UK Business Advice and Assistance

Business decision making – how good are you at it? Who would you instinctively trust? The Media?

julian — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:21:02 +0000

The Swiss coach crash (March 2012) of a returning ski holiday school trip of 52 Belgium children, is a similar to other stories that routinely catch our attention, but a crash is anything but routine. The Media reported suggestions that the coach driver was speeding through the tunnel when it crashed.

Travelmole, the well respected travel and tourism website news agency, reported later that the Swiss prosecutors were quashing reports that this was fact! They wanted it said that it had not been established that the Swiss coach was speeding.

Does this raise a much deeper underlying problem or question? Business decision making – how good are you at it? Who do you instinctively trust, as a matter of routine? The Police or a Swiss prosecutor (in this case, Olivier Elsig)?

The correct answer surely is nobody, on face value? But do we as adults, always reserve judgement till the appointed time? Unless we have ALL the facts, anything else – the rest – is purely speculative.

Who knows this truth better than anyone – The Media, of course!

Belgium’s Le Soir newspaper reported that police had told its journalists that the coach was speeding.

Do we make bad assumption in business? Are we doing this all the time? How best can we protect ourselves from this? One way is to regularly seek external advice from a business consultant, and one way to start to find the right one for you and your business is to search online and use one of the online business support finder services.

In this case, it is believed that the Swiss prosecutor had already uncovered in their investigation a number of possible causes, including:

a technical failure,
the driver suffering a health problem, or
human error.

The coach vehicle was nearly new.

Both drivers had been fully rested before the trip. Both drivers were killed in the accident. Dozens on the coach were badly injured.

What about your Business decision making? How good are you at it, really? If you’d like to test this, make an appointment to see an external adviser. It may be one of the best things you did for your business this year, looking back at the end of it!

If you have found this interesting or useful, please tweet or share it. Thanks

Dynamis Media Julian Rowe

julian — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:41:41 +0000

Adam Bannister, managing editor of the Dynamis Media, took time out of his busy schedule to attend the Business-Start-Up Show in November 2011 with the aim of interviewing some of the businesses which provided services for start ups attending the show, and capturing some of the magic and talent exhibiting there.

At the Business-Start-Up Show, held at Earls Court, Sam Lewis as Head of Rich media for Dynamis, interviewed Julian Rowe, a leading business consultant with Business Consultant Now. During the interview Sam Lewis quizzed him on how he helps small businesses:

Dynamis media is an interesting business full of bright young graduate talent with pedigree. Business Support Finder describes the company as ‘one to watch’ and predicts they will be a ‘takeover target’ within the next three to five years. A brief timeline of Dynamis’s history:

2000 £1.7m angel funding all expansion of BusinessesForSale.com and launch a sister site, FranchiseSales.com. an online directory of more than 1,400 franchise opportunities.

2006 launch BusinessWings.co.uk, a resource for entrepreneurs, and BusinessOpportunities.com, the marketplace for finding business partners, investors and business opportunities.

2007- company size and output tripled: new geographical territories – French language version of FranchiseSales.com – FranchiseAVendre.fr

2011, Dynamis partnership with the Financial Times. PropertySales.com, & BusinessesForSale.com, online marketplace for buying and selling commercial property.

Dynamis, still a privately-held company, but for how long? If this was a stock option, and Business Support Finder was advising on investment banking, Dynamis is a ‘buy’.

Hull Manufacturing Enterprise Zones

julian — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:20:58 +0000

Hull, once blighted by the highest unemployment rates in the country, is now one of the world’s leading centres for renewable energy. Enterprise zones will offer companies tax breaks and capital allowance, but the Hull Local Development Order will be tailored so OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and supply chain companies operating in the renewable energy sector will not need to apply for outline planning permission.

British Government To Invest In Bradford Manufacturing Specialists To Kick Start Economy

julian — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:05:25 +0000

Yorkshire used to be one of the most prominent areas for manufacturing back in the day. York and Doncaster both had large railway engineering shops building locomotives and rolling stock, both now gone. Sheffield had coal mines and factories, and around Bradford, we had the textile industries. The British government need to encourage manufacturing businesses to return to Yorkshire by investing in the industry and therefore re-create all the jobs that have been lost in the Manufacturing Sector and get the economy moving again.

Darlington Manufacturing Offshore Wind Sector Gains Gouvernment Support

julian — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:57:23 +0000

Teesside and Tyneside have both been named as Centres for Offshore Renewable Engineering (CORE), which will entitle them to enhanced Government support for securing investment linked to offshore wind. The industry is enjoying massive growth, with nine sites planned under Round Three of the UK’s offshore wind development programme in British waters alone and the global market to be worth £1bn. CTC Marine Projects in Darlington will co-operate to promote the region as a natural home for firms in the sector and join forces with other firms in the off-shore wind sector to secure work.

Rotherham Manufacturing Investment And Development Advice

julian — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:24:08 +0000

The Rotherham Investment & Development Office recently organised a seminar for local companies to find out more about the financial support available for businesses undertaking research and development activity. The seminar featured advice from experts from ‘Funding & Financials’ and ‘Libcus Limited’.

“I would encourage other companies to investigate the potential support from these schemes as they cover a breadth of projects from initial market research to full prototyping.”

Sheffield Engineering Plant’s 10% Efficiency Improvement Target

julian — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:52:12 +0000

DavyMarkham engineering company in Sheffield, is targeting a 10 per cent improvement in manufacturing efficiency after introducing the Japanese ‘5S’ programme at its Sheffield plant. The Organisation programme is being introduced throughout the company’s production departments and workshop to boost capacity and efficiency, and it is already having an effect. They have said it is helping them speed up the overall completion time of projects by speeding up the work they do and minimizing time wasted looking for tools and equipment.

New Rail Operations Boosting Jobs In York

julian — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:24:14 +0000

Network Rail plans to control the entire East Coast Main line in England from a new 7,300 square metre operations centre on a triangle of land between York Station and Holgate Bridge. It says about 475 people would be employed there but, initially at least, it expects the majority of these jobs to be relocated from elsewhere in the business. A Network Rail spokeswoman said the operations centre would be one of 14 centres nationwide and would be a consolidation of existing signalling and route control facilities.

UK Coal Doncaster Secures Revitalising Deal

julian — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:55:42 +0000

The Doncaster-based group, UK Coal, recently announced deals to bring three national housebuilders to Waverley near Rotherham and Sheffield, plus a contract for engineering giant Rolls-Royce to build a turbine factory on the site’s Advanced Manufacturing Park. The 710-acre Waverley site is built on the former Orgreave surface mine and coking plant, part of the Sheffield City Region Enterprise Zone. The engineering giant already has a research plant on the site, its Factory of the Future, which specialises in machining research.

Vince Cable Alongside Wakefield Manufacturing Consultants Welcome Coca-Cola £50m Investment

julian — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:47:07 +0000

Vince Cable has openly backed the £50m investment from Coca-Cola to develop sustainable manufacturing facilities at its Wakefield plant. The bottling plant at Wakefield already boasts green credentials as it does not send waste to landfill, and has been certified to the new international energy management standard.

He said: “I welcome Coca-Cola’s new £50M investment programme in green technology and their ambitions to grow UK production. This investment is a major signal of confidence in the British economy.”