Thursday, January 3, 2013
Phone firms face ban on raising 'fixed' prices
Telecoms providers could be banned from raising prices in the middle of a broadband, mobile or home phone contract, Ofcom has said.
Consumers would have new rights to pull out of phone and broadband contracts if providers increase prices on fixed deals, under new proposals.
Ofcom, the communications regulator, has today announced a consultation on how to protect customers from price rises during fixed contracts for landline, mobile and broadband services.
It said its proposal would allow communications providers to increase prices during a fixed-term contract but leave consumers free to leave if they did not want to accept the rise.
Ofcom recieved 1,644 complaints between September 2011 to May last year, finding that many consumers believed they were not made aware of the potential for price rises in what they believed to be fixed contracts.
"Many consumers have complained to us that they are not made aware of the potential for price rises in what they believe to be fixed contracts," said Claudio Pollack, consumer group director at the watchdog.
"Ofcom is consulting on rules that we propose would give consumers a fair deal in relation to mid-contract price rises."
From January 5, BT customers will see the price of their landline and broadband rise by 5.9pc, more than twice the rate of inflation.
The steepest price rises come for BT's Vision customers, who pay for television channels, and will see the monthly charge rises from £4 to £5, an increase of 25pc.
The hikes, which take effect on 5 January 2013, will be the fourth set of rises the telecoms giant has implemented in just over two years.
But it is not just BT customers who will be facing steeper charges. The vast majority of Virgin Media's 4.2 million customers will see the price of line rental going up by £1.09 on February 1, from £13.90 per month to £14.99 per month, a rise of 3.4pc.
While seven million O2 customers will see their monthly mobile bills rise by 3.2pc for 7 million of its customers. The rise will add £13.44 annually – or £1.12 per month – to a £35 monthly bill and affects existing customers, including those who have recently taken out a new deal.
Under current Ofcom rules, due to communications providers small print, customers are only able to get out of their contracts in certain limited situations – for example, if someone can show the changes being made will increase their total charges by more than 10pc, based on their recent usage.
In other words, under the current system, the only fixed part of the contract is the length. Providers are within their rights to raise your tariffs and the majority of consumers are powerless to do anything. But this could change in the coming months.
The regulator said that under the new proposals it would also expect providers to be transparent about the potential for price increases so consumers could make an informed choice when entering the contract.
It said it had also considered a complete ban on price rises during fixed contracts but believed this would be inconsistent with European laws.
Richard Lloyd, executive director at consumer group Which?, said: "The day when fixed must mean fixed in contracts is another step closer.
That's a good start to the New Year for the 38,000 people who supported our complaint to Ofcom about the giant phone companies hitting hard-pressed consumers with millions of pounds worth of unexpected price increases.
The mobile phone companies should see the writing on the wall, bring in these changes now and start playing fair with their customers without waiting for the regulator to rewrite the rules."
The consultation closes on 14 March 2013 and Ofcom expects to publish a decision in June 2013.
UK banks 'significantly' increase lending for mortgages and business, says Bank of England credit survey
UK lenders have reported a significant increase in the amount of credit made available to households and businesses, according to the Bank of England, in the clearest signal yet that efforts to free up credit are working.
The BoE's latest quarterly Credit Conditions Survey revealed the availability of secured credit to households rose significantly in the final three months of 2012 – setting a new high since the survey began in 2007.
Banks and building societies also increased lending to borrowers with smaller deposits, and said they were planning to increase their maximum loan-to-values in what will come as a welcome move for those struggling to get on the housing ladder.
The survey showed that banks and building societies expect to ramp up lending significantly in the first three months of 2013.
The results will reassure the Government and the BOE that the Funding for Lending (FLS) scheme launched in August to boost the flow of credit to households and businesses is having an impact.
“Lenders noted that the FLS had been an important factor behind this increase, consistent with a reported easing in wholesale funding conditions, pushing up significantly on credit availability,” the BOE said.
Figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) have shown a recent pickup in mortgage approvals to home buyers and the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has said it expects the housing market to "feel more stable and positive" in 2013.
Thursday's report showed that lending to businesses is improving, with the first increase in credit availability for a year.
Vicky Redwood, economist at Capital Economics, said: "The Bank of England’s latest Credit Conditions Survey provided further evidence that the positive impact of the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) is building. What’s more, the beneficial effects are spreading to the corporate, as well as mortgage, market."
Large and medium-sized firms appear to be benefiting most from increased lending and cheaper rates, the Bank said.
Conditions remain tough for small firms, with banks only reporting a slight increase in lending to this sector and demand actually falling from small businesses.
Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight, said signs that smaller companies may not benefit as much as larger and medium-sized firms were disappointing "given that it is a lack of available and affordable credit to smaller companies that has been of particular concern".
"The implication is that banks remain very cautious about lending to smaller businesses in the current difficult and uncertain environment," he said.
According to the survey an index of the availability of secured loans to households rose to 26.2 from 21.9 in the third quarter, while a measure for corporate loans jumped to 29.4 from minus 5.5. Both are at the highest level since the survey began in the second quarter of 2007.
Earlier on Thursday the Nationwide's latest housing survey shows house prices dropped by 1pc in 2012, reversing a 1pc increase the year before, and are likely to remain flat or edge lower still during 2013.
Queen turns off heating in greenhouses to save money
The Queen feels the effects of increased fuel costs after deciding the greenhouses on her Sandringham estate are too expensive to heat.
Instead of bringing on bedding plants in the glasshouses, the Queen will buy in fully-grown flowers from nurseries because it is now more "cost-effective".
Her head gardener Martin Woods told The Daily Mail: "We're growing a bit, but not as much as we have done in the past.
"We have a large area of glass and have scaled down. With heating costing so much, we can't carry on without it, so we are reviewing how much to grow without so much heat. It's not cost-effective for us.
"It costs a fortune to heat greenhouses these days and it's much cheaper to buy the plants fully-grown because commercial nurseries operate on an enormous scale and can absorb the extra heating costs."
The Queen's privately-owned estate in Norfolk has two greenhouses for carnations and others for crysanthemums and dahlias, but most will be mothballed this year, with only a small heated area retained for houseplants and a few other select specimens.
Meanwhile testing of a new hydro-electricity plant to power Windsor Castle is being delayed by high water levels on the Thames.
Two giant water turbines were installed at Romney Weir in December 2011, but delays in installing an 11,000-volt cable connecting them to the castle took much longer than expected. The cables are now in place but high rainfall over Christmas has hampered things further.
David Dechambeau, the project director, said: "We could be generating electricity but the river is so high. It needs to have a drop over the weir to make energy.
"After a month or so we will be running the turbines at night time and powering the castle and shutting them down in the day to continue testing."
He said he hoped the turbines would be fully operational in about three months.
The scheme is expected to provide around half the castle's electricity, about 2m kWh per year, which is enough to power 500 homes.
Surplus energy generated by the Archimedes screw-type turbines will be fed into the National Grid.
Delhi gang rape suspects formally charged in India
Indian police have formally charged five men with murder, kidnapping and rape following the fatal gang-rape of a young woman that appalled the nation.
"We have filed the charge sheet against the five accused," an investigating police officer told a magistrate hearing the case in the Saket court complex in New Delhi.
The five men, who could face the death penalty if convicted, were not present when the media were allowed into the courtroom. Journalists were initially prevented from listening to proceedings, sparking chaotic scenes outside.
The men face at least seven charges, including murder, kidnapping, rape, robbery and attempting to destroy evidence. The next hearing in the case was set for January 5.
A police charge sheet under Indian law lays out the charges against the accused and details the key evidence against them.
The 23-year-old victim in the gang-rape case, who died at the weekend from her horrific injuries, gave a statement to police immediately after the attack.
Her boyfriend, who was with her at the time and was also attacked, has also given an account.
Lawyers at the court in New Delhi told AFP that they would not defend the suspects, meaning that the government would have to appoint advocates for what will be a fast-tracked trial.
"We have decided that no lawyer will stand up to defend the rape accused, as it would be immoral to defend the case," Sanjay Kumar, a lawyer and member of the Saket District Bar Council, told AFP.
Indian woman during a protest to mourn the death of the gang rape victim in New Delhi (AP)
Protesters have massed in India cities daily since the December 16 assault demanding the government do more to combat crime against women, with tougher penalties for offenders and even chemical castration being considered.
The offence, though far from rare in a country where gang rapes are commonplace, has led to deep soul-searching in the media and the country's political class about the treatment of Indian women.
A recent poll found India to be the worst in the G20 group of nations for women because of child marriage, abuse and female foeticide, which has led to a badly skewed sex ratio in the country of 1.2 billion people.
Source: AFP
Jim Davidson pulls out of Celebrity Big Brother after abuse allegations
Comedian Jim Davidson has pulled out of Celebrity Big Brother, after he was arrested by detectives investigating the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.
The 59-year-old comedian "vigorously denies" the allegations against him.
He was detained at Heathrow Airport as he flew into Britain ahead of an anticipated appearance on Channel 5’s Celebrity Big Brother show.
Davidson will now no longer be taking part and programme chiefs are believed to be rejigging the line-up at the last moment.
He was arrested at around midday by detectives from Operation Yewtree, the investigation set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile child sex revelations. The allegations are not directly linked to Savile, the Metropolitan Police said.
In a statement, Davidson's solicitor Henri Brandman said: "Two women have made allegations in respect of Jim that date back approximately 25 years.
"The complainants were then in their mid 20s.
"Jim vigorously denies the allegations.
"He answered police questions as fully as he was able after this passage of time.
"He has not been charged with any offence.
"Neither he nor I will be making any further comment."
Scotland Yard said that both men had been released on bail until March pending further inquiries.
On Wednesday afternoon a uniformed police officer entered Mr Davidson’s detached home in Stockbridge, Hampshire as three other people, believed to be plain clothes detectives also went inside.
One of the men answered the door at the cream coloured property and said “we cannot comment” before closing it again.
Four men and a woman, believed to be police officers left the property carrying documents and a large red box at around 7pm turning all the lights off and locking up as they did so.
The arrest came several hours after a 53-year-old man from Hampshire was also arrested as part of the same investigation.
It is understood the man, who was questioned locally, was also an entertainer, who had worked with Mr Davidson in the past.
They are the ninth and tenth people to be arrested as part of Operation Yewtree, which is investigating allegations of abuse involving Savile and others.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said the arrests were not connected to allegations involving Savile.
The spokesman said: “Officers working on Operation Yewtree have today arrested two men on suspicion of sexual offences.
“A 53-year-old man was arrested at approximately 8am at an address in Hampshire and taken into custody locally.
“A 59-year-old man was arrested at approximately midday in west London and taken into custody at a London police station.”
Other high profile names who have been arrested as part of the wide ranging investigation include the entertainer and comedian Freddie Starr, the former pop star Gary Glitter and the publicist Max Clifford.
Brad Pickett's future as UFC title contender hangs on contest with Eddie Wineland in bantamweight battle
Brad Pickett's future and his link into an immediate growth in the UK UFC scene comes into focus a week today in Las Vegas, when he meets Eddie Wineland in a bantamweight battle on the free-to-air segment of the UFC heavyweight championship title. Headlining on the night, champion Junior Dos Santos meets Cain Velasquez for a second time, with roles reversed.
Yet Pickett's success in Las Vegas could create a significant role Octagonside on Feb 16 at the UFC's Wembley Arena card, and provide an intriguing sideshow.
Londoner Pickett is geared up for a fascinating two months if he defeats Wineland on the UFC 155 card, always a high profile event to end the year.
The bantamweight, not normally forward in his calling out of fighters and demanding title fights, perhaps feels the clock ticking and has set his sights on being the first British fighter to hold a UFC title belt. A change of tone in him, therefore, with Renan Barao and Michael McDonald announced as the main event in London, at Wembley Arena, on Feb 16, 2013.
Pickett has already suggested that post-Wineland, cum victoria, he would demand the winner of Barao-McDonald, who face off for the prize of interim UFC bantamweight title. In Pickett's eyes, victory would make him the natural compelling opponent for the winner of that interim bantamweight title collision.
Makes sense. Indeed, Pickett is known to be a favourite of Dana White for his all-action style, while UFC matchmaker for the division, Sean Shelby, has intimated to me in the past that the 34 year-old is reckoned to be pound for pound, Britain's most rounded mixed martial artist. Difficult to argue with that, given Pickett's devastating skills, mesmerising transitions, and high intensity work-rate in a fight.
"If I win this fight, I'm right up there. I'd be looking at the winner of Barao v McDonald with an eager eye," Pickett told ESPN this week.
"So if I did win, who else would I fight [in London]? I plan to win my fight, enjoy the Wembley event, and it'll be fun to watch Barao v McDonald."
Expect a raft of seats with 'RESERVED' markers on then for Pickett and crew, with a direct line to the Comcast cameramen. It may not be Pickett's natural style, but a call-out to the winner, a stare-down, would work wonders.
Incidentally, I understand that the Wembley Arena event is selling well. Ticket sales in the £50, £75 and £100 categories are sold out, along with 60 per cent sold on the £150 and £200 plush seats.
With Pickett set to show, and Cub Swanson announced as fighting Dennis Siver at featherweight in the last week, the card has become even stronger. I drew some criticism from fans after stating that Siver had put himself in title contention as a featherweight after his domination of Nam Phan in Seattle two weeks ago, but his matching against Frankie Edgar or Jose Aldo is not beyond the bounds. Come through Swanson, and Siver is there, in my view. It might also give Europe the prospect of another title fight later in the year. It's extremely plausible.
Also on the London card, Tom Kong Watson will have a serious challenge from Stanislav Nedkov, who is making the move down from 205lb. Nedkov lost to Thiago Silva for the first time in his career in Macau in November, the fight result annulled later when Silva tested positive for marijuana.
Worth the money alone will be watching Gunnar Nelson, the Icelandic submission star, live. The man is quite brilliant. The Wembley card has balance, excitement and ‘meaning’ aplenty. Seats at the event would be some Christmas present for any MMA fan.
The London, Wembley Arena UFC card:
Renan Barao v Michael McDonald (UFC Interim Bantamweight title)
Dennis Siver v Cub Swanson (Featherweight)
Jimi Manuwa v Cyrille Diabate (Light-heavyweight)
Che Mills v Matthew Riddle (Welterweight)
James Te-Huna v Ryan Jimmo (Light-heavyweight)
Gunnar Nelson v Justin Edwards (Welterweight)
Terry Etim v Renee Forte (Lightweight)
Paul Sass v Danny Castillo (Lightweight)
Tom Watson v Stanislav Nedkov (Middleweight)
Andy Ogle v Josh Grispi (Featherweight)
Vaughan Lee v Motonobu Tezuka (Bantamweight)
Phil Harris v Ulysses Gomez (Flyweight)
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Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez ready to deliver in end of year show
They are to go at again a year later.
The gameplan from incumbent champion Junior dos Santos is clear. The same gameplan. "My first gameplan was to try to keep the fight standing against him. For sure, I think Can Velasquez is gonna come hungrier for this fight, to try to work his game, try to take me down and use his ground and pound which he uses very well. My strategy is the same strategy and I'm prepared for this fight and ready to win."
We also know how Cain Velasquez will contest the title. "I know how he fights. He's got good boxing. I've just got to fight my style of fight which means a lot of pressure and a lot of offense."
It was clear that Dos Santos was also firing a broadside at athletes who use PEDs. That may come into focus in forensic detail in 2013. "I prefer to fight against clean athletes and real professionals so Cain Velasquez is one of those guys. He's a real professional fighter and that's a good challenge for me. I know he's very tough and I know how hard I have to train to face him," he said.
"The other guys, they just say things but that is nothing behind the words and I think guys like me and Cain Velasquez are made at the gym and the other guys are made at the laboratory."
Mutual respect is self-evident. "Cain Velasquez is an excellent wrestler and he puts pressure on his opponents all the time. That's what he's going to try to do to me. He's going to try to take me down, ground and pound and I have to be careful with that and use my takedown defense and my boxing skills. Everything I'm training now. I'm very confident I'm gonna win this. It doesn't matter what happens, I think I'm going to knock him out again.”
Several other fighters on the UFC roster are divided on their opinion on the winner. Heavyweight Shane Carwin goes for JDS; Alistair Overeem pitches for Cain Velasquez. I interviewed him this time last year, and he was of the same view. Featherweight title challenger Frankie Edgar sees JDS as retaining his title.
Pat Barry opts for Velasquez, as does Forrest Griffin
Me? The best Junior Dos Santos beats the best Cain Velasquez. Namely, Dos Santos will land at some point, and Velasquez can be vulnerable around the whiskers. However, the longer the fight goes, the better for Velasquez, principally because he will have more opportunities to take Dos Santos to the ground, and potentially also get in close to unload his devastating hooks. If he bobs and weaves as Mike Tyson once did, he has a great chance.
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TUF - The Smashes
Congratulations to Antrim man Norman Parke on winning the TUF Smashes lightweight final last week to earn a 3-fight contract in the UFC, and a bonus of $100,000. There was the feeling in the final, however, that it really was two friends and team-mates fighting each other. The two men had become ‘like brothers’ – their words – during the ten weeks, and as we all know, while brothers feud, they do not fight each other in professional contests. For me, the biggest surprise was Colin Fletcher’s gameplan against Parke. It lacked cutting edge, unusual for a clever thinker and a fighter who plans carefully to unravel opponents.
Ross Pearson happy 'to fight angry' against George Sotiropoulus in UFC grudge match
There is a saying in fight sports that it is dangerous “to fight angry” yet Sunderland mixed martial artist Ross Pearson insists he will be just that when he faces George Sotiropoulus in the headline five-round fight of the TUF Smashes Finale against the Australian on Friday on the Gold Coast.
Pearson, who returns to lightweight for this UFC contest, having fought his last two UFC contests at 145lbs (featherweight) also revealed to Telegraph Sport that he cannot face the weight cut again.
Pearson the opposing head coach to Sotiropoulus on the televised series of The Ultimate Fighter, and insisted that spending eight weeks around each other, genuine animosity had developed.
Pearson told Telegraph Sport: “I’m not going to lie. We didn’t get on, we’re not friends. We’re two completely different people. We see things completely different, we do things completely different, and yeah, I think he’s a bit mentally weak.”
“I think his mind is playing games on him a little bit. I think he’s worried because he is getting older, I think he is 38 now and he’s had nearly two years out with injury. I feel that his body won’t be able to push as hard as what it used to, he won’t be able to take a shot like he did. And yeah he’ll be competing at the highest level against me,” added Pearson.
“He’s got a funny personality. I don’t know if that’s the old school George, he’s a lot older than me and he demands respect because he is older, but I found that he’s a little bit socially awkward to have a conversation with.”
“It’s just that fuel to the fire, thinking about these things – what I don’t like about George for me to get ready to train to fight him. Some of the best fights I’ve ever had in my life are when I fight angry.”
“It’s like a double-edged sword. I don’t want to push too hard and get injured or make a mistake but obviously I do want to fight with that fuel of the anger and I want some anger because I want to hurt them and I want to finish them. I feel that way about George.”
“I need that little bit of aggression, I need that little bit of speed and power, I need that extra killer shot. But obviously I don’t want to be reckless and careless because George is tricky. He can catch you in awkward positions, so it’s a bit of a double-edged sword. I need it, but I don’t need it too much.”
Pearson has benefited, he insists, from almost two years training with Team Alliance in San Diego. “I honestly feel that it’s the best gym in the world. The level of competition in training partners we have here is second to none, and the coaching staff, it’s definitely one of the best gyms in the world.”
Pearson has benefited there from training under coach Eric Del Fierro, and top contenders Phil Davis, Dominick Cruz and Alex Gustafsson.
“I've made a great comeback to 155lbs [lightweight] my body’s been working great, my timing’s on, my speed and my power is there, it’s just all back and I feel at my most powerful.”
Pearson says that fighting at lightweight is the future for him. He has fought at both lightweight and featherweight (145lbs) but says the weight cut makes him a different, miserable person.
“To be perfectly honest, I feel at home and comfortable with 155lbs. I enjoy my training there, I enjoy my sparring, I can eat properly, and I’m just a better person, and myself.”
“At 145lbs, I just don’t think I can fully recover a hundred per cent to fight at the top tier. It’s the closest to death experience I can ever say I’ve had.”
“I’m just a miserable horrible person, it’s not the Ross Pearson that everyone knows. I’m a fun guy, I’m always enjoying myself and having fun but when I get to 145 I don’t speak, I’m in a mood all the time and it’s just not me.”
Having just spent eight weeks training eight raw recruits for the UFC in TUF, it is time for Pearson to do something for his own career – and put his beef into a grudge match with Aussie rival Sotiropoulus. It should be a barnburner.
UFC: Wembley title challenger Michael McDonald espouses no-style theory and sees ‘holes’ in Renan Barao
Michael McDonald has never left the United States in his life, but comes to Wembley on February 16 next year to challenge Brazilian Renan Barao for the UFC bantamweight crown. He told Telegraph Sport that he “sees holes” in the Brazilian’s game.
“I’m pretty excited to go to Wembley and I’ve never even been out of the country before,” he told Telegraph Sport.
Barao, the interim UFC bantamweight champion, presents a fine challenge, but a style McDonald will not ‘over-analyse.’ He explained: “I do and I don’t study his style.'
“I take a different approach to my opponents than most people. For one, people primarily consider themselves athletes. I do not. I primarily consider myself a martial artist and martial arts comes first. Athletics comes second.”
“Another thing that I do is I actually customise myself very, very minimally for each fight. You could actually say that I don’t customise myself to my opponent at all.
"To me its not a matter of changing me … I kind of see it as a whole David and Goliath thing. David didn’t go: ‘I can’t fight this guy. He thought: ‘I’m the best shot in the world with a sling and the sling is my weapon.’”“I know my opponent I understand my opponent but I’m not going to change anything. This is me. And I feel like I do the same thing. I don’t change my style and when I feel like I’ve changed it what I do instead is I wait until I understand my opponent and until I understand them I don’t want to be in the UFC against my opponent.”
Bottom line is that McDonald, young as he is, has worked out his strategy and game plan to get to the pinnacle. “I didn’t want to be close to the top unless I understood all of the people at the top's style.”
“I want to look at them and know why they’re doing it. I want to know how they’re doing it. I know everything about them and when I feel comfortable knowing them in their style and what they do I can feel comfortable picking them apart using the gifts God has given me.”
How McDonald sees his style matching with Barao is interesting. “I think he's a lot more of an athlete than I am. I think that there’s things that a lot of people can do in this business, on this level. that I can’t.”
“I consider them primarily athletes and I’m not near the athlete that they are. I am an athlete but secondary to my martial arts – and I don’t think I’m as fast as him. I don’t think I am as good as an athlete as him. I don’t think I can do that as good as him but I see holes and me personally I involve everything about defence and I see holes in that in particular."
"I don’t attack the body I attack the martial artist and the way he’s using his martial arts. I’m not going to try to break him physically. I’m not going to try anything like that I try to attack the martial arts.
"That’s my strength. I’ll try to attack his mind and his strategy and that’s my philosophy in fighting. If I attack his mind, his body will fall.”
McDonald revealed that when he took up mixed martial arts aged 14 – only seven years ago – he did not expect a rapid rise into the UFC.
“I didn’t have any expectations for it, at all. It just sort of happened. ‘Hey you want to do this?’ ‘Sure’. ‘Do you want to do this? ’‘No’. And they made me do it. ‘Do you want to do this?’ ‘Sure’.
And by the time I was 16 I was just as good as all the pros I didn’t have anywhere else to fight so I had to go pro. Then it just happened, it was very not like a story.”
McDonald has an intriguing take when it is put to him that he is the first generation of genuine hybrid MMA athletes who’ve come into the sport.
“I agree and disagree. I know that’s the thing that everybody says. I don’t know this whole new generation thing ... when I look at the people leading it I think of people like me, and Jon Jones and Rory MacDonald and when I look at them I actually don’t see somebody who has trained martial arts their whole life.”
“Or someone who has trained all of the arts in equal weight. What I actually see is someone who completely understands martial arts. I see someone who completely understands what works in every situation and knows how to use it in different situations. Very adaptable with no style, I’d say.”
“There is no main style. We understand everything and we can use it all when we need to and I think that’s how I see it.”
One disappointed UK fighter is Brad Pickett. Would McDonald think about returning to the UK to fight Pickett if he wins the belt. “I think the UFC would decide that, but I feel comfortable fighting anyone in the world.”
World Tour Finals to stay in London's O2 until 2015
Andy Murray beats John Millman to progress to third round of Brisbane International
US Open champion Andy Murray won a surprisingly tough second-round clash against Australian qualifier John Millman to move into the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International on Thursday.
Murray appeared headed for a straightforward win when he raced through the first set in just 30 minutes, only for an inspired Millman to fight back and deservedly claim the second.
But the world No 3 regrouped and took control at 2-2 in the decider to ease away and win 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 in just over two hours.
Millman, 23, is a Brisbane local who spent most of 2012 on the Challenger and Futures circuits, entering the Brisbane International ranked 199 in the world. His match against Murray was only his fifth on the main ATP tour.
However, he never looked overawed against the world No 3 and played some spectacular tennis to give Murray a huge scare.
"I'd not seen him play before but I knew he has a good work rate," Murray said.
"He's gone through a lot of tough losses and kept fighting and he had an injury a few years ago and came back.
"He's a lot better than his ranking, that's for sure. I expected a tough match and didn't expect him to go away, and he didn't."
Murray was clutching his stomach and legs at various stages throughout the second and third sets, but stressed he had no injury concerns.
"It's incredibly humid here and I've had a lot of travelling too, and there were so many long points of very high intensity," he said.
"It's just taking a little while to adjust to playing matches again after such a long period.
"At the beginning of most years the first few matches can be tough on the body, but you get used to it and you feel better and better.
"That was the perfect first match for me in many ways, to go through some tough moments, a lot of long rallies and close games and important points, and to come through."
Murray now plays Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in the quarter-finals after Istomin downed veteran Australian Lleyton Hewitt 7-5, 7-5.
Britain's Heather Watson beaten by Holland's Kiki Bertens in second round of ASB Classic
Heather Watson was left to rue missed chances as she slipped to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 defeat against Holland's Kiki Bertens in the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland.
The British number one, who overcame fifth seed Sorana Cirstea in the first round, converted five of 12 break-point chances in the match against an opponent ranked 14 places beneath her at 63rd in the world.
Watson also struggled on second serve, winning just four points in the first and third sets combined in a match which lasted two hours and 14 minutes.
The Guernsey player will remain in Auckland as she and partner Marina Erakovic are into the quarter-finals of the doubles, before heading to Hobart for her final tournament ahead of the Australian Open.
The ASB Classic was reduced to only three seeded players after the second round Wednesday, in which second seed Julia Goerges was knocked out by Sweden's Johanna Larsson.
Although ranked 55 places ahead of Larsson, the world number 18 was outplayed 7-5, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3 in a two-hour, 32-minute slugfest.
Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova, the sixth seed, was shown the door by Russian Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-3, leaving Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, Belgian Yanina Wickmayer and Germany's Mona Barthel as the only seeds remaining.
After Larsson took the first set in a 50-minute battle, she dropped the second in a tie-break before breaking Goerges midway through the third set and holding on for victory.
Britain's Heather Watson pulls out of Hobart event to raise Australian Open doubts
British No 1 Heather Watson has withdrawn from next week's Moorilla Hobart International, raising doubts over her participation in the Australian Open.
The 20 year-old revealed she had suffered an elbow problem in yesterday's loss to Kiki Bertens in the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland.
She tweeted this morning: "I injured my elbow yesterday in my singles match, unfortunately I have to withdraw from Hobart. Doing everything I can to get healthy."
Watson, who played doubles in Auckland yesterday after her singles defeat, faces a race against time to be fit for the first grand slam of the year, which begins on January 14 at Melbourne Park.
Earlier this week, the Guernsey player was left to rue missed chances as she slipped to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 defeat against Holland's Kiki Bertens in the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland.
Watson also struggled on second serve, winning just four points in the first and third sets combined in a match which lasted two hours and 14 minutes.
Ferrari chief wants Sebastian Vettel race for the Italian team in the future
Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo wants to see three-times Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull race for the Italian team in the future.
“Vettel is a future potential Ferrari driver,” the 65 year-old Di Montezemolo told German magazine Auto Motor and Sport. “If Fernando Alonso was to retire tomorrow, for whatever reason, then I want Vettel.”
Having won his third straight world title last month, Vettel, 25, extended his contract last month and is tied to Red Bull until 2016.
Di Montezemolo admitted that he could not imagine both current Alonso, 31, and Vettel racing for the same team.
“Alonso and Vettel, that would be difficult,” he said. “When you have the best driver in the world, you must offer optimal conditions.”
The Ferrari boss praised Vettel in the highest terms and said Formula One legend Michael Schumacher was the first to alert him to Vettel’s obvious talent.
“He’s young, he has both feet on the floor, he is down to earth and he has an overwhelming will to win,” Di Montezemolo said. “Schumacher pointed him out to me four years ago, because he knows Vettel from his karting days. I must say Michael was right.”
Vettel beat Alonso to the world drivers’ championships this year by just three points, but Di Montezemolo insisted he is very happy with the Spaniard.
“He is more than just a driver. He is a key figure because he puts so much into the team’s work.”
Suzi Perry lands plum BBC role presenting Formula One coverage
The BBC has confirmed that Suzi Perry will replace Jake Humphrey as the main presenter for its Formula One coverage next season.
The appointment, which was predicted by Telegraph Sport two weeks ago, marks a return to the corporation for 42-year-old Perry, who presented the BBC’s coverage of MotoGP for 10 years. She was the favourite from a shortlist of three which included BBC pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie and radio presenter Mark Pougatch.
Chris Evans had been hotly tipped to take over, but dropped out of the running because Formula One’s 20-race calendar proved to be too much of a conflict with his other commitments. The BBC has only rights to half the races live, with the other half shown later in extended-highlights packages, and Evans was understood to be less keen to travel to races which the BBC did not have live.
Perry said she was excited by the challenge of being the new face of the sport on the BBC. “Motorsport is my life and I’ve really missed being around the grid,” she said. “I am so excited to be joining the BBC. Working alongside such an eminent team and the F1 world is a huge honour and I can’t wait to get started.”
The British, Belgian, Italian and Brazilian Grands Prix are among 10 races that will be shown live on terrestrial television. However, the Monaco Grand Prix and nine others will be shown live only to Sky subscribers, with the highlights on the BBC.
Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard will continue as BBC pundits.
2013 predictions - Telegraph writers on the events and stars set to light up the year
Our team of writers reveal what they are looking forward to over the next 12 months and who will be making a name for themselves in 2013
ATHLETICS
Simon Hart - day I'm most looking forward to: Aug 16. World Championships, day 6
The pinnacle of the summer is the World Championships in Moscow, where Olympic heroes Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford can revive memories of ‘Super Saturday’ when they go for gold in the 5,000 metres and long jump during the same evening session. Throw in a possible medal for the British men’s 4x400m relay team and it could be a ‘Fantastic Friday’ in the same stadium where Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe won Olympic golds in 1980.
Sebastian Vettel would be first choice to replace Fernando Alonso, says Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo
Triple Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel would be Ferrari's first choice should they ever need to replace Fernando Alonso, president Luca di Montezemolo has said.
The Red Bull driver has been repeatedly linked to Ferrari this season, with talk of a pre-contract for 2014, although the 25-year-old German and his team have tried to put the speculation to rest.
Speaking at Ferrari's Maranello factory, Montezemolo left no doubt about the Italian team's admiration for Vettel.
"If for whatever reason Fernando Alonso were to leave one day, maybe because he wants to retire in Hawaii with his girlfriend, then I want Vettel," the Gazzetta dello Sport quoted him as telling German media.
"Sebastian is a potential Ferrari driver for the future."
Whether Vettel and Alonso ever pair up at Ferrari remains to be seen, however, with Montezemolo previously saying he did not want to have "two roosters in the same hen house" but rather two drivers "who race for Ferrari and not for themselves."
Montezemolo said Alonso, Vettel and Lewis Hamilton were clearly a cut above the rest in Formula One and he preferred the Red Bull driver to the Briton "because he's younger and hasn't been around so many teams".
Vettel was also strongly recommended by seven times world champion Michael Schumacher, who won five titles in a row with Ferrari.
Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, will be racing for Mercedes next year after six years with McLaren. He will be 28 in January.
Double world champion Alonso, 31, has a contract with Ferrari until at least the end of 2016.
"I'm immensely pleased with Alonso. He's more than a driver, he's a key figure. He fits into the way the team work perfectly," said Montezemolo of the Spaniard who finished runner-up to Vettel this year.
Ecclestone admits bribe case could end F1 reign
Bernie Ecclestone has spoken for the first time about how his reign as Formula One’s chief executive could be threatened if he is charged in a bribery case in Germany surrounding the $1.6bn sale of the motor racing series to private equity firm CVC in 2006.
The case concerns a $44m bribe Mr Ecclestone allegedly paid to a German banker, Gerhard Gribkowsky, to wave through the sale to CVC.
Mr Ecclestone says CVC “will probably be forced to get rid of me if the Germans come after me. It’s pretty obvious, if I’m locked up”.
Since Mr Gribkowsky’s arrest in January 2011, speculation has mounted that Mr Ecclestone would face corruption charges.
However, although he is still being investigated by the Germans, he has not been charged.
He has admitted paying Mr Gribkowsky but denies it was a bribe.
Instead, Mr Ecclestone says the banker had threatened that if he were not paid, he would give HM Revenue & Customs alleged details of Mr Ecclestone’s tax affairs.
Mr Ecclestone’s comments follow a stinging attack last week by Ferrari chairman, Luca di Montezemolo, who said: “If Bernie is accused under process, I think he will be the first to give a step back in the interests of Formula One.”
He added: “The era of the one-man show cannot continue. We are slowly approaching the end of a period characterised by the style of one man who has done significant things.”
Earlier this year, it came to light that, as part of the plans for the stalled $10bn flotation of Formula One, CVC had engaged head-hunting agency Egon Zehnder to draft a short- list of potential replacements.
However, Mr Ecclestone, 82, insists this doesn’t indicate that CVC has any intention of getting rid of him.
“They said they had hired a head-hunter to find somebody in the event that I was not going to be there – if I was going to die or something. It is the normal thing they do to keep people happy,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.
Mr Ecclestone has run F1’s operating company, Formula One Management (FOM), for nearly 40 years.
“There is not a thing that goes on at FOM without his knowledge,” says long-time associate and three times F1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart.
“I can understand people saying [F1] is never going to manage without Bernie Ecclestone but the infrastructure is there. It’s all [at F1’s London HQ] in Belgravia and there’s a lot of people there with a lot of knowledge.”
Sir Jackie dismisses speculation from within F1 that Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner will take over from Mr Ecclestone, having steered his team to three championships since joining it in 2005.
“I doubt very much [Mr Ecclestone’s replacement] will be anybody in the F1 paddock and I don’t think it should be. I think they should go out and head-hunt the best of all,” says Sir Jackie, who tips Ian Todd, president of ISG, the stadium financing firm that helped to fund Wembley.
England and Sale flanker Hendre Fourie forced to retire following long-term shoulder injury
Sale and England flanker Hendre Fourie has been forced to retire after losing his battle to recover from a shoulder injury
The South Africa-born 33-year-old made eight senior appearances for England, with his last coming in the victory over Ireland in Dublin prior to the 2011 World Cup.
Fourie joined Sale from Leeds in 2011 but barely saw any action for the club due to injury, and he is to be replaced in the Sharks squad by former All Black Daniel Braid, who has signed up until the end of the season.
Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond said: "Unfortunately, Hendre has had to retire. We got the final confirmation last week after taking medical advice.
"As a club we have backed Hendre 100 per cent in his battle to get fit but unfortunately, his shoulder has not recovered. His body has been battered so much that the shoulder won't recover."
On the signing of Braid, Diamond said: "Dan joins us at a critical stage of our season. He is a hard working flanker who tackles well and reads the game well too.
"He arrived in the UK on New Year's Day and came to Carrington this morning to meet his new team-mates. He is an important signing for us and I am sure he will fit in perfectly."
Braid, 31, is relishing his opportunity with the bottom-placed side in the Aviva Premiership.
He said: "It's great to get the opportunity to come to Europe and play a different style of rugby and live a different lifestyle.
"I know [Sale centre] Sam Tuitupou quite well. We played school age rugby together back in New Zealand and with Auckland and the Blues, so he's given me a few tips.
"And I also spoke to Luke McAlister who used to play for Sale Sharks and he was really complimentary about the club.
"When I knew I was coming here I went online and had a look at the squad and some of the names here such as Sam and Danny Cipriani – and to see where Sale are in the table was a bit of a shock.
"But there are still quite a few games to go and with the win against Worcester, hopefully it's a case of onwards and upwards."
India v England: I can't speak highly enough of Kevin Pietersen and great to have him back, says Alastair Cook
Alastair Cook has been delighted by Kevin Pietersen's contribution since his return to the England fold and expects more of the same in this month's one-day series in India.
Pietersen had a turbulent summer that saw relations between himself and the England and Wales Cricket Board reach an all-time low and briefly found himself exiled from the international set-up.
But after a much-discussed period of "reintegration" the country's most bankable star made his comeback in the Test tour of India before Christmas, averaging 48.28 in the 2-1 series success and hitting a memorable 186 in Mumbai.
His short-term central contract, due to expire at the end of the month, is set to be extended soon and the England captain is among those championing Pietersen's cause.
England are without plenty of experience for the forthcoming five-match series, with Graeme Swann, James Anderson and Jonathan Trott all rested, meaning Pietersen's talent and knowledge of the sub-continent could prove crucial.
Pietersen has not played a one-day international since last February but Cook is delighted he has chosen to reverse his retirement from the format, a decision that came as part of reconciliation talks with the board.
"It is great to have KP back in the one-day side," said Cook.
"I can't speak highly enough of the way he went about things in India. As a captain it is great to have a player like him back fresh and desperate to score runs for England.
"That hundred in Mumbai was such an important innings that proved his worth. Hopefully his experience in these conditions, with the Indian Premier League as well, is something we can use over the next three weeks."
Pietersen's return to the 50-over game will be interrupted again when the side visit New Zealand in their next overseas assignment, with Cook confirming the decision is part of the same workload management programme that has seen Trott, Swann and Anderson left behind this month.
"We have to look after every player. KP is no different," said Cook.
"We have looked at things in the past and how we are going to improve them in the future. The rotation of certain players at certain times will benefit players' longevity.
"We are looking at players' workload. On this leg of the tour a few players are getting (a break) and it gives an opportunity for a few other players to come in and stake their claim. We are developing a squad of 15 or 16, which you need to do.
"What we have done very well is that players can get rest at the right time but you need to do that tour by tour."
Cook's vice-captain, Stuart Broad, has had a period of enforced rest after injuring his heel after two disappointing performances in the Test series.
England duly selected him for the last two matches of the ODI leg only and the 26-year-old is set to meet that target.
"He is progressing well but clearly he had a tough couple of months in India," said Cook.
"The reports are his fitness is improving and he is on course to be available for the fourth and fifth one-day internationals."
Ashley Giles begins life as England's limited-overs coach in earnest this week, taking up the baton on the back of a famous Test series win overseen by team director Andy Flower.
Given England's dreadful record in India - they have lost the last two ODI series 5-0 - it is no easy task.
Cook recognises the scale of the challenge ahead but is hoping to keep the feel-good factor going.
"They are an incredibly strong side at home in their conditions. English sides in the past have struggled there in one-day cricket," he added.
"That is similar to the challenge we faced in the Test matches. We hadn't had a great record there. This squad is keen to try and change that.
"One way to do that is to put in the same determination to improve our game in those conditions. We have to adapt quickly and hopefully we can do that.
"As a batting unit we can take confidence that we faced these guys and scored heavy runs against them. I know it is a different format but that is one thing I would like the players to take forward."
Poll: which three teams are set for the Premier League drop after QPR show fight at Chelsea?
QPR's unexpected victory over local rivals Chelsea at Stamford Bridge has given them renewed hope of pulling off what would be one of the greatest of great escapes in the fight against Premier League relegation. Can they survive? And which three teams will be playing Championship football next season?
Sunderland (14th): Inconsistency has dogged Sunderland this season. They beat the champions but have only mustered one more win against a side above them. Yet the Black Cats have taken 11 points of sides below them and with the likes of Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher in form they should comfortably beat the drop.
Current form: LLWWLW (8th in the form table)
Points against relegation rivals: 11
Relegation odds: 7/1 (bet365)
Run-in: Newcastle (h) Everton (a) Villa (h) Stoke (h) Southampton (h) Spurs (a)
Newcastle (15th): Whatever happens in May this season will have been a disappointment for Alan Pardew’s side after the heroics of a fith-placed finish last term. Even without Demba Ba Newcastle are not short of goals and Alan Pardew hopes the striker’s departure will leave the dressing room more settled. The Europa League could be another unwanted distraction but if Newcastle can sign Matieu Debuchy and Loic Remy they should steer clear of trouble.
Current form: LLLWLL (20th)
Points against relegation rivals: 9
Relegation odds: 7/1 (bet365)
Run-in: Sunderland (h), West Brom (a), Liverpool (h), West Ham (a), QPR (a) , Arsenal (h)
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Aston Villa (16th): After putting Liverpool to the sword at Anfield, Villa had a nightmare Christmas which has left them with the worst goal difference in the League (-24). Paul Lambert has £10m available and he will need to shore up his defence ahead of a run-in which includes Man Utd and Chelsea. Their trip to Wigan on the last day of the season could be a relegation decider.
Current form: DLLLWW (17th in form table)
Points against relegation rivals: 8
Relegation odds: 13/8 (bet365)
Run-in: Fulham (h), Man U (a), Sunderland (h), Norwich (a), Chelsea (h), Wigan (a)
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Southampton (17th): Nigel Adkins’ side have lost just twice since seeing off QPR in what was dubbed “El Sackico” and have taken 12 points from a possible 18 against their relegation rivals. Jack Butland and Davide Astori would strengthen Southampton’s resolve after squandering leads late against Man Utd, Man City and Stoke but they face away games against all bar one of the bottom seven and if they survive it will be by the skin of their teeth.
Current form: DDDLWL (15th)
Points against relegation rivals: 12
Odds: 11/10 (bet365)
Run-in: West Ham (h), Swansea (a), West Brom (h), Spurs (a), Sunderland (a), Stoke (h)
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Wigan (18th): Roberto Martinez increased his side’s chances of pulling off a fourth successive great escape by bringing in Man Utd striker Angelo Henriquez and moving for Atletico Madrid ‘keeper Joel. The most attractive side in the dogfight remain unbeaten against the bottom five and this should stand them in good stead when Villa visit the DW on the last day of the season.
Current form: LWLLLD (18th)
Points against relegation rivals: 10
Odds: 9/5 (bet365)
Run-in: Swansea (h) West Ham (a) Spurs (h) West Brom (a) Arsenal (a) Villa (h)
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Reading (19th)
The Premier League new boys’ gung-ho approach has made for some entertaining encounters but it is backs-to-the-wall defending seen in the recent triumph over Spurs which will give Reading any hope of survival. Although they are only five points away from safety they have picked up just two against their rivals – a return to the Championship is on the cards.
Current form: LWDLLL (19th)
Points against relegation rivals: 2
Odds: 1/7 (bet365)
Run-in: Liverpool (h) Norwich (a) QPR (h) Fulham (a) Man City (h) West Ham (a)
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QPR (20th): Wednesday’s historic victory against Chelsea may prove to be the turning point in a woeful season at Loftus Road. Harry Redknapp certainly has the experience to pull off another Houdini act and the signings of Anthony Reveillere and Tal Ben Haim will bolster Rangers’ ageing defence. If he can bring in a goalscorer to support Jamie Mackie then he might just achieve the impossible, but it’s still more likely to be a Southampton than a Portsmouth for Harry come May.
Current form: WLLLWD (11th)
Points against relegation rivals: 4
Odds: 4/7 (bet365)
Run-in: Everton (a) Stoke (h) Reading (a) Arsenal (h) Newcastle (h) Liverpool (a)
Leeds winger Ben Jones-Bishop out for six months to undergo treatment on blood clot affecting lungs
Leeds winger Ben Jones-Bishop has been ruled out of action for up to six months while he undergoes treatment on a blood clot affecting his lungs.
The Super League champions announced that doctors have advised Jones-Bishop to rest for three months, avoiding all contact training.
Jones-Bishop, 24, said on Leeds' website: "It is obviously disappointing to miss the start of the season but I am looking forward now and doing everything I can to get back as soon as I can once I am given the all-clear.
"I am only able to do very light training at the minute and I will have another scan in a couple of weeks to see if I can increase that but I know I have to avoid contact for three months at least.
"It is a relief to get it diagnosed and get treatment and to know that it is not a life-threatening condition. Generally I am in good health but as a sportsman you need to resolve these issues as soon as possible to make sure that you can perform to your maximum."
Leeds medical chief Dr Jon Greenwell expects Jones-Bishop to make a full recovery from the problem.
Dr Greenwell said: "The condition was picked up by the medical and strength and conditioning staff during pre-season training and Ben was sent to see a specialist prior to Christmas.
"He has had a pulmonary embolism which has led to him needing treatment for three months and a consequence of that treatment is that he cannot play rugby until after the treatment is completed and he has been given the all-clear by his specialist.
"Ben is still in light training but under advice from the specialist he is unable to play for three months. We are confident the treatment will resolve the problem."
A pulmonary embolism is a blood clot in the artery that takes blood from the heart to the lungs and Leeds coach Brian McDermott is resigned to being without the England Knights player for as long as proves necessary.
McDermott said: "It is a real shame for Ben that he will miss the start of the season. He finished the season in great form and was a big player for us in our big games last season.
"We have no major long-term concerns that this will impact on Ben's career and he will receive the best possible care over the next three months to make sure that the issue is resolved and he can resume playing."
Jones-Bishop scored 23 tries for the Rhinos last season and was included in England's elite training squad, indicating he could have a part to play in the World Cup campaign this coming autumn.
‘Go big or go home’ – how to make it in business
Alastair Mitchell, CEO and co-founder of Huddle, a collaboration platform in the Cloud, offers his top 10 tips for would-be entrepreneurs.
Life as an entrepreneur is like being on a roller coaster that just won’t stop. There are breathless, stomach-churning twists and turns, and you can go from feeling like Richard Branson to Del Boy in the same day. Much of the time it can be hard to feel like you are in control, certainly when your business starts to get noticed and momentum gathers.
Since I founded Huddle, the leader in enterprise cloud collaboration and content management, back in 2006 with Andy McLoughlin, I’ve felt like that on numerous occasions. In just over four years, Huddle has grown from a bedroom start-up with a team of just two – and, yes, that was Andy and me – to a 100-strong business with offices in London and San Francisco that competes (and wins) head-to-head with Microsoft.
Getting to this point has been exciting, exhilarating and exhausting at times, but all the more rewarding for it. Setting up your own company comes with its fair share of trials and tribulations and can be massively daunting here in the United Kingdom. The UK is an incredible country in many ways, but I’m not always convinced that it is as supportive of entrepreneurs as it could be, particularly when compared to the US. That’s not a criticism of government, but more a general observation about the culture surrounding start-ups and entrepreneurs.
In the US, and in San Francisco especially, people are encouraged to become entrepreneurs; there is a support network for people to tap into, ask questions of and get advice from. Even the biggest and most successful entrepreneurs take the time out to pass on their experiences and act as a mentors.
So, in the spirit of sharing the entrepreneurial wisdom, here are the 10 most useful tips I’d like to impart to all the aspiring young entrepreneurs out there.
1. Spend as much time as possible researching your idea
You need to look at what is out there already, what might be in the pipeline and see if there really is a market for your idea. Your friends and family might not necessarily be the best people to bounce an idea off either – unless you come from a family of entrepreneurs, of course. Try and find a mentor in a non-competing business that can give you a steer in the right direction and some objective advice.
2. Concentrate on building the best product that you can – be uncompromising in your vision
There are too many bad products in the world, so do your utmost to make sure yours isn’t one of them. Take feedback on board from as many trusted advisers as you wish, but don’t dilute your vision too much. Andy and I set out with the clear goal of helping people work better together, and that remains the foundation of what we do to this day.
3. Get customers involved early
They can provide good feedback, the comfort factor for prospects and proof that there is something tangible to your business for potential investors. Whether it’s an in-depth case study, press release to send to the media or just a quick one-line testimonial for the website, having a customer willing to say “we use this and we love it” is as powerful a marketing message as one could wish for.
4. Be ruthless from the off
It’s not a problem to give away a chunk of your business as you get started – but be mindful of how much it is worth and be ruthless from the very first day. Even at the beginning, you need to be firm and strong when negotiating and doing deals. If you let people walk all over you, you’ll set a precedent from that point onwards for people to take advantage of you and get the upper hand in any negotiations.
5. Go big or go home
I’m a massive believer in reaching for the skies, both in life and in business – who on Earth wants to set up the sixth most successful company? So you need to be convinced that your business is going to be successful, otherwise convincing other people of that fact will be an uphill struggle.
6. First impressions can only be made once
You can’t underestimate the importance of a successful launch. If people perceive you to be a successful, on-the-up and a business with a buzz about it, then more often than not that will become a reality. Use PR, social media, analyst relations (for techie businesses), DM, email and Google AdWords; copy elements of other successful launches you may have seen; and do not be afraid of spending money to get the desired results – it will be money very well spent.
7. Take advantage of all your connections and network, network, network
Your network of contacts is extremely important and will prove invaluable when you’re looking to expand your team and gain feedback on your product or service. Take advantage of every single connection, as help can come from the most unlikely places. My first boss was Huddle’s original angel investor, and this initial funding helped us get started. Online networking has never been easier, with Twitter, LinkedIn and others, but that should be in addition to, not instead of, face-to-face networking. There is no substitute for meeting people in the flesh.
8. Surround yourself with the very best people
I know about marketing, have some experience in marketing and have very strong ideas about marketing my business. But I am not a marketer. I soon realised that as Huddle grew I needed to get the very best people in their respective disciplines to help maintain that growth. So whether it is PR, marketing, HR, accounting or other, don’t try and wing it yourself and only hire the best.
9. Raising money is a job in itself
When you are out and about, pressing investor flesh and running through your “show me the money” presentation for the umpteenth time, who is running your business? Raising cash from investors can be a full-time job, and you can’t afford to take your eye off the ball when it comes to the day job. So don’t – use external resources where you need to.
10. Keep the faith
It’s an oft-quoted fact that most companies that go out of business do so in the first year of trading. Once you’ve survived that, you’ll be in a position to build and grow. But don’t worry if things are taking twice as long as they should be and you think cash is running out. It probably is. But that’s normal - ride it through, don’t get distracted from your vision and everything will turn out ok. And even if it doesn’t you’ll be in for a hell of a ride.
Aldermore: a fresh, dynamic approach to banking
Aldermore is a British bank which offers its customers a different way to manage their money, says Marianne Curphey.
Small and medium-sized businesses in the UK have sometimes been poorly served by traditional banks.
Business customers report their frustration with the time it takes to receive an answer regarding a mortgage application or commercial finance, and with uncompetitive rates offered on business savings accounts.
These are some of the reasons why a new breed of bank has been attracting business customers away from its traditional high street rivals with its dynamic approach to business banking.
Aldermore – one of the first new entrants into the sector since the credit crunch – has identified a gap in the UK market: the need for a bank that gives SMEs competitive interest rates on their savings accounts and which provides prompt, personal service when arranging loans or financing.
Its research found that almost half (46pc) of banking customers in the UK were dissatisfied with the interest rate they were receiving on their business savings, and 89pc did not feel that the rate they were receiving on such accounts was competitive.
Aldemore’s banking model is simple and transparent: it raises deposits via retail savings products and lends to consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises.
“We have a very simple and reliable offering. Our objective is to provide financial support to home-owners and SMEs,” says Phillip Monks, the bank’s chief executive.
The problems SMEs face in sourcing funding and arranging finance have been well documented.
The solutions offered by Aldermore differ from many of the high street banks, as it is able to provide more flexible finance for customers based on their individual circumstances.
“There is a real hunger among SMEs for finance. Nearly all of the foreign banks have reduced their lending in the UK and European banks have bigger issues at present,” Mr Monks explains.
Another gap in the market that Aldermore identified was the lack of good quality, competitive savings products.
Mr Monks continues: “SMEs have in the past been woefully served in terms of deposit accounts. We are championing the cause of SMEs, and what makes us different is that we offer straightforward products and a reliable, dynamic service.”
The bank is now launching business deposit accounts specifically aimed at SMEs. A key aspect of the products is their transparency – the rate is not artificially inflated by bonuses or introductory offers. It is offering a one-year fixed-rate account (paying an interest rate of 3.25pc AER*) and a six-month fixed-rate business account (paying a rate of 2.35pc AER*) for balances between £1,000 and £1 million.
Another innovation is speed – unlike many other savings products, which involve a long application process, these accounts can be opened online in fewer than 15 minutes.
Aldermore was launched in May 2009, backed by AnaCap, a private equity company, and Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners.
Unlike most of its competitors, Aldermore has no bad debt or legacies from the sub-prime banking crisis.
“Our deposit account customers are very comfortable that their money is kept in the UK and not shipped off abroad and that it is providing support and finance for UK businesses,” says Mr Monks.
“We don’t believe in large branch networks – instead, our regional sales managers build up a relationship with SME owners by going on site to visit them. Aldermore has 10 offices in all the major cities and conurbations and so is well placed to work closely with SMEs across the UK.
“We don’t have any legacy issues. They can be an expensive distraction for a bank trying to sort them out, but we started with a clean sheet.”
Mr Monks says Aldermore genuinely understands the challenges that new businesses face. “We know how important SMEs are to the UK economy, and how tough it has been to grow and manage a business over the past five years.
“And our staff are experts in dealing with a host of businesses and appreciate the challenges companies face, too, including how to manage cash flow and find reliable and accessible funding solutions.
“We serve 10,000 SME customers, 4,500 mortgage customers and 70,000 depositors,” he continues.
“We have built Aldermore from 30 staff and £50 million of assets to 500 staff and £2 billion of assets.
“We have been a small business, too, so we understand what is involved in running your own company and how you have to work long hours, roll your sleeves up and pitch in.”
More information
- Further information about the full range of products and services available at: www.aldermore.co.uk/about/
- You can set up and manage your business savings account online. Aldermore also supplies an expert to talk to when you need one. If you need more information about any aspect of your account, its UK-based customer service team can help.
Call 01733 821 321
Opening hours are 8am – 8pm Monday to Friday
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Email: businesssavings@aldermore.co.uk
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Jean Michel Jarre in talks over London move
French electronic composer Jean Michel Jarre considers 'defection' to United Kingdom.
French electronic composer Jean Michel Jarre has held talks with Downing Street officials in recent months, the prime minister's office confirmed, about setting up business operations in London.
The talks come after France's highest court struck down a proposed 75 percent tax rate on individual income above a million euros ($1.3 million) a year, a plan which saw the republic's biggest film star Gerard Depardieu relocate to Belgium.
"Jean Michel Jarre visited Downing Street to meet with officials about 'Tech City', London's media and technology hub," a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron's office told AFP.
"There are a growing number of businesses and entrepreneurs from across the world who want to be part of the technology cluster in east London and we are keen for that to continue."
The 64-year-old pioneer - known for his spectacular concerts and whose hit albums include "Oxygene" (1976) and "Equinoxe" (1978) - has a company Jarre Technologies, which makes products lke the AeroPad One, a dock speaker for iPods, iPads and iPhones.\
Tech City is a project to transform the Old Street roundabout in east London and its environs into a European centre of media and technology innovation for blue-chip firms, investors and start-up companies.
Cameron announced a £50 million ($80 million, 60 million euro) injection into the project last month.
"The UK is in a global race and I am determined that we as a government continue doing everything we can to equip the UK to compete and thrive in that race," he said.
Cameron's coalition government has set up policies it says are aimed at making Britain the "first choice" for entrepreneurs and investors.
They include the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, introduced in April 2012, which provides 50 percent tax relief for the first £100,000 seed investment.
The 75 percent tax rate in France was a flagship promise of the election campaign that saw Francois Hollande defeat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in the May 2012 presidential election.
Due to take effect next year, it had angered business leaders and prompted some wealthy French citizens to seek tax exile abroad, including Depardieu, who made his decision known in a vitriolic editorial published earlier this month.
The 7 Things Pet Owners Do That Drive Veterinarians Crazy
No drugs please and 'keep it down' - David Bowie letter reveals do's and don'ts of putting on a gig
In a previously unseen letter from David Bowie written in 1969, the rock star reveals his own guide to hosting a concert.
As a flamboyant, gender-bending rock star with an extraterrestrial alter-ego, he gave little impression of being overly worried by practical matters.
But David Bowie had his feet on the ground in some respects and knew when to “keep it down,” it seems.
In a letter seen by the Daily Telegraph but never before made public, he issues some surprisingly sensible advice to a teenage concert organizer on the eve of his first chart hit, Space Oddity.
Writing to the 17-year-old schoolgirl, who had persuaded him to perform at her local arts club, Bowie sets out the “obvious and not so ob. points on putting a Thing on” ahead of the 1969 gig.
“Ask landlord about the volume,” he cautions her before the event at Croydon’s Gun Tavern in south London, where a group of countercultural youths had set up an “Arts Lab.”
“If he’s a bit agitated, warn groups to keep it down, BEFORE they get there.”
If the advice does not sound very rock ‘n’ roll, this does not appear to bother him.
Drugs should not be allowed inside the concert venue, he insists, instructing the organizer: “REMEMBER, keep the place COOL.”
Timing, meanwhile, is everything.
“Make sure what times you have e.g. 7.30 to 10.30 or is it 8 till 11 or what?” he asks.
In a section of the type-written letter headed “proceedure” (sic), he then explains what every seasoned nightclub manager knows well.
“A girl on the door taking money is a lot more attractive than a muscle man. Have the muscle man standing or sitting nearby,” he writes.
“Have a couple of guys handy to investigate complaints, pushers, etc.”
The advice comes from one Arts Lab member to another, as Bowie himself was the point of contact for the Beckenham branch of the alternative arts movement that sprung up in the late 1960s.
Anxious to publicize the movement and its ethos, he suggests sending a letter to all the local papers “pointing out its social implications, somewhere for the minority people (Hippies) to go, why you’re doing it.”
He also offers a few handy publicity tips of his own.
“Leaflets work incredibly well,” he says. “Teams of 2 people at opposite areas of towns working in to each other, 800 leaflets. 2-300 for each town.
“Word of mouth is also good and cheap. Make leaflets brief, and exciting.”
He signs off: “Good Luck and Peace to you all, David Bowie.”
Now aged 65, Bowie became one of the biggest British rock stars of all time, introducing the world to Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and breaking new ground with his androgynous look.
The recipient of the letter, who did not wish to be named, is now 60 and working as an academic in York.
She said: “I came across the letter when I was sorting through some old files recently and had forgotten how sweet and earnest it was.
“He wrote to me after I’d alarmed him during a phone conversation before the gig by letting slip that I didn’t even know what a PA system was. He must have realized I didn’t know what I was doing and been worried the night would be a complete shambles if he didn’t give me a few pointers.”
She said she planned to keep the letter as a “souvenir”.
Rory Bremner attacks BBC's Mock the Week
Rory Bremner, the comedian, has attacked BBC news quiz Mock the Week for being too aggressive and treating some guests with disrespect.
Mr Bremner, who was a panelist on the comedy show for two series following its launch in 2005, said that he felt “uncomfortable” doing the programme, which he claimed was filmed in a highly charged and competitive environment.
He said he has since found out that other comedians felt the same way about the controversial show.
The BBC2 programme is a hybrid of an improvisation show, such as Whose Line is it Anyway?, and a topical news quiz, along the lines of Have I Got News For You. In it, panelists discuss and satirise the news issues of the day, often in an abrasive manner.
In 2009 the BBC Trust said that comments made on the show by comedian Frankie Boyle about swimmer Rebecca Adlington’s appearance were “offensive” following complaints by viewers.
Mr Bremner said that after doing two early series of Mock the Week he decided he no longer wanted to appear on it.
“I felt that there was a new and highly competitive and quite aggressive tendency there and felt uncomfortable. But I’ve since found out that very few people have felt comfortable doing Mock the Week,” he told a newspaper.
The impressionist said that the new breed of stand-up comedians who appear on panel shows such as Mock the Week “are like prize fighters”.
Mr Bremner, who won numerous awards for his satirical TV shows Rory Bremner, Who Else? and Bremner, Bird and Fortune, claimed that fellow comedian Linda Smith, who died in 2006, was not treated with enough respect when she appeared as a guest on the show in its early days.
He said: “I did it with [the late] Linda Smith once and she was extraordinary. She was such a brilliant comedian and, in a strange sort of way, the show didn’t particularly respect her reputation or her intelligence.”
Mock the Week has attracted criticism in the past due to its content. After Mr Boyle made his comments about Ms Adlington in 2008, the BBC Trust was forced to apologise for the “humiliating” remarks. In a separate incident, the trust also ruled that a joke about the Queen’s age by Mr Boyle was “in poor taste”, although it concluded that the gag did not go “beyond audience expectations for the programme”.
Mr Boyle left the show in 2009, saying he felt he was “going through the motions”.
Other comedians have also attacked Mock the Week, which is hosted by Irish comedian Dara O Briain.
In 2009 Jo Brand said that she had stopped appearing on the programme due to the lack of women on its panels and the difficulty in getting her voice heard among the other comedians. She said that some male comedians also found the environment ultra-competitive.
“I don’t do Mock the Week any more and neither do some male stand-ups I know who have tried it once. We just don’t like the prospect of having to bite someone’s foot off before they let us say something,” said Ms Brand at the time.
Many TV comedy shows have become increasingly controversial as channels battle for ratings in the face of growing competition.
Ofcom, the regulator, said that it has received complaints about Channel 4’s The Big Fat Quiz of 2012, which aired on Sunday night. The primetime quiz featured guests such as Jimmy Carr and James Cordon, who were accused of making vulgar jokes about the Queen and President Obama.
A BBC spokesman was not available to comment on Mr Bremner’s criticism of Mock the Week.
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