What are the main responsibilities of a Company Director? Here is a list of the 5 primary duties:

1. Act in accordance with the company’s constitution
2. Exercise independent judgement
3. Avoid conflicts of interest
4. Not accept benefit from third parties
5. Keep other directors updated about transactions or arrangements

The general duties of directors were previously contained in case law, you can find more about this topic on www.berr.gov.uk, the Department of Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform website.

Can anyone be a director? Yes, of course. Companies House lists only two restrictions, (unless given special permission from the court):
a) The Director must not have been disqualified from acting as a company director
b) They must not be an undercharged bankrupt

Since 1st October 2008 there are no longer any directors under the age of 16; any person who has not reached the age of 16 will cease to be a Director - Companies House will put a notice on the public register to show that the appointment has ceased. The company will have to amend its register of directors’ to show that the appointment has ceased. Consequently, if the company is left without an eligible director it will be in default and will need to appoint at least one director.

What responsibilities does a director have towards Companies House?
Every company director has a personal responsibility to deliver statutory documents to Companies House as and when required by the Companies Acts. These include: accounts, annual returns and notice of change of directors or secretaries or in their personal details.

Good afternoon. London Presence is back today, flipping through the pages of the Financial Times- the UK’s best business newspaper.
Founded in 1888 by James Sheridan and his brother, the Financial Times has specialised in reporting business and financial news while maintaining an independent editorial outlook.
Printed as a broadsheet on distinctive light salmon-coloured paper, the FT is the only paper in the UK providing full daily reports on the London Stock Exchange and world markets.

Let’s see the 3 main news stories of today:
The main UK headline reads, “Inflation falls for first time in 15 months”. The article reads, “Consumer prices tumbled in October, justifying the Bank of England’s dramatic 1.5 percentage point interest rate cut earlier this month and opening the door for further reductions in the costs of borrowing, according to economists.”
We find another newspaper in more business news of the day;

“The Independent to shed quarter of journalists”. Reading on, “The Independent newspaper and its Sunday sister title will cut up to a quarter of their editorial staff in one of the most savage cuts to hit the UK newspaper industry in recent years as management seeks £10m of savings, the company said on Tuesday.”

From Business Life – “Epicentres of new austerity”. The article begins, “The party is over and the hangover has kicked in. In economies all over the western world, corporate executives and the rising stars of finance are beginning to think that this downturn could be different.”

If you live or work in London, here is an update on some Royal Gossip and News: the life of the Royal Family is the life of the most famous family of any country. Today Prince Charles turns 60 years old.

To discover something more about the heir to the throne, you can find the 60 most important facts of his life, as reported by the Telegraph.

We would like to provide a bit of background information about the Prince’s Trust, a charity created by Charles to help young people overcome barriers and get their lives in order. It offers loans to groups and business people who’ve had difficulty in gaining outside support. It regularly organises concerts with leading pop, rock, and classical musicians to raise funds for their worthy causes. This foundation is a worldwide organisation that has also supported humanitarian projects. And Prince Charles with his two sons, takes part in many events to help the foundation and many others.

To know more about these fundraising projects please visit the Prince’s Trust website.

You are not the only one. Everyday we see reports on the crisis, the recession and the uncertain times for business and employment. Today BT shed 10,000 jobs as profits slide; British Telecom are of course one of the main service providers of UK broadband, phone lines, mobile products, digital TV, web hosting, online security and networked IT services for the home. These measures are symptomatic of the present economic climate and are unfortunately being implemented on a large scale, as reported daily.

This meltdown is forcing the Government to take more than just a position; they must take action. Mervyn King is determined to kick-start the economy, focussing on inflation he said that he will cut rates again and again. Gordon Brown said last week that he wanted to cut business taxes. The Opposition has said that this would help 350,000 people back into work, as well as reducing the tax burden on business by £2.6 billion and saving as much in unemployment benefits. Could it be a good solution or an unfunded tax cut? To find out more about this topic please follow this link to the article on westbury.co.uk!

Today the Bank of England has said (again) that next year the UK will have to prepare for a recession. The experts have predicted that inflation could fall to 1% in 2010. All the while unemployment soars above 1.8m.
It’s time to save money for the ominous future, because every penny saved is a penny earned. And you can easily save money with a bit of control over your food, at home, going out and finance.

Last week we touched on food, now here are our suggestions to save money at home:

• Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
• Fit energy-saving light bulbs: they’re kind to the environment and they save you money in the long run.
• Take a shower, not a bath: it uses a lot less water and therefore saves on heating.
• Hanging out the washing is free: don’t use the energy-thirsty tumble dryer.
• Turn down the thermostat on your central heating by just one degree when you leave the flat.
• Check always your gas and electricity bills.
• Gently heat rooms you don’t use.
• Ensure that you don’t have leaky windows and doors.
• Fit loft insulation: some councils offer grants.
• Don’t leave electrical equipment, such as TVs and stereos, on standby: it wastes electricity.