Business Connect Magazine - June/July 2024

Business Connect Magazine

Interview:

Phil Jones MBE30 years in technology

121 with Brother UK’s managing director celebrating 30 years with the company.

Charity: Speed of Sight

Turbo-charged interview with founders Mike Newman BEM and John Galloway.

Logistics: Exporting

Exporting in uncertain times by Tony Goodman MBE.

Property: Investments

Intermediate property investment strategies with Nick Thorpe.

Phil Jones MBE, managing director of Brother UK, outside the company’s HQ in Audenshaw, Greater Manchester

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Early warning space weather satellite built in UK

Airbus UK in Stevenage has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to design and build the space weather forecasting satellite Vigil, the first operational mission in ESA’s Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Space Safety Programme (S2P).

The spacecraft will give vital extra warning to Earth about incoming solar storms and coronal mass ejections which can potentially disrupt satellites in orbit and electronic and power distribution systems on Earth.

Patrick Wood, Head of Space Systems UK, Airbus Defence and Space said:

“Vigil is one of the most exciting and important space missions that will not only improve our understanding of the Sun’s behaviour but crucially provide us with earlier warning and greater precision about potentially damaging solar weather.”

Andrew Griffith MP, Minister for Space

at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said:

“Space weather generates stunning phenomena like the recent displays of the Northern lights over our skies - but it also presents a real risk to our way of life which is increasingly dependent on space and satellite services.

The Vigil mission will transform our understanding of the impact of potentially dangerous solar events and I congratulate Airbus here in the

Business Connect welcome new partnership with the Industry Connect! series

Event company ‘The NetworKings’ have recently launched a brand new series of networking events, ‘The Industry Connect!’

Business Connect have partnered with Toni Serb and Paul Stoneman from NetworKings as media partners, and attended their first successful event in Bristol, which attracted 123 attendees from a broad range of businesses in the transport, tech and finance sectors.

The next two dates have been announced – Ipswich on July 18 (at ‘Venue 16’, focusing on ‘The Supply Chain’), and the Windsor Royal Racecourse on September 5 (featuring ‘Supply Chain Tech’).

Tickets are available through eventbrite.

Don’t

allow

UK on taking the lead in this important mission.”

“Vigil will be Europe’s first 24/7 operational space weather satellite, providing time to protect critical infrastructure such as power grids or mobile communication networks on Earth as well as valuable satellites in Earth orbit, including the International Space Station ISS,” said Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General.

New qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Marketing

A new suite of qualifications, available from September 2024, will provide marketers with the abilities and behaviours necessary to futureproof skills, promote digital agility and responsible marketing.

The qualifications focus on fostering digital agility, equipping marketers with the skills to harness the latest technologies effectively and empowering them with the knowledge and confidence to have a positive impact on people, profit and the planet.

The new qualifications available include: Foundation Certificate in Professional & Digital Marketing Certificate in Professional & Digital Marketing Diploma in Professional & Digital Marketing

Investigation launched over Virgin Money takeover

The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into Nationwide Building Society’s acquisition of Virgin Money UK (VMUK), citing potential concerns over reduced competition in the UK banking sector.

In March, Nationwide, based in Wiltshire, revealed its agreement to acquire Virgin Money UK in an allshare deal valued at approximately £2.9 billion. Nationwide offered 220p per Virgin Money share, consisting of 218p in cash and a 2p dividend.

The merger would result in the second-largest provider of mortgages and savings in the UK, following

Lloyds Banking Group. The necessary number of Virgin Money shareholders have now approved the takeover, which is anticipated to be finalised in the fourth quarter of 2024, pending court approval.

However, the CMA recently expressed concerns that the merger could result in a significant reduction of competition within the banking sector.

The CMA has informed both parties of the investigation’s commencement and plans to issue a phase 1 decision within 40 days of the announcement.

The CMA has also invited comments from any interested parties to aid in its assessment.

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SME appetites for loans above £100K

have grown by over a half

during the last year

Three in ten SME finance experts (28%) report that the most requested loan amount at the start of 2024 was over £100,000, 56% higher than the same period last year, according to iwoca’s Q1 2024 SME Expert Index.

The new research from lenders iwoca, conducted with SME finance brokers who collectively submitted over 2,500 loan applications over a four-week period, shows increasing signs of positivity in the UK lending market for small and medium-sized companies.

Seven in ten (70%) brokers are optimistic about SMEs prospects in 2024, while just one in twelve (8%) are pessimistic about their clients’ outlook for the year ahead.

This comes as nearly two in five

brokers (37%) said the number of applications for finance they submitted for SMEs had increased since the last quarter, on top of half (49%) saying the volume of applications had stayed the same.

More than two-fifths (41%) of brokers also reported that the primary purpose of the loans they are applying for is to help SMEs grow their business.

Nearly nine in ten brokers (86%) predict that demand for finance from SMEs will grow in the next six months, the highest level seen over the last six quarters.

As the UK officially came out of recession, fears of a future recession among the UK’s 5.5m small and medium-sized enterprises have fallen to their lowest level in almost two years.

Multimodal announce partnership with Business Connect Magazine

Leading transport and logistics events organiser Multimodal have announced a partnership with Business Connect Magazine for their 2024 and 2025 exhibitions taking place at the NEC in Birmingham.

Business Connect will be added to the roster of official media partners supporting Multimodal 2024 (taking place 11-13 June) and Multimodal 2025 (17-19 June).

Multimodal run the largest logistics trade show in the UK and takes place annually at the NEC in Birmingham.

The free-to-attend 3 day event features 300 businesses from the supply chain sector including cargo

owners, shippers, freight forwarders and hauliers.

Themes across the speakers and exhibitors include sustainability, resilience, technology and investment in people.

Multimodal also host the Multimodal awards, with winners announced at a prestigious awards ceremony that takes place adjacent to the NEC during the 3 day exhibition.

This year the awards are hosted by celebrated footballer, manager and broadcaster Kevin Keegan on 11 June. Further information about Mutimodal can be found on multimodal.org.uk

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act becomes law

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act has become law after receiving Royal Assent.

The Act will give the UK’s competition regulator tools to stop technology businesses with strategic power from misusing their position to disadvantage competitors and consumers.

The law will also create penalties for traders that break consumer protection law and allowing the Competition and Markets Authority to enforce consumer law directly.

Under the rules, it will be easier for consumers to manage subscriptions by providing clearer pricing, banning fake reviews, and giving consumers greater control over what they are purchasing online.

The Act requires businesses to provide clearer information to consumers before they enter a subscription contract, remind consumers that their free trial or lowcost trial is coming to an end, and

ensure consumers can easily exit a contract. Unavoidable hidden fees will also need to be included in the initial cost or clearly illustrated at the start of the purchasing journey.

The Act will also give new tools to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to address the challenges to competition in digital markets.

These tools will allow the competition regulator to set tailored ‘conduct requirements’ which require a powerful tech company to change the way it operates if it is not treating users fairly.

Eight in ten specialist brokers say high street banks are restricting cash for SMEs

Nearly eight in ten brokers (77%) believe that high street banks are scaling back their willingness to fund small and medium-sized businesses, according to iwoca’s latest Q1 2024 SME Expert Index.

The figure remains unchanged from the previous quarter, reflecting the continued challenges SMEs face when accessing finance from traditional lenders.

This comes as new analysis of Bank of England lending data over the past decade finds that big companies are occupying an increasingly large share of the lending market. Nearly four-fifths (77%) of bank lending by value went to larger businesses in 2023, up from 72% in 2014 and 2015.

iwoca’s analysis of the Bank of England’s data also shows that the total value of lending to SMEs from high street banks fell by over a billion pounds over the last year. Overall, gross bank lending to SMEs declined sharply from £15.5 billion in Q1 2023 to £14.2bn in Q1 2024.

iwoca’s SME Expert Index finds that

almost nine in ten brokers (86%) predict that demand for SME finance will rise over the next six months.

However, brokers say that they do not expect high street banks to meet this demand, with over two-thirds (68%) predicting that banks’ appetites for lending to SMEs will continue to decline, up from 65% in Q4 2023.

With traditional banking routes for SME finance continuing to shrink, just 25% of brokers say that they have a positive view of high street banks, while nearly half (49%) hold a negative view.

Colin Goldstein, Commercial Growth Director of iwoca, added: “Although optimism is quite high, the UK’s 5.5m SMEs are operating in an incredibly challenging lending market.

“From SME brokers across the country to official Bank of England data, the evidence is clear that the majority of high street banks are reducing their lending to small and medium-sized companies. This means that the importance of alternative lenders is more apparent now than ever.”

UKEF plans to help exporters win £12.5b in new business

British businesses are set to benefit from billions of pounds of new exporting opportunities in a further boost to the UK economy under new plans published by UK Export Finance (UKEF).

Ministerial government department UKEF is the country’s export credit agency (ECA), helping businesses access finance and insurance to support their overseas trade ambitions.

Its new 2024-29 Business Plan includes a commitment to help companies across the United Kingdom win over £12.5 billion in new contracts by 2029, as well as unlocking £5 billion of investment into their UK operations.

Supported by collaboration with the Department for Business and Trade, British Business Bank and local Chambers of Commerce, UKEF has set out ambitions to support 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

a year by 2029. Greater access to business financing will support growth across all UK regions.

UKEF is aiming to support £10 billion in financing for clean growth sectors in the next five years, building on its record of supporting sustainable growth both in the UK and internationally. UKEF’s backing for clean-growth exports over the last year included support worth £367 million for the construction of one of the world’s largest wind technology factories in Teesside, and financing for a 350km water sanitation system in Iraq.

UKEF will continue to promote the role of UK exports in creating sustainable growth overseas. It aims to secure £10 billion in financing for UK exports to low and middle-income countries over the next five years, driving UK-led improvement of infrastructure and governance in developing markets while supporting British jobs.

The most Googled questions about cryptocurrency

The value of Bitcoin was predicted to skyrocket following the Bitcoin halving, causing a surge in interest from people who want to invest in cryptocurrency. However, many new investors tend to rely on Google for answers to their questions.

Experts from cryptocurrency tax software company CoinLedger have provided answers to the most asked questions about cryptocurrency on Google.

Here are the top seven Googled crypto questions, along with expert responses to each.

1. ‘What is crypto?’

28,000 monthly global searches.

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies made up of intricate code whilst secured and stored on the “blockchain” - effectively a public access transaction timeline. Differing from traditional currencies, crypto operates independently of any authorities, governments or banks.

2. ‘What is crypto mining?’ 11,000 monthly global searches.

Cryptocurrency mining is a technical process that involves verifying and adding transactions to a blockchain ledger. This is achieved by using computer power to solve complex math problems that help validate and secure transactions on a blockchain.

3. ‘Why is crypto crashing?’ 7,800 monthly global searches.

Certain cryptocurrencies might be crashing because of various factors that can influence their price. These include market sentiment, regulatory changes, technological developments, macroeconomic trends, real world politics and economics and more.

4. ‘What is staking crypto?’ 5,300 monthly global searches. Staking refers to actively participating in the validation of transactions on a proof of stake (PoS) blockchain network, similar to mining. In a proof of stake system, validators are selected to create blocks based on the amount of cryptocurrency they hold and are willing to ‘stake’ as collateral. The more a user stakes, the higher the likelihood of being chosen to validate transactions and earn rewards.

5. ‘Which crypto should you buy today for the long term?’ 5,000 monthly global searches.

This requires careful consideration of factors such as risk tolerance and investment goals. It is crucial to conduct thorough research on any cryptocurrency you are interested in before investing. This includes examining the technology and team behind the project, the community surrounding it, and current market trends.

6. ‘What is cryptocurrency trading?’ 4,500 monthly global searches.

Cryptocurrency trading refers to the buying, selling, and exchanging of cryptocurrencies on various digital platforms called a cryptocurrency exchange.

7. ‘How to trade crypto?’ 4,400 monthly global searches.

Trading involves several steps and it’s essential to understand the process and associated risks before getting started. Before even starting crypto trading, it’s important to educate yourself about cryptocurrency markets, trading strategies, and risk management.

Once funds have been deposited into the cryptocurrency exchange, it is time to start trading. Choose a trade strategy based on goals, risk tolerance and marketing analysis. Common trading strategies include day trading, swing trading, and long-term investing.

Once you have placed trades through the cryptocurrency exchange, monitor their progress, keep an eye on market movements, and be ready to adjust your strategy accordingly.

One-third of execs prepared to quit over return to office mandates

One in three senior executives would leave their roles if they were obliged to comply with return-to-office mandates, according to consulting firm Gartner.

While 19 per cent of non-executives also claimed they would leave their organisation due to a return-to-office mandate.

The survey of 3,500 employees highlighted the disagreement over mandatory office days between employers and employees after the dramatic shift in working models brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Retaining key talent has become harder due to mistrust between employees and employers, employee burnout and disengagement, and fiercer competition in the labour market,” said Caitlin Duffy, Senior Director in the Gartner HR practice.

“With RTO mandates influencing the job-seeking and loyalty of seniorlevel candidates and employees, organisations that force workers to come into the office are likely to weaken their leadership bench and complicate succession planning.”

A further survey of 3,000 candidates from Gartner revealed that 36 per cent of senior-level job seekers who have faced an RTO mandate

said it influenced their decision to leave their job. While one-third said that employers had discontinued a hiring process in the last year due to expectations that employees would return to a physical workspace.

Sachin Agrawal, UK Managing Director at Zoho, commented: “Employee expectations around work have shifted significantly, partly catalysed by the pandemic. The newly introduced UK flexible work bill underscores this shift, acknowledging the importance of work flexibility. Many workers value the balance enabled by this shift and it is understandable that there is reluctance to return back to a model of full in-office working.

“We recognise the value that a mix of both in office and remote work provides and advocate a hybrid work model. This provides the best of both worlds. There is certainly some work which is best carried out in-person and as we are social beings, it is also an important consideration to provide opportunities for team members to spend time together in the workplace and embrace the culture. However, employees can have more flexibility at the time when they are able to work from home, or at a remote location which best fits their lifestyle, and one in which they can be fully productive.”

The UK’s best areas to launch a business

Torfaen is the best area in the UK to start a business, according to a new study.

MRP software for small manufacturers MRPeasy analysed data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on business openings and closures in each UK local authority between 2022 and 2024. The figures were totalled for each area and ranked based on the highest ratio of openings to closures.

Approximately 724,625 businesses opened in the UK from 2022 to 2024, while 800,165 closed during this time. On average, for every 10 businesses that open nationwide, 11 close down. England is the best nation in the UK to launch a business, with a slightly better ratio of openings to closures (0.912:1), while Northern Ireland ranks as the worst (0.808:1).

Torfaen in Wales topped the study as the best area in the UK to launch a business. Between 2022 and 2024, 995 new businesses were established, and just 670 closed. The area has the highest ratio of openings to closures, with 1.485:1, meaning that, on average, three new businesses open for every two closures. Torfaen’s ratio is 63.91% higher than the national average and 23.13% more than its closest competitor, the City of London. The City of London claimed second spot and ranked as the best place in England to start a business. Over the last two years, 4,280 new companies have opened in the area, a significant increase from the 3,550 closures recorded during the same period. With the ratio of openings to closures at 1.206:1, business owners in the City of London are more likely to succeed

than any other place in England. Six new businesses are formed in the area for every five business closures recorded.

The Isles of Scilly ranked third. Despite smaller figures than any other area in the study, the Isles of Scilly have the third highest ratio of business openings to closures. Exactly 30 new businesses have opened their doors in the last two years, while 25 have closed, meaning the area ranks slightly behind the City of London with a ratio of 1.2:1. Five new businesses have been established in the region during the first quarter of 2024, and no existing companies have shut down.

Stevenage ranks fourth in the list of the top UK areas to start a business. Between Q1 of 2022 and Q1 of 2024, exactly 1,050 new businesses were registered, while 935 have officially closed. Around 10 new businesses open for every nine closures in the area, making it one of the UK’s best areas to succeed with a business.

Kingston upon Hull rounds out the UK’s five best areas to start a business. From 2022 to 2024, the area has seen 2,780 new businesses open and 2,545 close, with the ratio of openings to closures at 1.092:1.

To round off the top 10, Westminster came in sixth, followed by Nottingham, Harlow and Blackburn with Darwen.

Norwich is tenth with exactly 1,500 new businesses set up since 2022. In contrast, 1,410 businesses shut down during the same period. Around 17 new businesses are built in Norwich for every 16 closures at a ratio of 1.064:1.

Proposals to expand the UK Emissions Trading Scheme

The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) Authority has published a package of consultations on expanding the UK ETS to include the energy from waste and waste incineration sectors. It is also consulting on how engineered greenhouse gas removals, such as direct air carbon capture, could be integrated, and on whether high-quality nature-based removals could be suitable for the scheme.

The ETS is a key part of the UK’s approach to addressing climate change. It requires operators under the scheme to obtain allowances for every unit of carbon they emit. These allowances can be traded between participants, generating a carbon price that spurs businesses to invest in cleaner or renewable energy sources and improved energy efficiency.

The UK ETS currently applies to the aviation, power, and industry sectors, but since its establishment in 2021 the Authority has been examining how carbon pricing can drive decarbonisation across more of the economy.

Stakeholders are invited to share views on the 2 consultations to further limit carbon emissions and support progress to net zero. It follows previous commitments to consult, made last year as part of ambitious reforms to the scheme.

In a joint statement, UK Emissions Trading Scheme Authority ministers Lord Callanan, Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Màiri McAllan MSP, Andrew Muir MLA, Anthony Browne MP and Gareth Davies MP said: “These consultations deliver on our commitments to provide further clarity on the expansion of the UK ETS to the energy from waste and waste incineration sectors, and the integration of greenhouse gas removals into the scheme.

The consultation covering waste emissions will help bring certainty to drive investment in decarbonisation, as well as helping businesses make the necessary preparations for the expansion of the scheme.”

property investment

Level up your game: Intermediate Property Investment Strategies

You’ve mastered the basics of property investment and are ready to take your journey to the next level.

Intermediate property investment requires a blend of experience, strategy, and adaptability and here are some of the more sophisticated tactics that I’ve learnt the easy and hard way over my decades as an investor.

In simple terms most of us are in the asset creation or asset protection phase of our lives, you have to be clear which as both require a different skill set, mindset and actions. So here goes:

Diversify Your Portfolio:

Consider branching out beyond residential properties to commercial spaces, holiday rentals, or even mixed-use properties. Diversification shields your investment from market fluctuations and opens doors to multiple income streams. A blended portfolio certainly protects the downside.

Joint Ventures and Partnerships:

Teaming up with other investors can grant you access to larger projects and share the burden of risk. Joint ventures bring together different skill sets and resources, allowing for bigger, potentially more lucrative investments.

Leverage Creative Financing Options:

Beyond traditional mortgages, explore creative financing such as bridging loans, private lenders, and

even seller financing. These options can offer greater flexibility and provide the capital you need to grow your portfolio.

Stay Informed on Market Trends:

Keep an eye on emerging markets and areas poised for growth. Study demographics, infrastructure developments, and economic indicators to identify opportunities for capital appreciation.

This includes tax changes, compliance changes, regeneration projects that are likely to improve (or opposite) your asset. We regularly use an interior designer to upgrade our properties, to keep us relevant and rents on point.

Value-Add Strategies:

Look for properties with the potential for improvement and increased value. Renovations, redevelopments, and strategic upgrades can boost rental income and resale value. Things like planning gain, airspace development and simple flips are a great way to inject the chunks of cash you’ll need to keep your business growing.

Manage Risks Proactively:

As your portfolio grows, so does your exposure to risk. Consider utilising insurance options, setting aside contingency funds, and conducting regular risk assessments to protect your investments. Also think closely about your loan (mortgage) to property value ratio to reduce your risk of fluctuating interest rates.

Don’t shy away from Technology:

Keep up to date proptech solutions and Artificial Intelligence integrations such as property management software and data analytics tools. These technologies streamline operations, provide insights, and help you make informed decisions. They also make it less of a job.

Measure what you treasure:

Keep on top of the bills, cashflow and rent increases, just like you would in any other business. Don’t be afraid to adapt strategies if it’s not working. Even if you have an agent managing for you, keep on top of this.

Plan for the Long-Term:

Property is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes so much time and energy to get the assets, this is now the point to pause and re-set the strategic plan for your portfolio, factoring in market cycles and long-term goals. Keep up to these reviews and it will protect the downside.

Network with Industry Professionals:

The saying is your network is your net worth. Building relationships with other investors, agents, and industry experts can open doors to valuable insights and opportunities.

Keep turning up at events and engage in meaningful conversations, you never know what will happen. As a caveat to this also be careful who you take the advice from!

Be Prepared for Change:

Change is one of the few constants in life and that’s ok. Intermediate property investment may present new issues, such as more complex refurbishments or tenant issues. Approach these challenges with a problem-solving mindset, leveraging your experience and network. So, intermediate property investment requires a more risk mitigation approach that builds on foundational knowledge.

By diversifying your portfolio, staying informed, and keeping growing your network, you can stay in the investment game longer. Embrace the journey and remember that persistence, adaptability, and strategic planning are key to thriving in this ever changing industry.

Nick Thorpe

Top 10 tips for buying property at auction

Sharing her top tips for buying at auction is Amy Schofield, Auction Sales Manager at Together, which provides short-term finance for auction purchases: “More and more people are feeling empowered to go out and buy at auction, and its thanks to the rise in popularity of being able to bid online.

“Online auctions offer more control for the buyer, you can see the number of people you’re bidding against in a more anonymous way.

“The most important thing for wouldbe buyers to have in place ahead of attending an auction, either live or online, is a ‘Decision In Principle’ on the property that they are looking to buy.

“Not all lenders will fund properties sold at auction – add to that, a buyer can find themselves financially in trouble if they cannot complete on their purchase within 28 days of winning their bid.”

1. Always read (and understand) the legal pack

When we first started talking about the biggest mistakes that our team had seen, one reoccurring winner emerged; bidders simply don’t read the legal pack.

Essentially, the legal pack is a set of documents prepared by the seller’s solicitor containing all the essential information about the property. It will be available freely to download via the auction’s website, and, if you register with Essential Information Group (EIG), you can get notifications if the pack on your chosen property changes before the auction – even on the day!

2. Find a solicitor who is familiar with auctions

It’s vital that the solicitor you use knows that you’ve got a quick completion period, whether that’s seven, 14 or 28 days. They need the experience and capability to work to those timescales. Your solicitor should also be Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regulated, and aware they will act as dual representation in most purchases.

3. Keep calm

Auctions can be very competitive,

with auctioneers skilled in getting the best price possible and lots of properties often going for way over the guide price. It can be easy to get caught up in the action.

Avoid this mistake by keeping calm, and going into the auction with your absolute maximum budget in mind.

4. Get your finance approved before auction

Another thing that can help you keep calm and focused is having your finance sorted before entering the auction room. Knowing how much you can borrow, the types of properties that you should focus on and your affordability beforehand will stop you making costly mistakes. No more paying way over the odds and then worrying that you won’t be able to find the funds required to complete the purchase.

5. Beware of the ‘six-month’ rule

Auctions are a great way for investors looking to make a profit. Buying and redeveloping – popularly known as ‘flipping’ – is common, as auctions have a shorter completion period and a higher certainty of sale.

However, as the vendor may have only owned the property for six months or less at the point of sale, it can make getting a mortgage on an investment or Buy to Let property harder for the winning bidder, especially when applying for finance with many of the high street providers.

Make sure you do your research before the auction.

6. Check the completion period

At a conditional auction, you’ll typically get 28 days to complete the purchase. Getting funds fast can be tricky, and buying the types of buildings typically available at auction, like non-standard properties, can add additional complexity to passing lending criteria. With a nonconditional auction, you’d get 28 days to exchange and an additional 28 days to complete.

If you aren’t able to meet your initial completion date, you would most certainly lose your deposit in addition to further fees.

7. Visit the property

Although the legal pack does give a great indication of some of the challenges, you can only really see the condition of the property in person.

If you aren’t allowed to visit the property, you should definitely question why. There may be issues with the building that the vendor doesn’t want you to see. A viewing is also your opportunity to ask questions or assess any known issues, such as the extent of damp.

You should also consider visiting the area around the property at different times of the day to get an accurate feel for the location.

8. Investigate tenancies

Is the property you’re planning to purchase currently being rented out?

Take the time to find out some background information about both the tenant and the tenancy agreement. Assured Shorthold Tenancies can cause issues for finance with some of the big lenders.

9. Get to know your auction house

Get to know your local auction houses. Some may have more lots on offer for the property type that you are interested in (at better prices), and others may simply make you feel more at ease with their methods or atmosphere.

If you might enjoy the buzz of the action, you should definitely go along to a few auctions first. Get a feel for the environment and experience, and get to know the people that work at the auction house also; They’ll be able to advise you on any property that you’re thinking of buying, or could help you with the sale if you are looking to flip it again once refurbished.

10. Look for unsold lots

Most lots will have a reserve, which is the minimum price the vendor will accept for the property.

If a reserve price is not met, the lot will be withdrawn. However, at the end of the auction the vendor may agree to sell the property at a lower price. Ask the auctioneer if you can register your interest for such properties and you may find yourself with a last-minute win, often at a bargain price.

Amy Schofield Auction Sales Manager togethermoney.com

&property construction

Paprec Energies Binn begins work on €120m Energy from Waste facility

Paprec, the French-based leader in recycling and green energies, and Binn Group, Scotland’s largest independent waste management company, have partnered to begin work on a new Energy from Waste (EfW) facility, which will provide low carbon energy to local industries. The construction of the plant will create 200 jobs.

The new €120m EfW facility at the Binn Eco Park in Tayside, Scotland will be funded by Paprec, and will be built, owned and operated by Paprec Energies Binn, a joint venture between the French firm and Binn Group, two family-owned companies.

The facility is designed to reduce carbon emissions from the management

of residual waste and to provide low carbon energy for the local community. It will process up to 85,000 tonnes of residual waste each year and generate up to 8MW of electricity. The plant also has capacity to generate up to 17MW of heat annually.

Half of the feedstock will come from residual waste produced within surrounding local authority area as part of a 15-year contract awarded by Perth and Kinross Council last year.

Along with the 200 jobs created for its construction phase, the new EfW will also generate 30 long-term skilled posts once the facility is operational in early 2026. Maximising the local content is a core focus of Paprec Energies Binn with 60% of the civil works being managed by locallybased companies or branches.

The plant’s energy systems will also enable a range of other low carbon, circular economy and controlled environment agriculture business development opportunities.

Stronger compulsory purchase powers back builders,

not blockers

The Government has announced that councils will be able to buy land for development using Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) without paying inflated ‘hope value’ costs.

Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “We have been calling for new compulsory purchase powers since the Government implemented our subdivision of large sites policy, and so we are delighted. The public sector has all the powers it needs to deliver tens of thousands of council houses by the end of the year.”

The decision follows the commitment from the Labour Party that it would implement the same policy at ‘closer to existing use’ value and it is expected that councils will use the new powers to unlock more sites for affordable and social housing. The detail of the policy is yet to be announced.

Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Policy, and Market Insight at the NFB and House Builders Association (HBA), said: “More powers for council to land assemble is a no-brainer and our seven-year campaign for it, particularly to complement our subdivision of large site policy, gives local authorities and the Government powers to support their local employing and investing housebuilders, while delivering swathes of affordable and social homes.

“There’s also something else at play, which is whether the housing crisis is a failing of market builders or one of the public sector avoiding land use. Councils and the Government control planning, infrastructure spending, local plans, and site allocations, they now have even more powers to add to their already huge landbanks. We are therefore now in a position where the housing crisis starts coming to an end within twelve months’ time because it really was the markets fault, or, as most outside the political realm agree, the broken planning process and opposition of land use is the real problem.”

International investors witness Middlewood Locks canal re-opening

A challenge to visit one of the UK’s disused waterways played host to a group of international visitors at Middlewood Locks in Salford as access was re-opened for the first time in 15 years.

As canal boat ‘Bersara’ (meaning ‘retirement’ in Malaysia) made its maiden voyage from the river Irwell through Lock one of the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal, its crew received a VIP welcome on entering Lock three which sits in the heart of the £1bn Middlewood Locks urban regeneration neighbourhood.

The voyage by boat man Ian West was part of the Inland Waterways Association’s coveted ‘Silver Propeller Challenge’ to visit as many underused waterways as possible in any type of vessel.

Access to Middlewood Locks was possible thanks to the efforts of the Canal & River Trust and Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Society that have worked over many years to re-open parts of the canal for leisure use.

Middlewood Locks developer Scarborough Group International (SGI), was hosting special guests from Singapore-listed property development and investment group,

Metro Holdings which is a joint venture partner in the scheme. Whilst viewing the latest construction phase of ‘Railings’ luxury apartments, they were able to witness the potential of an active waterways passage through the now thriving neighbourhood.

Nicola Wallis, Group Sales & Marketing Director said, “It was so exciting for us to see Bersara make her maiden voyage through Middlewood Locks, bringing to life our ambition to make the waterways integral to living here.

“The Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal provides important peace and tranquillity for our residents and visitors and is a vital green corridor supporting biodiversity. The waterway provides sustainable connectivity and the reopening of parts of the canal really resonates with the important values of our investment partners. It’s great to welcome canal boats back to Middlewood Locks again.”

Curtain rises on £2m restoration works at Opera House

A £2m facelift for the façade of Manchester’s historic Opera House theatre has been completed.

Salford-based MC Construction was the principal contractor for the scheme.

The restoration project included extensive repairs to the render, brickwork, windows and ironmongery fixings, weatherproofing works, the replacement of rainwater goods and a full decoration of the main façade to ensure a more historically authentic exterior and to help safeguard the venue for future generations to enjoy.

Careful analysis of the existing paint layers stretching back over a century was undertaken, so that the colour scheme of the 15-bay façade and windows now better reflects how the venue would have looked when it opened in 1912. The theatre remained open throughout the restoration project.

The scheme forms a significant part of a £4.5m capital investment this financial year across the Opera House and its sister venue in Manchester city centre, the Palace Theatre, which are both owned by ATG Entertainment.

The Opera House is a grade II listed building which was originally called The New Theatre. It has been through several iterations and was renamed the Opera House in 1920.

It is one of the largest theatres in England, with a seating capacity of 1,920.

Levelling up partnership funding confirmed

Five areas in England and Scotland have agreed with the UK Government the details of their Levelling Up Partnership funding. Boston, Stoke-on-Trent, Wakefield, the Scottish Borders and Tendring.

In Boston £13m will be invested in regeneration and improving access to community sports facilities. Stoke-on-Trent, almost £6.5m to regenerate historic and heritage buildings. Wakefield will receive £10m to support regeneration and boost skills. In the Scottish Borders, over £11m to support local economic development, including hotel development Tendring’s Partnership will likely include measures such as £3m to provide sports facilities, £2m for Clacton Hospital, and £2.5m to provide a new walking route across Tudor Fields, alongside other interventions to support regeneration. All the Levelling Up Partnerships will be subject to business case.

BEP Surface Technologies achieves Fit for Nuclear (F4N) status

F4N is a UK-based programme designed to help companies in the nuclear supply chain prepare for and demonstrate their readiness to work in the industry. It has been developed by the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and supported by top-tier partners, including the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

BEP, based in Radcliffe, Greater

Manchester, successfully completed its first F4N journey in 2021, following rigorous assessment and business improvements, demonstrating that it meets the highest quality, safety, and reliability standards. The company has now passed a new set of assessments and been regranted F4N status which lasts for three years.

The business joins a select group of companies positioned to support the UK’s government’s ambition for a new generation of plants to generate up to 24 Gigawatts (GW) of nuclear capacity by 2050, to cover 25% of projected electricity demand. F4N status cements the company’s global standing as a trusted partner in the nuclear industry.

Planning approved for BASIN3

Medway Council’s Planning Committee have approved plans to transform an 18 acre Industrial Estate in Gillingham, Medway into a high-spec employment and enterprise campus called BASIN3. The approved employment and enterprise campus on the Medway waterfront will open up half a kilometre of waterside access to the public for the first time in the site’s history; transforming the current Chatham Docks Industrial Estate into a purposebuilt employment campus, tripling the number of jobs on site and offering new opportunities for economic growth.

Peel Waters, who are landowners of the site, will see the existing brownfield land converted into circa 31,000m² of adaptable workspace, bringing with it the opportunity to create hundreds of new jobs and apprenticeships in Medway.

The high-quality, sustainable and versatile waterfront space that will be delivered as part of the BASIN3 campus will actively promote job

creation by catering to businesses aligned with the council’s target growth sectors.

These sectors encompass creative, manufacturing and technology; life sciences; IT and digital along with dedicated spaces and workshops for start-ups and smaller independent businesses.

Located next to Medway’s university cluster, the new BASIN3 employment and enterprise campus will act as a catalyst for innovation and collaboration; helping retain talent and knowledge in Medway, by creating new opportunities for graduates.

Future-proofing the site against climate change has also been at the forefront of the approved plans. Peel will raise the land to improve flood resilience and all the new buildings will utilise green technology and be at the cutting edge of energy efficiency.

Enhanced connectivity and improved sustainable transport options have also been key to Peel’s vision for BASIN3.

&exporting logistics

Not all 3PL warehousing is the same

Business Connect caught up with Steve Swinburn, managing director of Harbour International Freight, a specialist freight forwarder based in Trafford Park in the UK and in strategic sites across Ireland.

Steve explains that using Harbour’s approach on third party logistics can make not just a difference in terms of service and price, but can offer real advantages in supply chain sustainability:

“Harbour is different in that its 3PL warehouse is an extension of its Pall-Ex overnight palletised delivery network as well it’s own internal trunks to its own depots in Dublin,

Belfast, Limerick and Cork – all from the heart of Trafford Park in Manchester.

“By using a company like Harbour for your 3PL you are reducing your Carbon Footprint, which goes a long way to improving your ESG –Environmental, Social & Governance framework by helping your net zero carbon goals.

“Harbour has a long-standing Carbon reduction and net zero policy, and has over the last two years planted over 17,914 trees and removed 1,187.2 tonnes of CO2 from its UK operations.

“Your goods are picked from the 3PL section of the warehouse and moved to the Pall-Ex and Irish/ European cross dock areas under cover in the same warehouse by clean electric FTL.

“This would involve additional vehicle collection miles and a higher Carbon Footprint for your deliveries if you used other 3rd party warehousing providers without their own end distribution networks.

“You also have full visibility of all your goods whether it is cartons, pallets or oversized with the ProSku WMS warehouse management system.

“Long gone are the days of not knowing exactly what you have.

‘When’ and ‘where’ using the Harbour WMS means that everything is at your fingertips.

“Harbour offers quality warehousing with the ability to get your goods to your end customer throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe, in a streamlined and straightforward process.

“One point of contact, one supplier invoice – from a company that is 100% customer focused to ensure the job gets done without the drama and headache.”

“For peace of mind, there is Harbour!”

3PL Warehousing and Storage

Whether you need short term/seasonal or long term storage facilities, Harbour has the solution. Our secure, modern warehousing facilities enables us to offer the very best in order fulfilment services. From our Trafford Park warehouse to our Dublin, Cork and Limerick warehouse, we have the solution to suit.

• Late PM call off for same day despatch to Ireland and Norther Ireland

• One stop shop from start to finish un house without 3rd party distribution

• Cross Dock for UK, Irish and European Distribution

• Late PM call off from stock for next day UK delivery

• Container destuffing and handballing loose goods

• WMS with customer portal

We have an election!

Exporting in uncertain times

However – most people have been caught off guard by the timing, everyone was expecting it to be in the second half of this year.

The proroguing of Parliament on 30th May means that the country has no MPs for 5 weeks, however, Government still continues, but with restrictions.

Government Ministers remain in post but are no longer MPs and of course many will be spending most of their time electioneering.

For Civil Servants the pre-election restrictions mean that they must do everything possible not to do anything that could call their political impartiality into question.

But the show will go on, and regardless of who wins the election or who are the next Ministers in the Department for Business and Trade, exporting will remain an integral part of business and National life.

CPTPP

The UK ratified the terms of the agreement to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership in May, earlier than expected.

It also concluded a double taxation agreement with CPTPP member, Peru. Marco Forgione, the director general of the Institute of Export &

International Trade, of which I am a member, said: “The ratification of CPTPP marks an important stage in the UK’s trading future.

“British businesses now have tariff-free access to some of fastest growing markets in the world to sell our goods and our world leading services.

“This is an opportunity which can help reshape the UK economy.

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&exporting logistics

“At a time when global trade has been weaponised, this partnership can help the UK establish resilient and robust supply chains across Southeast Asia, Central and South America.

“In a world of growing geo-political uncertainty, the expanding trading community of CPTPP nations offers an important counterpoint.

“Now CPTPP is ratified the real work begins to make sure businesses understand how to take advantage of the immense opportunities for

The CPTPP trading block is larger than the EU, and most importantly for the UK has a much stronger focus on Services than EU trade agreements have.

Exports are thriving

The UN Conference on Trade and Development ((UNCTAD) report that the UK had leapfrogged France, Japan and The Netherlands to move to 4th from the 7th largest global exporter, which is welcome news.

And with exports reaching £864bn in 2023, the target of £1 trillion is looking

• Exports took a significant dip in 2020 with the global effects of COVID. Services dipped by 8%, Goods by 15%; 12% overall.

There is a common perception that the strength of UK services exports is dependant on the Financial Services sector, this is wrong. Financial Services, whilst important only represents 16% of UK services exports.

Exports in Goods took a bad hit during COVID and whilst also appear to have been hit by Brexit, have recovered strongly since 2020 with an increase of 26%.

Global headwinds

With over 20 wars or conflicts ongoing around the world including Ukraine, the Middle East (Gaza, Syria, Yemen), North Africa, East Africa, Myanmar, South America, we live in a dangerous world where there are inherent risks to trade.

For the majority of exporters this is not a problem, most exports to Europe, North America, Asia are unaffected, but…

The problems of the Houthis in Yemen attacking shipping has dramatically affected the Suez Canal with container ship volumes down by two thirds, with shipping diverted around the Cape of Good Hope and

transits through the Panama Canal are halved due to dwindling water levels. There are also issues in the Black Sea.

All of these are causing additional costs and risk to international trade.

My recommendation is to find the best advice possible. The DBT and your local Chamber of Commerce can help; my preference has always been to form a close relationship with a good freight forwarder who will be best able to help you with cost and risk mitigation.

I hope you have a great summer of Exporting!

Useful links: gov.uk/business-and-industry/exporting gov.uk/government/publications/export-strategy-made-in-the-uk-sold-to-the-world/ made-in-the-uk-sold-to-the-world-web-version export.org.uk britishchambers.org.uk

Since 2008, Multimodal has successfully built a supply chain and logistics community of shippers, retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, importers and exporters alongside the suppliers who support them, bringing them all together at an annual event at the NEC in Birmingham.

Multimodal provides an unparalleled meeting place where shippers and cargo owners attend to discover resources to improve their businesses by identifying new ways of moving their products more efficiently, more sustainably, and more cost effectively. Hosting every logistics sector, Multimodal offers a one-stop shop to make valuable face-to-face contact with hundreds of new prospects and to network with existing suppliers.

2025 will see the 18th edition of the event which will be held between 17th and 19th June 2025.

A highly crafted and bespoke series of conferences are held across four theatres over the three days, targeted at helping supply chains run more

sustainably and efficiently.

Multimodal has the support of the industry’s leading trade associations who also lend their expertise to compile the conference programme ensuring the topics covered are imperative industry issues. Leading trade associations

include Logistics UK, the Institute of Export & International Trade, the UK Warehousing Association, the Rail Freight Group, the British International Freight Association, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, the Road Haulage Association, and the Cold Chain Federation.

Tony Goodman MBE is a successful exporter and has been doing so through a variety of different businesses.

He is currently Marketing Advisor at Forest and Co who specialise in offering guidance on branding,

Multimodal hosts two exceptional networking events: the Multimodal Awards evening, firmly established as the independent endorsement of excellence for supply chain businesses and individuals; and the Multimodal Mixer which gives all attendees a chance to mingle in a relaxed sociable atmosphere.

In 2024, 300 companies exhibited with some 12,000 attendees over the three days, Multimodal has grown exponentially and 2025 is expected to continue this growth.

Find out more at multimodal.org.uk, or contact Robert Jervis on 020 7384 7760 or email multimodalteam@clarionevents.com

interview 30 years in technology

Business Connect last interviewed Brother UK managing director Phil Jones MBE in 2018.

Thinking back to those heady days of reliable supply chains, unrestricted trade with Europe, quietly simmering superpowers, who would have thought the world was about to plunge into a global pandemic, witness war in Europe and geo-political turmoil resulting in major oil and gas price hikes and massive disruptions to global supply chains?

To top it all, since then the UK has come good on its pledge of isolationism from Europe, with all the ramifications (some would say good as well as bad).

Back in 2018 we chatted to Phil about Brother’s 50th year milestone in the UK and covered both his journey with the business and the business itself. Six years later we are delighted to help celebrate Phil’s own 30th year milestone with Brother UK, although this time we are against a backdrop of economic and geo-political upheaval following world events that have had a massive impact on the office technology industry in the UK.

We started off though with a review of Phil’s personal journey with Brother UK.

Phil – lovely to catch up again after such a tumultuous few years! Congratulations on your 30th year at the company – please can you share that journey with us?

“It all started in Bracknell, Berkshire in 1994. I used to work for a dealership that sold Brother fax machines. One

121 with Phil Jones MBE

day the Account Manager from Brother came up to me and said they had a job opportunity coming up for a south-east sales rep, and would I consider applying? I did and luckily got the job starting in March 1994.

“With the Brother HQ being in Manchester, I worked from home on a tiny table in my lounge which was a technology story that we all know today – I had a modem, an early laptop, and a bag of change to keep in touch with the office when on the road in my white Vauxhall Cavalier – the default car for salespeople back in the day.

“Monthly sales reports came via the post printed on computer paper, and I dialled into the office on a Friday with my 512kpbs modem to access our VAX computer system to see what orders had been placed that week (you must be of a certain age to remember those times). It seems incomprehensible compared to the way we work now.

“I was asked to re-locate to the NorthWest in 1995 following a promotion and have never looked back.”

That brings us nicely to our next question – you had worked your way from Sales Rep to Managing Director fairly quickly, how have you reconciled your senior role with colleagues that you once reported to?

“When I became Sales Director in my

late 30’s, there were people here that had certainly worked here longer than I had, were older than me, with more industry experience.

“It was difficult at first, as it can lead to tension when someone feels that they might be more qualified for the role than you, I found the best way to overcome any awkwardness was to engage in dialogue.

“By sitting down with people, asking them to tell me how they would like me to work with them and being open about how to get the most out of each other’s strengths. Just having that honest conversation meant that colleagues felt heard or could articulate any issues to overcome or work on.

“Even now, when someone is brought through the business rapidly as a rising star, it’s important to coach them through the process, ensuring that uncomfortable truths are raised comfortably, it’s so important to be human about it all and allow that conversation to take place.”

Would that be an example of how HR within Brother UK supports such rapid growth within the business?

“We have all sorts of development pathways within the business right now and we have evolved them over the years to continue to ensure they are fit for purpose.

“We have pathways for management, new managers plus leadership

development. In addition, training that people can access to help their progress and career through the business even thinking ahead to future positions.

“However, the application of learning is the important thing here. You can train anybody, but if they choose not to apply the learning, in the scenarios that they are put in, all that they are is well trained.

“What we really need is people that take that learning and begin to do something with it using their new skills/knowledge to turn into competency. In any organisation, including our own, the mentoring/coaching part of training is as important as the training itself.

“How do we make sure somebody is using that training to better the situation for themselves, the company, and others? Whether that be tackling problems, people development, having challenging conversations or strategy development. We do not leave this exclusively to OD (Organisational Development – Brother’s version of HR) to organise, we encourage senior figures to coach good behaviours wherever possible.

“The leadership team needs to set that tone of course. Never forget – people are always looking. They are looking to observe your behaviours, looking to see if you live the values, your demeanour, everything about you as a person. There is a lot of non-explicit observation going on and behaviour-forming based on your behaviour.

“This means you must hold yourself to the highest possible standards you can, because the moment that you do not,

technology

you give permission for others to lower their standards. That can be exhausting. We are all only human and have good days and bad days, but I think when you lead a large organisation you need to pay special attention to how you are personally viewed.”

Leading on to company culture, what areas of your organisation’s culture mean a lot to you?

“We are lucky here in that we have 140 people.

“It is a lot easier to build and maintain our culture across 140 than say 14,000. It means I can know my 140 colleagues well.

“One thing I have realised is that the small things are the big things. When somebody is experiencing what they feel are large events or changes in their lives, you need to pay attention. Make sure you note these things.

“Every week I am briefed by my OD team on everything going on across the business – good things, birthdays, life events, performance management issues – you name it, I want to know those things.

“I want to engage with everyone I meet on these small points (or large points depending on the nature of the news). These touch points become especially important when it comes to developing deeper relationships with people.

“Our culture is about making everyone feel more inclusive, because when you make people feel more inclusive, they give you more discretionary effort and tend to stay with the company longer, because they know they are cared for and feel valued. That in turn reduces costs of recruitment and sickness absence which any business should be interested in.”

Are the values and culture of Brother UK the same as the International Brother corporation? How much has your culture been developed by yourself over the years in your own leadership role?

“I think a lot of what we work with here in terms of cultural direction is quite personal to me albeit heavily influenced

by collaborating with Japanese colleagues for so long.

“We have 40,000 people globally in the larger group spread across multiple countries and regions. There is an over-arching document called “The Global Charter” which directs our decision making plus ethics and is adopted everywhere. Then each local business generates its own values relevant to its local cultures.

“One thing I think is quite unique is that the company is still very caring.

After 30 years with the business, I know a lot of people from our senior executives right the way through the organisation, and one thing that I find amazing is the ability for those senior Japanese executives within the business to remember the smallest details.

“Having a good memory when applied as an element of our culture works best on the personal level. It is about remembering people’s stories, in the business, and the background to those stories.

“I can walk around the building and

meet with so many people that I have worked with in some cases for 30 years and we have seen each other’s families grow-up, have shared adversity or can laugh about good times.

“We also have newer people here, including apprentices who have only recently joined the organisation, where I rely on my briefing processes to give me the information that I need to have meaningful conversations with them.

“Other businesspeople often ask me ‘How can I recreate this culture within my company?’ In response some of the key questions back are ‘How much time are you personally scheduling to walk the floor? Do you have a formal briefing process coming in directly to you? How are you valuing time spent with your people?’

“Once you do make the time to listen, chat and engage, it is important to factor in those informal observations about your colleagues, it can inform

much about your overall performance.

“Many leaders do not understand that the emotional side of leadership is as important as the functional side – the ability to create strategy, practice great management, for example. It is then about your ability to be sensitive to situations and then be sensitive within that situation with somebody else, and I have found that to work ever so well for us as a business.

“That level of empathy is especially important, and many people struggle with it, particularly men. We have this broken image, that we must be strong and authoritative as leaders.

“Most of the time though, people want to see the vulnerable side of you. Yes, I can be that ‘Admiral on the Bridge’ when we need authoritative leadership – particularly through challenge – but most of the time I just focus on being approachable and delegating well. It is about how you apply your leadership styles against different scenarios.”

In what way has Brother UK adapted to recent ups and downs of the UK economy?

“I think many businesses in the past year have had a troubled time of it. The government have been talking up the economy saying how well it has recovered from the pandemic and after BREXIT, but it is so obvious

Interview continues on next page

Phil Jones MBE, managing director of Brother UK

interview

Continued from previous page

talking to other businesses how difficult it has been, especially in the technology sector.

“The dynamics of our economy, postpandemic, are still being felt quite severely within certain sectors. This is primarily down to a huge uptake in demand within certain industries when the pandemic started, followed by a huge downturn in demand post-pandemic, particularly as supply chains finally caught up. It’s not exclusive to the technology sector.

“For example, Do you remember trying to buy a new car during the pandemic? It was so difficult. Delivery schedules for new vehicles were measured in years due to shortages in computer chips. There was a gold rush for garages to buy back vehicles from customers on PCP agreements, put them straight back onto forecourts with huge mark-ups.

“Now supply chains have finally caught up, there are a vast range of challenges for the sector – overstocks of vehicles, changing consumer buying habits with the cost-of-living crisis, massive changes happening in the marketplace due to technologies such as electric vehicles and a lot of cash tied on forecourts.

“The bicycle and fitness industry are in a comparable situation. Huge demand followed by low demand has led to real problems being experienced by manufacturers and independents.

“This is a time that as a leader you need to be really sharp. It is so easy to fall into a false sense of security, which many people did. During the pandemic we had this enormous

demand for goods with a tightening supply chain, and the economics of that meant prices were high.

“We were making increased profits during 2020 alongside many other sectors. There was no need to price promote, discount, or apply many other marketing activities that naturally eroded the margins.

“Now we have returned with a corrected supply chain back to where we were pre-pandemic everyone is over-stocked, and unfortunately due to the cost-of-living crisis and raised interest rates which were used to slow down inflation, suddenly we don’t have the consumer confidence and the footfall to drive the economy in the way it needs.

“These things do come in cycles, however this one has been particularly difficult and has required a lot of time, attention, and resources to successfully navigate through it.”

How closely has Brother followed its short and medium-term business plans since the pandemic?

“Let us talk pre-pandemic to contextualise post-pandemic. You’ve got a globalised

supply chain which is predictable and works incredibly well, even given its huge complexity of assembling something containing several thousand components, put it in a box, on a pallet, in a container, on a container ship, through a port, across the seas to another port, through customs, to go on a truck, to go in our warehouse, and from there be ultimately sent to a home or business. Nobody thinks about that supply chain until it does not work. A bit like no-one thinks about your boiler at home –until it doesn’t work.

“The global supply chains all became broken and unpredictable. Factories and ports that could not open, containers and ships all in the wrong places globally. This drove up the price of shipping goods via containers everywhere. On top of this the UK hit the BREXIT button. UK ports had massive issues with new red tape, duties, import and export costs were not 100% clear. European HGV drivers, warehouse staff and low-cost labour left the UK. We were in a mess – with global supply chain issues on top of all the problems associated with BREXIT.

“I think all the recent turmoil has taught us to seek that predictability again. We added on at least two weeks to our supply chain model post-BREXIT, however, we now have additional geo-political factors, in particular the problems in the Red Sea extending that by another two weeks.

“We have the main shipping lines applying huge surcharges per container due to re-routed ships. Just when we thought our import costs had stabilised back to a prepandemic level, they have just doubled again due to a geo-political situation outside of our control.

“My point with all this is that you must stay sharp. You have to have good people around you. With all the turmoil I have felt challenged in the last few years, however, I have been here for 30 years now, and my message has always been the same –‘Don’t panic!’

“I’ve had the confidence to steer the ship through some very troubled waters on multiple occasions, but I think the uncertainty will continue for at least 2 to 3 years, and not just in our business but many others will need leaders who can think in terms of geo-political issues and the resultant impacts on their businesses.”

How much importance would you put on having strong cash reserves within a business to accommodate the increasing impact of geo-political events?

“I remember, pre-pandemic, the government and the Bank of England saying there is way too much cash on balance sheets, and this was one of the issues about UK businesses not using that money effectively to buy equipment, machinery, plant, or capital expenditure to make our economy better.

“Any economist would say that utilisation of cash was important, however, having a buffer of cash reserves has been key to taking us through the issues

over the last 5 years. That has meant, even through Covid, we did not need any government support – we paid our own people their full salary, through the whole period. I realised we were in a slightly privileged position to do that. Internationally, the Group had good cash reserves. Japanese businesses plan for a rainy day all the time.

“If you are a business that runs very tightly on its cashflow, disruptive events become significant. Suddenly, when containers are two weeks late, and surcharges are added, plus other unexpected payments are due, it causes additional financial pressure. Many businesses cannot pass on those extra costs due to fixed supply contracts which leads to margin and cashflow pressures, possible overdue payments and for some, failure.

“Many businesses live month by month, or quarter to quarter, and this must be so stressful for them. This is not poor management but a result of the past few years of total uncertainty. Many, many businesses have now exhausted their rainy-day reserves and are struggling just to survive, particularly small and micro businesses.

“I think what we do with our economy over the next 5 years is going to be critical. How do we get back to the building blocks of a good economy?

“If you look across the UK business communities now you can see, we simply have not got enough start-ups.

“Also, let us look at the UK – the two sectors that are currently struggling are technology plus transport and logistics. Two sectors doing well are hotels (tourism) and construction. You could argue that construction naturally fuels growth, however, look at the many construction projects that are funded by overseas property investors looking to speculate in the short-term.

“I really do hope that however we end up after the next election, we create and commit to an industrial strategy that really helps re-build the economy on firmer foundations.”

When we look at Brother UK we see an office technology supplier, but what are your primary areas of business as a global group?

“We have a wide product portfolio as an international business.

“Our parent, Brother Industries Ltd, addresses multiple business domains. These include a huge sewing business covering domestic and industrial applications. We also create machine tools – phone cases in Asia for some of

the world’s most popular brands are made using our machine tooling, the group also owns Domino Printing Sciences in Cambridge specialising in high volume industrial marking. Brother’s portfolio is expansive which makes it very resilient as a global organisation.

“In the UK we market the office technology devices that Brother manufacturer. These range from allin-one printers for home-offices, right the way through to specialist labelling devices used by tradespeople such as electricians, and printers in GP surgeries issuing prescriptions.

“Take a stroll down any high street or through an office and you will see our devices there. Sitting in the background, whirring away, helping those businesses run.

“From a single store estate agent, or a high street retail chain with eight hundred stores and complex printing or scanning requirements, we have hundreds of thousands of customers and devices in the UK.

“We go about our business in a disciplined way putting a lot of emphasis on customer satisfaction, being personal and creating longterm partnerships with our channel partners.

“Over the years this has built our market share, so we are now either No.1 or No.2 brand in every market place that we compete in. It puts us as a significant player in the technology hardware space. I am proud of that.

“When I joined the business 30 years ago, we had nowhere near the market share that we enjoy today. In those days we were a minnow with only 1% or 2% share. Today we are either the number one or number two brand in every segment we compete in.”

How do you view Brother UK in terms of how it is seen as a brand?

“One thing I will say, even though we are already a significant brand, I like keeping the mentality of being a challenger brand. To not take anything for granted.

“Markets can change instantly in this space. Someone can bring out a much better product, at half the price, put it in every store, and suddenly everyone is buying that product, and you are not selling anything anymore. You have got to retain that ‘sharpness,’ and that is one thing that I hope people will say about our company – that we are never complacent.

“Customer service is paramount. I am particularly proud of the fact that PC Pro readers have voted us “Best Printer Brand” for over 10 years running considering all elements of our specs, prices, value for money and support.

“We look to retain customers for life as much as possible. I often get letters from customers who have been buying our products for decades, starting with typewriters, then fax, printers, or labelling devices. It really is lovely and testament to the engineers who develop our technology”.

So, 30 years at Brother UK. How was that celebrated – did you get a watch?

“Funnily enough, all employees enjoying long service milestones receive a financial gift from the company. It was a little strange, as it is always me giving that gift to a colleague. I did use my long service award to buy a watch which I have on today! Somehow, it is fitting to mark that length of time.

“The business is very dynamic, and the irony is we do not often have time

to celebrate our successes. We are very results driven. There is no time to stand still. We never take anything for granted. We reset every month, every quarter, every year. It may surprise people that we have to find 40,000 new customers every month through our activities.

“We must have an exceptionally good sales and marketing machine, which is my background. It is a relentless activity needing focus, discipline, and a talented team of people across the whole company.”

What are your plans for the future?

“My objective has always been about building sustainability within the business, and I do not just mean environmental sustainability – that is massively important. I mean long term financial sustainability too.

“The story behind this business is that sewing machines were made on this site from 1889, and so you feel like you are just the guardian of this story before handing it on to someone else.

“And although my role in this journey covers 30 years, Brother UK has been here for 56 years. More than anything, what I want for this business in 10, 20, or 30 years, is for people one or two generations down from me to feel the same passion in keeping this business going. It is why we have put so much effort into our apprenticeship programme to develop generational talent from our local neighbourhoods.

“It is the people that are so important, they make the difference on how we build relationships, provide support and work together as a team. I am lucky to work alongside them, and they have been one of the key reasons for staying at Brother UK for so long.”

interview Speed of Sight: The fastest moving charity in the

Business Connect first published a feature on Speed of Sight 8 years ago.

The Charity was set up by Mike Newman BEM and John Galloway 12 years ago. Mike has been blind from birth, but happens to hold multiple speed records on land, water and in the air, and this incredible story of fortitude and determination was the backdrop for the Charity.

We caught up with John and Mike to find out how things had progressed.

What was the inspiration behind the charity?

Mike: “I was motivated initially to offer an opportunity to people who used to drive cars and also enjoyed driving, but were struck down in the course of their lives by disability. I was meeting people who had previously taken the act of driving for granted. One of the things they always talked about was the freedom to simply get in a car and drive.

“As someone who has never taken a driving test, however, having had the opportunity to drive not just a car but a high performance car, I recognised that desire.

“It wasn’t just a case of missing the ability to travel from one place to another, but the joy of actually driving, controlling and feeling the speed of a vehicle. I realised ‘how can I offer this opportunity to people?’, and this concept became our Speed of Sight charity.”

John: “Being involved with Mike and his world records made me realise that myself and everyone involved were coming out of the process better people. Helping someone achieve something that they normally couldn’t was an incredibly powerful thing to consider.

“Seeing the amazing positive impact on Mike’s life achieving the impossible was humbling, and seeing that process in action, knowing that Mike was intending making that possible for other people, made me want to be part of that story – count me in!”

Mike – tell us about your world speed records?

Mike: “I started to consider the idea back in the late 1990’s. I always liked bikes and

cars, and got a bit fed up saying to myself ‘What if I had this car or this bike?’, and from there I thought it wasn’t enough to be in the passenger seat of a high performance car or as a pillion rider on a fast bike – what would I need to do to be in control of these machines? How do I get my foot on the accelerator?

“The point here is once you start thinking of ‘how’ rather than ‘if’, things start to happen. The charity itself is what I call a ‘how’ organisation. How can we improve what we provide? How can we make the experience better for our participants? We are constantly learning.

“The new cars we took delivery of this season are the culmination of everything we’ve learnt, and the process will always be the same – listening to people and hearing what they would like to experience.

“The Charity wasn’t born out of my passion for speed records, the records were merely the catalyst, talking point, for people who were denied the opportunity to drive due to their disabilities. The Charity was born out of hearing the aspirations of people wanting to enrich their lives with doing something they dearly missed in many cases.”

What were the biggest challenges you faced setting up and running the Charity?

Mike: “The biggest challenge was actually to get the Charity started. It was about bringing commitment, passion,

John Galloway, Mike Newman BEM and Stanton!

hard work and risk into a process that we had no guarantees would be successful.”

John: “To me the biggest challenge was that we were doing something that noone else had ever done. There was no blueprint.

UK

“Even to this day to the best of my knowledge we’re the only charity in the world that do what we do in the way that we do it. The number of our driver experiences that we deliver grows every single year.

“The hardest part was getting started. Existing racing circuits didn’t have any precedents for what we were proposing, so at the time of starting those doors were closed to us.

“Another obvious issue was a vehicle. Mike was the ‘driving’ force in creating a vehicle that had seats for a driver and navigator, and he worked out how to make the vehicle functional and able to offer a safe driving experience for not just the driver and navigator, but the venue and people working in and on the experience.”

Where did the first driving experience happen?

Mike: “The first time we put on a driving experience was at Manchester City’s overfill carpark. The venue had lots of problems, the surface wasn’t suitable, however, the event was a success.

“It was an opportunity, regardless of the venue’s limitations, to see the idea come to life. When you witness the immediate impact, we realised we had something tangible. It was no longer something that we’d like to do, it was something that we do.”

John: “At this first event I met Arthur who was in his eighties and blind. He came along with his guide dog, and he had lost his sight many years before due to a blow to the head. Up to then he was an HGV driver – a professional driver.

“He was one of the very first people to enjoy our driving experience, and I remember when he finished he got out of the car in floods of tears, tears of joy and happiness. He was crying, Mike was crying, we were all crying. It was at that point I realised that this is something special.”

Where would you say the Charity is now in terms of growth and development since it started 12 years ago?

Mike: “The services we offer remain constant. We provide driving experiences for people who live day to day with significant disabilities. We have grown

as a Charity by learning through those experiences – how to make the day better, how to improve the cars themselves, how to make them even more user-friendly. Also how to improve training and support for our volunteers and navigators. Our navigators are mostly professional driving instructors.

“Our first car in 2012 was very different to the cars we have now. Also, the circuits are different. We only use dedicated racing circuits rather than car parks. We have 7 vehicles now and they reflect a massive learning experience applied over the last 12 years in their construction and design.

“As a unique Charity we are always thrown challenges that we don’t see coming, in particular Covid which had a big impact, but we have bounced back from that phenomenally well.

“In terms of growth we have made massive leaps and bounds in becoming an organisation that’s recognised for its integrity, for its professionalism, and importantly recognised now across the third sector as an important partner to work alongside.”

How important is collaboration to Speed of Sight?

Mike: “Collaboration with other organisations is constantly growing. When we first started we just dealt with individuals looking for driving experiences, however, now we deal

with a lot of organisations who bring their stakeholders and user groups to experience our events.

“We offer opportunities for other Charities to work directly with us. We’re unique – we are the only ones specifically offering driving experiences. Also, we cater for many diverse disabilities, from the obvious visual impairments, to physical limitations and also those who are neurologically differently-abled.

“We open our arms to all disabilities and life-limiting conditions, and have the flexibility and experience over the years to help people with all challenges in their lives. Whatever you live with, we make sure you’re not a passenger!”

Tell us about the opportunities for sponsorship, how would businesses benefit from being involved with Speed of Sight?

John: “ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance – is currently becoming a very important cultural requirement for any sustainable and ethical business or organisation.

“As part of these values, CSR –Corporate Social Responsibility – plays an important role in how a business interacts within its immediate community – both locally outside that business, as well as internally within its own community of staff and stakeholders.

“When a business engages with a

third sector organisation like a Charity or CIC, there can be many results of that association that can have an immediate and far reaching impact for benefitting that business.

“Doing good and making social value happen is something that our Charity can do really well with the support of sponsorship, not just financially but in terms of social engagement within any specific business.

“Every event that we do results in the creation of social impact. We’ve mentioned this earlier in terms of direct impact on those experiencing the driving. However, for businesses, and they don’t need to be in the Automotive sector to benefit from sponsoring us, there are immediate returns at our actual events, be it branded vehicles, staff engagement on the day – a day out of the office for staff volunteering at one of our events can be a wonderful and affirming opportunity.

“Also, as a small Charity we get a huge amount of press and TV coverage, mainly as a result of having a very visual, plus loud and noisy experience to photograph or film. Social media activity also helps massively on raising our profile. So, to be associated as a partner or sponsor with Speed of Sight means you get your name and brand on our cars, and our celebration area – this all gets videoed and distributed across press, TV, and more importantly nowadays on Social Media.”

coaching

Unlocking your potential

We first met Dave Christie at a

that is larger than life and passionate about helping businesses. As a qualified business coach with a background in sports coaching and SME business management, his message is simple – investment in yourself is your key to success.

We asked Dave to explain: “Personal and professional growth go hand in hand. We find with a dedicated focus

on you as a person we’re empowering individuals to discover their inner coach and unleash their full potential.

“As a seasoned coach with a passion for understanding the ‘why’ behind every action, we believe that true learning comes from comprehending the motives and potential consequences of our decisions.

That’s why our coaching approach centres on exploring the deeper motivations driving your actions. This creates a roadmap enabling rapid and

meaningful goal-orientated progress.

“At Cheshire Business Coaching, we don’t just address surface-level problems; we coach the person behind the challenges. By delving into your motivations, aspirations, and fears, we create a tailored coaching experience that unlocks your unique strengths and guides you towards success.

“Our bespoke business growth planning services are designed specifically to you and your aspirations for your business. Through personalised coaching sessions, we apply proven strategies and techniques to drive tangible personal results and professional success.

“Communication, accountability, strategy, and time management are the cornerstones of our coaching philosophy. We believe that effective communication fosters understanding and collaboration, while accountability ensures consistent progress towards your goals. With strategic planning and effective time management, we help you prioritise tasks and maximise productivity, laying

the foundation for sustainable growth.

“Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned business owner, or a professional seeking personal development, we understand that a better business tomorrow starts with you today, and we’re committed to helping you achieve your vision of success.

“Get in touch to find out more – I’d love to hear your business story, and of course your dream of where you’d like to take your business to. We’re currently running an offer with Business Connect Magazine offering a fourth free session with every three booked, so now is the perfect time for a chat!”

Dave Christie Business Coach and Mentor Cheshire Business Coaching

recent Cheshire Business Expo at Chester Town Hall. Dave is someone

small business news

Finding your confidence: unlocking the key to success

by Theo Paphitis

When it comes to running a business or trying your hand at something new, sometimes the biggest roadblock on your journey to success can be yourself!

So, in the final instalment of my Business Connect Magazine column, I’m going to share some tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way that will hopefully give you

the confidence to take the plunge and try something new.

Every top-class sportsperson has a built-in fear of failure – that’s often what makes them so good at what they do. The same principle applies to business.

To have a chance at finding your confidence and ultimately conquering your fears, you first need to be able to understand

If you’re a small business then check out Theo’s free-to-enter #SBS Small Business Sunday competition which runs every Sunday between 5 - 7.30pm on X and Instagram - a free boost for small businesses with ambitions to grow and a chance to join one of the UK’s small business communities. Further information is here: www.theopaphitissbs.com/about/

them, and you can only do this by asking yourself the right questions…

Most importantly –Who? What? How? Why? When?

These might seem like basic questions, but they are vital elements that need due consideration whenever you are looking to throw your hand at something new, and just by asking yourself simple questions like these, you’ll be well on your way to unlocking your confidence. Now, you might be thinking ‘Great, but how will asking myself a few questions help me find my confidence?’

Doing your homework, being prepared and challenging yourself with these questions is so powerful, because if you know your subject matter inside out, you can find confidence in the fact that you have the answers.

If you’ve got an interview or you’re giving an important presentation, you can find comfort in the knowledge that you know your stuff, and if you’re looking to start a

business or try something new you know at the very least you have reduced your risk.

Now, I’m certainly not suggesting that you should proceed to leap into every unknown out there, because that would be daft. But, if you’ve put in the graft, you’re passionate about your craft and your gut is telling you to go for it, as long as you’ve done your homework, then do it!

Because if you don’t, someone else will and will take the spoils! Self-belief and confidence are vital to success, and when you do believe in yourself it does shine through, as a strong belief in yourself can give you the power to push through obstacles and reach new heights when others might give up.

So if you’re on the edge, deciding whether to take the plunge, take reassurance in the fact that you’ve gone the extra mile by putting in the hard work beforehand and just go for it! In years to come, you could be thanking your lucky stars you did!

Theo Paphitis

Theo Paphitis Retail Group

digital nomads

What is a digital nomad?

A digital nomad is a remote worker who travels and works simultaneously, visiting locations worldwide and working from beaches, coffee shops and coworking spaces.

Some digital nomads only travel for a few months, but others do it for years. Research suggests that nearly 30% of digital nomads prefer to stay in one location for one to two months, while 26% stay for three to four months and 16% stay for five to seven months.

Top digital nomad locations ranked

Below is our ranking of 61 of the best places to be a digital nomad in 2024, with Dubai and Lisbon in the top two spots.

Locations that rank highest provide the ideal combination of cost-efficient living with beautiful weather, superb connectivity, and quality of life.

Notably, many major tourist hotspots are comparatively low on the list: London, Paris, and Milan all appear below unexpected winners, such as Jacksonville and Gothenburg.

Outranking every other city analysed, Dubai stands out as the number one destination for digital nomads. This UAE city has a strong reputation as an international business hub with excellent infrastructure. The UAE also offers a special one-year Virtual Work Residency Visa.

You’ll have no worries about connectivity while working in sunny Dubai – there are over 23,000 wi-fi hotspots throughout the city, with an average broadband speed of 230mbps. Dubai also has a climate that attracts digital nomads from around the world, getting an annual average of 3,500 hours of sunshine. This makes it an excellent place to work from the beach!

Not far behind Dubai is Lisbon, the perfect option for inexpensive yet delicious food, beautiful weather and scenery, and great infrastructure. One of the sunniest places in Europe, the Portuguese coastal capital is a foodlovers haven, with local markets and freshly caught seafood available on virtually every corner.

With more than 7,000 wi-fi hotspots and an average broadband speed of 98mbps, the city is ideal for enjoying the sun and surfing while still working productively.

A cappuccino in Lisbon will cost you just £1.66, and an Airbnb will cost you £115 a night.

Top 20 locations for digital nomads:

1 Dubai UAE

2 Lisbon Portugal

3 Madrid Spain

4 Los Angeles USA

5 Sydney Australia

6 Barcelona Spain

7 Amsterdam Netherlands

8 Bangkok Thailand

9 Dallas USA

10 Rotterdam Netherlands

11 Jacksonville USA

12 New York USA

13 Seoul South Korea

14 Taipei Taiwan

15 San Antonio USA

16 San Diego USA

17 Paris France

18 Cape Town South Africa

19 Singapore Singapore

20 Phoenix USA

Spotlight on Asia

Bangkok is the top Asian city on our list. It offers stunning local cuisine, vibrant street food markets, and more than 15,000 wi-fi hotspots with an

Travelling the digital trail

average broadband speed of 229mbps.

Other Asian business hubs, such as Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Hong Kong, offer captivating travel experiences, scenery, and food alongside stellar connectivity, infrastructure, and a manageable cost of living.

Day-to-day expenses in Asian cities can be very affordable for digital nomads. Hanoi has the most affordable cuisine, with a Vietnamese dining experience costing £18,9, and Kathmandu has the cheapest coffee, charging just £1,27 for a cappuccino.

Bustling metropolises across Central, East, South, Southeast and Western Asia are perfect for digital nomads who want to explore some of the world’s most iconic business centres and enjoy a continent full of exciting travel opportunities and sights. Demand for flexible office space in places like Singapore and Hong Kong is high as more people look to new ways of using the workspace, meaning you can easily find creative coworking spaces in Singapore, meeting rooms, and serviced offices from which to work as you travel.

Connectivity is also second to none. Beijing boasts the fastest average broadband speed in this ranking at 260mbps, while Jakarta has the most wi-fi hotspots, with more than 97,000 across the city. Meanwhile, Tokyo ranks the highest in terms of quality of life.

Spotlight on Europe

According to the cities analysed, Europe is one of the most popular destinations for digital nomads and the most popular continent on the list. Rich history, excellent transport, and accessible travel opportunities make Europe appealing to digital nomads, who can spend a weekend sightseeing in Paris and catch a train back to London on Monday in time for work.

Spotlight on the US

Los Angeles tops our list of best digital nomad cities in the US. The City of Angels is all about sun and fun, with a warm Mediterranean climate and beaches galore to explore.

The city has over 10,000 wi-fi hotspots and an average broadband speed of 198mbps, so you can confidently join meetings and share documents from your LA coworking space or beachfront coffee shop.

Other US locations, like Houston, Chicago and New York, are already popular tourist attractions, but their combination of flexible office space, connectivity, transport infrastructure and travel options also make them appealing locations to live, work and play while exploring the US as a digital nomad.

What jobs do digital nomads do?

Plenty of careers are amenable to a digital nomad lifestyle. 51% are in digital marketing, computer science, and creative industries (copywriting and design), but this only scratches the surface of the range of jobs occupied by remote workers. Anything that can be done behind a screen can be done by a digital nomad, whether that’s insurance brokering, nutritional advice, or HR.

Travel while you work: a trend that’s here to stay

Trends in commercial property reflect the general movement towards increased workplace flexibility.

Our market forecasts show flexible workspace as a proportion of the total office market will grow from 5% to almost 13% by 2025. As the role of the office changes and flexibility increases globally, more people will be able to travel and work virtually anywhere.

gmcc news

Summit sets agenda for Property & Construction Sector

Skills topped the agenda at Greater Manchester Chamber’s Property & Construction Summit at Emirates Old Trafford recently.

The event brought together leading figures in the industry to debate issues including the Construction and Skills Pipeline and Climate Change.

Stewart Grant, the Chamber’s Property & Construction Chair, opened the summit with the upbeat message that Greater Manchester’s economy was outperforming the rest of the UK and that although we “had been looking down the barrel of a recession, business is in recovery mode.”

Subrahmaniam Krishnan-Harihara, Deputy Director of Research at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, gave an overview of the Property & Construction Sector, saying it was “an extremely important sector and source of employment in our region” which contributed £205bn to the UK economy and £20bn to the North West economy. He added that 95,000 people were employed in the sector, which is made up of 19,000 businesses.

During the debate on the Construction and the Skills Pipeline, panellist Tom Higgins, Director, Laing O’Rourke, gave a stark warning that the construction industry was in danger of “falling over” due to its ageing workforce.

He explained that the industry needed to move towards the use of MMC (Modern Methods of Construction) because of the resource and skills challenges facing it and said new skills were required to implement MMC. He added: “We need to start right now training people in the industry.”

He pointed out that while much of the UK’s infrastructure needed to be replaced, this pipeline of projects could not be completed without more people coming into construction.

For more information on how to get involved please contact Diane Elebert-Morgan: Diane.ElebertMorgan@gmchamber.co.uk 07740 196476 Visit: gmchamber.co.uk

“We need to be speaking to government about the fact that the industry can’t cope with what is in the pipeline. Hospitals, motorways, prisons and schools all need replacing. Infrastructure is falling around our ears. To renew all that we need the right people. Too many people are leaving and too few people are joining the industry.”

After three workshops a second panel discussion on the subject of ‘Climate Emergency Crisis or Opportunity?’ took place.

In his keynote speech at the summit, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, set out the challenges and opportunities facing the sector in the years ahead.

“Greater Manchester is growing faster than the UK economy and is predicted to grow faster. The power of the city is beginning to benefit the surrounding towns. It is spreading to these other centres around the city region. Chief

among them is Stockport. It’s the first part of our area to prove that it’s not city versus town.”

In his closing remarks Clive Memmott OBE, Chief Executive of the Chamber, said: “The devolution genie is out of the bottle and Greater Manchester is leading the way. It totally changes the way we go about things and the way decisions are made.”

Diane Elebert-Morgan, Property & Construction Group Manager, concluded: “It was wonderful to see so many industry leaders come together and debate the key issues of the sector. This was an exciting and engaging event which will set the agenda for the years ahead.

“There’s no doubt that the Property & Construction sector faces many challenges, not least the skills gap, but Greater Manchester is starting to meet these challenges by taking control of our skills system.”

cheshirebusinessexpos.co.uk

It was an honour to say goodbye to Shaun Hinds ex CEO of Manchester Central and meet the incoming CEO Lori Hoinkes. We will all miss Shaun and wish him well in his new role as CEO of Newbury Racecourse.

Lori has an amazing opportunity to make her mark in an iconic conference and event centre that certainly brings business to all in the North. Paul Mirage

Bennett, Owner

Paul Mirage, Danny Williams

Jacqueline Wallace, Paul Mirage, Helen Bennett

Paul Mirage, Maxie Smit

MANCHESTER

Lori Hoinkes, Paul Mirage, Shaun Hinds

Paul Stoneman and Toni Serb from event company ‘The NetworKings’ have recently launched a brand new series of networking events, ‘The Industry Connect!’, specifically aimed at different business sectors.

Business Connect magazine have come on board as media partners, and attended their first successful event in Bristol, which attracted 123 attendees from a broad range of businesses in the transport, tech and finance sectors.

Comedian Cerys Nelmes was compere, keeping a lighthearted and engaging approach to the proceedings.

Event organiser Paul Stoneman commented: “Our Industry Connect! was a fantastic success, and the feedback has been really positive. Toni and myself were so pleased

to see so many decision makers attending, and it was heartening to see so many attendees, including Pinnacle Business Finance, our event partners, gain new clients from the afternoon of networking.

“We featured event sponsors A. Plessas Transport, who were so impressed with the event that they have signed up for our next two dates – Ipswich on July 18 (at ‘Venue 16’, focusing on ‘The Supply Chain’), and the Windsor Royal Racecourse on September 5 (featuring ‘Supply Chain Tech’).

“Tickets are available through eventbrite, and we’re also looking to bring on board more sponsors – we’ve got some amazing opportunities available – just get in touch to find out more!”

SOUTH MANCHESTER & CHESTER

Paul Mirage, Martin Hambleton, John Galloway

Toni Serb, Paul Mirage, Paul Stoneman

IT& AV for hotels

Specialised IT and AV support for Hotels

Tourism is one of the fastestgrowing sectors in the UK, and at its core are hotels.

City centres across the UK are witnessing unprecedented levels of development, necessitating a tech-centered approach for a new generation of hotels.

These hotels need to offer a seamless user experience that ensures guests feel comfortable, safe, engaged, and fulfilled.

As an IT support business, Nybble is unique in that we offer AV solutions as part of our business model. Modern tech support for complex businesses like hotels requires the seamless building and operation of systems guaranteed to work from the outset, including end-to-end support, cyber resilience measures and full WiFi coverage.

Matching the installation and operation of a robust IT infrastructure with the end-user experience of smart TVs, both internal and external digital signage, and ambient music throughout public spaces is crucial to meeting guests’ expectations for a safe and relaxing stay.

Attention to detail is paramount, and the ability to apply cuttingedge applications and operations, combined with the latest innovative AV hardware, allows us to easily meet hotel operators’ high expectations by working with the right provider.

Scale is also important, particularly looking at the many large city-centre hotel projects currently underway.

DoubleTree by Hilton, Sheffield City

We are currently providing AV installation and support to the DoubleTree by Hilton, Sheffield City. As a tech partner offering both IT and AV solutions, our ability to apply the

two specialisms make planning and installing AV solutions a seamless process.

We have worked alongside the existing IT infrastructure and provider to create a solution that operates flawlessly from the start.

Considering we installed 174 screens, along with both internal and external digital signage and ambient music systems throughout the restaurant, bar area, gym, spa, foyer, and multiple public spaces, it is clear that choosing the right AV partner is crucial to the success of a significant hotel brand.

Another important aspect of working with the right provider is the level of support offered. If the AV systems chosen for a hotel fit-out, along with quality cabling, connectivity, and supportive hardware are specified from the start, much ongoing support can be managed remotely.

This means that firmware updates or cybersecurity resources can be handled by IT specialists like us, who are already geared up for 24/7 offsite support.

When remote support is available, services such as updating content on screens, applying digital messaging changes, testing AV systems, problem solving WiFi or network issues, are really effective and instantaneous.

Even remotely checking if a TV

in a guest’s room turns on and off correctly, or even checking if a remote control needs a battery change, can be actioned remotely.

The range of services from the right partner can be remarkably extensive.

Town Hall Hotel, Bethnal Green

Another case study where our joint AV and IT provision has been exceptionally effective is our partnership with the Town Hall Hotel in London.

As a heritage site, we devised a range of IT infrastructure changes that did not impact the venue’s aesthetics, either during installation or in ongoing implementation. Everything was executed according to a fixed plan, from the installation of the network infrastructure to the final wiring of the AV hardware.

This included managing the routers and switches, creating a foundation for a stable and secure network environment, and establishing WiFi capabilities that catered to future growth.

Of course, the design and implementation of any IT infrastructure and AV system are only part of the story.

Successful ongoing management, particularly when emphasising offsite support, is especially effective for sites in busy city centres or outlying rural locations. If a video message needs to be updated quickly or a problem suddenly arises, immediate 24/7 support is expected.

This is particularly relevant for sites like the Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green, where quick hands-on access through a busy city like

London can be challenging.

Holiday

Inn, Bolton Centre

It’s important to offer flexibility, as so many modern hotels, whether boutique, or part of huge International chains, offer one-of-a-kind facilities and challenges.

The Holiday Inn, Bolton Centre, is a case in point. As well as designing a range of digital technology options transforming the current guest journey through the venue, the hotel has a unique event space in the form of a converted church. Cloisters, as the space is called, offers multiple applications including weddings and events, and a dedicated audio system is being designed as an alternative to hired audio which doesn’t work in the unusual space.

A one-stop solution for modern hotels

The takeaway for hotel owners looking to install IT correctly alongside a fully-featured AV system, configured and supported to the most up-to-date specifications, is the importance of partnering with a supplier that can deliver, and deliver at scale.

Combining the skillsets of IT and AV provision in one offering provides a significant advantage in future-proofing a modern hotel’s expectations for their guests.

Craig Hession Nybble nybble.co.uk

Town Hall Hotel, Bethnal Green, London AV installation at the Town Hall Hotel

Proposal for DoubleTree by Hilton, Sheffield City

places to meet

Chamber Space

Meeting and Conference Facilities, Hourly rates, 4-160 capacity, Full venue capacity 400, range of catering options, unlimited tea/coffee with room hire Elliot House, 151 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WD chamberspace@gmchamber.co.uk 0161 393 4321 gmchamber.co.uk/chamber-space

Cottons Hotel & Spa

10 minutes to Manchester Airport, 138 bedrooms, 13 meeting rooms capacity 200 delegates, 3 dining areas, AA Rosette awarded terrace restaurant Manchester Road, Knutsford WA16 0SU

mandyrenshaw@cottonshotel.co.uk 01565 600333 www.cottonshotel.co.uk

DoubleTree By Hilton

Manchester Airport

230 bedrooms, 11 meeting rooms, restaurant and bar, 24Hr gym, On-site parking, airport shuttle Outwood Lane, Manchester M90 4WP

cheryl.garnett@dtmanchesterairport.com 0161 435 3000 www.hilton.com/manchesterairport

Go Serviced Offices

Meeting room, Free WiFi, Free parking, Free refreshments, Lounge and seated garden area, Capacity for 6 people Ground Floor, Prospect House, Columbus Quay, Liverpool L3 4DB charlotte@gogreenofficesolutions.com 07494 090 373 www.goservicedoffices.co.uk

Hollinwood Business Centre

Meeting rooms, Free hi-speed wifi, Free Parking, Café, Touch screen TV, 60 people capacity Albert Street, Hollinwood, Oldham OL8 3QL

walter.urquhart@bizspace.co.uk 0161 511 9450 www.bizspace.co.uk

Hotel Brooklyn

Bed and breakfast, Cosy meeting rooms, Large banquet space, Accessible rooms, Designed for disabled guests 59 Portland Street, Manchester M1 3HP khealey@bespokehotels.com 0161 518 2936 www.hotelbrooklyn.co.uk

Incspaces

Meeting rooms, Office space, Free Wi-Fi, Event space, Co-working, Capacity 1-50 2 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5WQ

joanna.pawlikowski@incspaces.co.uk 07717 191851 incspaces.co.uk

Landmark Manchester Venues

Meeting Rooms (1-20 seats), Hourly, Half Day and Full Day rates, Free refreshments, Free Hi-Speed Wi-Fi, Co-working space available, Breakfast and Lunch can be ordered upon request

Chancery Place, 50 Brown Street, Manchester M2 2JG

3 Hardman Square, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3EB

Enquiries@landmarkspace.co.uk 020 3993 7487 landmarkspace.co.uk

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Manchester Central Convention Centre

Large and small scale conferences,

Meeting rooms, Event spaces, Central location

Petersfield, Manchester M2 3GX

sales@manchestercentral.co.uk 0161 834 2700 manchestercentral.co.uk

Marriott Hotel

Manchester Airport

Brasserie Blanc Bar & Restaurant, San Carlo Bar & Restaurant, Executive lounge, 2 Function spaces (140 and 50 capacities), Courtyard (private outdoor dining)

Hale Road, Hale Barns, Manchester WA15 8XW

chris.pilling@marriott.com 07881 312158 manchesterairportmarriott.co.uk

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Marriott Manchester

Victoria and Albert Hotel

148 bedrooms and suites, 9 meeting and event rooms with capacity for 240 people theatre style, Restaurant and bar, South facing terrace, Private dining, Business centre

Water Street, St John’s, Manchester M3 4AW

askus@thevanda.co.uk 0161 832 1188 marriott.com/manva

Marriott Hotel

Liverpool City Centre

Brew Bar (food and drinks), Oliviers breakfast restaurant, Merchant Bar (private bar/event space), 2 Function spaces (240 and 50 capacities)

One Queen Square, Liverpool L1 1RH

chris.pilling@marriott.com 07881 312158 liverpoolmarriott.co.uk

[One] London Road

Meeting Rooms, Co-working space, Free tea and coffee, Free WiFi, Screen and projector, Roof terrace 1 London Road, Alderley Edge SK9 7JU

host@onelrd.com 01625 856666 onelrd.com

Orega Arkwright House

Crompton (seats 10) and Hargreaves (seats 8) meeting rooms, both come with Free WiFi, Clevertouch screens, Video Conferencing, Catering (extra cost)

Parsonage Gardens, Manchester M3 2LF

reception.arkwright@orega.com 0161 667 8100 orega.com/manchester-arkwright-house

Regus Digital World

Meeting rooms of various sizes, Free hi-speed WiFi, Central location, Beautiful roof terrace

1 Lowry Plaza, The Quays, Salford M50 3UB

uk.meetingrooms@regus.com 0161 601 7700 regus.com

Regus Preston The Docklands

Fully serviced, Offices & meeting rooms of various sizes, Free hi-speed wifi, Business lounge Unit 5, Albert Edward House, Preston PR2 2YB

preston.thedocklands@regus.com 01772 889800 myregus.com ---------------------------------------

Regus Digital World

Meeting rooms of various sizes, Free hi-speed WiFi, Central location, Beautiful roof terrace

1 Lowry Plaza, The Quays, Salford M50 3UB

uk.meetingrooms@regus.com 0161 601 7700 regus.com

Regus Spinningfields

Fully serviced, private meeting rooms, Free high-speed broadband, whiteboards, TV/projector, refreshments, Meeting rooms of varying sizes

10th Floor, 3 Hardman Street, Manchester M3 3HF

uk.meetingrooms@regus.com 0800 279 7131 regus.com

Regus St James Tower

Meeting rooms of various sizes, Hi-speed WiFi, Central location and good traffic links 7 Charlotte Street, Manchester M1 4DZ uk.meetingrooms@regus.com 0161 521 9800 www.regus.com

Regus Trafford Park

10 person, 6 person and 4 person meeting rooms, Free WiFi, Free Parking, Close to Motorway

4th Floor, Centenary House, 1 Centenary Way, Manchester M5O 1RF manchester.traffpark@regus.com 0161 504 2500 www.regus.com

Shout Connect

Meeting and Conference rooms (1-80 persons), Free WiFi, Free parking, Co-working space, Podcast suite, American style diner with free tea/coffee/ water when booked

Unit 2, Edward VII Quay, Navigation Way, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston PR2 2YF richard@shoutnetwork.co.uk 01772 935930 shoutconnect.co.uk

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SPACES Deansgate

Boardroom style meeting rooms, Presentation style training room, On-site Deli, Parking (chargeable), Hi-speed WiFi, Cycle store 125 Deansgate, Manchester M3 2BY uk.meetingrooms@regus.com 0161 519 2000 www.spacesworks.com

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Leeds Marriott Hotel

Events space, Executive Lounge, Bar & Grill, Executive Rooms and Suites, 17 Meeting and Event Spaces 4 Trevelyan Square, Boar Lane Leeds LS1 6ET zoe.hands@marriott.com 01132 366366 www.leedsmarriott.com

Worsley Park Marriott Hotel

Restaurant and Bar, 9 Meeting rooms, Leisure club & Gym, 18 Hole Golf Course Walkden Road, Manchester M28 2QT libby.blackwell@marriotthotels.com 0161 975 2000 www.marriottworsleypark.co.uk

If you currently have the printed edition of Business Connect Magazine available at your venue and you’d like to feature in our Places to Meet section please contact Paul Mirage at paul@businessconnectpublishing.co.uk

If you’d like to host our magazine at your site and feature on this page please contact Paul.

diary dates

BITA (British and Irish Trading Alliance)

BITA London Monthly Social Networking

12 Jun 6.00pm - 8.00pm, every 2nd Weds

Venue The Rising Sun, 61 Carter Lane, Fleet Street, London EC4V 5DY

BITA Liverpool Monthly Social Networking

13 Jun 5.00pm - 7.00pm, every 2nd Thurs

Venue Gaucho, 7 Water Street, Liverpool L2 0RD

BITA Manchester Monthly Social Networking

20 Jun 5.00pm - 7.00pm, every 3rd Thurs

Venue Foleys, XYZ Building, Manchester M3 3AQ

Cost FREE for all events

BNI Vision Stockport

Weekly every Weds 9.15am

Venue Bramhall Park Golf CLub, 20 Manor Road, Bramhall, Stockport SK7 3LY

Cost Please enquire

Contact Stephen Gomes 0161 956 2656

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BUSINESS FAIRS 2024

Annual business fairs across Northern venues.

Free to visit, all sectors welcome to exhibit.

Business Connect are media partners.

Greater Manchester Business Fair

11 July 10.30am - 3.00pm

Venue AJ Bell Stadium, 1 Stadium Way, Eccles, Manchester M30 7EY

Wirral & Chester Business Fair

26 Sept 10.30am - 3.00pm

Venue New Brighton Floral Pavillion, Wallasey CH45 2JS

Halton & Warrington Business Fair

14 Nov 10.30am - 3.00pm

Venue DCBL Stadium Halton, Lower House Lane, Widnes WA8 7DZ

Cost FREE to visit (pre-registration required)

Contact Tony Haines tony@liverpoolba.com 0151 709 8932 -------------------------------------

Business Catalyst Club

Manchester and Leeds Networking Lunches

Manchester – 11 July, 24 Oct

Leeds – 19 Sep, 28 Nov

Costs, Timings, Venues and booking details -

contact organisers below (invitation only):

Contact Graham Shiers 07818 675 310 www.businesscatalystclub.co.uk

Carlisle Ambassadors

Regular showcase and networking events.

18 July 11.00am - 3.00pm

Venue Carlisle Racecourse, Durdar Road, Carlisle CA2 4TS

Cost FREE (pre-reg on Eventbrite required).

Contact Michelle Masters 07810 224 735 carlisleambassadors.co.uk

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CHESHIRE BUSINESS EXHIBITIONS 2024

Business fairs across Cheshire venues.

Business Connect Magazine are media partners.

Knutsford 26 Jun 10.00am - 3.00pm

Venue Stock Farm Barn WA14 3QF

Crewe 10 Sep 10.00am - 3.00pm

Venue Mornflake Stadium CW2 6EB

Warrington 4 Dec 10.00am - 3.00pm

Venue Halliwell Jones Stadium, WA2 7NE

Cost FREE to visit (pre-registration required)

Contact Leon Broster 01270 919 500 leon.broster@cheshirebusinessexpos.co.uk

DTX Digital Transformation Expo

2 Day Expos in Manchester and London

2 Oct 2024 9.30am - 5.30pm

3 Oct 2024 9.30am - 4.30pm

Venue ExCeL London, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, London E16 1XL

2 Apr 2025 9.30am - 5.30pm

3 Apr 2025 9.30am - 4.30pm

Venue Manchester Central, Windmill Street Manchester M2 3GX

Cost FREE (pre-registration required).

Contact dtxevents.io/europe/en/page/dtx-europe

FM North

Networking event for professionals in the FM, Cleaning and Construction Sector

4th Weds of each month

26 Jun, 24 Jul, 28 Aug, 25 Sep, 23 Oct, 27 Nov

4.00pm - 9.00pm

Venue The Lawn Club, Hardman Square, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3HG

Cost FREE

Contact danny.cross@tennantco.com

GC Business Growth Hub

Events and Networking - BGH Match

20 Jun 9.30am - 11.30am

Venue The Fusilier Museum, Moss Street, Bury BL9 0DF

12 Sep 9.30am - 11.30am

Venue Fire Up Co-working Space, Old Fire Station, Maclure Road, Rochdale, OL11 1DN

Cost all events and networking FREE

Contact nick.shepherd@growthco.uk businessgrowthhub.com/match

Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

Events, support, updates, revues, networking

International Trade Forum

19 Jun 9.30am - 11.15am

Venue Elliot House, 151 Deansgate Manchester M3 3WD

Cost £15 (FREE for members)

Wigan, Bolton, Bury Construction Club

20 Jun 8.30am - 10.30am

Venue DW Stadium, Loire Drive, Robin Park Wigan WN5 OUH

Cost £40 (£20 for members)

Property and Construction Lunch

12 Jul, 4 Oct 2.00pm - 4.30pm

Venue The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3WS

Cost £63 (£33 for members)

Contact Diane Elebert-Morgan 07740 196476 Diane.ElebertMorgan@gmchamber.co.uk gmchamber.co.uk

High Peak Business Club

Regular monthly breakfast networking

All meetings - Fridays 7.30am - 9.30am

Venue Disley Golf Club, Stanley Hall Lane, Disley, Stockport SK12 2JX

Cost £25

14 Jun Traffic ! HW Martin Ltd

11 July Big Buxton Breakfast Assembly Rooms, Ensana Buxton Crescent Hotel, The Crescent, Buxton SK17 6BH

Share Club meets monthly on Thursdays: Jun 20

Contact edwinacurrie@sky.com highpeakbusinessclub.co.uk

Industry Connect!

Supply Chain networking

18 Jul 3.00pm - 6.30pm

Venue Venue 16, 312 Tuddenham Road, Ipswich IP4 3QJ

5 Sep 2.30pm - 6.30pm

Venue Royal Windsor Racecourse, Maidenhead Road, Windsor SL4 5EZ

Cost from £25

Contact Paul Stoneman 07724 839620 connect@thenetworkings.co.uk TheNetworKings.co.uk

K-Club

Entrepreneurs Networking Manchester based

Contact Amanda Manson 07754 069 829 k-club.co.uk

MBH Business Networking

Business networking

Venue Manchester based

Cost FREE

Contact kyle@mpostcode.co.uk manchesterevents.mpostcode.co.uk

Multimodal 2025

3 Day Supply Chain Expo

Business Connect Magazine are media partners

17 Jun 2025 10.00am - 5.00pm

18 Jun 2025 10.00am - 7.00pm

19 Jun 2025 10.00am - 3.00pm

Venue Hall 4, NEC, Marston Green Birmingham B40 1NT

Cost FREE (pre-registration required, tickets available soon from website).

Contact multimodal.org.uk

pro-manchester

Hot topic breakfasts, Sector lunches, Economic updates, Panel debates

Full programme of events available online

Contact Nicola McCormick 07929 671755 nicola.mccormick@pro-manchester.co.uk pro-manchester.co.uk

SHOUT BUSINESS EXPOS

Annual business fairs across Northern venues. Free to visit, all sectors welcome to exhibit

Business Connect Magazine are media partners and supporters.

Liverpool City Region Business Expo

14 Jun 9.00am - 3.00pm

Venue Exhibition Centre Liverpool, King’s Dock, Port of Liverpool, Liverpool L3 4FP

Cumbria Business Expo

20 Sep 9.00am - 3.00pm

Venue Carlisle Racecourse, Durdar Road, Carlisle CA2 4TS

North West Business Expo

18 Oct 9.00am - 3.00pm

Venue Bolton Stadium Hotel, De Havilland Way, Bolton BL6 6SF

Cost FREE to visit (pre-registration required) Contact shoutexpo.com

Shout Network

Fortnightly networking. Breakfast included. Venues across Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Liverpool.

Accrington Wednesday at 9:30am

Accrington Stanley Community Trust BB5 6BD

Blackburn Friday at 8.00am

Blackburn Rovers Football Club BB2 4JF

Blackpool Friday at 12.00noon

Hampton by Hilton, Blackpool FY4 1NG

Bolton Tuesday at 9.30am

Dunscar Golf Club BL7 9QY

Bolton Wednesday at 8.00am

Bolton Stadium Hotel BL6 6SF

Burnley Thursday at 9.30am

Burnley Football Club BB10 4BX

Bury Tuesday 9.30am

Red Hall Hotel BL9 5NA

Chorley Thursday at 9.30am

Oak Royal Golf Club PR6 8SW

Clitheroe Tuesday at 9:30am

Holmes Mill BB7 1EB

Leyland Thursday at 9.30am

Lancashire FA PR25 2LF

Liverpool Friday at 12.00noon

Delta Hotels By Liverpool City Centre

Marriott L8 5XJ

Manchester Wednesday at 12.00noon

Worsley Park Marriott Hotel M28 2QT

Preston Tuesday at 9.30am

Shout Connect HQ PR2 2YF

Preston Wednesday at 9.00am

Shout Connect HQ PR2 2YF

Preston Friday at 12.00noon

Shout Connect HQ PR2 2YF

Runcorn Wednesday at 9:30am

The Heath Business and Technical Park WA7 4QX

Rossendale Friday at 9:30am

Rossendale Golf Club BB4 6LH

Southport Tuesday at 9:30am

The Grand, Southport PR9 0QG

South Ribble Tuesday at 9:30am

Civic Centre Leyland PR25 1NS

Wigan Wednesday at 12.00noon

DW Stadium WN5 0UH

Wrea Green Friday at 8.00am

The Villa Wrea Green PR4 2PE

Fortnightly networking is on a sector lock-out basis. Costs also vary. Contact 01772 935930 info@shoutnetwork.co.uk shoutnetwork.co.uk

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Small Business Sunday #SBS

Competition every Sunday for Small Businesses to raise their profiles on X and Instagram 5.00pm - 7.30pm Info www.theopaphitissbs.com/about/

The Business Network Manchester Business networking lunch - inc seminars.

26 Jun Noon - 2.00pm (Optional seminar 10.00am start)

Venue Midland Hotel, 16 Peter Street, Manchester M60 2DS

Cost £55.00

17 Jul, 29 Aug Noon - 2.00pm (Optional seminar 10.00am start)

Venue Lowry Hotel, 50 Dearmans Place, Salford M3 5LH

Cost £52.50

Contact Helen Bennett 0161 823 1384 helen@business-network.co.uk business-network.co.uk

The Business Network South Humberside

Business networking lunch - inc seminars

3 Jul 11.50am - 2.00pm (seminars start 10.15am)

Venue San Pietro, 11 High Street East, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire DN15 6UH

7 Aug 11.50am - 2.00pm (seminars start 10.15am)

Venue Abbys Bistro, 12-16 Abbeygate, Grimsby DN31 1JY

Cost for all events

£38.00

Contact Amy Heward 07908 258 354 amy@business-network.co.uk business-network-south-humberside.co.uk

The Business Network

South Manchester + Chester

Business networking lunch

- inc seminars (all optional 10.30am start).

South Manchester

4 July 11.30am - 2.00pm

Venue The Pinewood on Wilmslow, 180 Wilmslow Road, Handforth SK9 3LF

Cost £55.00

1 Aug 11.30am - 2.00pm

Venue Best Western Forest Hills Hotel, Overton Drive, Frodsham WA6 6HH

Cost £55.00

Chester

10 Jul Noon - 2.00pm

Venue The Queen At Chester Hotel, 52 City Rd, Chester CH1 3AH

Cost £50.00

Contact Simon Edmondson 07766 493428

Simon.Edmondson@business-network.co.uk business-network-south-manchester.co.uk

The Heath Networking

Monthly Informal Networking for SMEs

27 Jun 11.45am - 1.15pm

Venue The Heath Business & Technical Park Runcorn, Cheshire WA7 4QX

Cost FREE

Contact Anthony Stonebanks 01928 513368

The Original Manchester Curry Club

Monthly Informal Networking lunches for SMEs

19 Jun, 24 Jul Contact organisers for details.

Venue Rajdoot Tandoori, Carlton House, Albert Square, Manchester M2 5PE

Cost £20 for 3 courses

Contact Kerry Bland 07966 275454

Please note

If you plan to attend any of the above events please ensure all details are correct in advance.

Whilst every effort has been made to confirm accuracy, some details may be subject to change.