Деловой английский- расширяем активный словарный запас entries from Collins Cobuild intermediate grammar

        business
        used as an uncount noun
            Business is work relating to the production, buying, and selling of goods
or services.
                There are good profits to be made in the hotel business.
                Are you in San Francisco for business or pleasure?

            There are a number of other nouns which refer to activities which people
are paid to do. For more information on these words, see entry at work.

        WARNING
            You do not refer to a discussion connected with business as `a business'.
You do not say, for example, `We've got a business to see to'. You say `We've
got some business to see to'. 
                I was sent up here to do some business with someone.
                We've still got some business to do. Do you mind just sitting? 

        used as a count noun
            A business is a company, shop, or organization which produces and sells
goods or provides a service.
                He set up a small travel business.

        work
            Work is used as a verb or a noun.

        used as a verb
            People who work have a job which they are paid to do. 
                I'm not working any more.
                I used to work in a hotel.

            You can use `as' with work to say what a person's job is.
                Pam works as a careers officer.

        used as an uncount noun
            If you have work, you have a job which you are paid to do. 
                ...people who can't find work.
                ...different types of work.

            When someone has a job, you can say that they are in work. 
                ...ways of allowing people to remain in work.

            When someone does not have a job, you can say that they are out of work.
                There are one and a half million people out of work in this country.

            Work is also used to talk about the place where someone works. When work
has this meaning, you do not use a determiner in front of it.
                He too drives to work by car.
                I can't leave work till five.

        `works'
            A place where things are made is sometimes called a works. For more information,
see entry at factory.

        nouns with a similar meaning
            The following nouns all refer generally to activities which people are paid
to do:
                business, employment, job, occupation, position, post, profession, trade


        `employment'
            Employment is a formal word with a similar meaning to `work'. Like `work',
it is an uncount noun.
                Of those who had paid jobs, perhaps only half were in full-time employment.
                There is no hope of regular employment as an agricultural labourer.

            Employment is also used to talk about the number of people in a country
or area who have jobs.
                ...the government's commitment to full employment.
                Only 18 per cent thought employment would rise over the next year.

        `job'
            A person's job is a particular set of duties which they are paid to do.
Job is a count noun.
                Her mother had a cleaning job.
                When you are settled in your new job, invite some of your old friends out to
lunch.

            For another meaning of job, see below.

        `position' and `post'
            In formal English, position and post are used instead of `job'. When a job
is advertised, it is often described as a position or post. A person applying
for a job usually uses one of these words. 
                He had left Birmingham suddenly to fly back to London, having resigned his
position.
                Today the Foreign Ministry announced that the Ambassador to Cuba is retiring
from his post.

        `occupation'
            Your occupation is your job. Occupation is often used on official forms.
                The Judge asked his occupation. `Security consultant,' he replied.
                ...men preparing to switch to a new occupation.

            Note that if you are asked to write your occupation on a form, you can put
`student', `housewife', `unemployed', or `retired' if you do not have a paid
job.

        `profession' and `trade'
            Profession and trade are both used to refer to types of job which require
special training.

            A profession is a type of job which requires formal training and which has
fairly high status, for example the job of a doctor, teacher, or lawyer.
                Both her parents had been school teachers and after college she entered the
same profession.

            You can also use profession to refer to all the people in a particular profession.
For example, you can talk about `the teaching profession' or `the medical profession'.
                There would be an outcry from the legal profession if these proposals were
seriously put forward.

            A trade is a type of skilled job, usually one which involves making or repairing
something.
                I learned a trade, began to work, worked hard and earned money.
                He was the son of a newspaperman and he never thought there was any other trade
to follow.

            You also use trade to refer to work that involves buying and selling things,
or catering for tourists.
                ...the effect such an arrangement would have on Britain's hugely successful
art trade.
                The absence of a tourist trade will bring more economic hardships.

        `business'
            Business is used to refer to work that involves making, buying, or selling
things.
                You were in the film business?
                You'd better go into the oil business or become a banker.

        another meaning of `job'
            Job has another meaning. You can use it to refer to one particular thing
that needs to be done.
                It will be a long job, I'm afraid.
                It's always better to concentrate on the job in hand.

        `piece of work' and `task'
            You can also call this a piece of work. If it is difficult or unpleasant,
you can call it a task. Task is a fairly formal word.
                ...a means of doing an essential piece of work.
                The first task is to raise educational levels.

        company
            A company is a business organization that makes money by selling goods or
services.
                He is a geologist employed by an oil company.

            You can use either a singular or plural form of a verb after company.
                The company has taken on 1600 more highly-paid staff.
                The insurance company have approved the burglarproofing.



        price - cost
            The price or cost of something is the amount of money you must pay to buy
it. 
                ...an increase in the cost of fertilizer.

            Note that you do not use any preposition except `of' after price or cost
in sentences like these.

            You can also use cost to refer to the amount of money needed to do or make
something. 
                The building was recently restored at a cost of *500,000.
                They are now manufactured by the billion at a cost of a few pence each.

            You do not use price in this way.

        `costs'
            You use the plural noun costs when you are referring to the total amount
of money needed to run something such as a business.
                She decided she needed to cut her costs by half.
                Moulton's have had to raise their prices still higher to cover increased costs.

        `cost' used as a verb
            You use cost as a verb to talk about the amount of money that you must pay
for something.
                The dress costs $200.
                These four books cost *2.95 each.

            You can use cost with two objects to say how much money someone actually
pays for something on a particular occasion. Note that the past tense and past
participle of `cost' is cost, not `costed'.
                A two-day stay there cost me $125.

            Note that you do not use `to' after cost in a sentence like this.


        Telephoning
            In the examples in this entry, A is the person answering the phone, and
B is the person who is making the phone call.

        answering the phone
            There are several ways of answering the telephone when someone phones you.
You can just say `Hello', or you can give your telephone number.
                A: Hello.
                B: Hello. It's me.
                
                A: 76459.
                B: Hello. Is that Carol?

            Note that you say each digit of the telephone number. For example, you would
say 435 1916 as `four three five one nine one six'. British speakers usually
say 0 as `oh'. American speakers usually say `zero'. When a number is repeated,
British speakers use the word `double'. For example, they say 4335 as `four double
three five'.

            If you are at work, you can give the name of your organization or department,
or your own name. You can say `Good morning' or `Good afternoon' instead of `Hello'.
                A: Parkfield Medical Centre.
                B: Hello. I'd like to make an appointment to see one of the doctors this morning
please.
                
                A: Hello. Tony Parsons speaking.
                B: Oh, hello. It's Tom Roberts here.
                
                A: Good morning.
                B: Good morning. Who am I speaking to?
                A: Er, my name is Alan Fentiman.

            Some people say `Yes?' when answering a phone call, especially one within
an organization, but this can sound abrupt and rude.

            If you recognize the person's voice when they say `Hello', you can say `Hello'
followed by their name.
                A: Hello.
                B: Hello, Jim.
                A: Hello, Alex, how are you?

            If you don't recognize the caller's voice, you can ask who it is. If you
are at home, you say `Sorry, who is it?' or `Who is this?' Some people say `Who's
that?', but this can sound rude.
                A: Hello.
                B: Hello.
                A: Sorry, who is it?
                B: It's me, Terry.

            If you think you know who the caller is, you say, for example, `Is that
James?' or `That's James, isn't it?'
                A: Hello.
                B: Hello. Can I speak to John?
                A: I'm afraid he's just gone out. Is that Sarah?>
                B: Yes.

            If you are at work, and the caller wants to speak to someone else, you say
`Who's calling?' or `Who's speaking?'
                B: Hello, could I speak to Mrs George, please?
                A: Who's calling?
                B: The name is Pearce.
                A: Hold on a minute, please.

            If the caller has got through to the wrong number, you say something like
`I think you've got the wrong number' or `Sorry, wrong number'.
                A: Hello.
                B: Mrs Clough?
                A: No, you've got the wrong number.
                B: I'm sorry.

        telephoning someone
            When you are phoning a friend or relative, you can just say `Hello' when
they answer the phone, if you think they will recognize your voice. You can add
their name.
                A: Hello.
                B: Hello! I just thought I'd better ring to let you know what time I'll be
arriving.
                
                A: Hello.
                B: Hello, Alan.
                A: Hello, Mark, how are you?
                B: Well, not so good.

            Note that after saying `Hello' friends and relatives normally ask each other
how they are.

            If you need to make it clear who you are when you phone someone, you say
`It's' or `This is' and your name.
                A: Hello.
                B: Hello. It's Jenny.
                
                A: Hello.
                B: Hello, Alan. This is Eila.

            You can also say `It's ... here'.
                A: Hello.
                B: It's Maggie Turner here.

            Sometimes you do not need to give your name, for example when you are asking
for general information.
                A: Citizen's Advice Bureau.
                B: Hello. I'd like some advice about a dispute with my neighbours.

            If you are not sure who has answered the phone, you say `Who am I speaking
to?' or, informally, `Who's that?'
                A: Hello.
                B: Hello. Who am I speaking to, please?
                
                A: Yes?
                B: I want to speak to Mr Taylor.
                A: I'm afraid Mr Taylor's not in the office right now.
                B: Who's that?

            You can check that you have the right person, organization, or number by
saying `Is that...?, or by just saying the name or number like a question.
                A: Hello.
                B: Is that Mrs Thompson?
                A: Er, yes it is.
                B: This is Kaj Mintti from Finland.
                
                A: Hello.
                B: Hello? 435 1916?
                A: Yes?

            Note that American speakers usually say `Is this...?' instead of `Is that...?'
                A: Hello.
                B: Hello. Is this the Casa Bianca restaurant? I want to speak with Anna. Anna
di Pietro.

        asking to speak to someone
            If the person who answers the phone is not the person you want to speak
to, you say, for example, `Can I speak to Paul, please?' or `Is Paul there?'
                A: Hello.
                B: Can I speak to Sue, please?
                A: Hang on -- I'm sorry, but she's not in at the moment.
                B: Can I leave a message?
                A: Yes.
                B: Would you tell her that Adrian phoned?

            If you are making a business call, you say, for example, `Could I speak
to Mr Green, please?' or just say the name of the person or department you want,
followed by `please'.
                A: William Foux and Company.
                B: Er, good afternoon. Could I speak to Mr Duff, please?
                A: Oh, I'm sorry, he's on another line at the moment. Will you hang on?
                B: No, it's all right. I'll ring later.
                
                A: British Steel Corporation.
                B: Data room, please.
                A: I'll put you through.

            If the person you are speaking to is in fact the person you want, they sometimes
say `Speaking'.
                A: Personnel.
                B: Could I speak to Mr Wilson, please.
                A: Speaking.
                B: Oh, right. I wanted to ask you a question about sick pay.

        ending a phone call
            When you end a phone call, you say `Goodbye' or, informally, `Bye'.
                A: I'm afraid I can't talk to you now.
                B: OK, I'll phone back after lunch.
                A: OK. Goodbye.
                B: Goodbye.
                
                A: I'll just check. Yes, it's here.
                B: Oh, OK. Thanks. Bye.

            People sometimes also say `Speak to you soon' or `Thanks for ringing'.

BR written              All right I'm a coward, but that car business ...
BR written              ` `None of your nosey business."
BR written              Well, it happens in business empires.
BR written              Escape's like murder, a private business.
BR written              `It's no business of ours, Ian.
BR written              This clan-loyalty business could surely be safely forgotten, except
among the elderly gossipmongers of Dubneath.
BR written              How they hear about it's their own business.
BR written              `He's the best barker in the business.
BR written              Just before a sale, like that Norfolk business in the mid-'seventies
...
BR written              I wanted to drop in on Karpova upon learning this, but she wasn't
there: either she was sick, on holiday, or away on business.
BR written              The business of distributing the work, counting up the pages and
lines and trimming the sheets provided Sofia Petrovna with far more pleasure
than working at a typewriter herself.
BR written              Still, a typing business was presumably even better and in a way
more important.
BR written              Finally Sofia Petrovna took the whole business into her own hands
-- at which point she discovered that the radio really was a very pleasant invention.
BR written              Other business.
BR written              But in his day he introduced into the business a whole string of
his own admirers, his own suite, if I may use the word, which formed a closely
knit group and did everything possible to help him in his dirty Trotskyist machinations.
BR written              He had no business being so quick-tempered.
BR written              Well, it's your business, I suppose.
BR written              Not that he was any danger, but when God made you a gift of a bit
of unfinished business, you didn't throw it back in his face!   But first things
first.
BR written              I don't know the truth of that Health Centre business, Dog, but
let's accept that Johnny Jacobs likes having his bishop bashed by a pretty girl
now and then.
BR written              He spent a lot of time over this side of the water on his Noraid
business, so he'd have plenty of opportunity to set up a bolt hole.
BR written              `Now perhaps you'll explain how a man in my line of business comes
to be smuggling a man in yours out of a police station.' `I'm on the run," said
Dog bluntly.
BR written              `She told me it was her business.
BR written              Now he was a full colonel, though he didn't look in the least military
in his grey business suit.
BR written              No, this is personal business, so you'll need to dredge up something
better than money to talk your way out of it.' `No one's talking their way out,"
said Bridie Heighway.
BR written              He wore a crumpled blue business suit and a homburg, and on his
thin, unremarkable face was the melancholy expression of an insurance salesman
about to remind you of your family responsibilities.
BR written              By the time he realized how wrong he'd been, he'd got married and
established the family business, a cafe and fish and chip shop in Romchurch.
BR written              `He's from the Priory College, if it's any business of yours.
BR written              Then, surprised at detecting none, she folded her arms and said,
`All right, Mr Cicero, what's your business with me?' He brought himself back
to the present and said, `It's about your daughter.'   `Has there been an accident?"
she asked in alarm.
BR written              She hesitated then said, `What goes on between my daughter and
myself is our business.
BR written              Thought you were just enquiring about the Jacobs business till
she heard the news.
BR written              That's my business, Inspector.
BR written              He wound up his business and `very naturally he started speaking
and teaching spiritual ideas which were not his, which he had not read anywhere.
BR written              Her father tried a number of business ventures.
BR written              She helped set David up in a taxi business.
BR written              Most, at least, `respect our beliefs and know that we mean business".
    So what does `Salvation" mean?
BR written              Nevertheless, `We are a business.
BR written              With a small - and diminishing - group of people, she ran a tofu
factory and a wholefood distribution business.
BR written              Some members' trust is wavering under the onslaught of `slick kind
of business terms", Dianne says.
BR written              But for her there is a challenge: how to ground commerce in the
spiritual.     `What does it mean to love at a business meeting, to interact
in a respectful way?
BR written              They lived in a small town twenty-five miles from Bangalore, where
his father had gone to get a job and, in his spare time, run a business.
BR written              The energy crisis and global warming made a fashion out of Green
living and `we realized we'd got to move in quick to keep in front, if you like,
still have things to say. " In 1989, after agonized deliberation, the Quarry's
permanent staff acknowledged that day visitors had become their `core business".
BR written              The success of the Visitors' Centre, run as a business by the plc,
helps fund research; its `respectability" has led to more and more consultancy
work.
BR written              She'd quickly taken to Chicago, and when a rundown brasserie had
come on the market in the fashionable River North gallery area, they'd decided
to go into business together.
BR written              Her hand froze over the switch and she slowly looked round at the
two telephones on her desk: one was her business line, the other her private
line.
BR written              Most of his business came from the civil wars in Africa.
BR written              He taught her maths, and by the age of sixteen she was already
in charge of all the business accounts.' `He sounds like a remarkable man," Andrews
said.
BR written              `The CIA faked his death, then sent him to Central America with
a new identity and enough money for him to open a business for himself in Guatemala
City.
BR written              A last throw of the dice so that I can pay off my debts and get
the hell out of this damn business once and for all.
BR written              I put all my clients - and potential clients - up there when they're
in town on business.' `What is it you do?"
BR written              It also wouldn't be very good for business, would it?
BR written              `It's the only way to survive in this business, Coughlin.' `Come
inside and close the door," Dennison instructed Coughlin, gesturing him impatiently
into the room. 'What do you want?"
BR written              `That's all you need to know about him.' `Well, now that the pleasantries
are over, perhaps we can get down to business," Marlette said.
BR written              Whenever she's asked after her father, Gustavo told her that he'll
be coming for her as soon as he's completed his business in the city.
BR written              I've been in this business long enough to recognize that difference.
BR written              This would be the death blow for many of his rivals, who were already
struggling for business; he'd make sure his own troubleshooters were circling
around like ravenous vultures, waiting to buy them out for a fraction of their
real worth.
BR written              This is business, Nicole, and you know damn well that I never renege
on a contract.' Ruiz heard the raised voices and approached the two of them cautiously.
BR written              When I first took on the contract I did see it merely as a means
of paying off my debts and getting out of this business once and for all.
BR written              You learn to do that in this business, otherwise you'll get sucked
into their world.
BR written              Do you know how much business I've lost in these last couple of
days with so many of my men out of circulation?' 'Just think of all the government
contracts you'll get once Vaquero's in power," Amaya reminded him.
BR written              You've got something of a reputation as one of the best marksmen
in the business.
BR written              Weapons are still big business, Marlette.
BR written              Very big business."
BR written              We're going to need to use some of Pruitt's money to pay for this
little business venture.
BR written              As players get older the amount of international cricket played
and the pressure involved, as well as the business of leaving your family at
home for months at a time, mean that if you don't take an occasional winter break
you are vulnerable to burn out.
BR written              As our relationship blossomed, Kath managed to arrange as many
business trips as possible to coincide with my county games, and in her trusty
Austin 1100 she would appear at cricket grounds in Somerset, Devon, Cornwall
or wherever we happened to be playing at the time.
BR written              In fact, Kath apparently had not been too keen on coming at all
as she had just returned from a business trip, was worn out and, in any case,
was meeting up with her boyfriend over the weekend!
BR written              Kath was doing a business studies course at Lanchester polytechnic
in Coventry and, in between times, working for her father helping to promote
high-quality drums and drumsticks used by some of the big name rock stars.
BR written              He came across Kerry Packer, the Australian television magnate,
a man who shared his view that something should be done to make cricket into
a high-profile big business entertainment industry.
BR written              In my early career, batting was a very straightforward business.
BR written              But the players appreciated that he made it his business to keep
such a low profile as to be almost invisible.
BR written              From the windows of the coaches transporting us from our hotel,
we saw these locals walking the streets armed to the teeth with guns, knives
and machetes - and this was just the everyday folk going about their business.
BR written              Now I could be judged solely on my achievements as a player, and
I was absolutely determined to prove I could still do the business.
BR written              Once the business of resigning the captaincy had been attended
to, Kath and I both felt a huge weight had been lifted from our shoulders.
BR written              Nike were highly sensitive about South Africa, especially as the
Olympic Games were coming up in Los Angeles in 1984, and if an England rebel
cricket team was to spark a mass boycott of the games it would not have been
good for their business.
BR written              At least the fun we had put the South African business to the back
of our minds for a while.
BR written              I'm not just referring to the media, but also to those who make
it their business to pry into, examine and pass judgement on the lives of people
they know nothing about and care for even less.
BR written              As far as we were concerned it was our business and nobody else's;
if the story got out it would only lead to more unwelcome press intrusion.
BR written              It was actually alleged by the News of The World, although not
printed until two years later after the Lindy Field business in Barbados, that
I had shared a night of heroin-induced passion with the wife of a cricket journalist.
BR written              What irked me about the whole business was that once I had done
so, they insisted that I should phone home and get Kath to come along for questioning
as well.
BR written              One of his more outlandish claims was that he had had regular conversations
with the millionaire recluse Howard Hughes and that these meetings had been instrumental
in fashioning his business ideals.
BR written              The parting of the ways was not pleasant and I was glad when, some
years later, he and I re-established a friendship that had been badly damaged
by the whole business.
BR written              In other words nothing happened, and the reception of the crowd
when I took the field at The Oval showed exactly what they thought of the whole
business.
BR written              I had played in fewer than half our first-class games due to Test
calls and a toe injury, and the club were understandably getting a little upset
that I appeared to be spending more time with Hudson than concerning myself with
county business.
BR written              Golan welcomed us and got straight down to business.
BR written              He and I have argued a number of times about the invasion of Ian
Botham into our private lives, as well as completely redirecting our business
energies in your direction.
BR written              We have scrapped all other business interests in the UK to concentrate
on I. T. Botham.
BR written              We are the creative and business mind.
BR written              We love you, but cannot give our business and talent free.
BR written              Kath, the kids and I had just returned from a trip to Hong Kong
which was part holiday, part business, and on the car journey from Heathrow to
home we put Becky's fractiousness down to exhaustion after the long flight.
BR written              They blanched somewhat when I told them, but ended up supporting
the venture and making a film of the whole business from start to finish. (Sadly,
the pilot who taught me in double-quick time, Harry Knapp, recently lost his
life in a training accident.) I almost managed to avoid further trouble before
the ban was lifted.
BR written              Business was booming at New Road, only a dozen or so season ticket
holders failed to renew their memberships for the following season and the intake
of new members soared, so much so that the club ran out of car parking space.
BR written              On that tour his singlemindedness meant that even the players'
wives were barred from the team hotel and there was a very grim, almost missionary
zeal about the way the players went about their business.
BR written              I put my hands on his shoulders, redirected his gaze so he was
facing the front again and told him to mind his own business.
BR written              Ian told him to shut up and mind his own business.
BR written              I still find it hard to work out why Queensland were so keen to
get rid of me because I did good business for them at the turnstiles; they had
not attracted such large crowds in years.
BR written              There is no doubt that the biggest casualty of the whole business
was Gower.
BR written              He had contacts in the music business and his `Bunbury" cricket
XI, who play matches for charity all over the country, has included stars like
Roger Daltry, Bill Wyman, Eric Clapton and many others with whom I have shared
many good times.
BR written              We got hold of a promoter called Nick Leigh at Kennedy Street Enterprises
who has since become my agent and business partner, and made a 35-minute film
featuring various cricketing highlights to start the whole thing off.
BR written              Alan had some business out there and I fancied going, not just
for the air show but because the Rolling Stones were recording in a studio in
Paris.
BR written              Take the Lindy Field business, for example.
BR written              She relies on the escape to Alderney to recharge her batteries
for the exhausting business of being Mrs Ian Botham.
BR written              Until only quite recently, what happened away from the cricket
field for instance, was considered none of anyone's business.
BR written              Tentative housing recovery Robert Miller THE tentative nature of
the housing recovery and cut-throat competition for new mortgage business was
underlined yesterday when building societies reported a * 157 million monthly
fall in net home loan advances to * 603 million.
BR written              Pledge by Labour on late payment Philip Bassett, Industrial Editor
TONY BLAIR, proclaiming new Labour as the `party of small business", said yesterday
that a future Labour government will legislate on late payment of debt.
BR written              Oftel said the new price regime would remove some * 1.5 billion
a year in `super-normal" operating profits from the company's regulated business.
BR written              Was this a `Middle Eastern" way of doing business, or was it simply
dishonest?
BR written              Elys has remained largely unchanged as a one-store business for
a generation, despite operating two Beds for Less discount stores in Surrey.
BR written              Jupiter bonuses study;Business Roundup INVESTIGATORS from Imro,
the watchdog for fund managers, were yesterday still studying allegations that
Jupiter Tyndall, the fund management group bought by the German Commerzbank last
year for * 169 million, had breached City rules relating to staff bonus payments
and the handling of client assets.
BR written              Swedes size up Fokker;Business Roundup SAAB and FFV Aerotech, the
Swedish aircraft and defence firms each said yesterday that they are considering
buying parts of Fokker, the failed Dutch aircraft maker.
BR written              Telspec advances;Business Roundup TELSPEC, the electronic equipment
company, lifted pre-tax profits by 33 per cent to * 8.72 million in the year
to December 31, in spite of incuring a number of unforeseen problems which wiped
* 1.5 million off full-year profits.
BR written              Digital warning;Digital Equipment;Business Roundup DIGITAL EQUIPMENT
is the latest victim of sluggish sales of personal computers, warning investors
that it expects its current quarterly earnings to fall well below Wall Street
expectations.
BR written              Christos Papoutsis, the EU commissioner who has responsibility
for enterprise policy, said yesterday that the SME sector accounted for 99 per
cent of all European firms, covering two thirds of total employment and 65 per
cent of all EU business turnover.
BR written              Blair hails Labour as the party for small business Philip Bassett,
Industrial Editor LABOUR yesterday declared itself to be the `party for small
business" as it set out a new package of proposals aimed at giving assistance
to small firms by a Labour government.
BR written              In addition to the declaration by Tony Blair, the Labour leader,
of his party's intention to legislate on late payment of debt, senior Labour
figures set out a series of measures aimed at the small business sector.
BR written              Andrew Smith, the Shadow Treasury Chief Secretary, said Labour's
commitment to working with small firms now marked out `new Labour as the party
of small business".
BR written              He told a conference on small business: `Small firms will benefit
especially from Labour's determination to secure sustainable expansion with a
medium-term growth strategy, aimed at raising the trend rate of growth with low
inflation."
BR written              At a conference organised by the Industry Forum, the body set up
by Labour to provide links between Labour and business, Mr Smith said Labour
would act to close the investment gap, modernising and simplifying the tax system,
tackling tax abuse and taking steps to encourage long-term investment and its
availability to small business.
BR written              The Forum published yesterday a policy document that sets out Labour's
proposals on small business.
BR written              He said that every economic and fiscal proposal brought forward
by Labour `will be examined for what it can do to nurture small business success".
BR written              Labour unveiled a pilot site on the Internet, called the Enterprise
Zone, aimed at providing easy access for small business to a range of information
an idea mentioned by ministers last week at their own small business conference
as an objective.
BR written              Stan Mendham, chief executive of the Forum of Private Business,
said that the conference showed clearly that Labour had `come a long way" in
its relationship with business and small firms in particular.
BR written              He said that, if Labour wanted to be the party of small business,
`they will have to measure accurately what we need, and then they will have to
meet those needs.
BR written              Stephen Alambritis, from the Federation of Small Business, said
that large firms were still cutting jobs, whereas small firms could repeat their
2.5 million job growth over the past 20 years.
BR written              Clear interest in Labour's plans for small business was indicated
by the wealth of businesses, industry organisations and others speaking at yesterday's
conference.
BR written              Stan Mendham, chief executive of the Forum of Private Business,
said that the conference showed clearly that Labour had `come a long way" in
its relationship with business and small firms in particular.
BR written              Lloyd's rescue needs`* 4.8bn to succeed";Business Roundup  A GROUP
indirectly representing 20,000 members in Lloyd's of London said the troubled
insurance market's Reconstruction and Renewal plan needs more financing.
BR written              Centre jobs hope;Business Roundup A PROJECT to spend * 31 million
on conference facilities could create up to 1,000 new jobs in Scotland.
BR written              The new centre will have two auditoriums, a business centre, committee
rooms, stages and accommodation.
BR written              OGC achieves 10% rise;Business Roundup;OGC International OGC INTERNATIONAL,
the oil and gas industry construction company, achieved a 10 per cent rise in
pre-tax profits to * 14.2 million last year despite a 14 per cent decline in
turnover to * 232.9 million.
BR written              SiR plans to join AIM;Business Roundup SYSTEMS INTEGRATED RESEARCH
(SiR), which designs, produces and supplies multi-media educational software,
plans to join the Alternative Investment Market next week.
BR written              Mediators stand by;Business Roundup FEDERAL mediators are on standby
to help General Motors and union negotiators who have been unable to end a two-week-old
strike that has left 175,000 workers idle.
BR written              The dispute was started by union fears that GM would start to provide
more brake production business to outside companies.
BR written              Unveiling operating profit before tax of * 50.6 million for the
year to 1995, up 7.1 per cent on the 1994 restated figure of * 47.3 million,
Mr Shaw said that new life and pensions business written in 1995 was lower than
in the previous year.
BR written              Britannic, which had 26,000 motor policies when it decided to stop
writing new business, will continue to cover policyholders until renewal.
BR written              Mr Cruickshank seems determined to govern BT's network as though
it were some social service rather than a fast-changing integrated business.
BR written              Marley begins the move out of vehicle products Carl Mortished MARLEY,
the building products group, is selling part of its automotive products business
after another difficult year in which setbacks in all its divisions left pre-tax
profits for 1995 down 21 per cent to * 46.3 million.
BR written              Marley is selling part of the automotive components division to
Magna International, of Canada, for * 53.2 million and is in talks to sell its
share in the Davidson Marley joint venture, which makes up the rest of its automotive
business.
BR written              Profits in the automotive business, which makes interior trim and
instrument panels, fell from  5.5 million to  2.8 million last year because
of difficult trading in Germany and start-up costs.
BR written              David Trapnell, Marley's chief executive, said the business needed
to invest heavily to meet the demands of car manufacturers who were seeking to
consolidate their supply chains.
BR written              A sharp increase in the cost of polymer resin hurt Marley's plastics
division, including Syroco, the garden furniture business acquired early last
year.
BR written              A new Flextech subsidiary will have a 79 per cent interest in the
British infomercial division of the Home Shopping Network as a `further expansion
of Flextech's business into electronic retailing".
BR written              A strong performance from the chrome business helped the chemicals
and industrial division to increase profits by 26 per cent to * 50 million.
BR written              The pet food business performed well, although the animal feed
businesses suffered from rising raw material costs and a smaller national pig
herd.
BR written              Unfortunately for small business, both moves were largely bogus.
BR written              Early late announcement;Small business is a big issue;Pennington
Pennington NOT since the Chancellor made his ill-fated early morning announcement
about share options on the day the Greenbury report was published has the Government
made a move as early in the day as Ian Lang's 7am announcement on consulting
on late payment.
BR written              It is a measure of the political heat that this issue, and the
question of small business in general, is now producing that the President of
the Board of Trade felt impelled to do so.
BR written              Despite the pitfalls, small business support is still a political
prize worth pursuing.
BR written              What is significant, though, is the sharply different responses
to Mr Blair's proposal from the CBI and the small business bodies.
BR written              What is clear is that without a strong and growing small business
sector, there will be little economic and employment growth, on which electoral
prospects rest.
BR written              There was a big put-through recorded in shares of Royal Bank of
Scotland just before the official close of business.
BR written              ABN Amro Hoare Govett, Hanson's own broker, is believed to have
transacted the business.
BR written              CRH, the Irish aggregates group, is splashing out $ 87 million
to acquire the Jack B Parsons Companies, the Utah-based aggregates business.
BR written              The business is largely irrelevant but Wassall now has an acquisition
vehicle in Asia, which can issue (highly rated) shares.
BR written              Wassall is not just driven by acquisitions; it is investing heavily
in General Cable, its copper wire business, which doubled profits last year with
the benefit of high copper prices and contracts with telephone companies.
BR written              Wassall is also making good money from another dull-sounding business:
plastic bottle tops, which are taking over from traditional metal closures.
BR written              A business producing plastic trim for motor cars makes little sense
in a building products group.
BR written              Unfortunately, having rid itself of a business with poor prospects,
Marley's newest investment performed even less well last year.
BR written              Marley has landed itself with another non-core business and one
with low quality earnings.
BR written              Harrisons & Crosfield;Tempus Edited by Carl Mortished PIGS and
paint might not seem to have a lot in common but Harrisons & Crosfield has created
a business that relies on very different markets.
BR written              In such a complex business bad news in one division tends to knock
the share price hard, witness the bumpy ride Harrisons' shares suffered over
the past year.
BR written              Agreeing termswith Lloyd's;Business Letter  From R.N.
BR written              He points to the Chicago Business School study that showed the
leading brand names of the 1920s were still around 60 years later.
BR written              David Scotland, president for Europe at Allied Domecq's spirits
and wine business, which owns Canadian Club and Ballantine's whiskies, is scathing
about his industry's reliance on names that have lost their lustre: `People in
my industry could have a pretty comfortable life because B brands were still
selling."
BR written              If, on the other hand, the rise in US profits and the willingness
of American workers to limit their share of national income is part of a long-term
secular trend, then the present business cycle could have many more years to
go before it runs into a serious problem of inflation and rising interest rates.
BR written              Simplification of law on small businesses is overdue;Business Letter
From Mr Des Keenan Sir, It would be a pity if Mr Heseltine's excellent proposals
regarding the simplification of law concerning small businesses were to be drowned
by waves of synthetic outrage from interested parties.
BR written              He said the exhibition business tends to trail GDP by 12 or 18
months and `there are indications of a slowdown in GDP in France and Germany".
BR written              The company said that, as of December 4 last year, Devro America
had been treated as a discontinued business and the profit and loss account includes
the results of that business until then.
BR written              But both DAP, the DIY business, and the closures division suffered
from an increase in raw material prices.
BR written              Devro advances 7%;Business Roundup;Devro International DEVRO INTERNATIONAL,
the sausage skin maker, has unveiled a 7 per cent pre-tax profits rise to * 31.2
million last year.
BR written              The company said that, as of December 4 last year, Devro America
had been treated as a discontinued business and the profit and loss account includes
the results of that business until then.
BR written              Rethink on joint venture accounts Graham Searjeant THE Accounting
Standards Board has bowed to business opinion and abandoned a proposal to treat
associate companies and joint ventures as a single category of strategic alliance.
BR written              Proposals in an early discussion paper, which called for much more
detailed disclosure of the results of associates have also been scaled back to
ease potential burdens on business.
BR written              Results warning at Newman Tonks;Business Roundup NEWMAN TONKS,
the architectural products supplier to the building industry, warned shareholders
that the cost of further rationalisation implemented as a result of continuing
poor UK trading conditions would have an adverse effect on first-half results.
BR written              But if the operations and assets of each company in the joint venture
are essentially separate, their interest will be consolidated in their own accounts,
as if it were part of their business.
BR written              Keller increases payout;Business Roundup;Keller Group KELLER GROUP,
the ground engineering specialist, lifted profits 19 per cent in 1995, relying
almost entirely on organic growth.
BR written              Symonds buys for * 11m;Business Roundup;Symonds Engineering SYMONDS
ENGINEERING is acquiring Zlin, a manufacturer of printed circuit boards, for
* 11.5 million.
BR written              Evans Halshaw flat;Business Roundup EVANS HALSHAW, the multifranchise
motor distribution group, said the continuing downward trend in car purchasing
by the retail sector still gave cause for concern, although the company was trading
ahead of the market.
BR written              CRH expands in US;Business Roundup CRH, the building materials
group, has acquired Jack B Parson, an American aggregates, asphalt and paving
company based in Utah, for $ 87 million.
BR written              Whistle-blower true and fair;Accountancy;Any Other Business Robert
Bruce ON Saturday, 75,000 people are arguing about your every decision.
BR written              Win some...;Accountancy;Any Other Business Robert Bruce SOMETIMES
you can't win.
BR written              Tail-ender;Accountancy;Any Other Business Robert Bruce FOR the
sedentary cricketer who prefers to get into trim for the summer season with a
session on the Net rather than in the nets Coopers & Lybrand has provided some
entertainment.
BR written              This is the world at which all the Government's many wars on red
tape, its efforts to lift the burdens on business, are aimed.
BR written              Without the right attitude, a business with everything going for
it will often fail.
BR written              The truth tends to be the opposite, however uncomfortable it is
for the myth of the beleaguered small business person.
BR written              The second, published this week, The 1996 Pulse Survey, is by a
team at the London Business School, sponsored by Binder Hamlyn.
BR written              The problems included `autocratic, inflexible owners making decisions
based on emotion, who either failed to seek outside help or who resisted that
which was offered", `a poor management team with insufficient experience, inappropriate
mix of skills, or failure to delegate managerial responsibility", `poor operations
management", `lack of family succession", and, most damning of all, `a weak business
concept and a lack of planning".
BR written              `Specifically, our research showed that company growth is more
often determined by internal factors than by the external business environment,"
it said.
BR written              The real burdens on business, as both of these reports show, are
poor management and an insistence on blaming others for its consequences.
BR written              This suggests that owner-managers believe additional funding will
solve their problems whereas they should be looking at the more fundamental business
issues."
BR written              So we should forget the fuss about burdens on business and bonfires
of regulations.
BR written              Joined Cases C-171/94 and C-172/94 There was a transfer of an undertaking
where a business holding a motor vehicle dealership for a particular territory
discontinued its activities and the dealership was then transferred to another
business which took on part of the staff and was recommended to customers, without
any transfer of assets.
BR written              Most of the daily British Midland scheduled flights, with economy
seats costing from  155 return, and business-class fares from  330, are filled
by independent travellers.
BR written              When French skies closed;Travel News;The Travel Business Harvey
Elliott ONE of the most amusing, yet worrying, aviation stories is told by a
former air traffic controller, David Gunson.
BR written              Steve Allen, Thomson commercial director says: `Five years ago
Thomson was market leader but during the recession we went back to our core business
and allowed small specialist companies to move into city breaks.
BR written              `They will find it a very different business.
BR written              Joan Swindells, his wife, said last night that he had made frequent
business trips abroad.
BR written              Mr Swindells, 59, was working in Shenzhen as a business consultant
for Corning Incorporated, a New York-based computer company.
BR written              A 25 per cent drop in bookings at the start of the year led the
UK's five largest operators to cut their summer capacity by approximately 11
per cent, but business has since picked up and Paul Brett, chairman and chief
executive of Thomson Travel Group, said operators had fewer holidays left to
sell than they had this time last year.
BR written              It becomes quite a reasonable option for those on business," he
said.
BR written              If the lease of business premises does not provide for their repair,
the law presumes that no one was intended to be responsible, which can make it
impossible for either landlord or tenant to force the other to halt the deterioration
of the property.