Is it a car or is it a van?

Businesses planning to replace their vehicles when the new car registrations come out in March should beware of making costly mistakes.

Too many businesses have been landed with huge tax bills when they’ve bought company vehicles not knowing that they will be taxed as a car and not a van. When buying a van, businesses can usually claim the VAT back. This is not the case when buying a car. Unlike a car, an employee can also use a van for commuting and not pay tax.
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above: Businesses buying company vehicles have been landed with huge tax bills.

New Identity for Neopost Brand Born in UK 70 Years ago

Neopost Group of France, the global mailroom solutions company, has unveiled its new corporate identity and brand strategy created by Interbrand. The re-brand was largely driven by Neopost Group’s increased focus on global marketing and its desire to unite more than thirty different local and international companies under a new visual identity. The company wanted to assert its identity to more accurately reflect its world class capability and ranking.

The result is a new, thoroughly modern and distinctive visual identity expressing universal brand values that can be fully recognised and understood in countries of different culture and language. The tagline, “We Value Your Mail” clearly identifies Neopost’s field of business and underscores its promise of value-added service.
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New pre-recruitment consultancy improves sales recruitment

A new pre-recruitment consultancy has been launched by KT Associates to help companies make better judgements when recruiting.

The specially-devised assessment is handled by KT Associates on behalf of companies and uses a variety of psychometric tools to indicate a candidate’s potential performance and suitability for a particular job.

The process assists in hiring individuals who are better suited to their roles, resulting in better motivated and reliable staff, increased productivity, reduced staff loss - and less time and money wasted through unsuitable appointments. Then a structured interview takes place to provide information on emotional maturity - and like other aspects of this process can reveal areas of concern/strength to be explored at subsequent internal interviews.
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EU backs new hours rules for working drivers

Photo of lorry driver at the wheel The European Parliament has approved a law designed to tighten up on the number of hours coach and lorry drivers spend behind the wheel.

The measures, which European drivers’ unions say are welcome but do not go far enough, mean that from 1 May new vehicles must be fitted with digital tachographs, which are more accurate and harder to falsify than older, analogue versions. The law is expected to get final approval from EU governments in the next few weeks. The changes will also affect coaches and lorries from non-EU countries when they travel on roads inside the EU.

2006 Millennium Technology Prize - Announcement and Award ceremony

Millennium Technology Prize branding The winner of the 2006 Millennium Technology Prize, the world’s biggest technology award, will be announced in Helsinki this summer. The prize of one million euros is awarded every second year by the Millennium Prize Foundation, an independent fund established by Finnish industry and the Finnish state in partnership.

The winner of the 2006 Millennium Technology Prize will be announced in June. The award ceremony will be organized in association with an ECOFIN meeting in September.
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Postcards from Heaven with Google Earth

Image of earth How to print real photo postcards from a satellite image of your street or neighbourhood

The virtual earth simulation software ‘Google Earth’ has become hugely popular amongst internet users across the world. The free application incorporates maps, driving directions, and satellite images. It allows users to zoom and pan over three-dimensional images of cities and landscapes, drilling down from space to overhead details.

With a few steps and tricks it is even possible to produce personalised aerial postcards of a street or neighbourhood without the costs that used to be associated with aerial photography. Google Earth works on Windows 2000, xp, or Mac os x (10.4) and can be downloaded for free. Once installed it is easy to navigate to an addresses in the UK using a post code or place name.
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UK business women urged to enter top export award

Women and Equality Minister Meg Munn today urged high flying UK business women to have their achievements recognised and at the same time inspire other women to the top of the workplace ladder by entering the Women in Business Achievement Award 2006.

This will now be the 9th Women in Business Achievment Award given out. It encourage all business women acheivers to put their name forward as they can be important role models.

The award will be given out on 23rd May 2006 at the Women in Business annual conference. The Conference is now in its 10th year, the initiative aims to promote and encourage business networking and the exchange of knowledge and skills between businesswomen from around the world.

If you want to apply for an award you should email womeninbusiness@aol.com. All application froms must be in by Friday 21st April 2006.

Could your company’s website be illegal?

A leading technology lawyer is warning that a significant number of UK corporate websites could be breaching third party trademark rights — and risk hefty penalties — in the wake of the rankings row between Google and BMW.

Companies should audit their websites regularly to ensure that they are not harbouring meta tags or relying on adwords bought from a search engine that potentially infringe other company’s trademarks.

In a bid to drive up their search engine rankings, companies often use competitors’ names in meta tags, or hidden website coding, to drive traffic to their own site. Additionally, companies may have bought adwords — search terms that entitle the purchaser to an appearance in a sponsored section next to search results — from search engines. If the meta tags or adwords are trademarks belonging to competitors it could amount to third party trademark infringement, and could lead to legal action being taken against the company.

Childcare Challenge

Photo of child Employers could do more to ease the childcare burden on their staff, often at no great cost, the TUC argued last month. Offering decent childcare made it easier for employers to recruit and retain staff, the TUC said in a new guide pitched at union negotiators.
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Are directors getting on board?

Are company directors taking any notice of the Health and Safety Executive’s exhortation that firms assign directorial responsibility for safety to a board director? A new report for HSE ‘brings together the results of three surveys in 2001/02, 2003 and 2005 of the extent to which there is board level direction of health and safety in large private and public sector organisations.
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