Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
Mortgage has got to be lot cheaper than business loan for sure, just don't make it secured.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
First and most importantly - what do you know about selling books, the book business, etc. Is it a general bookshop or a specialist one?
Secondly - why is your friend selling up? Is business on the decline?
Third - have you seen the accounts for (say) the last five years or so? Are profits on the up and and up?
Fourth - will you "inherit" the businesses bank account? Having an active account that is more than 3 years old is a real help in many business situations especially if short-term loans are needed from the bank or other lenders.
My main worry is that if the business is selling for £35k then on the usual basis for business sales it is only making a profit of about £7K
Good questions. I did work in and run a bookshop, albeit part of a chain, for about ten years. A few years ago, but something I'd love to get back to. She's selling because she's decided to move to another part of the country, where she's always wanted to live, and another bookshop has come on the market. Her parents are also retiring there too. Haven't seen the accounts yet, but she's happy to share info - literally only found out about this yesterday. Profits are reliable - it's in a good location, with a good local customer base, lots of tourist visitors, and no competition. 17K per year over the last three years. Inheriting the business bank account - good question! I shall ask her.
Thanks for your points, really helpful.
Is the 17k profit before or after the owners fair wage?
If she is working full time and taking little or no salary you would be working for less than minimum wage and taking on risk and debt.
If she is taking a fair salary for hours worked before the 17k and you want to do it, it sounds like a reasonable deal.
One of his topics is Brexit, which he regards as a disaster. “The idea that Britain stands in isolation from the European continent has always been a nonsense. The problem about Brexit is a historical problem. Since the reign of Elizabeth I the consistent policy of [British] governments has been to prevent a single monolithic power from dominating the European continent. It’s why we fought two world wars. It’s the basis of the existence of Nato.
“By leaving the EU we have removed the principal voice against its integration into a single state. We were that voice. We have made it much more likely that this great monolith will arise. We have also guaranteed that we will have absolutely no influence over what it does. This seems to me to be a betrayal of six centuries of careful statesmanship on the spur of a moment. We should be completely ashamed of ourselves.”
Sumption in the Times. His views during the pandemic were a bit salty for me, but in this area I agree.
You could perhaps infer a degree of suspicion about the EU from Sumption’s language. He is viewing the EU through a lens of British interests; he has a suspicion of this ‘monolith’ that for centuries we have worked to prevent. Which is where we differ. I embrace the monolith, despite its manifest imperfections and frustrations.
I want well-funded public services, with strong environmental protection so we have a pleasant country to live in. I want rational, pragmatic restraints on capitalism and wealth creation, tempering the kind of animal spirits which happily prospered for centuries from slavery and empire, sent children up chimneys and down mines and the poor into workhouses, that used perverted science and morality to justify those things to themselves as they grew fantastically rich. For that mentality still exists.
And, to my mind at least, people with that mindset begat Brexit, and have had their hands on the tiller since Cameron bravely ran away, and they have brought us high taxes, terrible services, a poor economy, shit-filled rivers and beaches, pot-holed roads, an NHS on its knees and the zombie government we currently enjoy. The oft-cited euphemism of ‘supply-chain problems’ from business after business that doesn’t want to alienate the Leavers as prices rise inexorably, the same Leavers who were assured no-one would be foolish enough to take us out of the single market.
Before the referendum I was speaking to a bloke I’ve known for 25 years in the pub. A train driver, trade unionist, an enthusiastic Corbynite Lexiter. He couldn’t wait to vote Leave. It will let us to nationalise everything, he said. Labour will sweep to power on a Corbynite manifesto once we’ve left the EU capitalist viper’s nest. You’re a fool, I told him. If we leave the right-wing of the Tories will go mad. The power will go to their heads and normal people like us will suffer from the carnage they will bring. He wouldn’t listen. I was right.
Sumption's biggest mistake is his belief that we had any real influence inside the EU or that we were able to prevent its steady progress towards a monolithic entity - which of course, unlike you, I oppose.
We spent 40 plus years inside the EU and did nothing at all to prevent its progress towards a single state. So the fact we are now outside will make not a blind bit of difference beyond the fact it won't include us.
I think it’s fair to say that the majority of our leaders over that 40 years were relaxed about the single state issue. Mrs T wasn’t in favour, but apart from trying to sabotage the idea by admitting the East Europeans she didn’t do all that much against. Unless in my dotage I’ve forgotten! For the record, I’ve always been in favour of the original six, plus the British Isles and possibly Iberia pushing towards a single state.
If Mackey stands and does well in Mid Beds, I suggest he’ll take votes mainly from Con and LD, so might that be good for Labour?
I think the LibDems are most likely to win, but Labour have the most favourable odds.
Is there a market on Tories coming 3rd? Seems pretty unlikely but certainly not impossible.
The dynamic for a conservative 3rd place is simple enough:
- Labour voters from 2019 still vote Labour, and they gain some switchers - Disgruntled conservative remainers vote Lib Dem as a protest - Disgruntled conservative right wingers stay at home
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
Mortgage has got to be lot cheaper than business loan for sure, just don't make it secured.
It’s hard for voters on Mid Beds to know which opposition party to vote for and this should make the Tories favourites to hold on.
A split opposition vote leaving the Tories to come through the middle COULD happen, but that doesn’t mean it will happen. The Tories still have to get around a third of the vote for that scenario. The only poll had them on less than a quarter. Even if the Tories do that well, the opposition vote has to split 50:50. They need to be lucky too!
I don't know why she persists in trying to do politics. She did a single good thing -albeit for the wrong reasons - and now she thinks she is on a crusade.
She should rest on her laurels and realise that her attempts at forming a new party are doomed to failure before they start - not because of her but because of what she is trying to do. Something many others have tried (and failed) to do before from far stronger positions
Much of the public seem unaware of how important the Article 50 case was in protecting citizens from their own government if they attempt to remove rights by using Henry VIII powers .
Instead of being lauded she was disgracefully attacked.
One of his topics is Brexit, which he regards as a disaster. “The idea that Britain stands in isolation from the European continent has always been a nonsense. The problem about Brexit is a historical problem. Since the reign of Elizabeth I the consistent policy of [British] governments has been to prevent a single monolithic power from dominating the European continent. It’s why we fought two world wars. It’s the basis of the existence of Nato.
“By leaving the EU we have removed the principal voice against its integration into a single state. We were that voice. We have made it much more likely that this great monolith will arise. We have also guaranteed that we will have absolutely no influence over what it does. This seems to me to be a betrayal of six centuries of careful statesmanship on the spur of a moment. We should be completely ashamed of ourselves.”
Sumption in the Times. His views during the pandemic were a bit salty for me, but in this area I agree.
You could perhaps infer a degree of suspicion about the EU from Sumption’s language. He is viewing the EU through a lens of British interests; he has a suspicion of this ‘monolith’ that for centuries we have worked to prevent. Which is where we differ. I embrace the monolith, despite its manifest imperfections and frustrations.
I want well-funded public services, with strong environmental protection so we have a pleasant country to live in. I want rational, pragmatic restraints on capitalism and wealth creation, tempering the kind of animal spirits which happily prospered for centuries from slavery and empire, sent children up chimneys and down mines and the poor into workhouses, that used perverted science and morality to justify those things to themselves as they grew fantastically rich. For that mentality still exists.
And, to my mind at least, people with that mindset begat Brexit, and have had their hands on the tiller since Cameron bravely ran away, and they have brought us high taxes, terrible services, a poor economy, shit-filled rivers and beaches, pot-holed roads, an NHS on its knees and the zombie government we currently enjoy. The oft-cited euphemism of ‘supply-chain problems’ from business after business that doesn’t want to alienate the Leavers as prices rise inexorably, the same Leavers who were assured no-one would be foolish enough to take us out of the single market.
Before the referendum I was speaking to a bloke I’ve known for 25 years in the pub. A train driver, trade unionist, an enthusiastic Corbynite Lexiter. He couldn’t wait to vote Leave. It will let us to nationalise everything, he said. Labour will sweep to power on a Corbynite manifesto once we’ve left the EU capitalist viper’s nest. You’re a fool, I told him. If we leave the right-wing of the Tories will go mad. The power will go to their heads and normal people like us will suffer from the carnage they will bring. He wouldn’t listen. I was right.
Sumption's biggest mistake is his belief that we had any real influence inside the EU or that we were able to prevent its steady progress towards a monolithic entity - which of course, unlike you, I oppose.
We spent 40 plus years inside the EU and did nothing at all to prevent its progress towards a single state. So the fact we are now outside will make not a blind bit of difference beyond the fact it won't include us.
I think it’s fair to say that the majority of our leaders over that 40 years were relaxed about the single state issue. Mrs T wasn’t in favour, but apart from trying to sabotage the idea by admitting the East Europeans she didn’t do all that much against. Unless in my dotage I’ve forgotten! For the record, I’ve always been in favour of the original six, plus the British Isles and possibly Iberia pushing towards a single state.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
First and most importantly - what do you know about selling books, the book business, etc. Is it a general bookshop or a specialist one?
Secondly - why is your friend selling up? Is business on the decline?
Third - have you seen the accounts for (say) the last five years or so? Are profits on the up and and up?
Fourth - will you "inherit" the businesses bank account? Having an active account that is more than 3 years old is a real help in many business situations especially if short-term loans are needed from the bank or other lenders.
My main worry is that if the business is selling for £35k then on the usual basis for business sales it is only making a profit of about £7K
Good questions. I did work in and run a bookshop, albeit part of a chain, for about ten years. A few years ago, but something I'd love to get back to. She's selling because she's decided to move to another part of the country, where she's always wanted to live, and another bookshop has come on the market. Her parents are also retiring there too. Haven't seen the accounts yet, but she's happy to share info - literally only found out about this yesterday. Profits are reliable - it's in a good location, with a good local customer base, lots of tourist visitors, and no competition. 17K per year over the last three years. Inheriting the business bank account - good question! I shall ask her.
Thanks for your points, really helpful.
Is the 17k profit before or after the owners fair wage?
If she is working full time and taking little or no salary you would be working for less than minimum wage and taking on risk and debt.
If she is taking a fair salary for hours worked before the 17k and you want to do it, it sounds like a reasonable deal.
Does she own the freehold or is it a tenancy? If the latter, who’s the landlord?
I don't know why she persists in trying to do politics. She did a single good thing -albeit for the wrong reasons - and now she thinks she is on a crusade.
She should rest on her laurels and realise that her attempts at forming a new party are doomed to failure before they start - not because of her but because of what she is trying to do. Something many others have tried (and failed) to do before from far stronger positions
Much of the public seem unaware of how important the Article 50 case was in protecting citizens from their own government if they attempt to remove rights by using Henry VIII powers .
Instead of being lauded she was disgracefully attacked.
I argued at the time that she was right in what she was doing. My main argument against her was that she was being disingenuous about the reasons for it. As she has subsequently made clear, her main concern was not in making sure things were done right but in trying to stop Brexit entirely.
Hence my comment that she was doing the right thing but foir the wrong reasons.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
Mortgage has got to be lot cheaper than business loan for sure, just don't make it secured.
I would like to see an unsecured mortgage.
Being a silly billy Malmesbury, I meant not secured on the business, but on his property and just a standard mortgage. ie if business goes belly up he does not have to have a fire sale.
It’s hard for voters on Mid Beds to know which opposition party to vote for and this should make the Tories favourites to hold on.
A split opposition vote leaving the Tories to come through the middle COULD happen, but that doesn’t mean it will happen. The Tories still have to get around a third of the vote for that scenario. The only poll had them on less than a quarter. Even if the Tories do that well, the opposition vote has to split 50:50. They need to be lucky too!
The worst result for the Tories would be something like Labour 38% Lib Dem 32%, Con 25%, other 5%. It’s possible. It would then lead to the LDs giving up and yielding a consolidated Labour vote share in the general election, but with Con returning to second place.
(Well, the worst would be Con to lose deposit but that’s not going to happen).
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
Mortgage has got to be lot cheaper than business loan for sure, just don't make it secured.
I would like to see an unsecured mortgage.
Being a silly billy Malmesbury, I meant not secured on the business, but on his property and just a standard mortgage. ie if business goes belly up he does not have to have a fire sale.
Yes, keep the business and the family home at arms length, financially.
For what it is worth I think the things to look out for in Mid Beds as far as how the vote is going (assuming you don't have access to canvas data) is the poster war and leaflet war.
Both Labour and the LDs want to convince the electors they are the main challengers so need to get as many posters up as possible and as many leaflets delivered as possible so the electors think they are the main challengers. They won't want to give the other side oxygen so will attack the Tories in the leaflets with just one article each time on why Lab/LD can't win. Only when they are convinced the Tories are out of the picture or the split vote will let the Tories through will they go all out for the other opposition party splitting the vote.
I suspect a lot of posterboards will go up quickly to solidify the position of LDs/Lab.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
If it is just a case of getting the money then i'd guess remortgaging is the best option. Maybe 5% p/a interest?
I think my own starting point would be to establish with certainty that the business is actually solvent, and to get some independent advice on the valuation.
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
First and most importantly - what do you know about selling books, the book business, etc. Is it a general bookshop or a specialist one?
Secondly - why is your friend selling up? Is business on the decline?
Third - have you seen the accounts for (say) the last five years or so? Are profits on the up and and up?
Fourth - will you "inherit" the businesses bank account? Having an active account that is more than 3 years old is a real help in many business situations especially if short-term loans are needed from the bank or other lenders.
My main worry is that if the business is selling for £35k then on the usual basis for business sales it is only making a profit of about £7K
Good questions. I did work in and run a bookshop, albeit part of a chain, for about ten years. A few years ago, but something I'd love to get back to. She's selling because she's decided to move to another part of the country, where she's always wanted to live, and another bookshop has come on the market. Her parents are also retiring there too. Haven't seen the accounts yet, but she's happy to share info - literally only found out about this yesterday. Profits are reliable - it's in a good location, with a good local customer base, lots of tourist visitors, and no competition. 17K per year over the last three years. Inheriting the business bank account - good question! I shall ask her.
Thanks for your points, really helpful.
Is the 17k profit before or after the owners fair wage?
If she is working full time and taking little or no salary you would be working for less than minimum wage and taking on risk and debt.
If she is taking a fair salary for hours worked before the 17k and you want to do it, it sounds like a reasonable deal.
Does she own the freehold or is it a tenancy? If the latter, who’s the landlord?
Oh I was thinking the same. Presumably tenancy at that price, so this agreement is key.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
Mortgage has got to be lot cheaper than business loan for sure, just don't make it secured.
2019 - Lab 22%, short by 24,700 votes 2017 - Lab 28%, short by 21,000 votes 2015 - Lab 16%, short by 23,300 votes (UKIP v. close 3rd!) 2010 - Lab 25%, short by 15,200 votes 2005 - LD 24%, short by 11,400 votes (Lab very close 3rd!) 2001 - Lab 30%, short by 8,000 votes 1997 - Lab 33%, short by 7,100 votes
I am not a psephologist from Warsaw who moved to Haiti (ie. a Voodoo Pole).
It’s hard for voters on Mid Beds to know which opposition party to vote for and this should make the Tories favourites to hold on.
A split opposition vote leaving the Tories to come through the middle COULD happen, but that doesn’t mean it will happen. The Tories still have to get around a third of the vote for that scenario. The only poll had them on less than a quarter. Even if the Tories do that well, the opposition vote has to split 50:50. They need to be lucky too!
Well you can't fault the few remaining PB Tories for giving undermining the two horse race reality their best shot?!
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
Mortgage has got to be lot cheaper than business loan for sure, just don't make it secured.
Mortgages are surely always secured?
It is the definition of a mortgage, but I guess we know what @malcolmg means.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
Mortgage has got to be lot cheaper than business loan for sure, just don't make it secured.
Mortgages are surely always secured?
Explained elsewhere , I meant not on business but only on property. Seemed obvious to me but was not clear.
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
If it is just a case of getting the money then i'd guess remortgaging is the best option. Maybe 5% p/a interest?
I think my own starting point would be to establish with certainty that the business is actually solvent, and to get some independent advice on the valuation.
You could almost get that on a 0% interest credit card
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
First and most importantly - what do you know about selling books, the book business, etc. Is it a general bookshop or a specialist one?
Secondly - why is your friend selling up? Is business on the decline?
Third - have you seen the accounts for (say) the last five years or so? Are profits on the up and and up?
Fourth - will you "inherit" the businesses bank account? Having an active account that is more than 3 years old is a real help in many business situations especially if short-term loans are needed from the bank or other lenders.
My main worry is that if the business is selling for £35k then on the usual basis for business sales it is only making a profit of about £7K
Good questions. I did work in and run a bookshop, albeit part of a chain, for about ten years. A few years ago, but something I'd love to get back to. She's selling because she's decided to move to another part of the country, where she's always wanted to live, and another bookshop has come on the market. Her parents are also retiring there too. Haven't seen the accounts yet, but she's happy to share info - literally only found out about this yesterday. Profits are reliable - it's in a good location, with a good local customer base, lots of tourist visitors, and no competition. 17K per year over the last three years. Inheriting the business bank account - good question! I shall ask her.
Thanks for your points, really helpful.
Is the 17k profit before or after the owners fair wage?
If she is working full time and taking little or no salary you would be working for less than minimum wage and taking on risk and debt.
If she is taking a fair salary for hours worked before the 17k and you want to do it, it sounds like a reasonable deal.
Does she own the freehold or is it a tenancy? If the latter, who’s the landlord?
It's a tenancy. She's had a long lease which is just coming up for renewal, and the landlord really wants her to renew. Without giving too much away, he's very rich and very engaged with the local community - he has quite a few properties in the town which he leases on good terms to business he feels the town ought to have. The bookshop is one of them
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
Mortgage has got to be lot cheaper than business loan for sure, just don't make it secured.
Mortgages are surely always secured?
I think the risk is that you give personal guarantees about anything connected to a business. Unless they are very carefully qualified this is exposing yourself to the risk of financial ruin. The other problem is that when the values are low, then the cost of decent legal and financial advice is disproportionately high, but the risk to you is basically the same.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
First and most importantly - what do you know about selling books, the book business, etc. Is it a general bookshop or a specialist one?
Secondly - why is your friend selling up? Is business on the decline?
Third - have you seen the accounts for (say) the last five years or so? Are profits on the up and and up?
Fourth - will you "inherit" the businesses bank account? Having an active account that is more than 3 years old is a real help in many business situations especially if short-term loans are needed from the bank or other lenders.
My main worry is that if the business is selling for £35k then on the usual basis for business sales it is only making a profit of about £7K
Good questions. I did work in and run a bookshop, albeit part of a chain, for about ten years. A few years ago, but something I'd love to get back to. She's selling because she's decided to move to another part of the country, where she's always wanted to live, and another bookshop has come on the market. Her parents are also retiring there too. Haven't seen the accounts yet, but she's happy to share info - literally only found out about this yesterday. Profits are reliable - it's in a good location, with a good local customer base, lots of tourist visitors, and no competition. 17K per year over the last three years. Inheriting the business bank account - good question! I shall ask her.
Thanks for your points, really helpful.
Is the 17k profit before or after the owners fair wage?
If she is working full time and taking little or no salary you would be working for less than minimum wage and taking on risk and debt.
If she is taking a fair salary for hours worked before the 17k and you want to do it, it sounds like a reasonable deal.
Does she own the freehold or is it a tenancy? If the latter, who’s the landlord?
It's a tenancy. She's had a long lease which is just coming up for renewal, and the landlord really wants her to renew. Without giving too much away, he's very rich and very engaged with the local community - he has quite a few properties in the town which he leases on good terms to business he feels the town ought to have. The bookshop is one of them
Sounds good, but how old is this public-spirited person? And will his heirs and assigns take a similar view?
Mike, have the Lib Dems not made 4 not 3 by election gains since the last election. According to Peter Kyle the Labour lead in Mid beds, he comes from Brighton does he not, their candidate is Local!!! I make it he is 40 plus miles away, despite being a child hood resident of the seat. The other question I have to ask you why would Labour have "walked it" with a local candidate. The Lib Dem candidate is from Leighton Buzzard is she not, a stones throw or less from the constituency border. The current evidence suggests the large Independent vote is moving to the Lib Dems a factor alone to put them in the lead.
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Why bother having a new party when you can inflitrate the Tories?
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Yes, and what they have in common is a desperate longing for things to stay as they were circa 2005-2015. A very odd set of name choices therefore.
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Yes, and what they have in common is a desperate longing for things to stay as they were circa 2005-2015. A very odd set of name choices therefore.
“Change UK” was my favourite, reminiscent of countries with the word “Democratic” in their name.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
If it is just a case of getting the money then i'd guess remortgaging is the best option. Maybe 5% p/a interest?
I think my own starting point would be to establish with certainty that the business is actually solvent, and to get some independent advice on the valuation.
You could almost get that on a 0% interest credit card
I was thinking along the same lines (as regulars here will know I do alot). Only issue is getting the funds out as usually the 0% applies to spend not taking cash. Buying a bookshop on a credit card would be interesting.
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Yes, and what they have in common is a desperate longing for things to stay as they were circa 2005-2015. A very odd set of name choices therefore.
Any odder than a party called the Conservatives wanting to change things?
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
If it is just a case of getting the money then i'd guess remortgaging is the best option. Maybe 5% p/a interest?
I think my own starting point would be to establish with certainty that the business is actually solvent, and to get some independent advice on the valuation.
You could almost get that on a 0% interest credit card
I was thinking along the same lines (as regulars here will know I do alot). Only issue is getting the funds out as usually the 0% applies to spend not taking cash. Buying a bookshop on a credit card would be interesting.
When credit cards first appeared I came across a car dealer who couldn’t get over selling a car that way.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
If it is just a case of getting the money then i'd guess remortgaging is the best option. Maybe 5% p/a interest?
I think my own starting point would be to establish with certainty that the business is actually solvent, and to get some independent advice on the valuation.
You could almost get that on a 0% interest credit card
I was thinking along the same lines (as regulars here will know I do alot). Only issue is getting the funds out as usually the 0% applies to spend not taking cash. Buying a bookshop on a credit card would be interesting.
I did know a guy a long time ago who bought a beach bar in Thailand on an Amex card. After he'd got sacked by Amex, and the boss forgot to cancel his company card. Oops.
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Yes, and what they have in common is a desperate longing for things to stay as they were circa 2005-2015. A very odd set of name choices therefore.
Any odder than a party called the Conservatives wanting to change things?
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
First and most importantly - what do you know about selling books, the book business, etc. Is it a general bookshop or a specialist one?
Secondly - why is your friend selling up? Is business on the decline?
Third - have you seen the accounts for (say) the last five years or so? Are profits on the up and and up?
Fourth - will you "inherit" the businesses bank account? Having an active account that is more than 3 years old is a real help in many business situations especially if short-term loans are needed from the bank or other lenders.
My main worry is that if the business is selling for £35k then on the usual basis for business sales it is only making a profit of about £7K
Good questions. I did work in and run a bookshop, albeit part of a chain, for about ten years. A few years ago, but something I'd love to get back to. She's selling because she's decided to move to another part of the country, where she's always wanted to live, and another bookshop has come on the market. Her parents are also retiring there too. Haven't seen the accounts yet, but she's happy to share info - literally only found out about this yesterday. Profits are reliable - it's in a good location, with a good local customer base, lots of tourist visitors, and no competition. 17K per year over the last three years. Inheriting the business bank account - good question! I shall ask her.
Thanks for your points, really helpful.
Is the 17k profit before or after the owners fair wage?
If she is working full time and taking little or no salary you would be working for less than minimum wage and taking on risk and debt.
If she is taking a fair salary for hours worked before the 17k and you want to do it, it sounds like a reasonable deal.
Does she own the freehold or is it a tenancy? If the latter, who’s the landlord?
It's a tenancy. She's had a long lease which is just coming up for renewal, and the landlord really wants her to renew. Without giving too much away, he's very rich and very engaged with the local community - he has quite a few properties in the town which he leases on good terms to business he feels the town ought to have. The bookshop is one of them
Sounds good, but how old is this public-spirited person? And will his heirs and assigns take a similar view?
Not to mention curatores bonis (or whoever holds PoAs south of the border).
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
If it is just a case of getting the money then i'd guess remortgaging is the best option. Maybe 5% p/a interest?
I think my own starting point would be to establish with certainty that the business is actually solvent, and to get some independent advice on the valuation.
You could almost get that on a 0% interest credit card
I was thinking along the same lines (as regulars here will know I do alot). Only issue is getting the funds out as usually the 0% applies to spend not taking cash. Buying a bookshop on a credit card would be interesting.
normally you can take as cash for a fixed 3-4% depending on provider so probably still cheapest and you can get up to 28/29 months so pay down some or swap it over. Always have fallback and mortgage rates could be down by then.
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Yes, and what they have in common is a desperate longing for things to stay as they were circa 2005-2015. A very odd set of name choices therefore.
Change UK was bizarre all round, and will make a great PhD case study one day. A bunch of mostly Labour MPs appalled that their own party had become too radical and wanted too much change, choosing an entirely inappropriate name, wanting little to do with Britain's existing (nationwide) third party despite the centre ground already being crowded, who couldn't be bothered to produce (or were unable to agree) any sort of policy declaration or ideals or policies, who said they wanted to bring new people into politics and then put forward lists for the EP stuffed with existing or former C-list national politicians plus a few media folk. With no organisation or political structure whatsoever, who collected a supporters list and asked for their views but then didn't respond or appear to use the list for anything thereafter.
They really did seem to think that being sitting and mostly long-serving MPs would somehow be enough. To have so much political service and so little understanding of actual politics was remarkable.
I hear Gapes has recently and quietly rejoined Labour. But Labour folk have long memories and he'll likely always be a pariah.
Mike, have the Lib Dems not made 4 not 3 by election gains since the last election. According to Peter Kyle the Labour lead in Mid beds, he comes from Brighton does he not, their candidate is Local!!! I make it he is 40 plus miles away, despite being a child hood resident of the seat. The other question I have to ask you why would Labour have "walked it" with a local candidate. The Lib Dem candidate is from Leighton Buzzard is she not, a stones throw or less from the constituency border. The current evidence suggests the large Independent vote is moving to the Lib Dems a factor alone to put them in the lead.
You're being more LibDem than Mike, a difficult feat. Would you like to link to the evidence that you claim?
Note that I've not claimed any local knowledge at all, merely that Labour are making a major effort here. Clearly the LibDems are doing the same, and it would be odd if the Tories don't. The results in the last two elections (Con/Lab/LD) were 60/22/13 and 62/28/6. Those figures and the general disdain that the Tories are currently attracting, plus the poll showing Labour marginally ahead of the Tories, balanced by the general effectiveness of LibDem by-election campaigning, are the basis for my view that all three parties should be on about 2.5. The market has moved the LibDems out from 1.4 to 1.7 and the others in from 6-7 to 4ish.
But DYOR. Obviously I want Labour to win, but this is purely a betting post based on the limited knowledge that I've set out. You may like to give an alternative analysis based on other evidence?
One of his topics is Brexit, which he regards as a disaster. “The idea that Britain stands in isolation from the European continent has always been a nonsense. The problem about Brexit is a historical problem. Since the reign of Elizabeth I the consistent policy of [British] governments has been to prevent a single monolithic power from dominating the European continent. It’s why we fought two world wars. It’s the basis of the existence of Nato.
“By leaving the EU we have removed the principal voice against its integration into a single state. We were that voice. We have made it much more likely that this great monolith will arise. We have also guaranteed that we will have absolutely no influence over what it does. This seems to me to be a betrayal of six centuries of careful statesmanship on the spur of a moment. We should be completely ashamed of ourselves.”
Sumption in the Times. His views during the pandemic were a bit salty for me, but in this area I agree.
You could perhaps infer a degree of suspicion about the EU from Sumption’s language. He is viewing the EU through a lens of British interests; he has a suspicion of this ‘monolith’ that for centuries we have worked to prevent. Which is where we differ. I embrace the monolith, despite its manifest imperfections and frustrations.
I want well-funded public services, with strong environmental protection so we have a pleasant country to live in. I want rational, pragmatic restraints on capitalism and wealth creation, tempering the kind of animal spirits which happily prospered for centuries from slavery and empire, sent children up chimneys and down mines and the poor into workhouses, that used perverted science and morality to justify those things to themselves as they grew fantastically rich. For that mentality still exists.
And, to my mind at least, people with that mindset begat Brexit, and have had their hands on the tiller since Cameron bravely ran away, and they have brought us high taxes, terrible services, a poor economy, shit-filled rivers and beaches, pot-holed roads, an NHS on its knees and the zombie government we currently enjoy. The oft-cited euphemism of ‘supply-chain problems’ from business after business that doesn’t want to alienate the Leavers as prices rise inexorably, the same Leavers who were assured no-one would be foolish enough to take us out of the single market.
Before the referendum I was speaking to a bloke I’ve known for 25 years in the pub. A train driver, trade unionist, an enthusiastic Corbynite Lexiter. He couldn’t wait to vote Leave. It will let us to nationalise everything, he said. Labour will sweep to power on a Corbynite manifesto once we’ve left the EU capitalist viper’s nest. You’re a fool, I told him. If we leave the right-wing of the Tories will go mad. The power will go to their heads and normal people like us will suffer from the carnage they will bring. He wouldn’t listen. I was right.
Sumption's biggest mistake is his belief that we had any real influence inside the EU or that we were able to prevent its steady progress towards a monolithic entity - which of course, unlike you, I oppose.
We spent 40 plus years inside the EU and did nothing at all to prevent its progress towards a single state. So the fact we are now outside will make not a blind bit of difference beyond the fact it won't include us.
Errant and total nonsense. By creating the Single Market, we pushed it further TOWARDS regulatory convergence, which you inelegantly describe as a "single state". The idea that we had no influence is derisory, utter bollocks, bleating by people obsessed with words like "vassal". We were the driving force behind the Single Market, the expansion of the EU to the East, and a whole corpus of its laws - notably discrimination laws that were in part modeled on our 1970s legislation. But Brexiteers have this weird S&M view of the world where everyone is a dom or a sub, and we were always the latter.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
Mortgage has got to be lot cheaper than business loan for sure, just don't make it secured.
There is no such thing as an unsecured mortgage; it is the same category as square circles.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
First and most importantly - what do you know about selling books, the book business, etc. Is it a general bookshop or a specialist one?
Secondly - why is your friend selling up? Is business on the decline?
Third - have you seen the accounts for (say) the last five years or so? Are profits on the up and and up?
Fourth - will you "inherit" the businesses bank account? Having an active account that is more than 3 years old is a real help in many business situations especially if short-term loans are needed from the bank or other lenders.
My main worry is that if the business is selling for £35k then on the usual basis for business sales it is only making a profit of about £7K
Good questions. I did work in and run a bookshop, albeit part of a chain, for about ten years. A few years ago, but something I'd love to get back to. She's selling because she's decided to move to another part of the country, where she's always wanted to live, and another bookshop has come on the market. Her parents are also retiring there too. Haven't seen the accounts yet, but she's happy to share info - literally only found out about this yesterday. Profits are reliable - it's in a good location, with a good local customer base, lots of tourist visitors, and no competition. 17K per year over the last three years. Inheriting the business bank account - good question! I shall ask her.
Thanks for your points, really helpful.
Is the 17k profit before or after the owners fair wage?
If she is working full time and taking little or no salary you would be working for less than minimum wage and taking on risk and debt.
If she is taking a fair salary for hours worked before the 17k and you want to do it, it sounds like a reasonable deal.
Does she own the freehold or is it a tenancy? If the latter, who’s the landlord?
It's a tenancy. She's had a long lease which is just coming up for renewal, and the landlord really wants her to renew. Without giving too much away, he's very rich and very engaged with the local community - he has quite a few properties in the town which he leases on good terms to business he feels the town ought to have. The bookshop is one of them
I’d want the lease renewed for a serious long time on the right terms.
Nice words and £2 won’t buy you a coffee, these days.
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Yes, and what they have in common is a desperate longing for things to stay as they were circa 2005-2015. A very odd set of name choices therefore.
Any odder than a party called the Conservatives wanting to change things?
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Yes, and what they have in common is a desperate longing for things to stay as they were circa 2005-2015. A very odd set of name choices therefore.
Any odder than a party called the Conservatives wanting to change things?
Or Labour being the party of the workshy?
Or Liberals being the party of those who want to tell you what to think, and who drove out a leader who had convictions contrary party edicts.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
If it is just a case of getting the money then i'd guess remortgaging is the best option. Maybe 5% p/a interest?
I think my own starting point would be to establish with certainty that the business is actually solvent, and to get some independent advice on the valuation.
You could almost get that on a 0% interest credit card
I was thinking along the same lines (as regulars here will know I do alot). Only issue is getting the funds out as usually the 0% applies to spend not taking cash. Buying a bookshop on a credit card would be interesting.
normally you can take as cash for a fixed 3-4% depending on provider so probably still cheapest and you can get up to 28/29 months so pay down some or swap it over. Always have fallback and mortgage rates could be down by then.
@jamesdoyle You might like to look at @malcolmg suggestion. Although I have done the 0% credit card stuff a lot I have never taken cash, but if Malcolm is correct it is a good idea. At the end of the term you can go for a balance transfer card at 0%. If you keep an eye out well before the end of the term you can often get them with a zero transfer fee. Again done this a lot.
Each month you will have to make the minimum payment but that is usually 1% or 1.25% of the balance outstanding and slowly writes down the loan.
As Malcolm says you need the fallback. I do this a lot and have taken up to £100k spread across numerous cards at 0% (just on spend not on cash), but you need to know you can pay it off, or transfer it, as otherwise the rate become punitive which is what they are after. Currently I have about £30k on one.
I don't know about the taking cash element (as opposed to spend) so you need to check this. I was joking about buying it with a credit card, although there might be a way.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
Mortgage has got to be lot cheaper than business loan for sure, just don't make it secured.
There is no such thing as an unsecured mortgage; it is the same category as square circles.
Many years ago I stood guarantor for a family member who was going into business with a friend. After a couple of years we began to hear ‘troubling’ rumours about the friends part of the business. However we couldn’t get any reliable information, so I rang the bank manager and told him I wanted to be released. There was a long, long pause. Then the (Scots) bank manager said “The bank would ‘no be happy Mr Cole, if you were to withdraw your guarantee just at this moment”!
One of his topics is Brexit, which he regards as a disaster. “The idea that Britain stands in isolation from the European continent has always been a nonsense. The problem about Brexit is a historical problem. Since the reign of Elizabeth I the consistent policy of [British] governments has been to prevent a single monolithic power from dominating the European continent. It’s why we fought two world wars. It’s the basis of the existence of Nato.
“By leaving the EU we have removed the principal voice against its integration into a single state. We were that voice. We have made it much more likely that this great monolith will arise. We have also guaranteed that we will have absolutely no influence over what it does. This seems to me to be a betrayal of six centuries of careful statesmanship on the spur of a moment. We should be completely ashamed of ourselves.”
Sumption in the Times. His views during the pandemic were a bit salty for me, but in this area I agree.
You could perhaps infer a degree of suspicion about the EU from Sumption’s language. He is viewing the EU through a lens of British interests; he has a suspicion of this ‘monolith’ that for centuries we have worked to prevent. Which is where we differ. I embrace the monolith, despite its manifest imperfections and frustrations.
I want well-funded public services, with strong environmental protection so we have a pleasant country to live in. I want rational, pragmatic restraints on capitalism and wealth creation, tempering the kind of animal spirits which happily prospered for centuries from slavery and empire, sent children up chimneys and down mines and the poor into workhouses, that used perverted science and morality to justify those things to themselves as they grew fantastically rich. For that mentality still exists.
And, to my mind at least, people with that mindset begat Brexit, and have had their hands on the tiller since Cameron bravely ran away, and they have brought us high taxes, terrible services, a poor economy, shit-filled rivers and beaches, pot-holed roads, an NHS on its knees and the zombie government we currently enjoy. The oft-cited euphemism of ‘supply-chain problems’ from business after business that doesn’t want to alienate the Leavers as prices rise inexorably, the same Leavers who were assured no-one would be foolish enough to take us out of the single market.
Before the referendum I was speaking to a bloke I’ve known for 25 years in the pub. A train driver, trade unionist, an enthusiastic Corbynite Lexiter. He couldn’t wait to vote Leave. It will let us to nationalise everything, he said. Labour will sweep to power on a Corbynite manifesto once we’ve left the EU capitalist viper’s nest. You’re a fool, I told him. If we leave the right-wing of the Tories will go mad. The power will go to their heads and normal people like us will suffer from the carnage they will bring. He wouldn’t listen. I was right.
Sumption's biggest mistake is his belief that we had any real influence inside the EU or that we were able to prevent its steady progress towards a monolithic entity - which of course, unlike you, I oppose.
We spent 40 plus years inside the EU and did nothing at all to prevent its progress towards a single state. So the fact we are now outside will make not a blind bit of difference beyond the fact it won't include us.
Errant and total nonsense. By creating the Single Market, we pushed it further TOWARDS regulatory convergence, which you inelegantly describe as a "single state". The idea that we had no influence is derisory, utter bollocks, bleating by people obsessed with words like "vassal". We were the driving force behind the Single Market, the expansion of the EU to the East, and a whole corpus of its laws - notably discrimination laws that were in part modeled on our 1970s legislation. But Brexiteers have this weird S&M view of the world where everyone is a dom or a sub, and we were always the latter.
I agree with you, but I’d add a major caveat around monetary union. Britain (Thatcher) didn’t want it, and all we could do was get an opt-out at Maastricht.
In turn that led to the existence of a Euro bloc that was able to out-vote the UK, potentially doing so in a way that jeopardised London’s success as a financial centre.
Sadly, Brexit has ended up doing much more damage to London than the largely theoretical risks of continuing inside the EU.
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Yes, and what they have in common is a desperate longing for things to stay as they were circa 2005-2015. A very odd set of name choices therefore.
Change UK was bizarre all round, and will make a great PhD case study one day. A bunch of mostly Labour MPs appalled that their own party had become too radical and wanted too much change, choosing an entirely inappropriate name, wanting little to do with Britain's existing (nationwide) third party despite the centre ground already being crowded, who couldn't be bothered to produce (or were unable to agree) any sort of policy declaration or ideals or policies, who said they wanted to bring new people into politics and then put forward lists for the EP stuffed with existing or former C-list national politicians plus a few media folk. With no organisation or political structure whatsoever, who collected a supporters list and asked for their views but then didn't respond or appear to use the list for anything thereafter.
They really did seem to think that being sitting and mostly long-serving MPs would somehow be enough. To have so much political service and so little understanding of actual politics was remarkable.
I hear Gapes has recently and quietly rejoined Labour. But Labour folk have long memories and he'll likely always be a pariah.
A PhD-level account of what happened would talk about the role of anti-Semitism in Labour leading to the initial departure of MPs.
OT Is a renewal quote for House insurance 40% higher the norm at the moment?
Seems a lot, though some increase is apparently to be expected with the storms and bad weather last year. Shop around? We did, for an elderly relative's house.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
If it is just a case of getting the money then i'd guess remortgaging is the best option. Maybe 5% p/a interest?
I think my own starting point would be to establish with certainty that the business is actually solvent, and to get some independent advice on the valuation.
You could almost get that on a 0% interest credit card
I was thinking along the same lines (as regulars here will know I do alot). Only issue is getting the funds out as usually the 0% applies to spend not taking cash. Buying a bookshop on a credit card would be interesting.
When credit cards first appeared I came across a car dealer who couldn’t get over selling a car that way.
My Dad got one of the first Mastercards when Access (your flexible friend) was rebranded. When he tried to use it in an off-licence in Canterbury the cashier called the police.
Mike, have the Lib Dems not made 4 not 3 by election gains since the last election. According to Peter Kyle the Labour lead in Mid beds, he comes from Brighton does he not, their candidate is Local!!! I make it he is 40 plus miles away, despite being a child hood resident of the seat. The other question I have to ask you why would Labour have "walked it" with a local candidate. The Lib Dem candidate is from Leighton Buzzard is she not, a stones throw or less from the constituency border. The current evidence suggests the large Independent vote is moving to the Lib Dems a factor alone to put them in the lead.
You're being more LibDem than Mike, a difficult feat. Would you like to link to the evidence that you claim?
Note that I've not claimed any local knowledge at all, merely that Labour are making a major effort here. Clearly the LibDems are doing the same, and it would be odd if the Tories don't. The results in the last two elections (Con/Lab/LD) were 60/22/13 and 62/28/6. Those figures and the general disdain that the Tories are currently attracting, plus the poll showing Labour marginally ahead of the Tories, balanced by the general effectiveness of LibDem by-election campaigning, are the basis for my view that all three parties should be on about 2.5. The market has moved the LibDems out from 1.4 to 1.7 and the others in from 6-7 to 4ish.
But DYOR. Obviously I want Labour to win, but this is purely a betting post based on the limited knowledge that I've set out. You may like to give an alternative analysis based on other evidence?
I agree that at this moment each major party is about equally likely to win Mid Beds. I don't think that will remain the case. Currently value is with the longest odds. But the other version of value is for those who can make a case for what will change and in which direction between now and the MB election. My view is the change of mood in the wind will be towards Labour.
OT Is a renewal quote for House insurance 40% higher the norm at the moment?
Seems a lot, though some increase is apparently to be expected with the storms and bad weather last year. Shop around? We did, for an elderly relative's house.
OT Is a renewal quote for House insurance 40% higher the norm at the moment?
On the news the other day they mentioned house insurance was rocketing. Car insurance certainly has. The news commented that they had gone up 21%. Mine went up over 50% and a friend's over 60%. neither of us had any claims or changes in circumstances.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
First and most importantly - what do you know about selling books, the book business, etc. Is it a general bookshop or a specialist one?
Secondly - why is your friend selling up? Is business on the decline?
Third - have you seen the accounts for (say) the last five years or so? Are profits on the up and and up?
Fourth - will you "inherit" the businesses bank account? Having an active account that is more than 3 years old is a real help in many business situations especially if short-term loans are needed from the bank or other lenders.
My main worry is that if the business is selling for £35k then on the usual basis for business sales it is only making a profit of about £7K
Good questions. I did work in and run a bookshop, albeit part of a chain, for about ten years. A few years ago, but something I'd love to get back to. She's selling because she's decided to move to another part of the country, where she's always wanted to live, and another bookshop has come on the market. Her parents are also retiring there too. Haven't seen the accounts yet, but she's happy to share info - literally only found out about this yesterday. Profits are reliable - it's in a good location, with a good local customer base, lots of tourist visitors, and no competition. 17K per year over the last three years. Inheriting the business bank account - good question! I shall ask her.
Thanks for your points, really helpful.
Is the 17k profit before or after the owners fair wage?
If she is working full time and taking little or no salary you would be working for less than minimum wage and taking on risk and debt.
If she is taking a fair salary for hours worked before the 17k and you want to do it, it sounds like a reasonable deal.
Does she own the freehold or is it a tenancy? If the latter, who’s the landlord?
It's a tenancy. She's had a long lease which is just coming up for renewal, and the landlord really wants her to renew. Without giving too much away, he's very rich and very engaged with the local community - he has quite a few properties in the town which he leases on good terms to business he feels the town ought to have. The bookshop is one of them
I’d want the lease renewed for a serious long time on the right terms.
Nice words and £2 won’t buy you a coffee, these days.
Yes. Surely you need to make the deal conditional on that. Whole value of the business hinges on having the premises to trade at the right overheads.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
If it is just a case of getting the money then i'd guess remortgaging is the best option. Maybe 5% p/a interest?
I think my own starting point would be to establish with certainty that the business is actually solvent, and to get some independent advice on the valuation.
You could almost get that on a 0% interest credit card
I was thinking along the same lines (as regulars here will know I do alot). Only issue is getting the funds out as usually the 0% applies to spend not taking cash. Buying a bookshop on a credit card would be interesting.
When credit cards first appeared I came across a car dealer who couldn’t get over selling a car that way.
My Dad got one of the first Mastercards when Access (your flexible friend) was rebranded. When he tried to use it in an off-licence in Canterbury the cashier called the police.
Presumably because he’d never seen an aquatic mammal with one before…?
Change UK was bizarre all round, and will make a great PhD case study one day. A bunch of...MPs...who couldn't be bothered to produce...any...policy declaration or ideals or policies, who...put forward lists for the EP stuffed with...politicians plus a few media folk. With no organisation or political structure..., who collected a supporters list and asked for their views but then didn't respond...
They really did seem to think that being...MPs would...be enough. To have so much political service and so little understanding of actual politics was remarkable...
[sorry to edit down your para: I agree with every word but I needed to get the forest, not the trees]
Yes, you are right. Compare and contrast to the Brexit Party, or the 2016 EU Referendum. They involved people (Farage, Matthew Elliott, Cummings) who had done something similar before, knew how to do the logistics, knew where the gaps were. Logistics is important. Change UK did not understand that.
There's a military term: tooth-to-tail. The people on the front line are the teeth, but they are supported by a considerable number of support staff (the tail). They thought the teeth were enough. It isn't.
Hmm! Hadn't realised the prison hulk, sorry barge, is to be loaded considerably beyond its design capacity. Fireman Sam et al not at all happy and is calling in m'learned friends.
'The FBU’s “pre-action protocol” letter claims that the Home Office has failed to arrange fire drills for asylum seekers or adequate risk assessments of the barge, despite more than doubling the number of planned occupants in the midst of threats of attacks from far-right activists.
“The [home secretary] has decided to crowd in an additional 284 people by using single rooms for double occupancy, and creating rooms for four or six persons to sleep in (presumably by converting other spaces)."[...]
The union has also questioned whether there are adequate evacuation points and emergency exits. Reports have claimed there are three emergency exits from the barge.[...]
The planned judicial review follows the Home Office’s refusal to meet officials to discuss fire safety concerns over the narrowness of corridors, the number of exits from the barge and adaptations that have been made to the barge to increase its capacity.
It can be revealed that on 17 August the immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, wrote to the union refusing to hold a meeting about safety on the barge.'
I agree that at this moment each major party is about equally likely to win Mid Beds. I don't think that will remain the case. Currently value is with the longest odds. But the other version of value is for those who can make a case for what will change and in which direction between now and the MB election. My view is the change of mood in the wind will be towards Labour.
FWIW I've just come across the Savanta MRP for the cnstituency from last December (the most recent, I think) - like all MRPs it extrapolates from constituency polling and demography to national trends.
Change UK was bizarre all round, and will make a great PhD case study one day. A bunch of...MPs...who couldn't be bothered to produce...any...policy declaration or ideals or policies, who...put forward lists for the EP stuffed with...politicians plus a few media folk. With no organisation or political structure..., who collected a supporters list and asked for their views but then didn't respond...
They really did seem to think that being...MPs would...be enough. To have so much political service and so little understanding of actual politics was remarkable...
[sorry to edit down your para: I agree with every word but I needed to get the forest, not the trees]
Yes, you are right. Compare and contrast to the Brexit Party, or the 2016 EU Referendum. They involved people (Farage, Matthew Elliott, Cummings) who had done something similar before, knew how to do the logistics, knew where the gaps were. Logistics is important. Change UK did not understand that.
There's a military term: tooth-to-tail. The people on the front line are the teeth, but they are supported by a considerable number of support staff (the tail). They thought the teeth were enough. It isn't.
And let's be honest, the teeth were fairly blunt. Soubry was about the biggest hitter.
At least the.SDP, back in the day, had some well know and relatively popular big hitters to lead the chomping
OT Is a renewal quote for House insurance 40% higher the norm at the moment?
On the news the other day they mentioned house insurance was rocketing. Car insurance certainly has. The news commented that they had gone up 21%. Mine went up over 50% and a friend's over 60%. neither of us had any claims or changes in circumstances.
Quite. Though if the previous insurers had already been robbing anyway, there's still scope to shop around in the hope of a cut - the situation we discovered with our relative (misplaced faith in the previous insurer not to abuse customer loyalty).
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Yes, and what they have in common is a desperate longing for things to stay as they were circa 2005-2015. A very odd set of name choices therefore.
Change UK was bizarre all round, and will make a great PhD case study one day. A bunch of mostly Labour MPs appalled that their own party had become too radical and wanted too much change, choosing an entirely inappropriate name, wanting little to do with Britain's existing (nationwide) third party despite the centre ground already being crowded, who couldn't be bothered to produce (or were unable to agree) any sort of policy declaration or ideals or policies, who said they wanted to bring new people into politics and then put forward lists for the EP stuffed with existing or former C-list national politicians plus a few media folk. With no organisation or political structure whatsoever, who collected a supporters list and asked for their views but then didn't respond or appear to use the list for anything thereafter.
They really did seem to think that being sitting and mostly long-serving MPs would somehow be enough. To have so much political service and so little understanding of actual politics was remarkable.
I hear Gapes has recently and quietly rejoined Labour. But Labour folk have long memories and he'll likely always be a pariah.
Ian Murray must be thanking his lucky stars that his natural cowardice/caution (delete to taste) won out at the last minute.
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Yes, and what they have in common is a desperate longing for things to stay as they were circa 2005-2015. A very odd set of name choices therefore.
Any odder than a party called the Conservatives wanting to change things?
Or Labour being the party of the workshy?
Or Liberals being the party of those who want to tell you what to think, and who drove out a leader who had convictions contrary party edicts.
Or to put it in plainer language, a "Liberal" leader who had voted in favour of businesses being lawfully able to have a policy of "no gays wanted here".
The valid criticism of the party would be for having elected a bigot in the first place.
Morning everyone, hoping some of the finance experts on here can help out with a question.
I've got an opportunity to buy a small business (a bookshop). It's certainly viable - it's been running for 13 years, and has been the sole income for my friend who runs it for all that time. It's going to cost around 30-35k. I don't have the cash available, so would have to borrow. Any idea what the best way to finance it would be? Could be a business loan, or we've got plenty of equity in our house (350-400K) to take a small mortgage to cover it. Or something else? Thanks, guys.
Mortgage has got to be lot cheaper than business loan for sure, just don't make it secured.
There is no such thing as an unsecured mortgage; it is the same category as square circles.
Arguably a non-recourse mortgage is partially unsecured because you can just hand the keys back and walk away from the debt.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
And none of the core Eurozone countries seem to share our view of foreign policy, excepting perhaps the Dutch.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
“I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders.”
The bookshop is in a tourist area. I’d want to look at whether it’s possible to set up a (portable) coffee kiosk outside.
Separately, I went to a bookshop in Kingston, New York, which doubled as a kind of pub for afternoon/evening functions. (I want to say bar, but it was mostly craft beer). But it had been done very well, the internal set up worked nicely, so would have cost a bit of money. And I imagine that’s a total bugger to get licensing laws for.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
What a silly comment, Tell that to India.
They've never had an alternative one and I hardly think it is the ideal example.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
What a silly comment, Tell that to India.
They've never had an alternative one and I hardly think it is the ideal example.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
“I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders.”
So you are telling us Sunak needs to learn Welsh?
Surely the Welsh understand the universal language of 'Grin'?
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
“I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders.”
So you are telling us Sunak needs to learn Welsh?
Almost everyone in Wales speaks English even if as a second language. You'll need to do better than this.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
What a silly comment, Tell that to India.
They've never had an alternative one and I hardly think it is the ideal example.
How about Switzerland, then.
Hmmm a very particular example. I suppose they've managed with centuries of uniting behind what they don't want to be.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
What a silly comment, Tell that to India.
They've never had an alternative one and I hardly think it is the ideal example.
How about Switzerland, then.
All the major languages are just extensions of their respective nation states so it's not replicable. The same thing doesn't work quite so well in Belgium.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
“I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders.”
So you are telling us Sunak needs to learn Welsh?
The Welsh learned the language of an English boot on their neck a long time ago*, and that is a universally understood one.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
And none of the core Eurozone countries seem to share our view of foreign policy, excepting perhaps the Dutch.
To be fair, for the first 200 years or so, English wasn’t the language of the rulers. Of this part of Europe anyway. Of course there were lots of other languages in use, as well.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
And none of the core Eurozone countries seem to share our view of foreign policy, excepting perhaps the Dutch.
British foreign policy instincts are broadly supported by the Dutch, the Scandinavians, the Poles, and the Baltics.
There have been times in recent past where you’d add Spain and others, but the above tend to be on the same page for more sustainable geopolitical/cultural reasons.
The truth is there was a “UK party” within the EU, which the UK didn’t consciously attempt to lead, and none of whose members would have labelled themselves as such, but it existed all the same.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
“I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders.”
So you are telling us Sunak needs to learn Welsh?
Almost everyone in Wales speaks English even if as a second language. You'll need to do better than this.
The better example of India I think has been made. It's probably easier if everyone speaks the same language, but it isn't totally needed.
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Yes, and what they have in common is a desperate longing for things to stay as they were circa 2005-2015. A very odd set of name choices therefore.
Change UK was bizarre all round, and will make a great PhD case study one day. A bunch of mostly Labour MPs appalled that their own party had become too radical and wanted too much change, choosing an entirely inappropriate name, wanting little to do with Britain's existing (nationwide) third party despite the centre ground already being crowded, who couldn't be bothered to produce (or were unable to agree) any sort of policy declaration or ideals or policies, who said they wanted to bring new people into politics and then put forward lists for the EP stuffed with existing or former C-list national politicians plus a few media folk. With no organisation or political structure whatsoever, who collected a supporters list and asked for their views but then didn't respond or appear to use the list for anything thereafter.
They really did seem to think that being sitting and mostly long-serving MPs would somehow be enough. To have so much political service and so little understanding of actual politics was remarkable.
I hear Gapes has recently and quietly rejoined Labour. But Labour folk have long memories and he'll likely always be a pariah.
Ian Murray must be thanking his lucky stars that his natural cowardice/caution (delete to taste) won out at the last minute.
I applaud the ChangeUK gang for trying, but Murray's greater caution seems to demonstrate his knack for survival.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
“I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders.”
So you are telling us Sunak needs to learn Welsh?
Almost everyone in Wales speaks English even if as a second language. You'll need to do better than this.
The better example of India I think has been made. It's probably easier if everyone speaks the same language, but it isn't totally needed.
Indonesia is also multi-lingual in a similar fashion to India.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
What a silly comment, Tell that to India.
They've never had an alternative one and I hardly think it is the ideal example.
How about Switzerland, then.
All the major languages are just extensions of their respective nation states so it's not replicable. The same thing doesn't work quite so well in Belgium.
I don’t even understand what this means.
What I will say is that I believe Swiss Germans can speak French and vice versa, and the Italian speakers are too small to worry about. Also the Swiss central government is famously limited.
Change UK was bizarre all round, and will make a great PhD case study one day. A bunch of...MPs...who couldn't be bothered to produce...any...policy declaration or ideals or policies, who...put forward lists for the EP stuffed with...politicians plus a few media folk. With no organisation or political structure..., who collected a supporters list and asked for their views but then didn't respond...
They really did seem to think that being...MPs would...be enough. To have so much political service and so little understanding of actual politics was remarkable...
[sorry to edit down your para: I agree with every word but I needed to get the forest, not the trees]
Yes, you are right. Compare and contrast to the Brexit Party, or the 2016 EU Referendum. They involved people (Farage, Matthew Elliott, Cummings) who had done something similar before, knew how to do the logistics, knew where the gaps were. Logistics is important. Change UK did not understand that.
There's a military term: tooth-to-tail. The people on the front line are the teeth, but they are supported by a considerable number of support staff (the tail). They thought the teeth were enough. It isn't.
And let's be honest, the teeth were fairly blunt. Soubry was about the biggest hitter.
At least the.SDP, back in the day, had some well know and relatively popular big hitters to lead the chomping
I guess the question is how far TIG/Change was the nucleus of a new party, and how far it was a lifeboat for MPs who could no longer live with their parties of election.
Which given how feverish everyone was in 2019, wasn't totally unjustified.
It tried to behave as a party in embryo, sure, which was crazy. But that fiction kinda went with our system.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
“I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders.”
So you are telling us Sunak needs to learn Welsh?
The Welsh learned the language of an English boot on their neck a long time ago*, and that is a universally understood one.
*coming to a PC leaflet soon.
Remember our resident Conservative, HYUFD, has Plaid Cymru as his Alternative Vote.
Gina Miller’s new party has absorbed the former Renew Party. Renew had, at different times, two local councillors, both from defections. But their most high profile defection was Julie Girling, former Conservative and then independent MEP. Girling joined Renew and took over as its leader in the period after the 2019 Euro elections (in which she hadn’t stood) but before her term in office ended.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
Change Renew Clean Slate New Broom Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
Yes, and what they have in common is a desperate longing for things to stay as they were circa 2005-2015. A very odd set of name choices therefore.
Change UK was bizarre all round, and will make a great PhD case study one day. A bunch of mostly Labour MPs appalled that their own party had become too radical and wanted too much change, choosing an entirely inappropriate name, wanting little to do with Britain's existing (nationwide) third party despite the centre ground already being crowded, who couldn't be bothered to produce (or were unable to agree) any sort of policy declaration or ideals or policies, who said they wanted to bring new people into politics and then put forward lists for the EP stuffed with existing or former C-list national politicians plus a few media folk. With no organisation or political structure whatsoever, who collected a supporters list and asked for their views but then didn't respond or appear to use the list for anything thereafter.
They really did seem to think that being sitting and mostly long-serving MPs would somehow be enough. To have so much political service and so little understanding of actual politics was remarkable.
I hear Gapes has recently and quietly rejoined Labour. But Labour folk have long memories and he'll likely always be a pariah.
A PhD-level account of what happened would talk about the role of anti-Semitism in Labour leading to the initial departure of MPs.
I quite like the sequence of Labour events that starts with Eric Joyce having a few too many and swinging his fist in a Commons bar. That would be a great PhD.
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
What a silly comment, Tell that to India.
They've never had an alternative one and I hardly think it is the ideal example.
How about Switzerland, then.
All the major languages are just extensions of their respective nation states so it's not replicable. The same thing doesn't work quite so well in Belgium.
I don’t even understand what this means.
What I will say is that I believe Swiss Germans can speak French and vice versa, and the Italian speakers are too small to worry about. Also the Swiss central government is famously limited.
The point is that it's sui generis because it is surrounded by France, Germany and Italy. If you took them away and Switzerland were just a mountainous island, the concept wouldn't work.
Belgium still rubs along, despite a general belief on PB that it doesn’t. Indeed, it’s one of the oldest nation states on the planet, older even than NZ!
The bookshop is in a tourist area. I’d want to look at whether it’s possible to set up a (portable) coffee kiosk outside.
Separately, I went to a bookshop in Kingston, New York, which doubled as a kind of pub for afternoon/evening functions. (I want to say bar, but it was mostly craft beer). But it had been done very well, the internal set up worked nicely, so would have cost a bit of money. And I imagine that’s a total bugger to get licensing laws for.
Belgium still rubs along, despite a general belief on PB that it doesn’t. Indeed, it’s one of the oldest nation states on the planet, older even than NZ!
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
What a silly comment, Tell that to India.
They've never had an alternative one and I hardly think it is the ideal example.
How about Switzerland, then.
All the major languages are just extensions of their respective nation states so it's not replicable. The same thing doesn't work quite so well in Belgium.
I don’t even understand what this means.
What I will say is that I believe Swiss Germans can speak French and vice versa, and the Italian speakers are too small to worry about. Also the Swiss central government is famously limited.
The point is that it's sui generis because it is surrounded by France, Germany and Italy. If you took them away and Switzerland were just a mountainous island, the concept wouldn't work.
Belgium still rubs along, despite a general belief on PB that it doesn’t. Indeed, it’s one of the oldest nation states on the planet, older even than NZ!
Yep I understand that many do support it - and my apologies if my initial reply to Northern Monkey was too harsh. I udnerstand there are those who are strongly in favour of the idea for what they perceive as the best of reasons.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
I'm a single state fan too, but I think any member can veto it, and the UK seemed very likely to impose a veto.
I don't see how a democracy can function properly when people do not speak the same language as their leaders. So we could try and make all people in Europe multi-lingual. It would also be, in the words of Hugh Gaitskill 'the end of a 1000 years of history.'
What a silly comment, Tell that to India.
They've never had an alternative one and I hardly think it is the ideal example.
How about Switzerland, then.
All the major languages are just extensions of their respective nation states so it's not replicable. The same thing doesn't work quite so well in Belgium.
I don’t even understand what this means.
What I will say is that I believe Swiss Germans can speak French and vice versa, and the Italian speakers are too small to worry about. Also the Swiss central government is famously limited.
The point is that it's sui generis because it is surrounded by France, Germany and Italy. If you took them away and Switzerland were just a mountainous island, the concept wouldn't work.
This is a “if my Nan had balls” type comment.
Like the premise of "if Europe were a single state"...
Comments
If she is working full time and taking little or no salary you would be working for less than minimum wage and taking on risk and debt.
If she is taking a fair salary for hours worked before the 17k and you want to do it, it sounds like a reasonable deal.
Unless in my dotage I’ve forgotten!
For the record, I’ve always been in favour of the original six, plus the British Isles and possibly Iberia pushing towards a single state.
The dynamic for a conservative 3rd place is simple enough:
- Labour voters from 2019 still vote Labour, and they gain some switchers
- Disgruntled conservative remainers vote Lib Dem as a protest
- Disgruntled conservative right wingers stay at home
Instead of being lauded she was disgracefully attacked.
Even though I fall on the other side of the debate my argument was not about whether it was or was not desirable but about whether the UK inside had had any significant - or even fairly minor - direct impact on preventing progression towards it. I think the idea that we were important or powerful enough within the EU to do anything about it, even had we wanted to, is simply a myth.
Hence my comment that she was doing the right thing but foir the wrong reasons.
(Well, the worst would be Con to lose deposit but that’s not going to happen).
Both Labour and the LDs want to convince the electors they are the main challengers so need to get as many posters up as possible and as many leaflets delivered as possible so the electors think they are the main challengers. They won't want to give the other side oxygen so will attack the Tories in the leaflets with just one article each time on why Lab/LD can't win. Only when they are convinced the Tories are out of the picture or the split vote will let the Tories through will they go all out for the other opposition party splitting the vote.
I suspect a lot of posterboards will go up quickly to solidify the position of LDs/Lab.
I think my own starting point would be to establish with certainty that the business is actually solvent, and to get some independent advice on the valuation.
Renew never won an election. Their best performance in a major election was 3.7% in the Newport West by-election, which put them 7th. They were previously in an electoral alliance with Change UK.
2019 - Lab 22%, short by 24,700 votes
2017 - Lab 28%, short by 21,000 votes
2015 - Lab 16%, short by 23,300 votes (UKIP v. close 3rd!)
2010 - Lab 25%, short by 15,200 votes
2005 - LD 24%, short by 11,400 votes (Lab very close 3rd!)
2001 - Lab 30%, short by 8,000 votes
1997 - Lab 33%, short by 7,100 votes
I am not a psephologist from Warsaw who moved to Haiti (ie. a Voodoo Pole).
Renew
Clean Slate
New Broom
Spring Clean
A thesaurus of no-hoper parties.
According to Peter Kyle the Labour lead in Mid beds, he comes from Brighton does he not, their candidate is Local!!!
I make it he is 40 plus miles away, despite being a child hood resident of the seat.
The other question I have to ask you why would Labour have "walked it" with a local candidate. The Lib Dem candidate is from Leighton Buzzard is she not, a stones throw or less from the constituency border.
The current evidence suggests the large Independent vote is moving to the Lib Dems a factor alone to put them in the lead.
They really did seem to think that being sitting and mostly long-serving MPs would somehow be enough. To have so much political service and so little understanding of actual politics was remarkable.
I hear Gapes has recently and quietly rejoined Labour. But Labour folk have long memories and he'll likely always be a pariah.
Note that I've not claimed any local knowledge at all, merely that Labour are making a major effort here. Clearly the LibDems are doing the same, and it would be odd if the Tories don't. The results in the last two elections (Con/Lab/LD) were 60/22/13 and 62/28/6. Those figures and the general disdain that the Tories are currently attracting, plus the poll showing Labour marginally ahead of the Tories, balanced by the general effectiveness of LibDem by-election campaigning, are the basis for my view that all three parties should be on about 2.5. The market has moved the LibDems out from 1.4 to 1.7 and the others in from 6-7 to 4ish.
But DYOR. Obviously I want Labour to win, but this is purely a betting post based on the limited knowledge that I've set out. You may like to give an alternative analysis based on other evidence?
Nice words and £2 won’t buy you a coffee, these days.
Is a renewal quote for House insurance 40% higher the norm at the moment?
Each month you will have to make the minimum payment but that is usually 1% or 1.25% of the balance outstanding and slowly writes down the loan.
As Malcolm says you need the fallback. I do this a lot and have taken up to £100k spread across numerous cards at 0% (just on spend not on cash), but you need to know you can pay it off, or transfer it, as otherwise the rate become punitive which is what they are after. Currently I have about £30k on one.
I don't know about the taking cash element (as opposed to spend) so you need to check this. I was joking about buying it with a credit card, although there might be a way.
There was a long, long pause. Then the (Scots) bank manager said “The bank would ‘no be happy Mr Cole, if you were to withdraw your guarantee just at this moment”!
In turn that led to the existence of a Euro bloc that was able to out-vote the UK, potentially doing so in a way that jeopardised London’s success as a financial centre.
Sadly, Brexit has ended up doing much more damage to London than the largely theoretical risks of continuing inside the EU.
https://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/home-and-mobile-insurance/home-insurance-reviews/best-and-worst-home-insurance-abtdC2Z1qveJ#how-much-is-home-insurance-on-average-in-the-uk
Yes, you are right. Compare and contrast to the Brexit Party, or the 2016 EU Referendum. They involved people (Farage, Matthew Elliott, Cummings) who had done something similar before, knew how to do the logistics, knew where the gaps were. Logistics is important. Change UK did not understand that.
There's a military term: tooth-to-tail. The people on the front line are the teeth, but they are supported by a considerable number of support staff (the tail). They thought the teeth were enough. It isn't.
Hmm! Hadn't realised the prison hulk, sorry barge, is to be loaded considerably beyond its design capacity. Fireman Sam et al not at all happy and is calling in m'learned friends.
'The FBU’s “pre-action protocol” letter claims that the Home Office has failed to arrange fire drills for asylum seekers or adequate risk assessments of the barge, despite more than doubling the number of planned occupants in the midst of threats of attacks from far-right activists.
“The [home secretary] has decided to crowd in an additional 284 people by using single rooms for double occupancy, and creating rooms for four or six persons to sleep in (presumably by converting other spaces)."[...]
The union has also questioned whether there are adequate evacuation points and emergency exits. Reports have claimed there are three emergency exits from the barge.[...]
The planned judicial review follows the Home Office’s refusal to meet officials to discuss fire safety concerns over the narrowness of corridors, the number of exits from the barge and adaptations that have been made to the barge to increase its capacity.
It can be revealed that on 17 August the immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, wrote to the union refusing to hold a meeting about safety on the barge.'
https://twitter.com/Savanta_UK/status/1667189787336269827
At least the.SDP, back in the day, had some well know and relatively popular big hitters to lead the chomping
The valid criticism of the party would be for having elected a bigot in the first place.
And none of the core Eurozone countries seem to share our view of foreign policy, excepting perhaps the Dutch.
Which is less than minimum wage, if the role is full-time (it may well not be, of course).
But it may still be worth it for lifestyle reasons.
So you are telling us Sunak needs to learn Welsh?
I’d want to look at whether it’s possible to set up a (portable) coffee kiosk outside.
Separately, I went to a bookshop in Kingston, New York, which doubled as a kind of pub for afternoon/evening functions. (I want to say bar, but it was mostly craft beer). But it had been done very well, the internal set up worked nicely, so would have cost a bit of money. And I imagine that’s a total bugger to get licensing laws for.
*coming to a PC leaflet soon.
There have been times in recent past where you’d add Spain and others, but the above tend to be on the same page for more sustainable geopolitical/cultural reasons.
The truth is there was a “UK party” within the EU, which the UK didn’t consciously attempt to lead, and none of whose members would have labelled themselves as such, but it existed all the same.
What I will say is that I believe Swiss Germans can speak French and vice versa, and the Italian speakers are too small to worry about. Also the Swiss central government is famously limited.
Which given how feverish everyone was in 2019, wasn't totally unjustified.
It tried to behave as a party in embryo, sure, which was crazy. But that fiction kinda went with our system.