Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce

Issue: June 2007

An Ebook of Chamber Members
What Does It Take To Win £25,000?
Stay Ahead Of the Competition
Save Time, Money and the Environment
Queen’s Awards
Here to Help
Invitation To Research Open Day
Forthcoming Chamber Events

If your company would like to help the Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce continue to provide this informative e-newsletter Good Morning Leicestershire and raise the profile of your own business at the same time then please talk to Sharon Jeffrey on 0116 204 6618 to discuss sponsorship opportunities, preferential rates are available for Chamber Members.

CHAMBER NEWS

The Chamber is pleased to announce that we will shortly be launching a members’ electronic directory online. This exciting venture will promote our services and you, our members, to an ever-widening audience, and E Book-Solutions will be working closely with us to put this publication together. All of our members are currently being contacted soon with more information on the possibilities available, giving your company the chance to promote your business to the Chamber of Commerce network and beyond.

Thousands of business people meet and do business with each other through Chamber of Commerce networking events each year, through our directories and our website. Advertising in the electronic directory is another important opportunity to raise awareness of your company amongst the business community in our region.

The Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce is encouraging local businesses to enter this year’s Chamber Awards for the chance to win £25,000. Now in its fourth year, the Chamber Awards aims to recognise outstanding business achievement within the UK business community.

There are eight different categories of awards and companies can enter as many as they wish:

Most Promising New Business – sponsored by BT
Impact of Technology on your Business (2 sub categories for this award, one for less than 50 employees the other for more than 50 employees) sponsored by Microsoft
The Green Award
Entrepreneur of The Year
Achievement in International Business
Award for Performance Through People
Business of the Year

The top prize of £25,000 will be awarded to the company that the judges agree should win the overall Award for Outstanding Business Achievement and will be announced along with the national winners at the Gala Dinner and Award Ceremony on 29th November 2007 at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The Chamber Awards will be judged in two stages at both a regional and national level. Entry forms and judging criteria can be obtained by visiting www.chamberawards.co.uk. All entry forms must be completed and submitted electronically. The closing date for all entries is 25th June 2007.

OTHER NEWS

Want to update or develop a product with minimum impact on the environment?

The RED Initiative (Resource Efficient Design) at De Montfort University is holding a free event for local SME's on Tuesday 19th June 2007 at 9am – 11am to illustrate what RED can do for your business to minimise waste, maximise profit and access funding/support.

There is an opportunity for qualifying companies to receive free product development support following this event.

Visit www.dmudesign.co.uk for more information or to register callLizzie Duttonon 0116 250 6238 or e-mail edutton@dmu.ac.uk

Proactive companies across the East Midlands could save themselves eight days of valuable time a year by taking advantage of free resource efficiency advice, says Envirowise.

And those that do seek help could reduce their operational costs by as much as £18,000 per year, says the government-funded programme following its annual impact report.

Catherine Wale, Envirowise Regional Manager for the East Midlands, says: "With environmental issues now dominating the business agenda it is good to see that companies are using the free advice and information available to take action on resource efficiency. The potential for valuable cost and time savings should be an incentive for others to do the same."

Businesses in the region can access help via the confidential Envirowise Helpline (0800 585 794) and website (www.envirowise.gov.uk) as well as download a wide range of free sector-specific publications, fact sheets and best practice guides.

Top performing companies across the UK are being urged to apply now for the 2008 Queen's Awards for Enterprise for outstanding achievement in international trade, innovation and sustainable development - and small entrepreneurs have as much chance as the region's industrial giants to win the UK's highest accolade for outstanding business success.

The Queen's Awards scheme recognises and rewards exceptional achievements and advances in all areas of business. Applicants can apply online at www.queensawards.org.uk

The prestige of being associated with The Queen's Awards provides winners with a valuable promotional and marketing tool in an increasingly competitive domestic and global economy. Winning companies are entitled to display The Queen’s Award emblem for five years, they benefit from the publicity surrounding the announcement of the winners on the Queen's birthday and enjoy further publicity when Lord Lieutenants visit company premises to present the awards.

Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards Service is now able to offer an improved advice & training service to businesses based in the County.

We have a new dedicated telephone line on 0116 265 8000, on which we offer advice to business people. Our web pages are on the County Council site, and can be accessed using the link:

http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/community/community_services/reg_services/trading-standards.htm

As well as giving one off advice, we offer talks to groups of traders & employees on both civil & criminal trading law, covering particular business sectors and particular aspects of law. A few examples of subjects:-

Drawing up standard, legal & enforcable contract terms & conditions.

With the enormous increase in web based business, the Distance Selling Regs etc can be a minefield for someone coming new to this method of retailing.

The 'new' remedies under the Sale of Goods Act cause confusion to many businesses

How many used car dealers know how they stand when trying to disclaim the mileage of a car?

So, whether you are a new business or you have been established for years, give us a call on0116 265 8000or email us at trading-standards@leics.gov.uK and see what we can do for you.

De Montfort University (DMU) Leicesterinvites you to attend the forthcoming research open day.

DMU has a wide range of research expertise and some excellent research facilities in the areas of computing, software, engineering and manufacture. Much of the research is undertaken in collaboration with partners including industry from the UK and overseas, government agencies and other universities.

On Wednesday 20th June 2007, DMU will be opening up research laboratories and centres to showcase this expertise and facilities. The format of the day will include presentations and demonstrations and further information is illustrated on http://www.dmu.ac.uk/cse/research_consultancy/.

Should you or your colleagues wish to attend this event, there are several ways to register:

Telephone: 0116 250 6339
Email: cse-development@dmu.ac.uk with your name & organisation
On-Line: by visiting http://www.dmu.ac.uk/cse_commercial , select Research > Open Day

CHAMBER EVENTS

Leicestershire Chamber is proud to present the 2007 President’s Gala Dinner; this year with guest speaker Andrew Neil, publisher, editor, writer, broadcaster, public speaker and business consultant on media matters working out of London, New York, Edinburgh and France.

Sponsored by IBM and Business Builder
Date:22 June
Venue: Leicester Marriott Hotel, Grove Park, Enderby, Leicester
Time: 7pm – 11pm
Cost: Chamber Members £49.50 / Standard £59.50
Table of 10: Chamber Members £470 / Standard £570.
Includes four course dinner and four bottles of wine per table
A preferential rate for over night stay at the Marriott Hotel has been arranged and the rooms are subject to availability, please contact the hotel direct on 0116 2820100, choose option 1 and quote group code L22

Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce presents the first in a series of breakfast speed networking events sponsored by The Business Booster. If you're looking for new contacts or want to raise your business profile then bring along your business cards and join us for this fantastic speed-networking event.

Date:26 June 2007
Venue: Westfield House Hotel, Enderby Road, Blaby
Time: 7:30am - 9:15am
Cost: Chamber Members £25 / Standard £35

Cost effective IT and Communications can benefit your business. This essential free half day seminar, brought to you by Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce and BT will include:-

Getting best value from your telephone calls and systems
How broadband can transform your communications
Integrating mobile solutions for people on the move
Making your IT & Communications safe, secure and easy to manage
Your network - fixed or wireless
Convergence – bringing it all together

This informative seminar will also help you to understand the costs associated with implementing the technologies discussed, with expert advice on hand throughout the session to answer any further questions that you may have.

Don't miss this superb opportunity to improve your knowledge and understanding, it really will benefit your business.

Date: 4 July
Venue: The National Space Centre, Leicester
Time: 8:30-11:30

David Bryon, former MD of bmibaby, is an outstanding and highly entertaining after-dinner speaker. His knowledge and experience provide a wealth of stories and tales from the aviation industry and he weaves these into a hilarious and captivating routine which involves extensive audience participation!

Date: 7 August
Venue: L.C.F.C, Leicester
Cost: Chamber Members £30 / Standard £35
Time: 12 noon – 2.30pm
Includes buffet lunch

All Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce networking events are sponsored by The Business Booster.

For more information on these Chamber events please call Kam Atker on Tel: 0116 204 6614 or alternatively you may visit the Chamber website at: www.chamberofcommmerce.co.uk and select What’s On/events