All You Need To Know About Composite Doors

Now being a bit of a DIY buff with a big interest in all manner of  home improvements one of the items I came across recently was a composite door. Not knowing exactly what this was I decided to delve into the subject and here is what I found out.

Composite doors are basically doors which are made up of a variety of elements as the term indicates. Often the outer frame is composed of steel reinforced uPVC and the door leaf is composed of a thermo set fibreglass skin which is fixed onto a water resistant composite material, surrounded by a high density foam core. All of this makes a composite door an extremely tough and well insulated proposition!

Below are three examples of some gorgeous composite doors as produced by Smyth Window Systems

Due to the structure of the composite door they have a huge strength to weight ratio and so are one of the most secure doors on the market. As you can see by the pictures of the doors above the wood grain finish is pretty much to die for! A very attractive addition to your home. Infact Smyths have designed a hinge especially for these doors which are concealed and these look so much better than the flag hinges that are more commonplace on composite doors and can be, dare we say it, a little bit tacky and unsightly!

Some of the features and advantages of composite doors include:

• Exceptionally secure doors due to their toughness and durability.
• Very similar in price to your normal uPVC door.
• High thermal insulation will keep the heat in your home, which is a must considering we are having a summer which is doing a great impression of winter in the UK right now!!
• You can get a large variety of colours and decorative glass designs with a composite door which if you are picky is another big bonus.
• Robust sound proofing keeps the noisy neighbours at bay!

So there we have it, if you didn`t know anything about composite doors you certainly do now, its been a pleasure to be of service.

The Hatton Garden Heist And Lessons To Be Learned

Now that 9 members of the Hatton Garden heist have been remanded in custody, to be brought to court at a later date, there are a few issues that this raises for the future and some questions to be asked.

One question I would like to ask is that why would a 76 year old risk everything by getting involved in such criminal activity? How many years has he got to live to enjoy the trappings of wealth in the unlikely event that he had managed to avoid being caught and convicted? All I can think is that he was not the brains of this organisation, although what else he could have brought to the table at the ripe old age of 76 I have no idea. Surely he could have stuck to gardening, bowling or running a flower stall?!!

The heist on Hatton Garden Safety Deposit Ltd was one of the biggest heists ever carried out in Britain and it is believed they made off around £200 million in jewellery and cash. What is very concerning is that the press and media are already romanticising these criminals by using language that to me is glamourising these thugs and criminals.

The heist has been called "daring" and even one of the detectives on the case said it had all the hallmarks of a "Hollywood Film Production". The police have also called the raid "highly audacious". No doubt producers are already getting their cast together and urging screenwriters to have something in place so that a film will be out before the year is out along with a TV series and books. And if, at their senior age, any of the heist members are still alive at the end of their sentence, which may be stretching it a bit, no doubt they will be paid a handsome sum for their memoirs.

It is believed that significant amounts of the jewels and the cash have now been recovered. To get into the vaults it is thought that the thieves disabled a lift and then abseiled down a shaft which I suppose is rather clever but they will not be feeling so clever now as they contemplate the rest of their life in custody.

I hope that the police have learnt some lessons from this and are more vigilant in the future when alarms are activated. Even with the huge cuts in the police service that the Tories have brought in I am sure they could have sent out a patrol, particularly when you look at the possible sums at stake.

Negative Inflation And How This Affects The UK

In April UK inflation actually turned negative for the first time since 1960!! Another term for negative inflation is deflation, a term which gets all economists running for the hills, so the government would rather use the term negative inflation to avoid any undue panic!

The inflation rate (the Consumer Price Index) fell to -0.1% in April and Chancellor George Osborne was quick to accentuate the positives of this negative inflation, saying that the lower cost of living which is mainly being driven by last years fall in oil prices would help the average family with their budget and he claimed that, with the slowly improving wages across various sectors, the feelgood factor would soon return to the UK.

The inflation rate is expected to stay low for the next few months at least with an estimated rise to about 2% by the end of the year.

Shadow Chancellor Chris Leslie of course saw the whole scenario in a completely different light and claimed that the majority of UK families are still struggling to pay the bills and these deflationary figures could reduce business enterprise, productivity and growth which would lead to even worse standards of living.

It all depends on if your glass is half full or half empty (or if you are Tory or Labour/UKIP/Lib Dem/Green/SNP!) as to whether you think the economy is running along the right lines. Certainly the government have kept the deficit under a modicum of control, but you could argue that their continual cost cutting measures have dampened down the economy and not allowed for the growth that could have helped us come out of the recession at a lot faster rate.

The most damning aspects of the last 5 years have been the ever increasing gap between the haves and have nots, the cuts to legal aid and legal services, the cuts in the benefits system, the proliferation of food banks as more and more people fall through the safety net, the cuts in the NHS and welfare services.

Many solicitors and legal experts are saying that the legal service is on the verge of collapse due to the huge cuts throughout the system, including cuts to legal aid, fees, court administration etc. People are not going to court and letting people and companies who should be prosecuted off the hook or they representing themselves, but badly.

It is a tough old world out there and it is important in these times to try to develop a sense of community and help as many people as you can. What doesn`t kill us makes us stronger.

Don`t Forget Your Last Will And Testament

Sorry to put a downer on your day but everyone at some point or other needs to think about their last Will and testament. If you have any family or friends or organisations you want your money to go to it is hugely important to have a Will so that you know your wishes will be adhered to. Once you actually get around to getting one drawn up it is actually a relief and a weight off your shoulders as you can rest easy knowing any property and possessions will be going to the people you truly want them to go to.

You can draw up a Will by yourself without having a professional helping you out, but in all honesty I would advise you to get in touch with a reputable Solicitor as they will ensure you have every base covered and there are no holes to pick at in your Will.

If you don`t have a Will when you pass away you have died intestate and there are certain rules that govern intestacy. Only married or civil partners, and some other close relatives can inherit under the rules of intestacy. Also if you have made a Will but it is found to be not legally valid then the rules of intestacy will decide how your estate is shared out. And if you are divorced, or legally separated from your civil partner, you cannot inherit any of the estate under intestacy. Passing away without a Will cam cause all manner of complications for the people you leave behind.

 When you make a Will you name an Executor, or Executors, and they will be directed to carry out the wishes of your Will. It is normal to name more than one Executor as if you only had one and something happened to the Executor or they are not available when you die there would be no-one to carry out the execution of your Will.

So in summary make sure you have a Will drawn up, particularly if you have family and you want to ensure that the right people inherit your estate. As more and more families in the last 20 to 30 years split up and then remarry it is important you sit down and think who you want to inherit your property, money and possessions.

The Simple, Easy, ONLY Way To Lose Weight AND Keep It Off

This will probably not come as much of a shock but there is really only one way to lose weight and there are 3 components to this weight loss regime. If you follow these simple instructions you will lose weight and lose it for good. It is not a diet plan as such but a way of life which is enjoyable and healthy and will leave you feeling fit as a fiddle!!

There is so much rubbish written about the weight loss industry, mainly because it is such a lucrative area, and there are so many people and companies selling pills and potions and their own method on how to lose 14 lbs in 14 days or something similar.

So here is how to cut through all the waffle and follow a simple plan that will never go out of fashion, simply because it works. Here are the 3 components:

1. Eat less, pure and simple. If you are eating a lot of food, no matter what type of food you are eating, you will put on weight. Your body will look bloated to cope with the amount of food you are digesting. If you think about it cows are nearly always on the plump side around the midriff and they only eat grass!! This is because they eat an inordinate amount of it so their stomachs become bloated. To stop eating too much food I suggest you get smaller plates and you only make as much food as you need, don`t make too much as the temptation will always be there to eat the extra food. Likewise if you eat out just have the main course instead of starter, mains and dessert!!!

2. Eat the right foods that will be easy to follow and easy to keep to, just don`t forget to control your portions and don`t eat late in the evening. Make sure around 40% of your intake is made up of fruit and vegetables, 30% made up of wholemeal pasta, wholemeal rice and potatoes, and 30% made up of meat or fish (if you don`t eat meat or fish you can substitute for beans and pulses. Make sure you have a good balance of different fruit, vegetables, meat, nuts and pulses and eat a good colour range so you are having green, red, yellow foods etc in the same dish. Now here is an important point, watch out with your sauces if you like them, there can be lots of bad trans-fats in many packaged sauces so read the labels, try to have more natural yogurt on your food and make your own sauces when you can so you know exactly what is in them. If you love your sauces just have a little on your food, don`t smother it!! If you can have fresh food rather than processed foods you will be a lot slimmer and also a lot healthier, rid your body of all the additives, colourings and hidden salt and sugar in processed food and you will feel better within a week I promise!

3. Lastly exercise. If you can burn off more calories than you are eating you will lose weight, very simple!! Exercise not only helps you lose weight but gets you in great shape and can keep your heart and organs healthy. If you are the sort of person who struggles to motivate themselves to exercise then join a fitness group or hire a personal trainer.

And that mon amis is my very easy to follow plan, of course you need to add meat to the bones of the plan regarding the foods you eat each day but follow these rules and you will lose weight and feel like a new person.

Let`s Hear It For Energy Efficient Windows!!

If you want to save energy in the home one of the best ways to do this is definitely by installing energy efficient windows. A large percentage of heat that you lose from your home escapes from your windows so having the right windows in you home can be a great boost in reducing your heating bills.

Types of energy saving windows you can install include double glazed windows, triple glazed windows or secondary glazed windows. Good energy efficient windows, besides saving you money on your heating bills and keeping you warm and cosy in your home, also reduces your carbon footprint and so is great for the environment. As well as reducing the loss of heat it will make your home a less draughty place and get rid of those cold spots in your house that drive you crazy!! Double or triple glazed windows will also cut out the noise levels from outside your home or from next door, which is particularly useful if you live on a busy road or you have noisy neighbours!! Lastly double or triple glazed windows, if you have an expert window installer who supplies you a quality product, can greatly reduce the amount of condensation in your home which can of course lead to dampness and mould.

Want to know how energy efficient windows work in practice? Well here goes:
Double glazed windows as you probably know have 2 sheets of glass with a gap of about 16mm in between them (the gap between the pains is often filled with gas) and this gap insulates the home to keep the heat in and reduce the chances of any condensation. Triple glazed windows have 3 sheets of glass so in theory give you even greater protection from draughts and heat loss.

Make sure you get a good window supplier as it is vital the windows are installed correctly and that they are of superior quality. They must be installed so no air escapes through the windows, they should let plenty of sunlight through and of course they should insulate and keep the heat in your home.  

`Crazy Miss Cokehead` Gets Awarded £3.2 Million In Compensation For Sexual Harrassment

Svetlana Lokhova, who was dubbed as `Crazy Miss Cokehead`, among many other things, has been awarded £3.2 million after a tribunal agreed that she had been sexually harrassed at work. This is a huge payout, particularly for someone who had only 1 years employment with Sberbank CIB, but there were factors that led the tribunal to award this amount of compensation for her claims.

Ms Lokhova was awarded £44,000 by the court for her hurt feelings and a further £15,000 compensation was awarded in aggravated damages. But the bulk of the compensation, £3.14 million, was awarded towards her future loss of earnings. This was because her annual salary was £750,000 per year at Sberbank CIB, working in equity sales, and in fact her legal team had claimed compensation of £19 million for her loss of earnings etc, but this figure was dismissed as it was felt she could certainly gain employment again, albeit it was not likely that it would be in the banking industry.

Ms Lokhova had made a total of 22 claims but only 3 of them were actually upheld which included sexual harrassment, gender related discrimination and constructive dismissal. Some of the claims she made, besides that she was named `Crazy Miss Cokehead`, was that she was sent a raft of abusive emails, her boss had said she had an "unfortunate natural brain chemistry", she had been accused of being a drug addict, and all her complaints had been totally ignored.

The scale of the victimisation led to her being forced to go off sick in January 2012 and she resigned altogether in April 2012.

The moral of this story, if you are an employer, is to ensure that you have a zero tolerance against any offensive or denigrating behavior and that you always take any claims by an employee seriously and follow them up. The fact that in this case they did not and that the managers were also involved with this offensive behavior led to the employment tribunal awarding such a large payout.

If you are planning on claiming compensation for unfair dismissal or you need legal help in any other area of employment law check out Gus Campbell Solicitors who can give you advice on how to proceed.

Using QR Codes

QR Codes are becoming more and more commonplace now and I am sure if you look around you when out and about you will see them on the side of vans, in shop windows and on leaflets and posters. That`s not to say you know what they are for or how to use them!! I would say that the majority of the population have an idea of what they are but they maybe don`t know all the ins and outs of them.

QR Code is short for a Quick Response Code and it is basically machine readable code in the form of black and white squares, and in the main they are used for storing URL`s, so that when they are scanned on a smartphone they take the scanner to a website. All websites can have their own unique QR Code.

It is easy, if you have a smartphone, to download a free QR Code scanner onto your phone which will enable you to scan QR Codes. If you have an android phone you can go to the Google Play store and there are a few different scanners you can choose from, and if you have an iPhone you can go to the Apple store to download one. Once you have downloaded a scanner whenever you want to use it you simply open up the App and scan the QR Code and it will take you directly to the website it is connected to.

And if you have a website it is very easy to create a QR Code for the site, you don`t have to be a technological genius and it doesn`t have to cost you a penny. I use a website called http://www.qrcode-monkey.com/ where you just put your website URL in the box provided and click Create QR Code and you can then download your QR in either PDF or EPS format.

QR Codes are fantastic promotional tools to use with any advertising literature, you can put them on company vehicles, shop windows, on emails, the list is endless. The use of them is going to become much more widespread in the coming weeks and months so it is a good time to start using them now, particularly if you have a business.

Online Solutions

Check out Online Solutions from the following pictures, sometimes pictures say more than a thousand words!! Online Solutions have a team of experts who help any business or organisation to improve their online presence in a variety of ways.