MEMBER-TO-MEMBER BUSINESS SCHEME
Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce has recently launched a new member- to- member scheme that will help local companies cut costs on all manner of business items and services.
Members of the Chamber who elect to participate will be included on the new scheme’s list in the members-only section of the Chamber’s website so that all fellow members can easily see the companies contact details to get in touch and take up the discounts and offers shown.
Enterprise Rent-a-car were the first members of the Leicestershire Chamber to offer discounts to fellow Chamber members and have confirmed that they would be able to set up affinity schemes with businesses within the chamber, offering them 5% off Enterprise’s standard retail rates at any one of their 290 office locations throughout the United Kingdom.
There’s still time for Chamber Members to contact us with details of what discounts or added-value items they would like to offer and how they wish to get involved in the new scheme which will also encourage members to do much more business with each other.
You’re invited to call or email the Chamber to discuss the new Member-to-Member scheme which could enable you to access great discounts yourself and cut costs on everything from stationery to vehicle rental, in addition to helping to raise the profile of your business.
For more details please contact Sharon Jeffrey, Commercial Manager on Tel: 0116 204 6618 or email: Jeffrey.s@chamberofcommerce.co.uk
ACT NOW TO BEAT AUTUMN ELECTRICITY PRICE RISES WARNS CHAMBER
Businesses facing autumn electricity contract renewals should adjust budgets now to reflect the inevitability of higher costs warns Leicestershire Chamber.
Organisations should also consider buying early and locking into longer contracts to beat the anticipated September/October price increases.
Stephen Woolfe, President of Leicestershire Chamber, explains: “There have been dramatic price rises in excess of 60 per cent in the electricity market over the past 12 months, and the price of gas has risen even higher.
“Regrettably, there is little relief in sight and given market trends of 2004/05, there is every likelihood that the major autumn contract renewal round will drive further speculative forward buying - leading to a large upward price swing in September and October.”
Chamber Utilities™ can help organisations to minimise exposure to the risks of buying in a highly volatile commodity market. The service is delivered by Utility Auditing Ltd, a national energy management company which can use its national purchasing power and expert knowledge to ensure customers buy at the most advantageous time and price.
According to Paul Backx at Utility Auditing, there is every indication that the market will remain volatile and continue to harden through 2006. With the depletion of North Sea gas and long delays in the availability of Liquid Natural Gas imports the cost of gas is soaring, which has a knock on effect on gas generated electricity. With the added pressure of record oil prices, our advice would be to consider a longer contract to protect against further upward swings in the market.
It is vital that businesses take a twin pronged approach to cost optimisation, involving effective procurement and consumption reduction. As authorised consultants for the Carbon Trust, Utility Auditing can offer organisations a fully funded energy survey, which will identify any waste and identify fully costed solutions for improving energy efficiency. The organisation also provides access to interest free Carbon Trust loans and advice on Enhanced Capital Allowances to make many of these efficiency measures cost neutral.
For a free cost illustration on your electricity contract renewal or to find out more about the free Carbon Trust surveys, please contact Sharon Jeffrey at the Chamber on 0116 204 6618.
LAST CHANCE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Whether you want to promote your company in general or start a sales push for a particular campaign or offer you can get your message out to 1600 Chamber members for less than the cost per company of a 1st class stamp.
Pay just £300 +vat for a single sheet A4 flyer insert in our Chamber News newsletter and we will mail 1600 of your flyers out for you- that works out at less than 19p per flyer- cheaper than a first class stamp plus you’re saving on envelope costs and staff time too!
The September and October editions of Chamber News are both now full but we do currently have space available for flyers in the November edition of Chamber News. As we don’t produce a December edition of Chamber News this will be your last chance to promote your business before Christmas. If you’d like to find out more or reserve space please call Suzanne on Tel: 0116 204 6609 or email: farmer.s@chamberofcommerce.co.uk
Export Foundation Course
Date: 23rd August
Time: 9am-4.30pm
Venue: Chamber Offices, Charnwood Court, New Walk, Leicester
Cost: £160 + vat for Chamber members / £200+ vat Standard
Beginners course to give overview of export documentation procedures and practices.
Export Documentation Course
Date: 30th August
Time: 9am-4.30pm
Venue: Chamber Offices, Charnwood Court, New Walk, Leicester
Cost: £160 + vat for Chamber members / £200+ vat Standard
Course covering the preparation of export paperwork including transport documents through to methods of payment and banking.
Letters of Credit Course
Date: 6th September
Time: 9am-4.30pm
Venue: Chamber Offices, Charnwood Court, New Walk, Leicester
Cost: £160 + vat for Chamber members / £200+ vat Standard
A course intended for delegates with working knowledge of export documentation involved in processing letters of credit.
Networking Evening with auctioneer Philip Serrell
Date: 6th September
Time: 6pm-8.30pm
Venue: Devonshire Place, Leicester
Cost: £25 Chamber members / £35 Standard includes three course meal.
An auctioneer for over 30 years, Philip is well known as one of the experts on the TV programme Bargain Hunt and has recently published his book An Auctioneer’s Lot. In addition to the excellent networking opportunities this event presents, those attending will also get the chance to hear Philip recount some of his fascinating stories from the world of antiquities and auction houses. You are encouraged to bring along a chosen antiquity for Philip to assess and possibly even value.
Import Foundation Course
Date: 13th September
Time: 9am-4.30pm
Venue: Chamber Offices, New Walk, Leicester
Cost: £160 + vat Chamber members / £200 + vat Standard
A beginners course giving a clear overview of the procedures and documentation involved in importing.
Integra Presentation with Preethi Nair
Date: 14th September
Time: 6pm-8.30pm
Venue: Quorn Country Hotel, Quorn, near Loughborough
Cost: £32.50 Chamber members/ £42.50 Standard
Preethi is an entrepreneurial author and management consultant who duped the literary world by leading a double, and sometimes triple, life as her own PR consultant and it all paid off when she signed her three book deal with publishers HarperCollins.
Employment Law Seminar in conjunction with Freeth Cartwright LLP
Date: 21st September
Time: 7.30am-9am
Venue: Leicester Tigers Ground, Leicester
Cost: £25 Chamber members / £35 Standard
This seminar will look at a number of employment law matters including compliance with the Data Protection Act and dodging disability discrimination.
President's Gala Dinner with guest speaker Michael Portillo
Sponsored by Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank, Paramount Hotels Group and The Raynsway Group.
Date: 23rd September
Time: 7pm-10.30pm
Venue: Hinckley Island Hotel, Hinckley
Cost: £49.50 Chamber Members/£59.50 Standard
Table of 10: £470 Chamber Members/£570 Standard
Join us at the Hinckley Island Hotel for a delicious four-course meal and hear this year’s guest speaker Michael Portillo. Probably best known for his attempt to gain leadership of the Conservative Party back in 1991, Michael has enjoyed a varied career since he first entered the political arena in 1983.
SECURITY ADVICE FOR BUSINESS
Crimes against business is a serious issue and one which the Government is committed to tackling. It impacts on everyone – from individuals and communities to the businesses themselves- and its consequences cannot be underestimated. Crime and anti-social behaviour also harms businesses, damaging profits, demoralising staff and impacting on the security and well being of the whole community.
The Government’s Home Office has listened to businesses who have said that they want simple, straightforward advice on crime prevention by producing a new crime-beating guide. ‘Your Business – Keep Crime Out of It’ provides practical advice for businesses of all sizes on how to risk-assess their premises, stock and procedures and better protect themselves and their staff from crime. The guide can be down loaded from www.crimereduction.gov.uk/business40.htm.
The guide builds on the series of ‘Putting Crime Out of Business’ postcards launched by the Home office last September which provided step by step, low or no cost advice on key crime prevention issues affecting all types and sizes of business. The postcards can be viewed at www.crimereduction.gov.uk/business37.htm
If you would like more detailed advice, once you have looked at these publications, then please speak with the Crime Prevention Officer at your local Police Station.VISIT TO BULGARIA
John Townsend, Deputy President of Leicestershire Chamber will be visiting Haskovo in Bulgaria next month as part of a trade mission from the county. As the Chamber representative John would be pleased to undertake any business enquiries on behalf of members, initial queries should be emailed to Lesley Dexter at: dexter.l@chamberofcommerce.co.ukdexter.l@chamberofcommerce.co.uk
LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES 2012 - BRIEFING
Extracts from the London Development Agency webpages concerning the 2012 games, the management arrangements, the tendering and procurement arrangements.
(link: http://www.lda.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.1199 )
Who will run the Games?
A company called LOCOG – the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games – will be set up to organise the 2012 Games. It will concentrate on the actual event, with a separate Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) managing the Government’s and Mayor’s interest in the project. This will be fully accountable to the Government and the Mayor for managing the public money that will be spent on getting the venues and infrastructure ready well in time for 2012.
Tendering and Procurement Opportunities
All tendering opportunities will be publicised by the Olympic Delivery Authority and the LOCOG. Until then, the London Development Agency (LDA) and Transport for London will invite tenders for all contracts in relation to the construction or transport requirements of the Olympic Park via the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Web links: www.lda.gov.uk/server/sow/nav.001003004 and www.tfl.gov.uk
Are there any contracts available now?
Ahead of the bid decision, the LDA began the process of procurement for a number of large contracts connected with the delivery of the Olympic Park. This was to enable London to be in a position to start the planning needed to deliver the Games on time and on budget.
Major contracts currently in the process of procurement include:
• Consultancy Design Services for the Olympic Park and infrastructure (excluding venues). (Invitations to tender will be issued by end of July 2005)
• Programme Manager for the site-wide development of the Olympic facilities. (Invitations to tender will be issued by end of August 2005)
• Demolition and Remediation Contractors (Invitations to tender will be issued by the end of August 2005)
• Designer for the Remediation and Demolition work (Invitations to tender will be issued in August 2005)
• Designer for the Olympic Velopark (Invitations to tender are expected to be issued in Autumn 2005)
Over the next few weeks, the LDA also expects to appoint a contractor to underground the power lines, having already submitted the planning application for their removal.
ASBOS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME
The Environment Agency has said that more use should be made of Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) to prevent environmental crime.
In its annual 'spotlight' report on the environmental performance of businesses in England and Wales, the agency said that criminals are exploiting the public and profiting illegally from dumping and other damaging activities.
Preventing criminals from operating by the use of ASBOs and other measures that curtail and disrupt their activities such as vehicle and equipment seizure are useful new tools which could be highly effective for the environment.
An ASBO was awarded for environmental crime for the first time in 2004, the Environment Agency's report reveals. The measure was imposed to prevent the owner of a skip and plant hire business from repeatedly burning skips full of rubbish instead of disposing of the waste legally.
Financial penalties were still the most widely used sanction in the courts last year - fines issued as a result of cases taken by the Environment Agency totaled nearly two and half million pounds in 2004 - but environmental offenders also clocked up three years' worth of jail sentences and nearly 7000 hours of community service.
This year, for the first time, the report reveals the name of the parent company and stock market listing name of any company mentioned in the report. This acknowledges the growing influence that companies’ environmental performance can have on reputation and financial profitability. This year’s report shows prosecutions for household names including Pizza Express (£75k), Gatwick Airport (£30k) and Barratt Homes Ltd (£15k)
The report also highlights good environmental performance including:
· greenhouse gas emissions have gone down for the first time in five years
· business and industry are now recovering more than half of the amount of waste they produce – the highest level since records began in 1998
· hazardous waste recovery is at its highest recorded level, 37 per cent, while production is at its lowest
· Industry sulphur dioxide emissions, the gas responsible for acid rain and that Environment Agency regulated businesses are responsible for the majority of releases of, are down by 22 per cent
· As measured by the Environment Agency’s monitoring and scoring assessment system 1 in 5 sites has improved its environmental management performance.