One of the most interesting colour schemes for a stately home is that Polesden Lacey. It has stables used now for catering, an expansive garden plus a huge lawn that requires the attention of a lot of gardeners. They will now doubt be needing the services of a company that deals in Mountfield Spares to help them. Why is this stately pile the colour that it is?

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The first house goes back to 1336. It wasn’t yellow and it looked nothing like the house today. Polesden Lacey as a site has seen several different properties on top of it as each owner wasn’t happy with the previous one, or so it seems. The current house is a Thomas Cubitt creation and its the one that’s stuck. Sir Clinton Edward Darkins got the place in the early part of the twentieth century and he decided to keep all of Cubitts bits and get Sir Edward Poynter to extend it. Darkins only got to enjoy it for a bit, dying soon after it was finished.

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When Ronald and Margret Greville saw the place they literally jumped for joy (unlikely as they were Toffs so they probably  just said “Good show!”). It was the perfect place to show off all of their artistic pieces they had collected. This they did and, true to form, Robert died two months afterwards. Why’s it yellow? No one knows.

Marketing your brand can seem like a minefield to beginners. The help of a marketing strategy consultant such as https://www.reallyhelpfulmarketing.co.uk/marketing-and-strategic-development-services/marketing-strategy-consultant is important when you are trying to get it right, as you really need someone who knows what they are doing. Today we are going to look at colour in marketing and why it is so important that you get it right.

Because humans subconsciously rely on colour to guide them, it is crucial in marketing your brand to choose wisely. From your logo to the look and feel of your website, each colour can be associated with certain ideas and provoke certain feelings in someone. Here are some of the main colours used and a bit of the psychology behind them…

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Red – Red is used commonly in fast food logos as it invokes a sense of urgency. It also stimulates feelings of hunger, and an ‘act now’ response which is why you will also see signs advertising sales in red. It commands attention.

Yellow – The colour of sunshine, yellow can promote feelings of optimism and happiness. It is important when using yellow in a logo though to match it with the right colour, otherwise you could end up undoing the positive feelings that yellow promotes.

Blue – Blue is a calm colour, and represents to us clear thinking, level headedness and wisdom. It is a popular colour for many companies for these reasons, but you need to be careful that you still stand out from the crowd if you use a lot of blue in your logo.

Green – Human beings are drawn to green as the colour of calm and of nature. This is why health foods and hospitals will use a lot of green in their logos. It can also represent prosperity which is why it is also popular in the banking sector.

Purple – Purple has strong historical associations with royalty which is why it is seen as the colour of decadence – prestigious health spas and hotels use the colour purple, as well as Cadburys chocolate!

Pink – Pink is used to appeal to females and most of the brands that use pink in their logo are directing themselves at a female market, and often at the youth market as well. There are some exceptions, and the colour pink can help you to stand out from the crowd.

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Black – Black is seen as stylish and sophisticated, so many brands that want to portray that image rely heavily on black in their logo. Combined with another colour it can also have a striking impact. It can also signify luxury as well as purple.

White – White is associated with a clean and modern look, and brands that use white in their logo are aiming to portray that to people. The pitfall of using a lot of white is that if it done incorrectly, can result in the brand not standing out from the crowd.

For some reason everyone seems to sigh when accounting and accountancy is mentioned or brought up. However, this is a bit short sighted as the Accountant has one of the most important roles within an organisation by far. They are responsible for ensuring that the companies finance is on a level footing, all Tax has been paid and rebates claimed, plus any expenditures are properly explained and costed. They will also look at producing the budgets for the next year so that the business can stay within its means.

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So, there is a need but where does it come from? As Cheltenham Accountants https://www.randall-payne.co.uk/ will tell you the origins of accounting date back to the dawn of humanity.  We may not have had a name for them but it is clear from records that someone was responsible for ensuring that stores were full and that some kind of wages were paid to people.

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The big name in Accounting is that of  Luca Pacioli. It was he, in fifteenth century renaissance Italy, who takes the idea of double entry bookkeeping, used by the Roman and Chinese, and starts to add plus and minus figures to illustrate debit and credit. It is so popular that others such as Leonardo Di Vinici use it in their figures too. Modern accountantcy is born.

If you are new landlord, you will need to look into how to create an inventory.

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What Is an Inventory?

Basically, it is a key list of what is in the property, what condition items of furniture, etc. are in and details of any damage. The inventory acts as your main piece of evidence should you need to withhold some of the deposit.

Reasonable deductions include unpaid rent and costs to cover damage – cleaning costs are the most common reason for a deduction.

So Where Do I Start?

The best thing to do is go round the flat or house room by room and list everything that is in it, their location and (importantly) their condition. Also include things such as plugs and light-fittings. You can take photos if you wish – indeed this can be particularly useful if there is any damage such as a broken tiles or stains.

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Make sure you include any garden/outside areas that are considered part of the property.

There are numerous examples of inventory templates available on the internet.

Don’t forget to make a note of any utility meter readings so that bills can be sorted out fairly.

When the Tenant Moves In

It is important to go through the inventory with the tenant at the very beginning of their tenancy. Make sure they agree with everything and make any adjustments if mutually agreed. Once you have done this, get them to sign and date the inventory, give them a copy and keep your copy somewhere safe.

When the Tenant Moves Out

When the tenancy finishes, you should go around the property with the tenant who is leaving and note down any changes to condition of any items, any missing items and any damage that has appeared.

What Is an Inventory Clerk?

Alternatively, to take the strain off you, you could employ someone to do all this for you. These people are known as inventory clerks and will be experienced in this field. For more details as to what they are and what they do, why not take a look at a specialist website such as https://inventorybase.co.uk/blog/what-does-an-inventory-clerk-do-and-should-i-hire-one/ today?

Whichever route you decide to go down, an inventory is essential part of being a landlord and should always be completed at the start and at the end of any tenancy.

Nickel plating using an Electroless process (ENP) deposits a nickel coating without using the electrical current that’s normally used in an electroplating process. Industrial ENP processes generally contain between 2 and 14 percent phosphorus. A higher phosphorus content means better corrosion resistance at the expense of reduced hardness of the coating.

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How does it work

In the ENP process, a chemical reducing agent is used to turn nickel ions into metallic nickel. The coating is naturally hard and resistant to wear and abrasion, it also has a natural lubricity, making it good for surfaces that come into contact with each other and would otherwise suffer from excessive wear.

As we’ve said, corrosion resistance can come at the expense of hardness. Heat treatment can increase the hardness of the coating, but the trade-off here is that microscopic cracks can occur in the surface coating, reducing its effectiveness.

How well ENP adheres to the substrate is largely down to preparation. Provided surface preparation is good, the adherence rate to carbon steel is around 200 to 400 Mpa, and for stainless steel it’s 160-200. It is difficult to deposit nickel on steels that have a high chromium content though.

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Surfaces must also be clean of dirt, oils and soaps. Edges should be rounded off and welds ground down too. Precise temperature control of the plating bath is also essential to the process being able to deliver a high quality of finish.

Where is it used

The electroless nickel plating process is mostly used in industry, on things like pipes, valves and fasteners. The coating thickness can be varied and a greater thickness can be applied to a rough surface in order to produce a smoother final finish.

ENP is also often used as a way of improving the corrosion resistance of carbon steel, especially when it’s used in mildly corrosive environments such as where it may come in contact with caustic solutions, acids and chlorides.

Electroless coating can be used with other substances, but nickel is the most common application. It offers a solution that is cost-effective for applications where extending the service life of a component by reducing the chance of wear and corrosion is required. It means that often ENP coated steel can be used in these instances, in place of more expensive corrosion resistant alloys.

When you type something into a search engine on the internet, you’ve done it so many hundreds of times you probably don’t even think about what’s going on in the background. The aim of a search engine is to locate and organize data found on the world wide web. In the early days of the internet, there were a collection of File Transfer Protocol sites which users could navigate to find shared files. This was unsustainable though as the internet grew rapidly so search engines were a necessity to locate web servers and find files.

It is a well said and well-worn statistic that people only remember 10 or 20% of what they read but 80% of what they see and hear. Human brain’s generally work better when they can see what is in front of them and if the subject matter is important and delivered with flourish and rhetoric. Getting the right person to do it can change the world. While you may not want to aim that high for your event if  you need a Conference Speaker you can find a variety by searching online. Here are some of the most important speeches ever made in the ancient world that we still feel the effects of today.

1. Krishna to Arjuna on the eve of the Kurukshetra War. The Great Warrior Arjuna is having doubts as to whether the war against his friends, teachers and relatives should be fought. His Charioteer Lord Krishna drives him out to No Man’s land and explains to him why he has to fight and the workings of the world. This forms the basis for the Bhagavad Gita a key tenet of Hindu faith.
2. Gautama Buddha. In 570BC in Sarnath this is where Buddha makes a speech that lays out the foundations for Buddhism and its teachings. This would lead to one of the world’s largest religions and faith systems.
3. The Apology of Socrates 399BC. On trial for corruption and being critical of the state Socrates launches his defence with a speech. It is based around knowing that he knows nothing and from this comes his Wisdom. As his death was in 399BC it didn’t work but it does give us an idea as to the great man’s philosophy and writing.

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1. Catiline Orations 63BC. The Roman Senate was truly a bear pit of debate and oratory and Cicero was certainly one of its masters. Here he exposes the role played by Catiline in trying to overthrow the senate but he also speaks of rights and civil liberties too.
2. The Sermon on the Mount 30 AD. More of a compilation of Jesus sayings and work this speech is a declaration of the Christian faith and its principles. It is essentially Jesus’s manifesto of belief and blessings. This is where faith and religion truly begins.

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1. The Call to the First Crusades 1095. Pope Urban II makes history and sets up centuries of trouble. Urban II has received a letter from Byzantium requesting help to stop the Sejuk Turks. In an impassioned speech he berates and cajoles the Council to gather their forces and March on the East. He offers remission of sins, a coming apocalypse and his authority as the representative of God on Earth to urge them on.