The Isle of Man has a number of fantastic venues for all types of event, however availability is always an issue, cost can be an even bigger problem and finally there can be an awkwardness at a number of them with just simply booking.  The Isle of Man needs more great venues.  At times in the past there have been occasions where (from personal experience) it feels like they think they’re doing you a favour instead of providing a service that you’re paying for, it shouldn’t be like that.  Whether it’s a birthday party, anniversary, wedding, funeral wake, corporate gathering/presentation, teaching or just a social get together finding the right venue can be tough but we’ve finally found one that we’d be happy to recommend for most occasions and groups.

Just like the name gives away the Isle of Man is an island, surrounded by the sea and with a long maritime tradition. You don’t have to look far to find somebody you know that will have at some point owned or currently owns a boat, our harbours are rammed with them! On the other hand do you know anybody that has ever had any formal boat training? You wouldn’t jump in a car and expect to be just let loose on the roads but when it comes to boats and the sea it’s a whole different ball game, however no matter how experienced you are IOM boat training could be for you?

The Isle of Man isn’t part of the United Kingdom, repeat is not part of the United Kingdom. Whilst it has close ties with many national services in the UK our own services are still separate. An example of this is the postal service, just try looking for an Isle of Man post code/address using any of the various UK services out there, you’ll net get a lot of joy. The same with Google Maps, again you’ll not find the property you are looking for. But looking for an Isle of Man post code can be really simple, if you know how!

How hard is it to find a reliable painter and decorator, you know the type, somebody that turns up when they say they will, finishes the job on time and goes out of their way to give you the best result possible? Generally speaking it’s very hard, which we found out lately when we tried to do what we thought was a simple lounge and dining room makeover. Just getting people to turn up when they said they would to do a quote was hard enough! However we did eventually find a company that were just what we were after.

The Isle of Man is synonymous with boats, from the local marinas and harbours stuffed with local boats to the numerous visitors that decide to bring their own vessels across the Irish Sea to visit the Isle of Man. In Douglas and Peel we have 2 fantastic marinas with all the facilities a visiting boat could want. On a personal level it’s the chance to get out to sea that keeps me sane sometimes on this little island of ours! Of course boat ownership isn’t all about days out on the water, marine engines are expensive and often temperamental beasts and such is the modern world that most are no longer user serviceable, this is where a good marine engineer comes in and on the Isle of Man the best marine engineers for my money are MJS Marine based in Ballasalla.

With a stagnant housing market many people have the urge to do-up what they already have. Certainly on the Isle of Man you’ll notice plenty of new extensions being built, conservatories being added and other improvements being made around the house. One of the simplest and cheapest improvements that can be made to the look of your house is to add some blinds. We noticed that ever since we had ours done that most of the neighbours have joined in, it looks better (than bare windows and much better than nets), provides more privacy for those that front onto a road and they also have the added benefit of still letting in light but allowing you to watch your big “highly reflective” Plasma/LCD TV. If the front of your house faces south like ours then they are almost a must buy.

Forming an offshore company through the Isle of Man can be about so much more than just forming a Manx company.

There are many reasons for why you may want to look offshore when it comes to forming your company. However for most people one reason seems to be seen as more significant than any other and that is the opportunity to save significant amounts of money in the way of tax. In this respect offshore jurisdictions like to compete with each other in terms of what they can offer (tax savings, fees etc) and it’s always best to compare and contrast the various offshore company formation jurisdictions before settling on one. On top of the money aspect going offshore may offer advantages in terms of confidentiality and long term asset protection as well as reducing the administration burden on your company or allowing you to operate in markets that your domestic jurisdiction may not allow.

Being an island you are stuck with basically 2 ways of getting to the Isle of Man (well until they build either a really long monorail or tunnel that is), you either fly or take the boat. When it comes to sailing to the Isle of Man I’m afraid you only have one choice and that’s using the Isle of Man Steampacket Company.

The Isle of Man is a global hotspot for financial services, due to this there is also the need for many related services. Private Investigators firmly fall into this category and any PI working on the Isle of Man needs to have experience in more than just the normal “domestic” situations. In many respects it is a corporate island and the diverse nature of this work requires extremely experienced individuals.

With a population that is ever more chained to the office desk the number of people reporting back and related problems is only set to increase. The Isle of Man in particular with it’s reliance on financial services and office work in general is at risk. How many people don’t know somebody at work who complains about back problems?

There are 3 things that are globally known abut the Isle of Man, there is the TT, there is the tail-less Manx cat and then there is the fact that the island is an Offshore Finance Center. The financial services industry is the major contributor to the islands wealth and as such there are literally hundreds of financial services related companies that operate from the Isle of Man. CSPs or Corporate Service Providers are amongst these and the type of work and the services they offer can help many businesses and individuals, including UK contractors.

Looking for a plumber on the Isle of Man? There are certain things that you may take for granted if you don’t live on the island that can become a bit of an ordeal if you do live here. Finding a plumber is one of those things. Manx plumbers tend to charge a slightly higher hourly rate than you’ll find in the UK and in general don’t seem to be quite as keen for the work. I know a lot of plumbers will deny this but it’s certainly been my experience from the past 10 years of trying to get jobs done.