TopGun

The spaghetti hoops in Asda are the best own label ones. This is my contribution.

Blue badge drivers parking in moronic places on double yellows is bad enough. Witless idea.

A friend has one. She is forever taking it into the garage to get things fixed on it and it is very expensive to do so. Nevertheless she's happy to fork out on it as she enjoys it when it's working. It's her first car although she is 30. She pays £2k per year on the insurance!

Apparently these are notes from a recent shareholder meeting: Shareholding: - 2,061 community shareholders in PST enabling PST to invest £2.47m in shares in PCFC giving a 57% shareholding as it stands. - 11 Presidents (HNWI) investing £1.65m - There are still £110,000 community shares to be processed. 350 £100 pledges still to be converted but none have asked for their £100 back. - Current share issue to run to December with a business scheme for community shares about to start - ie getting local businesses to buy group community shares. _____________________________________________ Club Business Achievements: - New website that makes money creating a new revenue stream - New ticketing system that will make us more money than the old one by saving us a high 6 figure sum over 5 years - New kit manufacturer in a deal that will bring in a high 6 figure sum of guaranteed revenue. 5 year deal with a 3rd year break clause. Sondico deal has allowed increase in player budget - New shop scheduled to open this week - Refurbished lounges, kiosks, all catering insourced, new staff. - 10,300 season tickets sold - New sponsors - New programme _____________________________________________ Increased Revenue - Sponsorship income up 90% - Hospitality income already up 41% on all of last season - still more to come over the season - Advertising income up 128% - Merchandising income up 1680% (admitedly from very low base) _____________________________________________ Costs cut - Overheads down 10% - Indirect costs (no idea what these are) down 15% - Wages down 7.5% (Not sure if this includes players - I suspect not) _____________________________________________ Player budget Currently our wages to turnover ratio is 34% against the 55% the Lg 2 SCMP allows us. We target in furure years to get 55% of every penny that comes into the club onto the pitch. Nothing can possibly go wrong I tell you!

I was pleased to see my made up News story came true.

Top post.

Quite sad really. Is anyone here affected? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-23432322 I wonder what will happen to the site?

Born in Bridgend, grew up in Southampton, lived in Liverpool, London and now Manchester since 1998.

Ferry told the News: "I could have gone to a number of other clubs in the Championship and League 1 but I knew that Pompey is where I wanted to be. I was in absolute awe of the supporters at Fratton Park when Swindon played there last season. I think they're the loudest fans in the country. "I know that the board don't have the money to pay me at the moment but I've been told that's not a problem as they are collecting money in buckets in the local pubs and it's not true about having to pay something called a CVA."

Yeah, but the game took place just three days after Real Madrid where their lunatic chairman charged fans £60 for an adult ticket.

Time to dust off my sex pistols CD.

FWIW I don't see the naming contest getting much beyond George!

This is true. History tells us that revolutions happen incredibly quickly.

I quite agree. The Common has not been the same for the last 15 years.

It's just vapid politics as I said before. There is little that such a change can affect but if it satisfies a few, then fine. It's just posturing and I think it can be left at that.

Lol. My self imposed news exile is now underway. Probably for some time.

By that reckoning any young kid should be allowed to go to a cinema to watch an 18 film. Or is that different?

How does it work in Iowa? FWIW I'm not against the move particularly as it doesn't change much in reality but might make it more difficult for kids to view porn before they're ready. But it's not going to stop adults signing in and then watching whatever they do now. So it's largely a political statement by DC aimed at getting a few votes from parents IMO. In the grand scheme of things it won't cost much to introduce fairly innocuous legislation that placates worried mums and dads. All it means is that new broadband packages come with an unlock facility.

Isn't the being "able to move freely" exactly the sticking point with UKIP and their supporters? "Bloody foreigners taking our jobs" etc...

Excellent summing up.

So the Haford deal has fallen through... http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/22/newcastle-united-mick-harford-joe-kinnear Reading between the lines, it seems the idea was that Pardew concentrates on team matters, Harford would focus on lower league talent, thus freeing Kinnear up for an more international and PL type role... Lol.

I expect that Japan is saying: "Why should we take a risk on the UK remaining as our trade gateway to Europe if the UK might pull out? We may as well relocate our investment and transitional businesses to another port country such as the Netherlands."

I assume that they believe that trade barriers could be put in place if the UK left the EU.

http://www.hl.co.uk/shares/aim-and-small-cap-news/aim-bulletin/wh-ireland-drops-as-profits-tank WH Ireland, the AIM-listed financial services group serving the smaller company market, saw shares fall sharply on Friday after the company reported that profits more than halved in its first half. Pre-tax profit totalled just £0.06m in the six months to May 31st, down from £0.19m the year before, as the bottom line was hit by £0.15m fair value losses on investments, compared with £0.07m gains previously. Group revenue rose just 3.6% to £13.1m, as an 18% increase in turnover in the Private Wealth Management division (to £1.3m) was offset by a 23.3% fall in the Corporate Broking unit (to £0.9m). "The board is pleased with the progress that has been made during the period, although this is not yet fully reflected in the group's financial performance," said Chairman Rupert Lowe. Private Wealth Management was strengthened by the acquisition of the Seymour Pierce private client business part way through the first half. This helped funds under management jumped by 31.9% during the six-month period to £2.27bn. "Despite the wider challenges that the sector faces at present, the board is pleased with WH Ireland's strong position and is optimistic about the medium and longer term growth prospects for the group," Lowe said. The stock was down 6.99% at 57.2p. Don't think I want to buy into this company!

So with all those contacts in his phone Kinnear has asked his old Wimbledon player Mick Hartford to join him at Newcastle!