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Right to Manage is the hidden secret of the UK property world. Flat owners are coming up against huge service charge increases, having to pay commissions of up to 60% on their building insurance which is shared between their freeholder and the insurance broker. Their building manager doesn't answer to them but to their freeholder and their freeholder is invariably a corporate entity set up to generate revenue from lease extensions, ground rent and commissions. The leaseholder is not their priority. No one knows that they have a statutory right to take the control of the builing away from their freeholder, allowing them to appoint their own builing manager who reports to them, have a say on the size of their service charge and when and how major works are done on the building. The only way for leaseholders to stop beig ignored and taken for a ride is get control of their building.

Small businesses are drowning in the economic debt. No more so than up & coming artists whose art is seen as a luxury. Those that try and see outside the plastic box and use sustainable materials to make a difference for the environment. No matter how hard we try, the masses flock to buy cheap, imported tat for that feelgood I've-bought-it-cheap feeling. When we will change our thinking to quality, made with care & love as well as looking out for our planet??

The deal sites are coming..... In 2008 we saw the credit crunch super charge daily deals, voucher code and cashback sites to "unicorn" status. NetRev is witnessing another rise in demand proving that consumers still want what they have been enjoying - they simply cannot pay the same prices they were.

Just in Time is dead. The uncertainty in supply chains created by Covid and the Ukraine war means that safety inventory levels have increased. This comes at a cost. Safety inventories are a function of uncertainty of demand as well as uncertainty of supply (specifically uncertainty of lead time from suppliers for full order quantities). The result is an increase in stock levels and a higher working capital requirement. The disruptions caused by the pandemic and then the Russia-Ukraine war have created uncertainty over both supply and demand. Businesses are concerned over stock levels and in man cases are choosing to carry more stock to ensure they can service customers. We are seeing an increase in demand for working capital facilities such as asset based lending. Businesses want to add additional facilities to invoice finance facilities. This allows them to access cash sooner in the trade cycle. Facilities such as stock funding, trade finance and supplier finance can be great 'bolt ons' that allow business to access more working capital. These types of facilities obviously add to the costs and these have to be passed on to the customer. Probably another example of the inflationary pressures we are seeing.

With New Year's resolutions fast approaching, Health Travel have curated a guide to the 10 Best Weight Loss Retreats in the World. For the full list see here: https://www.health.travel/the-10-best-weight-loss-retreats-for-the-new-year For any additional information requests or image requests, feel free to get in touch.

There is a mental health crisis in our schools and trendy, isolated tag-ons - such as a yoga or mindfulness intervention - are lovely, but 'lovely' isn't going to cut it. With teachers suffering burnout and leaving in their droves and an unprecedented number of children suffering with their mental health, something has got to change. Toxic staffrooms and figures-led classrooms have got to become a thing of the past. It is time to shake things up and put our words into actions. Wellbeing has got to start with the adult in the room and become embedded into the day-to-day routines and discussions for every single child. To continue as we are is simply not an option.

A Northeast business woman, Anna Brand, is on a mission to change mindset through her art and design. "Your thoughts hold the power to destroy or create the world you so desire." "I'm passionate about mindset because I've had first hand experience of how debilitating it can be. In fact I spent most of my life with low self worth and believing I wasn’t good enough. This was due to past experiences and circumstances I won't go into, but I will say that the day my life changed was the day my thoughts changed" "I read a quote one day that made me cry, it talked directly to me, and I decided I wanted to be reminded of this every single day. But I didn't want to fill my walls with quotes, instead I wanted to visualise it, make it into a beautiful piece of wall art. I'd always know what it represented" That’s where Think High To Rise was born. Having run a graphic design and branding business for 10+ years, Anna decided to combine her love of design and passion for positive mindset to help as many people as possible to believe in themselves and achieve the world they so desire. "I believe we need to SEE IT every day, THINK IT every day, and then eventually we'll start to BELIEVE IT. "Your world should be filled with positive and beautiful reminders that you CAN do this, and that you ARE good enough." "My designs are created digitally and prints are affordable so that they're accessible everyone." SEE IT, THINK IT, BELIEVE IT

The upper crust in society haven't noticed the rise in living costs - champagne sales are at an all time high. Some Grande Marquees have over sold the past several years, it'll be interesting to see what happens to their availability in 1-3 years when the poor harvests from 2020 & 2021 are coming through. While champagne is amazing, the vehicle it's served from is as important. What's better to get one ahead of the Jones' other than an 8 ton vintage fire engine? Champagne Fire Truck, the must have backdrop for any upper crust party. Champagne Fire Truck - the brain child of Richard Reynolds. 14 years as a pastry chef in 4*, 2 red rosette establishments, moving across to food development. With launches across all the retailers - Aldi, Lidl to Waitrose and M&S, along with Fortnum & Mason - most of the country will have eaten something he developed in the 7 years full time and 11 years freelance. 8 years ago saw the start of his event catering business. Originally based on the idea to knock donuts off it's perch of the most sold sweet products with the nation's favorite ingredient - chocolate, in the form of double Belgian chocolate muffins baked fresh at events. Ok, this wasn't the only thing that was sold, bringing the high standards of his 2 rosette background to fields around the country. This has secured events such as Prescott Hill Climb/Bugatti Owners Club, Bicester Heritage Scrambles, Aston Martin Owners Club. Looking for a second unit, a 1963 unloved Dennis fire engine was bought from a scrap yard via a commercial auction site, at £800 (including bidding against himself) it was too cheap not to. 2.5 years later the project still hadn't any direction. Ideas passed by where 'Fire and Ice' an ice-cream unit with items such as deep fried brioche coated ice-cream balls and a BBQ/Gaucho BBQ unit. Both options dramatically changed the rear appearance so were dropped. While away on a freelance contract, in a hotel room late one evening in February, the light bulb moment struck - make it into a champagne bar, the fire engine being the backdrop of the bar, keeping the beautiful look. A month later the Society who owned the Dennis before it went for scrap called to say they had another fire engine for sale - this one was in working condition, though needed some work. A month before Lockdown, it went in for restoration and conversation. Riddling racks (the innovation from Madame Clicqout that gave us clear champagne) from the saw mill in the heart of Champagne were purchased and shipped across, Marketplace stripped of 2nd hand ladders and as much as possible up cycled from the fire engine - the serving bar area was the old water tank. Should the old tank still be on the fire engine it would cost £36k to fill with Collet Champagne and £250k for Dom Perignon!! With events such as Ascot, Goodwood and Cheltenham in our sights, it could be a little while before he can elbow his way into them. In two years time Champagne Fire Truck will be an over night success. The plans for the original fire engine is to convert it into electric, opening up the world of future events and saving an historical vehicle from scrap yard. Champagne Fire Truck - turning adults into big kids Rich Chief bottle popper - not a poncey title - I'm not comfortable with the 'Director' title of a one person company

At Monge Point Management, we are currently managing the first ESG-compliant oil and gas private equity fund, with general partners who have over 200 years of oil and gas experience.