Restaurant group celebrates award

CHI Yip restaurant group, which operates the Ocean Treasure at Greengate Middleton was named joint runner up in the Greater China Recognition Awards for the North-West.

Under the dynamic leadership of Stewart Yip and Jack Lui, Chi Yip has forged two-way trade links in Greater China.

Sponsored by UK Trade and Investment and the Northwest Development Agency, the awards recognise named individuals or organisations that have made a significant contribution to developing links with Greater China during 2008.

The top prize was won by Manchester Metropolitan University.


10 minutes off your day

Car commuters in the North-West will get to work 10 minutes quicker on average this week as they will not have to compete with the school run, it has been revealed.

Drivers will save 10 minutes and 40 seconds of travelling time, according to a survey by car insurance firm elephant.co.uk

Nationally, around 10 per cent of motorists expect to save between 30 minutes and an hour a day during school holidays.

The survey questioned 3,000 motorists on the effects of half–term holidays across the country.

Elephant.co.uk managing director Brian Martin said: “It’s estimated that 20 per cent of cars on the roads in the rush hour are in the school run.”


Making every penny count

CASH-strapped small businesses in Oldham are losing out on the chance to defer a potential £7.7 billion of tax payments due to poor finance skills and a failure to seek out professional advice.

Research for the AAT, the leading professional education and membership body for accounting staff, found that an unnecessarily complex tax regime and a lack of finance training is compounding the impact of the recession.

Common errors which cost firms cash include incurring fines for late filing of accounts, failing to claim Business Rate Relief and ignorance of opportunities such as the Time to Pay scheme, which allows those companies unable to pay their tax bill to spread payments.