One hundred and twenty members of the Chamber of Commerce and their guests got into the festive spirit at Everton’s Goodison Park for the chamber’s ever popular Christmas Platform Lunch. After a turkey dinner with all the trimmings, they were entertained by comedian Carl Schofield.

Ho ho ho indeed!

Pictured above is Carl Schofield with our chief exec, Jack Stopforth.

Today (Thursday), Liverpool Chamber hosted a breakfast event on current salary, benefit and recruitment trends in the IT sector. The main guest speaker was Ian Knowles from Hays recruitment agency.

The main points covered included:

• the North West has a lower than average skills gap in the IT industry (5% compared to a 10% national average)
• the public sector is a growing market for IT jobs
• desktop support, web development and management roles are growing areas
• the average IT worker is male, 36 years old, has worked in the sector for 11 years and has been in his current post for less than three years
• flexible working, good holiday allowances and performance related bonuses are the top key benefits looked for by potential staff
• however, employers main offers include childcare, company cars and gym memberships as benefits
• 70% of employees work above their contracted hours
• most leave their current jobs in search of fresh challenges or more interesting work
• 70% search for jobs online.

Steve Smith, Merseyside ICT Sector Director, was also on hand. He emphasised the important role recruitment agencies can play for smaller businesses when it comes to finding the right staff. He said they could draw on a wider catchment area and a long-term relationship with a recruiter brought greater benefits.

He also announced that as of next week, Skillworks will be offering to supply 60% of training costs to businesses to help them develop the skills of their existing staff.

The British Chambers of Commerce have put together a factual summary of the main points covered in the Chancellor’s Pre-Budget speech. For those who are interested, the full report is available on the HM Treasury website.

• The pre-budget report focussed on key themes of investment in transport, housing and skills. The PBR drew heavily on all the recent government commissioned reports - further information on these can be found below;
• No major tax changes were announced;
• The Chancellor has stated that his efficiency programme is on track. Baseline savings will be at least 3 per cent per year across local and central government whilst administrative budgets will be cut by at least 5 per cent over the 2007 CSR period. This will release an extra £26bn;
• £9.6bn planned investment in transport in 2007/08;
• Inflation-only rise in road fuel duty of 1.25p per litre from midnight;
• Increase in air passenger duty from 1st February 2007 from £5 to £10 in recognition of the environmental costs of flying;
• £8bn planned investment in housing;
• A time-limited stamp duty exemption on all new zero carbon homes;
• Capital investment in education to rise from £8.3bn in 2007/08 to £10.2bn in 2010/11;
• A four-year educational investment settlement was also announced - a total of £36bn is to be invested in educational institutions over the period;
• A further £130m will be given directly to schools in England in 2007/08 to support personalised teaching and extended services;
• From the 1st of April 2007, landfill tax will increase by £3 to £24 per tonne;
• A series of measures to tighten the tax avoidance regime were announced plus further strengthening of strategy relating to the Missing Trader VAT fraud;
• The Government is taking action against Managed Service Company (MSC) schemes which avoid paying employed levels of tax and NICS;
• Some modernising of the tax system were announced - simplification of tax rules governing life assurance companies and the introduction of a Construction Industry Scheme which aims to help the construction industry comply with their tax obligations whilst reducing regulatory burdens;
• Improving the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage to tackle non-compliance and raising penalties for those who are seriously non-compliant; and
• Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) will become permanent beyond 2010;
• Lyons Review - Sir Michael Lyons is now set to report to the government at the time of the budget 2007. The Chancellor has announced that he and Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, have asked Sir Michael Lyons to consider the implications for local government of the Eddington report on transport, the Barker report on planning and the Leitch review on skills in the final report from his Inquiry into the role, function and funding of local government, and to make appropriate recommendations to government. This will mean a short extension to Sir Michael’s Inquiry. A further consultation on the planning gain supplement is also set for 2007.
• Gowers Review of Intellectual Property: In December 2005, the Chancellor of the Exchequer asked Andrew Gowers to conduct an independent review into the UK Intellectual Property Framework and the report has been published today. Intellectual Property (IP) is a critical component of our present and future success in the global economy. The UK’s economic competitiveness is increasingly driven by knowledge-based industries, especially in manufacturing, science-based sectors and the creative industries. The IP framework needs to create incentives for innovation, without unduly limiting access for consumers and follow-on innovators. The principle recommendations of the Review are aimed at: tackling IP crime and ensuring that rights are well enforced; reducing the costs and complexity of the system; and reforming copyright law to allow individuals and institutions to use content in ways consistent with the digital age.

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Lord Leitch today published his final report, ‘Prosperity for all in the Global Economy: World Class Skills’, which examines the UK’s long-term skills needs. It sets out ambitious goals for 2020 which, if achieved, would make the UK a world leader in skills. The report recommends and sets out a far-reaching reform agenda.

The report is set against a background of economic strength and stability in the UK, with 14 years of unbroken growth and one of the highest employment rates in the developed world. The UK has significantly improved the skills base with rising school and college standards and strong growth in graduate numbers.

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The crime-fighting team from Business Crime Direct have passed on a warning about the latest car-jacking technique received from their colleagues in the police.

It involves the criminals sticking a piece of paper onto your rear windscreen. If you’ve already got into and started your car before noticing, you may be tempted to hop out and remove the paper, possibly leaving your engine running and your valuables in the car. This is when the thieves will strike, taking your car and its contents, regardless of whether or not you are standing in the way.

Apparently this method is spreading across the country, and with more of us taking shopping trips at this time of year, it’s time to be careful.

Their advice is to simply drive away and stop a safe distance from the original parking place to remove the paper.

Please note, this story may be an urban myth. Note quite as good as that one about the zombie hitchhiker, but a myth all the same.

Merseytravel have released details of the public transport services that will be running over the Christmas and New Year period.

Full details are available on their website. [PDF]

So, if you’re planning on swaying your way to a bus stop or train station after the office party, at least you’ll know by just how much you’ve missed the last bus or train home.