• 2020TEL - Mobile Phone Network – unlimited Browsing
• Adam Simmons and Associates - Transport Logistics Consultancy
• Anglo Info - Information exchange for ExPats Worldwide
• CatalunyaCaixa - Savings Bank
• Coast Trading at Gata Antiques - Antiques in the UK and Spain
• Copi Shop - Printing
• Costa Blanca Home Guide - Houses, Homes and Lifestyle M
• Digby’s Bar, Javea Park
• Easy Flatpax
• Fonicatec
• Gaile Griffin Peers, Business Consultant
• Jacksons Contables SL, Denia
• Jacksons Administradores SL, Denia
• Jacksons Chartered Accountants Ltd, UK
• Javea Photos
• Spectrum Financial Advisers
• Notary, Xabia
• Juggler Magazine
• Marina Alta Business Club
• Marples Tearooms and Cafe
• Mike Peers
• Peri Pera Cafe, Javea Port
• Peter Hoffer
• Peter Williamson MA MSc
• Phoenix Computers @ The Sign Shop Javea
• Richard Griffin Peers
• Ricor Solicitors
• RTN
• Solana Casas, Solana Spanish Properties
• St James Place Wealth Management
• Fontana Design
• The Inn on the Green
• The Grapevine Magazine
• The Sign Shop, Javea
• U P Publications Ltd
• UK TV 4 U
• Wising UP! Online

Clubs / Associations

• Porcelain Painting Club Lavender Studio
• The Art Association, Javea (email)

Writers / Authors / Artists

• Andy Crabb
• AnneMarie Callan
• Chris Sinclair
• Mai Griffin

I will deal only with the aspect with which I am most familiar – that of ‘partial deafness’ where the problem only becomes obvious in conversation. The sufferer from partial hearing loss is embarrassed, repeatedly having to say “Pardon? I’m sorry but I did not quite hear what you said”, or words to that effect.  This can result in a number of responses:-

1. The speaker may repeat more slowly and clearly what they said.
2. He or she may shout whilst answering the request.
3. The speaker may dismiss a request with a wave of the hand.
4. The request by the sufferer may well cause  unconcealed mirth on the part of some people present. Even if the speaker’s diction is good, it often becomes unclear in a room full of other ambient noise, and requests for repetition from the partially deaf listener are made with increasing frequency.

Of those responses mentioned above the first one is the only response which indicates an appreciation of the problem, the others reveal a lack of understanding by the ignorant, cruel or unkind. Yet if the partially deaf were, instead, partially blind and were seeking assistance in reading small print – most people would be sympathetic and helpful.

What the ‘audience’ does not understand is that ‘Hearing Aids’ are merely ‘Amplifiers’, which amplify electronically a sound (including speech) but do NOT clarify the sound, so someone who is softly spoken, whispering or with indistinct or slurred speech will simply have the sibilance in their ‘voice’ amplified. Modern speech patterns with rapid delivery and a blurring of consonants from one word to the next, make distinguishing key words in a sentence quite hard, especially if the context is unclear. As they follow a group discussion, this can put the ‘hard of hearing’ a sentence or two behind everyone else. This is particularly common when the hearing loss has been comparatively recent, for example age-related, so that they do not have a lifetime of ‘learning to compensate’ to ‘overcome’ their disability.

Another thing to understand is that, in some cases, the partial loss of hearing may only affect one aspect e.g.:-

1. The inability to hear ‘low volume’ speech.
2. their tonal range is affected.
3. the pitch at which voices work – especially in a room full of other noises or conversations.

Laughter is certainly an inappropriate response to any disability and likely to provoke an angry response. Before laughing at a person with a partial hearing problem, consider how you would feel in their place.  Remember too, that when someone speaks more loudly than you do, it may not mean that they are shouting – it may be that they are instinctively raising their voice to the level it is comfortable for them to hear – in the hope that the people around them will follow suit.

In a Business meeting, clarity of speech is essential, especially when you are trying to ‘sell’ yourself and your business, and the speaker needs to remember that no two people have the same hearing capabilities. The volume, therefore,  must equal clarity, which is where the pitch comes into play. The tone should be modulated so that it is comfortable for everyone.

Clues to whether you are succeeding in communicating include:

• No-one in your audience is staring fixedly at your mouth and frowning in a concentrated way.
• No-one in your audience is looking down at their paperwork and reading the notes you have given them instead of looking at you
• No-one in your audience is doodling or staring away from you because they have given up trying to hear you and are bored
• No-one in your audience is asking their neighbour what you said – or constantly interrupting your flow with requests for repetition.

Remember also, when you are ‘selling’, that the person most interested could be someone with hearing problems and if they cannot hear clearly what you are saying, you may well lose out on the ‘sale’.

Still think that very few of your clients and colleagues are likely to have a hearing problem? Then you might be interested in these statistics from the RNID:-

Deaf and hard of hearing adults in the UK 

The most recent estimated figures for the number of deaf and hard of hearing adults in the UK are:

Total number of deaf and hard of hearing people:  8,945,000

• 2,474,000 aged 16 to 60.
• 6,471,000 aged over 60.

 Total number of people with mild to moderate deafness: 8,257,000

• 2,366,000 aged 16 to 60.
• 5,891,000 aged over 60.

Total number of people with severe to profound deafness: 688,000 

• 108,000 aged 16 to 60.
• 580,000 aged over 60.

 Age-related hearing loss

The most common type of hearing loss in the UK is among people who are gradually losing their hearing as part of the ageing process.

Of over 70 year-olds in the UK, a total of 71.1% have some kind of hearing loss:

• 26.7% have mild hearing loss.
• 36.8% have moderate hearing loss.
• 6.3% have severe hearing loss.
• 1.3% have profound hearing loss.

A total of 41.7% of over 50 year-olds in the UK have some kind of hearing loss:

• 21.6% have mild hearing loss.
• 16.8% have moderate hearing loss.
• 2.7% have severe hearing loss.
• 0.6% have profound hearing loss.

It might be worth checking your own hearing Deafness creeps up unnoticed and acknowledging your own weakness early in its advance, you might avoid the embarrassment of becoming a figure of fun.

Operating in Javea for almost 20 years the Sign Shop has become one of the most well known businesses in the area & produces work for local, national & international customers

Our capacity includes a full professional digital press service producing high quality printing of flyers, business cards etc. plus all types of internal & external signage including wide format graphics for both outdoor & exhibition use. We also supply personalised printed t-shirts, polos etc..

All work is performed in house with support machinery being fully owned by us & operated by our own staff.

Our premises of 350 square metres are secure leasehold with a further 5 years currently remaining.

The sale is to include all machinery & equipment with no debt attached & full training is available if required.

Open to offers in the region of 300,000.00 Euros.

phone: 0034 96 5790710

e-mail: info@signshopjavea.com

Web: www.signshopjavea.com

Location Information:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X%C3%A0bia

Free Seminar and advice with help for businesses wanting to expand and develop their customer base.

Tired of working alone – try one of our seminars and we will share our experience with you in exchange for you sharing your concerns with us!

Last year’s Emergency Budget was about rescuing the nation’s finances and paying for Labour’s mistakes. Today’s Budget sticks to the plan, and focuses on reforming the economy to ensure jobs and growth for the future. I am also doing what I can help to families with the cost of living – including an immediate cut to fuel duty.

I know times aren’t easy for families at the moment, so this Budget announced help, including:

• An immediate cut in fuel duty by 1 pence per litre and a delay of April’s inflation rise in duty to next January. This means fuel duty is 6 pence lower than it would be under Labour. We are paying for this by putting up taxes on the oil companies while the oil price is high to create a Fair Fuel Stabiliser.
• An increase in the personal allowance from £6,500 to £8,100 over the next two years. This will mean £326 extra for working people and it will lift over a million low paid people out of tax altogether.
• £250 million to help 10,000 first time buyers get on the housing ladder.
• A freeze in Air Passenger Duty this year.
• Money for councils so virtually every council in England will freeze council tax next month.
• A new scheme to allow Gift Aid to be claimed on the contents of charities’ collecting tins and street buckets, and support for largest donations with radical reforms to Inheritance Tax – if you leave 10 per cent or more of your estate to charity, then the Government will take 10 per cent off your inheritance tax bill.

As well as helping in the short term we need to reform our economy to create growth and jobs in the future. The hard truth is that Britain has lost ground in the world economy.

Under Labour manufacturing halved, and growth depended on unsustainable public spending, debt and financial services. We need a new model of growth based on investment, manufacturing and exports – a Britain that makes things again. This Budget started that process, with measures that include:

• An additional 1p cut in corporation tax. In April this year corporation tax will fall from 28% to 26%. It will continue to fall by 1% in each of the following three years reaching 23%. Britain will be competitive again.
• Doubling Entrepreneurs Relief to £10m and sweeping changes to the generosity, simplicity and reach of the Enterprise Investment Scheme, with an increase in the income tax relief available from 20% to 30%.
• An extension of the small business rate relief holiday for another year.
• An additional £100m for new science facilities and more generous tax credits for small business research and development.
• 21 new Enterprise Zones with business rate cuts and new broadband to promote growth across the country.
• A review of the revenue raised by the temporary 50p rate of income tax.
• 50,000 additional apprenticeships and 100,000 work placements for young people.
• £3bn for a Green Investment Bank, which will generate an additional £15 billion in private sector investment in green projects and low carbon energy.

The Confederation of British Industry has already endorsed our approach saying: “This Budget will help businesses grow and create jobs.”

So this is our plan – reforming the economy to create jobs and supporting families. This Budget will put fuel back in the tank of Britain’s economy.

George Osborne
Chancellor of the Exchequer

Our thanks to Laura Leeman from the British Consulate in Alicante who made the excellent presentation to members and guests on March 3rd. The meeting was held at Peri Pera in Javea Port and was open to members and friends of the Club. As you can tell from Chris’s Article it was an interesting evening with a lot of information on pensions and accessing them from Spain.

Marina Alta Business Club was pleased to have such a good turn out and the evening was so successful it over-ran 

For something like 30 years I had been protecting myself from the stresses and strains of uncertain motoring dilemma with my membership of the Royal Automobile Club.

Any car can break down or suffer unforeseen problems no matter how well it is serviced and, in truth I came to regard my RAC membership as more important to me than my statutory car insurance policy. The good old RAC and its devoted team never once let me down, and would always go that extra mile to get me back on the road as soon as possible.

On one occasion, after a broken metal aerial had been flung up from the road to spear my car’s fuel tank, the patrolman even went so far as to make a repair by cutting an unused rubber duck aerial from the roof of his own vehicle, and using it, together with (I think) some epoxy resin, satisfactorily plug the hole. That repair was still holding strong when some time later I had the fuel tank replaced under a claim on my comprehensive insurance policy.

However the RAC are not the cheapest bunch to belong to, and as many of their rivals advertise strongly, and appear to have a good and happy following I switched horses for one of the others last year to save some money. I mean why not! They all offer the same service don’t they?

Just short of a year later I am here to tell you that nothing is further from the truth.

Just a few weeks ago, while in the Lake District with my wife, our caravan and trusty old land Rover Discovery we discovered a broken exhaust pipe hanging dangerously below the Landy.

No problem I thought, I’ll just ring my trusty break down service and ask them to send a man to safely secure the pipe so I can drive to an exhaust centre and have a new one fitted. You may imagine my surprise when an hour later I was visited by a man with an enormous recovery vehicle but hardly a tool kit to his name. All he was able to produce was a screwdriver and some cable ties (plastic cable ties) with which he tied up the exhaust pipe and drove off into the midday sun. (Oh yes we were in Coniston during the first rainless week for 6 weeks – it wasn’t all bad luck.)

When very shortly afterwards I again rang the breakdown firm they acknowledged the shortfall in their service, and agreed that if I located an appropriate exhaust centre they would provide recovery of our Landy to that centre the following morning. This was done but meanwhile we needed to request a hire car. No problem with one being provided but it had to be brought to us so we could be taken in it to the hire company’s office many miles away to complete the hire agreement before we drove it back to Coniston

All this wasted a day and a half of a one-week holiday!

So there is a lesson here. Just because the RAC has a proven and reliable brand it is a mistake to assume that any similar organisation can even hold a candle to its level of service. I have been extremely happy to rejoin the RAC and pay them whatever they ask.

Now if I can generate for my business the sort of Brand that the RAC has!!

The Chancellor tried to reassure us that he was being ‘fair’ and that ‘everyone will pay something but the people at the bottom of the income scale will pay proportionately less than those at the top’.

The key announcements included:

• VAT Rate rise – As anticipated the VAT rate will increase from 17.5% to 20% with effect from 4 January 2011.
• Personal Allowance increase – The personal income tax allowance is to increase by £1,000 in April 2011 to £7,475. This is worth £200 a year to a basic rate taxpayer.
• Capital Gains Tax increase – The Capital Gains Tax rate for higher rate taxpayers will increase from 18% to 28% from midnight tonight. It remains at 18% for basic rate tax payers.
• Entrepreneurs Relief extended – Entrepreneurs relief has been extended to a rate of 10% on the first £5m of gains as opposed to the first £2m.
• Corporation Tax Rate cut – The Corporation Tax rate will be cut by 1% each year over the next four years until it reaches 24%. The Small Companies rate is to be cut to 20%.
• National Insurance rise to stay – The National Insurance rate increases announced by labour remained intact and will still take place however the threshold at which employers start to pay will rise.
• No change to Cigarettes, Alcohol and Fuel – No changes were made to duty on cigarettes, alcohol or fuel and the plan to increase the duty on cider from July was scrapped.
• Freeze on Child Benefits – Child benefit is to be frozen for the next three years.
• Changes to Tax Credits – Tax credits will reduce for families earning over £40,000 next year but for low income families they will receive more Child Tax Credit with the amount per child increasing by £150 above the rate of inflation.
• State Pensions – The state pension is to be linked to earnings from April 2011 and is guaranteed to rise in line with earnings or 2.5% whichever is greater. The increase in the state pension age to 66 is to be accelerated.

For further details on the key announcements visit our website www.georgehay.co.uk where you can download a copy of our budget summary.