London is one of the most sought after places to live on the planet. People from all corners of the world would love the chance to live in this energetic and vibrant city. Whether you’re moving closer to your family or for your job, living in London is unlike anywhere in the world. You have incredible shopping destinations, endless culture and fabulous entertainment right on your doorstep. But due to it’s popularity, buying a home in London can be challenging. From high house prices to finding a suitable area, there is plenty of things you must consider. To make the process easier, there are three things you must do first.

Do your homework

London is an enormous city that is full of different boroughs all of which have their own unique qualities. Use accommodation search engines, talk to friends and search on Google to establish which boroughs might appeal to you. Do plenty of research into each one including property types, transport links and local entertainment. The house prices will also vary from borough to borough and how close you want to live to the city centre. So find out what the average prices are as this will help you budget and plan ahead. If you have a family, you should also research what schools, parks and attractions are in each borough too. This should help you choose some viable places to start your search.

Visit the city

It’s not alway wise to move somewhere you have never been before. So if you have never visited London before, you should always take the time to do so before moving here. You may find that city life is not for you after all or that the areas you can afford to buy in aren’t what you thought they would be like. If you have visited before, you should still visit again but from the perspective of a buyer not a tourist. You can spend your visit contacting Canary Wharf estate agents or viewing potential properties. Try to fit in as many viewings as you can to see what options are available. You can also use this time to explore the borough’s you researched previously. Doing this will help you determine whether moving here is right at this moment in time.

Look for work

With people from the UK and beyond looking for employment in London you face stiff competition. The sooner you start your search for work the better. If you work for a large company, you may be able to relocate to their London office. Or you might want to look for something completely different to what you are doing now. Sign up to recruitment sites or contact an agency to help you find a suitable role. Securing work should be a top priority as it will help to fund your new home and life.

Whatever your reason for wanting to move to London, these tips will help make the transition go a lot smoother. Take the time to do each action and carefully consider each decision you make. Acting on impulse may sound exciting, but it could have expensive repercussions.

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There are many times in your life when you might require a lawyer. But, how do you hire the best one for the job? In today’s piece, I’ve written you a short guide on hiring legal representation:

Check Their Track Record

It can be hard to figure out whether or not you’re hiring the best lawyer possible. One easy way to determine this is if you check their track record. See how many cases they’ve won and lost over the years. Typically, the best lawyers will brag about their record. If they win more than they lose, you can bet they’ll let everyone know about it. It will be plastered all over their website to show off how good they are at their job. If you can’t find anything about their track record, then you should enquire. To put yourself in the best possible situation, you want a lawyer that wins the majority of their cases. It’s also important that you take their experience into account as well. You need someone with years of experience behind them, as this can help them get the result you need.

Look For Specialists

Different legal cases require a different type of legal representation. There are many types of lawyer that are best suited for particular legal needs. If you need help with a personal injury claim, then you should go to a personal injury lawyer. Should you require help with a will, then there are firms like Ronald Fletcher and Co. that specialise in this area. Different people have different legal needs; it’s important you find a specialist lawyer that fits your requirements. It doesn’t make sense to hire someone that rarely ventures into the legal field you need help in. When looking for lawyers, check what services they offer and whether or not they fit your case.

Always Check For ‘No Win No Fee’ Offers

I find it’s crucial that you look for a law firm that offers no win no fee on some of their cases. This means that if they don’t win, you won’t have to pay them a penny. You find these offers in most personal injury and negligence cases. I think it’s essential to look for this, as it can save you lots of money. No one wants to pay for a lawyer that ends up losing their case. By hiring someone on a no win no fee basis, you give yourself a bit of security.

Understand Your Budget

The final piece of advice I can give you is arguably the most important. It’s key that you understand your budget and don’t pay for more than you can afford. You must recognise that legal disputes can go on for a very long time. Overpaying for a lawyer can mean that you end up struggling for money.

There are many problems in life that can be solved with the help of a lawyer. It’s important you realise how to hire one correctly. Hire the wrong lawyer, and you could end up in a very bad financial situation.

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Working from home is something many of us wish we could do. It gives you control and freedom over your schedule and workload. As well as increasing the time you spend with your family by removing long commutes to and from work. But many people overlook their security and how it can effect their new business venture. Regardless of what type of business you are running, not having a secure home office can be dangerous. A burglar can easily gain access not only to your business equipment but to the rest of your home too. So to reduce the risk of this happening, use these simple ways to start boosting your security.

Install computer security

Burglars are not the only threat to your home business. Hackers, identity thieves and cyber criminals could also target your business. The tablet, laptop or computer you use for your business most likely has plenty of vital information on it that assists you in your daily task. These can include customer details and bank records. If hackers got hold of this information, they could quickly steal from you and ruin your business. So it’s essential that you install computer security such as anti-virus, firewalls, and anti-spam. Passwords are also something you should regularly be using. Keep this software regularly up to date to ensure your business records and files are protected.

Check your office windows and doors

Whether your office is upstairs or downstairs, checking the windows and doors is an integral first step. Firstly, you need to check the locks are fully operable. If they aren’t, you need to have them replaced or repaired by a professional. Deadbolt locks are a popular choice as they are difficult to break into. Check the frames both inside and out to make sure they cannot be pulled off or tampered with. These too will need to be repaired or replaced if not up to scratch. You can also add security screen doors and windows to your home office. These will act as a deterrent to thieves while also allowing plenty of sunlight to enter the space.

Keep your keys and codes hidden

If you leave keys in a door or have your safe code on display, thieves will be more tempted to break in. As horrible as it is to believe, even people you know and invite into your home can take advantage of this. So always keep all keys to your home and home office out of view and preferably locked away somewhere safe. Choose codes that have sentimental value for alarm systems, safes and briefcases. This will make them more memorable, just try not to make them too obvious. It may be inconvenient to have to do this, but it with improve your security no end.

Now you know what you have to do, make the effort to get your security up to a high standard. As well as protecting your home, they can also protect your livelihood. So don’t tempt burglars in and implement these security boosting techniques as soon as possible.

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Our finances are our bread and butter, the feature of our lives that makes everything tick. With taxes, cheques, loans, credit and mortgages, the whole thing can become slightly overwhelming. So, just what can you do to help yourself help your money?

The online space is a wonderful tool with many assets. This means there are no shortage of ways to pull your money organisation together, and here are but a few of them.

1. Online and mobile banking

It’s surprising to learn that so many people still aren’t banking online. In fact, in a relatively recent survey, it was revealed that only 51 percent of adults bank online regularly. What about that other 49 percent?!

There are certain stigmas surrounding online banking, and they’re understandable. They are generally believed by the older generations, and most of them are concerned with security risks. And while it’s true that online banking is as safe as you make it, it’s far more beneficial that just using a branch.

You can send and receive payments, check statements and open new bank accounts in minutes. In fact, it takes mere minutes to open a brand new bank account from the comfort of your laptop – I can attest to that. So, if you aren’t banking online or on the go yet, consider it. It could be the solution you need to better organise your money.

2. Receive financial supplies with the click of a mouse

The rise of online shopping and giants like Amazon has made it pretty easy to find a wide range of commodities on the internet. You can now order cheques online, buy bank books and even browse for credit and bank cards, to arrive within days. It sure beats the old-fashioned method of strolling down to your local vault and requesting some documents.

Part of the solution to organised financials is saving time. Just like online banking in point number one, you don’t have to lift a finger with the online space. You can order everything you need and check your bank statement within two minutes, while watching Game of Thrones.

3. Tracking income and expenses with ease

As many self-employed contractors and business owners will attest to, tracking finances is difficult. With the latest news that could see the introduction of a quarterly tax return, it’s never been more important to watch our money.

Luckily, it’s simple to do so. A service such as Google Sheets is a cloud-based spreadsheet creator, that can tot up your daily, weekly and yearly earnings with ease. What’s more, you can access it anywhere that has an internet connection, from the airport to the library.

4. Send invoices quickly and hassle-free

Jumping back into self-employment, businesses around the world will have heard of the dreaded invoice. If you forget to send it, you don’t get paid. It can be a hard document to organise, especially if you’re owed a lot of different amounts of cash. If your business wants to make money, you’ll need to use these documents every week – but how to do so efficiently?

Well, luckily, the internet is here to help. Using an online invoicing tool you can even schedule invoices to go out on certain dates. You could even line up your invoices for the next month, or two months. Additionally, like Google Sheets, many of these systems are cloud-based, so you can update them and send from anywhere.

Hopefully these tips have helped you somewhat. Our money is our most precious commodity, so give it the attention it deserves!

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For your business to carry on running smoothly and growing, it needs to have everyone pulling in the same direction. If this is not happening, then it will limit the success of the business and cause productivity to drop. Employee absenteeism is one of the biggest problems associated with this, and here’s what you should do about it.

Make the Policies Clear

Your business should have clear policies in place to deal with absenteeism. If you want people to follow the rules, they need to know exactly what those rules are. So, hold a team meeting and discuss the rules so that everyone understands what they are. You should also make it clear what happens if those rules are broken by any of the employees.

Allow Absent Employees to Give a Genuine Reason

Before you jump to any rash conclusions about why an employee has been absent, give them a chance to explain. It’s usually the case that people have a perfectly good reason for not turning up for work. It might be related to something that is happening in their private life, for example. You need to be understanding and listen to what they have to say before you take any further action.

Motivate Employees to Come to Work

If you don’t want people to be absent from work, then you should give them more reasons to come. It might be the case that your workplace is demoralised and depressed. This is not the kind of environment that people enjoy working in. So, motivate them or change the way the office functions to increase employees satisfaction. Satisfied employees are absent less than dissatisfied employees.

Investigate Persistent Absenteeism

When an employee is taking lots of time off work, you should investigate what is going on. If your requests for answers are not getting you anywhere, then it might be time to take things further. You could even hire a private detective to help you get to the bottom of the problem if you’re really concerned. This will help to find out what is happening and why it’s happening.

Show That This Has Consequences

After the investigation has been completed, you should act. That means disciplining the person who has been absent without a proper reason. You don’t necessarily have to fire them if this is their first offence. But you should make an example of them by giving them a written warning. And then, if they did the same thing again, they would either be sacked or given a final warning.

Lead by Example

One thing you should do is lead by example. If you are the kind of boss who turns up late and is rarely in the office, then this will encourage employees to try and get away with the same. Of course, you won’t be able to be there all the time, but it’s a good idea to make your presence felt. You can’t expect other people to want to spend time in your office if you don’t enjoy being there.

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