Excluding London it has been found that Milton Keynes is the most expensive place to operate a small business, this according to the Alliance and Leicester Business Banking unit.
It has found that the property rental costs, the price of labour and also transportation are higher here, meaning small businesses have to deal with higher operating costs before they can begin to make any profit. The Alliance and Leicester found Milton Keynes to be the most expensive place to rent retail space and also the eighth best place for wages.
One of the good things about this Alliance and Leicester survey is that high business costs are also associated with businesses doing well. Therefore there are opportunities for new businesses to succeed in Milton Keynes.
Over 5,000 copies of the Nationwide Building Society Teenagers Guide To Money have been distributed to schools and colleges across the country.
The reason the guide was produced is that just under 70 percent of teenagers in a Nationwide Building Society survey stated that they did not really understand much about finance. With this in mind the Nationwide want to equip young people with a better knowledge and understanding of finance so they can make better choices when selecting a bank account and have to manage their own money.
A Nationwide Building Society spokeswoman said that the teenagers guide would help those people leaving school and equip them with a knowledge that will stand them in good stead for the future.
In 2007 approximately 18,000 unsecured personal loans were taken out to pay for school fees, with a total value of around GBP165 million according to Sainsburys Bank.
Looking at the historical data Sainsburys Bank also found that over GBP2 billion extra was spent on school fees in 2006 compared with just 2 years previously. This is a massive additional amount to cover and explains the increasing use of unsecured personal loans and other forms of borrowing to fund childrens educations.
Looking ahead Sainsburys Bank also expect the trend to continue. With a rising cost of living, more children enjoying private education and also the fact that school fees themselves rise at levels well above the rate of inflation they are predicting more borrowing.
