Product News - Christmas Holiday Ideas

Theatre Breaks provides theatre and hotel packages in London, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Edinburgh and Paris with Vienna soon to be added to the list. Theatre Breaks can create packages of theatre tickets and hotel accommodation tailored to suit the needs of each customer. Also on offer are Theatre meal-deals for many midweek performances, West End packages forall the top shows. The Stratford Upon Avon packages for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Edinburgh breaks for The Royal Tattoo or Paris to experience the Moulin Rouge. Packages can be enhanced by adding pre-theatre meals, events, attractions and tours. Go America is a service for people who want to travel the USA and Canada. You can get the low down on the range of 2-star to 5-star hotels for both business travelling and family holidays with leading TransAtlantic airlines like British Airways and Virgin Atlantic and information on the best to see and do, the best shopping, the best pools, bars and retreats from the Go America website.

HotelConnect is another online offering that brings its visitors cheap, bargain-priced accommodation for weekend and city breaks and offers a wide choice of seasonal holidays for summer and winter. There may be late bookings available. HotelConnect supply luxury and club offerings, they go to Europe and the USA. It may be worth looking at some of the special deals. Gtahotels.com specializes in discounted hotel bookings worldwide. European Discount Hotels is a current offer. Travel consumers can also book deeply discounted accommodations worldwide in over 11,000 cities not only across Europe but also in the US, Canada, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America & the Pacific Rim. New destinations are added every month. GTA offer a Best Rate Guarantee to match the lower price of any other same deal offer online and refund the difference.

Inquisitive minds will find a range of ingenious gifts online at the Science Museum Store. It isn't only for the 'boffins'. There are lots of innovative and inspiring games and gadgets. The range includes Anti-Gravity Boots, Rocket Launching Money Boxes, Hydrogen Cars and Virtually Indestructible R/C Aeroplanes. Purchases support the Scence Museum. The Science Museum Store product range has something for all ages especially at Christmas.

Record Levels Of Trading In ETFs And ETCs

Record levels of trading in ETFs, ETCs and EDX London helped electronic equity trading on the London Stock Exchange up 8% during October. The LSE saw electronic order books carry out 19.7 million equity trades last month with a total value of £173.4 billion. Year on year comparisons were affected by volatility which led to record volumes. A total of 7 million contracts during October made it the EDX London's second businest month ever.

Farm Incomes Up By 25%

Total income from farming is estimated to have risen by 25% in real terms. The causes were a fall in the value of agricultural outputs of 2.5% offset by a greater fall in input costs of 4.9% and an increase in Single Payment Scheme payments of 17%. Total income is expected to fall by 8.8% in 2010.

TIFF per full-time person equivalent is expected to rise in 2009 by 26% as a result of the increase in TIFF and a fall in the volume of agricultural labour input and is expected to fall by 8% in 2010.

Agricultural output is expected to have declined by 2.8% in 2009. The main factors are a fall in the value of crop production partly offset by an increase in the value of livestock production. The fall in crop values was driven by a fall in wheat, barley, oilseed rape and potato prices partly offset by an increase in the value of sugar beet yields which are expected to be high and the area of forage crops is expected to increase. Increases in cattle, sheep and pig production and an increase in capital formation in livestock ofsetting a fall in milk production value explain the increase in the value of livestock production.

Output is expected to decline further in 2010 to be only partly offset by declining input costs and a rise in payments. These estimations are subject to very broad margins of uncertainty due to the nature of agriculture.

Retail Sales Expected To Increase Strongly This Christmas

The latest CBI Distributive Trades survey shows that businesses are confident about a good Christmas on the High Street. Business confidence is positive for the first time since 2007.

More retailers are reporting that sales have been rising over the last year and have reported growth for the second consecutive month. The growth in sales and the expectations of further growth in the festive season is making them more optimistic about the general business situation over the next quarter. The indicator for the three month moving average of sales volume turned positive and is expected to grow. Businesses have contnued to cut back stocks and now only a small number report stocks adequate to meet demand.

Employment conditions are still difficult in retail with 27% of businesses reported staff reductions and the same is expected in December. Investment intentions are getting better. Prices are still growing but at a slower rate and a similar pattern is expected next month.

In the wholesale sector sales volumes increased slightly for the first time since May 2008 but remained below average for the time of year. The situation is expected to get worse over the next quarter.

The automotive sector reported a year-on-year rise due to an increase in the sale of vehicles while sales of parts and accessories fell. The price inflation situation is much better and price rises are expected to slow further next month. Motor traders are pessimistic about the next three months even though sales are expected to rise again in December.

Services Output Index Contracts By 0.1%

The services sector output index for the quarter to September 2009 decreased by 0.1% compared with the previous quarter. There were decreases in three of the five components that make up the index, business services and finance, hotels and restaurants and Government and other services. Distribution showed the most significant increase over transport and communication.

The increase in distribution was 1.1%, while transport increased by 0.5%. The Government sector reported the a decrease of 0.2%, most significantly in education and recreation, then came business services at 0.3% and hotels and restaurants a 2.7% decrease. The indicator for the output of the services sector for the month between August and September showed an increase of 0.4%.

Final GDP Figures Give A Better Picture

The final GDP figures for the third quarter of 2009 have revised the GDP at market prices headline figure in volume of a fall of 0.4% to a fall of 0.3%. It means that the figures for comparison with the same quarter last year also change from a fall of 5.1% to 5.2%. other revisions include growth in production output revised down to a fall of 0.8% from 0.7% within which manufacturing output was revised up to a fall of 0.1% from 0.2% published last month. The service sector also looks a bit better since the growth in volume of output was revised to show a fall of 0.1% from the original 0.2% published in October. Revisions of distribution and transport services were also revised upward. The GDP deflator is 2% above the same quarter in 2008 and up from 1.1% on the previous quarter. Revisions are made as more completed surveys are returned. The figure given in October for output growth in agriculture of -1.6% has had to be revised to a fall of 2.5%, a downward revision of 0.9%. These are the figures that will go into the Quarterly National Accounts.

Christmas Is Only A Few Weeks Away

Google for gifts and you will quickly find The Gift Experience. The addition of a huge range of personalised and non-personalised gifts has helped The Gift Experience to climb the rankings and consilidate a top position. A comprehensive selection of experience days are also available on the site. As well as Christmas gifts, birthday and anniversary gifts, you can obtain gifts for men and women for every occasion and all year round.

There need be no disappointments with your hamper this year, Virginia Hayward Hampers will delight you with quality, presentation and good value. For almost 25 years Virginia Hayward Hampers have been delivering hampers and gifts to their customers at Christmas. The products are created from the very best food, wines and hardware sourced locally and around the world to send the seasons best wishes to their recipients.

A Fall In Investment In Services

Business investment for the third quarter of 2009 is estimated to have fallen by 3% to £28,393m, a fall of £885m. Investment by both private and public sectors in manufacturing has also fallen by an estimated 9.5% to £2,581m. Services sector investment was £19,825m, a fall of 2.2% and construction fell by 0.6%. Investment in services is estimated to have fallen by over 25% since the same time last year.

There was an increase in expenditure on both computer software and hardware during the quarter on the previous quarter but a decrease on the same quarter last year.

There were decreases in investment in distribution and public corporations. Within the services sector, reductions in expenditure occurred in real estate, renting, hotels and restaurants and education. These reductions are offset by increased expenditure in financial intermediation and transport and communications.

Final June Agricultural Survey Results, England 2009

The final June Survey results for England were released by DEFRA and ONS on 19 November 2009. Some of the key results were that the total area of agricultural holdings in England has increased to 9.4m hectares since 2008. The total croppable area is estimated at 4.9m hectares. The area cropped has fallen to 3.99m hectares but the total land out of arable production stands at 231,000 hectares. Fruit and vegetables grown outdoors account for 140,000 hectares, up 2% on 2008. Common rough grazing stands at 427,900 ha. The total agricultural area has increased in size again this year to 9.8m ha.

Owner occupied land is largely the same as 2008 at 6.3m ha. Land rented for more than a year is also unchanged at 3.3m ha. The area under Full Agricultural Tenancy agreements (FAT) continued to decrease, by 2.9%, to 1,680,900 ha and Farm Business Tenancies have increased 3.8% to 1,094,400 ha. Other agreements have risen to 497,800 ha, up 2.2%.

The national herd of cattle remained at around 5.5m according to the Cattle Tracing Scheme. There were 3.9m pigs, up 0.5%. These included 444,000 breeding pigs. The national sheep flock was 14,984,000 sheep and lambs, down 3.5% on June 2008. The female breeding flock of 6,672,000, down 5.1% on last year, included 5,550,000 ewes for further breeding and 797,00 first time breeding ewes. 326,000 ewes were intended for slaughter. Rams totalled 171,000, down 5.4% on 2008.

The total number of people employed in agricultural was 363,000 up nearly 3,000 from last year. These included 223,000 farmers, business partners, directors and spouses of which 127,200 were part-time, 11,900 salaried managers and 127,800 other workers, 49,400 of which were full-time, the rest part-time or seasonal/casual or gang workers.

High Street Sales Up On Last Year

The retail sales figures from the ONS for October 2009 show that the value of sales was up by 3% and volume was up 3.4% compared with last year.

Predominantly food stores monthly sales values were up 3.9% on October last year, whereas non-food stores were up 0.9% over the same period. Non-store retailing was up 14.5% on last year. Volumes for predominantly food stores were 1.6% higher than last year and non-food stores 3.5% up. The non-store retailing and repair sector was up 15.8% on last year.

The average weekly value of Internet sales in October 2009 was £220.6 million, 3.9% of total retail sales. Prices of retail sales were estimated to be 0.4% lower than October 2008.

Government Spending Up But Not As Much As Predicted

Public sector finances statistics from the ONS suggest the public sector had a current budget deficit of £7.7bn in October and net borrowing of £11.4bn, £11.3bn higher than 2008, when borrowing was £0.1bn. The deficit is £9.9bn higher than last year when there was a surplus of £2.2bn. Public sector net investment was £3.7bn in October 2009 as against £2.3bn last year.

Current receipts to central government totalled £41bn in October down 9.1% from £45.2bn last October. Receipts for the April to October quarter were also down on last year. So far this financial year receipts have been 10% lower than last year compared to the 7.7% predicted in the 2009 Budget. Current expenditure was up 10.2% to £48.6bn in October 2009 from £44.1bn in 2008 and were also up on the quarter. Spending so far this financial year is 6% higher than last year. The 2009 Budget predicted it would be 7.5% higher than last year.

The public sector net cash requirement was £5.9bn, £8.4bn higher than in 2008 when the cash requirement was £-2.5bn. Net investment for the financial year so far is 61% higher than last year at £18.7bn, the 2009 Budget predicted £43.8bn or 24%.

First Annual Business Enquiry Using SIC 2007

The ONS published their first set of provisional results for the Annual Business Enquiry under the new Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2007. The differences between the SIC 2003 and SIC 2007 make it difficult to compare the 2008 figures with previous years. Results for the four main industry groups - production, construction, distribution and services, were given in terms of turnover, purchases and Gross Value Added (GVA).

The production industries provisionally look to have an 8.7% change in turnover, 10.3% in purchases and an approximate 6.6% increase in GVA between 2007 and 2008. Construction has also increased its results. Its turnover has gone up by 8.4%, its purchases by 6% and approximate GVA by 11.6%. The distribution industries' turnover went up by 16.9%, purchases by 19.8% giving an overall decrease in GVA of -1%. Services' turnover increased by 8.3%, purchases by 10.6% and approximate GVA of 5.5%.

The mining industries contributed largely to production figures as did electricity and gas adding 30.3 and 21.4 respectively in turnover. Wholesale trade made a large contribution to the distribution figures. The only decreases in the service industries were arts, entertainment and recreation and administrative and support services with -24.3 and -5.1 respectively.

Agricultural Prices Index For September 2009

The agricultural producer and purchase prices indices for 2008-9 to September 2009 were published by DEFRA last week. The survey includes producer price indices for cereals, industrial crops, fresh fruit and vegetables, seeds, flowers and plants and other crop products as well as for animals and animal products. The survey includes purchase price indices for seeds, energy and lubricants, plant protection products and animal feedingstuffs. It also includes costs for the maintenance and repair of plant and buildings, veterinary services, costs of other goods and services, machinery, plant and other equipment and buildings. The totals for all products and all means of agricultural production are also included in the survey.

The indices for all products were 143.3 for 2008 from 118.8 for 2007 and 130.2 in September 2009 from 130.8 in August and the indices for all the means of agricultural production were 130 for September 2009 from 131.1 in August and 139.7 for 2008 from 113.8 in 2007 (2005 = 100).

Manufacturing Demand Still Weak But Expected To Improve

A small majority of manufacturing firms responding to the CBI Industrial Trends Survey reported that they expect demand to improve slightly over the next three months. Many of the firms reported order books well below normal and weak export order books only slightly better than last month due to a weaker pound.

Stock levels are more than adequate to meet demand due to capital goods producers pessimistic about output. Domestic prices are expected to fall slightly over the next quarter similar to that in October.

Inflation Up In October

Both the all items CPI and the all items RPI were up in October. The annual rate for the CPI was 1.5% from 1.1% and for the RPI -0.8% from -0.1.4% last month. The annual rate for the RPIX was also up from 1.9% from 1.3% last month.

Looking at goods and services separately, the CPI for goods was 108.4 up from 108.3 giving an annual rate of 0.8% from 0.0% last month. The RPI all goods index was unchanged at 168.1. The all services index under the CPI was 115.7 from 115.4 at a rate of 2.3% down from 2.5% last month and for the RPI it was 285.1 from 283.8 and the rate is unchanged at 2.1%. The Tax and Price Index (TPI) for October was 192.9 from 192.2, or a rate of -1.6% up from -2.3% in September.

Transport contributed a large upward effect on the CPI due to falling prices in fuels and lubricants. Other noteworthy effects came from recreation and culture with price rises from the recording media in particular DVDs, games, toys and hobbies, food and non-alcoholic beverages and communications due to increases in landline telephone charges. A small upward effect came from furniture and household goods. Downward effects came mainly from miscellaneous goods and services in particular banking services, and education due to the effect of the increase in university fees. Housing and household services made a small contribution. These variations were reflected in the RPI with motoring expenditure the largest upward effect due to petrol and oil prices, housing in particular housing depeciation, food principally non-seasonal food, fares and other travel, household goods and services (furniture, telephones) , personal goods and services and leisure goods also made an impression.

Rise In Unemployment Slowest Since April 1998

The labour market statistics from the ONS show that unemployment was at 7.8% for the quarter from July to September and there were 2.46 million people unemployed. There were in total 21.1% of the working population economically inactive or 8 milion people. The working population totalled 28.93 million people, 21.26 million in full-time employment. There were 7.66 milion people in part-time employment.

Average earnings rose by 1.2% on last year including bonuses and 1.8% excluding bonuses. The claimant count was 1.64 million. It is the highest number of claimants since April 1997 but the smallest increase in the claiment count since April 1998. The number of vacancies was the lowest since records began in 2001 at 428,000. There were 31 million workforce jobs in June 2009, down 163,000. The biggest decreases were in business services and finance. Redundancies totalled 205,000, or 8.2% per 1000 employees.

The private sector accounted for 22.84 million employees and the public sector 6.04 million. By country of birth, 73.6% of UK born people of working age were in employment compared with 67.3% of non-UK born people. The number of UK born people in employment was 25.31 million and of non-UK born people it was 3.68 million.

The total hours worked per week were 910.7 million and the average weekly hours were 31.5. Labour disputes totalled 12 stoppages and 57,000 working days lost. Productivity was 3.9% lower in Q2 than last year while unit wage costs increased by 5.7% over the same period.

The south-east had the lowest unemployment rate in the UK at 6% and the west-midlands the highest at 10% due to a fall in the number of economically active people and an increase in unemployment.

Great October Retail Sales

The value of UK retail sales for October on a like-for-like basis rose 3.8% over the year from October 2008 and 5.9% on a total basis across all categories. Food sales slowed again, clothing and footwear growth increased and homewares and furniture also gained helped by consumer confidence and the housing market. These gains should be set against the larger declines of last year. Internet, mail order and phone sales increased by 18% in October compared with 11.9% in September in line with store sales.

Terms Of Trade Unchanged In September

There was a seasonal deficit on trade in goods and services of £3.5bn in the month of September. The results for Q3 were an £8.4bn deficit compared with £8.6bn in Q2. The deficit in trade in goods alone was £7.2bn. The seasonally adjusted surplus of trade in services was £3.7bn. The volume of exports, excluding oil and erratics, was 0.2% lower, but the volume of imports was 4.1% higher compared with August. Both export and import prices rose by 1.1% in September compared with August.

The total value of exports in September was £19.4bn and increase of £0.7bn and the total value of imports rose by £1.9bn to £26.6bn. In Q3 2009 the trade in goods deficit was £19.8bn, down £0.1bn, total exports rose by £2bn to £56.9bn and total imports by £1.9bn to £76.7bn.

At the commodity level, important factors in September were capital goods and oil exports and imports of cars, aircraft, chemicals and intermediate goods. Quarterly figures show that cars, chemicals and oil were important exports and oil and cars were also important imports.

The EU-wide trade deficit widened to £3.4bn compared with £3bn in August. EU exports rose to £10.9bn (up £0.6bn or 6.2%) and imports to £14.3bn (up £1bn or 7.8%). Again the most significant factors were oil, cars and capital goods. Trade within the G7 export trade during September compared with August fell by £0.2bn with the USA, the largest among the G7 countries. Import trade within the G7 from Germany rose by £0.4bn. Imports from South Africa rose by £0.2bn. Over the quarter within the G7, exports to the US rose by £0.5bn and to germany and France both by £0.4bn. Imports from Germany rose by £0.8bn but imports from the USA fell by £0.5bn.

The volume of exports fell by 0.2% in the month to September but the volume of imports rose by 4.1%. Over the quarter, exports rose by 3.6% and imports by 3.5% compared with Q2. The terms of trade were unchanged in September as both import and export prices rose by 1.1%. There was an increase in the terms of trade between Q2 and Q3 because export prices rose by 0.6% but import prices fell by 0.4%.

The surplus on trade in services narrowed to £3.7bn in September from £3.9bn in August. Total exports fell by £0.1bn to £13.2bn but imports rose £0.1bn to £9.5bn. In Q3 the surplus on trade in services widened to £11.4bn. Total exports rose to £39.7bn (up £0.3bn or 0.9%) and imports rose to £28.3bn (up £0.2bn or 0.8%).

Factory Gate Prices Up In October

Overall output prices rose by 1.7% in the year to October according to the producer price index (PPI) published by the ONS. There was a rise of 0.2% in the month to October mainly due to price rises in alcohol and tobacco, transport, petroleum products and electricals. Computers and other information processing equipment had an significant effect up by 9.2%. Food, chemicals and other manufactured goods were the only sectors not to show a rise in the month.

Input prices also rose by 0.1% in the year to October and by 2.6% in the month. These compare with falls of 6.2% and 3.9% respectivly for September. The rise in input prices reflects price rises in crude oil, 6.8% and also fuels, 4.4% (but a fall of 11.3% in the year) and other imported parts and equipment. Home produced food was the only sector not to show a rise in the month to October.

Price Rises At Factory Gate

The October Producer Prices Index was released today by the ONS. It tells us that the overall output prices index rose 1.7% in the year to October and 0.2% in the month between September and October. At the same time the input prices index rose by 0.1% in the year and 0.8% in the month.

The input index for manufacturing rose 2.6% over the month to October compared with 3.9% last month and 0.1% over the year. The output price index for manufactured goods rose 1.7% in the year and 0.2% during the month. Food output prices decreased 0.3% over the month and rose 0.6% over the year.

Product News 3

Here’s an opportunity to browse some offerings from Webgains. Hardcloud is inspired by music, skate and surf culture. They strive to bring the best online selection of clothing and accessories from a fresh new perspective. The web site is easy to use and provides excellent customer service. Brand they stock include Animal, Hurley, Volcom, Billabong Roxy, Vans, DC, Nixon, Etnies and Reef. There is a unique store specialising in men's clothing, GelaSkins and designer toys. Urban Retro also stock T-shirts and other clothing for men from a variety of brands. They have the biggest range of GelaSkins in the UK. They are specialists in designer vinyl toys, plush toys and licensed toys from Sesame Street and Super Mario among others. They sell a full range of lifestyle and home products including posters, art prints, mugs and magazines. Standard delivery is free on orders over £40.

You can browse and buy exclusive brands such as Kenneth Cole and Linea to fashion renowned brands such as Diesel, Hugo Boss and Armani, online at House of Fraser. As one of Britain’s leading premium department stores, House of Fraser has thousands of products, ranging from designer clothes for women, men and children to luxurious homeware and electicals.

Venture Sport is of the largest retailers of outdoor equipment and clothing. It sells over 97 leading brands of the best quality outdoor wear, equipment and clothing. Well-known brands include Craghoppers, Berghaus, Brasher and Vaude. They are all in the warehouse ready to go. They say 98% of orders are sent within 24 hours.

If you are planning a holiday as many people do at this time of year, Dales Holiday Cottages have over 600 cottages available to book online throughout the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire Moors, Yorkshire Coast and Wolds, the Derbyshire Dales, Northumbria, the Northern Dales, the Lake District, Cumbria and Eden Valley, the Scottish Borders and the Highlands of Scotland.

Online accomodation specialist HotelConnect offers hotels, cheap and cheerful bargain accomodation for breaks and holidays in cities in Europe and the USA.

Computers

There are always new offers coming out for computer enthusiasts. Have a look at some of these from One.com UK and AVG.
AVG Internet Security Business Edition 9.0

AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 - 2 years for the price of 1

AVG Anti-Virus Business Edition 9.0

Production Up Across Some Sectors In September

The volume index for the output of the production industries for Q3 was released today in the latest Index of Production statistical bulletin from the ONS. The index decreased by 0.8% compared with the last quarter but was 10.5% lower on the same time last year. Manufacturinf output was down 0.1%, mining and quarrying 4.7% and utilities 0.8%.

The monthly difference was an increase of 1.7% in manufacturing, 8% in electrical and optical equipment, 3% in transport and 4.2% in other manufacturing industries.

Of the market sectors covered by the survey, capital goods was up by 0.2% on the previous quarter and 2.2% on the year. During the last month consumer durables were up 5.5% and both consumer non-durable goods and intermediate goods increased by 1% and 1.3% respectively, but all were down on the year.

The September Index stands at 86.9, 1.6% up on August.

Geocities Web Site Changed To WebRing

Until recently I had a website on Geocities. Then I lost it due to a malicious e-mail. Now, since Geocities has closed, I have transfered my website to WebRing. They are offering free webspace to Geocities users.

URL: http://www.webring.com/profile?y=stuartkirk2001;gcjoin

If you are not a Geocities site user you may want to find out more for yourself anyway. You can do so at:

URL: http://www.webring.com/profile?y=stuartkirk2001;join

My original web site carried information about the range of business, marketing and social enterprises offered, the new web site does as well. It is already being developed so you can visit.

The website URL is: http://webspace.webring.com/people/hs/stuartkirk2001/

You can click the link and visit a group powered by WebRing.



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