Soho Road will celebrate Diwali in a special outdoor celebration

Ninder Kaur
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Soho Road will celebrate Diwali in a special outdoor celebration

By Ninder Kaur

 

The newly-formed Soho Road Business Improvement District (BID) will be putting on a major community event for this year’s Festival of Light.

The event which has been sponsored MoneyGram and Ambur Radio will be coming together to celebrate Diwali in a special outdoor celebration on Sunday, 1st November 2015,  with an uplifting and vibrant mix of music, dance and live performance, as well as displays and food stalls.

The free concert on Soho Road will start at 12.00pm and end with the switching on of the Diwali Lights at approximately 5.30pm with a line-up of special guests.

People from all communities are invited to attend the celebrations, which feature music by renowned artists, line up includes Brit Asia TV World Awards 2015 winner Dr Zeus, JK, H Dhami and Raxstar to name a few, family fun with stalls sumptuous food and drink, fun fair with children’s rides for the whole family to enjoy. The free event is being organised to mark Diwali, the ‘Festival of Lights’, which is observed by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains in India and many other countries around the world.

The BID is home to 560 predominantly independent businesses stretching from Holyhead Road to Soho Hill with an estimated local population of 250,000.

soho road diwali
Members of BID

Dipak Patel, Chairman of the Soho Road BID, warmly welcomed people from Birmingham and beyond to come along to this most wonderful event, commenting,” The Diwali Celebration event will be a terrific showcase for our area and Birmingham as whole in people of all ages and faiths coming together for a great family event. The event highlights the cultural calendar and wonderfully reflects the vibrancy of the city’s many communities who make a huge contribution to life in Birmingham.”

 

GG2 recognises the biggest achievers from the British Asian community

Ninder Kaur
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GG2 recognises the biggest achievers from the British Asian community

By Ninder Kaur

 

The GG2 Leadership Awards took place in London, recognising leading figures in the British Asian community.

A total of 11 awards were given out to high achievers from all sectors of the Asian society.

Hosted by the Asian Media and Marketing Group (AMG), guests included the likes of Sadiq

Michael Gove
Chief Guest Michael Gove

Khan MP, British Asian music producer, Naughty Boy, Adil Ray, Bhasker Patel, and chief guest for the evening, Justice Secretary Michael Gove.

Gove addressed the crowd saying: “It’s a pleasure to be here to celebrate the success of the British Asian community in so many walks of life and in so many ways.

“Britain is the fastest growing economy in the G7 because of its diversity.

“You can no more imagine Britain without the contribution of British Asian diversity than you can imagine a Victoria sponge without the jam or a Battenberg without marzipan.

“It’s woven into the fabric and that is one of the reasons why we in Britain now are the truest and the best rainbow nation in the world.”

The night also saw the unveiling of the ‘Power 101′ list, celebrating Britain’s most influential Asians for 2015-2016.

Business Secretary, Sajid Javid, ranked number one on the list for a second year running:

Sajid Javed
Sajid Javed

During his acceptance speech Sajid said: “This year, I’d like to dedicate this award to the next generation, the younger generation. Young British Asians that have achieved so much in every walk of British life, whether that’s politics, business, culture, arts or sports,” Javid said.

He is joined by 23 Asian women, including 18-year-old Malala Yousafzai who places at number 10 on the Power 101.

Here is the full list of winners of the GG2 Leadership Awards 2015:

GG2 Spirit in the Community Award
Polly Harrar, Founder, The Sharan Project

GG2 Young Journalist of the Year Award
Sandy Rashty, Editor, Business and Movers and Shakers, The Jewish Chronicle

GG2 Media & Creative Arts Award
Asif Kapadia, Filmmaker, On The Corner

GG2 World Food Award
Kwai Tsun Stanley Tse, Chairman, SeeWoo Foods Limited

GG2 Inspire Award
Mohammed Zafran, Director, All 4 Youth & Community

GG2 Achievement through Adversity Award
Naz Shah, Member of Parliament, House of Commons

GG2 Pride of Britain Award
Dr Gaurav Atreja, consultant Neonatologist, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

GG2 Editor’s Award
Seema Jaya Sharma

GG2 Woman of the Year
The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions

GG2 Man of the Year
Lord Kamlesh Patel of Bradford, House of Lords

GG2 Hammer Award
Rakesh Kapoor, Chief Executive Officer, RB

Are you really protected by your insurance?

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Are you really protected by your insurance?

By S Gulfraz

I am a great believer in looking through insurance documentation to know what I am covered, or rather what am I actually paying for.

I have a good friend who came to me this weekend, as he has purchased his first rental property after saving hard for many years. He was ecstatic knowing he has purchased the property with a view to getting a pension at 60 from the property through rental income.

My friend had gone to an insurance brokerage, and they had sold him the cheapest policy they had, which was with a well know large insurance brand. After having a quick look at the paperwork, and then taking longer to read it, as I felt there was certain important covers missing I told him he is not covered, if his tenants decided to deliberately damage his property.

Now you would think taking out a buy to let property insurance should automatically cover you for damage to the property by your tenants, as let’s face it the chance of someone else damaging the house is remote in comparison to the tenants damaging the house. It also transpires he is not also covered for theft from the property by tenants. The difference between this insurance cover, and one that did cover him for malicious damage and theft by tenants was £29.00!!

The insurer in question has significant branding showing how its policy is the best in the market place, yet it leaves out fundamental aspects of cover, and worse the advisers who sold the insurance should know the basics, and tell customers what they are covered for or not.

So for those of you who have taken out some form of cover during your lifetime, (it does not matter what it is or was for) however think back how many of you read beyond the policy schedule. Do you read the terms and conditions, and most importantly do you read the exclusions? I have to hold my hand up and say most of the time I brush through the terms and conditions; however recently I have started to be more careful.

I would recommend all our readers to go back into the drawers, pull out the insurance paperwork, and read through it. You never know you might pick up a valuable piece of cover that is required, but you’re not covered for.  Trust me, when I say it is far better to change insurers than argue and be left vulnerable in case an event arises, when you really need cover.

Also is it prudent to rely on your advisers? Well the answer is no. At the end of the day they are there to advice you, but let’s face it, at the end of the day, their objective is to sell you cover, and unless they know the product inside out (which you would expect) they have no better knowledge than you do as the product purchaser.

Discover unique, chic, contemporary and culture at Artz-i

Aalia Khan
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Discover unique, chic, contemporary and culture at Artz-i

By Aalia Khan

The funky, chic atmosphere and products on offer at the new gift and interior store Artz-i in Bradford town centre grabs your attention from the moment you step in.

IMG_3122From the modern and unique mugs and frames to the exquisite wall of art from across the world, spending 10-15 minutes just to take in everything available should be expected. Artz-i, which has only been open for the last three months on Sunbridge Road, has done very well for itself in drawing in people’s attention, selling many of the high end products and taking repeat orders.

Mohammed Ali Rasul, Managing Director of the store says “Having opened for only three months we have had sell-throughs and I never would’ve expected it. People love quality. And Bradford has lots of trendy people who appreciate quality and art.” Rasul has been in the fashion industry for the last twenty five years when he owned a designer menswear outlet called Zohm in Huddersfield and Oldham, having sold the stores but kept the brand, Rasul wanted to open up a new store and brand of his own selling high quality products for a reasonable price for the people of Bradford.

Rasul has travelled the world and lived in Yemen with his family for 13 years, he recently returned to Bradford to discover that there wasn’t much quality Islamic art and products on offer in Bradford. Along with his two partners he decided to open up Artz-i to offer Islamic art as well as other unique products from around the world and the UK that the people of Bradford may not have discovered.

IMG_3121The first floor which customers step into houses gifts, ornaments, greeting cards, flowers, candles, mugs and a wall of art from artists across the world including Syria, Istanbul and Cairo. Having divulged in all the small treasures on offer you can walk down the stairs to the ground floor which presents interior and home furnishings such as lamps, arm chairs, chic clocks, cushions and cabinets.

As much as looking at nice products is great for a customer, the price is always the main factor, Rasul has kept this in mind and ensured that all his products are sold at a reasonable price. Greeting cards start from £1.75. The average price on the first floor is £10-£15, and downstairs the interior and furnishing floor houses items at £2000, but the average price of products on that floor is £200-£300; this involves quirky furniture. The art work starts from £10 and goes up to £100, which includes large, good quality frames. Rasul says “I wanted to ensure it wasn’t expensive but still good quality. It is about gifts and that is one way to connect with people. I wanted a gift store in which people can afford to come in and spend at.”

IMG_3120Rasul says customers and passersby have loved the store and products on offer and people have said that this type of store should be in Leeds or London, but Rasul argues “No why can’t Bradford have it, we just need to get people’s confidence to spend in Bradford rather than going out, and give them the confidence that we know what we are doing.”

An Artz-i online store is currently being developed which will offer more of the Islamic art and they are also in the process of creating an art gallery which will display art from around Bradford as well as worldwide.

Dubai Property Show Inaugurated By His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum

Aalia Khan
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Dubai Property Show Inaugurated By His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum

Friday saw the official inauguration of the first annual Dubai Property Show, by Chief Guest, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Maktoum Al Maktoum.  Held at London’s Olympia, the Dubai Property Show is showcasing over 60 leading real estate companies offering thousands of stylish properties, as well as advice from experts across the real estate industry in how to best invest.

IMG_7093His Highness chaired a press conference and was joined by dignitaries: Richard Harrington, MP for Watford and Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party, His Excellency Sultan Butti Bin Mejren Director General, Dubai Land Department; Majida Ali Rashid, Assistant Director General, Dubai Land Department; Yousuf Kazim, CEO, Jumeirah Golf Estate, Platinum Sponsors; Sultan Al Suwaidi, Partner Sumansa Exhibitions LLC and Sunil Jaiswal, President, Sumansa Exhibitions LLC.

With Dubai now the Brit’s third most preferred destination to invest in, the Dubai Property Show, organised by Sumansa Exhibitions, provides the opportunity to find out about every aspect of investing in Dubai.

According to the Dubai Land Department, British investors were in second place for foreign investment (second to India), with 3,747 transactions worth Dh9.318 billion (approx. £1bn) in 2014.

At the Dubai Property show, Yousuf Kazim, CEO of Jumeirah Golf Estates commented: “As a market regains solid growth momentum, The Dubai Property show is a key platform for international buyers to leverage long-term investment propositions, driven by quality of the life and world-class infrastructure in the Emirate.”

Last year, the UAE was selected to host the World Expo in Dubai in 2020, making it the first time that the cultural exhibition is staged in the Middle East. Drawing global attention, the Expo 2020 Dubai is expected to attract 25 million visitors, 70 per cent of whom will be from overseas.

 

First Bankruptcy Increase Threshold

Aalia Khan
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First Bankruptcy Increase Threshold

It is a well known fact that many people per annum are declared bankrupt. This is either due to their own financial situation turning sour whether innocently or negligently or even due to fraud.

The UK government have revised the threshold upon which an individual can be declared bankrupt. This is the first increase in some thirty odd years, whereby now a person needs to have a debt of £5,000 plus. This is a significant increase from the current limit of £750.

There are many individuals, charities and other organisations that welcome the changes. This is because now a person cannot be made bankrupt for a relatively small sum of money. My view is that I disagree with the fact that the legislation is positive. This is because it will now be much harder to push rogue tradesman, and people generally who are negligent at paying back their debt. This is because they will not have the bankruptcy threat to make them pay unless the debt is over £5, 000.

Whilst the above change is good news for some people, and bad news for creditors, a further change has also been made; whereby the government has given a boost to a bankruptcy alternative in the form of a debt relief order. This is a less drastic order than bankruptcy, which put simply means a person is insolvent, and probably cannot get any form of credit for a period of one year as a minimum.

With reference to a debit relief order at present this is only an option for someone with assets of less than £300, and a debt of less than £15, 000. The monetary restrictions meant that it was a minority of people that could actually get a debt insolvency order. The government has lifted the limits; therefore at present someone with £20, 000 of debt and assets of £1, 000 can apply for a debt insolvency order. The maximum surplus income limit to apply for an order, shall remain at £50.00 a month.

Although the new limits is very good news for people that owe monies because now they have a higher limit before they can be made bankrupt, as well as a higher limit to be eligible for a debt insolvency order, I firmly believe it is a get out clause for many rogue traders. The government should have ensured that the new limits apply to personal debt, and not debt related to business activities.

Overall, aside from rogue traders for honest, innocent individuals that have just let debt get the better of them, atleast now the limits have been increased, they can put right their debt situation without considering the fact that they will be made bankrupt by the credit. The creditor now needs to consider other options, which are probably more realistic for a personal/private individual.

Paying off your mortgage?

Aalia Khan
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Paying off your mortgage?

shabab picIt is likely many of you out there with mortgages must have at some point thought about how you will pay off your mortgage, or how you could pay off your mortgage as quickly as possible.

It is worrying that one in ten people are thinking of using their retirement fund to pay off the mortgage. This is worrying because, surely a retirement pot should be for retirement purposes, other than paying off debt that should ideally cease before ceasing work.

For those of you that are on a repayment mortgage, and the term is going into retirement, I would suggest you visit a mortgage adviser, and work out if you can repay your mortgage before retirement age, or change retirement plans so that the mortgage ceases before you finish your working life.

The positive aspect of a repayment mortgage is that at least you are on target to cease your mortgage at some stage in the future. If your mortgage is to run into retirement or you want to retire early, then perhaps making affordable over-payments may be an idea to reduce your mortgage term.

It is more worrying if you have a retirement only mortgage, and have no repayment vehicle in place. There are many individuals who will most certainly have a financial nightmare with an interest only mortgage and no repayment vehicle.

I would strongly suggest if you have an interest only mortgage to consider moving the mortgage to a repayment mortgage, or if you truly dislike the idea of a repayment mortgage, then you start a repayment vehicle to pay the mortgage off. This could be in the form of a NISA, a bond or any other type of savings plan to pay the debt, when the mortgage term ceases.

The issue with an interest only mortgage is that now it is becoming harder to be eligible for an interest only mortgage. This is because the regulators have clamped down and insisted lenders restrict only mortgages to only those individuals with credible repayment plans in place. This means if you have no repayment vehicle, then it maybe likely you cannot move from your current mortgage deal to another interest only deal, but may be forced to undertake an interest only mortgage.

You could also undertake a holistic view of your overall financial situation and see if there are any other ways to reduce your mortgage debt. A recent survey undertaken highlighted 6 percent of individuals are waiting for an inheritance to pay off the mortgage debt.

Whatever your personal situation is, I would suggest undertaking a review with your advisers to ensure that you are on track and there are no nasty surprises to follow in the future.

 

Is worse news to come for British tax payer’s

Aalia Khan
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Is worse news to come for British tax payer’s

shabab picThe Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has recently highlighted the UK government must take serious/urgent action to avoid a tax bomb. The report suggests that due to an aging population in the UK public spending must be slashed to reduce the UK government debt to a reasonable amount. However what is a reasonable amount? Put simply the UK government has debt from several sources to pay such as, debt that interest is paid on annually, as well as undated debt such as the civil service, NHS pension.

The most radial form of thinking by the think tank is that UK workers must be forced to delay retirement or accept the abandonment of state pension. One question that comes to mind is why are we then paying national insurance contributions?  Surely, if there is to be little or no state pensions in 30 plus years, then why should those working hard today have to pay 12% national insurance on the bulk of their earnings?

Most alarmingly, the IEA suggests to fill the black hole tax needs to rise by 14%. This means someone earning below the higher rate band will be paying 34% tax and 12% national insurance; therefore 46% of everything one earns will go in tax.

So what are your thoughts as readers? Do you think our politicians should keep their heads swiftly buried and let matters get worse or should they impose action for the betterment of generations in the future? The view of many individuals in my industry as financial advisers/planners is that the UK government needs to get strict. The view of many advisers is that the government should curb the growth in pensions for NHS staff such as doctors. This may seem harsh, but many of you will not be aware a large proportion of doctors will walk away with pensions possibly equal to 50% of their current salaries; whereas someone working in the private sector may suffer a drop of 70% plus of their income at retirement age.

Many within the industry of finance believe that the government should stop wasting public cash, and the government should be more responsible with public money. I know of many individuals including clients who are struggling to make ends meet who feel that it is harsh families where both parents have to work to make ends meet only have one or two children, but those on benefits with no parent working have four or five kids, and have near enough the same amount of money coming in.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel tax should be raised to ensure the country carries on as it is, or do you think its time England had a reality check? What are your thoughts on benefits, and do you think the level of benefits/social bills paid in the country are too high?

Online Bank Transfer Gone Wrong?

Aalia Khan
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Online Bank Transfer Gone Wrong?

By Shabab Gulfraz

As technology and banking moves more onto the internet, it is little surprise every year tens of millions of pounds goes missing. Now before you all start thinking internet banking must have a flaw, its not the bank but us the individuals that in error send money which ends up not with the person it was intended for.

The issue has become a concern over time because 5 out of 6 of us have tried online or mobile banking, and it is estimated that nearly 60 percent of all transactions will be electronically conducted within the next few year by The British Bankers Association. This means the issue is of real concern considering several billion electronic transactions are made in the UK alone per annum.

Up till now, banks had little choice but to say sorry, it’s your fault for sending the money to the wrong account and this it. You would be hundreds if not thousands of pounds out of pocket because someone too greedy to return your funds knowing they are not entitled to the money would fail to return it to the right full owner.

Now, banks such as HSBC, Nationwide have became the first few of the largest banks in the UK to amend their terms and conditions so that if their customers fail to return monies not belonging to them, then they will claw back the amount disputed from their customers account and place it in a holding account.

For once, I must say the banks need to be applauded for actually taking this step. Why, because they are pro actively protecting the service user.

Any customer who has received a payment in error will be written to, and if they fail to respond, the monies will be taken out of their account. The change means this is the most radical attempt by banks to do the right thing for innocent users who have entered a digit or two wrong, and their money has gone to the wrong person.

So what can you do to avoid paying the wrong person. I would suggest double if not treble check the digits you enter. I would also check with the person receiving the transfer that the details are correct. If you are making a large transfer, then go to the branch, if the cashier makes a mistake its their fault not yours!

It would be interesting to hear from our readers of their experiences if electronic transactions have gone wrong. Please tell us how helpful your bank was, and also if you managed to get the money back.

 

Yorkshire’s Rich List

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Yorkshire’s Rich List

YORKSHIRE’S RICHEST TOP 20 SHARE A COLLECTIVE FORTUNE OF CLOSE TO £10BN

The Healey brothers, Eddie and Malcolm, remain the richest people in Yorkshire, according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2014. A total of 20 people from Yorkshire worth more than £180m are included in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, which is published in a special 116-page edition of The Sunday Times Magazine on May 18.

The 20 richest in Yorkshire are worth £9.941billion collectively, with the Healey brothers accounting for £1,300m of that. The elder brother, Eddie, now aged 76, made his fortune from property deals, the biggest of which, the sale of the Meadowhall shopping centre, near Sheffield, made him £420m. His younger brother, Malcolm, 69, made £200m from building and selling Hygena Kitchens. He repeated the process with a similar business in America, this time earning £800m from the sale.

Joining the Healey brothers and Lord Kirkham and family (worth £1,150m following the proceeds from the sale of his DFS furniture empire) in the billionaire club is Tony Murray. Now aged 94, Murray and his family are worth £1,013m, much of that tied up in Andrew Sykes, a hirer of heating and air-conditioning equipment, and London Security, a Leeds-based fire protection business which includes the Nu-Swift fire extinguisher brand. Paul Sykes ranks sixth in the Yorkshire Rich List. Like Eddie Healey, he made money from the sale of Meadowhall, but his Highstone property operation has further assets put at £253.7m in 2012-13. With personal wealth of £650m, he has deep pockets and is using some of his money to underwrite UKIP’s advertising campaign for next week’s European elections.

Just beneath Sykes in the Yorkshire wealth stakes, in seventh place, is Terry Bramall and family with £425m. However, Bramall ranks third nationally in this year’s Sunday Times Giving List off the back of£107.4m given to charity since he sold the Keepmoat construction group in late 2007. Bramall endowed the Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation the following year with an initial gift of more than £96m, which has earned a further £11m in investment income for the charity in the five years since.

On the other side there’s some bad news for Sir Ken as he sees a fall in his fortune as he goes down two places and has a decrease in wealth of £105m.

The cumulative giving dating back to 2008 is recognised for the first time in the new Giving List.

The 26th annual Sunday Times Rich List was published on May 18 in a special 116-page issue of The Sunday Times Magazine,

yorkshire rich list.jpg which profiles the 1,000 richest individuals and families in the UK and the wealthiest 250 in Ireland. The list is based on identifiable wealth, including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies. It excludes bank accounts, to which the paper has no access.

The Sunday Times Rich List 2014 is compiled by Philip Beresford, the leading authority on British

 

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