noworriesmate

I can help - I'll pm you NWM

Where are you based? I would have different recommendations depending on the city. Whoever you go with make sure they are members of the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) as they operate a code of conduct and also offer redress if anything happens to the agent (like they go bust etc) NWM

Homelet is pretty good, as is Letsure NWM

Welcome to the site - hopefully somebody will be along soon to answer your specific questions. NWM

You can't ship them but anything that is clearly labelled can be brought in your hand luggage or suitcase. I had a fair bit of saffron and wanted de-caf earl grey tea bags so brought them in on my flight - just remember to declare them NWM

To be honest if people don't have some sort of 'wobble' they probably haven't fully thought it through It's similar to any big lifetime decision - marriage, job, moving house but emigrating can include a number of these all at the same time. For us friends and family were the big thing, I think people can take for granted having friends you have done the years with, who know you and funny little ways, 'in jokes', history etc. It gets tiring having to start from scratch with every relationship and having to explain yourself. I remember reading on here that if you do go then make sure the minimum time you give it is 2yrs - it's not until you have been in a place that long that things begin to feel normal and you stop comparing things to how they were before. So for us that's what we did and have never looked back (we become citizens next week). So consider all the factors but if you do decide to go through with it then give yourself a chance to settle before giving up. NWM

Five times in four and a half years for me, but I still have a business back in blighty plus an elderly dad which takes me back. i am considering not going so often from next year but we'll see. NWM

Nothing - just the usual - people pretending to be satisfied customers, blah, blah, blah. NWM

The detail was fine - the links promoting and providing links to external companies is against forum rules. NWM

Well to be honest, it is very hard in the UK to lay off employees especially under TUPE (https://www.gov.uk/transfers-takeovers/overview). What I meant was that by delegating ALL of the functions I used to do I have slowly become redundant in my own business and when I eventually sell, the staff now won't miss me at all. I purposely began that process before I left, making someone else the MD and passing any questions people asked me on to him. Bit by bit, as he became more confident, I then got him to deal with the things I was still doing, like dealing with the bank and the accountants etc. Finally this month I have got him to open a new branch (actually he suggested it to me), but he is doing all the strategy, marketing, employing etc etc. I am still there to bounce ideas around but the business now revolves around him. So I am now having conversations with him about the exit strategy, I am expecting that one of our competitors will buy us out, however they would be daft not to keep him. As to the other staff who were friends - over the past 5 years, some have left and some are still there but I have pulled back from relating with them (about the business) and I don't believe there will be any ill will when I am out of the picture. NWM

If you need to sell your business then you will just have to make the choice but there is no getting away from the fact that others will link your move to Australia for your own happiness with them suffering loss (of some kind). I had (and have) a lot of friends working for me but always knew I would be living overseas at some point so built up the business so it could run without me being there. When I moved out here I kept my business and just stay in touch by Skype and return once a year to check up on things. I will sell the business in the next few years but it wont be linked in peoples minds to me moving here - I am already working on ways to have the business ready for sale so the staff won't even notice i've gone. So if you don't need to sell the business, think about keeping it for a year or so and then sell - you may be surprised (like I was) that your staff rise to the challenge, revel in the opportunity and make more money then you would have done because they have something to prove! NWM

Yeah - same happened to me, I have white coat syndrome too, my medical was referred but I heard nothing more until I got my approval letter. NWM

Bugger - talk about timing - just had a phone call to say the asylum seeker I am working with is on his way to hospital in an ambulance with chest pains, I need to go. NWM

Human rights violations are international law - but don't get so het up on it, you obviously approve of what he is allowing on his watch and I don't but then again I guess you're not dealing with the fall out of his actions on a daily basis as I am. Just this week I am dealing with an asylum seeker who has been here for 5 yrs with our processing - a grown man in floods of years who hasn't seen his 8yr old son in that time, who can't work, who hasn't been given any date for processing, who has had to change his name due to intimidation from Iranian government henchmen who are over here to try to get details of those over here so they can intimidate the families back in Iran. I've also spent time with our federal MP who is in despair at what's happening - not just with Scott Morrison (as she is the opposition) but with the WHOLE politics of what is going on. NWM

Not to mention the first paragraph in the link PQ put above: Scott Morrison ignored his department’s advice that it was illegal for him to refuse permanent visas for boat arrivals found to be refugees, and defied warnings from bureaucrats that the move would be challenged in the high court and he would lose. The minister for immigration personally ordered protection visa numbers be capped for 2014 – to avoid granting permanent protection to any boat arrivals – before his action was ruled unlawful by the full bench of the high court. NWM

The human rights violations as per the info I put above NWM

I don't know - what I do know is that if I was in their position I would do ANYTHING to remain alive and protect my family. By all means process people, send them 'home', don't let them set foot in Australia etc but while you do have them, when they have managed to get into the country then at least treat them like humans and with dignity. There are ways of proving you are being tough on protecting the borders without de-humanising the most vulnerable. NWM

I hate the fact that my country allows this: http://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2014/10/25/open-letter-living-the-hell-called-nauru/14141556001165#.VE9TfUtdnwK NWM

I accept it still has to be proven in a court of law but when the United nations, Red cross, Amnesty International all condemn the actions of Scott Morrison I kind of feel that he is on thin ice. He is ignoring his own departments legal advice and is now having to introduce new laws to try and get around international laws that he is flouting - It is obvious to anyone with a conscience that the guy has zero regard for anything (and anyone) accept to be able to say he is being tough on Asylum seekers - what a big man that makes him, picking on the most desperate in society. As I have said - fine, be tough if you feel you have to, but the way he is treating children and woman (and men) is a blight on our country and I believe history will prove that. NWM A senior United Nations official has criticised Australia's asylum seeker policy, saying it has lead to a "chain of human rights violations". The incoming UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jordan's Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, singled out human rights violations in Syria, Iraq and Gaza in his first speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Switzerland. But he also went out of his way to criticise Australian policies of offshore processing and turning back the boats. "Australia's policy of offshore processing for asylum seekers arriving by sea, and its interception and turning back of vessels, is leading to a chain of human rights violations, including arbitrary detention and possible torture following return to home countries," he said. Mr Hussein said he did not support mandatory detention of asylum seekers in any country, including Australia. "I must emphasise that the detention of asylum seekers and migrants should only be applied as a last resort, in exceptional circumstances, for the shortest possible duration and according to procedural safeguards," he said. He warned Australia's policy of turning back the boats could lead to resettling migrants in countries not equipped to deal with them.

No - just having dinner, normal service will continue when I feel like it :tongue: NWM

I for one can live with that (even though I may not agree) - it's the total disregard of international law and ANY compassion that I do have a major issue with. By all means make laws that make it difficult for people to get here however do it with a regard for human decency and do it within international law. NWM

I am - One way or the other he will face consequences - they always do, if not not now, it will come down the line. NWM

He has recently been reported to the international Court of Human rights for his actions - so I am hopeful he may soon face sanctions. NWM

The mortality rate is 50% there have been +/- 9000 cases with circa 4500 deaths in this outbreak. NWM

I would also mention that this is a public forum and that Case officers regularly frequent the site so if your user name reflects your actual name then you may wish to be careful what you post. NWM