Misguided kindness from owners could see British dogs put on nearly half a stone in weight (6 pounds) this festive season, putting them at risk of developing a number of serious illnesses including arthritis, diabetes and liver disease according to pet insurer MORE TH>N.

The 6 pounds in dog weight (nearly 10% of the average dog’s bodyweight) is equivalent to the average UK male putting on up to a stone over the Christmas period .

As a result, MORE TH>N is issuing a canine health warning outlining the dangers of Brits treating their dogs to chocolates, leftovers from the Christmas turkey and uneaten mince pies, which can lead to more problems for dogs than a little extra around the belly. In fact, some Christmas nosh can cause serious health implications too.

To help keep British dogs healthy this Christmas, MORE TH>N Vetfone’s pet expert, Samantha Pennicard, has identified the most damaging tit-bits that should be avoided. They are:

 Chocolate – Human chocolate is actually poisonous to dogs. The darker it is the more harmful it can be. If you want to treat Rover to chocolates this Christmas stick to those specially produced for dogs
 Christmas Pud and Mince pies – Raisins (and grapes) are also poisonous to dogs so take care to keep these traditional Christmas treats well out of reach
 Garlic and Onions – Both can be toxic to canines so no sage and onion stuffing should ever be put in the dog bowl
 Alcohol – Many pet owners think it’s ok to allow pets a drop of Christmas spirit but even a small amount of alcohol is not wise
 Turkey leftovers – Any food with bones in is dangerous for dogs as they can cause intestinal obstructions
 Milk and Dairy – Unfamiliar foodstuffs can cause all sorts of dietary upsets in dogs – if you feed yours strong cheeses or rich desserts chances are you’ll discover a few extra, unwanted gifts under the Christmas tree…

If however, you are determined your pet should enjoy a special Christmas dinner come 25 December, Samantha Pennicard says:

“It might not seem that adventurous, but white meat, either turkey or chicken, with boiled or steamed vegetables won’t do dogs any harm at all and the smart money says they’ll wolf this meal down. Dog owners really do need to take care of their animals during the festive season though, misguided kindness when it comes to treats could cause serious health issues for the nation’s dogs in the New Year.”

Pete Markey, Head of Pet insurance at MORE TH>N comments, “What dog owners need to remember is that their beloved pooches’ recommended daily calorie intake is just 40 percent of their own. In other words, each Christmas treat that is given to Rover is the equivalent of a human eating two and a half times as much. Therefore, while one mince pie with a dollop of cream is naughty for a human, its easy to see that it could prove extremely problematic for a pooch.”

Business Inflation Guide reveals rising labour costs are squeezing margins

Manufacturing sector suffers the most

Business Inflation Guide (BIG) Q.3 2008

The UK’s small business community is facing annual cost increases of 9.4 per cent - double the rate of consumer inflation1 - according to the second Business Inflation Guide (BIG) from MORE TH>N BUSINESS, which also exposes rising labour costs as a major contributor to the difficult conditions.

The rate of inflation for small business2 fell 0.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2008 (down from 9.9 per cent), spurred by a reduction in fuel, material, insurance and vehicle costs. But while small business owners can take relief that some costs are falling, MORE TH>N BUSINESS warns that margins will be squeezed by rising labour costs, which represent the largest proportion of expenditure for small businesses.

Annual costs have increased by a notable 11.3 per cent amongst manufacturing firms - significantly more than the service sector (9 per cent) and almost 2 per cent higher than small businesses overall.

The Business Inflation Guide, developed in conjunction with Warwick Business School, is a quarterly index that measures a basket of 20 of the most important expenditure items for small businesses. It offers a unique snapshot of inflation for the UK’s small business community.

Head of MORE TH>N BUSINESS Mike Bowman said: “Cost reductions are not filtering down to the small business economy as quickly as they have for consumers. This data provides useful insight as attention turns to helping UK businesses through the recession. Small businesses are the lifeblood of the UK economy so it’s worrying to see that they are facing an inflation rate twice that of households.”

Stephen Roper, Professor of Enterprise, at the Centre for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Warwick Business School said: “Small businesses may be getting better deals on items such as fuel and insurance at the moment but they still face massive pressure on margins. Their customers are demanding good deals as they themselves come under pressure and other important costs such as labour continue to increase.”

Breaking the data down by region, the Business Inflation Guide found small business inflation over the last year was lowest in Scotland (8 per cent), followed by the Midlands and Wales (9.2 per cent) and Southern regions (9.3 per cent). As per the second quarter of 2008, the figures for the third quarter show that Northern regions have been hit the hardest (10.4 per cent).

To view the Business Inflation Guide visit www.morethanbusiness.com/BIG

ENDS

1 The UK’s consumer inflation rate (CPI) fell 0.7 per cent from 5.2 per cent in September to 4.5 per cent in October and has since remained unchanged.
2Small businesses are defined as being businesses with less than 50 employees. Representing over 1.6 million businesses in the UK

The data provided in this press release has been sourced from the BUSINESS INFLATION GUIDE commissioned by MORE TH>N BUSINESS.

For more information please contact:

Nick Dear Lana Clements
MORE TH>N BUSINESS MORE TH>N BUSINESS
Phone: + 44 (0) 20 7337 5602 Phone: + 44 (0) 20 7337 5797
Mob: + 44 (0) 7824 839 511 Mob: + 44 (0) 7866 436 376
nick.dear@uk.rsagroup.com lana.clements@uk.rsagroup.com

Notes to Editors:

About the Business Inflation Guide (BIG) from MORE TH>N BUSINESS
The Business Inflation Guide (BIG) is a unique measure of small business inflation, created specifically to reflect the change in the prices of goods and services bought by small businesses across the UK.

The Business Inflation Guide is an index that includes 20 of the most important expenditure items for small businesses (defined as being businesses with less than 50 employees). The Guide includes separate measures of inflation for regions, industries and micro businesses (with less than 10 employees).

About MORE TH>N BUSINESS
MORE TH>N BUSINESS, part of RSA’s direct financial services arm MORE TH>N, offers van, shop, office, business car, landlord, club, hotel, professional indemnity and public liability insurance direct to small businesses. MORE TH>N also offers motor, home, pet, travel and life insurance.

For more information about MORE TH>N BUSINESS’s products and services, visit www.morethanbusiness.co.uk or call 0800 294 1818.

UK music fans are suffering from ‘MCD’ (music collection deficit), and are undervaluing their collections by as much as £36.5 billion* according to a new report from MORE TH>N Insurance.

Undervalued collections are not the only concerning results uncovered by the report. With music fans ditching traditional formats like CDs and Vinyl in favour of digital downloads, over two thirds of Brits (68%) admit to having unsatisfactory back up precautions in place. This puts them at risk of losing an average of £441 worth of tunes through hard drive failure. Additionally, just 2% of music fans keep a detailed log of all their music in case of loss or damage, making rebuilding a collection impossible in most cases.

Other key findings from the report include:
Music Collection Deficit Facts:
 Brits estimate the value of their CD and vinyl collections at just £1,118. That’s less than half of the true figure of £2,396 representing a shortfall of £1,278
 A huge 80% of Brits admit they have never considered the worth of their music collections
 Only 4% of Brits correctly identify their CD rack contents as being worth over £2,000

The worst sufferers of MCD:
 Men in Newcastle are identified as the most music mad and have the biggest collections, and therefore have the most to lose – their collections are worth £2,868
 Belfast residents, with collections valued at an average of £2,077, are the most modest when it comes to valuing their collections – believing them to be worth just £507. That’s an MCD of 310%

Battle of the genres:
 Indie lovers can take pride in being the nation’s ultimate music fans with CD collections worth an average of £2,913 - almost £1,000 more than the average Pop fans’ collection (£2,030)
 UK Jazz aficionados are hot on the heels of the Indie kids in second place (£2,883), narrowly beating the nation’s Rock revelers into third place (£2,750)

The report also identified that almost two thirds of Brits (60%) admit to having no idea if they own anything that may be highly collectible or valuable. To encourage people to dust down those boxes of vinyl in the loft, and help identify any big money items lying undiscovered, MORE TH>N has identified the top 5 ‘hidden treasures’ and how to spot the little anomalies that could increase their value by hundreds of pounds.*

o The Beatles - White Album: Copies with a black inner sleeve, complete with the original poster and prints, and with a serial number between 0010000 and 0000011, could be worth between £600 - £1200
o David Bowie - The Man Who Fell To Earth: Copies from the initial withdrawn pressing, featuring Bowie wearing a dress on the cover, can be worth up to £450
o Jimi Hendrix - Band Of Gypsies: The original pressing featuring the ‘puppet’ cover image can fetch in excess of £120
o The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones: A mono copy, with a red Decca logo and including a 2 minute 52 second version of ‘Tell Me’ could be worth between £600 and £1200
o The Sex Pistols - Never Mind The B*llocks… Here’s The Sex Pistols: Copies with a pink rear sleeve with no track listing and including the original accompanying poster, could be worth in excess of £600

Commenting on the research findings, Pete Markey from MORE TH>N said:
“We know how much time, effort and money people invest in building a music collection, so at MORE TH>N we want to encourage our customers to protect that investment. We advise people to sift through their CDs, even those forgotten boxes of vinyl in the loft, and create an inventory just in case the worst should happen. Who knows, perhaps in the process we’ll be able to help people unearth some real ‘cash in the attic’.

“Over the years we noticed an increase in the number of people wanting cover for their digital downloads, so from January 2009 our customers will enjoy £2,500 digital download cover as standard, so even the biggest music fans can have peace of mind.”

For more information on MORE TH>N Insurance or for a quote log on to www.morethan.com or call 0800 316 6796

The additional revenue promised by the sale of fireworks will tempt many shopkeepers to stock them. However, improper storage can lead to explosions, serious injuries and in some cases even fatalities – which can be devastating to any small business.

Because of the danger posed by fireworks, there are strict laws and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines in place to govern their sale while promoting a safe working environment. To help retailers stay within the law, and to ensure they stay covered should they need to make an insurance claim, MORE TH>N BUSINESS has compiled a list of top tips on the safe storage of fireworks:

1. Firstly, ensure that you do not exceed the maximum permitted volume of fireworks for your premises. The volume of fireworks permitted on the shop floor is dependent on the size of the publicly accessible sales area, ranging from 12.5kg to 75kg
 Up to 250kg may be stored in a locked metal container
 Any more (up to 1,000kg) must be stored in a separate spark-proof store building, detached from any dwelling and constructed of brick, stone, concrete or iron.
2. Up to 12.5kg of fireworks may be kept in showcases, containers, cupboards or drawers, but these must remain locked shut to prevent unauthorised access. Electrical fittings in such cabinets should be disconnected.
3. Where there are five or more employees, a full risk assessment must be carried out and documented. It is important to ensure that in the event of a fire you have considered how to safely evacuate people and how to stop the fire from spreading.
4. Don’t store fireworks anywhere where they are in danger of becoming wet or damp
5. Sources of ignition and flammable materials should be kept at a safe distance. Keep people from smoking near fireworks.
6. All fireworks sold should comply with British Standards BS 7714: Part 2: 1988.
7. Matches are not fireworks and should not be stored with them.
8. Sparklers are fireworks and should be stored in the same way as other fireworks.
9. If more than 75kg of fireworks is being stored, a fire detection system should be fitted to protect anyone living in the vicinity. Access routes should also be provided that are separate from the store, and such a store should be closed off to prevent unauthorised access.
10. Most importantly, retailers must ensure they have obtained the correct licence from the local authority under the Firework Regulations 2004.

Mike Bowman, Head of MORE TH>N BUSINESS, commented: “It is imperative that retailers of fireworks ensure that they are operating in accordance with all legal requirements and guidelines to make certain they stay covered by their insurance for any eventuality.

“MORE TH>N BUSINESS recommends that retailers not only follow the guidelines offered here, but also familiarise themselves with the detailed guidance offered by the HSE, and the requirements of their individual insurance policies.”

For further information on MORE TH>N BUSINESS, call 0800 975 3796 or log onto www.morethanbusiness.com