Saving the Euro Bumblebee 03 Aug 2012
As the effects of the Eurozone crisis begin to show in the rest of the world economy, European leaders have expressed their determination to stand by the Euro.
Action is expected from the European Central Bank, and its president Mario Draghi, who in a speech at the British Business Embassy Global Investment Conference, timed to coincide with the London 2012 Olympics, likened the Euro to a bumblebee, which had difficulty flying and needed to ‘graduate into a real bee’.
Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, speaking at the British Business Embassy Global Investment Conference, timed to coincide with the London 2012 Olympics.
Perfect Storm Predicted for World Economy in 2013 23 Jul 2012
Nouriel Roubini predicts a 'perfect storm' in 2013.
Awareness is growing around the world that the economic troubles of the Eurozone crisis will affect not only Europe, but the world economy as a whole. The limited ability of established businesses to create new jobs and growth has led more people to turn to startups and individual entrepreneurship as a path to future prosperity.
Perfect Storm
Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor known as ‘Dr Doom’ because he was one of the few economists to predict the credit crunch, has predicted a 'perfect storm' of factors that could derail the world economy in 2013.
Warnings of Global Slowdown 11 Jul 2012
IMF Chief Christine Lagarde warned of a slowdown in the world economy.
Entering the second half of 2012, economic indicators appear to be negative on a world-wide scale.
Global Growth Forecast to be Downgraded
Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, has warned that the IMF’s forecasts for global growth will be downgraded because of a more worrisome outlook.
The IMF warned that the US recovery is tepid and risks becoming a recession if political agreement is not reached on how to cut the deficit.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said there is downward pressure on the Chinese economy, requiring more aggressive action to keep growth on track.
Breakthrough in Banking Crisis 02 Jul 2012
As the beginning of a solution to the Eurozone Crisis appeared, and stimulus measures were announced in the UK, other banking troubles emerged, including a mis-selling scandal which will lead to business victims being compensated.
Eurozone Solution
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti was doubly satisfied by victories over Germany:
in negotiations to resolve the Eurozone crisis,
and on the football field in Euro 2012.
The negotiations to find a solution to the Eurozone crisis have arrived at a breakthrough. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany gave way to the combined pressure of the leaders of Italy and Spain to agree to immediate action to reduce the cost of their borrowing through bond buying and bank aid. This occurred at the same time as Italy beat Germany at football, for a place in the finals of the European Championship, which Mario Monti, the Italian Prime Minister, said was a double satisfaction for Italy.
A Cloudy Outlook for Growth 25 Jun 2012
As Britain endures yet another month of rain, and summer is postponed once again, prospects for growth appear to be equally elusive, and the economic outlook looks decidedly cloudy. Yet there are some bright glimmers of hope appearing, and some clouds even bring opportunity.
A Heavy Cloud over Growth
The Eurozone Crisis continues to cast a heavy cloud over growth prospects.
The Eurozone sovereign debt crisis continues to cast a heavy cloud over economic growth prospects, not only for Eurozone countries, but also the UK, the USA and the wider world.
Say Hello to Bizzy Domain! 15 Jun 2012
Do you ever wish it was easy to obtain website information on a company, such as contact details and related web links for that company?
BizzyDomain.com is a new sister site of bizzy.co.uk which displays information scraped from web domains.
You can use Bizzy Domain to find vital data, extracted directly from any company’s website.
How to obtain website data using BizzyDomain.com
To use Bizzy Domain, simply type the domain you are enquiring about in the address bar of your browser, after http://bizzydomain.com/.
For example for HMV, hmv.co.uk, type
http://bizzydomain.com/hmv.co.uk
For Dabs.com, type
http://bizzydomain.com/dabs.com
Bizzy Domain automatically identifies:
Bizzy Launches the Bizzy API 11 Jun 2012
Bizzy is delighted to announce the launch of the Bizzy API, or Application Programming Interface.
This makes it possible for applications to be built which make use of Bizzy’s vast store of business data.
The API provides access to almost 50 million companies in 16 countries, plus:
- UK company credit ratings
- UK director search
- 400 million filed documents at the UK Companies House including accounts and annual returns
- Credit reports for instant download
- Manage favorite companies to enable email alerts
- Access previous document and report orders
The launch of the Bizzy API opens up opportunities for developers to build web applications and mobile apps which make use of business data in new and innovative ways.
Full details of the Bizzy API can be found here:
https://secure.bizzy.co.uk/developers/
Growth in the Balance 29 May 2012
The return to recession in the UK and much of Europe, combined with the ongoing Eurozone debt crisis, has led to a political realignment across Europe, and a change in priorities, emphasizing economic growth rather than austerity. However, the desire to promote growth has been countered by the need to maintain existing commitments to austerity programmes.
This has led to the view emerging that growth and austerity are not mutually exclusive, but must be balanced. Growth in order to be sustainable must not be funded by borrowing, and austerity is a necessary part of the recovery programme.
This balance between growth and austerity has emerged on a number of levels.
The Push for Growth 11 May 2012
Following the news of a double-dip recession in the UK, and the unpopularity of austerity measures in the Eurozone, pro-austerity politicians have suffered losses in elections. There has been a rise of support for politicians with an agenda to promote growth.
BlogCatalogCharting Unknown Territory 03 May 2012
Following last week’s news that the UK has entered a double-dip recession, the questions that follow are “What is the economic situation really like?”, and “What are our prospects for a recovery?”
The picture of Britain in a double-dip recession is a mixed one. While the term double-dip recession conjures up pictures of a big dipper or rollercoaster ride, the reality is that the UK’s economy is flat lining. Sir Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, has predicted a steady, slow recovery in the year ahead. There has been a record collapse of UK money supply, and banks continue to scale back their lending to businesses. Credit ratings agency Moody’s has reported that the Olympics will not necessarily be very beneficial to the UK economy in the long run. Britain’s large services sector offers hope of escape from recession. Many companies have weathered the storm of the last few years, and are well placed for growth.
Confidence in a Double-Dip Recession 27 Apr 2012
This week we had the news that the UK has entered a much-feared Double-Dip Recession.
The news came out in the official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), stating that the economy shrank by 0.2% in the first three months of 2012, having declined by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Looking Beneath the Surface 20 Apr 2012
Credit Reference Agencies are helpful because they look at all the circumstances of a company in order to assess credit risk. It would be impossible for individuals to keep track of all these circumstances, and gauge the effect of them all, so it is very useful to be able to obtain credit ratings which take all these factors into account. Credit ratings change in response to changing events and circumstances. It is valuable therefore to have up-to-date credit ratings, as credit ratings which are not current will not take into account present circumstances. Credit ratings reveal if there are problems beneath the surface that may not be immediately obvious. They therefore are essential information for investors, to help measure the degree of risk of an investment, and whether the likely return is worth the risk involved.
Seeing the Bigger Picture 12 Apr 2012
It can often be helpful to see the ‘bigger picture’ of a company’s financial status. Knowing how large a company is, in terms of its turnover, profits, assets and liabilities, is very useful information in terms of knowing how the company is likely to behave, how substantial its assets are, how good an investment its shares are, how likely it is to be able to afford a service offered, and how well it can afford to pay its debts.
A number of dramatic examples have appeared in the news in recent weeks of how the sheer size of some companies can affect their activities in unusual ways:
Patent Wars
Following from the huge increase in popularity of smartphones and tablet computers, the biggest companies in the industry have fought one another in the courts over patent rights. Building a smartphone involves technologies which make use of thousands of patents, and it is only the largest companies which can afford to contest these patents in court.
Apple led the initial recent growth in smartphones with the iPhone. This was followed by the Android operating system developed by Google. Steve Jobs of Apple felt that Android phones represented a huge theft of ideas from Apple, and resolved to fight the other smartphone companies in the courts, even using all of Apple’s huge cash reserves if necessary, which were recently shown to be greater than those of the US Government. Apple launched legal proceedings against HTC and Samsung, in some cases preventing sale of Android devices. These companies have fought back by launching counter-attack lawsuits against Apple, and also by purchasing ‘armouries’ of large numbers of patents of their own.
Flotations
In recent years, Facebook has come to dominate the online social networking scene, acquiring hundreds of millions of users, and displacing rivals such as MySpace and Bebo. Having successfully developed substantial revenue, largely through advertising, they have recently been planning for a public flotation, an Initial Public Offering (IPO), in which they are seeking to raise $5bn of their estimated $100bn value.
Once Facebook’s value became apparent, Yahoo launched a patent lawsuit against it, which was followed by a patent counter-lawsuit by Facebook against Yahoo. Facebook has also acquired 750 patents from IBM to help it with patent disputes.
Acquisitions
In the run-up to Facebook’s flotation, it has acquired the mobile photo-sharing social network Instagram for $1bn. This places a very high value on Instagram, which as yet has no means of earning revenue, which has led some to question whether it was really worth the amount paid by Facebook. Facebook was seeking to bolster its mobile presence, a hugely growing sector, whereas its own strength was considered to be its use on desktop computers.
Prospecting for Business
But what about how this affects more everyday business, that is, “Business as Usual”?
When seeking to approach potential customers or business partners, it is very important to know how big the company is, and how realistic a prospect it is to try to do business with it.
This is one example of where information on a company’s size and financial situation can play a key role in business decision making.
bizzy® shows you the Bigger Picture
In addition to providing information on companies’ creditworthiness, bizzy.co.uk has launched new features for showing the financial status of companies, as well as new pricing.
New Pricing
Bizzy has introduced new lower pricing both for individual Companies House documents and for a bizzy PLUS subscription.
Pay-as-you-go Companies House document images - 79p. We've reduced our prices on Companies House documents right down to 79p. At 95p including VAT we're now cheaper than Companies House itself!!!
We have lowered the price of a bizzy PLUS subscription from £99 to an extremely affordable £19.99.
Unlimited access to Companies House documents + credit scores for only £19.99 / year +VAT!
New Features of bizzy PLUS
For the remarkable price of just £19.99 / year +VAT for a bizzy PLUS subscription, you get all these new features which reveal the ‘bigger picture’ of the financial status of companies you deal with:
Charts showing Net Worth, Cash at Bank, Current Assets & Current Liabilities on active UK companies.
bizzy PLUS gives you more Financials! Turnover and Profit figures on active UK companies for the last 5 years.
Unlimited access to documents filed at Companies House.
New countries added! Welcome to Norway and Sweden. Two more will be boarding soon. That means 50 million companies are now in sight!
Only £19.95 + VAT for comprehensive credit reports on 14 European countries! Instant download.
Remember, you get all this wealth of information as part of your bizzy PLUS subscription, all for just £19.99 / year +VAT.
To sign up for a bizzy PLUS subscription with all these amazing features, click here.
Before you make business decisions both big and small, let bizzy put you in the picture about the financial standing of the companies you are dealing with.
bizzy® - showing you the Bigger Picture!
New bizzy PLUS - Unlimited Companies House + more... 29 Mar 2012
To show how in touch with business we are, coinciding with the UK Budget, bizzy.co.uk has launched new features to help your business decision making, and new pricing to fit the budget of even more businesses.
New Pricing
We have lowered the price of a bizzy PLUS subscription from £99 to an extremely affordable £19.99.
Unlimited access to Companies House documents + credit scores for only £19.99 / year +VAT!
For individual Companies House documents purchased through bizzy, we have reduced prices as follows:
Pay-as-you-go Companies House document images - 79p. We've reduced our prices on Companies House documents right down to 79p. At 95p including VAT we're now cheaper than Companies House itself!!!
New Features
For just £19.99 / year +VAT for a bizzy PLUS subscription, you get all these new features:
- Charts showing Net Worth, Cash at Bank, Current Assets & Current Liabilities on active UK companies.
- bizzy PLUS gives you more Financials! Turnover and Profit figures on active UK companies for the last 5 years
- Unlimited access to documents filed at Companies House
- New countries added! Welcome to Norway and Sweden. Two more will be boarding soon. That means 50 million companies are now in sight!
- Only £19.95 + VAT for comprehensive credit reports on £14 European countries! Instant download.
Remember, you get all this wealth of information as part of your bizzy PLUS subscription, all for just £19.99 / year +VAT.
To sign up for a bizzy PLUS subscription at this unbeatable price, click here.
Like the Chancellor’s trusted advisor, let bizzy be your trusted source of reliable business information.
bizzy.co.uk - in touch with business every day!
A UK Budget In Touch with Business? 22 Mar 2012
Following the UK Budget on 21st March, we are still in the period after the Budget in which its effects are being assessed, evaluated and debated by politicians, journalists, businessmen and ordinary people across Britain.
Trusted Aide
In the run up to the Budget, it was remarked how Chancellor George Osborne was able to carry the burden of office exceedingly lightly due to the complete trust he was able to place in his chief economic adviser Rupert Harrison, who has come to be referred to by some in the government jokingly as ‘the real Chancellor’.
Good News
The Chancellor had some good news just before the day of the Budget, from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility. Improvements in the economic outlook would enable the Chancellor to ease austerity measures and enable £5 billion of future giveaways.
45p Tax
The Chancellor had come under considerable pressure from the business community to do away with the 50p higher rate of income tax. Introduced as a temporary measure by the previous government when the financial crisis first hit, it was argued that the tax did not raise the revenue intended and only had the effect of deterring businessmen from investing and creating jobs, and driving entrepreneurial talent abroad. The Chancellor’s response, negotiated with the Liberal Democrat coalition partners, was to reduce the top rate of income tax to 45p, although this was no longer designated temporary.
Pasty Tax
In the aftermath of the Budget a story that has maintained people’s interest is the so-called ‘Pasty Tax’. This is where VAT has been added to hot baked takeaway food sold in bakeries and supermarkets, in line with what is already charged in Fish and Chip shops and other takeaway outlets, so creating a ‘level playing field’.
The difficulty of determining whether VAT would be charged when the pasties cooled down, or in hot weather, was soon remarked upon. Chancellor George Osborne was unable to remember the last time he went to Greggs to buy a pasty, leading to charges that he was out of touch with ordinary people. Prime Minster David Cameron did a little better by recalling an incident when he bought a pasty at Leeds railway station, only to be reproved for ‘Pasty snobbery’ for favouring the West Cornwall Pasty Company, a more expensive brand of pasty than most people normally eat. The Labour leadership were quick to visit a branch of Greggs to buy sausage rolls, and Party Leader Ed Miliband declared that the Pasty Tax showed the government to be out of touch.
How the Sovereign Debt Crisis Affects Business 15 Mar 2012
The past week has brought two further developments in Europe’s ongoing sovereign debt crisis. Firstly, a second bailout of Greece has finally been agreed. European governments and financial institutions were able to agree a rescue package for Greece based on austerity measures and commitments made by its government, following a successful bond swap. However this was seen as an orderly ‘default’, which would likely be followed by the need for a third bailout.
Secondly, the outlook on Britain’s AAA credit rating has been reduced from stable to negative by the credit ratings agency Fitch. This follows a similar decision by Moody’s a month ago. Britain’s economic outlook may be adversely affected by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, and economic conditions within the UK may challenge the government’s ability to maintain its austerity measures.
The sovereign debt crisis began in late 2009, and is a follow-on effect from the Credit Crunch, which started a year earlier. Governments which increased borrowing heavily in the boom years found that in the new negative economic climate, tax revenues were decreasing while expenditure particularly on welfare was increasing. It became increasingly clear that some governments would find it difficult to refinance their debts, leading to the risk of defaults on sovereign debt.
Government bonds, or "gilt-edged" stocks, have traditionally been seen as a safe and secure form of investment. However, as a result of the sovereign debt crisis, these investments are regarded as increasingly risky, as the credit ratings of one country after another have been downgraded by credit ratings agencies. This has highlighted the growing importance of credit ratings agencies, which are seen to pass judgment on the creditworthiness of entire nations with increasing regularity.
While this appears to primarily affect certain nations and large financial institutions, it does in fact have an impact on ordinary businesses both large and small:
Financial institutions threatened
Banks and investment funds which are heavily exposed to sovereign debt may be in danger of collapsing. This would affect those with investments in those institutions and weaken the financial system as a whole.
Investor confidence damaged
As what was thought to be safe investments turn into bad debts, this weakens the confidence of investors both within Europe and abroad.
Availability of credit
Credit to businesses, which is already in short supply, is reduced even further by the knock-on effects of the sovereign debt crisis. Also, higher costs of borrowing for governments due to credit rating downgrades could make loans more expensive for everyone.
Economic outlook
Export markets in Europe are threatened, and weakened consumer confidence at home reduces the demand for goods and services. The possibility of a “double dip” recession looms.
Reduced business confidence
All of this affects the climate in which business decisions are taken. Uncertainty about economic prospects causes businesses to make decisions which are more cautious and less bold.
Need for accurate information
In these times of uncertainty, it is increasingly important to have accurate information about the financial status and creditworthiness of companies with which one is doing business. Whereas when times are good, companies’ creditworthiness might be taken for granted, decisions in the current economic climate require a closer scrutiny of these companies.
bizzy.co.uk offers affordable solutions to help businesses have accurate and up to date information on companies’ creditworthiness. Signing up for a bizzy FREE account gives access to a range of useful information and a basic credit rating for every company. Subscribing to a bizzy PLUS account at modest cost provides comprehensive credit scoring and financial information on any company in the UK, as well as a regularly updated and verified website bizzyRATE badge to display creditworthiness to others, including customers, suppliers, lenders and investors. This represents excellent value for money, and is one decision which can surely be taken with great confidence!
Lehman Brothers exits bankruptcy protection 08 Mar 2012
This week we have the news that the investment bank Lehman Brothers has exited bankruptcy protection, in order to sell assets and pay its creditors. The collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 was one of the key events at the start of the Credit Crunch, and ushered in a time of financial uncertainty from which the world is still recovering.
It was startling that what was then the fourth largest investment bank in the United States suddenly collapsed on 15th September of that year, and images of employees leaving the building with their belongings on that day are some of the most memorable.
A number of other large financial institutions had to be rescued by governments in order to prevent a depression on the scale of that last seen in the 1930s. All of this showed that the financial stability of even large banks could not be depended upon. Many other businesses which depended heavily on the availability of credit got into difficulties. Some of these likewise were rescued by governments, but others ceased trading. Businesses ever since have found themselves squeezed by a shortage of readily available credit.
How can a business be sure that other businesses it trades with will be able to pay what they owe? This is where a company’s credit rating can inform the decisions that are taken about who to trade with and how much credit to extend to them.
bizzy.co.uk offers a readily available way of checking the credit rating of any limited company in the UK. Signing up for a free account reveals basic creditworthiness information on every company, while a subscription to bizzy PLUS provides more comprehensive information on companies’ credit status, as well as a verified website badge to show a company’s own creditworthiness to others.
Company Credit Report 01 Mar 2012
Do you need a company credit report on a UK company? Why pay
£500+ per year for expensive subscriptions you never fully use? bizzy PLUS
costs just £99/year or £9.99/month. Get your full company credit report here
with bizzy.co.uk! Our company credit
report is comprehensive and includes the last 3 year's financials, ownership,
scores, CCJs + much more!
Whether it’s a company credit report, company credit check or company credit rating you need bizzy.co.uk is there for you!
Company Credit Check 15 Feb 2012
Every day our systems process hundreds of thousands of
important company credit check updates to keep our company credit check data
the most relevant and useful available. bizzy.co.uk provides FREE limited company
searches on millions of companies - now with live search and faster than ever!
Use our search to perform a company credit check now!
Whether it’s a company credit check, company credit ratings or a company credit report you need bizzy.co.uk is there for you!
Company Credit Ratings 05 Feb 2012
Free company credit ratings on all UK companies. In today’s
climate of cut backs and defaults it’s good to know who you're dealing with and
that's where bizzy.co.uk comes in. bizzy.co.uk offers completely FREE UK company
credit ratings enabling you to see the company credit ratings of the companies
with whom you are dealing.
Whether it’s company credit ratings, company credit check or a company credit report you need bizzy.co.uk is there for you!
0 items 0.00
