Katman

I'm sure we would all love an Aldi or lidl (or both) on the Island,Both companies will no doubt have looked into the Island, but they will have found it's just not economically viable, you just have to look at their turnover and profit, so see that they wouldn't even break even after taking shipping costs into concideration.

You have to wonder how accurate Manx Radios reporting is, when they can't even get the fact correct that Tesco took a Lease on the site, they didn't buy it.

Except for those that do, lots of commercial buildings have metal roofs as do a fair number of residential ones.

I had my first trips on the Manxman over Christmas, delayed 12 hours going to Heyshamd and three days coming back, not too much of a problem for me luckily. Both sailings were very calm, just the odd weird shudder. A few things I noticed, the grips on the edge of the stair treads is coming adrift, hopefully thats covered by the warranty. Showers in the public toilets, doubt if they will get used much. It's a heck of a walk from the Injebreck lounge to get a coffee. You get 150mb of free wi-fi and they have their own free streaming service to your computer, tablet or phone, with a good selection of up to date movies and a few terrestrial TV channels.

I know Mr Peters frequents this forum, so thought it might be the best place for him to answer some questions. I run a small online business, mostly selling to the UK, but I often send orders to places as far afield as Australia, New Zealand and even the Falkland Islands. Most of my packages are large letter size, some are larger and occasionally may be around 15kg. The only delivery service I use is Isle of Man Post, which feeds into Royal Mail. I tell my customers that their orders are being sent by 1st Class Post, UK customers expect their orders to arrive within a day or so. However now post no longer leaves the Island by plane, if I post something on a Monday the earliest it will it will get into the UK post system is around mid-day the following day (subject to ferry sailings). Question: If I post an item on a Friday, when does it leave the Island, is it on the Friday evening ferry, over the weekend or not till the following Monday, which means it won't actually enter the UK post until Tuesday (five days since posting). Question: How can Isle of Man Post promote a 1st Class Service when we are really getting a 2nd Class Service? Question: Has Isle of Man Post investigated running an actual 2nd Class Post for large letters and small parcels, with such items only leaving the Island say twice a week on known days, so sellers like me, know when things will be leaving the Island and plan accordingly? For small businesses the cost of postage is a large expense and competing with UK businesses that have the benefit of faster post and a 2nd Class post system, is difficult.

The Co-Op Community Charity giving is much more generous than the Tesco one which is capped at £1,500.00. The Co-Op donation is based on sales of Co-Op branded goods and a percentage of each sale goes to your choice of the three charities they are supporting. This only works if you are a Co-Op member, if you aren't a member the money is divided equally between all three charities Its a very easy way for charities to get money and the sums can be well over £10,000.00 per charity.

Tesco can't sell the shops, they don't own them, just Leasing them for 21 years, they could asign the Leases for some properties with the permission of the Landlord, but why would they offer them to the competition? I think they would rather a few shops sit empty that give the likes of the Co-Op a bigger store.

I've eaten a lot of steaks in a lot of restaurants and always thought the ones in Barbary Coast, were very good and good value too. Their pepper sauce is one of the best I've tasted.

I wouldn't be surprised, if Tesco paid very much to take over the stores. Isle of Man Enterprises were probably more concerned about getting long (21 year) Leases on the properties, to ensure the companies income over the next couple of decades. I see Shoprite stores are already stocking Tesco bread.

Not many Leases today don't have Break Clauses.

Isle of Man Enterprise Plc, who own(ed) Shoprite, were probably one of the worst retailers out there. They made a massive mistake in trying to move into Scotland and weren't able to pay a dividend to their shareholders since. The stores had no real identity, stocking cheap Iceland stuff next to Waitrose (replaced with Sainsburys). They never went for a certain type of customer as M&S and Tesco do, they tried to cater for everyone and failed. The footfall in their main Victoria Road Shop was abismal and was probably being supported by their busier shops in Ramsey, Port Erin and Peel. Isle of Man Enterprise is most likely doing the right thing selling the Shoprite business, but keeping ownership of the stores, at least the shareholders can sit back and receive a rent from long Leases rather than have all the hassle of trying (and failing) to run a dated supermarket chain. I doubt that Tesco will keep all stores going. Nine or ten Tesco stores for our small Island population is most likely a bit much.

There are a few of these in the UK.

They are doing for the round the Island Cruise they are planning.

I had to use their chat thing on their website, I did manage to 'chat' with a human.

No they aren't, I sell on both eBay and Etsy and I use Royal Mail.

The Marine is probably fairly priced for what it is, but it's in serious need of updating, especially the apartments (it's not surprising there are no Estate Agent photos of them available). Whoever buys the place will need deep pockets.

I can expect a premium living on the Isle of Man, but to be almost three times more expensive, is just over the top. If I can book a service at any of the UK Hyundai's dealers on their corporate website and know the cost at the time of booking, why when you click on the Isle of Man, it tells you to refer to the dealer, is it because their pricing is so out of line with everyone else?

Jacksons phoned me up last week saying my electric car was due for a service. I asked how much it was and what type of service was due, told price was £239.00 and it was a minor service. I said I would get back to them. On the manufacturers website it allows you to book a service online, I tried a few UK delaers and the prices were coming out between £59.00 and £65.00, the service was basically just a quick check over and a couple of filter changes. I phoned Jacksons back and told them about the price difference and asked why such a large difference. I was told the original price I was given was a mistake and was for a petrol car rather than electric and the price was now £150.00 (probably plus VAT), still a vast difference over what a franshised UK dealer charges.

I have noticed that quite a few of the new lamp posts have bubbling paint in the lower sections, no doubt caused by rust underneath. Hopefully they have a good warranty on them and the specification ordered included for extreme coastal conditions.

Won't that be just the Manxman, the seacat will hopefully be using it from the start of its season.

Those new lampposts work well.

I waited around three years from seeing the GP to having a five minute operation in hospital.

Just read a post on facebook that Mr Callister added, it was about a letter he sent to someone and was signed off as: Kind regards Rob Callister CMgr, FCMI, FICA, Dip.(ITM), MHK House of Keys Member for Onchan Does he need to put all those mixed up letters after his name? maybe just MHK, the rest is irrelevant and meaningless to most people.

So did the developer provide the necessary Method Statement, etc. and if so was it approved by the Department?

CRB? Just shows how some of you lot are so out of touch. There haven't been CRB checks for years, it's now DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service). If a person was in the class giving a talk at the invitation of the school and the class was supervised by a teacher, there is no need for that person to have had a DBS check.