Being one of the global giants, United Kingdom (UK) established solid local industries with significant contribution to its economy. Its construction industry is a top contributor with all the proposed projects. Projects range from housing and public and private infrastructure.

UK Construction Industry Economic Trend

A study collected by the House of Commons Library reported UK construction industry's economic trend. It highlighted that the industry's economic contribution is measured by GVA or gross value added. This economic measurement, however, is limited to the industry's actual value added to the economy, without counting production costs.

The industry contributed up to £103 billion to the nation's economic output in 2014. The said amount is equivalent to around 6.5 percent of total economic output, which is much higher than the previous years. According to the report, 2014's construction output increased by approximately 9.5 percent, which is the largest increase since the 1990s.

The report also showed a table comparing economic contributions throughout the years. In 1997, the industry contributed £43 billion in current prices. This trend continues to rise until 2007. By 2008, the industry's contribution began to drop until 2009. This downward trend is probably due to the recession, which resulted to difficulties relating to house building. Economic contribution from the industry remained level from 2005 to 2008 as the industry only contributed around £81 to £91 billion. Value drops and increases are only around £1 to £5 billion per year.

In 2010, the industry began to pick up by contributing £84 billion, £3 billion more than its previous year's contribution. Since then, the industry became more stable and produced a significant contribution to the country in 2014.

Builders' Statistics

The thriving industry is offers significant employment opportunities. By the third quarter of 2014, the industry offered 2.10 million jobs. However, this is not the highest employment count in the industry. It was in 2008 where it listed the highest employment opportunities, which was 2.36 billion. Considering the significant employment drop in 2009, which was 2.17 million, this trend may also point to recession. Since house building didn't fair well that time, the industry also offered lower job opportunities.

UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS), the country's largest independent official statistics producer, released the No. 16, 2015 Edition of construction statistics that study the value of work done by firms as well as regional construction firm size. In this report, Great Britain, England, and South East regions have highest number of firms extending their services, with Great Britain topping the list with over 251,000 firms. The three regions with lower number of firms are Scotland, Wales, and North East, with the latter gaining the lowest spots with only over 6,900 firms. This statistical report counted all the firms based on their sizes like sole proprietors up to those that hire over 1,200 employees. The total count may not reach millions unlike in the other reports, but take note that these are firms. They are not counted according to the number of employees actually working in the industry.

Output and Construction Values

The definition of output is the amount asked for by construction firms to clients for the value of work. The amount excludes fees paid to sub-contractors and VAT.

In the latest ONS report on outputs, output dropped in by 1 percent in July 2015 compared to its June 2015 reports, where the output actually increased compared to the previous month. This drop was caused by decreased volume of new work while maintaining the same trend for repair and maintenance. All new work types suffered from decreased orders while the private industrial and infrastructure were spared.

When it comes to value, the latest edition showed that the new housing work for private sectors increased in 2014. New house building for the aforementioned sectors reached approximately £29 billion. The public sectors stalled at around £5.7 billion.

When it comes to public sectors, new housing may be a bit lower, but its infrastructure value of output is around £100 million higher. Their values, however, are still overpowered by the output value asked by private sectors.

Construction Orders

The industry also showed significant number of total orders, especially coming from private sectors. Their orders are worth five times more than what the public sector asks for. Total output and order increased towards mid-2014, but dropped towards the beginning of 2015 for private sectors. The public sector also shared the same trend, but without significant decrease during the same timeframe.

When it comes to housing orders, both sectors suffered the effects of recession. However, the decrease output is more abrupt for private sector. From a good housing market around 2007, it dropped throughout the year then it became slightly unstable until 2014. In spite of market instability, the sector still showed a positive trend with a few drops in between years.

The public sector also suffered the blow, but with more stable trend than the private sector.

Both sectors fared well through the years when it comes to infrastructure. They have steady, positive trend, with the public sector showing better improvement in its output.

Overall, the UK construction industry continues to improve. It has growing number of orders and growing firms that offer jobs. It also has major contribution to the country's economy, with the largest contribution in 2014. As the market becomes more stable, people can expect better contributions towards the end of 2015 than the previous year.

References:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/construction/output-in-the-construction-industry/july-2015/index.html

researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN01432/SN01432.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/construction-statistics

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-381427

In the United Kingdom, there are several levels of accounting professionals that can be licensed to perform work in the various areas of bookkeeping, auditing of financial statements, and working on Insolvency and business work. Note than unlike the legal profession, accountants can rise to senior positions in accounting functions even without getting licenses from the various regulatory bodies described below. In other words, the designation, “accountant” does not have the same legal protection in the United Kingdom as that granted to other professions such as doctors and lawyers.

For those professionals that desire to become certified or need to be chartered because of their job requirements, the following are the different designations, qualifications, and average salaries of each type of “accountant” in the United Kingdom, together with the regulatory agency that oversees their professional work.

Bookkeepers and Accounting Technicians

These practitioners perform all levels of general bookkeeping and accounting work, and can even work for auditors, except that they cannot sign audit reports. Professionals in this area are licensed and regulated by the The Association of Accounting Technicians, or AAT, which currently has over 133,000 members worldwide. The average salary for a trainee accounting technician is £15,800 to £21,500, but once qualified after completing the requisite exams, training, experience, an accounting technician may earn up to £32,000 or more.

Accountants qualified to perform audits of companies

To be able to perform audits of public companies, an accountant must obtain an unofficial designation of “British qualified accountant”, becoming a full voting member of United Kingdom professional bodies that evaluate individual experience and test competencies for accountants.

There are Recognised Qualifying Bodies, or (RQBs), award the necessary qualifications necessary to perform the audit of companies, as an entry requirement. A similar but not identical list of Recognised Supervisory Bodies, or RSBs, may authorise their members to carry out company audits. At a minimum getting a certification from the RQB’s and RSB’s require a university degree, passing a licencing examination, and completing a certain number of experience hours in an occupation that is related to the certification being applied for.

The three major RQBs in relation to company auditing under the Companies Acts are the following:

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) – Qualifying for the position allows a Chartered Certified Accountant to audit companies. The ACCA also touts its license as opening up doors to international jobs. To qualify, a candidate must meet the following requirements:

Education: Three GCSEs and two A Levels in five separate subjects including maths and English or their equivalent are required for this accountancy qualification.

Work experience: Three years.

Number of exams: Up to 14, depending on exemptions.

It will take three to four years on the average to get a certification. A professional ethics module also needs to be completed.

A newly qualified CCA averages around £18,000, and the average salary is around £40,000. There is no marked difference in the salaries between male and female practitioners.

Association of International Accountants (AIA) – The organization describes itself as a global body for professional accountants. It is suited for school leavers (A Level) and graduates who are looking to become a professionally qualified accountant. It is also ideal for Accounting Technicians and Bookkeepers who are looking for the next step up. It is also for those who are already be working in the accountancy profession but do not have a professional qualification.

Exams are required and there are specific modules to be completed for those who want to be able to audit U.K companies.

The salaries of International Accountants approximate that of a CCA. The ACCA reports that they have around 180,000 licensed practitioners worldwide.

Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) is the licensing and accreditation body for chartered accountants. They conduct the qualifying examinations for the Chartered Accountant designation, issue certifications, monitor the practice the chartered accountants, and when necessary, issue sanctions.

The ICAEW reports that they have around 145,000 practicing professionals worldwide.

Recent research by the Executive Search firm, Stott and May shows that the average annual basic salary for an ICAEW Chartered Accountant in private business for 2014 is £90,800 compared to £92,600 for 2013. The average bonus is £20,500. A newly qualified ICAEW professional is reported to be about £48,000.

The banking industry in the U.K. offers the highest average salary, and there appears to be little difference between male and female salaries.

Regionally, there are two other licensing organizations that qualify accountants to perform audits in their own specific jurisdictions. These are the Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)

Those professionals qualified by the RQB’s described above usually pursue the qualification to be entitled to audit companies in UK. Experience in the auditing profession, especially in a company providing audit or assurance services, is a highly valued commodity in the accounting profession, and not only in the United Kingdom. Many professionals, after obtaining sufficient and exposure auditing companies for a public auditing company, usually transfer to private companies for much higher compensation; usually taking on senior accounting, and even, executive positions.

Within the auditing profession itself, there are excellent opportunities to advance to the highest positions in auditing companies. These are the partnership or director positions which average in the £150,000 annual range.

REFERENCES:

1.http://www.prospects.ac.uk/accounting_technician_salary.htm

2.http://www.icaew.com/

3. http://www.icaewjobs.com/article/icaew-salary-survey-2014-/

4.http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Certification=Chartered_Certified_Accountant%3A_ACCA_(Association_of_Chartered_Certified_Accountants)/Salary

5. http://www.aiaworldwide.com/annual-report-and-accounts

Professionals who practice law in the United Kingdom are regulated depending on their specific area of training and expertise.

There are separate regulators who deal with the different types of lawyers in the United Kingdom, on a day-to-day basis.

The following are the classes of legal professionals in the United Kingdom, together with the relevant licencing bodies that oversee their particular professions:

Solicitors

A solicitor is a licensed professional who carries out specific legal activities, after having completed specialized studies and training. These services are called reserved legal activities. In England and Wales, the current reserved legal activities are:

-Administration of oaths

-Advocacy

-Conveyancing

-Litigation

-Notary

-Probate

Solicitors Regulation Authority – Regulating the Solicitors Regulation Society is the independent regulatory body of the Law Society that also regulates other types of individual and firms.

The number of solicitors in the United Kingdom as of the end of 2010 are as follows

City London 20,245

Rest of inner London 23,543

Greater London 43,788

South East 12,112

Eastern 7,330

South West 5,660

West Midlands 7,847

East Midlands 4,466

Yorkshire & Humberside 7,652

North West 12,293

North East 3,087

Wales 3,683

Outside England/Wales 6,602

Unknown 3,344

TOTAL 161,652

Barristers

As opposed to Solicitors, Barristers are lawyers who have traditionally possessed the role of handling cases for representation in court, both for the defense, and for the prosecution.

Barristers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board – which is the independent regulatory arm of the Bar Council.

A significant majority of barristers practice in the London area. At the end of 2014, the total number of practicing barristers was at 15,716.

Legal executives

Chartered Legal Executives in the United Kingdom have their own education and training requirements. Practising legal executives are eligible to become partners in law firms and are even eligible for certain judicial appointments and as advocates, under certain conditions. As trained professionals in the legal profession, they are also subject to stringent regulations and a code of ethics, just as barristers and solicitors. They usually specialize in specific areas of practice such as personal injury, residential and commercial conveyancing, family law, employment law, immigration law, wills, probate, trusts

Legal Executives are regulated by the ILEX Professional Standards Board, and is the independent regulatory arm of the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX).

Chartered Institute of Legal Exexutives or CILEX, has around 20,000 members, who are either paralegals, legal professionals, or qualified Chartered Legal Executive Lawyers. There are 7,500 such lawyers.

Based upon a breakdown survey done in 2012, the following is a breakdown by county of practicing Legal Executives:

1. East Midlands 1,420

2. East of England 1,600

3. Greater London 2,260

4. North East England 660

5. North West England 2,240

6. South East England 4,280

7. South West England 3,240

8. West Midlands 1,760

9. Yorkshire and the Humber 1,660

10. Wales 920

In addition, a significant percentage, 74%, of the membership, are women, and 4% are disabled.

As to age, the following is a percentage breakdown:

20 or younger 1.5%

21-25 7.9%

26-30 12.8%

31-35 11.7%

36-40 9.3%

40-49 30.2%

50-59 20.5%

60-65 5.3%

Older 0.9%

Licensed Conveyancers

A Licensed Conveyancer is a specialist in the legal professional in the United Kingdom who has been trained to deal with legal aspects of property.

The tasks of a licensed conveyor might include the following:

Taking instructions from a client regarding sale or purchase of land or property.

Conducting searches in relation to the land or property with local authorities.

Advising their clients of costs incurred, such as stamp duties land tax and legal fees

Drafting contracts to set out the terms of the sale of a piece of land or property

Coordinating with mortgage lenders, such as banks and building societies, to ensure these parties have all the relevant information

Paying expenses on behalf of the client such as stamp duties and estate agent fees

A licensed conveyor’s role is very similar to that of a solicitor dealing with a land and property transactions.

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers regulates Licensed conveyancers. The latest roster of conveyancers shows a total of 1,287 practicitioners.

Patent and Trademark Attorneys

Any individual can perform work at the UK Patent Office. However, the titles of "Patent Attorney", "Patent Agent", and "Registered Patent Attorney" (or"Registered Patent Agent") are reserved for those duly qualified through specific licensing. The title "Patent Attorney" can also be used by solicitors as long as that patents are within their area of competence. A "Patent Agent" is a person who has passed the relevant specialized examinations

Intellectual Property Regulation Board (IPReg) – Regulates Patent and Trade mark attorneys, it is the independent regulatory arm of the Chartered Institute of Patent attorneys (CIPA) and the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA).

Costs Lawyers

Costs Lawyers are trained to deal with a wide range of issues arising from legal costs. Legal costs are defined as the remuneration of legal representatives, such as solicitors and barristers, which are controlled by statute or common law.

Costs lawyers are regulated by the Costs Lawyer Standards Board (CLSB) – and is the independent regulatory arm of the Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL).

The membership[directory of the Association of Costs Lawyers in the United Kingdom shows a total of 587 practictioners available for contact.

Notaries

In the United Kingdom, licensed notaries perform the following duties:

-Authenticate company and business documents and transactions

-Prepare and witness power of attorney for use overseas

-Deal with purchase or sale of land and property abroad

-Authenticate documents for immigration or emigration purposes, or to apply to marry or to work abroad

In order qualify as a notary public in England and Wales, it is necessary for the candidate to have earned a law degree or previously qualified as a solicitor or barrister withing the past five years. They then to take a two-year distance-learning course designated as the Postgraduate Diploma in Notarial Practice.

The Master of the Faculties regulates notaries.

References:

http://www.conveyancer.org.uk/Updates/Data-for-Comparison-Websites.aspx

http://www.cipa.org.uk/pages/about-careers

http://www.conveyancer.org.uk/Updates/Data-for-Comparison-Websites.aspx

http://www.associationofcostslawyers.co.uk/about-acl/the-role-of-a-costs-lawyer/

http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/

https://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page

There are various roles for electrotechnical careers. An individual may opt to be either an installation or a maintenance technician. An installation electrician installs power systems in all types of buildings while a maintenance electrician regularly checks systems for safety. An electrician can also choose to be an electrotechnical panel builder. These are the ones who build and install control panels that operate electrical systems. A machine repair and rewind electrician does the repairing and maintaining of electrical motors and other machineries while a highway systems electrician does the installing and maintaining of street lights and traffic management systems.

The regular working load for an electrician is around 37 hours for five times a week, overtime excluded. A salary of £19,000 to £22,000 a year can be earned by a newly-qualified electrician. This can escalate to around £23,000 to £30,000 with increased work experience.

To be a certified an electrician in the United Kingdom, there are different routes an individual can take. If an aspiring electrician has no previous experience on the job yet, they may first have to undergo the apprenticeship route wherein they will work under the supervision of an experienced electrician while at the same time studying electrical training courses. To become a qualified electrician, apprentices must complete the Apprentice Framework Qualifications and once a certain stage is reached, they will have to take a Practical Performance Assessment. After two to four years of apprenticeship, they will by then be able to get to level three of the Electrotechnical National Vocational Qualification.

If, however, they are already working in the electrical industry but do not have the qualifications needed, then another way is to become an Adult Trainee Electrician. These electricians can qualify as apprentices even past the age 25. Through this route, they should be able to complete the City and Guilds 2357 qualification. Once the C and G 2357 is completed, they can already apply to the Joint Industry Board for an Electrotechnical Certification Scheme Gold Card.

The third route is the retraining route for the adult electricians. This involves studying the City and Guilds 2330 at a college and getting work experience to be able to complete the National Vocation Qualification.

There is also the full time electrical courses route for those who choose to study full time before considering an apprenticeship.

From 2014, those who want to enter the field of electrical industry are also given the opportunity to train as domestic electricians. After completing their training, they are already allowed to earn income by working on people’s homes.

Understanding NVQ

TheNational Vocation Qualification, or NVQ, is based on practical assessment. Completion of technical courses will transfer the trainees in a specific workplace to assess their applied skills. In each evaluation, a portfolio must be built to serve as an evidence of the individual’s ability to do work. After finishing the portfolio, the trainee will move on to the Achievement Measure Number Two, or AM2. This would be the final assessment wherein given tasks must be accomplished. An NVQ diploma will be granted after the completing the AM2 assessment and would mean qualification to be an electrician.

Licensing Requirements

It is always recommended that households hire electricians who are registered with one of the Governing Bodies and Competent Person Scheme providers. Legal requirements for electrical works differ in each country in the UK.

In England and Wales, Registered Competent Person (Electrical) website (www.electricalcompetentperson.co.uk) has the list of all registered domestic electricians.National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting(NICEIC), Electrical Contractors' Association (ECA), ECA Certification trading (ELECSA), National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers (NAPIT) Registration Ltd., and British Standards Institution are the only organizations approved by the Government for the registration of electricians in compliance with Part P of the Building Regulations.

In Scotland, the Scottish Government, whose website is at http://www.certificationregister.co.uk/, and the Registered Competent Person (Electrical) also have a database for all registered electricians. NICEIC and Electrical Contractors’ Association of Scotland (SELECT) are the two organizations approved by the Government for the registration of electricians in compliance with the Building Standards system.

In Northern Ireland, there are no statutory requirements for domestic electricians but NICEIC, ECA, and NAPIT Registration Ltd. have installers that could carry out electrical work for households.

Being the birthplace of the English language, the United Kingdom has been highly regarded in its quality education. Two of the most prestigious universities in the world, Oxford and Cambridge, plus a 99% literacy rate, bear witness to the grandiose of human capital in the country. However, the education system across the nation is a bit decentralized. To understand the educational footprint in the UK, it is worth looking at the individual regions of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales separately, as each country has its distinctive academic system and student demographics.

The schools of England

England is the largest and most populous among the four united countries. Hence, it is where most schools and students reside, having a student population of about 8.4 million distributed in 24,317 schools as of January 2015. This figure already comprises 83% of the student population of the whole UK. Furthermore, the number of students increases every year by about 1%. The gender makeup of students is more or less equal. Meanwhile, ethnicity gives more significant numbers as 26-30% of primary and secondary pupils may be categorized as of ethnic minority (Asian, Black and Mixed cultures) with the rest being of Caucasian British descent.

Education in England can be broken down into six key stages. The first three covers nursery and primary schooling, while the fourth to sixth stage comprises secondary education. The sixth stage, which is usually called further education, introduces the student to vocational-type disciplines in preparation for tertiary studies. Approximately 93% of primary and secondary school students subscribe to state-funded campuses. There are about 16,766 state-funded primary schools and 3,329 state-funded secondary schools, thereby comprising 69% and 14% of the total school count, respectively. The remaining fraction consists of nurseries, private schools and special institutions.

Large student populations require an equivalent steady teaching force. On the average, the pupil-teacher ratio in England is 17.1. There are about 454,900 (full-time equivalent) teachers as of 2014 and three out of four faculty members are female. Most faculty members are younger, as roughly 60% of teachers have ages less than 40 years old. The mean annual salaries of teachers in primary and secondary schooling range from £34,000 to £37,000 in recent years.

All is well in Wales

Wales may be have a smaller population and land area compared to England, yet the country has been more true to its roots as a large sector of student population is thought in its native tongue. About one-third of the total number of schools (489 out of 1595 total schools) uses Welsh as primary medium of instruction. With a student population of 465,704 and a teaching force of 24,510.8 FTE, pupil to teacher ratio is set at 18.4. The percentage of minority students in Wales is smaller at 9.5%.

Northern Ireland remembers

The Northern Irish education system closely resembles that of Wales and England but what sets them apart is the profile and nature of their schools. There are 1,180 schools in Northern Ireland, 836 of which are primary schools and 208 are for secondary education. Primary schooling may be essentially classified as Controlled (under a legal board composed of Protestant groups) or Catholic-maintained, with each group making up about 45% of primary school count. As for secondary schools, one-third of the population adopt the grammar curriculum. The sectarian makeup for secondary schools also appears to have more Catholic schools at 46% against Protestant or Presbyterian controlled campuses with 33%. Overall, there are a total of 329,295 primary and secondary students in the country and the pupil-teacher ratio is somewhere between 16-17 students.

The Scotland focus

In Scotland, schools differ from those of the other kingdoms as they offer a broader range of subjects, more particularly in secondary schooling. In fact, the term “high school” originated in the country. Demographics also show more focus on teaching. In 2014, the collective primary and secondary student population of 676,955 is schooled by 50,814 educators. Thus, the ratio of pupil to teacher ratio is lower at 13.6 allowing teachers to give more attention to their students. In addition, four academic years is intended for tertiary school as compared to their other UK contemporaries with only 3 years. The Scottish parliament also stretches its focus on school estate as the fraction of establishment having good and satisfactory schooling conditions is high at 83%. This percentage has increased by 20% in 7 years mainly due to investment and refurbishing efforts.

Higher education in whole of UK

Students may enter tertiary education as early as 16 years and may come in being full-time students or part-time working pupils. About 40% of the studying population have ages more than 25 years old. Typically, a university degree starts with three years of bachelor’s studies (with the exception of Scotland’s four-year program). Students aiming for higher learning may follow with a 1-2 years master course and then a three-year post-doctorate degree. Among the famous universities across UK are: Oxford, Cambridge and the University of London in England; Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland; Edinburgh University and University of Glasgow in Scotland; and in Wales, Cardiff University and University of South Wales.

Nearly 2.56 million students enroll in higher education across different disciplines such as Medicine, Sciences, Engineering, Business and Communication, Culture and Education, annually. The gender makeup is around 57% female and 43% male. Roughly 53% are enrolled in their first degree and the remainder are in the post-graduate level. In this stage, the percentage of women taking graduate studies is higher than men by only 3%. More male students take engineering and business courses, while the population of female students are almost equally distributed in all disciplines. About 15% of tertiary students came from overseas.

The cost of higher education in the UK may vary based on region. As an example, for “home students” in England and Wales, tuition may cost up to £9,000 as compared to Northern Ireland where tuition would reach up to £4,000. Overseas pupils may be incurred more than £12,000 due to boarding and assessment costs. These values may be costly but future earnings counterpoise these figures. On the average, the salaries of recent graduates would range from £24,000 to £34,000. Employment rate for newly graduated individuals is also high at about 86% in six months’ time.

Education in the UK sovereigns follows the primary, secondary and higher education stages, and the countries only slightly differ in their demographic profiles. The more populous England provides more school and university options. The smaller Wales focuses more on its Welsh origins. Northern Ireland deploys more sectarian-based and grammar-sensitive academic institutions. Lastly, Scotland focuses more on the learning of students having more faculty, improved studying condition, and upgraded curricula. The UK is also the seat of higher education having some of the best universities and providing better returns of education to its graduates.

Reference links:

http://www.ons.gov.uk

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015

http://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/schools-census/?lang=en

http://www.deni.gov.uk/index/32-statisticsandresearch_pg/32-statistics_and_research_statistics_on_education_pg/32_statistics_and_research-numbersofschoolsandpupils_pg/32_statistics_and_research-northernirelandsummarydata_pg.htm

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/12/7590/downloads#res465732

http://www.educationuk.org/global/articles/higher-education-costs-scholarships/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tracking-international-graduate-outcomes-2011

Doctors are usually among the top paid individuals in the United Kingdom. The expertise to become a doctor requires undergoing almost a decade of learning. That is 4 years as an undergraduate, with an additional 4 years in professional medical college, plus a few more years as junior doctors in internships and residency courses.

These health professionals should properly diagnose and heal their patients, and they must be well trained so they can meet the standards in medicine. Doctors are needed to examine afflicted individuals, noting medical histories and diagnosing ailments correctly, and giving their patients the right medications. They are also responsible for giving their patients advice on how to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

New Doctors

The rate of enrolment in medical schools in the United Kingdom has risen by 67 percent since 1998. Medical schools now have an intake of 6,262 individuals, in contrast to 3,749 in 1998.

The NHS in the UK has employed a total of 150,273 doctors in 2014. If we compare this to 2004, there are 32,467 more doctors in employment, marking a 2.5 per cent rise in the profession.

Average Wages

Trainees in the United Kingdom receive a basic salary of £22,636 in their first foundation year. This is increases to 28,076 pounds in the succeeding year. Doctors in specialist training will receive a basic starting pay between 30,002 to 47,175 pounds per year.

Specialists in the United Kingdom receive an average basic pay which is around 37,176 pounds to 69,325 pounds annually.

Consultants can earn around 75,249 pounds per year. This can go up to 101,451 pounds depending on the expertise and seniority of the doctor.

General Practitioners can make around 55,412 to 83,617 pounds in a year. There are some variations with GPs that rely on self-employment and contract GPs.

Specialty Breakdown

The United Kingdom has around one million patients in a span of 36 hours. The need for healthcare has increased by 44 per cent, with 9.672 million individuals needing treatments or procedures in 2014. In 2004, the number was at 6.712 million.

Hospital admissions have also risen in the UK by 32 percent in 2014. The total was at 15.462 million for the year. Outpatient services have also risen by 82 million, 8.8 % more than the year before.

For mental healthcare, 1.747 million people in the UK have sought services in the year 2014. 6 percent of this number has been hospitalized.

By April of 2015, 3.036 million individuals were waitlisted for treatment. Their waiting time has risen to 6.7 per cent, compared to the 6.3 per cent last year. Also in 2015, 834,067 patients are waiting to be administered diagnostic examination.

For Anesthetics, there are a reported 11,211 specialists on the register. This comprises 11.5 % on the United Kingdom register. General internal medicine ranks second on this list, numbering at 10,209 doctors. They make up 10.6 percent of the specialist doctors.

There are 5,935 pediatric doctors in the UK. They make up 6.2 percent of the specialist register.

In general psychiatry, the number of practitioners is 5,799. They comprise 6 percent of the specialist population.

General surgeons are 4.9 of their population; their numbers pegged at 4,718 doctors.

Clinical radiologists make up 5.3 percent of the total number of specialist doctors. There are 5,148 registered doctors for this specialization.

There are 4,406 obstetricians and gynaecologists in the United Kingdom. They are 4.6 per cent of the total registered specialists.

4.4 per cent of specialists in the UK are doctors of trauma and orthopaedic surgery, and there are 4,276 of them currently registered in the country.

2.7 percent of specialists in the UK are ophthalmologists. There are about 2,588 of them in the country.

There are 2,305 doctors that specialize in Cardiology in the UK. They make up 2.4 percent of the total number of specialists.

Histopathology currently has 2,135 doctors, which is 2.2 per cent on the UK register. Gastroenterology has 1,884, at 2 per cent. Doctors for respiratory medicine are at 1,831, at 1.9 per cent. Haematology has 1,514 doctors, at 1.6%. Doctors for child psychiatry make up 1.6 per cent of specialist doctors, with 1,497 of them on the UK register. Old age psychiatry makes up 1.5 per cent of specialist doctors with 1,479 of them in the UK. Public health doctors, specialists of endocrinology and urologists are all at 1.5 percent of specialist doctors registered in the United Kingdom.

More doctors must meet the needs of the growing number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK. Currently, there are 3.2 million people with diabetes. This is expected to rise to 4 million by 2025. Obesity is also becoming a concern in healthcare, rising to 26 percent among the male population. This is much higher than the 13.2 percent in 1993. Women are also experiencing higher obesity rates at 23.8 per cent. In 1993, the rate was at 16.4 per cent.

Government Heath Advantages

The current government expenditure for healthcare is 8.46 percent of the United Kingdom’s GDP. This is slightly lower than expenditures in countries like the USA, Netherlands and Denmark. There are 2.8 doctors available in the UK per one thousand people, and 2.8 hospital beds on the ready per one thousand people. There has been an increase in the healthcare expenditure in the UK. In 2004, the budget was at 64.173 billion pounds. Currently, the budget is reaching 113.300 billion pounds. For the year 2015 to 2016, the planned total expenditure for doctors and healthcare services should rise to 116.574 billion.

Birth Rates and Mortality Rates

The life expectancy for men living in the UK, on the average, is 78.9 years. Women have a higher life expectancy at 82.7 years. The population is expected to increase to 67.13 million in 2020. The current population is estimated to be at 63.7 million.

The average age of the UK population is expected to age further. The average age was recorded to be 39.7 in 2012, and by 2037, the average age is set to become 42.8.

The number of UK individuals aged 65 and above is expected to rise to 17.79 million in 2037. The current number is 10.84 million. There are .5 million more people of State Pension Age than children in the United Kingdom.

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/doc...

http://www.nhsconfed.org/resources/key-statistics-on-the-nhs

http://www.gmc-uk.org/doctors/register/search_stats.asp

Starting a business is no simple task for both small and start-up business owners. Whether their purpose is to do charitable work or to earn profit, creating it requires various instruments and documents from different people and government agencies. A small business owner may have all the marketing and business skills needed to run his own business. He may be able to secure the means to advertise or promote the business. However, everything will remain a plan without the number one requirement that every business owner, big or small, must have: financing.

Obtaining financial assistance, as most entrepreneurs claim, is harder than establishing the business itself. This is because before an entrepreneur can get financial assistance, he has to prove a lot of things to financial companies and banks such as the following:

a. He must prove that he has the capacity to pay the money that he used to establish the business.

b. He must prove that he has enough property to secure the loan in case he fails to pay it.

c. He must prove that he has no bad record of any previous transaction regarding credit financing.

For established businesses in the United Kingdom (UK), this will not be a problem. For small businesses, however, this will be a challenge. Thus, many companies have provided for small business financing options and their interest rates in UK to give an opportunity for them to start and share the purpose for which they are created.

Some of the small business financing options and their interest rates in UK that owners may consider are the following:

1. Peer to peer lending

Peer to peer lending (P2PL) is a financing option that involves lending money to peers, or individuals with no relationship of any kind, without using an intermediary or a medium such as a bank or a financial institution. Peer to peer lending usually takes place online using various platforms similar to stock trading.

Because the medium or intermediary is usually an independent company, peer to peer lending is also conducted for profit and not solely for financing. Loans in peer to peer are unsecured and are not protected by the law. Despite this lack of protection, liberty is given to borrowers and lenders in terms of the opportunities they want to invest in. Also, because no relationship between borrowers and lenders is required, each of them has the liberty to deal with whatever amount they wish to receive and give, respectively.

Peer to peer lending is one of the small business financing options and their interest rates in UK is variable depending on the company to which they are dealing with. For instance, Landbay charges a rate of 3.5% per annum; Wellesley & Co charges a rate of 3.66% on maturity; and RateSetter charges a variable rate of 2.7%. These companies deal with short term lending. On the other hand, Funding Circle charges a variable rate of 6.3%; Assetz Capital charges 7% per annum gross return, and QuidCycle charges 4.3% representative return. These companies deal with term lending from 6 months to 3 years.

2. Credit cards

Credit cards are, by far, the mostly used financing option around the world. Getting a credit card is easier than getting any financing option available. All that the business owner must do is to apply for one and wait for its approval. Using a credit card to start a business gives a wide range of opportunities for a business owner because theoretically there is a relatively high limit on the amount he can use. However, credit cards are considered the riskiest small business financing options and their interest rates in UK are important to be known before one gets a credit card.

Most credit cards are designed to be used as small business financing options and their interest rates in UK are, on the average, at 18.9% per annum. Some credit card companies may provide for a systematic approach in the payment of interests. For instance, some require the payment of 1.5% balance transfer fee applicable for the first 90 days, and this rate will increase after the lapse of such period.

3. Equity financing

Equity financing is a type of financing option wherein a person receives a stake at someone’s business in exchange of his investment to the latter. Simply stated, in equity financing, someone gets an interest in a business in exchange for the money that he gave to form it.

Equity financing does not require the money invested to be repaid instantly. It is one of the small business financing options and their interest rates in UK has no bearing because there is no interest paid. In turn, the money given becomes an investment that he makes, similar to a person paying money to acquire shares of a company.

Equity financing is difficult to sustain because the investors will be expecting to get a return of their investment. If the business is not guaranteed to give any return, investors will not be enthusiastic to give money. As such, a small business, in using equity financing, must be able to prove to the investors that the business will be a success.

Knowledge on small business financing options and their interest rates in UK will help owners in determining the best financing options to use. While the use of any will depend on the owner’s capacity, choosing and utilizing small business financing options and their interest rates in UK can give these businesses a competitive advantage in the market.

A responsible employer knows the importance of enrolling their employees into a pension scheme that will most likely benefit them during their retirement years. In the same way as any intelligent employee knows the benefits of having a pension plan—Workplace Pension scheme to be exact.

Under the workplace pension scheme regulations, employers who have at least one or more workers have the obligation to provide a pension plan. For tax purposes, even a self-employed individual is considered a worker who works under a personal service contract.

However, the rule of workplace pension scheme may not be applied for individuals managing their own businesses because they might have used the money to other investments like real estate businesses and others. The only thing they need to do is not to work under the contract of service.

Workplace pension scheme is seen as a better option over state pension because of its higher contribution limit—this makes you more financially stable when the time comes.

What is a Workplace pension scheme?

It is a type of personal pension where an employee and/or employer make a regular payment together with the fund invested by the pension provider until retirement age. The fund in your workplace pension scheme is composed of your contribution, your employer’s contribution and the UK government’s contribution in a form of a tax relief.

By 2018, every UK employee gets to have their membership to workplace pension scheme because of an auto-enrolment system. This means that your employer has an obligation to enroll you into the pension scheme. This is designed to ensure that everyone has stored money for their future. But of course, anyone can opt out of this scheme.

Tax benefits of Workplace pension scheme

One of the tax advantages of this type of pension is the government’s contribution, or popularly called tax relief. It means that some of the money that is supposed to be paid in the government as your income tax is put into your pension instead. The two common forms of tax relief paid into workplace pension scheme are:

• Net pay arrangement – the income tax you pay is lowered because you pay tax based on the amount left after taking out your contribution and the government’s contribution from your income. As a rule, you do not have tax relief if you do not pay your tax. This means that there will be no government contribution to your pension as well.

• Relief at source – your contribution is taken out of your salary after you pay your taxes. Afterwards, your pension provider claims it back from the government base on 20% rate. This will then be added to your pension.

A basic tax payer will automatically avail of tax relief. For instance, your pension contribution pay slip has a total of £100. This means that as a basic tax payer (20% rate), your contribution is equal to £80 and the remaining £20 is the government’s contribution. Meanwhile, higher rate tax payer gets only full advantage of tax relief if they claim it upon filing their annual income tax return. And lower rate tax payer gets tax relief for the first £3700 put into your pension contribution. Take note that you can maximize your tax relief based on your earnings as long as you do reach the age of 75.

Is there a limit in your tax relief? Yes, there is. Certain amount of tax is imposed if you have exceeded the contribution limit set in a year. The excess amount is called annual allowance. Hence, if the contribution limit is £50000 and you have £55000, this means that you have an annual allowance of £5000 that is subject to tax.

Another important tax advantage of workplace pension is a tax-free investment. This means that all investments and fund accumulation within your workplace pension is free of tax although some exceptions must also be adhered to. In general, you can get a lump sum of free-tax fund only when you reach your retirement age.

What you have to do to take full-advantage of what the government can offer is to start your contribution as early as possible, gradually increase your contributions (pay rise trick), and consider your employer’s contribution.

How is your money managed in a workplace pension scheme? Technically, there is a third party involved in money management. This third party decides the type of investment option that is right for you. Nevertheless, as a contributor, you can tell them the type of risk that you can take. But unlike other pension schemes, there is no particular type of investment set. So you can engage in any type of business, use bonds, or even enter the stock market.

There are three types of workplace pension schemes: Defined contribution pension schemes and defined benefit pension schemes.

A defined contribution scheme is when your employer chose a pension provider to pay for your pension. The amount of money depends on how much you have paid, how long you paid, and the investment option taken. Obviously, a small portion of your pension is taken as management fee.

The second type is also called final salary or salary-related pensions. In here, the employer sets a certain amount that they will be paying for you during retirement. Like a defined contribution, your salary and time you worked under your employer determines the amount you will receive, regardless of the investments made.

Whichever type of workplace pension scheme you have, the law says that a minimum percentage of your ‘qualifying earnings’ is put into your pension - that is, your whole or your pre-tax salary. At the end of the day, you get your tax back through your pension fund while majority of investments with your money is free of tax.

Using the available and most feasible business structure, this could serve as leverage in strategically implementing business strategies that could lead to business profit and longevity.

Sole Traders

As one of the types of business structure and benefits in UK, the owner of a sole trading business himself functions as the key personnel. The person basically manages the whole business with or without staff to support him. Any business liability that may arise belongs solely to the entrepreneur.

This kind of business structure and benefits in UK is among the most common new businesses as this is easy to register and only entails minimal fees. Among the advantages of this business structure and benefits in UK is that all income generated in this type of structure belongs solely to the entrepreneur. However, one of the pitfalls of this business structure is that the entrepreneur and his business are considered one and the same. This means that when the business falls into debt, any personal funds of the entrepreneur can be automatically used to it pay off.

For its tax return, any income beyond £35,000, 40% of tax will have to be paid while income more than £150,000 requires payment of 50% tax.

In general, the entrepreneur is at a high exposure in this type of business structure and benefits in UK. There is no delineation of personal resources versus business resources. This could consequently result in the downfall of this business structure in UK.

Partnership

This type of business structure and benefits in UK is formed when two or more people agrees to start a business through shared resources or entrepreneurial knowledge.

As compared to other business entities and benefits in UK, a partnership allows owners to be consultative with each other forming sound business decisions and judgments. Another one of its benefits is that the dependency of business does not solely rely on one person but on all the partners.

As the partnership involves more than one key person in the business, an agreement has to be created indicating the sharing of duties and responsibilities and more importantly, the distribution of income. On the other hand, one downfall of this business structure is the response to liabilities. In case a business incurs debts, all partners are held liable regardless who among them made a wrong decision.

In terms of tax settlement in this business structure, the income shares of all partners are treated as individual income. Therefore, partners are only required to return individually an income tax. Similar income tax brackets as the sole trader business structure and benefits apply to each partner plus a required payment for the partners’ individual National Insurance Contributions.

In summary, the partnership business structure is not entirely different from that of a sole trader. Responsibilities are still unbounded except that additional partners are present in assuming the duties and executing sound business decisions.

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Ownership in this type of business structure and benefits in UK belongs to a group of people who have shared investments in the company. Here, ownership of the members is equivalent to the number of shares they have invested in the company. Which means that they are only accountable to the corresponding shares they have in the company presently.

Meanwhile, a Director, in this business structure and benefits in UK, is assigned for the overall management of the company. The Director assumes a variety of major responsibilities and is expected to bring success to the company, as the UK law defines. On the flip side, this business structure’sdownfall in UK lies on the area where the Director is solely accountable for the company’s development. Any proven mismanagement on the part of the Director may cause him/her to be replaced or legally charged. In case that a Director needs to be replaced, the members of the company would have to vote for the next Director.

Different from the Sole Trader structure, company resources and funds are well delineated from the Director’s personal resources. This, in a way, appears to be one of the benefits of putting up an LLC.

Companies under this type of business structure are required to comply with a corporate tax based on the overall company profit, while Directors are required to pay their individual income tax. Corporate tax ranges are as follows - 20% for overall company profit up to £300,000 and 26% for profits beyond £1.5m.

In this type of structure, members are entitled to receive the dividends from the company. Dividends are optionally distributed among its shareholders should the company earn enough profit in the past year. In most cases, the company is not held responsible to pay tax for every dividends paid out although the recipients or shareholders may be required to individually settle tax requirements for dividends received.

Limited Liability Partnership

This type of business structure somehow echoes some of LLC’s benefits as it likewise spares its shareholders from an unlimited liability. In this case, the shareholders’ liability for any company debt is only limited to their number of shares.

This business structure presents flexibility in terms of its organizational composition and overall maintenance of the partnership. This type of structure does not have a specified limit to the number of its partners or members.

Partners or members in this type of business structure can be individuals or companies. For individual shareholders, any gains of the company will be distributed among them to which they will be responsible in paying their income tax for. On the other hand, company members will be accountable in paying corresponding corporate tax for profit shares received. 

Beauty salons are a good venue of pampering and indulging one self. Forgetting all the worries is possible by staying at one of the beauty salons in the state or city. They also help in regaining back the confidence of people in every challenge that life throws at them. Going to the salon does not get rid of troubles; however, pampering gains back the courage and confidence in life.

An extra hour or afternoon of indulgence in beauty salons offers a better escape from the difficulties in life. All the cares are thrown away and people are left feeling completely fresh and renewed. The different beauty salon services allow them to forget their problems and responsibilities.

Searching for one of the beauty salons is not difficult. There are useful databases that contain the list of beauty salons in the state.

The American Beauty Salons database served as the most useful tool in building up a database of contacts. This is primarily ideal to people with the following roles:

Business Owners

Sales People

Directors of New Establishments or Companies

Individuals that are Starting their New Businesses

Government Agencies and Mailing Centres

The industries that get the most benefits on the list of beauty salons in USA are the following:

Agencies Handling the Recruitment of Jobs

Assessors on Safety and Health

Companies on Office Supplies

Providers of Advertisement

Computer Stores

Software Developers

Finance Companies

The list of beauty salons in USA is current and updated. The public records are accurate, including the web and phone directories. The file is sorted by the columns along the approximate percentage of the completed records. Thus, this list is helpful and beneficial to people with different roles. They are on their road of completely building up a database of contacts!