Now, the retail group will start mortgages via its Tesco bank.

However, be aware that deals on offer require at least a 20% deposit and the mainly fixed-rate deals have interest rates ranging from 3.19% to 5.09% – source: BBC News Business

So, is it a hit or a miss?

A month ago all looked very good because the opening rates were very competitive. But as things move forward rather rapidly, it is just another mortgage opportunity where Tesco had to re-define the word “competitive“.

Some people are questioning whether Tesco, even such a strong player on the food market, could be a serious player for mortgage services.

“…The prospect of mixing groceries, Clubcard points and the largest loan you are ever likely to take out will not appeal to all…” declared Andrew Montlake of mortgage brokers Coreco.

Difficult to change for the time being…time will tell.

The post Tesco banking and mortgage services appeared first on Fiscal Muses.

So, why this change?

Other banks already charge for their personal current accounts – however, changing from free to £7.50 per month is a slight change – especially when local companies are struggling in the competition with High Street stores.

Alsmost an unbalanced fight.

BBC News Business reported that Chartwell Wedding Cars  feel unhappy about this change of direction.

Mr Daniels switched bank 8 years ago because the account was free forever, as NatWest was charging for cheques and other transactions.

“…We are running along quite nicely as we are; £7.50 a month is £90 a year, which we could do without,..”

To defend this turn,  Santander is claiming that it is all about giving a better service to the customers.

“…there will be more business managers to talk to in local Santander branches…”

But does this really justify a fee? Who decided for such “new services” and was this required by some account holders?

But a bank spokesman added that customers with business accounts told them that they wanted something more…consequently, implementing this new specific few is the best the bank can do to answer various queries efficiently when needed.

Afterall these days nothing is free anymore.

The post Business banking at a cost appeared first on Fiscal Muses.

According to the latest government figures the dental sector in the UK is estimated to be worth a massive £5.7bn, with the market value of the private sector believed to be around £2.4bn, and the NHS run dental system somewhere in the area of £3.3bn. On top of these figures you also have to take into consideration the UK’s oral hygiene market, which in 2010 was estimated to be worth £833m.

Dentistry and oral hygiene is clearly a big business in the UK and an estimated 96,439 work in the dental sector alone. A recent article in the daily mail suggested that one in ten dentists earns more than £300,000 a year (that’s double the Prime Ministers salary). The article also discovered that approximately 2,410 dentists earn more than £150,000 a year.

Dental tourism is on the up…

Treatment prices from the NHS remain relatively small and affordable, especially if you’re under the age of 18, in full time study, or are pregnant, as it’s free. Unfortunately, the NHS offers relatively little in the form of cosmetic dentistry, unless it’s deemed absolutely necessary. This is why many of us, including myself, choose to go private.

Private work can literally cost you an arm and a leg, but the results are often more aesthetic in nature. Private dental clinics tend to offer a wider range of cosmetic procedures, including teeth whitening treatment, white fillings and colour matched veneers and crown. Basic work can start at around the £50 mark, but extensive treatments, like bridges and crowns, can cost thousands.

In order to avoid the cost a large number of Britons are now choosing to go abroad for dental work. According to figures issued by Reva-Health 35,000 Brits went abroad last year for the sole purpose of visiting a dentist. Alarmingly this figure is predicted to rise next year with an estimated 52,000 to 70,000 people going abroad. Though with an average saving of £3,745 it’s easy to see why people are choosing to go abroad.

The post The Tooth Fairy is making a lot of money… appeared first on Fiscal Muses.

The report is part of national wellbeing scheme and was initiated in 2010 by the Prime Minister David Cameron. At a cost of £2m a year the programme asks 200,000 residents to measure their happiness through a series of question, such as ‘how anxious did you feel yesterday’. The data is then collated by the ONS and sent to parliament for review.

After the announcement of the scheme and its subsequent derision in the media the PM defended the idea saying that although the idea of a ‘happiness index’ is somewhat woolly and impractical, it does however give us an insight into general mood of the country. David Cameron went on to say: “You cannot capture happiness on a spreadsheet any more than you can bottle it… the index could give us a general picture of whether life is improving” and eventually “lead to government policy that is more focused not just on the bottom line, but on all those things that make life worthwhile.”

So should we care about happiness?

The answer to that is, of course, a definite yes. Whether it relates to life, love or relationships, happiness is always a state of mind that should be sought and strived for; perhaps one of the most important areas where happiness should be pursued is in the arena of business – After all ‘a happy worker is a more productive worker’ and let’s face it happy customers tend to come back again, and again, and again…

A recent report conducted by Professor Andrew Oswald from the Warwick Business School discovered that: “Happier workers, our research found, were 12% more productive. Unhappier workers were 10% less productive.” Though some might predictably say that it’s just common sense, the team of economists from Warwick concluded: “We find that human happiness has large and positive causal effects on productivity. Positive emotions appear to invigorate human beings, while negative emotions have the opposite effect.”

Getting into the happiness business

Now some people might say that businesses are in the business to make money, not to make their staff and employees happy, but if it costs your business £30 a week to take a few people out for lunch and the resulting ROI is a 10% improvement in productivity then what have you got to lose? Besides a potential improvement in productivity, an increase to the overall contentedness of your staff will also help morale, will help with staff retention and may make your staff more willing to work those late hours when the chips are down.

Improving the health and happiness of your staff doesn’t have to cost a fortune and there are a number of small changes you can make to make your work environment better and more productive for your staff. For some suggestions on how to improve your business’ happiness see this handy PDF guide.

CC Flickr

The post The Business of Happiness appeared first on Fiscal Muses.

Too busy, not enough time during the week between school run and other tasks to do your weekly shopping? No issue to that: Sunday shopping is the answer.

But how did we do before?

During this Summer and in fact for the length of the London events, Sunday trading in England & Wales have been suspended! What it means for you? Longer opening on Sunday will help (apparently) retailers to generate higher profits.

 BBC News reported that “Shop staff will retain the right to opt out of working on a Sunday.“

However, small local shops are worried. In fact, they think that supermarkets being open longer will take their customers away and consequently costing them millions in lost sales.

“…A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said larger shops would be “free to choose their opening hours on a Sunday” with “no restrictions on these hours” until the Olympics and Paralympics were over on 9 September…”

As an example, John Lewis, in Cardiff, is opening an hour early from 10:00am but is still closing at 5pm. Nevertheless, most of other JL stores will stay open for an extra 2 hours.

Also, there are some criticisms. Sunday should be kept as a day of rest according to the  Union of Welsh Independent churches. Traditions, traditions…are disappearing too fast, too often.

Is it healthy to stay open that long for the customers – the staff and for the service received? Wil lextra trading hours bring more cash in the tills?

Let see what happens! But certainly if people are already struggling to pay their monthly bills why would they shop even more on Sundays?

The post Sunday trading laws appeared first on Fiscal Muses.

In 2008 the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) reviewed how bank accounts work. Now is the time – maybe not the best – to see what progress the banks have made.

It will control whether banks have made it easier for people to switch accounts and to understand their overdraft charges. Banks are in the process of paying up to £9bn in compensation for mis-selling millions of customers payment protection insurance.

Since 2008, people are looking at banks almost like being an enemy – when it fact it is not.

True,  bad things happened but, not all banks are the same. And in fact some pointed at some financial establishments simply because someone did something they shouldn’t have done.

On BBC News Business, Claire Hart a spoke person of the OFT  reported:

…Through this review, we want to understand what progress banks have made in providing customers with better information about account charges, greater control over their accounts and easier account switching facilities…

Banking sector is almost too obscure and even too complicated to be fully understandable. Transparency is necessary for all.

This check-up seems to be a good thing in order to help account holders to be more confident about what takes place behind bank counters with their own money.

The post Current account check-up appeared first on Fiscal Muses.

Drinks manufacturer Britvic was already headed for a tough year, but the recall of some of their products is predicted to lead to an even heavier loss for the company.

Poor weather this year had already hit their sales numbers and trading has not picked up in the last few weeks, considering the near constant rain. As such it was expected that the £96m company would see its full-year profits at the bottom end of expectations.

But that was before the product recall was taken into account. Due to a “packaging safety issue” Britvic last week issued the recall of all Fruit Shoot and Fruit Shoot Hydro drinks. Customers were told to return the product to the place of sale to receive a refund. Unable to enact a speedy response, the company have had to use an existing cap on its drink bottles in the meantime.

The delay in the new cap design for the recalled products has also led to a 16% drop in shares in the company.

In all, Britvic have estimated a loss of between £15m to £25m over the current and next financial year.

The post Fruit Shoot Recall Hits Britvic Hard appeared first on Fiscal Muses.

“…Like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of new stores, fell by 2.8% in the UK between April and June, with total group sales falling 0.7%….” source: BBC

And the beat goes on – struggle for customers and for businesses.

Prices have gone up but not wages.

Consequently, people buy less or are more careful about what and where they buy.

Despite of special offers such as buy one get one free – the popular BOGOF – it hasn’t improved the trend.

A global underperfomance for M&S.

The only positive point is in the food business! Normal afterall…eating is necessary but buying accessories or maybe summer shoes can wait…and the current weather hasn’t helped.

“…While all retailers with seasonal lines are at risk from dramatically unseasonal weather, Marks have suffered more than most…”

To calm everything down, M&S has confirmed that this drop is only within the UK. Other markets outside Britain have performed well ( international sales rising 0.9%). So nothing dramatic as it has been the first fall in annual profits for 3 years in May 2012.

Other retailers are in the same position, but of course it is necessary to address such results to correct the curve.

The next few months should show a better trend….We can only hope.

It is always worrying when there is a drop in the turnover of a company as it could affect a lot of other factors and mainly staff wages or promotions.

The post Fall in Sales for M&S appeared first on Fiscal Muses.

It has been reported of being the slowest pace in 7 Months – there is a real fear about a slowdown in China’s economy.

“…The PMI is a key indicator of manufacturing activity. Any reading above 50 indicates growth…” – source: BBC News Business

So, would this mean that an economic downturn is just round the corner for China?

The exports sector is vital for that country. Without a successful expansion China would have to face a serious situation for its growth.

“…China’s economy expanded at an annual rate of 8.1% in the first quarter, the slowest pace in almost three years, and there are fears that growth may slow even more….”

Does it mean that the golden years are over? Is it a backlash from what Europe had to face in 2008?

Beijing has reduced  interest rates to try to push domestic demand to offset the decline in foreign sales.

It really seems that all countries are facing a struggle to continue or even to keep their exports, manufacturing levels at the top.

Is this a sign that the world is saturated with products, technology or ar people simply scared to spend in case of something more dramatic happens? But, if your earnings are in a bank – theoretically “safe” – and everything collapses, what would be the impact on account holders? Probably ending with nothing!

Buying should be the way forward: buy whilst you can - as long as you have savings, of course – rather than saving to get nothing from it, should be the 21st Century slogan.

The global financial situation is not great and people live in hope for better tomorrow. How long can such dream last?

The post China economy slowdown appeared first on Fiscal Muses.

Such as many other retailers, things aren’t as good as it was in the past years.

A BBC News Business article is reporting a drop in Billabong shares.

“…Shares fell as much as 49% to A$0.92 on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Last week, the embattled firm launched a rights issue priced at a 44% discount to its closing price of A$1.83 on 20 June…”

It is all slightly confusing.

There are debts – To pay back, money is needed. To attract shareholders, a good discounted price on shares has been allowed.  A new strategy which doesn’t seem to work the right way so far!

This approach of selling cheap(er) is vital for the survival of the firm.

And the reason behind it, is that the cash is a must. But a massive reduction on the share market has almost given the company a wrong image of being not worth it.

However, this is not the case.

A statement has been issued to clarify it all:

“… the offer did not “reflect the fundamental value of the company”….”.

But of course, there is a concern for the future of the business too.

Will Billabong be able to continue and grow or sink even more? Because like other clothing companies and stores, there are less demand for this particular label. A change of mentality and fashion is probably the only reason and the market is becoming more competitive too.

The post Billabong takes the water appeared first on Fiscal Muses.