Riders signing up for Britain's newest and most expensive charity cycling sportive could be forgiven for thinking that part of their entry fee goes direct to a good cause.
After all, the official title of the event is the Marie Curie Cancer Care Etape Pennines.
Together with its well established big brother north of the border, the Etape Caledonia, it charges the highest entry fee on the sportive calendar – £61. Yet none of that goes to the charity.
Instead, all profits go to one of the richest showbiz and sport talent agencies in the world, IMG, which includes Rafael Nadal, Justin Timberlake and Tyra Banks among its clients.
5,000 riders took part in May's Etape Caledonia. Almost 3,000 have signed up for the Etape Pennines, which takes place in County Durham on 7 October. That's a turnover of nearly £500,000.
Both events are closed-road sportives - yet does this really justify the high entry fee, especially as none of it goes to charity?
IMG certainly thinks so. In response to this question, it emailed me a list of what the entry fee covers. Included were all the things provided by other, cheaper sportives, such as "medical support" and "comprehensive ecommunications before and after the event making the experience as smooth as possible".
The list also included "paying a large number of stewards and marshals", even though the websites for both events make it clear these are volunteers who receive only "agreed travel expenses".
And finally there was this: "Paying for the right to host events in some of the most beautiful locations in the country."
As the largest independent producer of sports programmes in the world, IMG's television division may well have to pay for the use of certain locations, but as far as I'm aware, no one has to pay "for the right" to host a cycling event on public roads in the UK, even if they are closed to motorized traffic. Instead, they have to apply to the local council for a road closure order and pay for policing costs.
In the case of the 81-mile Etape Caledonia, Perth and Kinross Council charged IMG their standard rate of £500 for the road closure order. In the case of the 78-mile Etape Pennine, this service was provided free by Durham county council.
The cost of policing such events is a slightly more complex issue. Neither of the two police forces concerned would tell me how much they charge for road-closures of this nature, but a set of official guidelines issued to chief police officers in England and Wales last year might provide a clue as to why IMG chose to share the name of its events with a well-known charity.
Under this "guidance on charging for police services", forces are encouraged to offer "abatements" of up to 50% for "charitable events". The Marie Curie Cancer Care Etape Pennines would conceivably qualify as just such an event.
IMG are obviously in the business of making money, whether that be from securing a lucrative endorsement deal for Maria Sharapova or charging "weekend warriors" a high price for their regular endorphin fix. The benefits to them of running Britain's biggest cycling events are obvious. But what's in it for the charity?
When I put this question to IMG, they emailed me back:
"We give them a large number of complimentary places (over 500) for them to use for fundraising purposes."
I read "complimentary" as meaning the entry fees for these places would go directly to the charity or be waived completely. I was wrong. This is what Ali Cameron from Marie Curie told me:
"Once the event sells to the point where there are only 500 places left, the £61 registration fee still goes directly to the organisers but these riders will also be required to commit to raise a minimum of £250 for Marie Curie. They automatically become Daffodil Team members. This is the stage we are currently at."
Only after these places have sold out do 50 "gold bond" places become available, where the £61 entry fee goes direct to Marie Curie.
To a regular rider and charity supporter such as myself, it seems a shame that IMG can't be more upfront on their website about the fact none of the entry fee goes to Marie Curie. Several veterans of the Etape Caledonia I spoke to were surprised when I told them this was the case. "None of it went to charity? And all I got was a crappy water bottle?" said one.
It's also a shame that Marie Curie feel the need to use a pan-global, profit-driven event management group to run their Etapes. Other charities, such as the British Heart Foundation and Action Medical Research, successfully run their own fundraising bike rides in which 100 per cent of the profits goes to them.
Last month, I did the 80-mile Cairn O'Mount Challenge sportive which raises money for development charities in Malawi. It cost me £25. The roads weren't closed, but the route was so well designed – taking in back roads and part of the National Cycle Route 1 – that we hardly saw any motorised traffic anyway.
Other than that, it offered exactly the same features as the Caledonia and Pennines Etapes, ranging from well-stocked feed stations, marshals, clear signage, timing chips and even a certificate at the end (finishers at the Etape Caledonia received a plastic medal).
But the most satisfying part of it all was the knowledge that, according to the website, "at least £20" of my entry fee was going direct to a good cause.
Mark Cuban loses $200,000 in shoddy Facebook stock, shrugs it off as ‘gambling money’ - YAHOO!
Mark Cuban, at the exact point the gypsy cursed him and his finances (Getty Images)
The most common response to the news of a fined NBA player? That the $20,000 or so that they just lost is "spending money," or "pocket change." NBA players can't really come out and call it "gambling money," because that wouldn't look good, but that's exactly the phrase Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban used when he copped to losing around $200,000 on lagging Facebook stock recently.
Cuban, who is worth $2.3 billion, approached his losses with humor and wit in an interview with CNBC, admitting that he bought 150,000 shares of the stock at a price that totaled around $5 million and dumped his stake in the company as soon as it became obvious that the investment was a dud. Cuban, who made his millions through technology innovation but his billions through developing Internet startup companies, ended up losing close to $200,000 in the move. Or, about one-twentieth of the average NBA salary. From The Daily Mail:
'My thesis was wrong,' Cuban said in a CNBC interview. 'I thought we'd get a quick bounce just with some excitement about the stock. I was wrong, and when you're wrong you don't wait, you just get out. I took a beating and left.'
The Facebook stock is currently down nearly a fifth of its initial public offering price, even after a slight rebound (get it!) on Tuesday. The Daily Mail went on to remind us that Facebook's public plunge was the biggest money loser of any publicly traded company in the U.S. that was working over the $1 billion threshold in terms of overall worth. Cuban went on to blame the sheer amount of available Facebook stock as the reason for the company's failure in this realm, comparing it to LinkedIn's relatively tame and successful IPO from 2011.
[Related: Adrian Wojnarowski: Hornets won't need to see a workout before drafting Anthony Davis]
Cuban then went on to point out that, in his own inimitable fashion, he's having a little fun with his picking and public choosing. From the Daily Mail's recap of his interview with CNBC:
'It was gambling money, to be honest with you,' he said on Monday. 'Any time you try to time the market, you get what you deserve. Sometimes you're right. Sometimes you're wrong. This time I was wrong.'
Luckily not "Evan Eschmeyer"-wrong, in reference to the struggling center Cuban's Mavericks once signed to a six-year, $23 million dollar deal. That's some real dough, compared to Cuban's $200,000 Facebook hit — a reminder that, yes, this stuff really is pocket change, or even "gambling money," to some of our NBA friends.
And anytime Mark Cuban wants to gamble on helping me with my next car payment, he's more than welcome.
Related video from Yahoo! Sports:
Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
• Marc J. Spears: Shane Battier hopes to become second of Coach K's Duke players with NBA title
• Tim Brown: What's behind Matt Cain's perfect game and a plethora of no-hitters?
• Elite Athlete Workouts video: Swimmer Nathan Adrian tapering for success for London
• Y! Shine: Adidas "Shackle" sneakers create controversy
Stratton Finance Turns to Network Performance Experts SevOne to Monitor Its Mission Critical Network - msnbc.com
WILMINGTON, DE — SevOne, the leader in IT performance management, today announced it has been successfully deployed by Stratton Finance, one of Australia's leading finance and insurance brokers, where it was selected as the supplier of choice for infrastructure performance monitoring capabilities and capacity planning.
"With a dramatically increasing number of network devices to monitor and manage, only SevOne provides me with truly real-time reports on my network's health," stated Damien Emmerson, System Administrator, Stratton Finance. "This is critical because I need to know that I have an emerging network problem before it occurs, not after the fact. While other solutions claim the ability to scale to accommodate the dramatic increase in devices on the network, only SevOne is able to actually deliver on that promise."
Following an evaluation of a few performance management tools, the organization identified SevOne to help ensure real-time data access so that it can actually see what requirements are needed and better plan for future infrastructure needs as well. As a financial services firm, the company needs to always know that it has ample access to network and system resources, and the SevOne solution meets this need with the highest levels of performance, scalability, and interoperability.
"We are pleased that Stratton has selected SevOne to improve the way in which it is conducting business," stated Bill Conners, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales for SevOne. "One item that has proven to be valuable for the company is response time in terms of being able to diagnose network issues. The company is now able to predict problems before they occur. We look forward to helping Stratton achieve success as it continues its network monitoring efforts."
About Stratton Finance
Stratton Finance is one of Australia's leading finance brokers, providing car finance, equipment finance, property finance, boat finance, insurance broking and more. Established in 1998, Stratton has grown into a national business with tens of thousands of happy customers all over Australia. Stratton Finance has achieved impressive growth over the past 14 years, cementing a competitive advantage in the industry with a focus on technology. As a result Stratton is the leading provider of finance and insurance solutions in Australia.
About SevOne
SevOne, Inc. delivers the industry's fastest, most scalable, and comprehensive real-time network monitoring, troubleshooting and performance reporting solution. SevOne created a proprietary, next-generation distributed technology, called the SevOne Cluster™, that combines the cutting edge principles behind peer-to-peer sharing and big data clusters to scale smoothly so that millions of network elements, across all monitoring technologies, can be monitored and provide a single view to the user. Hundreds of customers, including the top cable companies in North America, wireless network and managed service providers, and top financial services institutions rely on SevOne. Visit www.sevone.com.
© Marketwire 2012
Expat rates: savers have an Irish reason to be cheerful - Daily Telegraph
It is not the top one-year fixed rate, which is the 3.5pc offered by Alliance & Leicester International, Permanent Bank International and Bank of Ireland (IOM).
However, for savers who want to fix for a longer period, Skipton has a rate of 4pc fixed for three years on a minimum £10,000, which equals the rate offered by Lloyds TSB International and Clydesdale International and is the best on offer over this time scale. For two years, the best fixed rate at the moment is Clydesdale International’s 3.8pc on a minimum £10,000.
And Clydesdale International, which has reaffirmed its commitment to the expat market after its owner, National Australia Bank, conducted a review into its European operations and left the Guernsey-based offshore arm untouched, has also made a change to one of its variable rate accounts.
Clydesdale’s 95 Day Account will now pay 2.1pc on a minimum opening deposit of £10,000. The rate includes a bonus on top of the 1.4pc interest rate and the bonus will be paid until December 31 2012. Savers can opt to defer interest to a future date if they wish – this can be a useful tool for tax planning. James Blower, managing director at Clydesdale Bank International, said: “The account itself provides a useful tool for tax-planning purposes, the addition of the bonus makes it an even more attractive proposition.”
At 2.1pc, this isn’t the top paying notice account – you can get 2.65pc on a minimum £25,000 also on 95-day notice from Nationwide International or 2.75pc from Skipton International if you are prepared to give 180 days (six months) notice for withdrawal and if you deposit at least £100,000. However, as you can get 2.5pc on easy access on £25,000 from Nationwide International, you may not want to have an account which requires notice.
Sponsored by:
A valuable lesson in pocket money - The Independent
No wonder experts say parents should introduce their children to basic financial matters at an earlier age than ever. "Teaching children the value of money from an early age provides a good foundation for their future spending habits, and sends positive messages about managing finances and living within one's means," explains Simon Walsh, spokesman for Family Lives. "Their observations of how you spend, save, budget and donate to charities can shape early views about money management."
Get them involved in making their own financial decisions too. "My eight-year-old son Henry knows that if he wants something, he must select a few items he no longer wants, photograph them, write a description and put them on eBay," says Rebecca Gunn, 39, who lives in Bedfordshire.
Like many parents, Gunn also uses pocket money to help her son to understand its value. "It stops him walking into a shop wanting everything he sees. It makes him think about what he wants and he enjoys weighing up the pros and cons of things as the week goes on."
Research from Equifax reveals a growing emphasis on encouraging children to "earn" their pocket money through basic chores such as washing up and tidying up. The average amount children receive, according to another survey by Halifax, is £4.57 for 8-11 year-olds and £7.02 for 12-15 year olds. "Each of my two children, aged five and seven, has a special job around the house once a week," says Sarah Brown, a 40-year-old mother from Kent. "It means they realise they need to contribute something to earn money."
A vital component of the pocket money concept, she believes, is that kids discover their own spending power. "This is where, as a parent, you have to get the balance right between parental advice and allowing your child to make their own decisions – and therefore mistakes. It's definitely given my children an understanding, which did not exist a year ago, of how important it is to know how much things cost," says Brown. "Even simple things like checking the price tag on the box to see if it's affordable, is not something you see many kids do. Perhaps most satisfying of all is that my eldest, has opened a bank account and is already beginning to grasp the concept of interest."
When your children hit their teens, consider swapping pocket money for a monthly allowance, but the same principles apply, advises Pritee Chohan, Money for Life Programme volunteer and a branch manager for Halifax. "Sit them down to explain the differences between the savings accounts on offer and help them to budget for that holiday with friends or for driving lessons. By the time they leave home, they should have all the money savvy they need to make a great start in life."
10 questions Money Advice Service needs to answer - Money Marketing
Money Advice Service chairman Gerard Lemos and chief executive Tony Hobman (pictured) will be grilled by the Treasury select sub-committee this afternoon in what could be a bruising encounter.
MPs are investigating the service and last week they heard from FSA panels, debt advice organisations, the ABI and moneysavingexpert founder Martin Lewis. All had some stern words for the service.
So, what are the questions Lemos and Hobman must have answers for?
1) What is the point of the Money Advice Service?
Last week, in a stinging attack on MAS, sub-committee chair George Mudie asked those giving evidence what MAS’s role is. You could hear a pin drop. FSA Consumer Panel chair Adam Phillip’s suggestion that MPs should ask MAS was the best anyone could come up with. They are sure to want answers.
2) Is Tony Hobman worth two and a half prime ministers?
Hobman’s £350,000 annual remuneration package is over double what the Prime Minister gets. Dave might have abandoned his position of dragging people in the public sector and quangos earning more than him into his office and asking them to justify their pay, but Hobman will have to defend his pay package today. Are you feeling incentivised Tony?
3) Why is your business plan so lacking in detail?
Most of those giving evidence to the sub-committee last week raised concerns about a lack of detail in MAS’s business plan for 2012/13. Conservative Party deputy chairman Michael Fallon may lead the charge on this after saying he was surprised the plan set out MAS’s budget in only ten numbers.
4) Are you embarrassed about your financial health check?
Moneysavingexpert.com founder Martin Lewis told the committee last week that most of the tools on MAS’s website were “crap” and that he would be embarrassed to host them on his website. MAS’s own figures have shown its healthcheck fails to change behaviour.
5) Have you upped your game since you knew MPs were coming after you?
Money Marketing revealed MPs would be launching an inquiry into the Money Advice Service in March. Last week, ABI director general Otto Thoresen, who wrote the book on generic advice, said MAS’s industry engagement had previously been non-existent but had improved in recent months. Mudie and Conservative MP Mark Garnier speculated this was down to the fact the service knew “it was going to get a good kicking” from the sub-committee.
6) Do you think your TV ad was worth the money?
Last year’s £4m ad campaign which claimed the service offers free, independent, unbiased advice, which was a “breath of fresh air” caused a stink among advisers. Advice UK told MPs last week MAS spends too much on marketing so they are bound to have questions about plans to spend nearly half its £46.3m money advice budget for this year on “brand awareness”.
7) Could you do more to direct people to existing services?
Despite more than a million people using the MAS website in 2011/12, only 2,138 people ended up on unbiased.co.uk. The advice portal says this shows MAS’s signposting leaves something to be desired. Due to not being able to get any information on how many people are using the site to research IFA related issues, it is difficult to tell. MPs could push for more transparency to improve this.
8) Are you sufficiently accountable?
Aifa has accused the MAS of having a “blank cheque” from the industry without the requisite accountability to go with it. MPs were told last week that industry must be more involved in how the service puts together its plans because it funds the service. MPs on the committee really have a bee in their bonnet about accountability of the new regulatory system and the MAS is unlikely to be treated differently.
As the Money Advice Trust put it in its submission to the inquiry: “While we have no reason to doubt that MAS has effective accountability mechanisms, we would welcome greater clarity as to what these are and how they operate.” Er, quite.
9) Who should fund you?
While strictly a question for Government, the MAS is likely to be asked whether its funding base should be widened. Its money advice wing is currently funded by an industry levy while its debt advice sector work is funded by lenders. Last week, the FSA practitioner panel suggested utility firms could also contribute to the service.
10) Why isn’t the money just going straight to debt advice providers?
MAS’s budget almost doubled this year to over £80m to take account of its role of coordinating debt advice. Much of that will go to providers like the Citizens Advice Bureau, but MPs will want to know why it needs to go through MAS at all.
If you enjoyed this article, sign up here to receive daily email updates from Money Marketing and Follow @_moneymarketing
No comments:
Post a Comment