNA? Provident Personal Credit 'Good Neighbour' programme reaches milestone

Provident Personal Credit's 'Good Neighbour' programme reached a milestone at the end of last year, with the firm having provided support to over 500 organisations over the past three years, highlighting their commitment to corporate responsibility.

In addition, 'Good Neighbour' has provided backing and support to in excess of 30 three year projects, with over 20,000 people benefitting from project and volunteering support.

Peter Crook, CEO at Provident Financial, said: "When asked, as I often am, about how we manage our Corporate Responsibility programme, I say it's part of our DNA. It's a fundamental part of our business strategy and plays a key role in our long-term success."

Established in 2009, Good Neighbour is Provident Financial’s flagship community programme. It helps fulfil Provident's ambition to be the UK's leading community-based lender by creating opportunities for people to work side by side with its community partners. 'Good Neighbour' has three component strands:

- Supporting local projects: working in partnership with local community organisations, the 'Good Neighbour' programme delivers projects which are tailored to meet the needs of local residents. Most projects run over a three-year period, with opportunities available to deliver smaller, one-off projects too.

- Employee volunteering: 'Good Neighbour' supports employees participating in company-led volunteering projects, including one-to-one mentoring projects, the Provident Reading Scheme and team challenges.

- Employee matched giving: Provident wants to help its employees to support the causes they care about the most. Employees taking part in fundraising activities or volunteering in their local communities can apply for matched giving and volunteering grants to make their contribution go even further. Over 1,750 employees have been involved so far and community partners have reported more people are now accessing their services.

Each community partner is selected carefully to ensure that every project is delivered to a high standard and provides real benefits for the community. Provident wants to work with a wide range of organisations, including youth clubs, community groups and schools, so that it can reach people of all ages, from toddlers to pensioners, and address their specific needs.

FACTFILE:
Provident Personal Credit is a  financial services company operating in the non-standard loans market. It specialises in offering cash loans of small amounts, typically from £50 - £500 over terms from 14 weeks up to 106 weeks. Its short term loans are unsecured and all of the costs are included up front which means that customers will never be charged for a missed or late payment. When assessing loan applications, Provident Personal Credit look at the applicants ability to repay now rather than their payment history.

This means that people could still be accepted for a loan even if they think they may have bad credit.

Repayments are collected by agents who visit their customers' homes on a weekly basis. The company has a good reputation with 95% of their customers saying that they are satisfied with their service.

What's more, it is a great alternative to payday loans with small and manageable weekly repayments.

Provident Personal Credit Ltd is a part of the Provident Financial Group. It is licensed by the Office of Fair Trading.

(EDITOR: Whilst most businesses are not in a position to offer the levels of support that Provident Personal Credit can offer, any firm will be able to provide some sort of help, even if it means just buying a copy of The big Issue every time it is published, or having a stall at local village fêtes, or the like.)