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NEAT wins award for work in COVID pandemic At the Living Wage Champion Awards, National Express Accessible Transport (NEAT) was recognised for its leadership in supporting local communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. From the start of the 2020 lockdown, NEAT stepped up and worked closely with partners to provide much-needed support for NHS heroes and vulnerable citizens across the West Midlands. The organisation’s leadership, kindness and resilience over the past year was inspirational, leading to a new COVID-19 Stronger Together trophy being awarded by the Living Wage Foundation. When schools closed in March 2020, NEAT worked quickly with Birmingham City Council to deliver thousands of food parcels to families and individuals who were shielding. Over the course of just a few months, 45,000 food parcels were delivered to some of Birmingham’s most
vulnerable families, as well as learning packs for children who were unable to get online. NEAT also operates the local Ring and Ride service, used by West Midlands residents who are unable to use mainstream public transport due to mobility or social isolation issues. However, with many customers staying at home, the organisation saw an opportunity to provide a lifeline for frontline staff. Working alongside Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), NEAT repurposed the fleet to run free NHS staff shuttles between key transport hubs and hospitals across the region. More than 40,000 trips were completed and made a real difference to NHS staff. In addition, NEAT ran hundreds of dedicated COVID vaccination shuttles for vulnerable customers during the vaccination rollout.
Vinay Parmar, managing director of NEAT, said: “As a real Living Wage employer, we’re always trying to do the best for our employees and within the communities we serve, so I’m delighted that we’ve been given the Living Wage Champion’s COVID-19 Stronger Together award.”
Hotel opens its doors after major refurbishment As UK summer staycations continue to soar, Billesley Manor Hotel & Spa is delighted to welcome back guests following an extensive £5.6 million refurbishment. Guests can expect newly refurbished bedrooms complete with rich, warm designs, upgraded guest spaces with a contemporary twist, a stunning restaurant and bar featuring original sixteenth century oak panelling, and a newly renovated spa and wedding venue.
This unique 125-year-old property boasts charming grounds, complete with an eleventh century church and a listed, ornate topiary garden steeped in history. A variety of conference spaces have also been refreshed, and an ambient library adorned with a ceiling of floating books provides a light-filled area for relaxation or inspiration – said to be where William Shakespeare wrote his famous comedy As You Like It.
Many of the bedrooms have been expertly upgraded with sumptuous new furnishings. Four-poster beds, period fireplaces and contemporary fabrics ensure a charming blend of the traditional and the modern, with an elegant and refined design. Communal spaces have also been enhanced with a new look, still in keeping with the former sixteenth century Elizabethan home’s historic charm. The incredible transformation includes the grand welcoming reception area, Great Hall, bar, lounge and gallery, and the Stuart Restaurant for guests to indulge in everything from themed afternoon teas to exclusive gastronomic delights
with locally sourced produce. Drawing inspiration from the romantic English landscape, historic origins and the notable voices past and present that have retreated to Billesley, the hotel is the perfect sanctuary for guests looking to feel re-energised and inspired. Those looking to wind down can experience a number of indulgent beauty therapies within the newly refurbished Decleor spa. Guests can take a dip in the pool followed by a steam and a sauna, or make use of the secluded yoga hut and fantastic gym facilities. For more information visit www.bespokehotels.com, and www.billesleymanor.com
Canal charity tackles speeding cyclists on West Midlands’ towpaths Waterways and wellbeing charity, Canal & River Trust, is trialling a new speed awareness device in the West Midlands to encourage cyclists to “Stay Kind, Slow Down” when using the region’s increasingly popular canal towpaths. Having been a haven for local people during lockdown, with visitor numbers to some towpaths more than double what they were pre-pandemic, the trust wants to remind everyone that the towpaths are a shared space which are used by thousands of people every day. The month-long trial of the portable speed detection device will remind people, especially those cyclists who live in urban and busy areas along the canal network, to take it easy and to slow down. It works by detecting the speed of cyclists as they approach, flashing a “thank you” if they’re cycling at a leisurely pace or the words
#StayKindSlowDown if they are going too fast. The trial locations will be along some of the region’s most popular and well used sections of canal and include: • The Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Selly Oak • In central Birmingham at Cambrian Wharf • The Birmingham Main Line Canal at the Wolverhampton Lock Flight • Coventry Basin • The Trent & Mersey Canal in Stone, Staffordshire Gavin Passmore, community engagement manager at Canal & River Trust, said: “We know that our canals played a crucial role during lockdown for exercise and wellbeing. This was particularly important in urban areas where many people don’t have back
gardens, as people stayed local and discovered these amazing wildlife corridors on their doorstep. “We want people to use the canals, including cyclists, but ask everyone to be considerate of others on the towpath. Whilst most people are kind and courteous, if you are on a bike, it can just mean slowing down and cycling at a leisurely pace.” For more information visit www.canalrivertrust.org.uk
Avoiding one of those tricky conversations?
A new company, Real Conversations Work, has been launched to make having a challenging conversation that much easier. During her career to date, founder of the new brand, Sarah Tomson, noticed that issues would arise when people weren’t able to have honest and frank
www.cw-chamber.co.uk
conversations with each other. Every leader she’d met had something in common: they were all sitting on at least one tricky conversation that they were putting off having. Avoiding these conversations didn’t make the situation any better. Sarah’s business started three years earlier as Sarah Tomson Associates. She had been working with Leamington Spa-based brand agency Glued to help shape marketing campaign messages and the
company’s valuable point of difference since launching in 2018. Glued had developed a website and marketing for the original brand over a few years. Eventually Sarah concluded that the name of the business needed to change to reflect this evolved approach and Real Conversations Work was born. David Wilson from Glued commented “Sarah’s whole approach to team development is so refreshing: at its core is the idea that people rarely
want to do a bad job at work and often hidden issues build up to cause problems. A conversation aimed to resolve those underlying issues is likely to result in a better outcome.” Sarah Tomson added “The biggest impact of working with Glued was building our brand and being able to refer prospects to our website knowing it tells our story. The new brand helps us stand out from our competitors in a really distinctive way.”
Sponsored Column
Office-barrassment Clean up your act! By Graham Freakes Holiday time is upon us and after the abstinence of last year many of you will be enjoying some well deserved rest on a sunny beach probably in the UK. It’s a time when many of us close our eyes and think back to the ideal workplace and imagining how it will look by Xmas. There’s been a lot of coverage of re-imagining the workplace and return to the office anxiety; what as a business owner are you going to do to? With peoples experience of working in their home environment their expectations of what a good workplace should be like will have increased dramatically – so it will be imperative to imagine it and make it better than it ever has been in the past. Do you add a gym in the space vacated by the homeworking staff? Put in your own coffee bar? The task can seem overwhelming and too large to tackle – and so not only does it not get done it gets worse! Eventually just going to work becomes too daunting because of the untackled mess! The problem is always knowing where to start. Firstly – you don’t have to do this on your own – you can use this as a team rebuilding exercise and develop the workplace with the whole teams ideas taken into account. Using a simple technique from the automotive world – the 5S methodology – you can transform your workplace into a home from home – a place your staff will want to come to more than home. Starting with a small office or open plan area work your way through the entire workplace. You and your team will transform the existing into the future, clearing out everything that shouldn’t be in the office, sparkling the space left then putting back only essential items. It’s almost impossible to do this on your own work space so using the team makes it so much easier. I’ve delivered this simple but effective process to a wide variety of businesses. It’s intense, simple, hands on, no nonsense business sparkling in the space of a few days. Call 07774 200321 or email graham.freakes@handgtechnology.co.uk
For more information visit www.realconversationswork.com and www.gluedlimited.co.uk
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