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Business in Manchester is growing constantly and more then ever before, despite the current economic climate. There has been investment from national and international companies alike entering into the region coupled with a booming and confident entrepreneurial and enterprising culture from local Manchester companies and start ups.

There has been significant investment and business transacted in Manchester over the last five years from all these channels leading to a major rise in professional services. This has been exemplified visually for all to see with focussed developments and bases for professional companies including Spinningfields off Deansgate and modern commercial property projects in Manchester.

The number and diversity of professionals has led netwotking in Manchaster to become a key activity, with many networking events and local business networking groups forming such as BNI North West. Online resources have emerged to provide interactive directories and online networking to help identify suitable Manchester professionals.

There are now over 8,000 accountants in Manchester, when including both chartered accountants and management accountants. All the ‘big four’ accountancy firms now operate in Manchester, KPMG, PricewaterHouseCoopers, Ernst and Young, Deloitte all have set up significant regional headquarters or offices in Manchester.

The legal faction has also evolved fast rate with over 2,000 solicitors in Manchaster. Some local ‘home grown’ solicitors in Manchester now achieve national acclaim; Pannone and Cobbetts being fine examples. Many Manchester solicitors now have extensive North West operations with four or five offices, for example Eversheds and Halliwells.

Services for Manchester accountants and Manchaster solicitors have probably risen due to the level of larger North West and Manchester firms floating on the stock market and a greater amount of management buyouts and acquisitive moods of Manchester companies that look to continuously take over firms to consolidate or diversify into market sectors.  The result of this is a greater demand for corporate finance, legal advice, management restructuring and private equity to enables these processes, all requiring experienced and expert advisors from both accountancy and legal sectors.

For accountants, larger workforces demanded more in depth payroll systems and management accounts. For solicitors, company and commercial law and employment law departments grew as services increased. With the recent relocation of the BBC and media houses arriving in Manchester, the need for IT and media law also heightened.

Indeed, it is not just traditional professional sectors that have grown, but creative and media sectors in Manchester; even without the BBC. There have been rafts of advertising agencies, marketing and public relations agencies that have opened their doors. Communications in Manchester have become vital for professional service and commercial outfits to convey their intent and offerings in Manchester, spurring more sophisticated and multi channel marketing campaigns. Advertising and media have become respected and recognised professional services in Manchester in their own right.

Returning to traditional professional services, the banking sector in Manchester has simultaneously risen because of company takeovers and restructures too, with particular emphasis on Investment Banking. The number of business bank managers in Manchester has grown dramatically, with managers offering services for SMEs and corporate outfits. Investment advisers and Financial Advisers in Manchester have also boomed with advisors offering solutions to maximise companies’ efficiencies in tax, profit sharing, directorships and share options. They provided financial advice and stockbrokers’ services for directors and business owners’ personal wealth management such as inheritance tax, tax planning and personal investments.

Busy commercial activity always calls for the services of insurance brokers. There are many commercial insurance companies in Manchester now ranging from local insurance brokers through to branches of national insurance brokers including Hiscox. Professional indemnity insurance has naturally become critical given the number of professionals serving clients in Manchester now. Employer liability insurance, contents and health insurance plans have become more standard practice. One growth sector in particular is risk management for business continuity. Insurance brokers often provide directors with high net worth insurance for personal reasons also.

The new office openings of the professional service companies boosted the commercial property arena in Manchester. New office space, industrial and retail outlets have all opened exponentially in recent years, in locations across Deansgate, Piccadilly, Ancoats and historical business streets including Portland Street and Princess Street. Commercial estate agents in Manchester have expanded their sales force and national agencies including Knight Frank and King Sturge have joined in.

Skilled architecture was required to design new modern offices and commercial property space, opening up good opportunities for local Manchester architects, such as Ian Simpson through to nationals including BDF, to engage in ambitious projects.

Quantity and chartered surveyors have become major professional forces, with certain property firms offering all round property consultancy services. As the number of business executives expanded in Manchester, the property firms noted a need for more city centre apartments and developments continued only until recently when the residential market stagnated. Property in Manchester was one of the hardest to be hit with the over supply of city centre apartments due to the developers over optimism.

Workforces of companies and professional services in Manchester must have risen steadily and impressively for the last ten years and only deterred currently by the harsh economic environment.

This opened up another weighted professional sector in recruitment and employment. There are now similar numbers of recruitment consultants and recruitment agencies as there are solicitors and accountants. Sector specific recruitment consultants have emerged, that target just accountants or solicitors or finance professionals. Others solely cater for executive recruitment or IT sales recruitment and focus purely on headhunting services for the right position.

Consultancy services as a whole are now vital institutes in Manchester. These range from personnel related such as human resource (HR) consultants and training providers through to management consultants that concentrate on performance management, organisational behaviour and leadership management. Business consultants provide valuable duties of looking at companies’ strategy and forming new plans, again sometimes for specific sectors. The institute of Business Consulting now has over 1300 member across the North West.

IT is now integrated in virtually every Manchester business, making it just as important as legal or accountancy services in some respects. Subsequently IT consultants and IT support are now high in demand, whether it is for permanent or remote support.

The credit crunch may have arrived, but given the robustness of many of these professional firms in Manchester and the concentration of business activity and key national players that have bases in the region; the service industry will not be moving far. The rise of traditional industries and emergence of new professional services in Manchester has created a wider market now that can serve and feed from each other. The abundance of advisors also, will now continually attract start ups, SMEs and corporate business to the city as a range of support services are readily available to choose between. There will always likely to be a professional service available in Manchester specialising in a required field to match a businesses’ specific demand.

 

DEMARCATION OF CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT OF AN INDIAN CITY: A CASE STUDY OF SOLAPUR CITY

Urban geography is an important branch of geography. Where interactions within the city limits have been studied by number of geographers. The core area of a city is a special character of any urban centre. On the basis of this, the concept of “Central Business District” has been developed in western countries. An attempt has been made to apply this concept of Central Business District (CBD) to Solapur city in Maharashtra, India. The necessary data was collected was collected from town and planning office of SMC (Solapur Municipal Corporation)as well as field work analyzed using statistical methods.Considering the land values in various municipal wards of Solapur city, Central business district has been demarcated. The collected information, It was found that the highest land value areas are being used for commercial purposes as well residential purpose. Also there are some slums in this zone. The government offices are slightly away from the core area, but still enjoy high land value due to transport facilities.There is a dispersion of shopping centers in the newly developed residential areas, e.g. Jule Solapur. The newly absorbed villages   in the municipal areas have very low land value because of lack of facilities e.g. Bale and Degaon.

Keywords: Land value, specialized market, Residential area-Non residential area, core area.

INTRODUCTION

Urban Geography is an important branch of Geography. The study of interaction within the city limit has been studied by number of geographers. The core area of the city has special character on the basis of this; the concept of Central Business District has been developed in western countries.It is very interesting to study the characters of Central Business District of any city. An attempt has been made to apply the concept of Central Business District to Solapur city, an important city in Maharashtra, India.

STUDY AREA

Solapur City is one of the important cities in western Maharashtra. The latitudinal extent of the city is 17?40’ north and the longitudinal extent is 75?46’ east. It is situated in the Bhima River of the Deccan Plateau. The present area of the city is 179 sq.km. Solapur is situated 550 meters above the mean sea level. River Sina, which is a tributary of Bhima River, flows near southwestern part, of Solapur City. Black cotton ‘Regur’ soil is present in this region. The thickness of the soil decreases as ones moves away from the main river. The climate of the city is dry throughout the year, due to its inland location.

The total Population of Solapur city as enumerated by the census of India (1991) is 620846. Present population according to the Solapur Municipal Corporation 948000.  shows decadal variation of population of Solapur during the last century. The decade 1901-1911 registered negative Growth rate of Population that is 18.52 p.c it was because of several epidemics recorded during the decade throughout the India. Further there is a constant increase in population. In 1993-1994 Municipal Corporation limit of Solapur was extended and 11 villages were included into the city limit. As a result population has been increase during the last decade.

LAND USE

Out of the total geographical area of the city, more than 50 % is under noncommercial and residential area and various industries and commercial establishments occupy 20%. More than 60% Shops are concentrated in the core of the city i.e. Navi Peth, Goldfinch Peth, Sakhar Peth, Murarji Peth and Remaining Shops are scattered in the outskirts of the core area. The residential area is mainly located to the southwest and northwest of Solapur. Various new housing colonies are emerging at the above mentioned areas. The extended part of Solapur city in the southern part is mostly a residential area. It is called as ‘Twin Sholapur’. Considering this morphology of the city, an attempt has been to de market the core area of the city.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENT STUDY

The objectives of the present study in Solapur city as follows.

1.   To identify the market centers and to find out weather the concept of CBD in western country is applicable to Solapur city.

2.   To study the impact of extension of city limit the development of new market centers.

3.   To find out the salient features of the market centers in Solapur city.

HYPOTHESIS

1.   Increasing number of shops and reduction in residential land use in the area develops CBD.

2.   Is there any impact of extension of city limit on the market centers?

METHODOLOGY

The first hand data was collected by field survey method. Number of shops and institutes were noted along each road in the market areas during the fieldwork.The second hand data has been collected through the census 2002 gazetteer of the Solapur district. Various department of Solapur Municipal Corporation helped in collecting information regarding land records, revenue etc. Information was also collected from town planning department of Zillah Parishad Solapur. The maps prepared by Solapur Municipal Corporation were made available for the study purpose by the Town Planning department.The collected data was compiled in tabular form to prepare diagrams and it was further used for statistical analysis. Maps were prepared with the help of the collected information. The results of statistical analysis have been interpreted and concluded.

Definition and Importance:

Central Business District is a part of city is unique in its specialized land use & distinctive functions and is thus different from all other part of city. A term Central Business District originally and American term the heart of the city, i.e. Downtown. Presently it is commonly used in human geography to describe the nucleus of the urban area, which acts as focus of its commercial, social and civic life?. Central Business District is also known as central traffic District, Central commercial District , Downtown Business District , Hardcore , and commercial core. In Britain this has been named as central area. In India a term Central Business District is generally accepted and commonly used by geographers.

According to Dickinson, “The combination of high land value and obsolescent building ripe for demolition accounts for the dingy looking zone of deterioration, the surrounds the Business center of almost every city .

According to Harris and Ullman, “The Central Business District is the focus of commercial, social and civic life and of transportation in its Downtown retail district with its department stores smart shops of office building, club, bank, hotel, theater, museum   and organizational headquarters

Here one finds the greatest concentration of offices and retail stores reflected in the cities highest land value and its tallest buildings .

CHARACTERISTICS OF CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

The Central Business District is very important zone with in an urban settlement and it has a number of distinctive characteristics.

Non residential land use within the core area. Major departmental and variety stores. A great range of specialized shops. Head offices and branches offices of large commercial organization. Financial institutions, banks, etc. Administrative offices. Ancillary services such as insurance , accounting, legal work, etc. entertainment Hotel, restaurant and cafes. Most of these activities need to attract as many customs as possible in order to retain. Economic viability and there benefit from there central location within the urban area. Most of the activities are found within the Central Business District benefit from close proximity to one another. (Mutual segmentations) The Central Business District is the most accessible zone in the urban area. The Central Business District draws worker and customers of all socio economic classes from urban area as well as adjoining rural areas. The Central Business District is the area of highest land values within the city. The center of Central Business District is known as the Peak Land Value Intersection.(PLVI) Central Business District results in buildings that are not only tall but also multifunctional, ground floor are normally occupied by shops. In Central Business District there is an obvious absence of the residential population. Non western countries are however an expectation to these characteristics for there is substantial residential population so called Central Business District. Manufacturing is of limited importance in Central Business District. The size of extent of the Central Business District varies from one city to another city. The Central Business District is not a static feature. It is a dynamic. It is constantly changing in morphology, structure shapes and size in social patterns to meet changing economic conditions. The location shifts of a Central Business District can be seen through the identification of zone of assimilation and zone of discard. The heavy conjunction high incidence of atmosphere pollution at the city center has adversely affected land values.

DELIMITATIONS OF CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

The Central Business District is frequently referred to as the Central Business District is the art of the American City. Here one can find the great concentration of offices and retail stores reflected in the city highest land values and its tallest buildings. Here too is the chief focus of pedestrian and automobile traffic. By way of transportation network the reminder of the city and area of decreasing intensity extending far beyond the cities corporate limits are oriented towards the Central Business District. Even a cursory examination of the area we are proposing to delimit brings out the fact it is far from homogeneous. First of all there is variation in what might be called commercial intensity. This reflected in the tendency of some writers to use the designation. “Commercial Core” for the more highly concentrated central portion of Central Business District. In similar fashion the term “Hardcore” has been used to distinguish this central area from the reminder of the district, and others have spoken of a “Primary area” and a “Secondary area”.

NATURE OF THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT EDGES

As Bartholomew says,” It (Central Business District) is some of vague area with no definite boundaries.” As Dickinson puts it, “the combination of high land values and obsolescing buildings, ripe for demolition, accounts for the dingy looking ‘Zone of Detroydation’ “The surrounds the business centers of almost every city.

DELIMITATION METHODS USED BY PLANNING AGENCIES

In several instances the planner said that for his city no single answer was attempted, instead the zoning ordinance might give on Central Business District delimitation and the traffic ordinance is a different one and the fire department might use still a third for most cities however a single delimiting line was used , in simply all  instances following block boundaries. The area shown was “Generally understood locally” to be the Central Business District, in one instance it was arrived at “intuitively” barriers such as rivers or rail road trucks were mentioned as forming parts of the boundaries of some Central Business Districts. In case of only two of the cities queried were any definite technique reported. Charles M. Downe used assessed land values by lots reduced to value per front foot at a uniform hundred foot depth, drawing his Central Business District boundaries line at the outer limit of the lots with front foot land valuation 300 or more .

DELIMITATION OF CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT IN SOLAPUR CITY

It has been found during the field work that the municipal wards with land value less than Rs.9000/sq.m are residential areas where shops are hardly present e.g. the ward number 55 of the Solapur city has only 14 shops, mainly general stores are present. The average land value per sq.meter is slightly above 12000, thought the ward is in commercial activities are concentrated where the land values are about Rs. 9000/sq.m.

The Karl Persion’s Correlation Coefficient method (r) has been used to analyses the collated data. The calculated ‘r’ have been represented in the table 0.311887923 It suggest is highest number of shops where the land value is also highest. However the calculated ‘r’ is minimum while the highest ‘r’ value is representing the second group land value between 12000 Rs to 15000 rs./m². The highest land value and lowest ‘r’ that considering the standard of Solapur people, preferred to live small in convenient houses instead of shifting to the out outskirts of the city. This area is being used for residential as well as commercial purposes. However, there are some slums also which have reduced the number of shops in the area. Therefore, the ‘r’ value is less. The 15000 Rs to 18000 Rs land value is representing mainly the administrative occupies by the vegetable market as well as residential area and administrative areas where minimum number of shops is present by railway quarters, Dak bungalow and educational institutes, PWD, office. The Solapur Municipal Corporation area as well as eastern of the city represents that mostly the land values between 12000 Rs and 15000 Rs or even less. The open spaces and newly area in Solapur city indicate the value less than 12000/m². It has been confirm during the field survey that the newly developed residential areas are having few shops, mostly general stores to supply daily requirement of the people. Some super markets are also developing as shown.

CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

The Central Business District of Solapur represents highest land value. At the same time extension is responsible for development of new shops in the newly developing residential areas.

FINDING AND SUGGESTIONS

As stated by Siddhartha and Mukharji the concept of Central Business District in western cities can not applied to Solapur, as it is. The Social, historical, economic and cultural factors are responsible for modifications. These factors have to be considered while applying the concept in case of Indian cites. The old market centers are the present core areas of the city. However the land value is highest near the western part of the city which is developed after the first textile mill. This part has proximity to the national highway NH-9 as well as the Broad gauge railway station of Solapur. The high land value areas have multi-stored building as well as slums. The height of the building is only up to there stories. The ward-number 55 of the Solapur Municipal Corporation, which is a part of the sold core zone, re residential zone with only 14 shops. It represents that land value is less than 12000 Rs/m² is considerably high for residential area Solapur. The high land value recorded in the northern part of the city which the extreme north and south regions enjoy fairly low land values. The newly included villages in Solapur Degaon, Bale, Kegaon, shelgi, Dahitane, Kumbhari, Majrewdi, Kumathe, Soregaon, Pratap Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Basweshwer Nagar have very low land value since the urban facilities are not developed in these regions. The horizontal of the city is responsible for development of local retail market centers in the residential areas. These areas include the Solapur-Bijapur Highway, Solapur-Hydrabad road mainly. They are also developing at the other roads, which are diverging for Solapur. This has been confirmed during the field work. The Solapur Municipal Corporation wards numbers 51, 53, 55, 86, 87 represent the Central Business District of the Solapur city. However there is residential population also. Presently new constructions are replacing the old residential wards in to a commercial complex. However some residential apartments are also present. Very few people migrate to the new residential areas as the outer margins of Solapur. Thus, the hypothesis reduction in residential areas is accepted. The statistical analysis also suggest that people have tendency to stay in the core area because proximity to transport facilities and shopping complexes. It is represented by the calculated ‘r’ values.

10.  High land value is recorded with minimum shapes in southwestern part of the administrative officers as well as government quarters in this area are responsible for transport facilitates. The vegetable market near the Center Business District also enjoys high land value.

11.  The land values are very low in outskirts where hardly any trade is possible. Therefore, the shops are also absent.

12.  Most of the entertainment facilities like cinema hall, theaters, and library are concentrated near the core area of the city. The only exception is one cinema hall in the eastern part of the city.

Different coverage is available for different businesses. Each business has its own unique needs and your van insurance company have developed specific business coverages to address your set of needs. Some insurance coverages are common with all businesses. Business property and a type of Liability insurance are common standards of coverage. Protection of business materials, including software and supplies is considered important to almost all types of business. Protection against lawsuits with Liability insurance is also a standard with almost all business types.

First things first, find an van insurance company or broker you can trust. Ask around with friends, family or other esteemed business owners and compile a list of recommended insurance companies. Also find out what coverages they use. This way you will be well-informed before your first meeting with the agent. If available, contact your trade association and find out what coverages they recommend. This can help save considerable time and hassle.

When choosing an van insurance company that fits best for your business, find out how much they know about your business and its needs. Also, examine how long your agent of choice has sold business insurance. A seasoned insurance agent may not be familiar with your business, but they will know their product and what to recommend for your situation. Before finalizing any coverage ask your agent what steps you can take to minimize potential loss due to theft, natural disaster and workplace injury.

3 Tips to a Lower Premium

1 – Raise your deductible. The higher the deductible, the more you pay out of pocket in the event of a claim. This is one sure fire way to keep your premium down.

2 – Buy all your insurance from one company. Purchasing a “package” deal often times comes with a discount. Signing-up for a coverage here and there will only disperse your loyalty and insurance companies want all of your business! Find out if a discounted rate is available.

3 – Employ loss prevention tips. Quite often insurance companies will lower a business owner’s premium because steps have been taken to help prevent loss. Insurance companies don’t want to pay claims and they will reward the customer that shows they are responsible and on the insurance companies side.

3 Ways to Avoid an Insurance Claim

1 – Train your employees. Prevent liability and worker’s compensation claims by teaching your employees correct ways of performing job duties. This will also empower your employees and help them to take ownership of their duties.

2 – Do Regular Building Maintenance. It’s much easier to prevent an accident than to clean-up after one. Check your electric system on a regular basis. This is a source of many avoidable fires.

3 – Plan for an Emergency. In the event of an emergency, have a game plan. Train your employees for an emergency and have an easy to execute plan. This will help minimize your loss if disaster strikes.

When choosing an van insurance company, be informed and knowledgeable. Keeping these tips in mind will help service you when looking for the right van insurance company.

Please note this question applies to car insurance in the UK (but all advice is welcome!)

I have a standard insurance policy which includes Social, Domestic, Pleasure and Commuting and is fully comprehensive. My job will now however require me to attend meetings at various client sites, obviously during work hours. Does this mean I have to extend my policy to cover Business use as well? If so should I my employer reimburse this (in addition to the 40p per mile they will pay me)?

A few details:

I will ONLY use the car to travel to client sites. I will not transport equipment (apart from a laptop) or do any deliveries etc.
It’s my own car and I am a NAMED DRIVER on the policy (i.e. not the policy holder).
I will only travel once or at most twice a month to meetings.
I have two cars insured on the same policy (if this makes any difference).

I would really appreciate any advice you can give me on getting the best deal (in case I DO need to get extra cover).

When car dealers compete for your business, we get LOWEST possible price, but higher quality cars, and even some extras like “free oil changes for 4 years”….. or 0% interest rates…. or free floor mats.

When fast food restaurants compete for your business, we end up with “Dollar menus” and ever-expanding menus to cater to more tastes and desires…. bigger cups, bigger fries, better flavor.

When Pizza places compete for your business, we get FASTER delivery… FREE delivery… fresher ingredients… lower prices…. coupons…. free bread sticks….. etc..

When CAR INSURANCE companies compete, we get lower rates…. 24 hour claims centers…. free windshield chip repairs…. “come to you” appraisal services…..

EVERYTHING in America that is affected by FREE MARKET COMPETITION gets BETTER when there is competition. So why would the Democrats RISK economic chaos, health care collapse, and RESTRICTED levels of care by NOT having free market solutions to the “health care crisis”???

Competition makes everything BETTER…. but for some reason, Pelosi & Obama have elected to endorse the EXACT OPPOSITE. Dare we make a prediction as to what will happen??? There are market forces you CAN’T IGNORE.

Mauritius sounds an unlikely tax haven to those who are focused only on old world offshore centers!

There are many ways for incorporation in Mauritius:

1. Category 1 and 2 Global Business Companies.

2. Collective Investment Schemes

3. Management Companies and Other Service Providers

1. GLOBAL BUSINESS VEHICLES

The corporate vehicles available to carry global business activities from within Mauritius are companies holding a Category 1 Global Business Licence (GBC1) , companies holding a Category 2 Global Business Licence(GBC2). Other entities available are trust and societe.

i. a) Category 1 Global Business License [GBC 1]

A Global Business corporation (Category 1) is a company incorporation in mauritius which undertakes any of the following activities listed in the Second Schedule of the FSDA 2001 which is carried on from within Mauritius with persons all of whom are resident outside Mauritius and which is conducted in foreign currency:

- Aircraft financing and leasing

- Assets management

- Consultancy services

- Employment services

- Information and communication technologies

- Insurance

- Licensing and franchising

- Logistics and or marketing

- Operational headquarters

- Pension funds

- Shipping and Shipping Management

- Trading

- Any other activity as may be approved by the Commission

This type of company is qualified to take protection of the tax treaties to which Mauritius is a party if it comes within the definition of a resident under the taxation laws.

* A GBC 1 is required to file with the Financial Services Commission within six months after the close of its financial year, annual audited financial statements prepared in accordance with the International Accounting Standards or internationally recognised accounting standards.

* The GBC 1 may be set up by direct company incorporation in mauritius, or by registration of a branch of a foreign company, or by way of continuation where this is allowed by the law in the country of origin.

* A branch of a foreign company may have access to Mauritius tax treaties provided that the local tax authorities are satisfied that effective control and management of the foreign company is in Mauritius.

* The facility of continuing a foreign company registered in a foreign jurisdiction as a GBC 1, and so permitting existing holdings of the foreign company in a country with which Mauritius has a double taxation treaty to benefit from relief under that treaty, has proved attractive to a number of major investors.

* A GBC 1 may be unlimited or limited by shares or by guarantee.

* A GBC 1 may be registered as a Limited Life Company or a Protected Cell Company.

ii. b) Category 2 Global Business License

A Global Business which is carried on by a private company:

- which is a company incorporation in mauritius or registered under the Companies Act 2001

- which does not conduct business with persons resident in Mauritius nor conducts any dealings in Mauritius currency;

- which holds a Category 2 Global Business License.

- It is exempt from the provisions of the Income Tax Act and is declared as non resident for tax purposes.

- It is a suitable vehicle for holding and managing private assets.

- It is however not allowed to raise capital from the public or to conduct any financial services or to act as a fiduciary.

- The GBC 2 company incorporation in mauritius is not resident for tax purposes and therefore does not benefit from double taxation relief under tax treaties.

- The GBC 2 may either be limited by shares or by guarantee or limited by shares and guarantee or simply unlimited.

- A GBC 2 may also be structured as a Limited Life Company.

iii. Protected Cell Company (PCC)

A GBC 1 company incorporation in Mauritius may be structured as a PCC. The PCC is a special legal structure made up of cellular and non-cellular assets. It provides legal segregation of assets attributable to each cell of the company whether owned by individuals or body corporate. The PCC offers a wide range of applications as set out under Protected Cell Companies (Amendment of Schedule) Regulations 2005.

iii. a) Incorporation & Registration

A PCC may be

- directly incorporated or may be

- registered as a foreign company by way of continuation as a PCC, provided that the incorporation, registration and conversion requirements prescribed in the Companies Act 2001, the Protected Cell Companies Act 1999 (PCC Act) and the Protected Cell Companies (Amendment of schedule) Regulation 2005 are satisfied.

The company incorporation in mauritius and licensing procedures for a PCC is similar to that of a GBC 1. In the case of a continuation, additional requirements as laid down in section 5 of the PCC Act must be satisfied. Section 6 of the PCC Act stipulates that the suffix “PCC” must be added after the name of the company.

A PCC may also be converted into a normal GBC 1 company incorporation in mauritius.

iii. b) Management of a PCC

A PCC is managed by its Directors.

However, the management may be transferred or shared through a management contract with an Investment Manager in the case of investment funds.

iii. c) Capital Requirement

- No minimum capital requirement is imposed for the PCC and for each cell within the PCC.

- However, on a case to case basis and depending on the nature of the business, the Commission may prescribe certain capital requirements.

- In the case of insurance or re insurance business, each cell must abide by the Financial Services Development (Amendment Of Schedules) Regulations 2001 regarding the requirement of minimum paid up capital.

iii. d) Winding Up & Liquidation

Special winding up procedures are provided in the PCC Act which protect contagion of solvent cells by insolvent ones.

Dissolution of the PCC is addressed by special provisions in the PCC Act which provide for receivership and administration orders and no recourse to the creditor of the insolvent cell to the assets of the other solvent cells.

iii. e) Reporting & Filing of Audited Accounts

A PCC is required to submit annual audited accounts to the Commission.

The accounts should contain a note explaining the status of the various cells. If it is deemed necessary the Commission may request each cell to report independently.

iii. f) Taxation

As far as taxation is concerned, the PCC is liable to tax as a single legal entity.

iv. Trust

iv. a) Trusts set up under the Trusts Act 2001 provide an effective and legitimate means of sheltering ones’ assets. Various types of Trusts may be set up by residents and non residents in Mauritius such as

- charitable,

- discretionary,

- purpose and trading trusts.

iv. b) Registration of the trust is optional. Flexibility is provided under the Trusts Act in terms of determining the governing law applicable to a trust. There also exists the possibility to accumulate income for any period within the duration of the trust.

With regards to trusts set up by non citizens, the forced heirship rule does not apply.

The Trusts Act 2001 further allows the enforceability of a foreign trust provided that it does not purport to do anything which amounts to an offense under the law of Mauritius or is immoral or contrary to public policy.

iv. c) A trust may carry on a Qualified Global Business after obtaining a Category 1 Global Business License for company incorporation in Mauritius. A trust may not apply for a Category 2 Global Business License.

v. Societe

Societ en Nom Collectif (partnerships) and “Societe en Commandite Simple” set up under the Code de Commerce Amendment Act 1985 (limited partnerships) may be used to structure investments in the global business sector.

A Societe may conduct any qualified global business activities after it has received a Category 1 Global Business Licence for company incorporation in Mauritius from the Financial Services Commission. However, a Societe does not qualify for a Category 2 Global Business Licence.

To enhance the use of such vehicles the Finance Act 1996 has introduced favorable taxation provisions which enable Societes to benefit from reliefs available under double taxation treaties.

Source: Financial Services Commission Mauritius

Banks, investors, and other lenders may require a business owner to have good insurance coverage before processing a loan; this minimizes their risk of losing their investment. Investors and partners may also require a business to have a “key man” insurance policy—life insurance on the owner or crucial employees—so the business can survive in the event something happens to these people. Therefore is important to find the right insurance coverage at the right price.

Never get a price quote from just one company. You should get many different quotes for different coverage types. Ask why there is price difference and their rationale for charging different prices. When shopping around, try to establish the price of a business owner’s policy. This packaged solution offers almost all of the general business insurance needed, but at a discounted rate.

It is important that you gather price quotes from various insurance companies. You can compare the price and quality and make a more informed decision. You should also see if the insurance company is financially stable and reputable. Ask for their ratings from independent rating companies such as A.M. Best & Co. (http://www.ambest.com), Standard & Poor’s (http://www.standardandpoors.com), or Duff & Phelps (http://www.duffllc.com). These ratings are only for the insurance carrier, not for the insurance agency or individual broker. Remember, the insurance agency and broker sells the insurance services of insurance carriers.

Talk to your insurance company regarding precautions you can take to reduce you insurance payment. There might be some type of training for your employees or preemptive precautions you can take—such as installing alarms or creating a disaster plan—that will reduce your insurance premium.

Once you start a dialogue with the agent or broker, request price quotes and information about available coverage. The strange part of the insurance process is that you may not know the exact details of your coverage until you receive your policy. The policy will be many pages long and have all of the details of your insurance package. Read this policy very carefully; if you have any problems or think something should be added to the policy, contact your insurance broker immediately.

An auditor could be a person from the accounts department who is trained in internal auditing. Their objective would be to determine the efficiency, adequacy and the effectiveness of the systems in place for internal control. They also review the reliability and integrity of management and ensures compliance with policies, procedures and laws. They help to safeguard the assets of the business. Internal auditors are in complete control of the organization’s computer system, to guarantee the reliability and integrity of the data.

Computers are literally changing the nature of work of the auditors. With the aid of special software packages, accountants are required to submit all transactions in a specific format for financial analysis. These software packages greatly reduce the workload of auditors and now, auditors are performing more technical duties, such as controlling, implementing and developing technology plans and budgeting.

Due to the corporate world taking over the small business market, internal auditing is an excellent career option.

- Public Sector Audit Jobs- Internal Auditors are in great demand in the public sector, where contract jobs, as well as permanent positions are available. To find a job in the public sector, the best way to find a job is through recruitment firms.

- Audit Jobs in Financial Service Firms- If you are looking for a career in a financial service firm, the best thing to do is to look at options that provide you with a combination of services like insurance, financial management and assets management.

- Retail industry Audit Jobs- There is no shortage of work for auditors in the retail industry. From the smallest region to a large metro area, there is an increasing demand for professionals who can identify losses and audit finances.

- Risk Management Jobs- One of the fastest growing opportunities in the Audit and Finance industry is the risk management category. There is always a need for qualified people to assess, identify, monitor and report the risk factors and their effect on the business. Positions are usually found in financial services firms and the headquarters of large companies.

Most auditors work from private offices. Self-employed accountants work from home. Auditors travel frequently to perform audits at various branches of the employing firms. Most auditors work for a standard 40 hours a week, but many work longer hours, particularly if they are self-employed and have many clients.

Some auditors work as college or university faculty, while some are salaried accountants at private industries and even government offices. Internal Auditors must have a Bachelor’s degree in accounting or a Master’s degree in business administration, with a specialization in accounting. Many colleges also offer internship. People pursuing this career should have a flair for mathematics and a high standard of integrity.

Home insurance provides personally liability coverage for bodily injury and property damage to other people. However, the standard personal property insurance policy (homeowners, tenants or condo) does not extend liability coverage to any types of business use of the property including home daycare businesses. Occasionally, babysitting in your home is not considered a business, but when it becomes a day care business (defined as regularly caring for children on a regular schedule while receiving financial compensation), personal liability coverage would not apply.

If a home daycare provider has not arranged for liability coverage and a child is injured in any way, the home owner could be personally responsible for all damages. Therefore, it is important to purchase in-home childcare insurance if you have been or plan on starting a daycare business. Most of the time, this coverage can be added by rider to a homeowners, tenants, or condominium policy thereby eliminating the need to purchase a separate policy.

Some insurance companies offer the following protection through their coverage:

• Bodily injury and property damage resulting from your childcare operation.

• Allegations of sexual abuse involving children in your care

• Accidents, without regard to fault or liability, to children in your care. This is offered for both on and off your premises.

• Medical payments coverage

• Personal injury including libel, slander, wrongful eviction, wrongful entry, and alienation and affection of any daycare child.

It’s important to thoroughly check out the coverage available to you, to make sure that your home daycare business is properly insured.

According to the Government of Canada’s website on How to Start a Day Care Centre Business located at www.canadabusiness.ca, you should obtain the expertise of an insurance agent regarding insurance coverage for your business. If you own, rather than lease your place of business, you will need insurance coverage for your property. Also, regardless of property ownership, you will require insurance protection for furniture, fixtures and equipment. Some of the other areas you should be concerned about are liability coverage against mishaps, damages or lawsuits resulting from business operations and business interruption insurance. The Child Day Care Centre Regulations state that the details of insurance coverage of the home, with respect to the possessions of the residents, must be included in the admission agreement.”

You will also find comprehensive information on starting a daycare business, licenses and regulations, managing your operation, associations and contacts, education and training, resources, recommended books, video collection, and recommended websites to ensure your home daycare business is in full compliance with the laws of Canada.

If you provide daycare for friends and neighbors in your community on a regular basis, and consider it a home-based business, it would be in your best interest to contact your insurance broker to determine what coverage is needed based on the type of daycare you are providing. This will not only ensure that you are covered, but that the children are as well. It is in the best interest of all parties concerned that daycare provider insurance is purchased in case of any problem that may arise.

In the last few years, statutory reporting and planning have been fiercely competing for the attention of the Finance department. So far, statutory reporting seems to be winning.

The legal and reputation implications of not complying with the ever-growing regulation requirements have left management with no other choice than to assign top priority status to their external accounts.

Providing the required level of control to the reporting of past events has turned to be an exceptionally taxing task, absorbing an incredible amount of time and money. Even taking into consideration the savings that many organisations have realised from a more effective and automated transactional processing, the pressure on Finance and IT resources has been crippling.

Key management reporting activities, such as profitability analysis, planning and decision support have been de-prioritised until external compliance is dealt with; as a result, many organisations are left to cope with a manually intensive, disconnected and often irrelevant budgeting and forecasting process.

Conflicting Objectives and Separate Accountability

Then again, competing for resources is not the only problem. Diverging priorities have also exacerbated the disconnection of the two reporting processes. On the statutory side, the priority has been to provide evidence of fair play and of a tight grip on the internal financial processes. On the planning side, reporting has tried to step up to a more forward looking analysis, trying to unravel any sign hidden behind the data and to provide the business with a flexible tool to model the future behaviour of its profit drivers. The different goals seem to have pulled the Finance team in two competing directions, so far that many organisations have set up separate teams, typically one responsible for actual data and the other for planning and performance data.

While this organisational model seems to tackle the problem of providing sufficient focus, it doesn’t resolve the fact that the user of the two streams of information is the same. With accuracy driving the actual reporting and flexibility driving planning, organisations are struggling to keep it simple and consistent for the confused end-user. Reports are duplicated, analyses overlap and, not surprisingly, generate differing answers. Typically, the Finance actual and planning teams are working in parallel isolation, competing for resources, while heavily depending on each other.

Streamlining reports, eliminating duplications, finding the for-ever-eluding “one version of the truth” has therefore become the mission impossible of the Finance function.

The task is certainly not straightforward. With the increased pressure of reducing the costs of compliance and implicitly that of IT, how can organizations cope with the need of reducing shareholder and market surprises? How can they keep creating documentation on what happened, when and why, while at the same time being able to generate timely and relevant information for everyday business decisions?

Is EPM the answer?

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) has appeared to be the answer. An integrated business and system framework that pulls all analytical and reporting needs in one single process and one single technical platform in order to reduce its cost and to increase its quality. So far, so good.

However, EPM solutions are often forced to work in a tangled, dysfunctional environment where they simply automate the existing practices; the opportunities offered by a fully integrated EPM solution are, therefore, not seized. Many of the existing performance management practices simply aim at reconciling the statutory P&L to the cross-functional nature of decision-making and of organisational accountability.

Once again, technology seems to be ahead of our business practices, offering an advanced, integrated tool to support old fashioned, dysfunctional reporting processes.

The situation is remindful of the large ERP investments in the 90ies, when the new systems were expected to deliver high returns simply by installing and configuring them to the current requirements. A few costly implementations after, we have learnt the benefits of house keeping before refurbishment.

So are compliance and planning the two faces of the same coin? Should they be aligned from the start to reduce reconciliation afterwards? Or is segregation of duties between external compliance and planning an healthy practice which ensures independence of purpose? Are separate internal and external reporting processes an effective way of preventing the temptation to manipulate one in favour of the other?

It is indisputable that the link between past and future in the current financial reporting world is one of reciprocal connivance rather than open honesty. Let’s take, for example, the process of reporting on monthly management results while forecasting year end.

Once the actuals are reported, the year-end forecast often becomes a time-reallocation exercise over the remaining months. Forecasting of debtors, creditors and provisions becomes a tool to make the numbers add up to the intended year end forecast rather than a way to increase visibility in the future financial results. Short terms measures, such as period end sales maximisation, last minute budget cuts and provision releases, are often adopted with the intent of adjusting reality to forecast. 

While actual reporting and forecasting often provide an example of unhealthy dependency, target setting can provide an example of conflict of interest during the planning process. Managers are asked to find innovative ways of enhancing company profitability and to stretch the targets; and they’re asked to link their financial reward and career progression to these stretched targets. Caution and self-preservation can strongly drive the business manager behaviour. Consequently, the negotiation process with the headquarters can become tiring, lengthy and, worse of all, tainted. The road to an open and transparent way of devising growth strategy and predicting results is jammed.

The lack of a visible and integer way of predicting future business behaviour has not come unnoticed to analysts and investors. Organisations have found themselves paying a high price for getting their forecast badly wrong or for failing to provide satisfactory and convincing evidence of the soundness of their projections to the external stakeholders. It has been suggested that missing a revenue forecast or making a re-statement typically costs 10%-20% of market capitalisation (Source: Parson Consulting Group 2004).

The EPM framework has offered a ready tool to bridge the gap between the two sides of  analysis and reporting. However, until recently, the difference in purpose and accountability has prompted organisations to look at the two processes of backward and forward reporting separately. Therefore, when it comes to the financial consolidation and planning processes, organizations have considered their business and technology requirements separately.

For financial consolidation and reporting, in order to streamline reporting cycles and reduce the global costs of compliance, organizations are looking to fulfil requirements such as:

consolidation flexibility, such as support for multiple reporting standards, US GAAP, UK GAAP, IFRS, IAS and so on inter-company eliminations minority ownership corporate governance segment reporting multiple currency translation audit trails standard statutory reporting production (legal, statutory and tax)

From a planning perspective, in order to satisfy both the business (bottom-up planning) and the corporate centre (top-down planning), organizations are looking for:

multi-level operational planning  to simultaneously enable, for example, corporate budget planning, workforce planning, capital expense planning, revenue planning, marketing campaign planning modelling and simulation flexibility, including cost allocation, time series intelligence, spreads and adjustments collaborative, event-based planning  triggering ongoing re-forecasting driver-based planning and forecasting matrix workflow for testing and validating plans across business units online and off line analytical capabilities multiple data entry facilities such as flat file, ETL, excel, web-based and off-line entry forms seamless integration with other analytical and reporting applications, such as balances scorecard, portfolio management, business modelling, Microsoft Office flexible reporting production.

EPM Needs an Integrated Business Design

It is undeniable that an EPM framework can help converging these requirements while preserving the integrity of the whole process. However, this is only possible once the initial step of listing and prioritising different needs is completed.

Regardless of the pressure for a short implementation time, organisations should address all the key organisational reporting needs. Only an integrated design can resolve the misalignment of intents at source.

Addressing all reporting needs at once allows the business to optimally work with the IT department to tie all the requirements together while still satisfying all the individual needs of the assorted business users community. IT can then become the place in the organisation where data integrity materialises. From an economical side, the unifying process can bring benefits such as lower cost of ownership, lower cost of deployment and integration, improved user productivity, greater deployment flexibility and flexible licensing. That is why many organizations are now looking at financial consolidation and planning solutions in conjunction with each other and as part of a larger business performance management process and solution.

IT can help the organisation combine the diverse requirements in one common data structure which will significantly reduce duplications, reconciliations, mapping and board discussions around the more correct set of figures. The standardisation tools that the IT department can use to drive conflicting users requirements together are:

Common Metadata

Integration and synchronization mechanism with metadata sources Unique definition of performance indicators used by different functions and processes Common language for performance measures

Common Data Integration

Synchronization with operational sources Synchronization across EPM processes

Common System Integration

Application administration and management Security and user provisioning Calculation features, e.g. aggregation and inter-company eliminations Reporting and analysis tools User Interface Microsoft Excel interface

Standardising your EPM platform can be a project in itself and does take the time and resources but the return on investment can be proportionally great. As part of the standardization process, Finance and IT will have to build a common system and process platform able to combine the different times, different frequencies and different drivers of both actuals and planning.

So what are the signs that it time to address the misalignment in your statutory and planning reporting? When is a company not making the most out of its EPM investment? When the misalignment between consolidation and planning is more costing the organisation more than the process of fixing it?

Here are some simple qualification criteria for when an organisation needs to urgently address the integration management and statutory.

Is your management structure different from your legal structure?

Laws in certain countries prohibit combining banking and insurance activities within one legal entity because of contagion risk. However, banks and insurers, as well as securities institutions, are allowed to be part of one company, for instance for commercial reasons, provided that certain risk management procedures are in place.

Whatever the reason, the connection between your legal and management structure should be clear and data should roll up seamless from a common source base to the various hierarchies without any need of manual reconciliation or re-keying of data.

Do you need to be able to budget at a different level than your statutory reporting?

The management and budgeting processes are usually driven by a higher level of accountability than external reporting, thus generating the need for a lower level of granularity. From a data structure point of view, this means that more data dimensions are required. Where a financial consolidation system seldom exceeds 12 dimensions (e.g. legal entity, product, geography), a planning solution can need as much as 20 dimensions; in addition to the consolidation dimensions, it will need, for example,  data by employee, project, business unit, function, customer, scenario, version and so on. Many organisations fulfil this requirement through intensive mapping exercises, complex allocations and spreadsheet based calculation and analysis. Data are often requested again to the operational functions, leading to general business dissatisfaction, waste of time and distrust in the ability of the Finance department  to control the flow of data and the generation of information.

A common data structure is the basis to provide all business with a meaningful data view and reliable data values. This can only be achieved if Finance and IT work together in mapping the requirement of the whole organisation, rather than building reports for a single user group at a time.

Does your organization need to provide more forward looking statements?

Your organization might be expanding its operations into new territories, opening new markets or has a general strategy of increasing market share within a 3-5 year time frame. In that case, statements made to shareholders or press releases will have to contain forward looking statements which needs to be supported by bottom up evidence and monitoring process.

Reliable projections can be generated through a proven business model which uses empirical evidence to recognise which variable are controllable and which are not. Organisations also need to demonstrate that decisions are taken by the internal management to influence the controllable profit drivers, that results are monitored, and that actions are adjusted accordingly and that adequate provision has been taken to protect the business against the less controllable events. A strict compliance process need to be applied to any business modelling and forward looking metrics which the company plans to use to drive investors’ profitability. A strong management reporting discipline will prove that the company is committed to compliance and transparency whether reporting internally or externally.