“Axe Wednesday” as it is now known, has caused further divide between the Labour Party and the coalition government led by David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

490,000 public sector workers will lose their jobs over the next four years, whilst the retirement age is now set to increase to 66.

Business leaders across the South-West of England and the UK are said to have reacted with caution to the Government trying to control spending in order to get interest rates to an all time low.

It has been said that if the economy continues to grow, then it should absorb these losses. No one knows the timescales and this will therefore mean continued uncertainty, particularly for people in the South-West of the country who continue to battle with job uncertainty.

One of the sectors that will be clearly impacted is the Ministry of Defence, which could absorb up to 32,000 job losses. Bristol and the South-West are major centres for the MoD, with multiple sites based in the region.

As critical as the position now stands in terms of further pending cuts to the public sector, the ultimate question is will the private sector be able to bridge the gap for these losses?

Accountancy jobs, Accoutancy, Axe Wednesday, coalition, David Cameron, economy, finance jobs, Labour party, Ministry of defence, Nick Clegg, Public Sector

The Exchequer’s coffers are running on vapour and tax avoidance presents a soft target for politicians. On Monday, Nick Clegg claimed that “ethically wrong” legal tax avoidance costs the economy £42 billion a year. As a tax recruiter, I was particularly interested in whether this might have an impact on the taxation professionals that I work with.

Clegg’s Robin Hood approach is an obvious means for the Government to rake in some much needed cash. My colleague William Hepworth discussed the tightening of transfer pricing rules in Taxation 2 magazine this week so raking in some extra cash through taxation is already on the agenda.

As always though it’s not as simple as closing a couple of loopholes and suddenly the deficit is paid off. Quantifying the impact of tax avoidance on the economy is complex stuff. Business leaders argue these funds are reinvested in job creation: taking people out of the benefits system and getting them paying tax. Ultimately, the Exchequer wins anyway.

Furthermore, high net worth individuals are often entrepreneurs, contributing to the economy in areas too numerous to quantify. They’re also geographically mobile; remove the incentive to be here and they’ll be off quicker than you can say private jet.

Clegg’s ethical argument is also complex. Is it wrong for someone like Philip Green to run a business employing thousands of people in the UK with a turnover in the billions whilst himself being resident in the tax haven of Monaco? Is investing in start ups or venture capital unethical? Is investing in an ISA unethical?

Our tax system is a pretty fine balancing act between encouraging investment in quality business in the UK and ensuring people pay a fair amount for public services. Cutting down on tax avoidance strikes me as great party conference PR but ultimately it’s a minefield. Amidst all these conflicting interests and arguments it’s hard to quantify their success/failure anyway which itself is most convenient don’t you think?

Exchequer, Government, ISA, Legal Tax avoidance, Nick Clegg, Philip Green, Tax, Tax Avoidance, Taxation, Taxation 2, Venture capital, William Hepworth

Having listened online to the live question and answer debate with Nick Clegg, the Deputy PM in Bristol, he raised one very interesting point about communication and how we express ourselves. He confirmed that he believes live television debates are here to stay and that they actually engage a huge amount of people to watch and listen.

Nick Clegg spoke about an interview he watched whilst on a train, which involved Bill Clinton, George Bush Snr and Ross Perot. Having lost the sound briefly, he still felt engaged by looking at the individuals in terms of their body language and direct eye contact with the camera. Clegg commented that it may not always be what we are saying, but actually how we communicate it and the body language we portray, that is just as important.

Common factors which contribute to making a weak first impression at an interview are timidity, a limp handshake and no eye contact i.e. your body language. First impressions are vital and I believe it is critically important to give a confident and memorable first impression at your interview in order to increase your chances of succeeding. My top tips are:

1. Ensure you give a firm handshake

2. Maintain plenty of eye contact

3. Answer the question you are asked

4. Avoid jargon

5. Finally don’t digress!

Body language, communication, Deputy PM, eye contact, firm handshake, Interview technique, Nick Clegg, West Country

Whilst the Prime Minister is taking his annual summer holiday, Nick Clegg the deputy PM will be heading to Bristol this weekend in order to meet local people, an event hosted by Heart FM. The event is to be held at a secret location, with 300 people in attendance.

Clegg last came to Bristol when the three party leaders of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats came head to head for the second televised election debate. At the time, we did not know that we were heading towards a coalition government and two of the three leaders would unite to run the country.

Whilst the event is still very much a secret, the Deputy PM is likely to receive a range of questions from the 300 strong audience.

With out doubt a variety of topics will be discussed and debated, including the budget and economy. Post budget, Clegg now speaks strongly and passionately that this is very much a “Coalition” and not a Conservative budget. Some may say that it may create a “double dip” in terms of the recession; they say they had no choice to take action in this way.

We have seen a turn in the Bristol and the South-West market in terms of a renewed confidence in hiring and the number of clients opening their doors to us. That said, we have not seen the uplift as quickly as we would have liked and we are still preparing ourselves to see how the rest of 2010 evolves. It will be interesting to see if anyone poses questions to Clegg in terms of any trends within employment and hiring.

His visit brings excitement to the Bristol community as we see the return of the UK Government to the West Country.

Bristol, Double dip recession, Employment, Hiring, Nick Clegg, South West market, UK Government, West Country

General Election day has arrived!

David Cameron has been campaigning through the night and Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg have been completing the final parts of their campaign.  The words “hung parliament” keep recurring and are all over the news today.

I have worked in recruitment for 11 years now and without doubt, the last 18 months have been the toughest of my career.

In our industry, we are front line facing, speaking to candidates and clients on a daily basis and the message that we are now communicating and seeing is that the economy has recovered and that there are increasingly more opportunities available to prospective employees.

People generally don’t like uncertainty and we are without doubt better equipped to deal with certainty and clarity.  Therefore after 18 months of a turbulent economy, a hung parliament will without doubt create further uncertainty.

Some might say that a hung parliament would not have an immediate affect and in fact Switzerland had a hung parliament from 1952-2008 which was entitled “The Magic Formula” …… however “Magic” is not what the UK currently needs and I believe it would have a detrimental affect on morale and impact the feel good factor that has returned to the UK.

David Cameron, general election, Gordon Brown, hung parliament, Nick Clegg, UK