Door Industry Journal - Summer 2012

49 THE door industry journal summer 2012 business news Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk FREE VIRTUAL TERMINAL! The easy way to accept credit & debit card payments A recently launched low-cost card acceptance service is helping small businesses to collect payments more quickly and easily by providing a FREE Virtual Terminal which allows you to take payments over the telephone without the need for a physical device. Payatrader, now used by hundreds of small businesses, beats most of the established providers that typically, charge £20 per month for a virtual terminal. With Payatrader you can also take payments online, by mobile, email and using a 24/7 contact centre – all included in the price For more information go to www.payatrader.com. Reader Offer - Join today for just £74! The Door Industry Journal is delighted to offer readers a 25% discount off the Payatrader joining fee - normally £99. Just use referral code DIJ25 when you apply online at Payatrader.com SMALL BUSINESSES TO PAY FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY INSPECTIONS? Proposed regulations that could force small businesses to pay for their own health and safety inspections have been criticised by the Forum of Private Business (FPB). The new 'Fee for Intervention' (FFI), due to come into effect from 1 October 2012, will allow the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to recover its costs for carrying out inspections from businesses found to be in breach of health and safety law. The FPB has called the proposals 'unfair', particularly for smaller businesses, with concerns that the practice could lead to a 'heavy-handed' and 'inconsistent' approach by HSE inspectors in the ir drive to recover money. Businesses deemed to be in breach will be forced to pay for the inspector's hourly rates - the proposed rate for 2012/13 will be £124 an hour - from the initial inspection, regardless of when the breach is detected. Last year, it found the total annual cost of enforcing health and safety for small employers amounted to £3.8 billion. Business owners or key senior managers also spend an average of 40 hours each month on health and safety administration - or pay for a third party to do it. The FPB acknowledged that the benefits of good health and safety practices usually give businesses a competitive advantage in their local area, particularly amongst caterers, motor garages and manufacturers. However, it felt that HSE should be given authority over local enforcement activity in order to improve consistency. The FFI had originally been planned for implementation in April this year. A House of Lords committee is currently reviewing the plans. OFCOM CAPS POSTAGE ON LARGE LETTERS AND PARCELS Ofcom has introduced a cap on the prices that Royal Mail can charge for Second Class stamps for large letters and small parcels. Ofcom decided in March to extend the safeguard cap for Second Class stamps for letters to large letters* and small parcels up to 2kg. As set out in Ofcom’s March statement on securing the universal postal service, these measures are designed to protect small businesses and vulnerable consumers. The decision, which follows a period of consultation on the structure and the level of the cap, provides SMEs and consumers with the same level of protection from price rises on Second Class stamps for large letters and small parcels up to 2kg, as they have on Second Class letters. This means that, over a seven-year period, average price increases on Royal Mail’s large letters and small parcels products will be capped in line with the percentage price increases allowed under the cap on Second Class letters. The cap itself will be indexed with CPI inflation. The safeguard cap is designed to ensure that SME and consumer expenditure on these items remains affordable, while at the same time allowing Royal Mail flexibility in its pricing decisions, consistent with our overall approach of price deregulation. Standard 'Letters' are items up to a length of 240mm, width 165mm, thickness 5mm, and weighing no more than 100g. 'Large Letters' are items larger than a Letter and up to a length of 353mm, width 250mm, thickness 25mm, and weighing no more than 750g. This is welcome news for us here at the Door Industry Journal because our postage bill has simply gone through the roof since the recent price rises came into force earlier this year, making it more difficult for us to finance free distribution. This situation has forced us to review and re-think our distribution policy in terms of ensuring that only companies within the door, gate and hardware industry who meet our criteria, continue to receive free printed issues. Others wanting printed issues will be offered introductory discounts on paid subscriptions or our free online digital copy subscription. We will announce any changes in our next issue in December for implementation in 2013.