Man Utd at the top of the league…

Manchester City may have a 4 point advantage over United in the Premier League, but when it comes to energy efficient businesses Sir Alex Ferguson’s club is once again at the top of the table.

Today the Environment Agency published its first ‘Energy Efficiency Performance League Table’, ranking over 2,000 UK businesses signed up to the CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment). The scheme set up in 2007 and passed into law in 2010 aims at reducing the UK’s carbon emissions by 1.2 million tonnes per year by 2020. The CRC currently only applies to companies with an annual business electricity consumption of 6,000MWh a year – according to the legislation, any company meeting the criteria must provide regular ‘footprint reports’ to the Environment Agency.

A number of other prominent UK institutions and businesses ranked alongside Manchester United at the top of the energy efficiency table, including Center Parcs, British American Tobacco, The Department for International Development and the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

According to the latest version of the scheme, companies will have to buy emission allowances equating to the energy use as of next year. These allowances will initially be auctioned by the government and a treasury estimate suggests that this could raise £1bn a year, going up to £3.4bn by 2014-15. The funds were due to be invested back into businesses to help further reduce emissions, but the latest coalition budget suggested that this money would instead ‘be used to support the public finances’.

To help aid companies reduce their business electricity rates, the government has suspended allowance payments for 2011 and has urged companies to invest in energy saving measures. Alongside the use of smart electricity meters, companies have also been encouraged to conduct a full scale energy audit and implement an energy management strategy.    



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Range Rover. Range Rover. Range Rover

Fly the flag - Buy British

Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival

The Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival is now on across Dublin until 16th October.

About this time every year, the theatre community gravitates to Dublin to enjoy the atmostphere and exchange views.

The event has a large number of organisations behind it, for example, Ulster Bank are the Title Sponsor and the Arts Coucil are the Principal Funders. there is also an Official Accomodation Provider, Online Medai partner and Radio Partner.

The festival is part of the Dublin Festival Season which runs over September and October, so if theatre isn't your thing, there is bound to be something else which is.

All of the venues for the festival are close to Dublin top quality hotels and restaurants and close to transport links, so getting around shouldn't be a problem.

Further information on planning your trip is available on the website.

Uncorked wine is good for your savings

Investing in top-class Bordeaux wines has delivered greater returns and less volatility than investing in equity markets...

Recently, views are changing towards alternative investments such as gold or wine.

We could almost compare this movement with collectors investing in art. A rather safe investment, which is generally bought with the aim to sell and make a good profit. Some are saying that art is the safest sector to invest in.

Now, wine investment is joining in as well.

...Wine prices have been driven up recently by Chinese investors entering the market, while over the past 10 years keen US and Asian buyers have created a strong supply/demand ratio...

Of course, it is important to pick the right bottles. It is almost necessary to be an expert or more precisely an oenologue. Otherwise, you got the alternative to get advice about the wine market and plan what's best for you and your savings.

A few Chinese investors are after such investments and prices could increase rapidly, due to the demand. To be honest, it seems that the Chinese market is also brand-driven rather than taste-driven.

A good thing to know is that wine prices fell more than 15%, although this is less than the falls of more than 30% suffered by stock markets.

So, if you are choosing to place your cash on some precious bottles make sure that your adviser is able toshow you a demonstrable track record of solid returns and ideally a complementary background in financial services.

Finally, it is not all about putting money on a Premier Cru - for generally 3 years. There is more to organise too. You will have to pay storage and insurance charges, and with some merchants, dealing charges.

Remember, that when if you decide to sell; you may not be able to do so as quickly as you would with shares or bonds.

For more information contact or visit RBSCoutts site.

Funky Wine Bar

Ultra stylish bar at the Radisson Blu Zurich

Angels fly high to serve guests the wines they choose.