New Actinic Designer - anyone heared of

[parklifeclothes]

the biggest problem is the negative press on it. They have succesfully scared people in to not spending money and caused a bigger problem IMHO

This is without doubt the most reported downturn in history with all the 24 hour news channels having little else to report on so repeating the same over and over.

The downturn was always going to happen as it couldn't go on growing forever, (we all got greedy, Mondeo man became Mercedes Man, Terraced house man became Semi Detached man and the media encouraged us all to become things we weren't, property investors, share speculaters) but without doubt what made in so dramatic was the banks lending to people it always knew could not repay, anyone with sense could see it but they wanted to make money no matter what the risk and it blew up in their faces and thats when the media scum were there again to sell more papers, increase viewers and advertising revenue with the mass reporting.

3 to 4 years, 7 years is tosh, it will be a short sharp shock. Many of the news stories reporting so and so going bust should have happened years ago, the likes of Woolworths, MFI, Adams, Zavvi, all have been struggling for the whole of the 'boom' years with most changing hands each year for £1, they were never going to survive the slightest downturn so in actual fact shouldn't be big news, but guess what it grabs headlines, sells papers, makes you watch their channel!!

What we need is a good warm summer, and a big good news story and that'll kick start things, in the meantime use all available channels to find, please and keep customers.

[parklifeclothes]

What else is making the news in todays tabloids....

Peaches Geldof and singer Max Drummey are to divorce...WHO?

Jade's emergency op on lump has been a success. Show bosses have talked about worst-case scenario...Sad, but famous for what??

RICHARD Madeley and Judy Finnigan’s telly presenter daughter Chloe smokes CANNABIS from a bong as she sits between a man’s legs at a boozy party...So what, who cares?

Skint telly chav Kerry Katona is buying a second-hand CARAVAN on a North Wales holiday park...Lucky old wales

and when they have an opportunity to report good news on Subway creating 7000 jobs it has this as a headline...New jobs at Subway amid more cuts...very helpful

This is the sort of c**p a lot of the population reads/watches and buys into with the likes of Sun, Star, OK, Hello, etc so when they then say the country's doomed they go and buy more White Lighten cider, 20 Bensons, this weeks edition of OK with shock, horror, Kate Moss dumps boyfriend, and Man U's latest strip (because it's got a new sponsors logo on).

Stop buying the tabloids and glossy mags that survive only by bigging up so called 'celebs', start spending money on real products and the country will soon be thriving again, thats my take on it.

[parklifeclothes]

So glad I woke up early, all wound up now!!!!!!!!!!!

[RuralWeb]

Go get em darreen - we are going to your fav place today - center parks penrth so see you on the slides !

[Firecom]

lol, yep, bugger what the tabloids say. they only care about paper sales.

the best info is from the ft and telegraph etc. I'm glad interest rates are low as this does help. I remember how high they used to be. We ran an analysis recently regarding property porfolios. made interesting reading.

[Rich Brady]

I'm glad interest rates are low as this does help.

Help's who though? It helps the thousands of people that have borrowed beyond there means for too long and shafts every careful saver in the country.

Nothing the governemet does is going to keep every memeber of the population happy, it will merely rob Peter to pay Paul.

Bailing the banks out to kick start borrowing again is not the way forward IMO. It was uncontrolled lending, not just to the general populas, but between the banks that casued this mess in the first place.

If the governmet had given each UK citizen £1,000,000 each, on the understandig that they would use it to pay off any debts they could, the banks would have been paid, most people would be debt free and it would have cost the governmet a lot less money.

The next step will be printing money, which will increase inflation and when a loaf of bread costs £2,000 my morgage will seem like pitance

[leehack]

I reckon 99% of the country has more on mortage than in savings Rich, so frankly won't give a crap about low savings rates.

Damn those banks, my 20k in the bank is no longer earning £1200 per year pre-tax. Ah well never mind at least my mortgage is £300 (after-tax) less each month.

[Rich Brady]

I reckon 99% of the country has more on mortage than in savings Rich, so frankly won't give a crap about low savings rates.

I agree Lee, but what about the pensioners that have worked all their lives, paid of their mortgage budgeted for their retirement and now only have a fraction of what they should. Is it "right"? Does "right" even come into it? That's not my call, just my opinion.

I'm glad I'm not having to make any of the decisions, but from what I see the government are trying to kick start lending again, so all ready finiacially strapped people can get themselves into more debt for short term benfits.

[leehack]

Well recession or not, pensioners constantly plead poverty, so what's the change lol? I think you can only ever deal to the masses and that they are at the moment. I've never accepted that pensioners are skint, in fact I think they are amongst the richest people I know, just the most cautious and secretive sods. I know more pensioners with money hidden away in secret accounts than I do skint ones.

[pinbrook]

Peaches Geldof and singer Max Drummey are to divorce...WHO?

Jade's emergency op on lump has been a success. Show bosses have talked about worst-case scenario...Sad, but famous for what??

RICHARD Madeley and Judy Finnigan’s telly presenter daughter Chloe smokes CANNABIS from a bong as she sits between a man’s legs at a boozy party...So what, who cares?

Skint telly chav Kerry Katona is buying a second-hand CARAVAN on a North Wales holiday park...Lucky old wales

Reading this has in fact cheered me up....it makes you remember how trivial life can be, much better than obsessing about the mortgage and the state of the pound/euro pound/dollar.

[Rich Brady]

I know more pensioners

That's because your closer to their age than me

I'm not suggesting I could do any better, but I do like a good discussion... I hadn't thought the topics would be so deep on a Sunday morning though.

I need a coffee

[parklifeclothes]

The world revolves around lending and without it we would live a dire life, personally, business-wise and worldwide.

The lesson to be learnt is if you borrow, borrow what you can afford to pay back at the rates offered and then re-calculate with an extra 5% as fallback.

Same with saving, don't put all your eggs in one basket. I've learnt the hard way and within a month of taking a mortgage out in 1992 my interest rate rocketed to 16.9% and the property was worth 40% less almost overnight and needless to say I got into the dark brown stuff. We then put a lot of savings into shares in 2001 and within a year had lost half, enough for a big flash car and some!

Now I'm still reckless with money but marginally better off than some.

As for the coffin dodgers, it gives them something else to moan about beside the youth of today

[Firecom]

During the last recession interest rates were at 15%. Great for savers but people with mortgages suffered. House prices were considerably lower though. A house worth 300k now was around 60k then. The high interest rates would cripple people and repossesions would shoot through the roof. You just can't please everyone. Most peoples main debt is their mortgage.

I don't like the govt bailing out the banks with our money, but if you let the banks go under then we all suffer. a recession is bad, a depression would be a total disaster. Look at the last one during the 1920's.

For those who do not remeber, below are the interest rates for the last recession. Anyone really want to go back there? Just imagine what the credit card rates would be? would we get any sales online??? That recession lasted 4 years and by all accounts was not as serious as this one. Short sharp shock or should people plan for some serious bad years? History does have a tendancy to repeat its self. Thats why i'm sadly planning for 3 to 4 years rough times. I hope it is shorter as its innocent people who suffer while the people who caused it retire on their big bonuses.

but i'll wager now, in 6 or 7 years, the banks will lend in just the same way as the last few years. people forget very easily

Year Month Rate Change
2009 8th Jan 1.5% -0.5%

1992 Nov 7.00 % - 1.00 %
Oct 8.00 % - 1.00 %
Sep 9.00 % - 1.00 %
May 10.00 % - 0.50 %

1991 Sep 10.50 % - 0.50 %
Jul 11.00 % - 0.50 %
May 11.50 % - 0.50 %
Apr 12.00 % - 0.50 %
Mar 12.50 % - 0.50 %
Feb 13.00 % - 1.00 %

1990 Oct 14.00 % - 1.00 %

1989 Oct 15.00 % 1.00 %
May 14.00 % 1.00 %

1988 Nov 13.00 % 1.00 %
Aug 12.00 % 1.50 %
Jul 10.50 % 1.00 %
Jun 9.50 % 2.00 %
May 7.50 % - 0.50 %
Apr 8.00 % - 0.50 %
Mar 8.50 % - 0.50 %
Feb 9.00 % 0.50 %

[pinbrook]

at last it seems the banks are starting to make good decisions...

Top chef closes four restaurants

Antony Worrall Thompson
It makes me cry. It is appalling, to be honest... I am furious that the banks didn't support me

Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has had to shut four restaurants, leaving 60 of his staff redundant.

He said he "experienced an unexpected but decisive fall in revenue across the businesses from September 2008".

His holding company, AWT Restaurants Ltd, went into administration last Friday.

Mr Worrall Thompson, who lives with his wife Jacinta in Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, said the decision was taken after he failed to raise £200,000 from his bank to tide over the firm.

'Unavoidable decision'

He said: "Even though November and December sales were down on the previous year, five of the seven businesses were profitable. However, the first quarter of the year is always a hard one in the hospitality business and additional funding was required to ease our continuing cash flow issues.

"Our request for funds has not been supported, making administration a difficult decision but an unavoidable one."

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday he said he was "furious" that he felt forced to tell staff - who he treats as a "big family" - they had to find work elsewhere. One had been with him since 1983.

"It makes me cry. It is just appalling... I am furious, to be honest, that the banks didn't support me," he added.

Mr Worrall Thompson said he could have saved his entire company by offering his home as a guarantee to the banks, but said that he wasn't willing to take such a "horrendous" risk.

He said: "We did a cash-flow forecast for the end of the year and it was fine.

Devastated

"But we needed looking after for the first four months of the year and the banks just didn't want to play, not without me giving horrendous personal guarantees that I wasn't prepared to do. I am getting to an age where I can't afford to lose my house."

is this guy for real? he is happy to ask the bank to risk its and our money, but wasn't prepared to risk his own.... who needs a lesson in life here ?

[parklifeclothes]

It was quoted somewhere recently he has debts of £10 million, no wonder banks are pulling the plug.

Unfortunately another effect of the credit crunch we have smug Anthea Turner back on telly every 2 minutes and parading her half naked well past it body in the papers to try and recoup her and hubbies massive losses. She might have to sell her mansion, poor girl!!