General Info

If you have been selected for a job interview you will need to prepare. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Our hints are for your benefit and come out of experience. You want to give a good impression and our hints will really help you impress.

Research your employer

Find out who your employer is, what they do, and key facts such as locations, services provided, prices they charge, and even who the competition are. Prepare to be asked questions about the company, look up fact`s such as last year`s profits and any news in social media or the company blog. Researching the industry they are in and any developments can really impress your clients and make you look professional.

Prepare and practice

There is no right or wrong format for the interview, however there are some questions that should always be prepared for. Questions such as what you are weaknesses will always crop up, being prepared for this question will put you in good stead, addressing weaknesses in the interview will give your prospective employer trust in your honesty. You should also practice explaining why you are the best person for the job, go into past experience in work and personal life.

Dress Smart

No matter what people say appearances are important, your prospective employer will judge you and how you look, the smarter you look the better. Simple things such as well fitted clothes and clean shoes sounds obvious but many people can overlook this.

Ask Questions

Be proactive, ask the prospective employer questions, this will show your interest in the company and the position that you are applying for. We recommend preparing at least 4 questions, questions about the company`s future, culture and what goals they are expecting from you and the company as a whole.

Stay Calm

Staying calm is very important, being in control of yourself and your answers will really boost your chances of becoming the person they choose for the position. Prepare for the interview, write down your questions and answers, get your outfit out ready the night before. Smiling is important, a firm handshake can also work well, stay calm, the interviewers are also just normal people like yourself.If you found this blog helpful, you can read more on our business and economy blog here. Your Virtual Office London providing professional business services for small companies.

Want to increase the profits of their business but find it difficult due to the strong competition that exists? You should know that to make a business add value, you must make your business competitive in the market.Value added is a feature or extra service that is given to a product or service, in order to provide greater value. It must be an unusual feature or service that differentiates your business or company from the competition.Many times we try to increase sales by making offering incentives such as discounts; however a good way to not compromise on price is to offer added value. This will make your customers feel fulfilled and satisfied to have got something more from their purchase.

Here are some suggestions and recommendations on how to make a business more profitable through adding value:

• Try to give something to those who visit your business: keep in mind that whenever someone crosses your door and visits your company, this is a golden opportunity to make the business more profitable by adding value. You can offer gifts for visitors that needn`t be anything expensive, such as chocolates, calendars, or a simple reminder to make the visit more enjoyable.
• Encourage your employees to uphold the proper treatment of clients: it`s good to take care to train and motivate your employees so that they always provide a smile and friendly service to customers. You can be sure they will appreciate it and increase the chances that they make purchases, return in the future and give good recommendations on your business.
• You can provide service delivery. If this is not part of your policy, then it relates to the possibility of offering home delivery of your products. Although it is clear that the implementation of this service represent a higher cost and you should evaluate it before offering it, it could represent a significant edge over your competition.
• Try to reduce the waiting time of your customers. If your business is such that people have to wait for treatment or for your products, you can make a business more profitable by adding value in the reduction of time. You could offer a more comfortable way of waiting by introducing coffee, a glass of water, a magazine or newspaper of the day` all to make your customers feel more relaxed when waiting to be served.
• You can send notes or calls of thanks: a good way to add value to your products or services is to express how important it is to have customers like them and they will appreciate the confidence in your business.

Here are some examples of how to a business can be more profitable by adding value:

• A restaurant that offers customers a special area for children, where free child care is provided and there are different games for children.
• A supermarket supplying fruits and vegetables can be offered previously cleaned, peeled, cut, and presented in special packaging to be consumed in an easier way for customer.
• A gift shop that not only sells but also handles wrapped goods and sends it to the person who`s made the order.
• A machine shop that not only gives us the car repaired, but completely cleans it and undergoes basic maintenance.

Final recommendations for adding value:

Adding value in your company is not just about offering anything, making arbitrary decisions or offering it just as a giveaway, but should be a carefully planned strategy and focused purely on customer satisfaction. It should be noted that you need to handle the added value sparingly because when you offer a gift or something extra the first time, your customers will expect it as an integral part of your service every time they visit your business.Your Virtual Office London can help create your company and provide the right tools for you to manage it efficiently. We provide leading mail forwarding, an office address in London and company formation services to start up businesses. Having worked in the small business sector for over 30 years, yourvirtualofficelondon.co.uk are experts in providing advice when and where its needed. If you need help or advice please get in touch with us or please read our informative business blog.

Want to get perfectly successful texts that capture the attention of potential users or customers? Effective business writing should be done using essential tools to achieve quality texts that are not boring to readers.Writing is not a science, but it is an art to be able to apply if you want to get effective texts that are picked up and pored over by customers. The business writing should be done effectively using essential tools to achieve quality texts that are not boring to readers.The writing of any text should be clear, concise, entertaining, understandable and of course, convincing, since it is the only way to get to increase sales of your online business effectively. With copywriting you must learn how to bring value to your customers; you must get to communicate and converse with them to ensure that you understand every sentence you read.

To write for business, you have to have something to say

So, if you want to write good commercial texts, the bottom line is that you need something important to communicate to the readers. If your customers consider what you say important and believe the words of your commercial texts, you will increase your sales!Remember: The secret of good writing is in the rewriting.

So without further ado, here are the 12 secrets to make your business successful through scintillating copywriting.

1. Preparation: It's important that you carry out a summary of what you really want to say before you start writing the first word. If you're not sure what you want to convey to your customers, it is best that you clarify your ideas first.2. Titles and subtitles: The titles and subtitles are the first thing`s read by any user or customer, so they should be attractive to readers and induce the rest of the text. It is important to have the title and subtitles before starting to write the body of the business writing, and that will help you convey your idea.3. Draft: Make a first draft text in Word or whatever you prefer. Do not worry if it's not perfect.4. Don`t rush it: Do not fool yourself that you`ll have the text in a day. Rest a few days before starting to make tweaks to the first draft. A clear mind will allow you to achieve better results.5. Unnecessary words: Often we have the bad habit of adding more words than are necessary in the texts made. It`s really important to remove all the words that are unnecessary to thereby provide clear, concise and compelling texts.6. First and last paragraphs: The first and last paragraphs are the most important parts of any text, so you have to be very careful when writing them. The first paragraph should invite you to read on, while the latter should be a summary that is responsible for putting the climax in the text that encourages the purchase of products.7. Short phrases: Every idea should be expressed in a single sentence, preventing more than 17 words from spreading.8. Short words: Readers need texts in simple words to assimilate their mind. Check that about 75% of your business writing consists of words with 5 letters or less.9. Short paragraphs: Excessively long paragraphs are boring for the reader. Ideally, each paragraph should consist of a maximum of 4-5 lines.10. Truthful Promises: Do not promise your readers something you cannot prove. Your promises need to be true and demonstrable.11. One idea per sentence: Try to use one idea per sentence, thus ensuring the reader will get much clearer information.12. Standby time: Before rewriting your work, leave at least a day of relaxation and disconnection.Now that you know the secrets to effective business writing, get to work with your texts and get to increase your sales significantly with winning and successful commercial texts. Get in contact with Your Virtual Office London to see how we can help improve your business.

Are you in rush to file important documents at Companies House? Do you need to avoid any late penalties? You will incur a penalty if:

• You file your account late after the deadline
• Even if files are sent before the stated deadline, they must reach companies house before the deadline otherwise a penalty will be incurred.

Companies House has offices across the UK. If you are sending documents please ensure you have the correct address and those they you file the documents in time before any penalties.You can find the Companies House locations below. If you are filing outside working hours you can place them through the letterbox. Cardiff is manned outside office hours and you will receive a receipt for the documents.

London

Companies House4 Abbey Orchard StreetWestminsterLondonSW1P 2HT

Edinburgh

Companies HouseFourth FloorEdinburgh Quay 2139 FountainbridgeEdinburgh EH3 9FForLP - 4 Edinburgh 2 (Legal Post)orDX ED235 Edinburgh 1

Belfast

Companies HouseSecond FloorThe Linenhall32-38 Linenhall StreetBelfastNorthern Ireland BT2 8BGorDX 481 N.R. Belfast 1

Cardiff

Companies HouseCrown WayCardiffCF14 3UZIf further advice or information is needed, please do hesitate to contact the team at Your Virtual Office London. We are always happy to help.

The disqualified directors register is for people who were directors of Limited Companies or members or LLP`s and who have been disqualified either via a court order or by going through the insolvency service. The register will show the Companies Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA), which the director would have been disqualified under.

How does directors disqualification work?

Many people believe that if your company goes into liquidation then the director(s) will automatically be disqualified. This is not true, unless the circumstances show that you were committing fraud or were acting wrongly in your role in the eyes of the law. Companies can go into liquidation for all sorts of reasons, but it does not mean that the company director will then be disqualified and have to go onto the disqualified directors register.Having a company going into liquidation does not prevent you from taking on another directorship or starting another limited company. There is no assumption of wrongdoing or wrongful trading.The whole point of the Companies Directors Disqualification Act 1986, is to keep a register of those directors who were found to be 'unfit' for the role and effectively ban them from becoming directors of a limited liability company in the future. Being added to the register is the last resort, and the step is only taken when that person has been proven to have acted fraudulently, wrongfully or conducted themselves very badly in the role. It is up to the government to prove this before any action can be taken to ban a director and add their name to the register.In 2015, the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act introduced additional measures to ban directors who have run insolvent businesses fraudulently in the past or have badly influenced other directors in their roles. Company directors can also now be disqualified and put on the register if they are involved in company offences overseas. The new amendments now give a court more time (an increase of a year) to review evidence that may take longer to obtain and study.

What is classed as unfit behaviour?

Here is a list of the main points that the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (DeBIS) seeks to ban directors on:

• Failure to submit annual accounts to Companies House on time
• Failure to submit annual returns to Companies House on time
• Excessive salaries or drawings when the company was plainly insolvent
• Trading on when he or she knew the company was insolvent (also known as trading whilst knowingly insolvent)
• Continuing to take credit when there was "no reasonable prospect" of creditors being paid
• Misrepresentation of the facts about the company
• Failure to respond or comply with a liquidator's requests

It is still reassuring to know that in the UK director's disqualifications are still pretty rare. Up to 2015 there were only around 1,000 to 1,500 disqualifications each year on average. The public are able to report directors that they suspect of wrong doing or fraud to either the Insolvency Service, Companies House or the Serious Fraud Office. There is an online government advice page here.It is important to remember that a CDDA only applies where the company has gone into liquidation; it does not apply in a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).

What happens after you are banned as a director?

When disqualified and placed on the disqualified directors register, you may not take on a role as a director or manager during your disqualification period. Doing so is considered a criminal offence.Should you become a director or manager while disqualified, you may find yourself landed with a prison conviction for up to 2 years or a hefty fine - or even both! Not only this, but you could become personally liable for all the debts carried by the company.On a side note - even a manager or director who acts under the instruction of a disqualified director can find themselves personally liable for company debts - so take care not to be working under the influence of a disqualified director!

Why is there a disqualified directors register kept by Companies House?

Under Section 18 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, the Secretary of State must legally maintain a register. Companies House carries out this function under this act.

Am I able to receive a copy of the disqualification order?

You are unable to obtain a copy of the disqualification order from Companies House. Court officials obtain your information from the order to help complete the form, they will then notify Companies House with the correct information regarding the disqualification.

How can I see the disqualified directors register?

You can view the Disqualified Directors register here. There is no cost to search the database.

The person I am looking for is not on the register?

If the person you are searching for is not on the register this would probably mean that the person either has not been disqualified or that the person was disqualified and the order has lapsed, which means it would have been deleted from this register. Lastly the person could have recently been disqualified but has yet to go on the register.

Can I act as a secretary even though I have been disqualified?

Someone who has been disqualified is able to act as a secretary, the act does prevent them from being company directors or LLP members but it does not apply to company secretaries.

I was made bankrupt, does this apply to me?

If you were made bankrupts then yes it does apply to you, if the bankruptcy is still in force, you cannot be a director of a Limited company or LLP member. The register for people who are bankrupt can be found here.If you were made bankrupt in Scotland, they will not show on the insolvency website. You will need to view the Accountancy in Bankruptcy website.Your Virtual Office London provides expert advice on Company Formations, Accountancy and Virtual Office Services including registered office address. If you need to speak to anyone, do contact us today, we are always happy to help.

London has more surveillance CCTV cameras per person than any other city in the word. We are constantly being watched and many people accept this as a positive security measure to keep our city streets safe.Although given the choice we may choose not to be filmed on CCTV, there is no denying there are benefits to having surveillance in place under many circumstances where there is a risk to our personal safety.Although CCTV use is perfectly acceptable in public, especially when it is used to great effect to secure business premises and act as a deterrent for crime, more business owners are using CCTV within the workplace.Business owners and employers may want to install cameras for a number of reasons such as:

• For security reasons: to prevent theft from shops, stores and warehouses.
• For health and safety reasons: to ensure that health and safety rules are being complied with in such places as food handling and production facilities, but also to provide evidence of any breach that may occur.

These reasons my seem perfectly reasonable and acceptable to most employees working under these circumstances, but what about when an employer wants to set up CCTV in an office work environment? They may feel they are justified in installing cameras to cover the following issues:

• To protecting their business interests and prevent misconduct in the workplace.
• For monitoring, assessing and improving staff productivity.

This sort of surveillance by employers can run the risk of damaging the mutual trust and confidence of their employees. If this happens then employees may be choose to resign then claim constructive unfair dismissal.

Rules and regulations

According to the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA): employers should act in accordance with the DPA and its eight key principles. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) enforces the DPA and breach of it may lead to sanctions and bad publicity for employers. Employers should also be conscious of the increased risk of receiving subject access requests (SARs) from employees where monitoring is used, as employees may become nervous about the data which their employer holds and are more likely to apply to the ICO for disclosure of such data. It will inevitably waste valuable time dealing with and responding to SARs and ICO investigations.According to the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA): employers in the public sector should be particularly aware of the right to privacy which their employees have under the HRA as it applies directly to them. However, it is still important for employers in the private sector to consider this right, and to ensure their monitoring is not disproportionate or intrusive, as tribunals and courts are expected to take it into account when making decisions.

Practical tips and advice

It is advised that employers who want to install CCTV in their workplace should first conduct a comprehensive impact assessment to justify the use of surveillance equipment in the workplace. The assessment should strive to identify the reason behind the desire for monitoring and document the likely benefits of doing so as well as listing the possible negative impacts too.Employers would also be obliged to notify existing and future employees to make sure they are aware of their obligations and ensure that they are given a chance to voice their concerns. They would be advised to draw up a detailed report to explain the nature and extent of the surveillance proposed as well as the reasons behind it.A policy would also need to be drawn up once CCTV systems are installed detailing the reasons for monitoring. The policy would be given out to existing and new employees and made freely available on the company internet or intranet, and staff would be issued with a form to sign to say they have read and understood the policy.There would obviously be places where installing CCTV would not be justified under any circumstances, such as within staff changing rooms or bathrooms. However, monitoring of public entrances and doorways where people would expect to have cameras is perfectly acceptable.The Data Protection Act states that all data captured must be relevant for its purpose and stored securely and not kept for any longer than is necessary.

Other strategies open to you

With employee rights and the risks involved in using CCTV in the workplace, it may be less time consuming and difficult to try other methods, especially if the intent is to use surveillance for staff productivity measures.Going down the CCTV route may be quite damaging to your staff morale, reputation as an employer and reflect badly on your staff retention rates. A better approach may be to look at restructuring your existing management infrastructure, employing a staff relationship manager, increase staff training and staff team building days.

It is very important that both entrepreneurs and those looking to start up a new company acquire the skills needed to lead and manage a successful company.The administration of any company must go through a series of stages or processes, whether its a small, medium or large sized business. Many people just about to start up their business will be wondering where and how they should start. Is there a step-by-step guide out there that they can easily follow, or is that over simplifying the process?To begin with, no two companies are likely to operate in the same manner so getting started and running your business may differ slightly to someone else starting in the same industry. Regardless of what industry you choose to specialise in, you will need a good solid structure or foundation on which to build your company.It goes without saying that you will need a leader or a team of people to run your company. A director or board of directors is usually your first step to have established at the beginning. You can add and remove directors after your company formation is complete, so you don't have to worry about this as your company grows.If you are starting a small business then you may take on the role of the director as well as the general manager role of your company, but you may choose to delegate your management roles to others as your company expands and you need to focus more on directing the company.You may have a brilliant idea for a business and the drive and passion to see it succeed. Never worry that your business may not be a success because you are not a whiz at finances, or you feel you are not very good at managing others - you can hire in experts and managers to take on these tasks for you at a later stage so you can concentrate on what you are good at and focus on growing your company.How you choose to run your business is your concern, but to set it up properly is crucial in the beginning to make sure you comply with government rules and regulations. It would be helpful for you to read up on what is required by law for companies to start up and operate - you can get expert help about this from us by contacting us here. We will be happy to help set you on the right path!

6 Sure-fire Steps to Success!

So before you jump in at the deep end, here are some useful planning tips to help you get started properly.

Step 1: Focusing on the reality

When starting up a new company, it is easy to become over ambitions with your goals and for you to set unrealistic targets, or even be threatened by competitors successes. Your competitors certainly didn't earn their success overnight, so you shouldn't expect to be out-performing them very quickly. This is why it is so important to seek out information relating to the economic environment for your chosen niche and look at the performance of other businesses in your industry and thereby being able to set goals and targets within a realistic framework.

Step 2: Planning

Planning is an essential step of any business, from the smallest of businesses to large global multinationals. When you do any planning, it will be essential to have a definite purpose and process with regards to all aspects of your business, from partnerships, directors, managers, products or services, advertising, brand identity and logo to name just a few.Planning your company can take a very long time. It may be frustrating for you when all you want to do is jump in and get your company off the ground, but taking the time to plan each structure of your business is very important and will give you the strong foundations you need to build your company with. You will be so glad that you worked out your strategy and formed a plan to follow in the long run - believe me!Once you have your management structure in place, there is no better time to seal your commitment to your new venture than to have it officially incorporated as a company. You can do this quickly and easily through our company formations service and once completed you will have a great foundation from which to build a highly credible and productive business.

Step 3: Capital use

Whenever possible, it is recommended to use the cheapest source of capital you can get to start with. You will find that you may not make instant profits from day one of your business, and when you do start to see gains on your investment you have to think carefully about re-investing money back into your company to help it grow and expand, but to also upgrade or replace equipment that you use.Venture capital and contributing partners funds are a good start, and most of this funding will have more favourable interest rates or terms and conditions than more expensive methods. The last thing you want is to be saddled with expensive debt to pay back as a priority rather than using most of your profits to re-invest back in your own company.

Step 4: Habits of customers

Having a thorough and in-depth knowledge about the shopping habits, tastes, likes and dislikes of your target audience is essential. The better you know your customer demographic the more you can tailor your products or services to fit with their needs and desires.Take time to read any customer research already available in your chosen sector, or if you specialise in a particular niche, conduct some market research of your own through surveys, interviews and social media polls.

Step 5: Stock or skills inventory control

If you plan to sell products to your customers the it is important to keep control of your stock. If you overstock, you may find yourself short of funds to use elsewhere - for example, sales and marketing campaigns. If you understock, then you will not be able to fulfill customer orders and you will attract negative feedback as a result that can seriously damage your reputation and put off potential new customers.If you are providing a service, then making sure that you have an adequate skills pool available to your customers or clients will be essential. For example, if you run a team of plumbing and heating engineers then you will want to make sure that your team are fully qualified and up to date with their training, especially when new health and safety legislation is brought in or changes are made to environmental rules.

Step 6: Meet your responsibilities

While it is both exciting and thrilling to owning and running your business, becoming too wrapped up in the day to day hustle and bustle of keeping on top of your workload can lead to you forgetting or neglecting to carry out some very important aspects of running your company.If you employ staff then you have a responsibility to them to keep the business above board and running well so they can keep their job. If you have shareholders and business partners, you will need to make sure they are kept up to date with information on how the company is doing, but also making sure that everyone is getting paid on time.After you have gone through your company formation you will also understand that you have certain responsibilities to fulfill for HMRC and Companies House each year. Failure to meet your legal responsibilities would land you in some pretty hot water with the government and could see your company being landed with unwanted fines.Luckily, we at Capital Offices have a wide range of helpful services that we provide for our clients. So no matter if you are new to starting up your own business or you have already formed your own company, but are looking to expand, we are here to help you! Contact us today for some advice and guidance, or take a look through our blog and website to find out more about how we can help you succeed in your business.

Market Research is a form of study conducted to collect necessary information for your company, giving you great insight into your customer needs and opinions about your product or service, allowing you to take decisions forward based on the results you gather.

The Characteristics of Market Research

The scope of market research is more or less limitless. It takes into consideration all aspects relating to your business, such as:Location - geographical location, local markets, regional, national, European or international.Products - type of products / services studied; a group of products (e.g. cosmetics), a type of product (perfume), or a specific product (brand of perfume given).Time - the past market, present market or future market.The profile of buyers - by gender, age, socio-professional category, by level of education ...Profile of intermediaries or end users: resellers, retailers, wholesalers, makers, mothers, children.

Why use Market Research?

Market research is very useful if you are creating or launching a new product or service and you want to adapt it to fit with your consumer or client expectations. It makes sense to run a survey to measure the risks involved and know which direction to develop your product or service. This is a classic form of market research.The process of conducting market research is not complicated in itself, but many pitfalls can skew the results and lead to false conclusions. There are a lot of considerations to take on before you conduct your market research, such as the choice of survey mode, the number of people to be interviewed, the demographic you want to target, the preparation of the questionnaire and the analysis of data collected, are the keys to running a successful research project.

Steps to a Successful Study

Before launching a new product, a properly conducted investigation in the form of market research can limit your risks and help you know what direction to go in. Here are some of the most important points to consider before starting a market research campaign:

• Anticipate the actual needs of your customers.
• Consider all information as important.
• Learn from the competition.
• Take the best information from your customers.
• Perform a survey.
• Collect as much information as possible by telephone or face-to-face.
• Define accurately the expectations of your customers.
• Estimate figures on your competition more accurately.
• Get help from a trusted person who knows about your project.
• Measure the potential of your customers.
• Perform market research specifically tailored to your product / service.
• Look for information at official statistical agencies.
• Learn about the demand and competition by region.
• Make sure your product / service does not already exist.

Samples

Make sure that your target audience is relevant. What are your competitive advantages over other businesses in the same niche? Identifying your customer needs and the potential for success in your relevant sector are the pillars of good market research.To do this you need to do some thorough sampling. This is the part that is responsible for capturing relevant data from primary sources, or 'samples' of the demographic you are targeting with your product or service. You then can analyse and generalise the results to a percentage of the population from which it was extracted.The idea generally consists of obtaining sufficiently representative samples to generate conclusions that apply to the entire target population. So for example if your target audience for your product or service is women aged 25 to 40, you would focus your market research on as many women that fit this age range as you can, analyse the feedback and draw conclusions from your results.If 8 out of 10 women surveyed during your market research were positive about your product or service and stated that they would be happy to buy from you once it was available, then you can say from those results that your business is very likely to succeed and do well. However, if the results were opposite and only 2 out of 10 women surveyed actually liked your product or service, then you wouldn't be advised to launch your business and it would most certainly mean going back to the drawing board with your idea.

Further Points to Consider

• Keep up to date with the latest news and market trends for your business niche or sector. Regularly read publications and follow journalists who report on your business sector for all the latest insights that you may find interesting or helpful.
• If you can attend networking meetings with professionals in the same industry or who work in a complementary industry to yours, then you may well be able to share market research results and industry knowledge that others have already conducted. You may be able to join forces with another business and pool your resources to conduct a much larger market research project that will benefit the both of you.
• Networking can also introduce you to industry experts and seasoned professionals that can offer you great resources and information when you are first starting out. Many business veterans have written books or journals, analysed and published their market research results and finding that you may find very useful, so you can often pick up free or discounted copies of their work to help you even further.
• To have a chance of making your own market research valid, you must try to survey at least 500 people to get a really good cross section of results. Even if your new venture is a start-up company, the aspect of conducting good market research should not be dismissed. Using your findings to help you with promotional and marketing campaigns can really give your product or service the boost that is required.

Of course, you don't have to do every single interview or survey personally! You can hire virtual staff to run the market research for you once you have planned out and finalised your methods. Capital Office can help you with this with our Virtual Office service. For more information about how we can help you build your business contact us today for a friendly chat.

London`s property prices are set to rise further more as London has been voted the worlds top city for investment in property by foreign investors. The investment from outside the UK is causing a housing bubble which could push out first time buyers. Being voted the best city does carry problems for the native home owners. The rise of prices on London property is happening at an unsustainable rate and is squeezing the average person out of the city. The conservative government are fully aware of the issue and have announced that as of the their will be a capital gains tax on foreign investors to help try and curb the soaring property prices. The house prices in London rose by nearly 9% in August alone, compared with around 2% elsewhere in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics. Read more on Capital Office Virtual Office London services.

Update: June 2016

London is still ranking high on the list for business investments - both from home and abroad! In fact in a recent report earlier this year from EY's annual Attractiveness Survey revealed that London has overtaken New York and Shanghai in a global ranking of top tech cities, thanks to its "incredible entrepreneurial attitude". The report goes on to predict that London is the second most likely place to create the 'next big tech giant', only one place behind San Francisco. This means that compared to last year, London has jumped from fourth place to second place in the rankings - something that was hardly imaginable just five years ago. London has always been a world hub for Financial Services, and these will always remain as important to the Capital, but other businesses such as the tech industry and business services are now booming, making London a very attractive place to the rest of the world's investors.

The strength of London that has made it the financial capital of the world will also help the city as well as the whole country grow and prosper further over the coming years. Britain is a world leader with a prosperous future, and we have an environment that is well suited to entrepreneurs and business investors from across the world in all sectors of industry. The survey conducted by EY shows that 2015 was a record year for foreign investment into the UK and especially London. In fact during 2015,  London secured 406 foreign direct investments (FDI) projects – up seven per cent on 2014 – which created an estimated 7,026 new jobs.

With London now outperforming all other European cities, nearly 60% of business investors surveyed cited London as one of their top three cities for foreign direct investment, beating Paris into second place. With all the world movers and shakers enjoying the prestige associated with having a London based business, we feel that you shouldn't have to miss out on having a high quality London address for your business. Why not check out our great value for money London Address Services here to find out for yourself how you can benefit from having a London Registered Address.

Welcome to our new look website and blog. We hope you find it easy to navigate and to find out more detailed information about our products and services, for example:Virtual office services: Our complete Virtual Office London package is ideal for businesses who are wanting to get ahead and want to impress their clients and associates. Our virtual office package combines our highly sought after central London business mail forwarding address with a professional and experienced virtual PA telephone answering service. Find out more here.Call answering services: Do you want to impress clients with your own prestigious London based business telephone number and your own professional Secretary who will answer all your incoming calls? Find out more here.Professional meeting room hire: High Quality Modern Meeting Room Space in London for hire with full rapid speed fibre optic WiFi and cabled Internet solutions. Find out more here.Company Formations: Establishing or reinstating a business can be a complicated process involving a lot of paperwork, and if you make mistakes, you can experience a whole range of problems further down the line. Fortunately, help is at hand. At Capital Office, we have decades of experience in these areas and offer a comprehensive company formation service. Which one is right for you? Find out more about our packages here.We hope you enjoy reading our blog and hope to keep you updated with fresh content that you find useful for your business. If you have any queries about any of our services, please do not hesitate to contact us with your questions. We are here to help!