Wonderful wefinda weekly news - week ended 2 July 2010

Top of the wefinda news for the last week has to be the three Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members who have publicly commented that they believe it is too soon to consider raising interest rates.  Last month the eight man committee voted seven to one in favour of keeping interest rates unchanged.  Although inflation is rising faster than forecast and a rise in interest rates would bring in currency investors; keeping rates low helps business borrowing as well keeping the pound low and helping exports.  We will be watching the results of this week’s MPC meeting with interest. 

On the IT front, last month saw the launch of both the Sage 200 (2010) upgrade and Microsoft Office & Sharepoint 2010.  The Sage upgrade launched last week promises to be both more flexible and accessible than previous versions and it also includes a new Sage report designer.  Microsoft Office & Sharepoint2010, launched in mid June, have a host of new features.  The one we like best is the ability to co-author your files, editing them simultaneously with colleagues working from different locations. 

Turning to energy, Ofgem announced that from 1 July customers will receive clearer bills which will help to monitor electricity use.  They also announced a cut in both premiums being charged to customers in rural areas and differential tariffs being charged to customers in different parts of the country.  Businesses and private customers alike will benefit from Ofgem’s   crack down on unfair tariffs.  Two unnamed suppliers have been asked to account for their price premiums, as a first stage towards possible enforcement action.

So what do we have to look forward to this week?  In the EU we have the 5th international carers’ conference in Leeds, whilst in Brussels on 8th July there is an information day on the future internet.  
In Parliament, the most important topic as far as we are concerned is on Thursday with questions relating to business innovation and skills although we may take a passing glance at the Wednesday questions on international development.

 As an aside on the question of international development, if you are considering trading overseas then it does pay to contact the UK trade & investment department.  We’ve heard that they can be extremely helpful in getting you started and helping with everything from grants to contracts, business practices and occasionally even secondments.  More information is on their website (http://www.ukti.gov.uk/home.html).

And finally, if the summer weather is encouraging you to get out and about but you need to stay in touch with your business, the answer has arrived.  Power wellies convert the heat from your feet into electricity which you can use to charge your mobile phone.  Unfortunately at present you have to walk for twelve hours to get one hour of charge but this we think this latest offering from GotWind and Orange is an important step forward in renewable energy solutions.