How SEN Schools Are Fighting Waste in Education

10/05/2021

The UK’s Government’s 2018 waste management strategy for England set out ambitious waste reduction and sustainability targets for many sectors. By 2020, it was expected that 50 per cent of household waste should be recycled. The results of these targets are yet to be published. However, evidence suggests that the public continues to respond to these initiatives well.

But while local authorities aim to combat domestic waste issues, another part of the public sector is going under the radar. The education sector is failing on waste, with figures suggesting that schools only recycle around 23 per cent of its waste.

Secondary schools will produce 22kg of waste per pupil every year. Meanwhile, primary schools will create about 45 kg of waste per pupil every year. In total, the education sector produces 250,000 tonnes of waste every year.

This number is disappointing. However, it should be noted that students have a growing enthusiasm for environmental protection. Children are helping their schools to launch recycling, composting, and litter picking strategies.

For students with special educational needs (SEN), these initiatives can help to provide active learning opportunities. Active learning recognises that every student with SEN is unique, and therefore a variety of learning opportunities should be used to educate and inform. Educational institutions can help students with SEN understand their environment while combatting waste problems.

Throwing money away

Of course, education needs a lot of resources, particularly in SEN centres. It should come as no surprise then that 70 per cent of all education waste is made from card, paper, and food. However, despite 80 per cent of this waste being easily recyclable, only 20 per cent of it is recycled.

This is an expensive problem, particularly for food waste in schools. Food waste can cost up to £2,100 per tonne, after procurement, labour, utilities, and waste management. Local authorities will spend around £250 million every year to manage food waste alone.

Equally, Landfill Tax contributes to an avoidable cost which could be spent elsewhere. Estimates suggest that local authorities could save £6.4 million by using more sustainable waste management methods.

This problem can be addressed by local authorities and individual education sectors. Removing costs means that more money can contribute to the education of children, particularly for those with SEN where more funding helps to tackle learning inequalities in the sector.

SEN schools leading the way

There are currently 52,000 schools across 67 countries which are registered to the Eco-Schools campaign. These schools will follow a seven-step plan, claiming awards along the way to a prized green flag to display at their school. Such steps can include an eco-committee of students, creating an eco-action plan, and then acting on this plan. For SEN centres, activities can include students assisting with composting, litter picking, or growing their own fruit and vegetables.

One SEN school is using the Eco-Schools campaign to engage their students with sustainability and learning. Foxfield School in the Wirral helped students to promote biodiversity in their school’s garden through beekeeping, creating a litter-picking group to keep the school grounds tidy, and an oceans’ day to teach about sea life and how to protect it.

For schools starting on their eco-journey, composting is an affordable and accessible entry point. Most fresh food waste and unavoidable food waste such as tea bags and eggshells can be composted. Meanwhile, waste cooked food can be placed in wormeries.

The use of a composter is a useful teaching tool, most importantly for the understanding that the best way to prevent food waste is by eating all of your lunch.

Starting with local authorities

The reduction of overheads and operating costs should be the main focus for local authorities. New solutions are needed to combat waste, with ever-increasing budget restraints.

To save money, local authorities should avoid waste going to landfill. But some school waste going to landfill may be unavoidable, and public waste services can struggle with demand. Instead, authorities could utilise the contracts of waste management businesses. These services can create and implement waste strategy plans to help organise waste effectively and into appropriate waste streams.

Most sectors across the UK are utilising single-stream waste recycling. Even local government offices are becoming more sustainable with this approach, using waste procurement and waste removal companies. This means that sustainability is ensured.

SEN centres can also benefit from this approach if it is implemented by local authorities. There are stringent guidelines for commercial businesses which manage waste. They must ensure that every effort to reuse, recycle, or recover waste is made. In this respect, it is unsurprising that the education sector is not achieving the same. While targets for household waste recycling stand at 50 per cent, why then should the education sector not meet these targets as well? Especially when education waste is made up of a majority of recyclable material.

One waste removal specialist company indicates that education is pivotal to ensuring waste is disposed of properly. Michael Taylor, General Manager at Skip Hire UK, says: “Schools have a duty to lead by example and give the next generation the tools, ideas, and logic to make sound decisions with regards to environmental best practice.

“Education is key here – and while there is no perfect world, doing the right thing in the most cost-effective manner will always be a solid principle to adhere to. Companies like ours and others across the industry will always look to assist schools to promote and educate future generations.”

Education strives on example. Students are enthusiastic to work in an environment where sustainability and the environment is a priority. They can see the consequences of unstainable practices playing out in real-time. Schools must continue to use their influence to inspire young people to use waste responsibly and ensure they can actively learn from these strategies.

Sources

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/resources-and-waste-strategy-for-england

https://www.wrap.org.uk/content/new-study-shows-great-potential-recycling-school-waste

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-landfill-tax/landfill-tax-rates-from-1-april-2013

https://www.eco-schools.org.uk/about/howitworks/

What do you need to know about dealing with motorbike accidents?

Claire James

07/05/2021

Motorbike accidents can be scary and potentially very dangerous. It’s common knowledge that motorbike riders are at greater risk of severe injury when involved in an accident, as motorbikes expose their riders much more than cars do their drivers. But when you have to make a motorbike accident compensation claim, what should you actually do?

The first and most important step

It’s easy to say and difficult to do, but the very first thing you must do when you or anyone else is involved in motorbike accidents is to keep calm. A level head will help you focus on what you need to do next, avoid panic attacks, and ensure a clear head. So when a motorbike accident has happened, take a deep breath and keep calm.

Next, make sure everyone is safe

When you’ve collected yourself, it’s time to make sure everyone involved is okay. Ascertain who was actually involved in the accident itself and check their condition. If there are several people around, have someone call the emergency services while another checks everyone’s safety and relays the information. This means the emergency services will know what they’re dealing with when they arrive.

Contact the ambulance service and the police. If you’re not sure who you need to call, it’s better to call them and explain the situation; the operator will give you more information.

If anyone is injured, resist the urge to move them. You may think you’re helping by trying to make them more comfortable, but unless you’re medically trained, it’s very easy to actually aggravate an existing condition by moving an injured person. The emergency services will respond as soon as possible and be able to better ascertain their condition then move them as needs be.

Collecting the details of those involved

Once you’re sure everyone is safe, it’s time to start making sense of what happened. It’s important that you try and resist the urge to apportion blame at this point. It’s a natural urge, but it can actually be very counterproductive.

The thing to do is just determine who was actually involved in the accident, how many people, and how many vehicles. Then, get the details of those people and the vehicles. After that, think about getting the details of anyone who happened to see the accident take place. It’s always a good idea to take pictures if you can to show the condition of the vehicles at the accident scene.

When should you start your claim?

It depends on the severity of the accident. For most accidents where everyone is okay, you should be feeling fine to contact your insurance company that very day to get the ball rolling. If the accident was more traumatic, give yourself the day to gather your thoughts and mentally recover a little before contacting the insurance company the following day.

Always keep as calm as possible

Circling back to our first point, the most important thing to do when you’re involved in motorbike accidents, or any kind of accident for that matter, is to keep calm, take a deep breath, and act logically.

Low Spread Forex Brokers: Here Our Top 3 List For 2021

John Richardson

27/04/2021

The Forex market has always been one of the most active and interesting financial markets among the many available online. We’re speaking about the market with the most liquidity between all, which is interested in trading movements performed by some serious big players (meaning: the main banks and financial institutes of the world).

It’s no surprise than if many retail traders want a piece of the pie and become an active part of this market.

Today, we want to help out all those future traders who are Forex enthusiasts and wants to know all the low spread forex brokers available today in 2021

Our Top Choices

We decided to make a smart list of only 3 brokers, which have been rated and selected after checking dozens of other similar services of this kind.

Even before doing this check though, we want to underline the fact that we discarded every non-regulated broker, no matter what their offer was. That’s because even if they declared to have the best features available today or the best deals, they were not in the position to prove it.

Remember: a non-regulated broker poses a serious threat to your finances because you may fall in a scam when asking for their services.

Pepperstone

The Australian broker Pepperstone is considered to be one of the most sophisticated CFDs providers for the Forex market. Empowered by advanced tech if compared to the competition and with an extremely competitive spread, ECN Razor account provided by Pepperstone is our top choice.

In addition, this broker comprehends low trading cost and an execution speed way faster than the average on this type of platform.

BASIC INFO:

Regulations: FCA (#684312), MIFID-ESMA, ASIC, DFSA, CYSEC, Offshore
Trading Platforms: cTrader desktop, cTrader web, ZuluTrade, MT4 Desktop, MT4 Web, MT5 Desktop, MT5 Web, MAC Platforms
Minimum Deposit: $200

XM

This brokerage service has surged and has one of the best brokerage services in Europe for trading in the Forex market thanks to their spreads as low as zero pips.

On XM average spreads are 0.1 and the minimum deposit required for starting a standard account amounts to only $5. With such an affordable price to start trading for real not only with FX pairs, but in thousands of financial instruments.

These include:

BASIC INFO:

Regulations: MIFID-ESMA, ASIC, CYSEC
Trading Platforms Available: MT4 Desktop, MT4 Web, MT5 Desktop, MT5 Web, MAC Platforms
Minimum Deposit: $5

OctaFX

This broker has become famous internationally for being well regulated and having an important presence not only in Western countries, but also in Asian nations where trading has become more and more popular day by day.

With OctaFX you’ll have access to an astonishing number of different trading platforms where you can perform all the trading operations needed to gain your financial success, with a minimum of 0.4 pips for Forex trading.

Copy trading is available on their platforms and you can open an account with only $100 of minimum deposit.

BASIC INFO:

Regulations: MIFID-ESMA, CYSEC
Trading Platforms Available: cTrader desktop, cTrader web, MT4 Desktop, MT4 Web, MT5 Desktop, MT5 Web, MAC Platforms
Minimum Deposit: $100

A Comprehensive Guide on How Virtual Data Rooms are Transforming Businesses

Claire James

21/04/2021

Currently, virtual data rooms are becoming more and more important for most businesses across the world. If you are in an industry that deals with financial transactions, then you have probably heard about VDR. You may also encounter data room due diligence if you are in the process of selling your company.

Virtual data rooms are essential to every business that wants to enhance its security, streamline its operations, or facilitate due diligence processes. The market for virtual data rooms continues to increase as businesses in most industries look for innovative ways to survive and stand out from the competition.

But what exactly is VDR and how is it transforming the business landscape? Read on to learn how virtual data rooms can help transform your business.

What is a Virtual Data Room?

A virtual data room, or due diligence data room, is an online data room that is used by companies and businesses to store sensitive and important documentation. Other than acting as a repository, VDRs also allow users to share with investors, potential clients, and employees in a controlled environment.

A virtual data room is also useful for enhancing the due diligence processes of companies. These data rooms are useful for streamlining M&A transactions that involve disclosing and sharing sensitive information with third parties.

Some of the industries that use virtual data rooms include:

Legal firms
Investment banking
Technology
Private equity and venture capital firms
Life science

The Evolution of Data Rooms from Physical Data Room

Before the innovation of virtual data rooms, most businesses used physical data rooms to store and share business information that is necessary for due diligence. These were physical rooms where businesses and companies would store sensitive information and there were restrictions on who had access to the data room.

Although these data rooms were great advancement from the traditional storing methods like filing cabinets, they were still susceptible to data thieves.

Because of the security concerns that come with physical data rooms, business owners worldwide are now investing in virtual data rooms. In virtual data rooms, folders and files are stored in a room that can be customized based on your needs. Plus, the data can be stored in various places and countries where the data room provider’s data centers are located.

Benefits of Virtual Data Rooms

Here is why most entrepreneurs prefer VDRs.

Quick and Easy Navigation

Unlike physical data rooms, virtual data rooms have features such as filtering options and advanced search options that make navigation easy. The business admin can arrange information in folders to allow the user to navigate through without much difficulty. This is particularly useful where business transactions and processes require reviewing and sharing countless documents.

Another great feature that ensures seamless navigation is the site map. This feature uses live links to list out the breakdown of the virtual data rooms.

Increased Control

A unique spec of virtual data rooms is the customizable permission setting that allows the administrator to control who can access certain documents in the data room. They can easily track the activity of the users in the data rooms and revoke access at any point during the transaction.

With the activity report, you will be in a better position to determine the level of interest of potential buyers during M&A transactions. Plus, you can configure different security measures like setting the expiration date.

Another important control feature is the drop-and-drag file. This tool allows you to make changes to an already uploaded file so you can have control over the information you have shared.

Utmost Security

With most people shifting from traditional platforms to digital platforms, improving the security of your business is important. When you invest in VDRs, you can be assured that your confidential information is well secured.

VDRs are equipped with various security procedures that can protect your business data. This can, especially, be very beneficial for businesses that deal with sensitive information like financial institutions, law firms, and many more.

Worldwide Access

A challenge with physical data rooms is that a lot of time is needed to access the files. On the contrary, VDRs are easy to access regardless of where you are. Besides, you can do transactions and share documents using your device anywhere you are.

This also allows reviewers to access the files and folders in a quickly and efficiently. Consequently, transactions will be fast and seamless.

Improved Data Management

For businesses that deal with large volumes of data, locating specific files can be quite overwhelming. A benefit of virtual data rooms for businesses is that they can filter files depending on the date or time. This ensures better data management of your file history.

Effective Communication

VDRs improve communication within an organization, which in turn improves efficiency and productivity. As more companies adopt remote working for their employees, a virtual data room can come in handy to help team members communicate effectively. Your team can also access and browse information from different locations, leading to workflow efficiency.

The Future of Virtual Data Rooms for Businesses

Despite all the benefits that virtual data rooms offer businesses, there is still more innovation and the transformation continues. It is believed that VDR companies generate massive revenue since virtual data rooms became popular in 2017. In 2016, nearly 240 VDR providers generated over $800 million in revenue.

Businesses in nearly all sectors are increasingly investing in VDRs because of the technological data solution they offer. VDR has undoubtedly revolutionized how business data and deals are done and shared in the world of business.

Moreover, businesses are bound to continue shifting from physical data rooms to VDRs because of the security level they offer. VDR promises the safety and security of information, deals, transactions, and internal communication.

It also provides a platform where bosses, potential clients, and workers can work together seamlessly, which is vital for the success of any business. An emerging trend is using virtual data rooms and blockchain technology to enhance security for business transactions.

Ultimately, VDR is taking over the business world and is expected to continue for years to come. Although not all businesses have fully accepted this platform, it is clear that VDRs will not go away anytime soon.

Why small and medium businesses should begin outsourcing in 2021

John Richardson

14/04/2021

The COVID-19 pandemic sent shockwaves across economies and every sector of business around the world. Small to medium companies everywhere have been on life support and many smaller companies have closed down over the past 12 months. The business world has taken a definite knock. Visual Capitalist agrees. The companies that have made it this far have had to actuate heavy budget cuts to stay afloat. Unfortunately, retrenchments were also inevitable despite being a last resort. Outsourcing, on the other hand, has seen an increase. This is due to the fact that technology now facilitates better collaboration regardless of distance. This is expected to increase in 2021 and the years to come.

What is outsourcing?

Outsourcing is the practice of sub-contracting or delegating projects, tasks, or business processes to external contractors. That essentially means that some of your business functions, tasks, or projects will now be handed over to a seasoned specialist contractor like a digital marketing agency.

What is the difference between Outsourcing and Insourcing?

Let us say you are an ecommerce store, and you have a task that requires graphic design. You remember that Jane from accounts mentioned in her cv that she has experience with graphic design, so you call her in to help. That is insourcing. Outsourcing would have been looking externally for a specialist graphic designer.

3 main reasons why you should begin outsourcing specialists in 2021.

Maximised efficiency

John owns and runs a furniture manufacturing company. He decides to expand his business by doubling production and exporting his handmade furniture to other countries. While some companies have the resources to keep the entire export process in-house, John does not. It would cost him far less to just outsource to an export specialist.

Benefit: As with every angle of business, there are laws and regulations you should abide by. Outsourcing to a specialist guarantees legal compliance for your business. You will not make losses based on lack of knowledge. Your chances of succeeding are much higher because you now have an expert at your disposal. This allows you time to focus on the core aspects of your business, like production and business development.

Reduce hiring costs
Hiring can be expensive and time-consuming. From the creation of the recruitment strategy, figuring out what special skills are required of the recruited, to spending money on job websites and conducting interviews, screening, and background checks. This entire process can take anywhere between 8 to 12 weeks, after which comes training. It could take them another 3 to 4 weeks of adjusting to become fully productive or ready to work according to your standards. You have invested so much time and money.

Benefit: Outsourcing takes all that effort away by being fast and efficient. All it normally takes is one or two conference calls or meetings to discuss the scope of work and your business objectives. They send you a quote. You pay. They begin. All this inside of a week. This is precisely why you should outsource to a recruitment agency. You tell them exactly what you want and in no time, they have the exact match for you. Save your money and time.

Get expert specialists the first time.
While searching for the best-qualified digital marketing manager to join your team, you may find that you’re having trouble finding a candidate that actually has a full-stack digital marketing skillset. This is time-consuming because you must sieve through numerous candidates. The same applies to when hiring a personal assistant. With government-ordered lockdowns in effect across the world, many office workers have had to work remotely. This has transcended the role of a personal or executive assistant. It has become important to outsource the very best personal or executive assistants who know how to work remotely and are tech-savvy.

The advantage of technology also makes it possible for you to outsource assistants that closely match your selection criteria from all over the world. In fact, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual outsourcing was already available but under-utilised. AVirtual for example, is a Cape Town based outsourcing company that connects specialist international virtual assistants with business leaders around the world and has been providing this cutting edge service for years.

Benefit: Outsourcing makes it possible for you to hire the very best specialists without the time burden of recruitment and breaking the bank. The company you are outsourcing has already done all that HR work for you. When you call them, they simply assign an expert based on your requirements, you meet the assigned expert and if you like them the work can begin immediately.

The COVID-19 pandemic has stretched the range of limits in the way business is conducted. Remote working has redefined collaboration. Predicted business practises are leaning towards the increase in outsourcing for sustainable business.

Investment Opportunity: Crypterium Private Equity Sale On Seedrs

Claire James

13/04/2021

They say that early bird gets the best offers and hefty profits. If you look back at some of the most successful cryptocurrency projects, that does make sense. Ethereum, Binance, Polkadot, and many other platforms that started small are now topping the crypto market cap list. And it’s an investor’s job to bet on the right one.

When choosing the next likely to succeed fintech project, analyzing the potential of the technology should become a priority. Crypterium, an award-winning digital wallet and a licensed financial institution, proves that building a solid product is what contributes to building trust among investors. After listing on Seedrs, a popular online fundraiser from the UK, Crypterium is about to hit the 200% overfunding target. And there’s still time to join the party.

Crypterium: Why So Special?

Chaired by former VISA General Manager, Steven Parker, Crypterium is on the mission to redesign the traditional financial system by rolling out crypto rails and bridging fiat and digital currency spaces.

Crypterium currently features two major products in operation: Crypterium Wallet and crypto-to-fiat card for everyday purchases. The wallet serves as a universal tool for easy digital asset management and allows sending, holding, buying, exchanging, and withdrawing crypto, as well as earning interest. Contactless Crypterium Card, in turn, enables its owners to pay for goods and services in over 42 million retailers from 180 countries, as well as withdraw cash in the majority of ATMs worldwide.

In 2020, the company’s key product – multicurrency wallet — demonstrated sustainable growth. The number of the wallet’s users has doubled, totaling 400,000 people across 170 countries. As opposed to other industries, the global pandemic had a positive impact on the crypto space, and Crypterium appeared to be on top of the situation demonstrating 10x monthly profit growth and €150.000.000 turnover.

Apart from developing its signature products, Crypterium, similar to other companies designing in-demand cryptocurrency wallets, offers its white label solutions for businesses lacking proper wallet and infrastructure layout. As of now, more than 25 enterprises employ Crypterium’s services.

New Investment Opportunities

The new investment round is meant to help the company speed up the process of building innovative financial solutions including the loan system and AI-based predictions. The platform plans to further extend its B2B product portfolio by adding crypto acquiring and other solutions. As for the B2C services, portfolio management, interest and fiat accounts, as well as other DeFi products are to be introduced.

Dedicated to providing global access to cash, Crypterium is on the way to entering the new frontiers of Asia and South America. To be fully compliant across all the major markets, the company schedules to complete the UK registration, EMI Europe, and MSB USA.

Other medium-term expansion plans include moving away from third-party services including card issuance, custody, and exchange which will significantly reduce fees on all of its features. Crypterium is looking to issue its own cards with global coverage and international wire transfers.

Having successfully completed a series of legal checkups and verified by Seedrs as a legitimate and high-standard investment opportunity, Crypterium was approved for hosting a closed private equity sale.

By registering on Seedrs anyone can buy Crypterium’s private equity. Future investors are offered six benefit packages that fit any budget starting from 100 EUR to over 50,000 EUR.

Depending on the category, various benefits can be unlocked from getting free access to Crypterium’s proprietary price prediction tool to taking part in shareholder meetings or obtaining priority access to Beta testing. Other benefits include cashback on Crypterium Card purchases, higher interest rates, branded merch, and custom card design.

To participate in this fundraising activity, investors should sign up on Seedrs.com and verify their profiles. Then they have to choose an investment package via Crypterium’s portal, and submit their Seedrs registration data to receive a CRPT token bonus.

Things That Make You a Boring Boyfriend

Shelby Grey

31/03/2021

It’s easy to become boring in girl’s eyes, yet hard to redeem yourself. You may become boring after one date or three years of family life. When you notice that your girlfriend isn’t satisfied with your company, sighing every second, you start thinking about the worst-case scenario. The same goes for talking online. When you chat with young girls, it’s so easy to get blocked or ghosted. And you never know what went wrong in the first place.

Even if you are an attentive boyfriend, it’s easy to get dumped if you do the following things:

Don’t love yourself

If you belittle yourself, think you’re a loser, why would anyone perceive you differently? You need to radiate self-confidence to be appreciated. But don’t be too self-assured, it doesn’t work like that. Women still don’t like narcissists. Stay in the middle. You need to be assertive and look reliable, that’s what attracts most women. They feel comfortable and at peace with a man who trusts himself and believes in his actions.

You are distant and passive

It’s essential to be attentive to your girl. But it doesn’t mean that while you are at the restaurant, you should be silently smiling and nodding to everything she says. It’s not a monolog. An ability to maintain a conversation is key in finding mutual interests and hobbies.

Passiveness is also a major turnoff for a girl. Let’s imagine you’ve met on a street, or just decided to take a walk during the date. It’s raining, the weather is foul. Don’t wait for a girl to ask you to go somewhere cozy and warm. Use your brain and have it all though out. Have it all memorized, at least read a weather forecast. Know some areas to go to and some cafes to visit. If you have trouble with assertiveness and independence, have it all sorted out up to every detail. Help her with her coat, chair, offer something delicious from a menu. If you’ll sit there and wait for a signal, she’ll have to sort everything out by herself, and she won’t like it since you were the one who asked her on a date. Don’t expect a second date if, during your first shot, you were a passive doormat.

You are carried away too much

It can be your friend, your work, your family life. It concerns things in the long run. If you spend too much time thinking about all relationships in your life, you’ll end up getting drained and exhausted, too exhausted to carry on with your romantic interest. Even if she’s an understanding girl, nobody likes to be put on the second position. It’s cool that you want to help your friend to overcome an alcohol problem, but no woman will be pleased by your helpfulness unless it is about her or your couple. Soon, it will become an annoying issue where you chase after grown-up men (your friends or boss), leaving no time to care about her.

You presented a wrong image

Let’s imagine you got to know each other on a dating site. And, having a lot of time and a secure space, you introduced yourself as an amazing king, full of potential, using lots of smart words from Google. You were so intimidating trying to impress her, she was scared to meet you in real life. You set a high bar without even realizing it. But once she meets you in real life, she sees your inability to articulate and realizes that her online guy and you are two different people.

So don’t build an image of a cool powerful man if you are mediocre and lazy in real life. Let’s be honest, you don’t like to be catfished too.

You complain a lot

You whine about life, people, destiny, and everything that bothers you. Realize that this world is not perfect, and humans also have flaws. If you are bad with accepting and realizing things, write them down in a small notebook, cry about it, or find a therapist. But don’t be a wet blanket every time you see your girlfriend. Yes, all close relatives and couples have to listen and lend a helping hand to each other. But if it seems to be your character trait and your religion, work on

yourself. She is not a 15-year-old to be in love with emo, trying to fix you every day.

What Furniture Should Landlords Provide For HMO?

John Richardson

31/03/2021

Though it is not a legal requirement, it is generally expected to provide furnished HMO for tenants. Such types of start-up and running costs are the drawbacks for landlords dealing with HMO property. Primarily for HMO unit bedrooms, dining, lounge, and kitchen area are provided furnished, eventually increasing the cost of its maintenance.

Minimum Furniture Requirement

Ideally, there is no hard and fast rule when talking about minimum furniture requirements. The aim is to provide sufficient quantities and sizes of facilities according to the number of tenants living in the property.

Generally, the furniture provided by HMO landlords to facilitate tenants of their unit includes

Bedrooms: Beds, mattresses, cupboard, drawers, and curtains
Kitchen: Storing areas (fridge/freezer), oven, microwave, stovetop, or hobs
Lounge: Table, chairs, sofa, TV, DVD player

How Much You Should Spend

It is very important to understand the market in which your business operates; what is provided by all and not offered by one can give the business a big jerk. Spending on furniture is just like the operating cost of an HMO business. The profits and gains acquired from the units are worthy of making investments in its furnishings.

It is an operating cost, and landlords usually need to make it in terms of damage repair, wear and tear, maintenance, and buying new ones. HMO property with too little furnishings can negatively impact, especially in terms of attracting good tenants. Providing too much is putting yourself in trouble as solely you as a landlord are responsible for its repair and replacement.

Being Cheap Generally Costs More

For HMO landlords, the key to successful furnishing cost is to look for a balance between budget and durability. Sometimes landlords make a wrong choice and go with relatively cheap furniture at the stake of durability. For the time being, it saves some money, but it costs more in terms of repair and replacement.

It is important to understand that, especially in HMO models, more tenants are living and sharing place and furnishings at a time. This brings the facilities at your property such as furnishings in good and frequent use. You cannot compromise over the durability of furniture at your unit.

If you are going to furnish your properties bedrooms and provide a mattress then sourcing good quality mattresses will make a positive impression on your tenants and will ensure they look after the mattress more so than if you sourced a budget mattress. A Sealy mattress is a great place to start and will give your tenants a luxurious and supportive sleep.

Who Is Responsible For Damage Of Furnishings?

The main concern for HMO landlords is to get to know that who is responsible for the damage of furnishings. There are few things that will help as guidelines

1. Damage In Communal Areas

For furnishing damage, specifically in communal areas, solely landlord is responsible for bearing the cost of repair as it is not used by one and is generally used by all tenants living at a time. However, there are few exceptions, and the landlord will not be responsible for the cost if

Damage is to tenants own possessions
Furnishings provided individually in tenants rooms

2. Wear And Tear

Wear and tear are natural and comes side by side with the usage of furnishings. Indeed, tenants are not responsible for bearing the cost of wear and tear. The landlord is solely responsible for bearing the cost of wear and tear of furnishing provided at the property. It is the responsibility of the HMO landlord to replace worn-out furnishings with new ones.

3. Ultimate Landlord’s Responsibility

Expenses are an ongoing part of the HMO business. Although the damage gets inflicted on tenants, it is still the landlord who covers the cost. Even in many cases, if no one stands up and confesses, the landlord has no option but to cover the expense and get things fixed. That is the dilemma, but there is nothing anyone can do about it.

Where Should You Get Furniture For Your HMO Unit?

There is no one place to approach and get the right furnishings for your property. Experience may help in finding some suitable local suppliers. If you are new in the business, you may seek help in reaching out for professional services for your HMO in terms of furnishings and other facilities.

It is totally dependent on what suits you more in terms of cost, durability, and accessibility. Building long terms relations can benefit in the long run, and it is an ongoing process, and you need to replace your furnishings at times.

Putting It All Together

It is likely to provide furnishings to tenants living on HMO property. The landlord must sensibly look to provide minimum furnishings suitable as per the space of his unit. Furnishings should be sufficient to facilitate tenants living at your property. Maintenance and repair are an ongoing business cost for HMO landlords. But help them to facilitate tenants with the best apartments.

The digital evolution of gaming has changed the world

Shelby Grey

26/03/2021

Gaming has been one of the most favorite pastimes for adults and year after year in last one decade the evolution has changed the entire scenario. The digital gaming the world is seeing huge success and creating milestone so all-new opportunity is there for everyone.

The satiable factor

All the indoor games are now transforming to the digital world and developers are looking to transform all indoor games to the digital world. Thebingoonline.com has earned a good reputation because of the free bonus that it provides. Many trusted online bingo sites give plenty of free bonuses and slots that attract players who are after UK bingo sites.

If we see the reports from the world economic forum, revenue in the digital gaming industry is touching the sky and the revolutionary development of the android and iPhone made it possible to reach £40 billion industry.

Bonuses with the digital gaming

Most of the players are always hassle finding free bonuses that can be added to their game. Many spin bonuses come from an online casinos that can be as good as almost free to play slot games. You can have a glance over bonuses online for all sorts of online bingo and casino to feel proud to play.

Internet trends report

The mainstream culture of games and sports has changed drastically over the last decade and it completely arrived into various digital platforms. No other digital media could ever have a big impact like digital gaming has and it is going to be more and more in the upcoming days.

Online gaming and esports is growing very rapidly and few gamers started targeting players from the age and gender by offering them after a survey what kind of games they may like.

One of the famous internet gurus Mary Meeker says that the gaming and esports industry has found success like no other industry. He seeks better opportunities with artificial intelligence in the upcoming years.

Few games like Bejeweled have 71% of players that are females and similarly Coin Master is also one of the famously passionate and addictive games available in the market.

Digital gaming and community

Digital gaming gives wing to socialization as like-minded people are connecting through the games and groups. It is perfect to know strange people and get along become friends.

During the pandemic people sitting home played a lot of gaming and various social media channels like Facebook and YouTube were good in use. Playing your own games, watching other games, live streaming of games, and enjoying has really such a nice idea that worthwhile.

Some of the online gaming gives innovative ideas and free playable games available on the entire platform. The unique sense of intimacy and easily accessible on all devices make it more persuading and the mobile market is full of gaming phones and other devices.

Gamification of life

The new trends of online gaming impact more and more people and increase the numbers of players overnight. Gaming has very much close to real life and helps in many ways.

Some of the games like critical thinking, puzzle making, pattern recognition, etc relate to people with their life. People find these games as an opportunity to increase their mental ability as a good pastime. Few games offer tournament and multiple events for gamers and it enhances their way of thinking.

Marketing idea with gaming and esports

The digital world is becoming more interesting for marketing because nowadays everyone is there on social media channel. The advertiser put an interesting banner, videos, and text with ads that can help games to find realistic fame.

The engaging marketing ads are becoming exceedingly important because gamers have become very tech-savvy these days and it is easy to influence them with a good marketing campaign. Words of mouth really help travel fast, and any new game can see success with such spreading on social channels.

Digital marketing campaigns can really strike to the audience and help to achieve players enjoy their gaming risk-free.

Conclusion:

Gaming companies knows it very well that social media channels could be used as a perfect weapon to reach out to the real audience and all the brands and companies producing games with fabulous modules and a great flash environment.

The mobile phones are becoming more and more advanced, developers and scientist are working hard to make mobile phones more compatible for the advanced level that supports high quality of gaming environment. The next few years are going to be very complicated among the players and developers.

How business leaders can encourage their employees to be more productive when working from home

Shelby Grey

16/03/2021

If your job has meant you’ve had to work from home for the past year due to the pandemic, then you’ll be all too familiar with zoom calls, balancing home schooling and trying to find the best area to work from. There’s no denying that at times, it’s hard to maintain a good level of productivity when working from home, as you lack the social aspect of office life and there are more distractions around you.

For obvious reasons, the past year has been extremely difficult and we’ll have all faced periods where it’s hard to keep motivated. During these times it’s important that business leaders put the correct plans in place to ensure they have a productive workforce, and there are many ways in which this can be done.

FLG have launched a campaign which looks to provide business leaders with a range of ways in which they can boost productivity amongst their employees. After reading through their tips, we found them very helpful and because of this, we wanted to share some of them with you.

Provide the correct tools and equipment

There’s nothing more frustrating than when you have a lot of work to complete, but your laptop keeps freezing or you’re using software which is outdated. As a business leader, it should be a top priority to provide all of your workforce with high quality equipment and advise them on the best programs and software to use.

With many people still working from home and the possibility that this will be a new way of life going forward, it’s important that you still encourage your workforce to communicate, even if they’re not sitting next to each other. Software such as Zoom, Google Meet and Slack have all been hugely successful over the past year in terms of allowing colleagues to communicate effectively.

Be open to flexible working

If one thing has become clear over the past year, it’s that the typical 9-5 day doesn’t always mean maximum productivity. As many parents have had to balance their own work whilst helping to home school their children, it has meant that business leaders have had to be more flexible.

Knowing that you can be flexible with your hours can often increase productivity and lower stress levels, so it’s important business leaders take a more open-minded approach going forward. It’s unlikely that the standard 9-5 office hours will be brought into practice again, so make sure your employees are aware of this and help take some of the strain off of them.

In this post we wanted to highlight how simple it is for business leaders to promote high levels of productivity amongst their employees. Simple changes can go a long way and it’s important all businesses take note of this.

It would be great to hear if you have made any changes to the way your company works and if it has made your employees feel more productive. Share your ideas on social, using #AProductiveWorkforce.