Latest news with #Beaumont
Zawya
2 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Using personal loans to fund a business: What South Africa entrepreneurs should know?
An increasing number of South Africans are turning to personal loans to fund business ventures, according to Nedbank. While this approach may seem accessible, experts warn it carries significant risks if not backed by a solid financial plan. Wendy Beaumont, executive for unsecured Lending at Nedbank, says personal loans can work for certain entrepreneurs—particularly those with stable incomes and minimal debt—who want to finance early-stage operational needs. However, she cautions that using personal loans for untested business ideas or high-capital ventures could lead to long-term financial strain. 'The ideal scenario is when your current income is stable enough to cover repayments even before your business starts generating profit,' says Beaumont. She notes that individuals already managing debt should be especially cautious. A personal loan adds another monthly obligation, which can affect credit scores and household budgets if the business fails to generate returns. When personal loans make sense Personal loans may be suitable for modest capital requirements—such as buying equipment or covering start-up costs—where the business case is proven, and personal finances are healthy. Beaumont says loans are best used to fund clear, realistic plans rather than high-risk ideas. Alternatives to consider Before applying for a personal loan, aspiring entrepreneurs should explore alternatives such as: - Personal savings - Support from family or friends - Government grants or supplier development programmes - Reinvested business profits These options may reduce the size of the loan required or offer more favourable repayment terms. Borrow with a plan Beaumont advises borrowers to keep personal and business finances separate, understand the total cost of borrowing, and prepare conservative budgets with contingencies. 'Taking a personal loan for a business is not about funding a dream,' she says. 'It's about funding a plan.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
On patrol with the police seizing illegal e-bikes
The commuter is gesturing towards the helmet dangling from his handlebars in a desperate bid to underscore his respectability, but Pc Sibyl Beaumont, 30, remains firm. The e-bike he has been ordered to clear of his personal possessions on this sodden pavement in the City of London on a Friday morning is about to be seized, because it is illegal. Beaumont could tell the moment she spotted it at the lights. It is undeniably a juggernaut, reaching the 5ft 3in officer's chest, but the giveaway is a chunky 750W motor. This is three times the maximum power output for an e-bike allowed on public highways. Beaumont revs the throttle on one beefy handlebar – the speedometer whizzes to 27mph. A legal e-bike has a lawful limit of 15.5mph, at which speed electrical assistance must cut off (so it must have pedals, too). As for e-scooters: they are not allowed on public roads unless they are part of an official rental scheme. However much this commuter protests his sensible helmet-wearing innocence, he has been caught riding an illegal bike. As he paused in traffic, Beaumont's colleague, Sgt Stu Ford, strode out in front of him and blocked his way, before guiding him to the pavement. 'I literally bought it yesterday,' he says, sheepishly scooping a charger lead and keys from the bike's pouch amid a flow of pedestrians. 'It cost £1,700 – I'm on my way to work,' he pleads. Beaumont sticks to her script. 'It's bad news for you I'm afraid,' she says. 'That's a motor vehicle. It is going to be seized.' Seized and crushed. 'You can take anything but the wheels,' she advises as he clutches his stuff – and his dignity – before handing him a fixed penalty notice under the Road Traffic Act 1988 for failure to have insurance for a motor vehicle. This is a technicality used for seizing all illegal e-bikes and scooters as there is no designated legislation. You cannot have insurance for a vehicle that is illegal. The result is a £300 fine and six licence points. The matter can be taken to court if the commuter wishes to contest the punishment – which he does. Then he claims something extraordinary: he bought the bike using the government's Cycle To Work scheme. The initiative, which was first launched in 1999, involves companies purchasing bikes on behalf of their staff, via individual retailers. Payments are deducted from the employee's salary each month, allowing them to spread the costs and reduce the amount of tax they would otherwise pay. The Telegraph has joined a regular weekday patrol with City of London Police's cycle team outside Liverpool Street Station; six officers in high-vis on push bikes – with one on a motorbike. On most days they head out for a shift of around two or three hours to target cycle crime including problem e-bikes and e-scooters. These vehicles now swarm city and townscapes across the country, many carefully and legally – but as numerous pedestrians will attest, also many with flagrant disregard for safety and the law. However, while I had assumed the majority of drivers on the bikes and scooters stopped by police would be reckless, anti-social racers or even criminal phone snatchers, a different picture quickly emerges. It becomes clear, through the rainy haze, that officers here are largely dealing with polite, articulate commuters who seem – or at least claim – simply not to know what they're riding is illegal, and dangerous. 'We are seeing a growing number of bikes bought by people, commuting to and from work, who are unaware of the rules and regulations and why they are not permitted to be on the road,' says Ford who heads the patrol. 'Obviously not knowing is no defence, we can't just let them go, they are illegal.' Beaumont adds: 'What we tend to find is people don't know the legislation, they have bought the bike, maybe under a bike scheme, and are perplexed they are no longer going to have that vehicle after our interaction. These bikes are dangerous because they're so powerful, because riders don't necessarily have the proven competency to ride them.' That some of these commuters may have actually bought their bike through an official government Cycle To Work scheme via their employer is astounding, officers agree. Ford admits this isn't the first time he has heard this. 'I told the gentleman he should take up recourse with the company he bought it from, as they should not be selling him that bike to commute on,' he says. 'They are supposed to tell people it can not be used on the road… We would ask people enquiring about bike to work schemes to make sure any they are purchasing adhere to regulations.' A government spokesperson said that only e-bikes within the legal parameters can be bought through the scheme, under its rules. 'All employers and riders must follow the official guidance to ensure compliance and failure to do so could result in financial penalties or, in some cases, criminal offences for both the employer and the rider,' the spokesperson added. The Cycle to Work Alliance, which represents the five largest retailers signed up to the scheme, has previously warned that 'any retailers offering illegal bikes are in breach of provider rules and should not be offered by the scheme.' The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has a market surveillance programme to check whether retailers are incorrectly selling non-approved electric motorcycles for use on public roads, and can take enforcement action. E-bikes and e-scooters have obvious benefits when used correctly and legally, and clearly aren't going anywhere. Last week, Voi Technology, which operates the vehicles in 17 UK towns and cities, said it planned to supply 50,000 more in the next five years. Many will quiver at that. When not used legally or mindfully the vehicles have become a scourge. There were 1,411 collisions involving e-bikes, e-scooters and similar vehicles in 2022, including 1502 injuries and 12 deaths. Twenty-nine people died between 2020 and 2023 in 4,515 e-scooter collisions alone in the UK. A cursory glance at news reports for last month alone reveals disturbingly numerous collisions, including two with e-bikes resulting in the tragic deaths of pensioners on the same day. Shaat Bibi, 72, was crossing the road near her home in Bradford, West Yorkshire; Gloria Murphey, 86, was doing the same in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Then there is the crime these bikes lend themselves to. Snatch thefts committed on them rose from 58,000 in 2023 to 99,000 last year according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Since its launch in 2023, the City squad has seized and destroyed nearly 600 e-bikes and e-scooters – and even one-wheeled e-unicycles and e-skateboards. When we joined them they had already sent 16 illegal vehicles to a 'pound' for incineration that week. Last week, government ministers announced a proposed new law under the upcoming Crime and Policing bill which would allow police to dispose of vehicles including e-bikes and scooters without warning within a 48-hour window if they have been apprehended while being used anti-socially. This would make re-claims and re-offending more difficult, they say. Beaumont believes the commuter they stop is genuinely ignorant because he didn't reach for his throttle to turn it off when she approached him – a telltale sign. Perhaps not all commuters are quite so genuine, though. 'The bike I seized with the biggest motor was not actually being driven by a criminal, that gentleman was commuting, too,' she recalls. She shows me a video of his bike's motor being revved. The whirring begins to scream. 'That shows 73mph, 1,905 watts,' she says, although with a rider onboard it wouldn't go as fast. She adds: 'He said he had no idea, but later my colleague stopped him in exactly the same place with the exact same bike. He had accepted the points and fine and just bought another. He could be out there now with another, the trouble is these things are unregistered,' she says. Within ten minutes of the patrol starting, the officers had seized their first illegal scooter of the day. Generally scooters don't go beyond 12mph, but 'it's a fair lick,' says Beaumont, who points out that their riders are extremely vulnerable, as well as anyone they might hit. 'Are you aware of the rules around motor vehicles?' Beaumont asks the young man stopped at lights, who looks to be in his late 20s. 'Not particularly, no,' he says. She informs him, and says he and the scooter will be parting ways. He is polite and placid; the paperwork on the street takes 15-20 minutes as he is handed an on the spot fixed penalty for being without insurance, receiving points and a fine. Soon afterwards a second man of similar age is also stopped, his scooter taken. Again, he doesn't argue. Ford spots the e-bike commuter about half an hour later. As that conversation continues, a man on what appears to be a one-wheel skateboard with an electric motor whizzes by. Ford is off, blowing his whistle and pedalling hard. Sadly, ten minutes later, he has to admit defeat as its rider zooms through traffic in side streets. A Lime bike jumps a red light and gets a talking to. Finally, Constable Jordan Smith, 26, goes after a DIY illegal e-bike ridden by a delivery driver. By lunchtime, these tend to be some of the principal culprits. Many drive illegal self-adapted e-bikes as they bow to the pressure to make more deliveries, faster. The driver becomes upset and starts crying. It's a difficult scene. 'He started begging me not to take the bike,' describes Smith later, who clearly didn't enjoy the interaction. Ultimately though, the bike was illegal, and he was going over 20mph – it had to be seized. 'There is no training to drive it, no safety checks, no motor insurance, and if they hurt someone there is no way to identify them,' says Smith. In the force's 'cage' where the seized vehicles pile up, I'm shown the bike. Two cheap lithium batteries have been added to a push bike with a kit bought online. Ford revs the throttle. It reaches over 30mph. While anti-social behaviour on these bikes and scooters is not rife in the square mile policed by the City of London force, it frequently happens. Smith was the constable who apprehended notorious e-bike phone snatcher Sonny Stringer, 28, in the City of London last year, who had grabbed 24 phones while on his electric bike – a powerful Chinese-made electric dirt bike known as a Sur-Ron – travelling at speeds of 50mph. He was jailed because Smith got to him, making tactical contact with his patrol car as Stringer ploughed towards a young family. 'He went to mount the pavement and a family was there,' Smith describes. 'He was really, really close. It is so difficult to catch them,' he adds. 'These bikes can do 70mph, mount the pavement, go where you can't get through. They have no number plate, [the riders] conceal their identity with balaclavas and wear gloves so they don't leave a forensic trace. If that bike goes into someone it could easily kill them.' He and Ford agree that the seizures they've managed to make are only 'the tip of the iceberg'. City police began targeting e-bikes and scooters early. Beaumont alone has seized 44 this year. But they're certainly not acting alone. Across the UK, forces confiscated 937 e-bikes in the year to Aug 11 2024, compared to 511 in 2023. But when it is clueless commuters as well as criminals breaking the law, it feels like an endless task. 'I don't know if I'm making a difference,' sighs Beaumont. 'I just know these vehicles are so dangerous.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
National Post
05-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
mJob Launches New Construction Field Management Platform
Article content Article content BEAUMONT, Texas — mJob, a leading provider of construction field management software for over 30 years, is thrilled to announce the launch of mJob Essentials, a groundbreaking platform designed to make enterprise-class labor management affordable for contractors of all types and sizes. Article content 'Tracking time and managing labor costs at construction jobsites is a vital part of overall project management,' said Mike Soniat, mJob Founder and CEO. 'For contractors, labor can be 40% or more of a project's total cost, and in 2025 the industry is projected to experience $35 billion in losses due to inaccurate time capture. ' Article content Soniat continued, 'Developing software for remote clock-in and clock-out is not terribly difficult. A new app hits the market practically every day. But as contractors know, construction time tracking is not trivial. From union regulations to prevailing wage to geofencing your jobsites – a simple app doesn't cut it.' Article content According to Soniat, mJob Essentials takes the advanced time tracking and labor management capabilities of their enterprise software and makes it available to contractors at a price close to what they are paying for more basic solutions. Article content mJob continues to offer its flagship product, mJob Enterprise, to contractors looking for a complete resource management platform for time, equipment, and materials in the field. 'Another advantage of mJob Essentials is the straightforward upgrade path for customers as they grow,' said Wayne Newitts, Head of Sales and Marketing. 'Our mJob Essentials+ package adds field documentation and real-time alerts, and mJob Enterprise offers a modular approach to complete TEM field management.' Article content For more information about mJob and their Field Management software, visit email info@ or call 800-387-1109. Article content About mJob Article content mJobTime Corporation, a trusted industry leader for over three decades, is revolutionizing how contractors manage their field operations. From labor tracking to equipment management, materials handling, and documentation, mJobTime provides a comprehensive suite of hardware and software solutions tailored to the unique needs of the construction industry. By centralizing data and automating processes, mJobTime empowers contractors to take control of their projects, reduce administrative overhead, and enhance productivity. Discover the future of efficient field operations with mJob. For inquiries or to learn more, visit or contact the company at info@ Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Media Contact: Article content Article content
Powys County Times
04-06-2025
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont hit centuries again as England seal ODI series
Opening pair Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont both struck centuries for a second successive game as England secured a dominant 143-run victory over West Indies in Leicester to clinch the ODI series with a match to spare. Jones had to wait 12 years for her maiden ODI ton but her second came five days after her first and she did it in resounding fashion from just 76 balls – England's third fastest in women's ODIs – before Beaumont secured her 12th in the format shortly after. West Indies already had a mountain to climb without star player Hayley Matthews, who was ruled out with a shoulder injury, and things were made tougher when a rampant England set them 367 for victory. Opener Realeanna Grimmond's half-century on her ODI debut was the only shining light in West Indies' batting reply. Alice Capsey starred with three wickets to continue coach Charlotte Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt's unbeaten start to their respective reigns. Series win secured 🤝 Another winning performance in Leicester 💪 — England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 4, 2025 Jones and Beaumont started in the same ominous fashion as the first ODI, bringing up their 50 partnership in just the seventh over, but Jones was given a reprieve when she was dropped by Grimmond on 43. West Indies thought they had their first back in the shed when Beaumont was given out for lbw on 44 but, after a review, the technology showed the ball was going on to miss the stumps and the opener capitalised. Brimming with confidence from her first century, Jones smashed 20 fours on her way to a career-best score of 129 before she drilled one back to bowler Karishma Ramharack as the visitors finally made their breakthrough in the 30th over. Beaumont followed suit in bringing up back-to-back centuries and went past the three-figure mark with a huge six over wide long-on but she was soon caught in the deep by Shabika Gajnabi on 106 as she tried to accelerate the scoring. 🗓 30.5.25 – 122 🏏🗓 4.6.25 – 129 🏏 See all 2⃣0⃣ boundaries from Amy Jones' sensational 1⃣2⃣9⃣ in Leicester! 👌 — England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 4, 2025 Emma Lamb also brought up her first half-century since being reintroduced into the team as England passed 360. Grimmond and Zaida James were looking to put their foot on the pedal from the off in an attempt to make inroads to their colossal target but the latter nicked Lauren Bell into the gloves of Jones for the first which immediately put the brakes on the scoring rate. Linsey Smith dismissed Shemaine Campbelle before getting Grimmond, who hit her maiden half-century from 64 balls. Jannillea Glasgow aimed to inject some energy into the visitors' batting performance with a quick-fire 44 from 24 balls but West Indies lost their final six wickets for just 69 runs, with Kate Cross picking up her 100th ODI wicket in the process.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont hit centuries again as England seal ODI series
Opening pair Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont both struck centuries for a second successive game as England secured a dominant 143-run victory over West Indies in Leicester to clinch the ODI series with a match to spare. Jones had to wait 12 years for her maiden ODI ton but her second came five days after her first and she did it in resounding fashion from just 76 balls – England's third fastest in women's ODIs – before Beaumont secured her 12th in the format shortly after. Advertisement West Indies already had a mountain to climb without star player Hayley Matthews, who was ruled out with a shoulder injury, and things were made tougher when a rampant England set them 367 for victory. Opener Realeanna Grimmond's half-century on her ODI debut was the only shining light in West Indies' batting reply. Alice Capsey starred with three wickets to continue coach Charlotte Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt's unbeaten start to their respective reigns. Jones and Beaumont started in the same ominous fashion as the first ODI, bringing up their 50 partnership in just the seventh over, but Jones was given a reprieve when she was dropped by Grimmond on 43. Advertisement West Indies thought they had their first back in the shed when Beaumont was given out for lbw on 44 but, after a review, the technology showed the ball was going on to miss the stumps and the opener capitalised. Brimming with confidence from her first century, Jones smashed 20 fours on her way to a career-best score of 129 before she drilled one back to bowler Karishma Ramharack as the visitors finally made their breakthrough in the 30th over. Beaumont followed suit in bringing up back-to-back centuries and went past the three-figure mark with a huge six over wide long-on but she was soon caught in the deep by Shabika Gajnabi on 106 as she tried to accelerate the scoring. Emma Lamb also brought up her first half-century since being reintroduced into the team as England passed 360. Advertisement Grimmond and Zaida James were looking to put their foot on the pedal from the off in an attempt to make inroads to their colossal target but the latter nicked Lauren Bell into the gloves of Jones for the first which immediately put the brakes on the scoring rate. Linsey Smith dismissed Shemaine Campbelle before getting Grimmond, who hit her maiden half-century from 64 balls. Jannillea Glasgow aimed to inject some energy into the visitors' batting performance with a quick-fire 44 from 24 balls but West Indies lost their final six wickets for just 69 runs, with Kate Cross picking up her 100th ODI wicket in the process.
