Mediaboss Marketing

by Stephen Ritch

Two leading figures in the Islands finance sector will be exchanging working lunch reservations for Indian reservations when they trek through the Grand Canyon this May on a challenge to help raise funds for Junior Achievement Isle of Man.

Boston Group CEO Greg Ellison and Deloitte Isle of Man partner-in-charge Sarah Sanders, both Junior Achievement directors, have volunteered to take part in the trip organised by specialist charity challenge event organisers Global Adventure Challenge. Mr Ellison and Ms Sanders, the charitys treasurer, are both meeting all their costs personally to ensure all money raised goes to Junior Achievement to support its work to equip the Islands young people with the essential skills they need when they leave full-time education.

They will be part of a group travelling from the UK to Phoenix where the eight-day challenge includes trekking in the Grand Canyon and descending into the Indian reservation of Havasupai, famed for having the last post office in the US still serviced by mule train.

No stranger to more extreme forms of exercise, having taken part in number of full and half marathons, ex-professional rugby player Mr Ellison is also noted for his fleetness of foot having won the Islands Essentially Dancing competition in 2009 with his memorable samba routine. Ms Sanders, however, although no stranger to the workings of Junior Achievement having taken part in the charitys company programme while a student at Ballakermeen High School, admits to being rather less familiar with the demands of physical exercise, explaining that hitting 40 in 2012 inspired her to rise to the challenge.

Mr Ellison said: It takes a tremendous fundraising effort for Junior Achievement Isle of Man to raise the more than 300,000 thats needed every year to reach in the region of 5000 students. In this the charity shows real innovation, raising money from the Blake concert, The Next Big Thing and the forthcoming Harry Potter-themed two-day event. Against this background Sarah and I decided to roll our sleeves up, get involved and help raise funds for and the profile of Junior Achievement.

Ms Sanders said: Junior Achievement plays a vital role in developing young peoples entrepreneurial skills - more important than ever before, given the current difficult economic climate and contracting jobs market. Its innovative approach also helps raise students levels of ambition and open their eyes to opportunities.

Mr Ellison added: Isle of Man plc needs young people entering the workforce prepared and motivated. Junior Achievements support for students from primary school age through to 18 is an essential supplement to the good work of the schools through the curriculum.

To sponsor Sarah Sanders visit http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/sarahsanders.

To sponsor Greg Ellison visit http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/gregellison.

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Junior Achievement’s Treks Appeal

by Department of Economic Development

THE Isle of Man pensions industry has maintained what it calls a dignified silence on the new QROPS regime due to come into force on 6th April 2012 but has now revealed its approach to the proposals. Shortly after the news broke in early December the Isle of Mans Association of Pension Scheme Providers (APSP) released a short statement in support of the consultation and its intended purpose whilst announcing a determination to work towards a fully compliant solution. Chairman of the APSP Stuart Clifford explains what has been going on behind the scenes since then: We have maintained a dignified silence so far and deliberately so. The overriding reason is that nothing has yet been finalised and we feel we cant progress legislative or procedural changes until such time as we have the final HMRC framework in which to do so. Anything else, we believe, runs the risk of leaving us too exposed. It was a consultation, after all. That doesnt mean weve been idle, though. We have with Isle of Man Government lined up a number of options, depending on what emerges on UK Budget Day, but have taken to keep these in the locker. In the best traditions of the islands freedom to flourish ethos, all parties are poised and ready to swiftly implement whichever planned solution is best suited to the new QROPS regime. Clifford says that this wait-and-see approach is entirely consistent with the spirit of the new rules: What we saw in December was HMRCs clear intention to prevent abuse in the QROPS market and we welcomed it. As a jurisdiction we have never been in the non-compliant category, whether by letter or spirit, nor do we ever intend to be. If anything changes between the draft and final rules we dont want to get inadvertently caught out. Our pensions industry is growing and has many facets to it beyond QROPS, which is evidenced by the calibre of clients which have chosen the Isle of Man for domiciling their pension schemes. We dont want to run the risk of taking a step back by jumping the gun. It may seem overly pragmatic but in the pensions world that is a virtue. John Shimmin MHK, Minister for the Isle of Man Department of Economic Development, says: The Government recognises the importance of the pensions industry and will continue to support the APSP in ensuring that we remain competitive whilst maintaining our excellent reputation. Given the strength and depth of the Isle of Mans pensions propositions, only its Section 50C schemes which were introduced in 2010 are potentially affected by HMRCs proposals. Schemes approved under other Isle of Man tax legislation are unaffected, and will continue to be QROPS compliant post April. -ENDS-

If you'd like to send any information or news releases to us then please feel free to do so and we would be more than happy to consider sharing your news with the Isle of Man!

Send your Isle of Man news to:webmaster@manx.net

Manx Telecom Ltd 2012

Manx Telecom Ltd, Isle of Man Business Park, Cooil Road, Braddan, Isle of Man IM99 1HX Registered in the Isle of Man Reg no.5629V Vat Reg no GB 003-2919-12

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Isle of Man Pragmatic on the New QROPS Regime

by Eric Hollreiser

PokerStars today announced that it has acquired the Douglas Bay Complex in Onchan, Isle of Man which has served as the companys corporate headquarters since 2005.

Isle of Man Chief Minister Hon. Allan Bell, MHK, said, We are pleased that PokerStars has taken this step as it underlines their commitment to maintaining their headquarters here in Isle of Man. PokerStars has been a welcome civic and community leader as well as an important employer.

PokerStars are proud to call Isle of Man our home, said Mark Scheinberg, PokerStars Chairman of the Board. We chose the Isle of Man as our corporate headquarters because it is among an elite group of countries that is at the forefront of e-gaming and provides a strict and rigorous licensing framework for our industry. We feel very much a part of the local community and look forward to strengthening our ties even further.

The Douglas Bay Complex is a well-known landmark in Onchan and it sits on the site of the former Douglas Bay Hotel, which stood for nearly 100 years before a fire ravaged the building in 1988. The hotel served thousands of UK and European vacationers and was the home to the legendary Texas Bar, which featured live music and was the sometime rehearsal and performance space for the Bee Gees. The current office design of 60,000 square feet and 325 car park spaces opened in 2003 with the primary tenant as Royal Skandia Life Assurance company. PokerStars first occupied the building in August 2005 with 4,000 square feet and now occupies 20,000 square feet and employs more than 200 people in the Isle of Man.

-ENDS-

If you'd like to send any information or news releases to us then please feel free to do so and we would be more than happy to consider sharing your news with the Isle of Man!

Send your Isle of Man news to:webmaster@manx.net

Manx Telecom Ltd 2012

Manx Telecom Ltd, Isle of Man Business Park, Cooil Road, Braddan, Isle of Man IM99 1HX Registered in the Isle of Man Reg no.5629V Vat Reg no GB 003-2919-12

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PokerStars Acquires Headquarters Property In Isle of Man

by Manx National Heritage

This autumn, conservationists will be setting off on a voyage to the Calf of Man, a tiny island off the south western tip of the Isle of Man to help some very special seabirds the Manx Shearwaters.

Manx National Heritage (MNH), which owns the Calf and runs the bird observatory there, is being joined by a partnership of conservation organisations in a project to ensure the sustainable recovery of the Calfs Manx Shearwater population.

Manx National Heritage, is working with the Manx Wildlife Trust, Manx BirdLife, and the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, with substantial technical and practical assistance from the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), financial support in the form of a generous grant from the RSPB and funds from the MNH Trustees, to re-establish the Calf as a safe breeding location for Manx Shearwaters. The Isle of Man has a responsibility to help conserve the Manx Shearwater, a species of European Conservation Concern and registered on the Amber List of UK Birds of Conservation Concern, due to its declining range and localized breeding patterns. As much as 80 per cent of the world breeding population, just under 300,000, occurs in the British Isles, making the species vulnerable to adverse changes in breeding habitat, food supply or other factors. The species also has a special historical significance for the Isle of Man, as the Calfs colony of Manx Shearwaters were first described in an account of the Mank Puffin in The Ornithology of Francis Willughby published in 1678.

It is believed that Manx Shearwaters once occupied the Calf of Man in their thousands. The Manx Shearwater young were harvested annually in large numbers for their flesh and oil which must have taken a toll on the colony. However, the population declined catastrophically following the arrival of brown rats (longtails) on the Calf, believed to have been the result of a shipwreck in 1781. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Calf colony of Manx Shearwaters was all but wiped out as a result of rat predation of the chicks and possibly the eggs and even adult birds. Small numbers of Manx Shearwaters have managed to re-establish themselves on the Calf in recent years but a persistent residual population of rats remains a threat to the species, despite on-going rodent control since 1979. Following the unusually cold winter last year, however, the rat population appears to be at a low ebb, providing a rare opportunity to eradicate completely this non-native, highly invasive predatory mammal from the Calf and give our seabirds a better chance of breeding successfully.

Kate Hawkins of Manx National Heritage said: This is a really exciting project and a chance to regain the Calfs standing as the symbolic home of the Manx Shearwater. If we can achieve a longtail-free Calf, the prospects for other ground nesting birds are also much improved. I hope that the public will support this project and help us to save these wonderful birds. In addition to conserving the Manx Shearwater, the project is anticipated to provide a more favourable environment for crevice- and burrow-nesting birds such as Storm Petrels and Puffins, potentially leading to colonization and breeding. Both species are on the Amber List of UK Birds of Conservation Concern and the Puffin is of concern in a European context.

Other colonies of nesting seabirds are also anticipated to benefit including Shags, Lesser Black-backed gulls and Fulmars. All three species are Amber Listed, with Fulmars suffering a worrying 38% decline in UK numbers between 1999 and 2009.

As one of the 18 accredited bird observatories in the British Isles and an officially recognised bird observatory for 50 years, the Calf of Man has built up a large and scientifically valuable set of data about the birds which frequent or pass through the Isle of Man or occur in its coastal waters.

The project on the Calf of Man is supported by experts from the RSPB, who recently visited the island. In their follow-up report, the RSPB said: The benefits of a complete eradication of rats from the Calf are likely to be high a substantial increase in the numbers and distribution of shearwater burrows and possible re-colonization by storm petrels and puffins. Secondary positive effects on other breeding bird performance and wider biodiversity benefits (invertebrates, plants and even other small mammals) are also likely.

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Save Our Shearwaters!

05 March 2012

The Isle of Man's Department of Economic Development has announced that it will launch a new representative office in Singapore to promote stronger commercial relations with the nation and the region, especially in the area of shipping.

The representative office, which will be based in the central business district of Raffles Place, will provide a presence for the Isle of Man in the region and a point of reference for Asian businesses interested in doing business with the island.

The Isle of Man has historically received a lot of business from the nation's maritime industry. The Isle of Man Ship Registry is one of the most respected registries in the world and offers a quality flag option. Since 2009, 20 vessels operated from Singapore have been registered under the Isle of Man flag, with three more due to be delivered before the end of 2012. Earlier this year, the Registry joined the newly formed Asia Pacific Superyacht Association (APSA) as founding members, highlighting the commitment made to the region.

Leading law and professional services group, Cains, who have operated in Singapore for three years, will provide the Isle of Man Government with office services.

John Shimmin, Minister for the Department of Economic Development, said: "The opening of the new representative office in Singapore is a powerful demonstration of the governments commitment to foster meaningful commercial relations with governments and the private sector within both Singapore and throughout the wider Asian community. The Department has the greatest respect for the economic successes of Asian countries and would be honoured to work in partnership to facilitate greater engagement that we hope will be of benefit to all involved."

Alex Downie, Department of the Economic Developments Political Member with responsibility for Shipping and Aviation, added: I am delighted with this new initiative. Cains have established themselves in Singapore and are blazing a trail for the Isle of Man in Asia. This new agreement will build on that reputation and provide a point of contact for any businesses looking for access to the Isle of Man and to the Department.

Dick Welsh, Director of the Isle of Man Ship Registry, commented: We have already enjoyed considerable success in the Far East market with six major ship management companies becoming clients in the past three years. Singapore hosts over 5,000 shipping companies and maritime professional service providers which contribute more than 7% to Singapores GDP and employs more than 170,000 personnel. We regularly attend the major shipping conferences in the region and this year is no exception with plans to attend both Sea Japan and the Singapore Yacht show. This new office will allow us to further strengthen our relationship with the Asian shipping community while continuing to offer a cost effective solution for registration in the Asia Pacific Region without a compromise on quality or service.

See the rest here:
IoM Seeks To Tap Maritime Opportunities In Singapore