Octane does LA...
Got an e-mail yesterday that I just skimmed through, picked up on what I thought were the salient points and then dismissed the thing with the usual brusque contempt.
But then I got a call from the shy and awkward, but non-the-less sweet-sounding Heather.
She explained to me that what I thought was a gimmick is in actual fact, the real deal.
The "The South Yorkshire International Trade Centre, a department of Sheffield Chamber of Commerce", sponsored by the "UK Trade & Investment" want to send me to Los Angeles to "spend 5 full days in the market which will include a briefing with British Consulate officials, visiting the E3 Expo & Conference, Networking Receptions" et cetera.
The added bonus is that they'll be giving me a £500 travel grant.
So all I have to do is find the cash for the booze, the cheap clothes and sundry items I'll be buying while I'm out there.
Now, where's that bloody passport got to?
posted by Wayne Smallman at Wednesday, March 23, 2005
13 Comments:
can i come?
Maybe.
If you're nice to me .. which, let's face .. feh!
Thinking about it, if you're petit enough, I could slip you in with my hand luggage...
Deal ;)
How cool is that!?!?!?!
How/why did they find you to invite you to this conference?
I'd love to visit LA - you lucky thing! When's the trip?
Raida / Gindy, I think they picked me 'coz I'm cool, 'n' stuff...
Seriously, I think it's a first-come first-served thing.
So this'll be the second time I've been to Los Angeles.
The first time was as a student when I spent eight weeks in Northridge, which is about a fifteen minute drive from Santa Monica beach...
Having read through the small print, even with them giving me a £500 grant -- and there's no guarantee that I'd get a grant -- there's all kinds of fees slapped on top which make the whole thing wildly expensive:
Take advantage of our special travel package including return flights with Virgin Airlines from London Heathrow for £490 + tax and accommodation for 5 nights at the Radisson Midtown LA Hotel room only for £100 per night. Please contact Apollo Business Travel to secure your place on the package, or you are free to make your own arrangements.
* See SYITC Registration Form for full Terms & Conditions.
**A management fee is levied towards the administration costs of the mission and is payable on registration. The fee is £195+VAT per person for members of one of the South Yorkshire Chambers of Commerce and £235+VAT per person for non-members.
As much as I'd like to go, this is just too expensive...
VAT [value added tax] is slapped on most things, with the exception of agricultural fuels [red diesel] and books.
So almost everything you buy has an extra 17.5% shoveled on top...
... And because I run a limited company, I'm VAT-registered.
Although it is optional, most companies won't deal with you if you're not VAT-registered.
The bastards, indeed!
I'm not going to Los Angeles, unfortunately.
I just can't afford it...
Pah. And I had my suntan lotion on standby.
I know, I know.
I must be a constant source of disappointment to you?
I'm getting used to it
*sighs wearily*
;)
"I wonder how much the U.K. is taxed over all?"
Probably too much.
There are many more initial barriers to starting a business, and even more to keeping the bastard going .. trust me! I know this only too well.
I know that the government are working to make the environment for small business more comfortable for the likes of me.
And let's face it, SMB's and SME's account for the vast majority of tax revenue for the British government.
Without them .. well, put simply, we're fucked!
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