Queen and crowds brave rain for jubilee armada

LONDON (Reuters) - The Queen joined an armada of 1,000 vessels and more than a million cheering spectators on Sunday to celebrate her 60th year on the throne with the most dazzling display of pageantry seen on London's River Thames for 350 years.

Pealing bells greeted the start of the flotilla as the queen's gilded royal barge sailed alongside a colourful and eclectic array of boats from leisure cruisers and yachts to rowing boats, a Hawaiian war canoe and Venetian gondolas.

Organisers said 1.2 million people, many waving "Union Jack" flags, braved typically inclement British weather to catch a glimpse of the procession along the seven mile (11 km route) as riverbanks were turned in a blur of red, white and blue.

After four hours on the river, much of it spent standing to review the flotilla passing by, the 86-year-old monarch was still smiling and showing a resolute "British stiff upper lip" as the event concluded in driving rain with a bitter wind.

Elizabeth, her 90-year-old husband Prince Philip and the other senior royal family members even jigged in time to the strains of "Rule Britannia" as the last vessel carrying an orchestra and drenched singers serenaded her.

"It made me proud to be British. It'll be a long time before London has another day like this," said Sandra Evans, 68, a retired shop worker from east London who was wrapped in a soaking wet British flag.

"The royal family has taken a lot of abuse from people over the years, but they've shown their class today."

Up and down the country, millions of people attended diamond jubilee street parties in honour of the sovereign, the only British monarch after Queen Victoria to have sat on the throne for 60 years.

The London pageant, the highlight of four-days of public celebration, drew crowds from Britain and beyond as the queen, wearing a silver and white dress with a matching coat, sailed down the Thames in the royal barge, "The Spirit of Chartwell".

Also on board were heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, his eldest son Prince William and new wife Kate, a global fashion trendsetter who wore a vivid red Alexander McQueen dress and matching hat.

"It was amazing. It felt like stepping back in time and seeing history come to life," said American student Ashley Nissim, 21, who is studying in London.

From New Zealand Maoris in traditional cloaks paddling a canoe to sailors and costume pirates, the flotilla boasted participants from every corner of the planet in a colourful display that recalled Britain's history and nautical past.

There were even vessels from the 1940 evacuation of British and Allied troops from Dunkirk in northern France - a famous rescue performed by crafts of all shapes and sizes and a celebrated piece of British history.

Organisers said Sunday's river pageant, reminiscent of a Canaletto canvas from the 18th century, was the largest of its kind since a similar spectacle was held for King Charles II and his consort Catherine of Braganza in 1662.

LONDON LANDMARKS

The flotilla passed under 14 bridges and past landmarks including the Houses of Parliament, St Paul's Cathedral, and the Tower of London, where the picturesque Tower Bridge bascules were raised in salute.

One of the boats taking part, "Amazon", featured in diamond jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria, Elizabeth's great-great-grandmother, held in 1897 when Britain's empire spanned much of the globe.

Although the queen is still head of state in 16 countries from Australia and Canada to tiny Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean and head of the Commonwealth, Britain is a shadow of its former imperial self.

Nevertheless, the pageant appeared on news sites around the world and was among the top trending topics on the Twitter micro blogging site, with messages ranging from congratulatory to comic. Interest in the festivities and affection for the queen extended to former colonies such as Canada.

"She is a kind of living history," marketing expert Amanda Batchelor told Reuters from her home in Toronto where she was watching on television.

Historians and commentators say the pomp and spectacle of British royal occasions gives the country a sense of national pride at a time when the economy is in recession and people face deep austerity measures.

STREET PARTIES

Across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, street parties were being held to mark the occasion. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla dropped into one in central London before the pageant, joining in a rousing rendition of the national anthem.

While the queen and the royal party braved the elements under a canopy on a barge in the middle of the Thames and then for hours on a bankside reviewing stand, the wet conditions proved too much for Prime Minister David Cameron, who moved his Downing Street party indoors.

That said, the government hoped the jubilee would mark the start of a summer of revelry capped off by the Olympic Games in London, raising the public's spirits and their poll ratings.

"You wouldn't get that anywhere else in the world - only the British could put on an event like that," said Paul Slater, 30, a financial consultant, who travelled from Birmingham in central England for the pageant. "Bring on the Olympics."

However, economists have warned that the extra public holidays will hit Britain's already ailing economy, potentially prolonging a recession.

The celebrations come as polls show the overwhelming backing for the monarchy, which has overcome a slump in the 1990s following marital infidelities and the death of the hugely popular Princess Diana in a 1997 Paris car crash

However, not everyone in London was cheering as about 100 republicans waving banners demanding "Votes not Boats" and "Make Monarchy History" staged a protest near Tower Bridge.

"Her achievement is just staying alive, doing little and saying less," Graham Smith, head of campaign group Republic, told Reuters.

Even republicans acknowledge though there is little chance the queen will be ousted and take solace in indications many Britons are simply indifferent -- 2 million people are leaving the country to take advantage of the extended public holiday.

Celebrations will continue on Monday with a pop concert outside Elizabeth's London residence Buckingham Palace and conclude with a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral on Tuesday followed by a carriage procession.

(Additional reporting by Jeremy Gaunt, Philip Baillie, Peter Griffiths and Ethan Bilby, editing by Paul Casciato)

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The Advantages Of Fiber Internet Service | Honest Reviews Online

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Using franchising as a growth vehicle ? Australian Business Solutions

By Phil Blain.

Franchising is undoubtedly a massive success in Australia; fourteen cents in every dollar spent now passes through a franchised business, with Australia and New Zealand being the most franchised nations per capita in the world. Consequently, any organization looking for an expansion strategy would be very short-sighted not to consider franchising.

Franchising is not the right model for every business, so the starting point must be to ask the question, how do I qualify?

  1. Your business must be proven. All too often I see people who have some wonderful ideas but the concept has never been tested and it is uncertain how the public will accept the concept once it comes to fruition. Generally, the business should have been running for at least a year and preferably longer, or seasonality impacts are unknown and, probably, all of the bugs have yet to be ironed out.
  2. Your business must be profitable. This sounds obvious, but franchising is not a way to hive off unprofitable businesses or sections of business. Nor it is the answer to establishing a quick route to market rather than employing a sales force.
  3. Your business must franchise for the right reasons. Franchising is not about selling fifty franchise units at $50,000 each and riding off into the sunset with the resulting $2,500,000! The fact of the matter is that by the time all costs are taken into account, the upfront franchise fee is far from being a major profit source.
  4. Your intellectual property must be protected or there is nothing to franchise. Are names, logos and companies all registered with the appropriate authorities? Irrespective of the decision to franchise, these are essential for any business.

So if you think your business qualifies, what exactly is a franchise? There are numerous legal definitions but, in very simple terms, franchising is a method of getting a product or service to market. The franchisor (whose business it is) grants rights to franchisees for the use of the intellectual property for which they normally pay an ongoing fee. Not rocket science really is it?

The area of law that covers franchising in Australia is the TPA (Trade Practices Act), which most businesses leaders have some familiarity with. Within the TPA is the Franchising Code of Conduct that is administered by the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) which lays down four key points to decide if a business is a franchise and thus must comply with the code:

  1. There is a written, oral or implied agreement.
  2. The business supplies goods and or services under a system or marketing plan.
  3. The business is substantially associated with a trademark, advertising or commercial symbol.
  4. The franchisee pays a fee, directly or indirectly.

Upon this self-examination many businesses realize they are already a franchise but do not comply with the code and as such could be in breach of the TPA, transgressions for which can incur horrendous fines. If in doubt, you should immediately seek advice from a franchise specialist solicitor. They are easy to locate, as those that practise in the sector advertise on the Franchise Council of Australia?s Franchise Directory. This is also a useful reference point to see if there are already franchises in your field and possibly what they cost (see www.franchise.org.au).

Businesses normally franchise for one, or sometimes all of three, main reasons:

  1. They have a special product or unique selling proposition or market edge over competitors which necessitates the need for rapid growth to gain first mover advantage in a market. Franchising facilitates this growth and increases brand exposure.
  2. They are totally sick of staff who let them down and do not perform to the maximum. Franchises consistently outperform company-owned units through the sheer tenacity and enthusiasm that a franchisee brings to the table.
  3. They lack capital for expansion which the franchisee provides. This capital investment also makes the franchisee incentivized to go the extra mile because they have ?hurt money? invested in the business.

Franchising also provides consumers with consistency of delivery and franchisors with the control measures necessary to install this into the system. I always relate to this by saying every time I buy a McDonalds hamburger I know I have to remove that green pickle before I can enjoy my meal. But I know what I am going to get before I make my purchase decision. Spotless premises, high food-hygiene standards, quick service, value for money and an acceptable quality meal. This does not happen by accident in McDonalds or any other quality franchise. The franchisees and staff are highly trained people who are supported by detailed systems and operations manuals that cover every possible scenario. So there lies a lesson for any business ? document everything. Nothing must be left to chance and, in food businesses, this is incredibly important. I see too many businesses that will simply fail if the owner is incapacitated, disabled or absent from the business for any length of time. It is all in the owner?s head and he assumes everyone knows how to do everything. Start writing everything down ? eventually you will have an online operations manual, which will add considerable value to your business.

This consistency of delivery means that compliance with the system must be strict to achieve it and, as such, everything can and must be minutely controlled. If a franchisee consistently strays outside of the set boundaries they can be terminated in order to protect the brand and the business of the franchisor, and indeed all the other franchisees.

Done professionally, franchising is an extremely safe expansion method. There are some very good consultants in Australia, but like every other profession, sadly there are some very poor ones too. Make sure you establish how long the advisers have been in business, who they have worked for and what qualifications they hold. The better ones are at least franchise diploma qualified and possibly hold Franchise Council of Australia qualifications such as fellowships. Do not attempt to try and franchise your business without the correct advice, as that is sheer folly. Specialist lawyers, consultants, demographers and accountants who practise in the field will set the fundamental
structures and processes that will take your business to new heights, and they could save you literally hundreds of thousands of dollars over time.

It is imperative that, as a potential franchisor, the executives understand the relationship management aspect of a franchise. The culture of the business is crucial to its success. Franchising is about working together for mutual gain; it is about family; sharing and caring; being firm certainly, but fair also. So if your culture is one of a dictatorship ? do not franchise. However, if you are prepared to encourage, cajole, assist and guide your business ?partners? ? your franchisees ? then success is more likely.

As in all business situations, it is just as important to know when to get out of business as it is to know how and when to get in. Franchisor businesses are attracting very high multiples of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) when they are sold. Why? Because they hold contracts with franchisees that guarantee incomes far into the future, making them prime takeover targets. Not a reason to franchise initially, but a wonderful reward at the end of the journey for those that do it well.

?

Phil Blain ? Fellow FCA, AFE, MIMC, Dip Bus (Franchising)?Principal, Business Development Company, Franchise Division.

Phil has been a Franchisee, Franchisor and a highly respected franchise consultant for the past two decades. He now heads up the National Franchise Division of Business Development Company Pty Ltd., commonly known as BDC Franchising.

Phil has been a National Director and State Chapter President of the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) He holds a Business Diploma in Franchising and the Accredited Franchise Executive qualification (A.F.E.) and is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants.

Phil has a broad knowledge of franchising in Australia and experience with most of the key systems and people in franchising.?Phil can be contacted direct on 0419 044 862.

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