The cost of care-home living continues to rise at an alarming rate and is causing an increasing number of people to take drastic measures. Currently, 1,000 homes per week are arriving on the market in order for people to fund living in care.

But depending on the housing market, selling up isn’t always the most lucrative option. Releasing equity from your property is an alternative way of getting cash from your house that is not repayable until the time is right to sell.

The Basics

There are two fundamental types of equity release scheme: lifetime mortgages and home reversion schemes. (more…)

Despite its recent economic trials, America remains a trend setting nation in terms of marketing and workplace methods. So with approximately one in three U.S. Citizens are now operating as freelancers, it should come as no surprise that a rising number of UK residents are adopting the same working practices. Britain is now home to a burgeoning demographic of accidental entrepreneurs who have responded to rising unemployment by establishing themselves as self-sufficient freelancers.

Freelance Networking : 3 Steps Towards Getting it Right

When making the switch to freelancing, it is important to ensure that you present a professional manner at all times. Networking and winning contracts are one of the most important tasks that you will ever undertake as a freelancer, and it is crucial that you are remembered for all of the right reasons. (more…)

Nine out of ten children in the UK attend state schools which are funded by the government. All state schools are required to follow the National Curriculum.

Education departments in England, Scotland and Wales fund schools through a Local Education Authority. In Northern Ireland, schools are largely financed by public funds from five Education and Library Boards.

The differences in comparison to the US education system are extensive. The main differences come in terms; the terminology used to describe grade years and the methods of assessment of pupils and students. Before studying for a degree, students in the UK must gain GCSE’s and A-Levels where as in the US students must gain a diploma.

Students from the UK can move to the US to study a degree provided they have A-Levels, and are able to pass an American SAT test to be accepted into American universities. Fees for universities in the US can be extremely expensive, costing upwards of $30,000 which is equivalent to £19000.

There are four stages to the education system in the UK

#1. Primary School

Children attend here from the age of four until 11. These schools are usually mixed gender but some schools do have a religion based intake. (more…)

Guerrilla marketing has been knocking around for a while now but it takes a truly bold brand to successfully pull off these daring campaigns. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best and brightest efforts in this field in recent years.

1. The Blair Witch Project

One of guerrilla marketing’s key tenants is to surprise the public in an unexpected way and in the run-up to the release of the 1999 film, the Blair Witch Project, the movie’s makers went on the offensive. The creators of this ground-breaking, low budget flick concocted an urban legend surrounding the Blair Witch via a website and some expertly-placed ‘missing’ posters.

The film went on to be the highest-grossing independent movie until October 2002. (more…)

Press releases are a great way for any organisation to get their message out and the dawn of digital means that the distribution process is easier than ever. But with so much choice, how do you decide the best way of spreading your missive?

• The Write Way To Start

Before you consider distribution, you’ll first have to put your press release together. There are two main avenues for this – either writing it in-house or outsourcing the writing to an agency.

Writing a good press release that will get picked up by journalists is a deceptively hard task and while keeping its creation within your company will dramatically cut costs, there’s a danger it might fall short of what you’d hoped for.

While it’s more expensive to hire an agency for the task, they will usually bring a lot of experience and expertise to bear on the project. The former option is typically best for small or medium-sized companies, while the latter tends to be ideal for businesses at the larger end of the scale.

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