Business Direction 01

Direction

Business

Recruiting people full of life - page 24 The future of radio - page 22

Getting your marketing right - page 27

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce BD01.indd 1

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Multi Temperature Supply Chain Specialists Oakland International is an award winning BRC accredited logistics company providing ambient, chilled and frozen storage, as well as picking, packing and distribution of food and consumer goods.

With depots in the West Midlands and Ireland, we operate a highly efficient distribution network built on a reputation for delivering a customer focused reliable and flexible operation.

Our specialist case consolidation service allows suppliers to share the same pallet for delivery into retail, wholesale and the food service sector.

www.oakland-international.com T: +44 (0) 1527 596 222

E: sales@oakland-international.com

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Dir ect ion

Bus ine ss

Contents Recruiting people full of The future of

life - page 24

radio - page

Business Direction

22

published by

27 ng right - page

marketi

Getting your

Herefordshire

ÂŁ2.00 where

r of Commerce

May/June 2011

24 Cover feature

4 Chamber news

27 Sales and marketing

5 Business news

sold

Issue 1

ershire Chambe

and Worcest

3 First word

hWChamBer.Co.uK Business Direction, Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce’s 52 page, full colour bi-monthly publication.

Designed and produced by business people for business people. Distributed to 6,000 businesses including selected retail outlets and Tesco stores across Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

ediTor Kelly Betts 0845 641 1641 ext 213

8 Education 9 Business news

31 Conference and exhibitions 36 International trade

12 Policy

38 Commercial property

13 Policy

40 Community focus

15 Member benefits

41 Chamber news

16 Chamber events 17 Training 19 Environment

22

43 New members 47 Take a break

21 Business news

49 Movers and shakers

22 Big interview

50 The last word

kellyb@hwchamber.co.uk

24 First word

ediTorial businessdirection@hwchamber.co.uk 0845 641 1641 ext 213

and Worcestershire now having active business boards representing the business community.

The business board chair for the Marches LEP is Neil Kerr, from Next Generation Turbines, and the Worcestershire LEP business board chair is Tony Hyde, Managing Director of Thomas Vale. The two main boards of the LEPs are also chaired by private sector individuals, the Marches Chair is Dr. Geoffrey Davies, Chairman, Alamo Group, and Worcestershire is Peter Pawsey.

The roles and responsibilities of the LEPs are constantly developing and we are seeing the government refer to LEPs as key to the economic development of the country.

ProduCTion & desiGn Distinctive Publishing, 8th Floor, Aidan House, Sunderland Road, Gateshead NE8 3HU Tel: 0845 884 2385 www.distinctivepublishing.co.uk

adVerTisinG Distinctive Publishing, 8th Floor, Aidan House, Sunderland Road, Gateshead NE8 3HU Tel: 0845 884 2345 john.neilson@distinctivepublishing.co.uk

feaTure ediTors John Dean & Francis Griss deangriss@btinternet.com

suBsCriPTions www.hwchamber.co.uk Tel: 0845 641 1641 Disclaimer: Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy, the publisher accepts no responsibility for omissions or errors within this publication. Editorial submissions are included at the discretion of the editor. The opinions expressed in articles and letters within this publication are not necessarily those of the Chamber. All offers, promotions and competitions appearing in Business Direction are the sole responsibility of the advertiser/ promoting party and Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce does not accept any responsibility for any representations made within them.

Welcome to our first edition of the magazine version of Business Direction. We are really excited that this format offers more opportunity and longevity for the business community in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Changes that the coalition government have made to business support are now starting to take effect, with the Local Enterprise Partnerships in Herefordshire (The Marches)

Last month here at the Chamber, we welcomed four new staff as we took responsibility for the delivery of Destination Worcestershire (read more on page 4). The future aims for us on this project are clear and include increasing visitor numbers to Worcestershire. Importantly, we aim to add value to the services provided to the membership of Destination Worcestershire. In addition, over the next couple of months there are a number of key opportunities which will be explored with key stakeholders including the tourism industry and Worcestershire Ambassadors.

We have had a large number of entries for our Business Awards and once again look forward to celebrating your success at the Awards finale on Thursday 21 July at Worcester Cathedral.

Enjoy this edition, your feedback is welcomed. mikea@hwchamber.co.uk

Our Patrons are:

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Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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Chamber News Chamber selected to manage Destination Worcestershire Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce are delighted that they have been selected to manage Destination Worcestershire.

Destination Worcestershire staff moved to the Chamber’s Warndon-based Head Office on Monday April 18.

Destination Worcestershire had received funding from Worcestershire County Council and Advantage West Midlands (AWM) since 2006. However, the AWM funding ceased at the end of March 2011 because Regional Development Agencies have been abolished, and public sector budget cuts mean that County Council funding would have ceased at the end of March 2012. The move allows Destination Worcestershire to develop its support and services to promote Worcestershire.

Mike Ashton, Chief Executive of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce is a membership-driven organisation and values its members. It is our vision to provide a similar model for Destination Worcestershire. We will retain the brand and provide a range of new services for the membership.

These will include developing a website which will take bookings not only for accommodation but for attractions and Visitor Centres with the aim to increase the number of tourists visiting and staying in Worcestershire.” www.visitworcestershire.org

Chamber renews Technology Support Tesco’s work in the community Tesco’s shops are in local communities in the UK and Contract with Advantage Group around the world. They employ hundreds of thousands A year on from the Advantage Group winning the contract to support Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce IT requirements, they have succeeded in renewing the partnership based on first class service and reliability.

“When competing for the business in early 2010 we spoke of ‘going the extra mile’ for Advantage Engineer our clients and always ‘striving to achieve Chamber Server Cabinet customer delight’ ” noted James Green, Managing Director of the Advantage Group. “Whilst everyone can claim to exceed others standards, the opportunity to display it in such a high profile environment as the Chamber was one we thoroughly welcomed. Winning business is based on promises of great delivery, however renewals are based on factual performance and I am delighted to receive this vote of confidence in our business from an organisation such as the Chamber.”

Following an extended period of growth and consolidation, during which the business has expanded into specialist markets delivering market leading support services for corporate technology and telecoms, the Advantage Group have moved into larger premises more suited to house the infrastructure required to support today’s complex technological business requirement.

of people whose families depend on the companies’ success for their livelihoods.

Customers of Tesco expect them to respond and find engaging solutions on major issues such as climate change, education, natural disasters and other causes supported by major national charities.

So in addition to Community Champions, Community Fairs, community awards, local education programmes and community noticeboards, Tesco have been supporting Race for Life for Cancer Research UK for over a decade. This is part of their ongoing commitment to promote healthy living, local community engagement and team building opportunities outside the workplace. This years Worcester’s Race for Life takes place at Worcester Racecourse on Sunday 12 June 2011.

To enter log onto www.raceforlife.org/choose-your-event/worcester.aspx

Look out for BD in Tesco Business Direction has been available in independent outlets for some time, but as of this edition (May/June 2011), it will now be available in Tesco stores across Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

This represents a substantial investment on the company’s part in order to ensure service levels are not only maintained, but enhanced as connectivity speeds, data volumes and security requirements place extreme system pressure on legacy IT systems.

James Green added: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Chamber for the confidence shown in us some 12 months ago and the professional approach in developing what we hope will continue to be a long term relationship in this critical area of their business.

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Business News Concept illustrates the importance of design

Illustrative designs by Steve Ward at Concept Advertising and PR Ltd

Concept Advertising and PR Ltd now offers bespoke illustration as part of its mix.

Creative Director, Jason Band, said: “It is our job to keep our clients one step ahead of the competition, so for us this means creating visuals that really have impact. Bespoke illustration is the key to this. With the freedom of hand-drawn-to-computer sketch we can produce anything our imaginations come up with; be it cartoons, product designs or eye catching corporate IDs. Unlike photo libraries’ ‘lifestyle’ shots that have been popular in the last decade, illustrations are completely bespoke and unique to our clients’ needs.” www.conceptad.co.uk

drpvideo scoops gold at 2011 IVCA Awards The drpvideo team picked up an IVCA Gold Award for their promotional film produced for St Richards Hospice at this year’s prestigious IVCA Awards. The video team accepted their award in the Charity and Not for Profit Category. They were joined by St. Richard’s Hospice Director of Fundraising, Marilyn Peachey. The drpgroup also picked up a highly commended award for their 30th anniversary celebration event.

Marilyn Peachey said: “We were delighted with the film which features patients and family members talking about how much the hospice means to them. It is very emotive and beautifully filmed and gives a true glimpse into how we work.” www.drpgroup.com

New Harrison Clark renewable energy team Harrison Clark have introduced a new, focused ‘renewable energy’ team. The team advises on a wide range of issues relating to the renewable energy sector including regulation, planning, property, construction, corporate structure and financing, contracts and IP law.

The UK has a legally binding target for 15 per cent of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2020. To help achieve this the government have recently introduced a number of initiatives such as the ‘feed-in-tariff’ and the ‘renewable heat incentive’, as well as the ‘green deal’ set to come into play in Autumn 2012.

Rachael Thornton, Solicitor at Harrison Clark and part of the renewable energy team, explains:

Harrison Clark’s renewable energy team

“More and more individuals and businesses are becoming involved with renewable projects. The new renewable energy team at Harrison Clark has links with lenders and specialist professional advisors to ensure that our clients receive advice from professionals who understand the sector.” www.harrison-clark.co.uk

Outgrown their Muddy Boots sustainable food and farming, officially opened its new purpose-built premises in Phocle Green Business Park, Ross-on-Wye, on Friday 25 March 2011; nearly 19 years to the exact day that the first office opened in 1992.

The evening brought together more than 150 local Councillors, suppliers, customers, friends and family to celebrate the opening of the new office, which was designed and built to support the demands of the growing business.

Muddy Boots office opening

drpvideo collect award with St. Richard’s Hospice Director of Fundraising, Marilyn Peachey

Muddy Boots Software, leaders in traceability and quality assurance software solutions for

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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The office is packed with eco-credentials reflecting Muddy Boots’ strong desire to strengthen its business values and take more control of their workplace environmental footprint. www.muddyboots.com

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“

I would personally recommend Panoptic to any Company, Accountant or Financial Director that believe they have no choices when it comes to working capital funding options and getting banks to understand your real needs.

“

Ewan Gibb - Finance Director - China Industries Ltd. t/a Wow! Stuff Current research shows that employee related theft and fraud is costing business millions of pounds each year. By inviting eminent to initiate an investigation, or simply deploy some integrity testing methods, you could put a stop to these and send your employess a strong and positive message.

Eminent are able to offer a variety of surveillance options.

Only the latest and most reliable technical equipment will be used and deployed providing the customer with reassurance that the information obtained is both accurate and current.

It has almost become an accepted method of improving a lifestyle by filing a false and fraudulent insurance claim. These claims can range from injury or employment based issues to the theft of supposed high value items.

Has your partner been behaving strangley lately or do you simply have that instinct that something is far from right? Eminent will provide you with an initial consultation to discuss your concerns and suggest a number of ways to move forward.

Eminent is confident that it is able to provide the very highest of standards when conducting any enquiry or investigation. Each and every client will receive an individually tailored service to suit their needs.

www.eminent-investigations.co.uk Tel: 01527 910 971 E-mail: enquiries@eminent-investigations.co.uk

Andrew Phillips Insurance Brokers Ltd Andrew Phillips Insurance Brokers Ltd was established to provide a high quality insurance broking service to local businesses and to homeowners with large houses and high value contents. We arrange insurance that is tailored to our clients’ needs, rather than fitting a client to a policy.

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Kevin Johnson - Director cashflow@panopticls.co.uk

Mobile 07508 50 26 28 www.panopticls.co.uk

Cobnash Industrial Estate Kingsland, Herefordshire Workspace units from 938 to 2,017 sq ft www.pxpwestmidlands.co.uk/ cobnashindustrialestate

The company is run by Andrew Phillips who has 25 years experience in the insurance sector. He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and a Chartered Insurance Broker.

Old Forge Industrial Estate

• We handle a wide portfolio of insurance solutions for businesses including property, liability, motor fleet and professional indemnity insurance.

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• We aim to meet every one of our clients to discuss their requirements and tailor their insurance to suit them rather than fitting them to a policy.

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In association with:

0845 054 0466 May/June 2011

12/5/11 11:09:10

Business News Absolute essentials for the growth company

Use the ‘Absolute essentials’ project to improve your business performance in 2011 and help us to raise £2011 for Noah’s Ark Trust, our local charity supporting bereaved children Amount raised after first two articles in this series = £280

By Tim Kidson

Business Direction issue:

partner in TKA Speaker, Consultant, Chair of the Herefordshire Directors Forum So, you have agreed the Bull’s Eye for your business* (article one), you have discovered your Key Change Project* (article two). That is the most powerful way to Clarify Direction for your business.

Next step is to Develop Trust. The most powerful way to Develop Trust in any organisation is to conduct the Directors’ externally facilitated 360 degree appraisal. This work cannot be done internally in the first instance, especially if it has not been done before. Once you get the hang of it you can do it yourself next time if you wish. An alternative perspective allows you to see your critical business issues from the outside in, rather than from the inside out.

When the senior team identify the two or three development

points that they will each embrace, this will boost morale in an extraordinary way. It is the sharing of this information that makes the process so powerful. When this happens at the top with the senior team, you are able to cascade this transparency down throughout the organisation. Everyone on the payroll will be in alignment and that will enhances business performance.

Some directors even put their development points on the notice board, and when they do that, people issues and challenges in the business really can just melt away.

Jan / Feb

The most powerful way to Clarify Direction: the Bull’s Eye process

Mar / Apr

To hit the Bull’s Eye you need to know what your Key Change Project is

May / Jun

The most powerful way to Develop Trust is the Directors’ externally facilitated 360 degree appraisal!

July / Aug

Staff, stakeholder and customer surveys? What do you do with the results?

Sept / Oct

What is your special contribution to the business?

Nov / Dec

Innovation and creativity right across the board – that’s how we develop and sustain competitive advantage

If you would like your Directors’ externally facilitated 360 degree appraisal call Tim Kidson now.

All proceeds to Noah’s Ark Trust

kidson@growth-for-business.com 01432 354136 or 07887 842126 * Following on from previous articles in Business Direction

flood protection specialist aims for expansion like a floating wall when water levels rise and according to the firm could have helped reduce the extent of recent devastation in Queensland.

Numerous organisations have already declared an interest in the SCFB and plans are underway to bring the manufacture of the product to the West Midlands over the next eighteen months. www.ukfloodbarriers.co.uk Global Deal: Sarah Vaughan (UK Flood Barriers) and Peter Luff MP

UK Flood Barriers are leading the way when it comes to flood protection after securing a major global distribution deal.

Supported by the Manufacturing Advisory Service-West Midlands (MAS-WM), UK Flood Barriers will be responsible for rolling-out the Self Closing Flood Barrier (SCFB) to the Environment Agency, local authorities, business and residential properties across the UK and Eire.

This unique passive flood defence system, designed by Dutch Engineers, automatically rises

TaxAssist Accountants Environmental expands into Droitwich Achievement TaxAssist Accountants is expanding into Droitwich, moving into a suite of offices on Victoria Square to provide tax and accountancy support for the local small business community.

Mike Tombs set up TaxAssist Accountants in Worcester in 2008 to offer tax and accountancy services to small businesses. In response to growing demand Mike decided the time was right to open a second office. www.taxassist.co.uk/worcester

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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Oakland Air Control

Oakland Air Control Ltd has achieved ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems certification from the international certification body Lloyd`s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) for its entire operations. This makes Oakland one of the first single operations in the country specialising in the installation, service and maintenance, of air conditioning systems. This illustrates their current and future commitment to minimising their environmental impact. www.oaklandgroup.com

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Education and business links

Mazak enterprise challenges students Yamazaki Mazak opened their factory doors to students from across Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

More than 100 secondary school students from ten schools across the two counties visited the factory plant in Warndon, Worcester, to gain a better understanding about business and enterprise.

Students being shown some windfarm technology which is produced by the Mazak machine tools.

The day started with an exclusive tour of the factory plant. Students were split into groups and given exclusive tours of the plant premises, allowing them to see the factory in operation and a £200,000 machine tool under construction.

They were then shown the range of products that Mazak’s machine tools create, such as McLaren F1 parts, Coca-Cola bottle moulds and ship propellers. The tour ended with a visit to the Mazak solutions area, which displayed the machine tools in action, demonstrating the Mazak technological innovation behind the production of complicated machine parts.

After lunch, the students were set a challenge by their hosts. Each school was given a document of information, and then issued the challenge of presenting a two-minute pitch to a panel, which included Senior Directors of Mazak’s European production. The students were then questioned on their pitch and asked to justify their strategies.

After much deliberation, the Mazak panel voted on the best team, deciding that the Kingsley College provided the best pitch.

The Kingsley College team winning the Mazak Enterprise Challenge.

In the feedback of the day, the students said they felt a real sense of pride and achievement in presenting before a distinguished panel in a room full of colleagues.

Gary Woodman, Head of Policy and Education at Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This was an excellent event, where the students and school teachers really had an opportunity to learn, understand the modern workplace and put that learning in to practical use in the afternoon.”

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce would like to thank Jon Sanger of the Enterprise Learning Partnership for co-ordinating the event, and the Mazak staff for all their support on the day. www.mazak.com

Woodfield Middle School, Redditch Commerce, Barclays Bank, local companies including Bosch, training providers and a local Theatre.

This day was felt to be a great success as part of the school’s aim to increase and develop partnership working and raise the profile of Work Related Learning. www.woodfield.worcs.sch.uk

Head teacher, Mr Beardmore, with Terry Owens, EBP manager

Woodfield Middle School recently held its first careers and business focus day as part of its regular Subject Development Programme. The day was organised and co-ordinated by Lisa Guest, Deputy Head Teacher.

The day saw a special focus for Year 8 pupils, on learning about the World of Work. Each pupil could choose to attend an event according to their own interests. Participants included: Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of

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Aylestone Business and Enterprise College, Hereford Students at Aylestone Business & Enterprise College have been given £10 as start-up capital for a business as part of the Tenner Tycoon Entrepreneurs Project and have been setting up small businesses with an eye on helping the local community. Business ideas have included face painting, a stationery shop, car cleaning and various raffles and Comic Relief linked activity. www.aylestone.org.uk

RGS pupils at Harrods

RGS, Worcester Eight A’ Level Textile students from Worcester have been given a unique behind the scenes look at the world’s best-known store, Harrods.

The pupils from RGS Worcester all hope to make their careers within the fashion industry and the opportunity to find out more from the staff at Harrods was not lost on them.

In addition to their talks on the business side of Harrods, the pupils had a full tour of the store and were treated to a luxury lunch and goody bags completed the memorable day. www.rgsw.org.uk

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Business News

sponsored by

Brand ‘moo’ look for Top Barn Nexus Creative has been appointed to create a brand new corporate identity and manage the ongoing communications for Holt Heathbased business Top Barn.

The award winning Umberto Giannini team: Rachel Turner, Hannah Emmerich, Jessica Yeomans, Sophie Timbrell and Rhiannon Caspell with some of their awards

Multiple award-winning hair salon Umberto Giannini Worcester – a cut above!

The Worcester Umberto Giannini hair salon has shown it’s a cut above every time by clinching eight awards at the annual Umberto Giannini awards held in Birmingham’s Custard Factory recently.

Winners included: ‘Assistant of the Year’ for Sophie Timbrell, ‘Graduate of the Year’ awarded to Rhiannon

Caspell and ‘Stylist of the Year’ Hannah Emmerich. Zoe Stock was named ‘Rising Star of the Year’ whilst Paul Salisbury took the title of ‘Senior Creative Stylist of the Year’, with ‘Principal Stylist of the Year’ going to Yolande Maeers.

Nexus will become the organisation’s official marketing supplier for the Top Barn group of companies and will be responsible for a group-wide re-branding exercise, the development of a new website, online strategy and the planning and execution of all ongoing marketing communications.

From its rural location in Holt Heath, The Top Barn group of companies includes two social care organisations, a number of outdoor leisure activities including, amongst others: camping and caravanning, fishing, running, cycling, watersports and family activities. Produce is also grown and animals are reared on the working farm, which also has a family butcher, Harvest Shop

Colin Foxall from Nexus Creative is pictured with Mike Harper of Top Barn and Marley the cow.

and coffee shop where the farmproduced stock is sold. Corporate team building and training courses are offered on site, as well as a number of self-contained business units, which are available to let.

Colin Foxall, Nexus Creative’s Commercial Director, said: “We are delighted to be working with Top Barn at such a crucial stage in the organisation’s development and look forward to rolling out the brand strategy and ongoing communications.” www.nexuscl.com

01905 619583 worcester@umbertogiannini.co.uk

Sash Windows for Temple Greenhouse at Croome Court Pershore-based Carlton Smith Projects Ltd have been contracted

by The National Trust to supply and fit the large sash windows for the Temple Greenhouse at Croome Court.

The original windows were made

by John Hobcraft in 1763 at a cost of £84. In the Victorian era it is believed the sash lights were changed in favour of larger panes of glass and were removed in the 1950s and possibly to construct a greenhouse by one of the estate workers in High Green.

The windows are constructed in the traditional manner using Larch with European Oak cills and are 4.65m in height and 2.10m in width.

Croome Court’s windows prior to the work carried out by Carlton Smith Projects Ltd

The finished windows can be seen now at Croome Court. www.carltonsmith.co.uk

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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the BUSINESS unit

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We deliver locally and nationally to small businesses and major organisations which include: SECURITY AND SPECTATOR SAFETY TRAINING - Chelsea FC, Twickenham RFU, Brands Hatch and the Three Counties Show Ground LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT - Brinton’s Carpets, Thomas Vale and Namesco CUSTOMER SERVICE - Wyre Forest District Council and Brokencote Hall The Business Unit, Kidderminster College, Market Street, Kidderminster, Worcestershire DY10 1AB. T: 01562 826501/2 E: bdu@kidderminster.ac.uk www.kidderminster.ac.uk

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Policy

sponsored by



Hereford Futures Retail Project Receives Planning Approval The multi-million pound redevelopment project of Hereford’s Old Livestock Market project has received planning approval for a new retail and leisure complex.

Developers Stanhope are now set to provide Hereford with a six-screen cinema, a supermarket, and a number of restaurants and retail outlets after receiving the support of Herefordshire Council’s Planning Committee.

With planning approval in place, the area enclosed by Edgar Street, Newmarket Street and Blackfriars Street is set to receive major renovation. Rather than taking the form of a traditional shopping centre, the project has focused on a series of open pedestrian spaces in an attempt to promote restaurant culture and encourage connectivity to Hereford’s existing retail core.

Waitrose have already been selected as the supermarket partner, as well as Odeon to develop the sixscreen cinema. At the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber’s City Forum in January, Stanhope also revealed that numerous applications for the retail and restaurant spaces have been received, and that it is down to Herefordshire to decide on the restaurant and consumer lifestyle it wants for the development.

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber has worked with member businesses to gauge the business view of the project and through

consultation were supportive of the development.

The redevelopment of the market has long been a contentious issue in Herefordshire. The project initially sparked a hostile campaign from some quarters, leading to the formation of the ‘It’s Our County’ – a political party for Herefordshire.

‘It’s Our County’ have remained vociferous on the issue, believing the project to be detrimental to Hereford’s ‘established commercial heart’, with the party’s two planning committee members both voting in opposition of the project.

However the other remaining committee members were unanimous in their cross-party support of the redevelopment, with Herefordshire Council leader Roger Phillips hailing it as a “once-in-ageneration opportunity”. Labour Councillor Chris Chappell echoed the sentiment, proclaiming “it is our grandchildren who will benefit, and in years to come they will say thank you”.

An artists impression of the new development.

Speaking after the decision Alistair Shaw, Retail Development Director at Stanhope said: “Over the past three years Stanhope and our wider team have lived and breathed this project, and we feel that the application now approved by the Council will bring Hereford the first rate leisure and retail facilities it deserves. We now look forward to getting on and delivering this project in earnest.”

Debate remains, however, on the pedestrian connectivity of the project, which was given added emphasis following the committee’s decision to approve a new link road from Commercial Road crossing Widemarsh Street to connect with Edgar Street. The link road would allow traffic from the Worcester

road to come through to Edgar Street, opening up the potential for Newmarket Street to be downgraded from a major route in order to improve pedestrian connectivity across the dividing road.

With approval now in place Stanhope are looking to commence work in 2012 with a view to completion in autumn 2013. The Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber now looks forward to working with Stanhope to exploit the local procurement opportunities for Herefordshire-based businesses.

For more information about the retail project please contact Gary Woodman on 0845 641 1641 or garyw@hwchamber.co.uk

                     

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 May/June 2011

12/5/11 11:10:11

Herefordshire Business Leaders’ Budget Review Breakfast

Did you know?

?

The Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber surveys its members every quarter on local business conditions and on key issues which affect the local business environment which are then fed back to key decision makers and partners. If you would like more information on the next quarterly economic survey, contact Gary Woodman on garyw@hwchamber.co.uk

feedback required...

Your chance to light the Red Tape bonfire Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce has tirelessly campaigned to reduce the amount of bureaucracy and red tape that is involved in running a business. No matter which sector your business operates in, a mass of regulation and compliance takes up valuable time. Business does recognise that regulation is a good thing; it protects consumers, employees and the environment but businesses estimate that they spend between one or two days per fortnight on regulatory issues.

Graham Biggs, President of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce with Graeme Chaplin, West Midlands and Oxfordshire Regional Agent for the Bank of England, and the Very Reverend Michael Tavinor, Dean of Hereford Cathedral.

Hosted by Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust and sponsored

by Baker Tilly, the Herefordshire Business Leaders’ Budget Review Breakfast welcomed Graeme Chaplin from the Bank of England, who spoke on the state of the national and regional economy and its effect on the policy of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee.

The event began with the Very Reverend Michael Tavinor, Dean of Hereford Cathedral, giving a brief history of the Cathedral Perpetual Trust’s economic struggles to redevelop the Cathedral buildings. Michael outlined how the Cathedral works as part of the community, and its needs to constantly generate revenue, with many similar

characteristics to a small business. After several decades of trying, the Cathedral is only months away from the completion of its restoration project in Cathedral Close.

Graeme Chaplin then went on to give an assessment of the UK economy and the pressures that could stimulate a future rise in interest rates. The attendees asked Graeme questions in relation to the supply of money to businesses, price cost pressures and why the Committee members were so divided on what actions to take.

Lucie Hammond from Baker Tilly then finished with an overview of the tax changes brought about by the budget reforms, and the potential impact on local businesses of the measures that were announced by George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) annually publish a Burdens Barometer which looks at the cost of regulations. The most recent data showed that between 1998 and 2010 there was an extra cost of £88.3billion to business. The message back to Government is that it must focus on simplification and reducing the costs to business and employing people.

If we want to reverse this trend, then businesses have to help the government to justify why it needs to regulate. Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce Conference in London, Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, committed that by the end of this Government’s term it will have reduced the overall burden of regulation. With more than 21,000 regulations active in the UK today, this won’t be an easy task.

At the recent BCC Conference, Vince Cable, Business Secretary, launched a new Red Tape Challenge website. This website is for business owners and managers to tell Government which regulations are working and which are not, what should be scrapped, what should be saved and what should be simplified.

The website will publish the regulations affecting one specific sector or industry – from retail to hospitality to construction. And throughout the process we will publish general regulations that cut across all sectors – from rules on equality to those on employment.

Get involved and visit www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk

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Valid until 30th June 2011 - Quote ref HWCC3006

Ashley, who we are supporting into employment, says:

“Having a job means I can earn my own money”

Aspire Work Right

Can you support Aspire to achieve real and meaningful work experience and job opportunities in Herefordshire?

Ashley, typing his CV

This is achieved by supporting people with a learning disability, through a work programme which includes work experience placements, creating a CV and interview skills. From this we help find employment and provide a job coach to support the individual and the employer to maintain their job. This process is available for up to 9 months to ensure they are competent and confident to fulfil their job requirements.

If you would like to help Ashley or someone else with a Learning Disability, contact Jo Campbell Contact details: jo.campbell@aspirechoices.com, Head Office: Suite 4, Penn House, 9-10 Broad Street, Hereford, HR4 9AP Tel: 01432 269406 Aspire is supported by: Learning Disability Development Fund | Royal Masonic Trust for Boys and Girls | The Jill Franklin Trust | The Equitable Charitable Trust Coutts & Co Charitable Trust | The Roger Brooke Charitable Trust

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May/June 2011

12/5/11 11:10:28

Member benefits and solutions with the right approach tenDers reaLLy can Be a key source of new saLes firsT sTePs To suCCess, or failure Many directors and business owners will say that tendering for contracts is ‘a time consuming, expensive and generally painful process.’ It is true that tendering for business is a complex process and navigating through the many pitfalls is not always an easy one.

Get it right, however, and tendering becomes a key and highly profitable channel of the sales strategy.

sTarT ouT on The riGhT fooT The ability to source tenders of relevance without consuming disproportionate amounts of effort (and therefore money) is one of the initial key steps to be tackled if progress is to be made.

In almost all businesses the real cost and effectiveness of this activity is unaccounted for and, when reviewed with fresh eyes, triggers a whole sequence of events leading to change for the better.

Ask yourself: “Are we sourcing new opportunities for our business in an efficient and productive manner? Are we confident that we are maximising the potential for new business via public and private contracts?”

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Salesleap (UK) Ltd, will provide support with tendering, including supplying relevant tender notices and support with tendering for business.

For further details contact the Chamber Team on 0845 641 1641 or SalesLeap directly at chamberoffer@salesleap.co.uk or on 01905 763992.

the importance of Directors’ anD officers’ insurance to smes SMEs are often characterised as fast, flexible and energetic. However, they are also likely to have limited risk management infrastructures in place, which could have significant consequences.

can even be disqualified and prohibited from holding any managerial or directorial position for some time – an outcome that can damage their reputation and credit history permanently.

Directors’ and Officers’ (D&O) insurance is designed to protect against the typical scenarios an individual director is likely to encounter, and cover the costs of a defence or employment tribunal, as well as the awards for covered claims.

Insurance represents a significant financial outlay for most SMEs, so it’s important to ensure you have adequate cover to meet the specific needs of your business. A broker who specialises in your sector will be able to make the right recommendations that are appropriate to you.

direCTors are in The firinG line

All Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce members who purchase a D&O policy from Jelf Clarke Roxburgh will receive cash back of 10% of the policy premium.

If things go wrong in a company, it is the directors who usually take the hit. Their personal assets, including their home, savings and pension can be at risk, whether they have acted deliberately, negligently or innocently. They could face prison if an act is considered a criminal offence and

promote your Business The Chamber does not sell its database but appreciates that direct marketing is an effective way of getting more business. However, database quality is critical. A Royal Mail survey in 2007 found that good quality data can increase response rates by around 50%.

The Chamber links to a data house called MarketingFile which provides direct marketing, email marketing, telemarketing and fax marketing lists online.

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To speak to Jelf Clarke Roxburgh about D&O for your business, please contact 01905 26561 mentioning ‘HW Chamber offer’.

Companies can market their product or service to potential new customers at work or home using address, email, telephone and fax data.

By registering with MarketingFile, you will have instant access to 50 million business records and 156 million consumer records across 50 database lists. No minimum quantities and FREE counts. You can select your exact criteria and download the lists directly.

Visit www.hwchamber.co.uk/InformationLibrary/ Mailinglists.htm for more information.

■ Free and immediate counts ■ No minimum orders ■ 29 Business and 21 Consumer lists

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Chamber events and trade missions forthcoming events for companies that traDe overseas World Transport Showcase, Leeds and London Tuesday 17 and Thursday 19 May 2011 Discover opportunities in the Rail, Airport and port sectors.

Aerospace International Trade visit to Italy, Naples Monday 6 – Wednesday 8 June 2011 Explore opportunities in the Aerospace sector.

Market Visit to Singapore Monday 6 – Friday 10 June 2011 A market visit for companies in the business and professional services sector.

Food & Drink Research Outward Mission to the Caribbean – Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica Wednesday 8 - Sunday 19 June 2011 Food and Drink leads will be meeting with buyers/importers/distributors in the region and presenting on behalf of regional Food and Drink companies. Register your interest by 13 May 2011 British Eco Design Showcase 2011, Paris Friday 17 June 2011 Meet with buyers, make new contacts and discover the potential for your products in Europe while exhibiting in a prestigious location.

Paris Airshow 2011, Paris Monday 20 – Sunday 26 June 2011 A unique opportunity to attend capability & market seminars and meet face-to-face with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) Commercial Officers from around the world.

Life Sciences Opportunities 2011 30 June 2011 Specialist Industrial visit, there will be various visits/ presentations on the day.

For further information contact our International Trade Team on: 0845 641 1641

internationaltrade@hwchamber.co.uk

networking Breakfasts

hr forum

Hereford Breakfast Wednesday 4 May, Wednesday 1 June 7.30-9.30am Burghill Vale Golf Club, Tillington Road, Burghill, Hereford, HR4 7RW

Tuesday 10 May Worcester Rugby Club, Sixways Stadium, Worcester, WR3 8ZE 11.30am-2pm

Droitwich Breakfast Thursday 9 June 7.30-9.30am Rossini Restaurant, 6 Worcester Rd, Droitwich WR9 8AB Worcester Breakfast Thursday 19 May, Thursday 30 June 7.30-9.30am Pear Tree Inn and Country Hotel, Smite, Worcester, WR3 8SY Leominster Breakfast Tuesday 24 May 7.30-9.30am The Grove Golf & Bowl, Ford Bridge, Leominster HR6 OLE Stourport Breakfast Thursday 26 May 7.30-9.30am Stourport Manor Hotel, 35 Hartlebury Road, Stourport on Severn, DY13 9JA £15.00+VAT Members, £30.00+VAT Non members

chamBer Business awarDs 2011 Tickets available now!

This year’s Awards ceremony takes place on Thursday 21 July at Worcester Cathedral. Entries have come in from organisations of all sizes and every industry from across Herefordshire and Worcestershire for consideration in 11 categories and now all we need to know is the winners!

Each year the Chamber stages a spectacular event for their Business Awards and this year will be no different! The evening will begin with a champagne reception in the magnificent College Hall, and then moving to ‘The Cathedral Nave,’ for a sumptuous three course dinner, entertainment and the Awards Ceremony. Entertainment on the evening will be from Hereford Gilbert and Sullivan Operatic Society, Dance in Motion and some surprises on the evening. £90+VAT Members and £110+VAT Non members (Discounts available for bookings of 10)

Start to Grow Forum Tuesday 14 June 4pm – 6pm FREE Worcestershire County Cricket Club, County Ground, New Road, Worcester, WR2 4QQ For more information contact the Chamber on 0845 641 1641 or email events@hwchamber.co.uk

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Tuesday 17 May Genesis TMC, Home Farm, Harewood End, Hereford, HR2 8JS 11.30am-2pm Are you a HR Manager?

If so, Chamber HR Forums are designed to provide an exclusive and confidential environment to share ideas and best practice whilst spending time with fellow HR specialists.

HR Forums are held in Worcestershire and Herefordshire with presentations that cover a variety of interesting and relevant topics and a good quality two-course lunch. Our speakers are selected from a wide variety of businesses and topics include updates in legislation as well as advances in HR thinking designed to help you run your business legally and effectively. £22.50+VAT Members, £30.00+VAT Non members

women’s Business forum Wednesday 25 May, 9.30am – 12.30pm drpgroup, 252 Ikon Est, Droitwich Rd, Worcestershire, DY10 4EU This bi-monthly event now attracts a core group of around 50 women that not only form business relationships but good friendships as well. At each event there is a speaker focussing on business topics and one on personal wellbeing issues.

At this event speakers include Dale Parmenter who will talk about drpgroup’s success of being in The Times Top 100 Small Companies to work for and Kathy Scott who believes everybody deserves to take advantage of the physical and physiological benefits a massage provides as well as realising that it pays to take time out from work to look after yourself.

The Women’s Business Forum folder has also proved popular and contains biographies on regular attendees and speakers. £17.50+VAT Members, £30.00+VAT Non members

Date for Diary!

Tuesday

1 4 JUN E

May/June 2011

12/5/11 11:10:40

Training the effective management series

new training courses Ideal for Sole Traders and Small Business

Veena allison Trainer

Veena started her career as a solicitor, specialising in Employment Law. She now provides coaching and support services as an Employment Law consultant. She is particularly well known for her informative and engaging training workshops thanks to her ability to deliver engaging, jargon free seminars and training workshops to delegates of all levels.

The TraininG: The effeCTiVe manaGemenT series To be a successful manager in the modern, high pressure world, you have to maintain both your personal skills and technical knowledge when dealing with people issues. This series is therefore aimed at both new and experienced managers who wish to gain clear guidance about how to deal with employment issues, both from a legislative perspective, and just as importantly, from an interpersonal skills perspective.

Too often, managers implement the right decisions in the workplace, but the wrong way, thereby causing avoidable conflict, cost and absenteeism. Health is not just a medical issue. Recent research has shown that the way in which workplaces are managed can impact on the health and well-being as well as the performance of staff. Line managers play a pivotal role in maintaining systems and behaviours which promote good working relationships, keeping staff healthy and motivated.

The next series of workshops begins in September and we will be running one ½ day session per month. Delegates will receive the most benefit by attending all 8 workshops, although each workshop can also be booked individually. Each ½ day workshop will cover the following management areas:

• Equal Opportunities Dignity and Discrimination • Bullying / Harassment in the Workplace • Managing Change • Managing Absence • How to Manage Underperformance • Managing Disciplinary Issues • Managing Employee Grievances • Managing Conflicts in the Workplace Course dates can be found by logging onto www.hwchamber.co.uk/Chambertraining/courses.htm and click on the Management Series button. £75 per workshop £495 for all 8.

For more information or to book contact the Training Team on 0845 641 1641 or email training@hwchamber.co.uk

inTroduCTion To BooKKeePinG (NEW COURSE), Tuesday 7 June, £150 Members / £188 Non Members

inTroduCTion To saGe aCCounTinG (NEW COURSE), Tuesday 21 & Wednesday 22 June, £300 Members / £376 Non Members The Introduction to Bookkeeping course is intended for those who wish to learn manual book-keeping and for those who wish to go on to learn computerised accounts e.g., Sage Line 50. This course is therefore ideal for those running a small business, who require the basics of keeping accurate accounting records.

During the course the following topics will be looked at:

• Cash Book • Petty Cash • General Ledger • Purchase Ledger • Sales Ledger • Reconciliation • Trial Balance Delegates will benefit most by attending our ‘Introduction to Sage Line 50 Accounting’ training session.

The course will be delivered by David Morris who runs Pitman training in Worcester with his business partner Jazz Chateau. David has a wealth of experience having worked in both the public and private sector for over 35 years. His teaching specialism’s include book-keeping, accounts and IT. He has taught at a senior level in further and higher education has worked in recruitment and has run his own business To book for this course contact the Training Team on 0845 641 1641 or email training@hwchamber.co.uk

Book a place on both Sage Accounting and Introduction to Bookkeeping and receive a further 10% discount

photographs from hereforDshire Business expo Thursday 24 marCh Exhibition Area

Exhibition opened by Anna Toon, Mayor of Hereford

Social Media Seminar

Photography by Laurence Cremetti, Cremetti Commercial www.cremetti-commercial.com

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12/5/11 11:10:48

Environment

sponsored by

T: metnet: 01584 838248 E: metnet@shropshire.gov.uk W: www.met-net.co.uk

Metnet members join forces in new business deal Two environmental technology companies have linked up with the assistance of metnet to help farmers and landowners make the most of renewable energy opportunities in a new business deal.

Eco2Solar have joined forces with E4 environment and are to work with one of the UK’s leading agronomy and land management companies, Agrovista UK. Mandy Stoker of E4 environment met Paul Hutchens, Managing Director of renewable energy systems supplier Eco2Solar and Chairman of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire metnet steering group, at the network’s launch and spotted an opportunity for collaborative working.

Mike Barling and Gordon White, of Euroheat - metnet conference

Euroheat was one of the early adopters of environmental technology and recently released the UK’s first biomass boiler which can switch between two fuels automatically.

The team from the Worcester-based woodburning appliance company attended the

The service includes an assessment of the viability of a landholding for electricity generation, assistance with consultations and planning applications, and advice on the technology and installation of wind turbines, anaerobic digestion and solar PV. Mandy commented: “Although we provide the assessment we don’t supply the technology.

Eco2solar provide the photovoltaic systems and consequently are one of the key suppliers of this service, alongside ourselves. ” Paul said the collaboration with E4 environment was a prime example of how metnet works best, offering companies the chance to network, discover possible business opportunities while having access to support and advice. www.eco2solar.co.uk www.e4environment.co.uk

Worcestershire company is a pioneer for the green technology sector Marches Environmental Technology Network’s first Conference in Ludlow recently to demonstrate how other companies can be making use of green innovation for sustainable heating solutions.

district heating. By 2016, every new home has to be carbon neutral and perhaps one of the only ways we’re going to do it is with biomass district heating.”

Technical Manager, Gordon White, said businesses needed to be taking advantage of opportunities in the sector, as Euroheat had done nearly 20 years ago. He said: “We had an insight into the future which means now we are one of the few industries expanding in a recession; there are tremendous opportunities out there for businesses. But companies need to be aware of what is on offer, which is why metnet is an invaluable resource and service for businesses across the Marches. Our customers are everyone from domestic properties to public sector projects, including retrofit, new developments and

The company has carried out projects in hospitals, schools, a prison as well as a Gloucester dairy farm famous for producing Stinking Bishop, the cheese of choice for animation favourites Wallace and Gromitt.

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Mandy Stoker, of E4 environment with Paul Hutchens, of Eco2Solar

Last year, Euroheat released the first biomass boiler to the UK market which can switch between wood pellets or logs and has no need for gas, oil or electricity. It has a national network of approved retailers and installers, who deliver, install and service its stoves and boilers. www.euroheat.co.uk

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Chamber News Contract signing signals start of radiotherapy project Work is now fully underway to develop a radiotherapy facility in Worcestershire following the signing of the official partnership contract.

John Rostill, Chief Executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (WAHT), and Andy Hardy, Chief Executive of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW), signed the paperwork on April 1, signalling the start of the project which will see the new facility up and running by the end of 2013.

UHCW was announced as WAHT’s official partner in February and, along with clinical staff and patient and stakeholder representatives, will now work with WAHT and NHS Worcestershire to take the project forward.

Currently, due to historical cancer care arrangements, Worcestershire patients have to travel to Coventry, Cheltenham or Wolverhampton for radiotherapy. The new arrangements will enable 95 per cent of radiotherapy and almost all chemotherapy to be delivered within Worcestershire, giving cancer patients care closer to home. The state-of-theart radiotherapy facilities will also mean more effective targeting of tumours, less damage to surrounding tissue and less risk of complications.

A question and answer sheet fully outlining the improvements to county cancer care has been prepared for patients and is available at www.worcsacute.nhs.uk

Front: John Rostill, Chief Executive of WAHT and Andy Hardy, Chief Executive of UHCW sign the partnership agreement.

Joined by (back row l-r) Simon Hairsnape, Director of Delivery NHS Worcestershire; Paul Crawford, patient representative and Mr Adel Makar, Consultant Urologist and Lead Cancer Clinician for WAHT.

The WAFTA’s Staff at Webbs, celebrated another year of triumph with their own red carpet awards ceremony. The WAFTA’s or Webbs Awards for Training and Achievements was a celebration of staff at Webbs garden centres hard work over the year.

Around 200 Webbs staff went along to the Worcester Rugby Club to find out who were the stars scooping this year’s top awards. Many of them dressed for the theme of children’s television. A Special Recognition Award was given to Jayne Green and the Special Achievement Award to Dave Palmer. Colleague of the Year, which was voted for by staff, was awarded to Ed Rochelle at Wychbold, Karen Wears at West Hagley and Andrew Coffey at Ryton Gardens. Staff were also awarded for NVQs and apprenticeships.

Executive Chairman Ed Webb said: “This was a great awards evening and it was fantastic to see our staff from our three garden centres get together and celebrate their achievements.

I’m very proud of our staff and the WAFTA’s is a wonderful way to say thank you for their dedication to Webbs.”

Wafta Ed Rochelle with Ed Webb

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www.webbsdirect.co.uk

Partner and Head of Commercial and General Property, Andrew Evans, with Rebecca.

New Service at Lanyon Bowdler Local Hereford legal practice Lanyon Bowdler is promoting a new department within the firm.

Rebecca Whittaker, a fully qualified solicitor, is now able to offer private individuals, business clients and landowners legal advice in relation to Town & Country Planning matters.

The new department will ensure that clients can practical legal advice on a range of matters such as planning applications, assistance in opposing applications and guidance on how to deal with appeals or enforcement actions. www.lblaw.co.uk

May/June 2011

12/5/11 11:11:04

Business News wragge & co’s anDrew manning cox is partner of the year

Andrew Manning Cox, Partner of the Year

Wragge & Co dispute resolution Partner Andrew Manning Cox has been crowned ‘Partner of the year’ at the tenth annual Birmingham Law Society Awards.

Senior partner Quentin Poole said: “This is a fantastic result and a testament to Andrew’s commitment to delivering stand-out client service and commercially astute advice. Clients value his technical excellence, but also consider him a trusted business adviser as he takes the time to understand their objectives and challenges.”

Sanctuary staff at the afternoon of the tree planting.

Joining Wragge & Co after the University of Cambridge, Andrew’s 30-year legal career has seen him act in major litigation and arbitration cases. A chartered arbitrator and accredited

going green for cLimate week

The highlight of the week saw residents, young and old, being joined by Sanctuary staff for an afternoon of tree and shrub planting to brighten up their housing scheme. Around 30 people got their hands dirty at the event where residents also received free energy saving advice leaflets from staff. www.sanctuary-housing.co.uk

www.wragge.com manufacturing units fully integrated and operational

by February 2011.

Raising awareness about climate change was high on the agenda in March during a new national event supported by leading UK housing and care provider Sanctuary Group.

Staff and residents took part in a range of activities to mark Climate Week 2011 in a bid to inspire people to help protect the planet.

Activities included a stationery amnesty, caring for climate art competition in some of the Group’s care homes and daily climate related survey for staff.

mediator, Andrew sits on the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution’s Commission for Mediation in International Arbitration. He also has responsibility for a number of key client relationships.

Inside New Manufacturing Unit

winstanLey rise from the ashes Winstanley & Co Ltd, a fabrication company based in Pershore, who suffered a devastating fire in March 2010, are pleased to present their new rebuilt and extended factory.

The rebuild took an amazing 5 months from approval and was ready for Winstanley to move back into over the Christmas break in 2010 with the

Rod Smith, Managing Director, said: “The turnaround has been quite amazing, from the sound advice and handling by our claims consultants at Hamilton Bond Limited to the efficiency and professionalism of McPhillips (Wellington) Limited who were contracted to rebuild the premises and have done such a fantastic job. We are absolutely delighted with the finished product!”

The manufacturing units now house the most up to date equipment including a Laser, Punch Press, Press Brakes, 30 MIG & TIG Welding Stations and an Over-Head Crane servicing the main fabrication unit.

Despite the setbacks of 2010 Winstanley were still able to focus on the future and have also extended the facility to house a new clean room assembly area and completed the new Paint Shop unit which houses modern Wet Paint and Powder Coating lines allowing them to offer clients an unrivalled complete service. www.winstanleyco.co.uk

sociaL networking is for B2B anD scientists too!

As global manufacturers of materials characterization systems, Malvern Instruments is using social networking to engage with its audiences.

new audiences and this communications approach seems set to become as permanent a fixture in the science, technology and engineering fields that we deal with, as it is elsewhere.”

As hosts of one of the first blogs in the materials science arena, www.materials-talks.com, Malvern is ahead of the game compared with many others in the scientific B2B market.

The company also administers a LinkedIn group where they encourage direct feedback from the members (search groups for ‘Malvern Instruments’), and is active on; YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter (@malvern_news). Shortcuts for all these can also be found on Malvern’s homepage, please join in! www.malvern.com

David Higgs, Malvern’s Head of Marketing, said: “By getting into the social media arena early Malvern has been able to gain a foothold with

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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Malvern and Malvern Instruments are registered trademarks of Malvern Instruments Ltd

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12/5/11 11:11:15

Big Interview

the future of

radio Phil Riley, Chief Executive of Orion Group, which owns commercial radio station Wyvern FM, offers some thoughts on the future of radio.

In the past ten years, Media has been transformed in the UK. TV has become digital, multi-channel, High Definition and even 3D. There’s been an explosion in magazines.

Newspapers have migrated to the web, iPads

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and smartphones. Films have jumped from the cinema, to DVD, satellite boxes and now delivery online. We’d never heard of Facebook or Twitter ten years ago, and even Google was only two years old, and really hadn’t entered public consciousness.

off is slow, and in my opinion won’t happen any time soon. Nearly every radio station is also now available to be listened to online, or via smartphone, but the evidence is that this represents a relatively small percentage of all listening.

And radio? Well, we’ve seen some technological advances for sure. Listening to national networks and the big London/Network commercial stations via Digital TV and DAB has become a fixture, I think – although progress towards FM switch-

Podcasting, whereby programmes and features are available to be downloaded onto computers and MP3 devices to be listened to later, is also on the rise. The BBC’s iPlayer allows listeners to listen again to key programmes, and we’ve seen

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audience grow from 9m to 10m UK wide. Only R2 has really shifted, rising from 11m to 14m.

the rise of individual, streamed music services such as Spotify. Amazingly, though, taken in total, all this downloading, listen again, and music streaming has barely dented the size of traditional radio listening.

In the bigger markets, of course, we are seeing the rise of the commercial “network” as brands like Heart, Capital, Magic, Gold and Kiss aim to replicate a common approach to programming across a number of local FM or AM frequencies.

One station, Smooth, has actually gone the whole hog, and stopped being a chain of local stations altogether, and is now one, national channel. I suspect this trend will continue, with localness replaced by network programming – although I suspect, and hope, that in every locality in the UK at least one commercial station will remain local.

We at Orion, owners of Wyvern, are strongly committed to localness across our Midlands stations, and I know other local owners feel the same way. to the Director General of the BBC to suggest that, as an alternative to this idea, the BBC thinks about another radical solution – letting us run BBC local radio.

Ten years ago, across the UK, radio was listened to every week by 90% of the adult population, and each week on average a listener tuned in for 24 hours to their favourite stations. Today that figure is 91%, with each listener tuning in for 22.4 hours. In fact, the speed of change in radio could be described as glacial. Here in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, we have yet to see local DAB launched, and Wyvern and BBC H&W still represent the two major local stations, and compete on a relatively level playing field with BBC Radios 1-4 and the national commercial stations.

At first sight, putting services like Wyvern and BBC H&W together might sound strange, but I do believe we could run a 2nd local service very efficiently on behalf of the licence fee payer.

Our two stations are aimed at different parts of the population, with Wyvern broadcasting a predominantly music-based service to a younger age group, and BBC H&W aiming older, with more news and speech.

I think both could be accommodated easily under one roof with lots of scope for sharing back office activities and efficiencies in how the stations are run, and our proposal is to run the service under licence, with specific safeguards as to localness, speech content and targeting, commercial-free, for a specific fee. I suspect this might be a touch too “unthinkable” for the BBC, but the media in the UK has undergone such dramatic changes over the last decade that nothing should really be ruled out.

In fact, looking at audience data from ten years ago, Wyvern had a weekly audience of 123,000 listeners in the two counties. In the survey, published recently, weekly reach was 112,000.

So no dramatic change during an entire decade of media churn – quite remarkable really. The BBC networks still have roughly similar audiences – Radio 1 has 11m listeners across the UK, the same as a decade ago, and Radio 4 has seen its The BBC faces different challenges. Funding there is under intense pressure following a very tight licence fee settlement, and a number of radical options are being proposed for their radio services going forward. One idea involves replacing much BBC local radio output with rebroadcasts from their network news/sports service 5Live. At Orion, we have actually written

Can I guarantee that radio in the UK will be virtually unchanged from its current position?

Of course not, but I do feel confident about the special place radio has in the lives, and affections, of 90% of the UK population, and that this means it will change slowly, and in tune with changes in its listeners’ lifestyles, and that we will continue to be the trusted friend most people currently believe we are.

Ten years ago, across the UK, radio was listened to every week by 90% of the adult population, and each week on average a listener tuned in for 24 hours to their favourite stations. Today that figure is 91%, with each listener tuning in for 22.4 hours.

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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12/5/11 11:11:29

Cover Feature

Sales and Marketing talent will get the economy moving!

Clare Jones

The rapportstore Ltd

I want to put the record straight and declare wholeheartedly that sales is a valiant and noble profession.

If you think about the car you drive, the house you own, the clothes you wear, the places you eat and the magazine you now have in your hand, they would not have made it to you without sales and marketing people along the supply chain keeping the economic cycle turning.

We need to invest in sales and marketing people to get the economy moving. We need to see good sales people as an investment and not a cost as customers will seldom beat a path your door if they do not know what you have to offer.

Good sales and marketing people are experts at matching the needs of the customers to what you have to offer.

It is unfortunate that salespeople sometimes are seen as gift of the gab merchants that will compromise their ethics and values just to make a sale. These caricature stereotypes should not be confused with the vast majority of the highly professional, highly motivated career salespeople that should be celebrated for their contribution to the economy.

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FEATURE motivated and highly competent people. There is something a little extra that the very best sales people exhibit, as well as all of the above they are also highly emotionally intelligent. People with high emotional intelligence, especially in the areas of self regard and optimism, tend to make the best salespeople.

It is possible to be bright, intelligent, highly motivated and highly competent and still be a poor salesperson. This is something that all recruiters of salespeople should be aware of.

One of the pitfalls of not knowing this is that these people are very good at getting through interviews: even the tougher competency-based interview questions will not flush out their Achilles heel. So what could possibly be their weakness?

You cannot be a good salesperson without being a good person. People buy from people and from a human resources perspective finding good people is all about knowing what to look for. You cannot hire people and tell them to be nice to customers; you need to recruit nice people. There are a myriad of competencies that a sales person needs to acquire: not only do they need to become subject matter experts on your employer’s products and services, they also need to have professional sales training. This training covers everything from gathering leads, booking appointments, presentations, voice inflection and about 500 sales closes.

Anyone that cannot close a sale is not a salesperson, they are a presenter. Salespeople need to be highly intelligent and have a good grasp of vocabulary. Unlike a presentation, the sales process is an interactive two way exchange where the customer tries to tell the salesperson that they don’t want to buy while the salesperson tries to convince the customer that the benefits of the product or service outweigh the price.

A competent salesperson will have hundreds of sales closes with elaborate names such as the Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, the snooker close and the reduction to the ridiculous close. These closes are basically derived from persuasive counters to the prospective reasons not to buy. These closes should not be confused with con techniques, instead these are statements that demonstrate value and help demonstrate real value added to the prospective customer.

So when looking for good sales and marketing people we need bright, intelligent, highly

They were on time for the interview which is a good start, they were smartly dressed and very articulate, they answered all the questions with confidence and they knew hundreds of killer sales closes and you sit there in awe of their likeability and charisma. All of this and yet at this point they still have not passed the ultimate test of any salesperson. You still haven’t flushed out the one thing that separates the best from the mediocre.

That something is how they handle rejection.

For the very best marketing person we are looking for a slightly different mix again. The best marketing people are obviously those who exhibit creativity or what could be called right brain dominance. They rely less on the logical mathematical reasoning of the sales professional and use story telling and delivery of the unexpected to make their marketing stick.

The best messages are sticky messages and sticky messages are emotional and unexpected.

Think for example of the Peter Kay beer advertisements.

The new economy needs to be built by ingenious creative marketing people and these people invariably are the ones whose education background often does not hold many clues as to how brilliant they are from a creativity point

Candidates that have low self regard and optimism in their emotional intelligence profile are generally the ones that are not good at rejection. They have difficulty in discriminating between the differences of the customer saying “no” to their product or service, instead they believe the customer is saying “no” to them.

Often they will ruminate on the reasons for the rejection and gradually become increasingly less effective and motivated. In the absence of testing candidates for emotional intelligence we would recommend flushing out how they handle rejection.

It is very easy to sell a glass of water to someone dying of thirst, but when looking at their past sales career try and flush out the more challenging assignments. It is very important to find out how they handle rejection and how optimistic they are. People with high self regard will have a paradigm of separating the rejection of the product or service to the rejection of them.

Another valuable emotionally intelligent characteristic in the world of sales is empathy.

The best salespeople demonstrate empathy by putting themselves in the customer’s shoes so that they can understand their problems and offer the best solutions. Salespeople with high empathy become an assistant buyer for the customer and are generally very successful.

of view. The very best creative people have never coloured inside the lines and yet colouring inside the lines is what the education system was looking for and rewarding.

A great question when interviewing for a marketing executive is to ask the candidate to come up with as many uses as possible for a house brick and a blanket. If you have to stop them after ten minutes you know they have the kind of right sided brain you are looking for.

If you want to get the very best sales and marketing talent into your organisation, then please contact HR- in-Action on 0845 641 1641.

We need to invest in sales and marketing people to get the economy moving.

We need to see good salespeople as an investment and not a cost as customers will seldom beat a path your door if they do not know what you have to offer.

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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Severn Chamber Ad_Layout 1 09/05/2011 13:31 Page 2

SEVERN COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED • SEVERN HOUSE • OMBERSLEY STREET WEST • DROITWICH SPA • WORCESTERSHIRE WR9 8QZ

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Sales and marketing

FEATURE

getting your Marketing right Think of baked beans. Then think of the name of a company that manufactures them. Was it Heinz?

More than likely. In that one simple exercise can be found overwhelming proof of the importance of marketing.

Yet despite its importance, marketing can sometimes be overlooked by businesses that are confident about the quality of their product but do not invest the necessary money in developing it in the public eye. The reasons vary; they may see it as an expensive luxury, they may simply not see the point. Those business people that have got the message know that good marketing does not happen by accident.

So what are the key issues for those that advise businesses about marketing? Well, for a start

there is the name of the company or product.

Is it one that can be instantly remembered or is it too wordy, too obscure? If you examine some of the great brands, they are usually short and snappy. One word usually. Nike. Adidas. And yes, those bean people. The importance of branding begins with creating a simple name and easily remembered name.

There are other issues. Good marketing makes connections - the beans in question succeed because they are connected in the advertising with the idea of making life easier for mums and happier for children, good sports shoes are connected to high quality sportspeople who achieve. Consumers like products with those kind of positive associations.

Another key message is that everyone associated with the company should understand the marketing thinking behind the brand - understand the reason for the name, convey the right messages to the public and use the selected colour schemes. There is nothing that destroys all that work more effectively than promotional materials going out with mixed messages and

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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the wrong colours. This is about a uniform approach to placing an image of the product in the consumer’s mind. Vary it and the consumer becomes confused.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, there may still be those who wonder why all this preparation matters. Surely a good product will sell itself? The sad truth is that it will not. Look at the beans. Yes, there are other similar products, yes they may be just as good, but where does the shopper’s hand go first? The one with the strongly defined marketing. The one with the positive connections, the instantly recognisable colour scheme that has not changed on its labels in years and the name everyone remembers because it’s short.

And that kind of thinking can translate into income for a company. It is estimated that good brand name recognition can increase profits by between 10 to 20 per cent. And that meanz good business sense!

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Sales and marketing FROM PAGE 27

a press release two days to reach a media outlet, it took two seconds, and all done at the press of a button.

Getting the message out As with so many other business sectors, marketing and communication has found itself having to cope with the dramatic development of technology. It is an industry that has undergone rapid transformation and that has led to an exciting atmosphere of innovation.

Going back twenty years, the main way for public relations and marketing agencies to convey information about their clients was through the post, sending out hard copy press releases and printed photographs.

What brought about the major change was the advent first of the fax then pretty rapidly afterwards of email. Suddenly, it did not take

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The effect has been dramatic: an agency sending out a release can see it hitting the web within minutes, particularly as many media outlets now consider themselves as much Internet news providers as anything.

That in itself has created new outlets and PR agencies are aware of the growth in independent websites or those run by organisations which focus on a particular field of speciality. For some companies, a hit on a specialist website is worth as much, or even more, than an appearance on the pages of a local newspaper.

However, that does not mean that more traditional outlets are being ignored. Far from it. The newspapers, radio and television remain important, it is just that for many PR specialists, the web is where their successes are increasingly being recorded.

There is more to promoting a business than the good old press release, though, and marketing companies know that, which is why they are becoming increasingly inventive. Their ideas go way beyond PR, seeing great opportunities offered by the Internet as well as the proliferation of independent television and radio stations, many of which offer great opportunities to get the message out there.

Good marketing experts realise that the companies who fare best in this hothouse of creativity are those who think - to use a modern, but very appropriate, clichĂŠ - outside the box. That has resulted, for instance, in companies sponsoring television and radio programmes in return for a mention in the advertising breaks.

Other companies experiment with the likes of podcasts and flash banner advertising on websites or take advantage of the exciting revolution in hand-held technology and the opportunities it offers for downloads.

Video increasingly offers those kind of opportunities with companies commissioning corporate films for

promotional purposes or taking advantage of the links on YouTube for viral marketing. They can see that a short film showing someone enthusing about a product can be a very effective marketing tool indeed, particularly if it is told with a dash of humour.

The savvy agencies have also worked out that viral marketing is hugely effective and are using the likes of Twitter and Facebook to raise the profile of their clients.

Another media still popular is the most traditional one of all. For many companies, producing their own print publications remains the key to success and those who succeed are the ones who value creativity above everything else, who dedicate time and effort to getting the look and the text right so that they make for attractive and informative reads.

For all marketing experts, it is about making the client stand out.

Whether it be attractive adverts in magazines and newspapers or inventive use of downloads and websites, creativity holds the key to success. Always has, always will.

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FEATURE

VKDUS FUHDWLYH

Scan me - I dare you!

Official Creative Partner Worcester Warriors

01905 731529 info@moduscreative.co.uk moduscreative.co.uk modusprint.co.uk

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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12/5/11 11:12:14

Conference and exhibitions

Providing the personal touch Anyone in business will tell you that, despite the rapid advances in communications technology, faceto-face contact remains the best way of bringing in new contracts and retaining existing ones.

Email and hand-held communications may be transforming the world in which we live but the human touch is never more important than in testing economic times.

For many business people, the place to create and cement those personal contacts is at conferences or expo’s, humans still have a fundamental need to look each other in the eye when communicating despite the rapid growth of the Internet.

The key to making such events a success is spending a little time choosing the right venue and making sure that you get the right support from its staff.

Even if that may mean paying a little extra, it is money well spent because it does not make sense to cut corners when such an approach

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could make your event less than effective.

There are few things more embarrassing for an event organiser than to see it unravel in front of them because they skimped on the planning and a cheap venue will inevitably look cheap, presenting a poor image of the organiser’s organisation.

So what are you looking for if you are trying to organise an event? Well, one of the key factors is a good location, somewhere that is easy to reach and that looks attractive for delegates, especially if they will be staying overnight. That means not just having good conference facilities but the scope to provide quality food and relaxing areas where delegates can gather informally.

Somewhere with pleasant grounds is also a bonus.

When assessing the venue you are looking for a number of other important factors. Can the venue cope with the numbers expected to attend, has it got a good meeting room, will it provide equipment like projectors and Internet access, are the staff friendly and flexible in helping you meet your needs? If the answers to those questions are yes then the event is likely to be a success.

Experienced venue managers and their staff already know what is important to their users and will do everything in their power to make sure that the delegates’ needs are met. Their staff

have been trained in conference management and know that the human touch is just as important as the right equipment.

The good venues are the ones that can tailor themselves to providing the exact needs of the event organisers. It is always worth getting to know one particular individual who can deal with any issues that arise.

Another approach is to bring in a specialist company to do it. The staff at these companies live and breathe event organisation and will have encountered just about every problem presented by the process. Yes, it may add a little to the cost of organising a conference but specialists make sure that they run smoothly - and will sort any problems on the day.

Another advantage is that because they are so experienced, they will know all the key venue staff in an area and will already have a good working relationship - and may even be able to negotiate good deals.

But at a time when the bottom line is allimportant, how can a company justify spending to attend a conference, or organising their own?

Well, look round a conference and you will see people wandering off for a coffee or for a chat in a corner. That is where the real business happens, where personal relationships are forged and where ideas are firmed up. And that’s worth a lot.

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FEATURE

getting eXhiBitions right can really Make things happen‌ Staging an exhibition is a complex task and one that really does require some expert input. Whether it is staff at specialist venues or outside exhibition organisers, they will tell you that there is a lot to think about to ensure that the event goes smoothly.

The first consideration is the nature of your event. Do you need a large hall or will something a little more intimate work? Atmosphere is important to the success of exhibitions so getting it right is important. Too large a hall and it can feel impersonal and intimidating, too small and visitors feel cramped and uncomfortable.

That atmosphere extends to the setting of the stages, stands and stalls. Do you want them in a regimented layout or do you want

them more flexible? What will make your delegates feel most at home?

Whatever the choice, it is vital that visitors can easily understand the layout and find their way around with the minimum of fuss. Large exhibitions can be bewildering events so adding to visitors’ problems with poor layout can only detract from the success of the event. You want them to feel welldisposed towards the exhibitors and creating irritation defeats the object of the exercise completely.

There are other things to consider as well. If it is your event, you will want to make sure that people know about it so it is important to get your branding well displayed, not just at the venue but in all the promotional material that is printed or goes online.

However, it is also important to recognise the need of exhibitors and to make sure that they are well represented too. They need to feel part of the occasion. Getting that right creates a sense of goodwill which helps an exhibition turn into a success.

One of the other things that makes an exhibition successful is a sense that something is happening so it is useful to have staged areas for demonstrations and performances, or for companies to show their products at work. Such activities, with the interest they attract, makes

an exhibition feel like it is alive. All good exhibitions have a touch of theatre about them.

Crucially, an exhibition needs support on the ground. All venues, or specialist exhibition companies, ensure that they provide an experienced team to project manage the event, playing a key role in the planning and on the day itself. A good on-site team is needed for all sorts of jobs, from providing a registration desk to guiding visitors around the venue.

Having a good team allows the organisation staging the event to concentrate on the many other issues that confront them during exhibitions, including meeting clients and prospective clients and fostering those relationships that lead to new contracts.

If you want help organising your conference, exhibition or event please contact the Chamber on 0845 641 1641

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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         

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        

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                                               

W SC

South Worcestershire College

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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Chamber News worcester coLLege facing the training chaLLenge Worcester College of Technology is one of the largest training providers within Herefordshire and Worcestershire, with a proven track record in providing training to a wide range of local, regional and national employers.

Students: Natalie Lee, Esther-Ann Cooper-Wood, Jeweller: Mike Gell, Students: Lindsey Camden, Cath Cooper

hereforD coLLege of arts Launches a BranD new course in marketing, pr anD event management Hereford College of Arts are launching this course to give young people the opportunity to study for a qualification in communication and marketing, within the highly creative environment of a specialist arts college.

It will be of particular interest to anyone looking to pursue a career in marketing, PR, consumer psychology, arts business/management, events management and other jobs in the creative sector.

The course, which starts in September 2011, will be full-time, delivered over 2 years. On completion it will be worth the equivalent to 3 A levels.

After the course, students will be well equipped to continue their studies at degree level, or apply for jobs in a relevant sector, at a junior level. www.hca.ac.uk

going internationaL International trade has always been an important part of business and HSBC’s Global Small Business Confidence Monitor has shown that 40% of the world’s SMEs want to be operating overseas by 2013.

In the UK, 20% of SMEs are currently trading internationally and HSBC’s data highlights the appetite to venture overseas. In the last year alone, HSBC’s international trade finance lending to UK businesses was up 13% with the export component up 43%.

The bi-annual survey of more than 6,000 SMEs in 21 countries indicates a surge in business confidence in emerging markets, with 43% of respondents in these counties predicting growth in their local economy over the next six months.

Rob Edwards, HSBC’s Area Commercial Director for South West Midlands commented: “Some consider the fast growth in emerging markets a challenge to the UK supply chain, with companies increasingly seeking low cost products from overseas. In actual fact, we’re seeing savvy businesses approach this shift with optimism, using it as an opportunity to innovate and cash in on the creativity, strong heritage and knowledge-intensive base we are renowned for. Looking to the future, we will see these markets driving a new wave of consumer and business investment demand, which will provide exciting export opportunities for businesses.“

We understand that businesses today have many challenge’s; new technologies, ageing workforces, global competition and a move from a skills economy towards a knowledge economy. For any manager or director identifying ways to develop your business progress and improve the future is key; with tougher competition, economic uncertainty and high customer expectations, the need to continually develop, innovate and sustain your workforce is crucial to your success. With six in ten employers saying that they rely on Apprentices to give them the skilled workers which they need for the future (City and Guilds, 2011).

The right training solutions can bring many benefits to any organisation.

Apprenticeships are established qualifications which will bring value to your business, whether delivered to new or existing employees. We currently have over 265 Apprentices on programme delivering programmes in over 147 organisations, with success rates which are higher than the National Average for Intermediate and Advanced Apprenticeship frameworks.

We have flexible delivery models where training can be delivered on our premises or employer premises.

Worcester College of Technology currently delivers over 45 different Apprenticeship Frameworks at the intermediate, advanced and higher level covering a wide range of vocational sectors including; Construction, Business and Administration, Hospitality, Health and Social Care, Hairdressing, Children and Young People’s Workforce, Supporting Teaching and Learning, Industrial Applications, Warehousing, Team Leading and Management to name but a few.

Worcester College of Technology Solutions can help you find employees who will fit into your organisation, become an integral part of your workforce and help meet your specific future business needs. Linda Thornton, Training and Quality Manager for First Personnel commented “Using the National Apprenticeship Service Website to advertise the Apprenticeship Vacancy was a stress-free means of advertising the Apprenticeship vacancy, enhanced by the fact that we have found such a valuable employee”.

By working with Worcester College of Technology you will be raising the profile of your organisation by recruiting or training members of staff who are committed to your business, committed to learning and committed to performing well. Sarah Baldwin, HR Manager at The Morgan Motor Company passionately believes that Apprentices are integral to the development of the business as Apprenticeship programmes support the “passing on of knowledge and skills which we have to retain within the business to maintain longevity, Apprentices also inject enthusiasm and increased levels of motivation into the work teams”. Ian Tinsley from HairStation, Kidderminster has stated that “employing Apprentices is a great investment for the future of his business”.

www.hsbc.com

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Two new public sector contracts for AA Global Worcester firm AA Global Language Services Ltd has just started providing translation and interpreting services to Northamptonshire County Council and the City Health Care Partnership in Hull. The new contracts are already creating numerous jobs in the respective areas.

AA Global’s MD Kirk Akdemir said; “We are delighted to have been awarded these contracts.

AA Global has been bucking the trend and expanding steadily during the recession. We already had a strong presence in Hull with a number of clients including the City Council, but this new contract increases our exposure in the North East to such an extent that we are now considering opening a branch in Hull.”

AA Global has been providing translation and interpreting services to both the Private and Public sectors throughout the UK since 1992. Key Public Sector clients include the Home Office and many local authorities, Primary Care Trusts,

Councils, Housing Associations and Police Forces whilst they have a very impressive portfolio of Private Sector clients including blue chip global brands such as Unilever and Toyota Motor Manufacturing.

Kirk Akdemir added; “it is extremely encouraging to see AA Global winning new business in these tough times of cut-backs in the Public Sector. We

have always been competitive with our pricing whilst not compromising the high quality service we provide to our clients.”

The company also helps many UK firms involved in overseas business with translations, marketing and consultancy services in all languages and have a branch in Turkey, as well as affiliated offices in India, Poland and Ukraine.

Don’t take chances with your translations!..

z Over 25 years in the translation business z 4000 highly qualified translators z Technical Manuals, Contracts, Patents

z Website Translations, Software Localisation z Marketing Material, Brochures, Business Cards z Interpreters for ALL occasions ALL over the World.

Any Language – Any Subject – Technical – Commercial – Legal

Tel: 01905 616262 Email: info@aaglobal.co.uk Website: www.aaglobal.co.uk Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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International Trade

Malvern fashion designer wins new Business in japan A Malvern fashion designer is exporting scarves, hats, jackets, capes and gloves to a premier Japanese department store, with help from UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).

Nicky Thomson, of Leigh Sinton, designs knitted fashion and interior accessories, which are all made in the UK and available at department stores and independent retailers.

She has won an order with the prestigious Mitsukoshi store after being selected to join a high level UKTI fashion trade mission to Tokyo last November. Nicky is also exporting to the

USA, Australia, France, Spain and Germany, and overseas business now accounts for 25% of her sales.

She set up her company, which trades as Nicky Thomson, in 2005 and has worked with UKTI since the early days of the business, completing the flagship Passport to Export programme for new exporters.

Nicky is now on the Gateway to Global Growth programme, which offers a tailored, needs-based service with training and ongoing support for exporters with two to ten years’ experience.

This includes an in-depth export review, assistance in formulating an international trade strategy, networking opportunities to share best practice and signposting to funding streams such as financial support for market visits.

Nicky Thomson.

Nicky Thomson’s Snowy Snowflake scarf, combined with one of her range of flower brooches.

Chamber of Commerce, said: “Nicky has devoted much time and effort to enter this market and has been justifiably rewarded.”

UKTI International Trade Adviser Paul Thompson, based at Herefordshire and Worcestershire

I’m delighted that we at UKTI have been able to help and I look forward to continuing to work with her.

Paul Thompson UKTI International Trade Adviser

are you ready for the BriBery act?

The Bribery Act 2010 (the “Act”) will be coming into force on 1st July 2010 and therefore businesses will have less than three months to ensure compliance with the Act, or face unlimited fines or serious reputational damage.

The Act creates four offences: •

Paying and receiving bribes (covering both private and public sector)

•

Bribery of foreign officials

•

Failure of commercial organisations to prevent bribery

Businesses trading overseas will be particularly vulnerable to the Act given it has extra territorial application, and should therefore ensure that they take immediate action such as:

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Conducting a risk assessment (covering sector, business structure and geographical elements of risk), and

•

Creating an anti-bribery policy

If you are concerned about putting together your anti-corruption policy and procedures, Harrison Clark are able to offer advice on how best to achieve compliance, or alternatively draft such documentation on your behalf. www.harrison-clark.co.uk

participants will analyse a case study on bribery and corruption and interact with actors in related scenarios. A presentation on the implications of the Bribery Act 2010 will be followed by a question and answer session, with an opportunity to discuss the possible impact of the Act on organisations and consider appropriate responses.

If you would like to attend the Bribery and Corruption workshop please contact Cath McGourty on 01905 542234 or c.mcgourty@worc.ac.uk

find ouT more!!!

The University of Worcester are hosting a workshop on Friday 27 May, focusing on the legal implications of bribery and corruption. Workshop

May/June 2011

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far flung opportunities for worcestershire firM A Worcestershire company which specialises in tuning software for cars is eyeing up markets in Brazil and China after successfully increasing the value of its exports outside Europe from 5% to 35% in just 18 months.

Viezu Technologies has harnessed the support of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in sourcing opportunities abroad, especially in new and emerging markets including Japan, Singapore and the USA. The company, which last year turned over £750,000, first enrolled on UKTI’s Passport to

Export programme in 2010 and has tapped into various support streams, including the Market Visit scheme and Tradeshow Access Programme.

The company has exhibited at the New Zealand motor show and has since taken part in SEMA and sent dealers to be trained in Japan and the United States.

Viezu first decided to look at export possibilities after realising that its UK market had grown as much as it could. In addition, the seasonal nature of car tuning in the UK meant an uneven revenue stream for the firm, with peaks in the summer.

But, as seasonal fluctuations vary from country to country, the company started to look for opportunities abroad for a more even workflow across the year.

The nature of Viezu’s business lends itself well to export – as it deals with software, everything is done online, meaning no products are left to the vagaries of postal services. And, as the demand for more environmentally-friendly vehicles continues to grow, so does the demand for Viezu’s range of software, to allow vehicles to be tuned in order to make them more fuel efficient.

The company is now looking at using UKTI support to help with areas of the business such as the website – with a Chinese and Russian translation section in the pipeline. www.viezu.com

For more information on overseas markets or to start exporting please call the International Trade Team on 0845 641 1641 or email internationaltrade@hwchamber.co.uk

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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Commercial Property

sponsored by

New Property Search website makes it even easier for businesses to find premises Worcestershire Property Search (WPS), the countywide commercial property finder service, has unveiled its completely redeveloped and redesigned property search website.

Charlotte Fullard, Senior Surveyor from Halls Commercial Department, based in Worcester, added: “As a multi disciplined practice dealing with all matters relating to commercial property throughout Worcestershire, working with Worcestershire Property Search helps with the search for new customers for our clients’ properties but more importantly helps us to play a key role in promoting the county as a great business location to a far wider audience to the benefit of all.”

Now featuring a database of more than 1,000 Worcestershire properties, the website incorporates simplified navigation and, for the first time, the facility for users to create their own unique property portfolios.

The one-stop service brings together all of the county’s available commercial premises at the touch of a button.

In addition, users can now benefit from a property alerting feature which will email them as soon as new properties, matching their requirements, are added to the database.

For more information about Worcestershire Property Search, enquirers can either call 0845 641 1445 and talk through their requirements with an advisor, or visit www.worcestershirepropertysearch.co.uk

The service which is offered by the local district and county councils, and managed by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, has undergone the significant upgrade in order to make it easier for businesses looking to relocate into or within the county.

Charlotte Fullard, Senior Surveyor, Halls Estate Agents and Lara Williams, Business and Policy Officer for Worcestershire County Council, launch the new Worcestershire Property Search website outside one of a range of industrial units, available through Halls, on the Great Western Business Park, Worcester.

The already popular website which has seen demand for its services rise by 33% since April 2010 plays a significant role in the county’s economic strategy by helping to attract new businesses and retain existing ones to support growth and expansion.

Donna Harding of Worcestershire Property Search underlined how recent improvements to the service align closely with the wider economic strategy for the county.

She said: “As commercial property agents play such a key role in making the service the success it is, WPS is a clear example of how the public and private sectors can work together with the joint aim of achieving economic prosperity.” chambers advert AUG.pdf

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Companies relocated to Worcestershire...

Acut Abuv, 61 The Tything, Worcester Barber Town, 56 The Tything, Worcester Clesse (UK) Ltd, Drakes Broughton Business Park, Pershore North Star, 54 the Tything, Worcester Surecare, Citibase Bewdley, Bewdley Tallulah Blue, 52 The Tything, Worcester The Whitehall Partnership Ltd, Citibase Bewdley, Bewdley Welders Arcade Ltd, Citibase Bewdley, Bewdley

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With the assistance of ....

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Where some see market uncertainty, we see opportunity…

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For more information please Telephone: 01905 723722 Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

BD01.indd 39

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www.wilkinsproperty.co.uk 039

12/5/11 11:13:33

Community Focus having a BaLL with miDLanDs air amBuLance!

crowther BearD gives Bra chain a Boost Crowther Beard LLP accountants boosts charity Bra Chain campaign with a collection of over 200 bras.

In an endeavour to smash the world record for the longest bra chain, Crowther Beard has pledged its support for 2nd Skin Lingerie’s Bra Chain Campaign which raises much needed funding for The Worcester Breast Unit, Women’s Aid and Breakthrough Breast Cancer charities.

The campaign’s record-breaking attempt will take place on Sunday 31 July at Pitchcroft Racecourse in Worcester and organisers need 200,000 bras to make the world’s longest chain and break the Guinness World Record.

John Painter, Managing Member, explained: “Crowther Beard has been supporting the campaign for several months and the team is

Midlands Air Ambulance is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and to mark the occasion the Charity is hosting its first-ever fundraising ball.

Charity receives a big boost from Crowther Beard.

Pictured with the company’s bra collection are (left to right) Christina Taylor, Louisa Bradford and Charlotte Moore from Crowther Beard.

delighted to have reached the 200 bra milestone.

We have ‘pink’ collection boxes in our Worcester and Tewkesbury offices and have been actively encouraging staff, families, friends and clients to donate their unwanted bras!” www.crowtherbeard.com

seeKinG 100 loCal Businesses in herefordshire and WorCesTershire To CeleBraTe maCmillan’s CenTenary

Supporters across Worcestershire are being invited to put on their pearls and dicky bows and join the rapid response Charity for an evening of entertainment at the Worcester Warriors Sixways Stadium on Saturday 21 May. The anniversary ball will get underway from 7pm when guests are invited to raise their glasses to the life saving Charity at a drinks reception before tucking into a four course meal.

Stealing the show will be two of the Midlands Air Ambulance helicopters which will land on the rugby pitches in front of flight crew, fundraisers, local businesses, volunteers and you!

The anniversary ball is open to everyone. Tickets are priced at £50, or £450 for a table.

To reserve your place call 0800 840 20 40 or visit www.midlandsairambulance.com

2011 presents businesses across Herefordshire and Worcestershire with an opportunity to raise their profile in the community whilst helping Macmillan Cancer Support to celebrate their centenary.

strictLy sports stars Boost catheDraL anD cancer charity The Worcestershire Banquet and Ball, which raised funds for Worcester Cathedral and a leading cancer charity, could become an annual event.

Organised by Sir Bert Millichip Sports and staged on Friday 11 March, the event’s celebrity speakers included England sports stars and former Strictly Come Dancing contestants Austin Healey, Mark Ramprakash and Peter Shilton, who held a lively question and answer session.

County auctioneer Philip Serrell conducted an auction of rare sporting items in aid of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. A behind the scenes visit to Liverpool FC’s Melwood training ground attracted a winning bid of £5,000. www.sbmshindlip.com

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Macmillan is seeking 100 local businesses to engage in enhanced promotional and fundraising activities and to pledge to raise £1,000 for the charity. Fundraising Manager Sarah Grout says: “We welcome the opportunity to talk to businesses about meeting their objectives and demonstrate what tools and support are available to help them make light work of fundraising, including an account plan, communication strategy and idea generation.”

Chamber members UK Fleet Manager of Bromsgrove and Ellis Properties of Hereford have already pledged support. Mark Ellis said: “Every September we hold an office coffee morning which not only raises funds for Macmillan but also presents us with a great opportunity to network with clients. This year I’m also doing a sponsored walk, and encouraging business contacts to become e-campaigners for Macmillan which requires only minimum effort to set up an email signature. We all know people affected by cancer, we can all do something to support Macmillan.” www.macmillan.org.uk/ worcestershire www.macmillan.org.uk/ herefordshire

(eiffeL) tour De force!

Staff from Worcester law firm Stallard March & Edwards have completed a ‘tour de force‘ by completing the Paris half marathon on 6 March.

Alan James, a probate lawyer and Jenny Richards, secretary to Bill Stallard, both from Stallard March & Edwards in Sansome Walk, completed the 13.1 mile Paris road race in just over 2 hours.

Joining the 30,000 runners, this Parisian route took them from the Bois de Vincennes in South East Paris, along the river Seine, past Notre Dame on the other side of the river, and then back to the park.

Alan, Penny and Jenny were also able to raise £250 in sponsorship towards Stallard March & Edwards’ chosen charity, the Worcestershire Breast Campaign. www.smesolicitors.co.uk

May/June 2011

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Chamber News Brwm invests in Betterpr communications expertise Bromsgrove-based betterpr has been chosen to promote Barnett Ravenscroft Wealth Management’s (BRWM) innovative investment approach.

The agency will be working with BRWM to plan and implement media and marketing strategies on a national scale for the firm, which works with high net worth individuals, families and trusts and offers a complete wealth management and financial planning service to those with around £1 million in investable assets.

hr professionaLs stay connecteD Hewett Recruitment are inviting all Human Resource professionals across the region to join their new ‘LinkedIn’ group for Herefordshire & Worcestershire Human Resources Professionals.

www.betterpr.co.uk

BLack-eLk Positioning – the battle for the mind of the customer/prospect Many people misunderstand the role of communication in business today. In our overcommunicated society, very little communication actually takes place; we block it out. Rather, a company must create a ‘position’ in the prospect’s mind.

A position that takes into consideration not only a company’s own strengths and weaknesses, but those of its competitors as well.

aggressive approach to status By hmrc LeaDs to hefty settLements Baker Tilly Tax Partner Lucie Hammond explains how to mitigate your exposure

Some businesses prefer self-employed workers rather than employees, but when undertaking a PAYE inspection, HMRC looks closely at employers’ records to ensure workers who have been paid without tax and NIC being deducted at source are correctly classified.

A worker’s status is not a question of choice but depends on certain facts; an incorrect classification can result in hefty employer settlements.

It’s the employer’s responsibility to make deductions and account to HMRC for them.

If HMRC reclassifies a worker as an employee, it may look back six years and the employer will have to cover outstanding tax and NIC that should have been deducted, along with employer’s NIC, interest and penalty charges.

An inspection can result in a large settlement if errors are discovered, so give thought to mitigating your exposure.

Working arrangements can be adjusted to ensure that the self-employed position is robust and the following will help: ■ give the worker the right to substitute someone else to carry out the work.

Providing you continue to pay the contracted individual, they should pay the substitute under their own arrangements.

This group has been created to provide an online platform for local HR Professionals to exchange information and ideas and keep informed of best practice without having to leave their desks!

The easy way to get into a person’s mind is to be first. If you can’t be first, then you must find a way to position yourself against the product, the company, the person who did get there first.

Many of those who have joined so far also attend the Chamber’s HR Forum which is in association with Hewett Recruitment; this online group enables those who find it difficult to escape from the office the opportunity to join in and those who do attend the Forum the chance to connect between meetings.

To cope with our over-communicated society, people have learned to rank products on mental ladders. Before you can position anything, you must know where it is on the product ladder in the mind.

■ agree a fixed fee rather than an hourly or daily rate.

To be a leader you have to be first to get into the mind of the prospect - and then follow the strategies for staying there. What works for a leader doesn’t work for a follower.

■ keep to a contract for the defined job rather than an open ended one.

Jo Watkins, Executive Assistant to Louise Hewett, who manages the Social Networking strategy at Hewett, explained: “We aim to bring together a close community of HR Professionals across the two counties offering an easily accessible resource and support network.”

To join the LinkedIn group visit: http://linkd.in/eGAGj7

To be successful at positioning, you have to have the right mental attitude. You have to become an outside-in thinker rather than an inside-out thinker. This requires patience, courage, and strength of character and sometimes – advice & guidance.

www.hewett-recruitment.co.uk

www.black-elk.co.uk

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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■ set deadlines for work to be completed but do not control how, where and when they work.

■ require the worker to provide their own equipment and materials.

■ demonstrate they are in business on their own account.

Further information on this is available on our website at www.bakertilly.co.uk or please contact me at our Hereford office on 01432 352222 or lucie.hammond@bakertilly.co.uk

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We are a National Conference & Banqueting Centre with a multimillion pound development in the heart of the midlands!

•

60 Conference & Banqueting Suites to choose from in a multitude of sizes

•

Ideal for weddings, parties, christening, bar mitzvahs and wakes

• •

Onsite car parking for 1,000 cars FREE WiFi throughout

BD01.indd 42 B:DUULRUV 6L[ZD\V %XVLQHVV 'LUHFWLRQ DG LQGG

12/5/11 11:14:04

New Members BeWdley The Emily Jordan Foundation 01299 861484

www.theemilyjordanfoundation.org.uk

BromsGroVe ALM HR Associates 01527 557181 www.almhr.com

Andrew Phillips Insurance Brokers Ltd 01527 834696 www.apinsurance.co.uk

Eminent Investigations Limited 01527 910971 www.eminent-investigations.co.uk

Panoptic Ledger Ltd 01527 880233 www.panopticls.co.uk

BLC Fabrications 01432 271949 Certainly Wood 01981 251796

www.certainlywoodwood.co.uk

Designaventure Ltd 01432 830880

www.designaventure.co.uk

Full House FRS Ltd 01432 342042 Impact Print & Design Ltd 01432 356965 www.impactprint.co.uk

Lanyon Bowdler 01432 378379 www.lblaw.co.uk

Nigel Maud Consultancy 01989 730353 RJ Francis & Co 01432 266630

The National Trust 01885 482077

Stephen Maud & Associates 01989 730364

eVesham De Montfort Country Dining 01386 41277

Sue Maud 01989 730364 Utility Warehouse 01432 851393

www.quicksilverpr.co.uk

Severn Waste Services 01386 443376 www.severnwaste.com

Steel Shelving Company LLP 01386 422336 www.shelvingshop.com

Vale Office Interiors Ltd 01386 442244 www.valeofficeinteriors.co.uk

hereford A2B Spatial Intelligence Ltd 01981 255090 www.a2b.uk.net

Allan Davies Tax & Accounting Limited 01432 370902 Apricot Business Consortium 01989 730353 Apricot Catering Limited 01989 730353 www.apricotcatering.co.uk

Aspire Living Ltd 01432 269406

Winstanley & Co Ltd 01386 552278

Gainsborough House Hotel 01562 820041

www.gainsboroughhousehotel.com

ledBury Galebreaker 01531 637 900

www.galebreaker.com

leominsTer

E-Response 01527 66688 www.e-responserecruitment.co.uk

LDL Business Solutions Ltd 0333 3214106 www.ldlbusinesssolutions.co.uk

Pre-Met Ltd 01527 510535 www.pre-met.com

Sterimedix Limited 01527 501480 www.sterimedix.com

UK Composites Ltd 07540 525 899

www.marketing2win.co.uk

DHJH Tenbury Wells LLP 01584 811686 Independent Business Development Manager Ltd 07984 309328 www.i-bdm.co.uk

RBL Logistics Ltd 01584 810262 www.rjltptconsultants.co.uk

malVern

The Holywell Water Company Ltd 01684 568548 www.holywellspringwater.co.uk

Pershore iTech IT 01386 555344 www.itechit.co.uk

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

Oakland Air Control Ltd 01905 757711 www.oaklandgroup.com

Open GI Ltd 01905 754455 www.opengi.co.uk

R.S.C Lithographics Print Limited 01905 748256 www.lithographics.co.uk

Richard Sagar 01454 618700 www.richardsagar.co.uk

Telecetera 01905 612220 www.telecetera.co.uk

Worcester College of Technology 01905 725555 www.wortech.ac.uk

Worcester Music Festival 07804 819818 www.worcestermusicfestival.co.uk

TenBury Wells

Beacon Legal Management and Compliance 01905 354620

Innovation Bridge Consulting 0560 2615452

www.maggieelizabethcouture.co.uk

www.malcolmscottcons.co.uk

WorCesTer

David Hogg Limited 01684 541979

Maggie Elizabeth Couture 01905 359157

reddiTCh

John Amos & Co 01568 610007 www.johnamos.co.uk

Justine Barrett Counselling and Psychotherapy 07528 813353

Malcolm Scott Consultants Ltd 01905 726353

Marketing2win 07837 568411

Black Diamond I.T Limited 0844 9670997

Independent Flood Specialist 01905 351933

www.winstanleyco.com

KidderminsTer

Black Mountain Quarries Ltd 01981 241541

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www.visioncic.com

sTourPorT-on-seVern

www.aspirehereford.org.uk

www.blackmountainquarries.co.uk

Vision Culture Etc 07889411277

www.bluemirageservices.com

www.avonpubco.co.uk

Quicksilver Public Relations 01386 443300

www.jgross.co.uk

www.fullhousefrs.org.uk

Bromyard www.nationaltrust.org.uk

JG Ross & Co Components (Pershore) Ltd 01386 552140

www.beaconlegal.co.uk

Cookmate 01905 27251 Employer Training and Enterprise 01905 743525 www.wortech.ac.uk

ouT of area FP Midlands Ltd Birmingham 0121 4890000 www.fpmailingmidlands.co.uk

Integrious Birmingham 0121 422 0761 www.integrious.co.uk

Blue Sheep Limited Cheltenham 01242 545300 www.bluesheep.com

Bizz Buzz Transcultural Coaching & Training Ludlow 07958 629 220 www.bizz-buzz.co.uk

Ian Priest Associates Staffs 07917 355 751

FAST Associates Ltd 0845 528 0390 www.fastassociates.co.uk

Handelsbanken 01905 673372 www.handelsbanken.co.uk/worcester

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12/5/11 11:14:06

Tourism in Herefordshire and Worcestershire The Mappa Mundi.

Friends of the Courtyard Summer Fundraiser This summer season The Courtyard is going ‘foodie’ with a delightful event that will tickle the tastebuds and leave you with a lasting flavour!

On Sunday 10 July, The Courtyard’s second Let’s Get Cooking Hereford! will take place, following its successful launch in 2010. This will be a thrilling and mouth-watering night, with four local chefs participating in a live, on-stage cook-off. There will be plenty of opportunities for budding gastronomes to join in, with kitchen assistants and tasters needed on stage to support the chefs! Before the show, a mini Food Festival will take place at The Courtyard, with a host of local food and drink suppliers showing their wares and offering delicious samples. Plus, cooking demonstrations by local chefs on state-of-the-art equipment provided by local supplier Axon Enterprises will be held. A range of hot food will be provided by the local garrison chefs during two intervals. There will also be plenty of food and drink prizes to be won in our raffle. Join Herefordshire’s foodaholics for an amazing night.

New Mappa Mundi exhibition at Hereford Cathedral After three years of planning, a new Mappa Mundi exhibition opened at Hereford Cathedral on Monday 4 April. Working in co-operation with cathedral staff a team from Hayley Sharpe Design of Leicester spent three weeks removing the old exhibition and installing the new one.

Tickets: £15.00 (Supporting The Courtyard and the local garrison Clock Tower Fund.)

The Food Festival will begin at 6pm and the show at 7.30pm. www.courtyard.org.uk

le Creuset casserole dish

Active in the Arts in Herefordshire Hereford Gilbert & Sullivan Society in is now well into its 65th year, and is going from strength to strength. Its annual Show at The Courtyard in March this year was a resounding success, and the Society is looking forward to a busy Spring/Summer of events and concerts.

Their upcoming events include:

The Mappa Mundi exhibition first opened in 1996 following the completion of the New Library Building. In recent times the original exhibition had become in need of an update. “Putting the Mappa Mundi in a better lit case and letting people get closer was a real priority,” said Canon Pullin, “and including more interactive elements for people to use.”

The new exhibition includes a ‘turning the pages’ interactive screen for people to explore some of the Cathedral’s ancient books. Also new is a brass rubbing station and an audio visual presentation about the Mappa Mundi.

Funding came from the Mappa Mundi Trust, Heritage Lottery Fund, The Pilgrim Trust and Lord Gavron (whose Folio Society recently marketed a facsimile of the Mappa Mundi) in partnership with Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust.

The exhibition is open daily: Monday – Saturday 10am-4pm.

Leominster Festival Concert Saturday 4 June, 7.30pm Priory Leominster

Summer Concert Tonight is Music Night Friday 1 July, 7.30pm The Courtyard Hereford For more information about the society or to get involved contact the Society’s Secretary Karen on 07870 637331 or email karen.spooner@dsl.pipex.com

www.herefordcathedral.org

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Showground gets a facelift Malvern’s Showground, home of the Three Counties Agricultural Society, is building on its reputation as the region’s premier event centre, by enhancing its main exhibition building in 2011.

The North face of Severn Hall, which currently accommodates everything from business seminars and conferences to theatres, trade fairs and film shoots, is to benefit from a radical facelift this summer.

piece and repositioned to fit in with the new dimensions.

Contractor, Barnwood Construction, has already taken up residence on site, and building work has begun to transform the existing structure by way of two storey accommodation with built-in communication systems, and a smart, glass atrium entrance.

Three Counties Agricultural Society, Chief Executive, Nick Vincent, said: “The new extension will increase the capacity of Severn Hall considerably, which is good news for events and businesses hiring it already, because it will offer them greater flexibility.

We believe it will also attract new clientele, and possibly new visitors, to the region in the future, which can only be good news for the town and ultimately the county.

The job is scheduled for completion just in time for the Malvern Autumn Show (24 & 25 September), and the famous Severn Hall Woodcarving, which currently sits on the North gable, has already been painstakingly taken down piece by

The Society’s Venue Hire arm boosts Society income considerably, bringing in around £1m of business each year, and helps us to deliver our charitable objectives. In spite of very difficult trading conditions in 2010, that business remained fairly

Worcestershire’s own online TV cookery shows

Worcestershire produce

Three Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce members have been cooking up their own way of promoting Worcestershire food and Worcestershire food producers.

Through an initiative funded by Destination Worcestershire, Coxon Kitchens and Fusion Brasserie teamed up with fellow Chamber member Terry Anderson of Video Interactive (promotions).

The Worcestershire Food Ambassadors’ promotion took on

the theme of an online cut down version of very popular TV shows.

International TV Chefs Alan Coxon and Felice Tocchini fronted the shows by preparing several quick recipes using all Worcestershire produce, whilst film production company, Video Interactive, added the “TV” ingredient with a high quality multi-cam shoot.

Destination Worcestershire was keen to introduce these online shows and will be streaming them to tastes.org. uk very shortly.

Combining the TV presenting and production skills of Alan Coxon and Terry Anderson, they have decided to extend the concept of the Ambassadors’ recipes to other food producers, having recently recorded similar for companies abroad. www.video-interactive.co.uk

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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Illustration of the new building

stable, and although some of the regular events suffered, most are returning this year.

Notable additions to the calendar are the Energy Now Expo – the only renewable energy event of its kind - and the Stitch & Creative Crafts Show, and in order to attract more prestigious events like these, we must stay in tune with customer requirements and upgrade facilities on a regular basis.”

The new Severn Hall extension will add another 600 square metres of

self-contained space to Severn Hall, bringing the total area available to 3,000 square metres, which includes the Food For Thought Café at the South End. The Showground’s reputation as a multi-functional centre in a beautiful location continues to grow, and the new building looks set to be an aesthetically-pleasing addition to the conference and symposium area. www.threecounties.co.uk

Worcester Music Festival in its 4th year Worcester Music Festival is a three day festival celebrating original live music which takes place every year in Worcester City Centre as part of Worcester Festival.

This year the Music Festival will take place on 19, 20 and 21 August 2011 in around 30 venues.

More than 10,000 audience members from far and wide attended the 2010 festival, with visitors coming from across the UK to watch the 250 performances over the weekend. The majority of performances were free and money was raised via a raffle and donations from the audience.

Throughout the weekend £5,470 was raised for local charities The

Robinson at the Cellar Bar © Mark Hoy

Worcester Snoezelen Centre and Worcester Wheels.

The festival features both exciting original bands and professional music workshops, designed to educate and delight musicians and members of the public and also features a photography competition to capture the vibrancy and excitement of the event. www.worcestermusicfestival.co.uk

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12/5/11 11:14:20

Dealing with UK & Irish retailers made easy The UK grocery retail sector was worth £151 billion in 2010 and will rise to £182 billion by 2015 according to industry expert, IGD. Over 70% of this market sits with the big players such as Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Co-op etc.

Many prospective suppliers are put off the idea of dealing with a large retail group because of the technological interfaces required to receive orders, strict delivery requirements, high costs of transport or maybe just because they feel that the large retailers will have too much control over their business.

Oakland International specialises in linking producers to their UK & Irish retail customers via its Redditch, UK site or its Ashbourne, Ireland site. An Oakland client can focus on their core expertise of producing great quality food – Oakland takes care of the rest of the supply chain challenge with getting the right product to the right location on time, in full and in good condition.

Our case consolidation schemes provide significant reductions in costs and carbon footprint by sharing pallet space and load space with other suppliers going to the same destination.

Oakland works with a wide portfolio of producers, from very niche, high quality but low volume accounts through to global manufacturers Our services include frozen, chilled and ambient storage, picking, packing and distribution, all BRC accredited for peace of mind.

Please visit www.oakland-international.com or give Gill Hiatt a call on 01527 593 975 to find out how we could help you.

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12/5/11 11:14:24

Take a Break Warm salad of asparagus, dry cured bacon, poached egg Method:

Ingredients: 140g unsalted butter 24 spears of asparagus 4 eggs 8 slices dry cured bacon 2 egg yolks White wine vinegar Salt and pepper 1 Orange, zest grated and juice, squeezed Extra virgin olive oil Fresh black pepper

Melt the butter over a low heat and leave to settle.

Bring a separate pan of water to the boil and add a few drops of vinegar in it.

In an s/steel bowl boil 1tbsp of vinegar with a little pepper and a pinch of salt, remove from the heat and add 1tbsp of water and the yolks.

Stir the water and then drop in the eggs one at the time. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

Whisk over a bain-marie until the eggs are light and fluffy. Carry on whisking adding the butter a little at the time.

Add the juice and zest from the orange and season to taste. Place on the side and keep warm.

Cut off the woody ends and peel the stem with a potato peeler.

In the meantime cook the bacon until crisp (either grill or in a frying pan) remove from grill/pan and pat dry with kitchen towel, keep warm Place the asparagus in a large pot of boiling salted water and cook until the tips are tender 2-4 minutes. Keep warm.

Cut the asparagus in half and create a stack of 4 pieces per layer crossing them at each subsequent one.

Gently arrange the bacon on top of the stack, and then place one egg over the asparagus.

Finish the dish by dressing the egg with the Hollandaise sauce, (if the sauce is too thick, add a little water before poring over the egg).

Garnish the plate with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh ground black pepper around the stack.

Recipe supplied by Fusion Brasserie, 01905 840 647 www.fusionbrasserie.com

September 4 2010 Wednesday afternoon in the offices of Barking, Madd and Madd. Not one of our more exciting days. Too near the end of the week.

The highlight of the morning was when I accidentally spilled a cup of tea over one of the rubber plants. Since it had been dead for eight months (the company cancelled the maintenance contract with local florist Witherings in January) it did not seem to matter.

I have been at Barking, Madd and Madd for thirteen and a half years now and have already been appointed to a very senior junior position in the Stock Control Department. No one uses a marker pen without my say-so. Now that is pressure. Anyway, it was a quiet day (the e-mail had been down for four days before the IT department noticed and the fax machine repair man went missing somewhere near Workington last Tuesday) when in comes Derek The Head of Department, waving a piece of paper.

The colour was highly significant following the changes made after the company called in consultants to review our internal cascaded communications system. The nice man from Easymoney and Partners claimed £14,500 for recommending that we colour co-ordinate the drawing pins on our noticeboards. Since then, memos have been green (financial information), blue (internal housekeeping), pink (new innovations), yellowing (old stock not yet used up). Having come up with this plan he drove off in his Porsche (red).

This note was pink. Last time we saw a pink one it was because they had decided to add vegetable quiche to the menu in the canteen.

“Gather round,” said Derek, “I have here a memo from the Managing Director which says he has decided to simplify the verbal communication interface facilitation processes within the company environs.”

“Eh?” asked Ted, my colleague from the Post-it Notes and Biros Section.

“Talking in the office,” I said.

Welcome to the diaries of Ridley Pinstripe, at 33, a go-getting young businessman who has already risen to the position of Assistant Procurement Manager within manufacturing company Barking, Madd and Madd.

“Er, exactly,” said Derek, shooting me a grateful, if confused, look and readjusting his spectacles. “The MD says: ‘Dear Valued Members of the Stock Control Department, whoever you may be, I have decided that Barking, Madd and Madd is to take a stand against the over-use of meaningless jargon. From now on we will adhere to the tenets of the Plain English Campaign. This is a blue sky scenario which has been coming down the tracks towards us for some time. I have therefore run it up the flagpole to see if it bites and having chased it twice round the garden, decided that the time has come to make sure we have a level playing field. As you know, I have always been prepared to whistle past the graveyard so let’s get our ducks in a row on this one.”

“Any questions?” asked Derek in the kind of voice which suggested he hoped there weren’t.

“Just one,” asked one of the world-weary older hands, “What does it mean?”

“It means,” snapped Derek impatiently, “That from now on everyone will understand what the managing director says so stick that in your cappuccino machine and see if it comes up fruity ... er, frothy.”

The next morning a somewhat bemused delivery man struggled into the office bearing a large box full of plastic ducks. No one knows who ordered them.

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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VISION Culture CIC VISION Culture CIC offer bespoke consultancy services for commercial, public and third sector organisations. We provide business support, policy and strategy advice around food, farming and rural matters to organisations both large and small.

We manage, develop and deliver projects across the UK. Established in February 2010, we specialise in food and agri-environmental projects linked with health, sustainability and supply chain issues.

Our Services • Policy & Strategy Development • Project Development, Management & Delivery • Food Businesses Support • Independant Advice & Guidance • Project co-ordination & facilitation W O R K I N G T O W A R D S A H E A LT H I E R , S U S TA I N A B L E S O C I E T Y

For more information please contact us on:

Tel: 07889 411277 Email: info@visioncic.com Skype: adejevans Web: www.visioncic.com

Mhdc - listening to local Business

The Malverns – Be Inspired

In a challenging economic climate its increasingly important for local authorities to get to know and understand its businesses and in particular their concerns and aspirations for the future.

Malvern Hills District Council has set up the Listening to Business programme to talk directly to key businesses, large and small, from a variety of sectors that have a stake in the future economy of the District. If you have a business in the Malvern Hills District and would like the opportunity for your ideas and views to influence the Council’s strategy and approach to economic development then contact the Economic Development Team on 01684 862151 or ecodev@malvernhills.gov.uk and we would be delighted to come and visit your business.

Malvern Hills businesses can also keep up to date with the latest information on business support, grants, contract opportunities and much more via the regular Malvern Hills Business e-Bulletin service run by the Economic Development Team.

To sign up to receive the e-bulletin and for more information on business support in the area log on to www.malvernhills.gov.uk/business

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The Malverns are an inspirational place to do business and whether you are a start-up, an established business or a new business to the area Malvern Hills District Council can support your growth.

The Council offers a wide range of services and advice to businesses. For more information visit our website at www.malvernhills.gov.uk/business or call one of the Economic Development Team on 01684 862151

May/June 2011

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Movers and Shakers Vicky Mitchell Office Manager Vicky Mitchell has joined the borwell team to assist Andrea and Steve with the day-to-day running of the borwell office systems. Vicky said about her appointment: “I am excited to be joining borwell and to be part of a friendly team that is passionate about IT. With opportunities for career development and training I am looking forward to growing with the company.” www.borwell.com

Edith Hurst-Earl Oakland International

Peter John Editor, Worcester News The Newsquest-owned daily paper has announced the appointment of Peter John, who moves from the company’s Stourbridge division.

Mr John, 56, was Publisher of six free weekly papers, including the Kidderminster Shuttle, Bromsgrove Advertiser and Stourbridge News.

Previously he had worked as a publisher in Newsquest’s East and West Wales divisions.

He originally trained as a journalist on the South Wales Argus in Newport, rising to Assistant Editor, before going on to become Editor of a series of Welsh weekly paid-for titles and then moving into general management.

Multi temperature supply chain and logistics specialist, Oakland International, has appointed Edith Hurst-Earl to the post of Customer Support Executive, with overall responsibility for on and off site customer liaison.

Apart from editing the Worcester News, Mr John’s responsibilities include managing the central editorial production department at the company’s Hylton Road

www.oakland-international.com

offices. This team provides the sub editing service to all of Newsquest’s Midlands papers, including Hereford Times, Malvern Gazette, Berrows Journal and the Stourbridge titles.

He is also responsible for the Worcester News website, which attracts 170,000 users and more than 1 million page views every month. www.worcesternews.co.uk

Dan Kendrick and Lizzie Murrie, quicksilver

Steve Ward Concept Advertising

Quicksilver Public Relations has appointed two new recruits, further strengthening its dynamic, Eveshambased communications team. Dan Kendrick and Lizzie Murrie have joined the leading PR consultancy, which has just relocated to larger offices in Abbey Gate, Evesham, following continued company growth and ambitions to further expand its client base in 2011.

Steve Ward has joined the Concept Advertising and Public Relations creative team and will be designing new products and offering a bespoke illustration service to clients. www.conceptad.co.uk

www.quicksilverpr.co.uk

Fiona Blake Sight Concern Worcestershire Fiona Blake has been appointed as Fundraising Manager for Sight Concern Worcestershire, the charity for the blind and partially sighted. www.sightconcern.co.uk

Banking on launch success Worcestershire business professionals and the local community recently attended the launch of Handelsbanken in Worcester. The event, held at Sixways, invited guests to learn more about how Swedish Handelsbanken’s localised banking philosophy operates and specifically how the new branch will work with business and private clients here in Worcestershire. www.handelsbanken.co.uk/ worcester

Business Direction published by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

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Last Word Name Company Job title

Professor Chris PiCKerinG, Phd, finsTP innoVaTion BridGe ConsulTinG ConsulTanT - foundinG ParTner (WiTh dr neil adams)

Our next issue will focus on innovation so the last word goes to Professor Chris Pickering, who left QinetiQ in Malvern last October and formed Innovation Bridge Consulting with a colleague. Their goal is to help innovative high-tech companies access European or UK Research & Development funding and partnerships to achieve their strategic goals.

WhaT did you WanT To Be When you Were younG?

WhaT in your oPinion is The GreaTesT inVenTion eVer?

An astronaut! I was always fascinated by astronomy and built a telescope when I was a boy. The nearest I got was to work at the Radio and Space Research Station in Slough (not quite Houston!). Perhaps when Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic Service reduces its price in the future I’ll realise my ambition.

The integrated circuit and related semiconductor devices. These are now all pervading and continue to develop at an astonishing pace described by Moore’s Law, which states that the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. This trend has continued for more than half a century and is expected to continue until 2015 or 2020 or later. It is predicted that computing power will approach that of the human brain within 10-15 years.

WhiCh inVenTor has insPired you mosT? James Dyson with his innovative British products and his dedication to helping British engineers with his Research and Development investment in his company.

WhaT inVenTion Could you noT liVe WiThouT? It has to be the Laptop computer and access to the Internet and Email. It would be hard to go back to the days of faxes and visiting the library to access scientific literature when now we have the world’s knowledge at the click of a mouse.

WhaT Would Be your one ToP TiP for a BuddinG inVenTor? Don’t expect Venture Capitalists to give you lots of money for an idea. It needs to be developed to at least a proof of concept and preferably a prototype. But there are lots of sources of grant funding for R&D to help you get to this stage.

WhaT is The mosT ValuaBle lesson you haVe learnT in your Career?

Don’t give up! In Science and in Business there are always set-backs but perseverance usually pays off in the end.

info@innovationbridge.co.uk

Send your innovation stories to businessdirection@hwchamber.co.uk

frienDs Life t20 BonanZa Twenty20 cricket is back with a bang when Worcestershire Royals take on Durham Dynamos on Sunday 5 June. The 2011 series includes 8 un-missable home games: 5 June

Worcestershire Royals vs Durham Dynamos

10 June

Worcestershire Royals vs Northamptonshire Steelbacks

12 June

Worcestershire Royals vs Lancashire Lightning

24 June

Worcestershire Royals vs Derbyshire Falcons

26 June

Worcestershire Royals vs Yorkshire Carnegie

1 July

Worcestershire Royals vs Leicestershire Foxes

5 July

Worcestershire Royals vs Nottinghamshire Outlaws

8 July

Worcestershire Royals vs Warwickshire Bears

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Tickets and hospitality packages are now available for the Friends Life t20 Bonanza at New Road, please call our Ticket Hotline on 01905 337921 or visit www.wccc.co.uk to book. Tickets are guaranteed to sell fast, so don’t miss this opportunity to be part of the action. www.wccc.co.uk May/June 2011

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Chambe

r health, social care & early years

Worcester College of Technology now offers a bespoke service for employers called Solutions.

Solutions is one of the largest training providers in Herefordshire & Worcestershire, with a proven track record across a range of sectors.

We offer flexible training, delivered by experienced trainers with a wide range of industrial knowledge. We are specialists in seeking out funding for your training, so in many cases it will be fully funded or subsidised.

We offer: A no obligation, free Training Needs Analysis which can be conducted on your premises Creation of a detailed Training Proposal which includes information about the recommended training programmes and any associated fees Information on how to attract funding for recommended training programmes Training that supports your business objectives If you would like more information please call us on 01905 743435 or email employers@wortech.ac.uk

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