It does the pageturning business

Advantages: gripping story, excellent writing
Disadvantages: arguably not his best work

...Iain Banks novel, The Business seems to have got a bit of a slating here on Ciao - although I notice it has also been plonked into another category so I suggest you have a look at some of the other opinions that have been written by doing a search on it - after you have read and rated my opinion, of course! "The Business" is a multi-national organisation who's origins predate the Chrisitian Church. It is basically the largest of all capitalist concerns, with fingers in many pies in the form of commercial arrangements some of which ethically speaking may be construed as a little bit dodgy! The story centres around Kate Telman, a Level Three executive of "The Business" who holds responsibility for high-tech investments. This is a carefully crafted novel from Banks with many twists and turns throughout the story, together...

andyev 05.02.2001 · Read review
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Review of The Business - Iain Banks

Natwest On Line Banking for Business

Advantages: Time saving,instant access and availability
Disadvantages: Unable to transfer monies from all types of accounts including international payments

...NatWest On Line Banking For Business I am a Director of a small investment company and have suffered all the traumas and problems of running a small business for nearly thirty years. Book keeping, banking, filling in forms for this and that, filing company returns and all the negative issues of running a business have been made a lot easier by the introduction of “On Line Banking”. I have been a customer of Natwest for many years and this is the best service that they have ever provided for my company. It is quite possible that a younger person would not be quite so impressed with the system as I am, it’s the Industrial revolution all over again for me. I can access details of the Company accounts and credit cards from any computer connected to the Internet and that means that I have up to date information...

Godders 12.07.2001 · Read review
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Review of NatWest Online Banking

NASTY BUSINESS!

Advantages: Compelling reading
Disadvantages: Some similarities to other novels by the author, strong language may offend some.

...Review of The Business, a hardback novel by Martina Cole The Business is Martina Cole's latest offering in a long line of best selling novels set against a backdrop of London's criminal underworld. For those unfamiliar with Ms Cole's books, she writes of subjects unsavoury, seedy and at times, uncomfortable. Nothing is taboo to Ms Cole and The Business covers violence, murder, prostitution, drug addiction, child abuse and neglect . Her writing style is gritty and she produces novels that are hauntingly readable. Readers are under no illusions about her characters and their lifestyles, a peep into a world very different from most people's reality, Ms Cole's books have the ability to shock, fascinate, touch and repulse me as the story unfolds! **The Plot** Covering period from 1978 to the present day, The Business follows...

brittle1906 16.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Business - Martina Cole

Change of Business?

Advantages: Another Book From Cole
Disadvantages: Not a great page turner

...Martina Cole - The Business?.. **The Book** Martina Cole's latest novel entitled "The Business" is yet another book filled with the gritty, hard hitting seediness that is the London underworld. We go back in time to the late 70's and meet the Dooley family. Gerald Dooley SNR, head of the house, Mary Dooley the mother of three children, two sons and a daughter, Imelda. Imelda is the main charter throughout the book as we follow her life, which is bad from start to finish. Imelda is trouble with a capital "T" and this is something that her family are soon to realise. Her sexually loose behaviour soon gets her with "a belly full of arms and legs" as Martina Cole so eloquently puts it, and this causes major friction within the family. Her father, Gerald SNR, cannot believe that his young and angelic daughter is already giving...

newby2 13.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Business - Martina Cole

Barclays Personal & Business Bank Accounts

Advantages: Efficient, Good Variety of products, Best offered Cash ISA 2 years running
Disadvantages: Try and sell you products that are not always beneficial to you.

...Although I have read a lot of negative reviews on Barclays - I personally have never had an issue or any problems with then that Barclays haven't dealt with in a professional manner. *I have both personal & business bank accounts with them. *I rarely have ever needed to go into branch unless I'm paying in cheques. *I bank on-line and in comparison with Lloyd's bank find Barclays on-line banking facilities meet all my needs. *Telephone banking is always efficient and I feel I get what I need done with ease. I dont recall waiting times but cant be too long for me to not recall. Yes sure all companies will try and promote their products to you in order to sell you something - But its down to you as a person to assess the pros and cons of a product. Its always in your best interest to choose the correct products for you and they...

BTreyo 18.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of Barclays Bank Accounts

the bank job

Advantages: some parts of the film are interesting to watch
Disadvantages: No jokes, no nudity, no real action.

...a loan shark criminal gangster to terrorise victims and get his job done. Its a British film, based on a true story supposedly. It's the true story of the 1971 Baker Street bank robbery. The film highlights the criminal backgrounds of the robbers, and the people behind the robbery as criminals, drug traffickers, brothel owners and prostitution participants in one form or another. The film also illustrated the civil rights movement using screenames such as Michael X and Hakeem as obvious civil rights leading figures during this movement in world history. What happens basically a woman with the screen name Martine and Terry and his friends from London get involved in a misleading attempt at a bank robbery where it is suggested that nothing will go wrong, The London based gang are led to believe that money is the only motive behind...

costas1234 11.02.2008 (29.05.2009) · Read review
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Review of The Bank Job (DVD)

Banks back on form

Advantages: Nicely complicated plot
Disadvantages: Not as good as earlier Banks books.

...After the disappointment that was Song of Stone, Iain Banks gets back on from with The Business. I thought this was a great read - not quite up to the standard of his earlier work (I'm thinking of Complicity and The Crow Road), but it was certainly a lot more entertaining than Whit. The premise is that there is a massive organistion that runs much of the world, but does so in secret. The plot is typically byzantine - you never really know what's going on until the last few chapters, when everything falls into place, and things that seemed utterly incidental when they happened turn out to be very important. It is a good book - the lead character is well drawn, and the plot really draws you in. The downside? It's not as good as some of his earlier work, but that's a downside mainly because the previous work is very, very good...

andrewsi 11.11.2000 · Read review
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Review of The Business - Iain Banks

The Business

Advantages: Sunny
Disadvantages: Boring

...The Business is set in the 1980s and tells the story of a young man from London who goes to work in Spain. The film is set in the Costa del Sol, The acting, the storyline and the script in this film is not very good.. I might recommended this film for the soundtrack but not much else because it really isn't that good. I rented this film without the additional disc of extras so I can't really tell you anything about them. Even so, I wouldn't bother watching it if I were you. Running Time: 90 mins Director: Nick Love Producer: Allan Niblo, James Richardson Executive/Co-Producer: Rupert Preston Editor: Stuart Gazzard Screenwriter: Nick Love Director of Photography: Damian Bromley Sound: Simon Willis Cast: Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan, Georgina Chapman, Geoff Bell...

Nazuku 15.07.2006 · Read review
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Review of The Business (DVD)

Lloyds banking

Advantages: Easy way to keep track of finances
Disadvantages: Can be slow at times

...Lloyds TSB internet banking lets you manage your finances, apply for loans, credit cards, mortgages & pay off bills from home or anywhere with internet access. It seems very secure, you have a 9 digit username which is randomly given to you to prevent people guessing then you have a password which much be more than 6 digits & preferably a mix of letters & numbers. You then also have to enter your memorable information which very similar to a password therefore can be pretty much anything you want it to be as long as you can remember it! It can sometimes be irritating having to enter this infomation every single time not to mention time consuming if you're in a rush to check your account balance but it does make it that little bit more secure & give you the extra peace of mind that your finances are secure. Once you have...

Great_reviewer07 12.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Lloyds TSB Online Banking

Business Banking Direct

Advantages: Cost effective
Disadvantages: Depends heavily on postal service

...A very cost effective solution for maintaining business accounts. A nominal transaction charge of £ 0.20 per transaction, with complete access to the account online and by telephone without any extra charge. One gets a card that can be used to withdraw cash from any cash machine nationwide, and cheques have to be sent by post in prepaid envelopes supplied free of cost by RBS. However, postal delays can upset schedules especially if timing is critical. Also, a cheque received today can only be banked tomorrow (when sent by First Class today) at best. It is also not cost effective to pay cash into the account, since the same needs to be done at a post office and attracts a charge. Nevertheless, overall an acceptable alternative in view of the cost savings achieved....

vineet 21.01.2001 · Read review
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Review of Royal Bank of Scotland Accounts