Charities are alive and kicking!!!

With more people slowly heading back out to the high streets and defying the credit crunch in search of Christmas presents and goods, experts were wondering how long and in some situations even if charity shops could survive?

The answer; with 17 days to go until Christmas day, Charities are still going strong and some charities have even noticed an increase in sales and customers.

Charms Charity shop on Plungington Street, Preston, say’s it’s not seen the effect of the credit crunch in its shop but by contrast they’ve seen more business. “We’ve certainly had no problems and if anything, strangely we’ve seen more customers in here recently.”

The Catholic Caring Charity shop, also on Plungington Street, Preston, is another one of the charity shops that has not been affected by the credit crunch, as it claims to have “steady and sustained” sales and business at the minute.

Manager of the shop Linda Byrne has been impressed by how well the store continues to do and is not worried by the credit crunch at all. “I personally don’t feel the credit crunch has altered our business, really it’s just been steady and it continues to be so.”

“Maybe it’s just because it’s the run up to Christmas, but I don’t think any of it has got to do particularly with the credit crunch.” Either way, Linda is hoping for Christmas to finish on the same high note and the New Year to come in with a bang.

It’s a Christmas, Credit Crunch Backlash.

Despite the fact that the average Joe owes £33,000 in loans according to recent reports, shoppers have slowly started to head back out onto the high street and in particular online in search of a happy Christmas.

Recent reports have shown a small increase in high street retailer’s sales with more and more people slowly hitting the streets to do some Christmas shopping.

This increase comes less than a month on following, PricewaterhouseCoopers warning that shoppers would be “facing severe restrictions on their spending as lenders reject credit card applications and reduce debt limits.”

The statement which cited that an “increasing number of households were stretched to their borrowing capacity, which in turn would hit consumer spending”, also noted that “consumer spending held up well in the third quarter of the year.”

Whilst high street retailer’s are reporting small increases in numbers, online spending habits are still high and aren’t about to change according to the U.K’s leading comparison site.

A recent survey conducted by Kelkoo found that a “surprising 60% won’t be changing their spending habits this year, in spite of gloomy economic conditions.” So it looks like it’s still going to be a merry Christmas for some……..hopefully.

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World leaders urge reform of world finance

I have just read an interesting article on how World leaders following a summit in Beijing have called for a "comprehensive reform of the global financial system." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7690730.stm)

What i find interesting about this article is how the world leaders are almost looking past the current financial disaster and looking into the future to stopping this from happening again. In all honesty im all for a reform if it would stop another financial meltdown from occuring but should it be at the expense of us focusing on the current one. Shouldn't world leaders be focusing on ending the current financial crisis before they think about a reform???

You can find the article here: ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7690730.stm).

Lancashire Police call for help over bank crisis

I have just read an interesting article about how Lancashire's Police Authority are seeking advice and assurance following the collapse and nationalisation of Icelandic bank Landsbanki, following their investment of less than £1 million with the bank. It would appear that it is not only the County Councils' of Lancashire that are in crisis following the banks nationalisation on Tuesday. Take a look at the article here: http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/3749812.Lancs_police_authority_call_for_government_help_over_Icelandic_bank_crisis/

Lancashire Councils set to lose big after Icelandic bank collapse

The credit crunch may well have hit closer to home after several of Lancashire's County Councils' maybe set to lose up to £10 million following the collapse of Icelandic bank Landsbanki.

The Lancashire Councils' including: Lancaster, Chorley, South Ribble and Burnley had all invested money in Landsbanki as a short-term measure before the credit crisis.

Lancashire County Council has the most, having invested £10 million with Landsbanki. Lancaster Council has £6 million, South Ribble £5 million, Chorley £2 million and Burnley Council £1 million all invested with the bank.

Lancashire County Councillor, Tony Martin claims it is not as bad as it first seems. " While this is a large amount of money, it represents less than 2% of the total amount of the county council's current investments". (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7661668.stm)

Mr. Martin, has also urged people to remain calm and not to panic. "We are doing everything possible to bring this issue to a positive conclusion". (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7661668.stm)

The question is will the Government have to step in and help the County Councils', and if so will the Government be able to guarantee them against any losses they may suffer? Also, is Gordon Brown doing enough as Primeminister during this time of Global repression? If you have any thoughts on the article or these questions please feel free to post them.

Two articles that may be useful in understanding this post or for further information are:
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Council-could-lose-10m-tied.4576265.jp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7661668.stm

Welcome to my blog

Welcome to my blog. This is a new blog for my Digital Newsroom module JN2053. This blog is designed to talk about business news and issues in the Lancashire and North-West area. Please feel free to comment on anything you read.