Young People Sell Future Earnings To Investors

By Hannah Thomas-Peter, New York Correspondent

A new industry is offering people the chance to "sell" a portion of themselves to investors in return for a cut of their future earnings.

Start-up companies such as Pave match carefully vetted, mainly young individuals, known as "prospects" with those willing to offer a one-time cash infusion.

On average prospects seek to raise around $20,000 (£12,100), although so far amounts have ranged between $3,000 (£1,800) and $50,000 (£30,300).

They choose to repay up to 10% of their future earnings on an annual basis for either five or 10 years.

Pave determines what the percentage repayment will be based on the qualifications of the candidate.

The company's co-founder and COO Oren Bass told Sky News: "There's a huge debt issue in the States, particularly for young people.

"They don't have a funding option that really enables them to make choices to think long-term. So there are two big issues that Pave addresses.

"One is that under the Pave agreement the payments are always linked to income so they are by definition always affordable, and that allows the prospect to actually take risks that they may not have taken if their funding was debt for example, which is a specified payment regardless of what happens to you during their lifetime.

Pave matches 'prospects' to people willing to make an investment

"The second value proposition is that because real people are actually funding you, you can benefit from their guidance and their mentorship and advice."

Many of the prospects are social entrepreneurs who are saddled with student loans, but there are also journalists and musicians on the site.

Ify Walker has founded her own education recruitment company and is a typical prospect: bright, driven and keen to monetise her potential.

She told Sky News: "My husband and I went to law school and we both have several degrees and we walked out with over $200,000 dollars in loans.

"Pave is one of the very few organisations that is saying look, we have a solution to this: we want to accelerate the potential of young people and we want to do that immediately, we don't want to wait ten years for people to give their best selves to society, so let's actually do that now, let's take backers who have resources, let's connect them to people who have a vision and a goal and let's make that partnership work for the better of our community and our world."

There are protections in place for those who choose this alternative method of funding.

If prospects don't earn above a certain amount, they don't have to pay, which sets the arrangement apart from a traditional fixed debt scenario, and if an individual becomes very successful they can choose to buy themselves out of the contract for five times the amount raised.

Almost half of the prospects at Pave use their investment to pay off punitive debt.

They also often have multiple backers, allowing them access to more expertise and networks than might be afforded by a single investor.

A company called Fantex tries to sell stock in American football players

Upstart is another company with a similar set up.

It caps payments at up to 7% of earnings.

Like Pave, it takes a 3% fee from its "upstarts" and a smaller service fee from investors.

Hedge fund partner Benjamin Borton has invested in five upstarts.

He said: "There's an economic return and a social return.

"If you invest in a company, particularly a start-up company, the numbers would suggest that 50% of those will go out of business, whereas if you invest in a person, the chance of getting zero pay back is very low if you are good at choosing someone.

"So even if they take a job and that job doesn't work out, they can go on to the next one.

"If we can accelerate the speed with which these kids get to that place of optimal productivity, then we've done great and I think if you do that, then you are going to achieve a good rate of return as well."

So far 282 backers have invested more than $2m (£1.2m) through Upstart. Almost 200 individuals have achieved their funding goals.

The state of Orgeon has recently given preliminary approval for public universities to pilot the model for students.

One company called Fantex is trying to sell stock in American football players, although it has had limited success so far.

Sceptics warn that this is an as-yet unregulated industry, and there is nothing to stop someone setting up a more exploitative business as long as it operates within the law.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

CBI: Firms Must Boost Pay After Long Squeeze

The director general of the CBI has called on businesses to improve pay levels as the Labour leader Ed Miliband charts what he sees as the "biggest cost-of-living crisis in a generation".

In his New Year message, Mr Miliband signalled his determination to keep up the pressure on the Government over the squeeze on living standards, despite growing signs the economy is finally beginning to pick up strength.

He sought to counter the increasing optimism of the Conservatives about the state of the economy by accusing them of ignoring the fact that many people were still no better off.

He said: "People are thinking they have made the sacrifices - and the Government keeps telling them that everything is fixed. But it does not seem fixed to them. Surely we can do better than this as a country.

"The Tories want to change the conversation from the cost of living crisis. They will talk about anything else. Inherent in their vision is not a solution to the cost of living crisis, but the problem."

Ed Miliband says living costs must be fair for all famlies

He said the party would use the coming year to show how it would make "big changes" to the economy to enable the country to "earn and grow our way to a higher standard of living for people.

"People do not want the earth. They would much prefer some very specific promises, specific things about what a government will do - whether it's freezing energy bills, taking action on pay day lenders, or tackling issues around childcare which lots of working parents face.

"All of this is adding up to a programme for how we can change things. It's clearly costed, it's credible and it's real."

John Cridland wants the spoils of recovery to filter to all workers

Families have been facing a squeeze on living standards as levels of pay increases fail to match the speed of rising prices.

As Mr Miliband outlined his attack on the Government, the CBI's John Cridland said firms face a challenge to make sure economic growth filters through to the workforce as economic recovery takes root.

In his own New Year message he said that businessmen and women have a "spring in their step" compared with a year ago and firms "must support employees in every part of the country to move up the career ladder, while also giving a helping hand to young people taking their first tentative steps into the world of work".

Mr Cridland said: "As the financial situation of many firms begins to turn a corner, one of the biggest challenges facing businesses is to deliver growth that will mean better pay and more opportunities for all their employees after a prolonged squeeze."

He said it was positive news that jobs were being created, adding it was shaping up to be a full-time recovery with the majority of new jobs being permanent.

For the first time since the start of the recession, 2014 will see most firms increasing the size of their workforce, boosting their graduate intake and the number of apprentices they take on, he predicted.

"The good news is that wages will pick up in the year ahead as growth beds down and productivity improves.

"But there are still far too many people stuck in minimum wage jobs without routes to progression, and that's a serious challenge that businesses and the Government must address."

Mr Cridland spoke of the importance of skills, calling for a Ucas-equivalent vocational system to help raise awareness and parity of esteem for alternative routes to higher skills.

"If 2013 was the year that business trust took a hammering on a range of issues from corporate taxation to energy prices, then 2014 must be the year that business leaders take action to rebuild that trust," he said.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

NatWest 'Hit By Fourth Online Banking Glitch'

NatWest has been hit by a cyberattack, leaving customers unable to access online accounts.

The bank's online banking service was disrupted after it was deliberately bombarded with internet traffic.   

Twitter users tweeted to say they could not access their bank accounts to pay bills or transfer money.

@TomGilchrist wrote: "Do other banks computer systems/services go down as much as NatWest? I assume not. Time to move banks I think."

@AleexReid tweeted: "Just joined Santander. Fed up with NatWest. Another computer failure tonight. #welldone."

A NatWest spokesperson said: "Due to a surge in internet traffic deliberately directed at the NatWest website, some of our customers experienced difficulties accessing our customer web sites this evening.

"This deliberate surge of traffic is commonly known as a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.

"We have taken the appropriate action to restore the affected web sites. At no time was there any risk to customers. We apologise for the inconvenience caused."

At the beginning of December all of RBS and NatWest's systems went down for three hours on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

The group chief executive Ross McEwan described that glitch as "unacceptable" and added: "For decades, RBS failed to invest properly in its systems.

"We need to put our customers' needs at the centre of all we do. It will take time, but we are investing heavily in building IT systems our customers can rely on."

RBS and NatWest also came under fire in March after a "hardware fault" meant customers were unable to use their online accounts or withdraw cash for several hours.

A major computer issue in June last year saw payments go awry, wages appear to go missing and home purchases and holidays interrupted for several weeks, costing the group £175m in compensation.

This latest problem is the fourth time in 18 months RBS and NatWest customers have reported problems with the banks' services.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Volkswagen Camper Van Reaches End Of The Road

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

One of the most iconic vehicles in motoring history has finally reached the end of the road.

The last ever Volkswagen "Type 2" - more commonly known as the VW Camper, kombi or bus - rolls off the production line on December 31.

It is being retired after 64 years in continuous production because it cannot be adapted to meet modern safety regulations.

The last kombi will be made in Brazil, the country which has produced them for 56 years and where they are a vital thread in the fabric of everyday life.

A vehicle that came to symbolise the counter-culture in much of the world - as the van of choice for hippies and surfers alike - remains very much a mundane staple in Brazil.

It seems that everyone you talk to learned to drive in one and everywhere you turn they are being used to sell, deliver or provide shelter.

Labourers work on a Volkswagen assembly line in Brazil this month

Angelisa Stein is making a movie to mark the passing of the kombi. She told Sky News: "It is a car that is in touch with a lot of generations here. It will not be the same to have just another car."

The kombi is being phased out because modern requirements such as anti-lock brakes and airbags cannot be fitted into a frame that has changed little in 50 years.

A run of 600 last edition kombis - priced at £25,000 each - has sparked a rush among collectors and nostalgic fans.

Driving one of the last ones - with no air conditioning and "stirring custard" gear box - is remarkably reminiscent of driving one from the 1970s. Even down to the feeling of being behind the wheel of something special.

Of course, with a production run of around 10 million kombis, there are plenty that will be around for many years to come.

At a classic car rally in Rio, owners proudly showed off customised vans and talked of their sadness at the end of the kombi era.

Mechanic Adriano Godinho told Sky News: "It is a car which has represented a lot for us in this country.

"It has been used to transport goods, it is a workman's car, it is a family car, so it is something that's in us. It is part of the family."

The van was originally named the "Type 2" as it was only the second vehicle the company made after the Beetle.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Breast Implants: Plan For Industry Regulation

By Darren McCaffrey, Sky Political Reporter

A national register logging every breast implant operation carried out in England is to be set up to prevent a repeat of the PIP scandal.

The Government has published provisional plans to improve the cosmetics industry in the wake of the scandal.

Nearly 50,000 British women unknowingly bought industrial-grade silicone from French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), with hundreds suffering ruptures.

The UK cosmetics industry is rapidly expanding. The industry was worth an estimated £2.3bn in 2010, and is estimated to rise to £3.6bn by 2015.

In response, Sir Bruce Keogh was commissioned to carry out a review. The Government supports many of his recommendations, including:

:: To pilot a new register to record what breast implants are used.

:: The Royal College of Surgeons will create new qualifications and standards for cosmetic surgery.

:: A clampdown on advertising to ensure no more breast implants are awarded as competition prizes or time-limited deals.

:: Legislation will ensure that surgeons have to compensate for an injuries caused.

Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter told Sky News: "For too long, the cosmetics industry has been completely unregulated and there are too many tales of women who have been exploited, and of lives ruined by rogue cosmetic firms and practitioners.

PIP company boss Jean-Claude Mas has been jailed for four years in France

"This has to change, so we are taking robust action to clamp down on the cosmetic cowboys in order to properly protect women and the public.

"In January, we shall be setting out detailed plans about how to implement the recommendations made in last summer's cosmetics industry review by Sir Bruce Keogh."

While the industry is in support of the recommendations, Rajiv Grover, a consultant plastic surgeon and president of BAAPS (British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons) said things would only improve if the register is made compulsory.

He said: "The implant register introduced into this country is only going to work if (it is) implemented and is made compulsory.

"Because only then can women be reassured there is no possibility that if a clinic becomes bankrupt or something closes that their implants will be register and they will know exactly what is inside them."

And Tim Goodacre, from the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS), said: "We have been pushing for the creation of a compulsory register for breast implants.

"It is good the Government has announced its commitment to the breast implant registry pilot but in order to protect all women and avoid any future health scares it must quickly become a permanent infrastructure that all cosmetic providers have to use."

Jean-Claude Mas of PIP was found guilty of fraud after using industrial-grade silicone in thousands of breast implants sold worldwide.

The 74-year-old, dubbed the "sorcerer's apprentice of implants" by prosecutors, plans to appeal, according to his lawyer.

The scandal first emerged in 2010 after doctors noticed abnormally high rupture rates in PIP implants.

A global health scare took hold in 2011, with some 300,000 women in 65 countries believed to have received the faulty implants.

About half the 30,000 French women given PIP implants have had them removed. Only 607 women in Britain have had them removed by the NHS.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

French Nuclear Power Lowers Electricity Prices

By David Bowden, Senior Correspondent

Electricity prices for most of us will go up next month and once again the cost of fuel will move back to the top of the political agenda.

Many people look longingly across the channel to our nearest continental neighbour, France, where their electricity is Europe's cheapest.

Why? At least in part it's because most of France's power comes from nuclear, so spikes in oil, gas or other fuel prices make little difference.

The power station at Nogent-sur-Seine houses two of France's 58 nuclear reactors which, between them, account for almost three quarters of the country's electricity generation.

Compare that with just 16 reactors in the UK pumping in less than a fifth of our wattage and it's one of the reasons why the French have the lowest electricity bills in Europe and we have some of the highest.

For power station director Catherine Bach, the answer is simple.

France embraced nuclear power wholeheartedly 40 years ago.

She said: "In France, in the 1960s, effectively after the oil crisis, France chose nuclear and today we have an energy mix which is a little more than 70% of electricity coming from nuclear energy, other renewable fuels such as hydroelectric around 15%, the rest is from fossil fuels."

In the control room a handful of staff monitor every aspect of the plant's operation. When it is working flat out, it produces more than 1,300 megawatts of power.

Next door, the giant steam turbines churn out the electricity, fuelled by the nuclear reactors and cooled by the waters of the River Seine.

Last year, this power station produced 17 billion kilowatts of electricity, enough to power two million homes. Add in the output of the 56 other reactors and France is a net exporter of electricity and the UK is one of the customers.

France made its big push for nuclear power in the mid seventies when the world was gripped by the oil crisis, since then it has made nuclear the backbone of its energy supply.

But the disaster at Fukashima in Japan two years ago made the world think again, though Sebastien Blavier from Greenpeace in Paris says it is cost not safety which threatens the future of France's nukes.

He said: "All the nuclear power plants are becoming very old and we are facing an issue.

"Either we are going to have to pay a massive amount of money to extend their lifetime, with all the safety risks associated with that or we have to build new nuclear reactors.

"But that's going to be impossible in the time we have and also it'll be too expensive."

Nevertheless the nuclear option is still part of many countries' energy portfolios.

Britain has just signed up to a £16bn project to build a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset and the Mayor of Nogent-sur-Seine, Gerard Ancelin, says the reactor is a big boost to his town.

"These people make a living because of the nuclear sector. They are part of the local town and the local economy, subsidising it with their taxes; an important source of revenue for the town of Nogent-sur-Seine," he said.

The price of energy is the hottest political issue in the UK right now and with an election around the corner keeping them low like the French is likely to be a vote winner.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Debenhams Profits Warning After Poor Xmas Sales

Debenhams has announced it will be slashing prices after issuing a profits warning following poor Christmas sales.

Shares in Britain's second-largest department store plunged by as much as 13% on Tuesday after it disclosed profits nearly £30m lower than last year.

In a statement released by Debenhams management, they say that they now "expect the need for additional markdown to clear stock in January and February".

The store said that while online sales had increased they had not done so significantly enough and that the "final surge" in sales they had expected around Christmas had failed to materialise.

It blamed the poor performance on the continuing decline of the high street, the impact of the recession on household incomes and the bad weather.

The retailer is planning to slash prices in January and February

Michael Sharp, chief executive of Debenhams, said: "As has been widely commented on in the media, the market was highly promotional in the run up to Christmas and we responded to these conditions to ensure our offer was competitive.

"However, this extremely difficult environment has inevitably had an impact on both our sales and profitability.

"Looking forward, I expect conditions to remain highly competitive as we enter 2014. Everyone in the organisation is focused on improving performance and growing the business, building on the four pillars of our strategy which I remain confident will lead to success over the longer term."

The announcement, which had been due on January 17 but was brought forward because of the results, saw the retailer reveal an £85m profit for the 17 weeks to December 28 – some way off the £114.7m in the same period last year, a 26% drop.

The company's statement showed that online sales had increased by 27% during that time and accounted for 15.6% of total sales, compared to 12.4% for the same period last year.

However, the income from online delivery was, it said, still lower than had been anticipated.

It comes after the high street spending spree dubbed 'Manic Monday' that had been predicted for December 23, failed to materialise because of the strong winds and heavy rains.

Analysts had expected 15 million people to take to stores, spending £2.6m a minute on gifts, food, drink and decorations.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK Stock Market 'May Hit Record Levels'

By Poppy Trowbridge, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

City forecasters have predicted the UK stock market may reach record levels in the new year.

After a steady - if not stellar - 2013, the FTSE 100 is set to outperform other indices over the next few years, according to a report by Capital Economics.

The FTSE, a measure of the UK's top 100 shares, closed at 6,749 points on Tuesday.

The index gained 0.3%, bringing its annual advance to 14%, the biggest annual rally since 2009.

Yet measures of British consumer confidence suggest the financial markets do not reflect reality for many.

Pay is only rising at 0.9%, according to the Office for National Statistics.

And corporate profit warnings dampen the mood further.

Debenhams was one of the first to report on Christmas sales figures, and after a slow sale season, profits are already down £30m on last year.

It blamed the poor performance on the continuing decline of the high street, the impact of the recession on household incomes and the bad weather.

Retail analyst at ESCP Europe Jeremy Baker said: "More and more shops are chasing the same pound.

"There is a finite amount of shopping one person can do."

Still, in his Autumn Statement announcement, Chancellor George Osborne said the UK economy will grow more rapidly in coming years.

The rate of inflation has started to slow, falling to 2.1% in the latest reading.

Unemployment fell to 7.4% this month, the lowest rate in nearly five years.

Top city economists say the stock market may soon be even better than back during the tech boom years, when it reached a high of 6,930 points in December 1999.

Stock analysts at Citigroup are especially optimistic, setting a target for the FTSE of 8,000 points by the end of 2014.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Online Music Streaming Doubles In UK In 2013

Online music streaming in the UK has doubled in the last year, according to new figures.

But that has come at the expense of album sales, which have seen an overall dip during 2013 due to the decline in CD sales as people turn to digital listening.

Research by music trade body the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and the Official Charts Company shows 7.4 billion tracks were played on paid-for or ad-funded streaming services in the last year - twice the 3.7 billion figure of 2012.

Around £103m was brought in over the past 12 months by subscription services - up £26m on the previous year.

Runners-up Bastille saw their album Bad Blood become the most streamed

The total income generated by streaming will be much higher as the figure does not include the cash from advertising on free streams and on services such as YouTube.

Album sales were worth £772m last year, which is down £29m compared with the previous year.

CD sales of 60.6 million were down almost 13% on 2012, but still account for almost two-thirds of the album markets in the UK.

Digital sales of 32.6 million - up nearly 7% - now represent almost 35% of the total market.

Rock quartet Arctic Monkeys were the most streamed artists of the year.

The band, who headlined Glastonbury and whose fifth album AM was nominated for the Mercury Prize, beat Bastille into second place, with French duo Daft Punk third.

The biggest-selling album of the year was the compilation Now That's What I Call Music 86, selling 1.1 million copies, way ahead of the biggest seller by an artist which was One Direction's Midnight Memories, shifting 685,000 copies.

A report in trade magazine Music Week last month said 2013 is the first year since the 1980s in which there has been no million-album-selling artist in the UK.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

AgustaWestland Deal Cancelled By India

India says it has pulled the plug on a £466m order to buy 12 British-made helicopters following allegations that bribes were paid to secure the deal.

The contract, agreed in 2010, has been cancelled with Yeovil-based AgustaWestland "with immediate effect... on grounds of breach of the pre-contract integrity pact", according to a statement from the Indian Defence Ministry.

India had already put the deal for the AW101 helicopters on ice, amid accusations that middlemen were paid to swing the sale.

The corruption claims threatened to overshadow David Cameron's trade visit to the country last February, when the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raised his "very serious concerns" about the case.

Giuseppe Orsi, the former chief executive of Finmeccanica, is on trial

India's Defence Minister AK Anthony said at the time he did not believe AgustaWestland's denial of paying bribes.

And India's Central Bureau of Investigation said it had evidence which allegedly showed alterations were made in the helicopter specifications to favour the company.

The helicopter manufacturer denies any wrongdoing.

Giuseppe Orsi, the former boss of AgustaWestland's parent company, Finmeccanica, is on trial in Italy on fraud and corruption charges over his alleged role in securing the contract.

Bruno Spagnolini, the former chief executive of AgustaWestland, is also on trial.

The former Indian air force chief SP Tyagi, and three of his relatives are among those facing charges in India.

India has named a judge to arbitrate over the cancelled deal, which AgustaWestland is understood to be challenging.

Finmeccanica has said it will defend its position.

A spokesman for UK Trade & Investment said: "We are awaiting formal confirmation from the Indian Government."

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raised his concerns with David Cameron

United Technologies Corp's Sikorsky Aircraft, EADS' Eurocopter and Lockheed Martin may now be in line to provide helicopters for India's defence forces.

The country has become the world's biggest arms and defence equipment buyer in recent years, and is expected to spend £48bn over the next decade to upgrade its military.

However, arms deals in India have often become mired in controversy, with allegations that companies have paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to Indian officials.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.11 | 0 komentar | Read More