While there’s a lot of fun and glory in travelling to other countries to spend a fulfilling holiday, this year we want to try a staycation. The UK is a wonderful place to visit, a paradise of castles, beaches and tourist objectives – why wouldn’t you want to explore it?

1. The UK has some stunningly beautiful beaches such as Holywell Bay in Cornwall and Barra in Scotland. There are enough beaches in the UK to keep you busy for a very long time.
2. There are plenty of opportunities to enjoy British culture outdoors such as watching Shakespeare at Cornwall’s Minack Theatre and listening to good music at the battle Proms, to name only a few of the countless opportunities to enjoy your summer staycation to the full.
3. There are some amazing luxury accommodation options such as converted lighthouses and repurposed railway stations among many other venues that will leave you in awe.
4. There’s plenty of history in the UK. Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, the Tower of London and Hadrian’s Wall are only a few examples of such landmarks and tourist objectives scattered all over the country. Have you seen Stonehenge yet? Maybe it’s just the right time to schedule your trip to this amazing place.
5. We have some of the best festivals in the world. Music lovers have Glastonbury, book lovers have Hay, and theatre lovers have Edinburgh. We prefer Glastonbury to any other music festival in the world.
6. Our customs are simply amazing. Have you tried making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday just yet? What about dancing around the maypole? There are many odd British traditions to immerse into – so why spend your holiday abroad and miss all the fun?
7. The UK offers amazing camping opportunities. Camping is more fun, less expensive and much more interesting in the UK than abroad. You also have a wide array of glamping options, should you want to be as close to nature as possible, but without giving up on your comfort.
8. The quirky UK pubs are better than anywhere else in the world. John Lennon’s old pub in Liverpool is perhaps one of the best examples that show that a staycation can be more rewarding than travelling abroad. There are also many modern pubs in London that make as many neat traditional lunch opportunities. British pubs are the best!
9. There are many luxurious retreats to take advantage of. Book a holiday in one of these luxurious spa resorts and you’ll never want to leave UK again. You don’t need to be an athlete to enjoy your share of lovely and relaxing massages. If spas aren’t your thing, there’s also a variety of quaint countryside cottages you could stay in, for example Ty Gwilym Holiday Cottages.
10. Our inner city treats aren’t less fabulous. The hills and the lush forests are great, but so are the lovely buildings in London, Oxford and Brighton. There are so many architectural treasures that you’d need a lifetime of holidays to see them all.
11. The walks are simply amazing. Just think about the pleasure of taking a walk through Snowdonia, in the North Wales. The Peak District and Northumberland are two other interesting options for walking lovers. Why go elsewhere when you have these beauties right here, under your nose?
12. The food is fantastic. Whether you want to taste the traditional fish and chips or you’d want to go for something more exotic, the UK can offer you any culinary experience you can possibly think about. The takeaway options cover different culinary traditions coming from all corners of the world. The food landscape in the UK is truly a multicultural one.
13. Adventure is here, waiting for you. Scotland is the perfect place for a skiing trip. Plymouth is the ideal location for scuba diving. Devon will allow you to put your skydiving skills to test. All these experiences have nothing to do with sitting on a porch and drinking your afternoon tea day in, day out. A skiing holiday on the slopes of the Cairnwell in Aberdeenshire will make you feel thankful for choosing a staycation rather than flying abroad.

If you’re like most of us, you want your smile to be whiter than it is today. Everybody wants a brilliant smile full of blinding white teeth, and we do a lot of things to get it. You may already be brushing with special toothpaste, flossing and asking your doctor about cleaning and bleaching treatments they can do in their office. While these all work, wouldn’t you like it if there was something more that you could do? What if you have had root canal treatment, how do you prevent the stains in the first place then? Here are some lifestyle changes you can make so that your teeth remain white and unstained.

Add Milk to Your Black Tea or Coffee

A lot of your favourite foods and drinks are the culprits that stain the teeth in your mouth, as has been talked about. But if you still insist on having caffeine on a daily basis multiple times a day, you can still drink your coffee and tea. You just have to make sure that you add some milk to the drink.

Tea has a lot of stain-causing tannins in it, and coffee is highly-pigmented, with chromogens that can darken your teeth and make them brownish and old-looking. Adding milk into these drinks will reduce the ability they have to stain your teeth, so if you’re going to indulge make sure there is also a splash of cow juice in them.

Use Sparkling Water to Rinse Your Mouth

Your teeth become stained for a couple of reasons. First, what you eat and drink contain a lot of colored pigments that stain anything, and secondly, these things can cause the enamel on your teeth to become worn away, or eroded. When these substances are allowed to remain on teeth, they have even more time to stain and erode your teeth. To make sure this doesn’t happen, follow every stain-causing beverage or food with a glass of sparkling water. Your teeth may not stop staining completely, but the water will get the offending substances off your teeth so that they only do minimal damage. This is especially the case with sparkling water, because it has carbonation and those little bubbles can work hard to keep your teeth clean. Be sure you rinse the water around so that it reaches every tooth and gets the chromogens.

Try More Cheese

You may be surprised to read that cheese can be an anti-staining agent, but it is true. Foods that contain a lot of calcium and protein reinforce your teeth, making them stronger and resistant to stains. If you go to an event and you’re afraid that your teeth will stain as a result of red or rose wine, be sure to eat a bit of cheese to keep your teeth clean.

You might want to experiment with hard cheeses, such as cheddar, instead of softer cheeses. Hard cheeses behave similarly to polishes or waxes on your teeth and make tea, wine and coffee roll off your teeth enamel and seal micro-pores in your teeth that stain-causing substances can sink into.

You also want to eat more chicken, beans, eggs, milk and yogurt to make sure you’re getting enough calcium and protein in your diet.

After looking through the information above, you probably know more about what behaviors you need to change so that you can get the white teeth you want. You can still brush your teeth with whitening toothpaste, use mouthwashes and floss your teeth, but mixing your current regiment with the information in this article will help improve the look of your teeth tenfold. Healthy teeth are about more then simply brushing, flossing and visiting your dentist twice a year. You need to go above and beyond so that your teeth remain healthy and look as bright and white as they can.

Yoga is something that a lot of people do because of the many benefits that it can provide. People who have practised yoga for years and completed their RYT 200 yoga training course know that every time they leave a yoga class they feel great. There are physical changes to your body as well as mental ones that you can benefit from.

The problem is that a lot of people do not look at creating a daily practice routine. When you do not practice yoga, you will feel it the next time you head to a class. You could also increase the chances of injury from lack of mobility the next time you are in a class. If you are not completely sure that practising each day at home is the best option, there are a number of reasons why you should.

No Special Equipment

To practice yoga, you will not need any special equipment that can only be found in a gym. You can do yoga anywhere from the rug in your home to the grass in your garden. Where you practice is up to you and how you are feeling on the day.

You Do Not Have To Change

You can do yoga in any clothing. In fact, you can roll out of bed, onto the floor and start your practice. When you practice yoga at home, there is no need for fancy clothing or those special gym shoes that everyone else is wearing.

Tailoring Your Practice

When you practice at home, you will be able to practice the poses that you want. You will also be able to set your own pace which is something that you cannot get with a class. You can determine what your body needs on the day and practice this which helps you get more of the benefits of yoga.

Yoga Makes You More Productive

A lot of people use the excuse that they do not have the time to do any exercise including yoga. However, all you need to do is get up 30 minutes earlier and you will be able to get some yoga practice in. You will soon find that this practice actually makes you more productive and provides you with more time in your day.

An Increase In Energy

Yoga will not only make you more productive by relaxing you and keeping you focused, but it will also give you more energy. If you practice in the morning, you will feel more energised throughout the day. This is due to the fact that you increase your oxygen intake and stimulate the flow of blood throughout the body.

You Will Sleep Better

Yoga will make you more aware of the present and will help you to reduce stress. It can also help to lower your cortisol levels and stop those thoughts that distract you are night and stop you from sleeping. This will help you fall asleep and improve the quality of your sleep.

Save Your Feet

Your feet are in shoes all day and will become tired and sore. If you have unsupportive shoes and do not move around a lot, you could suffer from flat feet and pronated ankles. This can cause serious problems such as plantar fasciitis, knee pain and shin splints. Doing yoga will free your feet for at least a bit of time.

Boosting Your Immune System

As yoga lowers stress hormones, stimulates the lungs, heart and digestive system, it will be boosting your immune system. All of these benefits will help your body get rid of toxins and drain the lymphatic system.

Better Posture

Many people do not realise that yoga can help to promote better posture through the practice of good posture habits. This is important because it can reduce damage to your neck and back from long-term tension. You will also be able to hold your head up and move with more confidence.

Reducing Anxiety

When you practice longer inhales and exhales, you will be able to focus your mind on the present. This will help you to reduce your feelings of anxiety.

Proving Me Time

Everyone needs some time to themselves and yoga practice is a great time for this. This is particularly helpful for people who are surrounded by others all day. Taking care of yourself is important and provides you with the energy to look after others.

Decrease Inflammation

There are studies which have found that yoga will decrease the pro-inflammation molecules in your body. This has been found to be helpful for people who suffer from fibromyalgia and arthritis.

Can we talk about Greece? This is more than likely the place you have been dreaming of visiting this summer. Greece has everything you could desire for a fun family vacation, it offers a wide range of luxurious activities, a good deal of history, and a laid-back vibe. In addition, it offers incredible value for money and a wonderful choice of lovely hotels, such as The Ikos Oceania Hotel.

The Greek Islands consist of well over 6.000 islands with only 227 of them being inhabited. It is quite possible to never see the same Greek Island twice!

Experience the Timelessness of Greece

Many people feel as though the Greek Islands are the best way to experience the Mediterranean way of life. It gives many people a sense of how it would have been to explore the streets of Italy or southern France in the 1950’s. Greece offers a timelessness that can not be found easily throughout the rest of the world, despite it being a tourist destination it never fees as though it is overcrowded or congested with traffic.

Of course, you are going to find those very busy resort areas, however, it is just as easy to take a few steps down the road and find your own private paradise

Much of Greece feels as though it has yet to be discovered! You can walk around a village and still find people sitting around drinking coffee and playing card games in the early morning. However, after just a few short hours, those streets will be empty as everyone has gone back inside for an afternoon siesta.

Greece is truly the location for a perfect family holiday. If you are traveling with children, understand that they are going to be totally adored by the locals.

Savour the Delicious Food

And of course, we need to talk about the food. Greece offers some of the healthiest and most delicious foods you could hope to encounter anywhere in the world. On the Greek Islands, it is not uncommon to enjoy fresh fish and salads anytime of the day. You can spend hours eating plates of fresh calamari, octopus, red mullet, whitebait, and sardines.

If you are going to be enjoying lunch or dinner in Greece, it is best to order up a large variety platter of Greek salads, cheese and spinach pies, grilled feta cheese, stuffed peppers and tomatoes as well as stuffed vine leaves. All of this food is incredible and by ordering this way, everyone is going to enjoy their favorites plus try something new.

You will also want to enjoy your meal mezze-style as it becomes a more social activity. When we share food it allows us the opportunity to interact with one another. We get the opportunity to talk and enjoy one another’s company.

The Incredible Greek History

Greek history and myth are subjects that have help to ignite many children’s imaginations. However, this same history and myth manages to truly come alive as you walk the islands and see the sights that you have only read and dreamed about.

From the very first time you gaze upon the Parthenon temple, climb up to the Acropolis in Athens or visit the home of the first Olympic Games at Olympia.

Greece has remained one of the top holiday spots for being of exceptional value. It is possible to feed an entire family for less than 45 euros and enjoy a luxurious boutique hotel experience for less than one would pay in France or Italy.

Chances are there will be no need to purchase a visa and if you get your airfare sorted out early enough, you can enjoy really low rates. No reason to wait any longer, start planning for your wonderful Greek holiday today. It will be an adventure you will not forget.

If you decide to hire a nanny who will care for your kid, then you turn into an employer. As an employer, it’s necessary to meet particular obligations like national insurance, paying tax, and offering your nanny a pension.

What legal obligations do you have as an employer?

If you employ a nanny, there are many obligations that you have to be compliant with. The following are among the most essential:

Verification Of Right To Work Inside The UK

You have to check and make sure that your nanny actually has the legal right to work inside the UK. Check the identification documents of your applicant, like an identity card, birth certificate, or passport prior to making any formal employment offer.

Tax Contributions

You’re responsible for the deduction and payment of income tax contributions of your nanny. Consult HM Revenue and Customs in order to register as a brand-new employer so you can establish a PAYE scheme.

You also need to maintain records of the payments you make, both for your nanny and yourself.

National Insurance Contributions

You are responsible for the deduction and payment of national insurance contributions on behalf of your nanny. These will be payable on the salary of your nanny, provided she earns more than a particular threshold. Contributions from your nanny and you are calculated as being a percentage of her overall earnings.

Liability Insurance

You have to have employer’s liability insurance, as that’s what covers you when your nanny gets ill or is injured from working for you. You might already have coverage from other insurance policies that you hold, but you should check carefully.

Employment Contract

You need to issue a specifically written contract prior to her starting work or within the first two months of her starting date. It needs to describe her duties, her hours, her salary, and her holiday entitlement.

If there are any changes in the contract details, then they need to be mutually agreed upon by your nanny as well as yourself.

Payslip

You have to give your nanny her payslip every week or month that shows her the earnings and deductions made. Payroll for nannies should be no different than the standard payroll you would expect in your own job.

National Minimum Wage

You have to pay the nanny a rate that meets or exceeds the minimum wage. More than likely, you’ll actually be paying her a lot more than this.

Live-in nannies typically charge from £300 up to £350 for each week. Day nannies might charge a bit more, averaging from £400 up to £475. Keep in mind that each nanny might have her very own salary expectations just based on required duties, as well as her individual skills, qualifications, and experience.

Annual Paid Leave

Each employee, be they part-time or full, is entitled to 5.6 weeks of annual leave or its equivalent. You can pick whether you include bank holidays as part of this allowance or not.

You can negotiate the specific holiday periods individually with your nanny.

Pension

If your nanny’s age falls between 22 and the state retirement age, and she’s earning in excess of £10,000 per year, then you have to establish her a pension scheme. You need to make monthly contributions to this pension scheme, which are based off the gross salary your nanny receives.

Notice Of Employment Termination

During the initial month of employment, either you or the nanny should give one week’s notice of the contract being terminated. Following this, a month’s notice is typically given, although this is another thing you and your nanny can negotiate. Be sure that you put this agreed period of notice into the contract.

Maximum Working Hours

You are not able to make your employee work in excess of 48 weekly hours. You might have heard about this law being called the working time directive.

If your nanny’s age is more than 18, she is able to work over 48 weekly hours, but only if both of you sign an agreement. You aren’t able to force a nanny to sign this, however, and she is free to change her mind any time she wants so long as she offers you a week’s notice.

Statutory Maternity Rights

If a nanny you hire gets pregnant when working for you, then she is entitled to have maternity leave.

If you’re not sure where you need to start with all of these various responsibilities, you can get help. There are businesses who can do payroll for you, simplifying the national insurance and tax contributions. Some even offer pension services.

Generation Z as long as the largest segment of the population, with this in mind, many have focused to this generation’s possible potential. As of 2019, Generation Z will compromise 32% of a 7.7 billion global population, sliding ahead of millennials who will account for just 31.5% of that share.

It is now a race to bring the best markets to generation Z. The older members of this generation have just recently graduated from the University and have begun to enter the workforce and are now compromise in a large portion of consumer spending. It is expected by the year 2020, Generation Z will account for almost 40% of all consumers in the market. They have a potential buying power of $44 billion which expands to over 600 billion when one considers their possible influence on their parents spending. It is easy to understand why marketing teams are doing all they can to capture the attention of this highly profitable segment of the population before their competitors do.

As with each generation before, Generation Z has a unique set of behaviors and challenges which leads marketing teams many possibilities. The following guide from Manmade will help you understand Generation Z to create the perfect marketing blueprint.

A Mobile First Generation

Individuals who are considered to be individuals of Generation Z were born after 1995, meaning they have no idea of how life was without technology. They are the first generation to be raised in the presence of smartphones and social media. Millennials are considered to be mobile pioneers whereas Generation Z are native to mobile technology. Generation Z members between the ages of 13 and 17 typically received their first smart phone at the age of 12 compared to those who were 16 for 18 to 24-year-olds and 20 years old for those who are ages 25 to 34.

For many Generation Z members, the smartphone is an indispensable device, it is estimated that 78% will use their smartphones as a means of communication, shopping and entertainment. One of the main things to remember about this generation is the fact that they use their smartphone on a day to day basis. In addition, they will use their smartphone for a wide variety of tasks all at the same time. Meaning they can be texting, creating a document and posting a photo on a histogram all at the same time.

Authenticity Is Key

While authenticity has become an essential part of marketing, Generation Z is taking it further. They have made it fully clear what they consider to be important, they want to know the company and the person behind it. Due to the fact that this generation has been exposed to digital marketing from the very beginning, their instinct is to filter out anything that feels artificial. In fact, they do not want you to market to them, they want a relationship.

Financially Conservative

One of the things that sets Generation Z members apart from others is the fact that they are financially savvy. Many members of this generation were impacted by the recession in 2008 and saw their parents deal with many financial struggles and millennial’s dealing with high unemployment and wage issues in addition to staggering student debts. Over 60% of Generation Z individuals already have a savings account, that is considerably higher than previous generations. For members of this generation, price and quality are key considerations, they will spend a great deal more time searching for a better deal on their smartphone then making an impulsive decision.

Multitaskers

Due to the fact that this generation is part of a connected society, they are much more use to updates from their apps. Many of these individuals will spend their day flipping through various social platforms, texting friends while watching their favorite show on Netflix. Many Generation Z members have the ability to juggle up to five various screens at once. For many of these individuals, they have absolutely no problems juggling a wide variety of tasks.

It should be noted though, that the majority of these individuals have the shortest attention span in history. Believe it or not, most members of this generation have an attention span of only eight seconds, which is actually shorter than that of a goldfish. Due to this fact, this generation tends to be more responsive to videos and images as opposed to text. One of the best ways to gain their attention and leave an impression with them is to use visually striking material.