Migrants ‘vital to Yorks firms’

First Published  Thursday 27 October 2011 (Yorkshire Evening Post)

ALMOST one third of Yorkshire businesses depend on migrant workers, according to new research.

The research published this week shows that despite the government’s calls to reduce the use of migrant workers, a significant proportion of firms in the region rely on them to plug the skills gaps in their workforce.

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Special Report Podcast

In this special podcast Money Web speak with Ian Alsworth-Elvey – he is the managing director of South Sudan Beverages which is part of the SABMiller group.

Full interview

Donors uneasy about Mugabe’s threat

Photo: IRIN

President Robert Mugabe

HARARE, 5 November 2009 (IRIN) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s threat to appoint interim ministers to plug the gap left by the “disengagement” of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from the unity government could lead to a review of donor funding, a highly placed official from a major donor country told IRIN.

“We are still monitoring developments. No decision has been made to appoint acting ministers, but that would certainly send a wrong message, and could get donors who want the situation in Zimbabwe to improve to review their financial commitments to the inclusive government,” said the official, who declined to be identified.

The Global Political Agreement (GPA), signed in September 2008, paved the way for the formation of the unity government in February 2009. “When the Global Political Agreement was signed … we said at the time that we would be looking out to see if the GPA was fully implemented,” the official noted.

Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister and MDC leader, withdrew from attending cabinet meetings on 16 October 2009 over Mugabe’s procrastination in swearing in provincial governors, while alleging that MDC members and officials faced constant harassment.

The MDC also believes that the continued stay in office of the attorney general and the Reserve Bank Governor – self-admitted allies of Mugabe – is in contravention of the GPA.

After the MDC’s disengagement, information minister Webster Shamu said “His Excellency [Mugabe] may have to consider appointing ministers in an acting capacity to key ministries, for the sake of a successful agricultural season and general economic turnaround.”

The passage of the unity government has been far from smooth, but the MDC’s disengagement represents the most serious breakdown in relations between the partners in the fledgling unity government and its attempt to haul Zimbabwe out of the economic abyss in which nearly 7 million people relied on donor food aid in the first quarter of 2009.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) organ on politics, defence and security will meet on 5 November in Maputo, capital of Mozambique, to discuss developments in Zimbabwe.

The organ’s troika of members is comprised of Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, Zambian President Rupiah Banda, and sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, King Mswati III. SADC chairman Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has already visited Zimbabwe to try to resolve the impasse.

Zimbabwe’s finance portfolio has also been the object of an ongoing turf war between the MDC and Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party. “Firstly, appointing acting ministers would be illegal and unconstitutional; doing so would be killing the GPA,” Finance Minister Tendai Biti told IRIN.

“It would amount to a violation of the Global Political Agreement, which created the transitional inclusive government. It has to be understood that the MDC has only disengaged from ZANU-PF, and not government work. We are all going to our offices to work,” he said.

Government work continues

“Nothing has changed in terms of how we do business; we are coming up with frameworks of introducing good governance and accountability to avoid abuse of funds. The money is stored in a multi-donor basket fund, and there has to be consultation and agreement on how it is spent.”

Prof Arthur Mutambara, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of a breakaway MDC faction, told IRIN that Tsvangirai’s decision to boycott cabinet could prove counterproductive.

“If decisions are made in cabinet, even if others have boycotted the meeting, they will be binding,” he said. “So, what we have been doing is to fight against bad decisions, while acting as the peace-builder between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe.”

I am a Mumtrepeneur(Mum in Business)

By Barbara Nyagomo-Mambo

I am first and foremost a woman, a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend. My life revolves around people, business, community and supporting people in need. My work involves caring for others, standing up for those who don’t have a voice, and supporting the efforts of others to better themselves. Most of all, I am a passionate campaigner for my country. Yes I am and always will be a proud Zimbabwean.

I am the first born child in a family of seven, a true child of a farming and mining community; we lived in Kadoma where we were taught the value of hard work. My father left us when I was eighteen and it fell on me to take up the role of assisting my mother in raising the family. I watched my mother work every hour she could to provide for us and drew both inspiration and comfort from her example.

Life at school was tough as my parents demanded good grades, but I am grateful for their determination that we received a good education for it paved the way for me to follow my dreams. I joined the Parirenyatwa School of Nursing when I completed my secondary education and was awarded Best Student Nursing Award on completion of my education as a Registered General Nurse. I worked for many years in the Avenues Clinic in Harare before my departure to the UK in 1997 to further my career.

Life in the UK has taught me many things, but more than anything I value the lessons of Ubuntu and family spirit that I learned from my days in Zimbabwe. I worked for St Thomas Hospital Intensive Care Unit in London, part of the largest ICU team in the UK and specialised as a critical care nurse. In 2001 I decided to formalise my qualification through the Kings College in London where I achieved my diploma in Critical Care Nursing.

Entrepreneurship

A lot of mothers, myself included are launching businesses at home so they can bring in cash while looking after their children.  Research has shown that more than one in three new mums are doing it.

In 2004 my husband and I decided it was time to buy our own home and a decision to move to Manchester to be able to afford a mortgage meant that my life took a new direction. Shortly after my arrival in Manchester I became a mother, a whole new challenge and exciting time for me. It all started after my first born son born in 2004 suffered severe asthmatic bouts. It was difficult such that I had to  consider retraining or using my existing skills to earn money whilst looking after my son at home. So I went to College to register for a childminding course, but decided not to do the course as the college had full-time course places only. I just could not bear to leave my baby at home and being in a foreign country meant my husband and I were his only carers.

I refused to pay for expensive childcare services and took a risk to be an entrepreneur. I started as a Healthcare Educator,training Healthcare Assistants using my nursing background. I then set up a Healthcare Recruitment Agency. Money was enough to pay bills,food , mortgage and allowed me to be with my son 24/7 and also have time to take him to the Asthma nurse/doctor. I found this so rewarding.

It is interesting to see how many new and expectant mothers are looking to start their own businesses from home.
By undertaking this activity, these entrepreneurial mothers are making a significant contribution to the economy and their family’s wellbeing.

Source of Innovation

A mother i will call Nyarai for confidentiality reasons started selling her baby’s bibs on eBay and went on to run a £40,000-a-year business from home while caring for her young son.

She said“I started to slowly increase my sales and after a month it dawned on me that I could make a decent income doing it.

“I scoured jumble sales, car boot sales and second-hand shops for babies’ clothes to sell and set up a proper business.”
Nyarai now runs a business selling children’s clothes on e-bay and is a full-time mum.

Training

I found it so hard at first to be my own boss and with no previous business training or experience i made alot of mistakes and bad judgements that cost me a lot of money. My advise is, if you want to start your own business, go for seminars/worshops that train about business start-up. Three years down the line, I now teach/mentor small businesses via Afro-bizsense

Barbara giving her acceptance speech at the Southern Africa Achievers Award 15/08/09

Both my boys, 5 and 3year old respectively are going to school. I drop them off in the morning and pick them after school. Whilst they are at school i run my business,support several Zimbabwean charities and Community groups in UK. After I pick them from school, I help them with their their homework,bath,meals and then read bedtime stories. Soon as they retire to bed, it is back to graft.I must state that it is not easy being your own boss. There is a lot of effort put. One has to work ten times harder and noone will supervise. Self discipline and proper time management are very important and essential elements.

I work as a facilitator for Zimbabwean Community Groups in Leeds, Newcastle, Leicester, Birmingham and Slough. I am chairperson for Rebuild Zimbabwe UK, Chairperson Kumusha/eKhaya and an Honourary elder for Proudly Zimbabwean Organisation.

I am a born leader, workaholic, facilitator, communicator, counsellor, and conflict manager. In recent years I have become more energetic in support of Human Rights, Woman’s Matters and Zimbabwean Issues. I am actively involved in support of Zimbabwean Asylum seekers; providing small business support, healthcare education and one to one life style support. If I am able and consider it worthy of my time, I am flexible approachable and supportive of any project that empowers my people, provides me with opportunity, or opens the doors to allow me to change people’s lives.

To all you mothers out there, I dare say you can do it too. I am delighted I made a decision to be a MUMTREPENEUR. It pays dividends. You sure have it both ways: spend quality time with your family and be a successful entrepreneur. It just takes vision and hard work. The sky is the limit.

On August 15, 2009 at the Achievers Awards for Southern African Awards in  the UK, Barbara won the Best Business Woman Award and was also a nominee for Charity Champion. The event was a celebration of talent, art, business, expression and achievement throughout a very broad spectrum of genres. Barbara is also one of the founding members of  Zimbabwe Teachers Network

Changes to the Immigration Rules

Representatives of overseas businesses

Changes to the Immigration Rules, which came into effect today, will make changes to the current criteria for the admission of sole representatives of overseas businesses coming to the United Kingdom for the purposes of establishing a branch of that business. These changes will also re-introduce provision for representatives of overseas media businesses.

The provisions for these categories of worker will remain, for the present, outside the points-based system.

In the case of sole representatives, the changes to the previous requirements of the Immigration Rules are that:

(i) the branch which the overseas worker will establish must be concerned with same type of business activity as the overseas business; and

(ii) the worker must be competent in English language to a basic user standard.

Those admitted as sole representatives will also no longer benefit from concessionary arrangements under which they may be accompanied by dependant adult relatives.

The provisions for representatives of overseas media businesses will cover employees of an overseas newspaper, news agency or broadcasting organisation posted on a long-term assignment to the United Kingdom. They will also be required to be competent in the English language to a basic user standard.

Those admitted under the revised provisions for representatives of overseas businesses will be admitted for an initial period of up to three years, and will be able to extend their stay for a further two years.

Those who have applied for entry clearance before 1 October 2009 will be considered under the criteria in force on 30 September 2009. Nor will the new requirements for sole representatives apply to sole representatives admitted under the previous rules and seeking an extension of stay after 1 October 2009.