Time was when Chancellors of the Exchequer vanished from sight at this time of year for fear that they would thoughtlessly give away some precious Budget secret.
That was never Gordon Brown's style. He routinely previews the broad brush of his Budgets before Christmas in a pre-Budget statement.
As to the nitty-gritty, the Inland Revenue seems free to go round slamming shut any tax loophole that catches its eye, all year long, without waiting for the Budget, let alone the Finance Bill that makes it law.
Next week our Chancellor is taking time off from framing his third election Budget. He is winging it to Shanghai - very likely for a quiet word with the inscrutable gentlemen at Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.
When he comes back, unless I am greatly mistaken, he will be "The Man Who Saved Rover". In the West Midlands that title is worth more votes than a headlinecatching tweak to the Child Trust Fund, or whatever, in the Budget.
So how is this happy outcome to be achieved? It is three months now since SAIC announced it was poised to pump £1 billion into MG Rover. Since then there has been all manner of activity.
SAIC people have been crawling over Longbridge. Rover people have been back and forth to Shanghai. But to outward appearances nothing, absolutely nothing, has been signed, least of all a £1 billion cheque.
Chancellor Brown is a persuasive politician. He goes with the clout of one the world's most successful finance ministers (though that could look otherwise in a year) and a man who still stands a chance of making himself Prime Minister.
But what can he tell these hesitant Shanghaiers about Rover that nobody else has been able to tell them?
Let's not be cynical about this. Mr Brown is a son of the Manse. He doesn't run round handing out bulging brown envelopes. His Unique Selling Point is that if he promises a tax break his promise is better than anyone else's. The remarkable thing is that he is going half way round the world to deliver it in person - well, that is what it looks like.
The risk is that he will over-egg it. Still, be thankful he is making the effort. He cannot afford to fail. n n n As to the Child Trust Fund, the £250 and £500 vouchers should start arriving just in time for the election.
Grandparents beware. The 100,000-member Foresters Friendly Society has done some research and discovered that they, not cash-strapped parents, are the likely source of the permitted top-ups of up to £100 a month that can turn these political sweeteners into meaningful investments.
Financial institution will be wary of taking on minifunds without a flow of topups from loving relatives to make the effort worthwhile.
So remember: A Child Trust Fund goes to wise and foolish children alike, without strings, at 18. And you get identical tax breaks with an ISA.
Printing.com has said full year pre-tax profits are in line with the lower end of expectations, with current trading picking up after a disappointing January.
The group said it is near to finalising the purchase of a third printing press, which would boost its estimated total retail sales capacity over the £30 million mark.
Unlike many of its competitors, Printing.com stores and franchises do not depend on any printing equipment on location. Its printing equipment is based at a centralised production hub with the head office in Manchester.
It also said that it will open a Coventry franchise by the end of March - adding to an already substantial Midland presence; but warned that trading at its agency division was below expectations, with sales of about £1.6 million, a £350,000 decline on last year.
Elsewhere, additional franchise options have been taken out, covering Manchester North, Hertfordshire, and Nottingham. A management buyout of the Sheffield store is also expected soon, it said.
"With the advent of these anticipated openings we will have achieved our territory franchise expansion target for the financial year, albeit the pattern of openings will be weighted towards the third and especially the fourth quarters," it said in the trading update.
Since the group's interim period last October, an additional seven bolt-on franchise agreements have been completed, and one has been terminated.
"Moving forward our objective is to open a similar number of territory franchises over the coming financial year, with the current pipeline of prospective franchisees encouraging us that this is realistic," it said.
