Community magazines hit the headlines

Cambridgeshire’s community magazines and newsletters made the front pages themselves last night at the 2009 Community Magazine Awards, a competition run by the Cambridge Building Society and backed by the Cambridge News.

The scheme, which is in its twelfth year and was revamped for 2009, attracted a record 59 entries – 18 of which were first time entrants.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, which took place at Marshall’s in Cambridge, Lesley Hollamby from the Cambridge Building Society said, “We set up these awards to recognise the commitment of the people and volunteers involved in producing local magazines and newsletters for the community.

“I’m really pleased that there were a record number of new entrants this year and delighted by the high standard of the submissions.

For full details of the results, click here.

Mortgage schemes drop but long term comparisons are still on the up

The number of live mortgage schemes available to IFAs has dropped for the first time in nine months, according to figures released today from Mortgage Brain’s Monthly Product Analysis.

The total number of live mortgage schemes listed on its market leading sourcing system dropped by four per cent during March, down from 4,876 (as of 1st March 2010) to 4,665 on 5th April 2010.

The slight decline, however, is easily overshadowed by the longer term analysis, which still paints a positive picture of the current UK mortgage market. Current figures are showing a healthy 51% uplift in overall product availability compared to this time last year, and a 63% increase compared to six months ago.

For full details of the analysis, click here.