Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce

Issue: November 2005

CHAMBER NEWS

Following the great success and popularity of the Leicestershire Women of Achievement Awards earlier this year plans are already underway for the 2006 event. The success of women in our society has often gone unrecognised and these awards were originally created to capture the achievements of women from all walks of life throughout Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.The Women of Achievement Awards can help to raise the profile of all finalists along with their business or the company or organisation for which they work. After the lengthy judging process, which takes place early next year, three finalists will be chosen to go forward for each award category and will be invited to attend the gala dinner evening next March.

The award categories are:

Business Woman of the Year, sponsored by The Leicester Mercury
Woman in the Community, sponsored by the Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland Community Foundation
Woman of the Year, sponsored by O2
Young Achiever of the Year, sponsored by Leicester YMCA
Rural Business Woman of the Year, sponsored by Leicestershire County Council
Woman with Determination, sponsored by Jobcentre Plus

Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, who are organising the 2006 event in conjunction with Headstorm Marketing, are encouraging local businesses to get involved and support the awards in the following ways:

People are being asked to start nominating colleagues, friends or family as appropriate for the various award categories
Sponsors are still being sought for the Woman of the Year award and for the wine reception and guest speaker at the Gala Awards Evening. Getting involved in supporting these awards can bring great PR benefits and help to raise the profile of your own company or organisation.
Bookings are now being taken to attend the gala dinner and presentation evening for the awards at Leicester City Football Club on March 3rd.

Application forms for nomination can be downloaded from: www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?site=31&r.s=sl&type=ONEOFFPAGE&itemId=5000060626

For more details contact Headstorm Marketing on Tel: 0870 170 9697 or email: woaawards@headstorm.co.uk

A new waste watchers service from Leicestershire Chamber and Chamber utilities will help local businesses to offset the costs of rising water charges, set to increase by an average 18 per cent over the next five year. Chamber Utilities is offering a new service to minimise the cost of waste water with a raft of specialist services and remedial action.

Utility Auditing, which delivers the Chamber service, has years of experience in environmental and wastewater management solutions. Major savings can be made by increasing efficiency of wastewater processes, reducing pollution and identifying recovery value for recycled waste product. Additional benefits flow from the separation and recovery of by-products, which have a commercial value.

Martin Traynor, Group MD of Leicestershire Chamber, said: “Whatever the final figure is we will continue to pay dearly for what we pour down the drain. To meet their investment needs all 23 UK water companies are raising their prices by up to 31 per cent and in most cases much of the price increase is being front loaded into the 2005/2006 period.

“Water used to be a relatively low overhead but it is now an expensive surcharge. It is becoming increasingly important to understand the charges incurred for water supply and waste water disposal and how they can be reduced, often significantly. The control of resources in your operation, including water, and more importantly the control of what remains as waste is vital to cost minimisation.”

As part of the service businesses can also identify any anomalies in water bills to potentially recover overcharges dating back six years. This can amount to several thousands of pounds. Advice on total water management and leak detection is available as well as checking meter size to ensure users optimise efficiency.

The Chamber Utilities™ team can additionally help to fine-tune businesses’ overall utilities management by negotiating better deals with suppliers and providing Carbon Trust audits to boost energy efficiency.

Mr Traynor added: “Soaring utilities bills are a real competitive threat to business and we will do everything we can to help firms reduce these costs – by identifying more competitive energy deals, and sorting out contract problems.”

For a free assessment of your utilities and help in cutting costs on water, energy, lubricants or fuels, please contact Kay Shah at Leicestershire Chamber by email at: kayshah@utilityauditing.co.uk

CHAMBER EVENTS

Date: 15th November

Time: 6pm-8.30pm

Venue: Freemans Park Campus at Leicester College, Leicester

Cost: £25 Chamber Members / £35 Standard

Attendance & space for a display stand: £55 Chamber Members / £65 Standard

Hosted by S4B, the commercial training arm of Leicester College, this event gives members an opportunity to reserve space for a display stand, exchange company literature over a glass of wine and gain an insight into the work of both S4B and Leicester College.

Date: 16th November

Time: 6pm-8.30pm

Venue: The Ramada Jarvis Hotel, Leicester

Cost: £32.50 Chamber Members / £42.50 Standard

Nighat counts four highly successful and diverse companies amongst her business achievements. Currently the CEO of the Shere Khan Group of restaurants she was the 2005 winner of the Entrepreneur category in the Asian Women of Achievements Awards. This event celebrates Women’s Enterprise Day and forms part of the local programme, co-ordinated by Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, for Enterprise Week which runs between November 14th-20th.

Date: 22nd November

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 from transport documents through to methods of payment and banking.

Date: 29th November

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.

Date: 2nd December

Time: 12.15pm– 4pm

Venue: Leicester City Football Club

Cost: Chamber Members £47.50 / Table of 10: £450.00

Standard £52.50 / Table of 10: £500

Over half the tickets have already been sold for this popular event which this year includes Frank Carson as guest speaker, a delicious four-course meal and wine and great networking opportunities.

Date: 6th December

Time: 9am-4.30pm

Venue: Chamber Offices, Charnwood Court, New Walk, Leicester

Cost: £160 + vat for Chamber Members / £200+ vat Standard

An introductory course setting out to give a clear overview of the procedures and documentation involved in importing.

Date: 24th January

Time: 12 noon-2.30pm

Venue: Whitwell Hotel & Conference Centre, Oakham

Cost: £25 Chamber Members/ £35 Standard

Hosted by Whitwell Hotel & Conference Centre in the newly refurbished gastro pub The Noel, this lunchtime event gives Chamber members an opportunity to exchange company literature over a glass of wine whilst gaining an insight into the excellent facilities the venue has to offer.

OTHER NEWS

The Great Daffodil Run in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care will take place on Sunday 12th March at Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire. Now in its 9th year the event attracts approximately 2500 runners from around the country helping to raise much-needed funds for this valued charity. The 15 mile road race part of the event is often used by many as a warm up for the popular London Marathon.

Local businesses have the opportunity to promote their business and help to support the charity by hosting a marquee in the grounds of Kelmarsh Hall on the day of the event. It costs just £300 to bring along your own exhibition marquee/tent/gazebo to raise awareness of your company to around 5000 people including runners and spectators.

To find out more call 01604 442313 or visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/events/running.

It’s not often that businesses have the time to take a step back and assess their progress but entering the Leicestershire Business Awards 2006 provides a great reason to do so. Applying for these prestigious awards is comparable to a mini audit, assessing the current business situation and reviewing whether vision has been translated into action and achievements.

Andrew Springhall of Power On Communications comments: “Putting together our application for last year’s awards opened our eyes to just how well we were succeeding against our original business plan. In addition to exceeding our targets, winning the New Business Award was an absolutely fantastic achievement.”

Wow Effect, the organisers of the awards, are calling for entries from Leicestershire businesses regardless of size or sector. With eight years experience of managing the awards, they have a good understanding of what the judges are looking for and can assist entrants by reviewing draft applications.

Additional benefits of applying include extensive media coverage, a raised profile in the business community and a reputation the envy of others. The awards, sponsored by RBS, Tenon and Leicester Shire Economic Partnership, are designed to encourage and reward high standards in Leicestershire businesses, setting a benchmark for running successful and competitive businesses.

The closing date for completed applications is 25th November and the finalists will be in the spotlight at the awards gala dinner on 7th April 2006. For assistance or an application pack contact Katie Bennett at Wow Effect Ltd on 0845 130 2866 or email info@bizawards.co.uk.

Enterprise Week 2005 is a UK-wide week of activities from 14th-20th November aimed at inspiring people in their teens and twenties to be enterprising and helping them to turn their business ideas into reality.

Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce is co-ordinating local events as part of the Enterprise Week initiative, for more details visit the “Start Talking Ideas” website www.starttalkingideas.org

Young people who want to access free training opportunities and undertake paid work placements are getting assistance from South Leicestershire College, Wigston. The college is working on a number of projects, including the “Skills 4 U” and “Kickstart” projects. For local businesses that employ young people aged 16 or 17 years old, the Kickstart project, funded by the Learning and Skills Council, provides free training and South Leicestershire College will work with employers and their employees to help them achieve their first NVQ unit at level 1 or 2. >

Helen Salisbury, External Projects Manager at South Leicestershire College, said: “This is a great opportunity for young people and employers who have not experienced the benefits of training before. The employer benefits from having an employee who is beginning a structured training programme that’s free, whilst the young person gains new skills and increased confidence and has the opportunity to progress onto an apprenticeship.”

For employers who have staff vacancies, the Skills 4 U project offers paid placements for young people aged 16 to 24 years and presents excellent opportunity for both youngsters seeking experience, and employers wanting to take on new staff, to try the job out.

South Leicestershire College is recruiting young people onto regular induction programmes throughout the coming months. Learners will get help with writing a CV, job interviews, preparing for work, as well as employer recognised qualifications including Emergency First Aid, Basic Food Hygiene and an Introduction to Manual Handling. They will then be placed with local employers on paid work experience placements. At the same time, training will be continued by attending college one day a week or by completing an NVQ in the work place.

For more information contact Helen Salisbury or Nicky Laycock at South Leicestershire College (0116) 288 5051, ext. 224.

A new weekly e-newsletter and website– insidethegames- to be launched on 14th November is set to be the authoritative guide to the build up to the London 2012 Olympic Games and an unrivalled source of intelligence for organisations looking to exploit the business opportunities the games will present.

Employing some of the finest experts in the country, insidethegames will offer incisive analysis on the latest news, politics, business, marketing and culture as well as a weekly round up of news on how the UK regions and home countries are gearing up to benefit from the Olympics and on the 26 Olympic sports which will make up the games in London.

The first four issues of insidethegames will be free and anyone wishing to take up this offer should e-mail contact@insidethegames.com.

Job promotions, endless cups of tea made for you and guaranteed first picks from the biscuit barrel all await those PA’s and office managers with the foresight to register for CLIC Sargent’s ‘Win A Day Off Work’ initiative. The scheme, which runs throughout December (Child Cancer Awareness Month), offers one lucky person in each office taking part, the chance to win an extra day’s annual leave, to do with as they please.

Alison Upton, National Events Manager at CLIC Sargent, explains: “‘Win A Day Off Work’ is a unique fundraising initiative whereby instead of raffling a bottle of wine, or box of chocolates at the office Christmas party, you ask the boss to donate an extra day’s holiday and you raffle that instead. So for just £1 you could potentially win a day off work to spend as you see fit. It’s a really good way for companies to help children with cancer this Christmas.”

Organising the ‘Win A Day Off Work’ raffle is easy, you simply send for a ‘Win A Day Off Work’ pack which tells you exactly what you need to do and includes all the materials you’ll need – from posters through to raffle tickets.

For more information, or to register for your FREE ‘Win A Day Off Work’ event pack, call 0845 121 1925 or visit www.clicsargent.org.uk/winadayoffwork

The hunt is on for companies to offer real life briefs to be tackled by students from one of the best product design courses in the UK. Design and Technology students from Loughborough University will be given the task to generate many innovative product concepts for business start-ups and SMEs to blue chip organisations. DesignWeek is a long running and highly successful initiative that enables students to engage with a company on a challenging project and deliver compelling solutions within a short timescale.

DesignWeek goes live in early February 2006 and is open to companies of any size, from any sector and any location. Initial commitment is straightforward; companies should contact Paul Wormald, DesignWeek coordinator, to devise a brief and prepare material to present to the students.

"This is a really rewarding initiative for both parties," says Paul. "The companies can access exceptional design work which costs them nothing whatsoever. And once DesignWeek is finished, companies have the option to negotiate the project's exploitation with the University." He continues: "For our students, DesignWeek represents the opportunity to take on a real life client project from diverse industry sectors. This often acts as a spring board for further product development and commercial exploitation."

Paul Wormald can be contacted by email p.w.wormald@lboro.ac.uk or telephone 01509 222653.

More information about Loughborough's Design and Technology Department can be found at www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/cd

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

LEGISLATION

The Work and Families Bill was launched on 19 October and “aims to create a modern framework of employment rights and responsibilities for employers and employees while minimising the impact on business.”

New measures in the bill and forthcoming regulations include:

· extending Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance to nine months from April 2007 with the ambition of moving to a year by the end of the Parliament (including extending eligibility for additional maternity leave)

· a power to introduce new paternity leave for fathers, enabling them to benefit from leave and statutory pay if the mother returns to work after six months but before the end of her maternity leave period

· extending the right to request flexible working to carers from April 2007

· measures to help businesses manage the administration of Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay

· introducing keeping in touch days so that where employees and employers agree, a women on maternity leave can go into work for a few days without losing her right to maternity leave or a week's statutory pay

· extending the period of notice for return from maternity leave to two months enabling employees and employers to more effectively plan for return to work

· making clear in the regulations that employers can make reasonable contact with their employees on maternity leave to help employers plan and ease the mother's return to work.

Further details on the Work and Families consultation and Government response can be found at http://www.dti.gov.uk/workandfamilies

The Health and Safety Commission is consulting on the possible introduction of alternative penalties to the use of fines for convictions for breaches of Health & Safety law. Prosecution is the main means by which the health and safety enforcing authorities (mainly HSE and the local authorities) hold to account those alleged to have committed serious breaches of health and safety law.

Health and safety law provides few sentencing options for the courts and conviction usually results in a fine. However, the wider criminal justice system provides many ways by which to hold an offender to account. Some may be appropriate to health and safety offences. This is particularly true of those which could:

· provide incentives to comply with the law

· enhance the role of victims

· offer more restitution to the business community and employees

· help ensure that lessons are learnt and offences are not repeated.

Examples of these alternative penalties include administrative fines, restorative justice, conditional cautioning, enforceable undertakings, fixed penalties, remedial orders, probation for companies and directors and adverse publicity orders.

For further details click: Alternative penalties for health and safety offences

In July 2005 the Chancellor asked Sir Nicholas Stern to lead a major review of the economics of climate change, to understand more comprehensively the nature of the economic challenges and how they can be met in the UK and globally.

The Terms of Reference for the review have now been announced and a call for evidence has also been issued. The review will report to the Prime Minister and Chancellor by Autumn 2006 and takes place within the context of existing national and international climate change policy.

Sir Nicholas is now asking interested stakeholders in the UK and the rest of the world, including academic, private sector, scientific, NGO and other experts, to submit evidence to the review. Evidence on all areas relevant to the Terms of Reference will be welcomed. The deadline for evidence to be submitted is 9 December 2005.

Submissions should be sent to: callforevidence@sternreview.org.uk