Wonderful Wefinda weekly news - Week ended 05 November 2011

Base rate held at 0.5%
The Bank of England’s decision to hold the base rate at 0.5% and the asset purchase programme at £200 billion sends further signals that it is prepared to ride out the current level of inflation without putting rates up.

Could European contract law be about to change
In July the EU published a green paper which is the starting point for a possible change in contract law throughout Europe. The aim is to standardise contract law for consumers and business. With the consultation date ending in January, the Law society is now asking for comments from solicitors with a survey to be completed by 19 November. Wefinda suggests it might be worth talking to your solicitor and getting them to reply to the survey.

End of the chain for Local Business Links
From April 2012, local business links will be closed and replaced by a combination of a UK web site & call centre and the new local enterprise partnerships. Branded as expensive and poorly targeted, the £154 million annual cost of running Business Link on a local basis was deemed too high. Do you agree, let us have your thoughts.

New help for payroll
Payroll is one of those potentially complex time consuming areas that SMEs can’t avoid. Whilst HMRC are in consultation about a possible change to the calculating and reporting of payroll including one option of letting HMRC themselves calculate deductions monthly, Sage have just launched Sage 50 payroll, aimed at the SME business. Before you check it out, have a look at our buyers guide on HR and Payroll outsourcing.

Where do you look for IT contractors?
Obviously on Wefinda, but apart from that a recent survey by CV Screen has shown an interesting development in IT location. With IT professionals in London earning 14% above the national average, an increasing number of IT companies are relocating away from London. The growth of the internet and broadband communications has meant that IT can be run successfully from other locations and IT professionals are making the most of their ability to mix job and lifestyle.

So, what do we have to look forward to?
The Inflation report due on the 10 November should make interesting reading and give us some clues on whether interest rates are likely to move in the near future. In Parliament, the finance bill and the Equitable life bill hit the House of Commons. And we must not forget Remembrance Day on 11 November.

And finally
Is the traditional British love of queuing breaking down? A recent survey by the Payments Council revealed that we are now only able to stand in line for 10 minutes 42 seconds before starting to lose our temper. Top of our list of loathed queuing places were Supermarkets, followed by the Post Office and then Airport security.