In the past many office workers in professional sectors such as finance, I.T. and law have been stereotyped by the bespectacled man who may be intelligent but is expected to appear a bit nerdy in keeping with his profession, or female secretaries with horn-rimmed glasses.
The face of business is indeed changing and in this modern world even in traditional companies where fashion may not be a prerequisite, people are still starting to look after themselves more and there is no finer an example than those who used to have to put up with unappealing eye wear.
Fortunately, with the advancements in technology for procedures like laser eye surgery, there is a growing trend for people who want to get their vision corrected and have had enough of sight problems and having to wear glasses. Even wearing contact lenses can be a real hassle for the office worker as staring at a screen all day can really dry the eyes.
With corrective eye surgery you can benefit from state-of-the-art treatment carried out by the specialists, giving you the opportunity to get 20:20 vision or even better. Research has showed that with some advanced surgeries, 99 percent of those treated managed to reach this level of vision.
So, forget those old stereotypes, enjoy your job without the need for glasses and make the most of your newly enhanced vision.
If you are looking for employment, there are many ways to get yourself noticed in the industry where you want to work. One of the best ways to get your name out there is to visit business fairs and trade events to speak to the people you would like to work with.
This way, you can meet the decision makers, making a good impression by handing them your C.V. in person. Another excellent way to make sure that these employers remember you is through the use of business cards.
These simple but effective forms of communication can serve as a timely reminder to the employer about who you are and what you stand for. By putting down the pertinent information about you, the company will know how to get in touch with you and they are more likely to remember you and what they thought of you when you met.
Business cards need not cost the earth either. You can now order these products online and still make them look extremely professional. So, if you want to make the right impression on your potential next employer, business cards are a great way of getting your name out there and can help you to get that dream job.
A deal for car company Volvo seems to have been sealed today by Chinese car maker Geely. Volvo used to be owned by Ford but has failed to make a profit in the last five years and by selling the marquee Ford hope to pay off debts and focus on their own brand.
The deal is estimated to be worth a cool 1.2 billion pounds. And, Geely hope that by buying Volvo it will give them a foothold in the lucrative European car market, whilst also introducing the Volvo brand to China where 13 million cars were sold last year.
The sale marks a turbulent time for the car industry as a whole but hopefully Volvo will use this as a springboard for future success.
Npower, one of the UKs largest energy providers has announced that it is to cut gas bills for customers from the 26th of March. The average bill will be reduced by 7% which equates to a fall in about £50 per year for the average consumer.
At the same time as the reductions were announced Npower also made changes to its payment plans to favour customers who pay by direct debit. The news comes after British Gas reduced prices at the beginning of Feb and EON who announced price cuts at the beginning of this week. It remains to be seen if the last two ‘big’ providers, EDF energy and Scottish power follow suit.
Aer Lingus, the Irish airline carrier has announced plans to cut over 650 jobs as part of its large scale restructuring plans. The cuts are in an attempt to save the airline about £88 million pounds as they struggle with low passenger numbers.
The airline reported losses of £60 million in 2009 and a rise in passenger numbers seems to be a long way off. After discussing job losses with staff and unions, the cabin crew face about 230 compulsory redundancies and the rest of the job cuts will be voluntary.
It comes at a time when British Airways are still facing strike action and Lufthansa are still in talks with pilots to agree a new deal.
After a tough couple of months for the retail sector, sales have bounced back in February according to figures just released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Sales were actually up by 2.2% which goes someway to negate the fall in figures seen in January which was put down to severe weather conditions throughout the month.
Although sales went up there is still concern for the retail sector, as growth continues to struggle due to the downturn in the economy. Food sales were one area that did particularly poorly which the BRC put down to reserves bought in January, however sales of clothes and homeware did see a rise due in part to the number of people who had put off purchasing such items during the cold weather.
It remains to be seen if growth will be as slow before the upcoming election.
The hotly anticipated deal between UK mobile phone giants Orange and T-Mobile seems to have quickened pace after the EU ruled that the merger between the companies can go ahead.
The merger of the two companies would make the biggest mobile phone company in the UK eclipsing O2 and Vodaphone who currently share about one quarter each of the UK market. The deal between Orange and T-Mobile would give them a 33% share.
The Office of Fair Trading had been concerned about the merger and had asked the European Commission to investigate the matter. But, after further analysis and a clause that states that the companies should amend an existing agreement with ‘3’, the UKs smallest mobile provider, an agreement was reached.
The state-owned South African power firm, Eskom, raised its prices by a whopping 24.8 per cent recently, causing many trade unions to threaten strikes in protest.
Businesses and the general public are likely to struggle to cope with such a surge in price, say the unions, while the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that businesses were already struggling due to the recession, implying that this could tip many over the edge.
Eskom has been struggling to meet the country’s electricity needs of late and needs finance in order to build additional power stations, therefore, this price was not unexpected. Power rationing is being implemented, which has been hugely problematic for South African mines, which are at the heart of the nation’s economy.
France’s largest retail bank, Credit Agricole, recently announced its quarterly results. A disappointing level of profit was largely explained by major losses in Greece.
The bank made £380million in the fourth quarter of 2009, but predictions had been for around 10 per cent more than that. However, this followed on from a deficit in the fourth quarter of 2008. In all, Credit Agricole profited by over a billion euros in 2009 – a 10 per cent improvement on the preceding year.
The bank is confident that their position will remain strong into 2010, saying that initial trends confirm this view.
British gas saw record profits in 2009, it has been announced. A 58 per cent increase in profit saw the residential side of the company profit by £595million – an improvement on the 2007 figure of £573million.
In response to this, British Gas will aim for a profit margin of around 7 per cent this year, where 2009 was closer to 8 per cent. This means that gas prices will be reduced by around 7 per cent and could also see 1,100 jobs created this year.
The energy supplier acquired 141,000 customers last year, taking its total customer base to 15.7million homes.
in Scandinavia.