As a result of Coronavirus some of the events may be somewhat delayed until later in the year, but businesses across the UK will still have the opportunity to showcase their products and services at the Great British Expo regional shows this year. The longest-running and most significant annual business expo is not to be missed offering networking, phenomenal keynote speakers, industry-leading workshops and general business advice. It is expected to be another sell-out event with over 100 innovative Exhibitors and over 1000 Businesses visiting throughout the day in each location. Expo Features: Internationally Respected Entrepreneurial Keynote Speakers Funding &…

New 100% government backed loan scheme for small business. Small businesses will benefit from a new fast-track finance scheme providing loans with a 100% government-backed guarantee for lenders, the Chancellor announced today (Monday 27 April). Rishi Sunak said the new Bounce Back Loans scheme, which will provide loans of up to £50,000, would help bolster the existing package of support available to the smallest businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The scheme has been designed to ensure that small firms who need vital cash injections to keep operating can get finance in a matter of days. It comes alongside the…

A growing number of world governments are using surveillance techniques to gauge whether their citizens are heeding instructions to stay indoors and isolate amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Technologies designed to track and analyze terrorists, tourists, and public travel patterns are now being deployed in an effort to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading further. Officials in Italy are making use of location data transmitted by cell phones to see how successfully lockdowns triggered by the virus are being observed. While tracking individuals is illegal in Europe, cell phone network operators are able to track people anonymously and supply aggregated data to the…

Microsoft Teams now has 44 million daily active users. Microsoft is revealing new Teams features today to mark three years of the service just as it experiences unprecedented growth amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Teams suffered an outage on Monday as demand for the communication and chat app surged worldwide with people working and learning from home. The software giant counted 32 million daily active users of Teams last week on March 11th, but this jumped by 12 million to 44 million daily active users yesterday. The nearly 40 percent increase in demand comes as many businesses adjust to remote work and…

As part of their response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government announced the introduction of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. With a view to answering common questions, Goldstein Legal will provide regular updates through this blog to help clarify the Scheme and its provisions. Readers are advised that the below information is accurate at the date of publication. It is our intention to keep this information as up to date as possible and revise as necessary when new information comes to light. What is the Scheme? The Job Retention Scheme is a government initiative designed to avoid redundancies. The Scheme…

During this very challenging time, we hope you’re staying safe. The rapidly developing news of the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic and how it is impacting on our families, friends and own lives is a huge concern for us all. Understandably, people are worried about the general economic outlook, and none more so than business owners who have seen their businesses brought to a halt. When we surface from this unprecedented time of confusion and economic shutdown, it is predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility in figures released last week that the rapid economic downturn will be followed by…

Tips to maintaining a positive attitude. We’ve all been there once; especially coming up to summer and the winter hibernation pounds are still sticking like glue. Negativity has an immense impact on how we feel, work and even interact with others, so why do we let the dark cloud settle over us so much? Simple. It’s easier just to dwell on the bad around us and ‘deal with it’ instead of seeing the light at  the end of the tunnel. In my opinion, washing the negativity from your life is the key to success. Why? Because everything will be in…

Our practical solution to the Coronavirus challenge Aspen Waite recognise these are worrying times, it is almost certain that all of us will be affected by the Coronavirus outbreak. This could be in a number of ways: staff sickness, reduced customer demand, payment worries, shortage of supplies and many more. Latest Guidance Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – Guidance Support for the Self-Employed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme  VAT Payment Deferrals  Welsh Businesses: £100m Loans Information Welsh Businesses: £500m Business Resilience Relief Fund Aspen Waite strives to ensure any guidance they provide is accurate, however, the information is based on their interpretation of what has been announced, is subject to…

Countries from around the world today joined the UK in pledging to give everyone equal access to new coronavirus vaccines and treatments around the world. UK is one of 20 countries and global organisations, like the WHO, to pledge to give the world access to new vaccines and treatments Pledge follows calls from the PM and UK Ministers for greater global co-operation in fight against coronavirus UK will also virtually co-host new Coronavirus Global Response Summit on 4 May 2020 Countries from around the world today (Friday, 24 April) joined the UK in pledging to give everyone equal access to…

Rolls-Royce has invited a group of leading companies to collaborate on Emer2gent, a new alliance of data analytics experts challenged with finding new, faster ways of supporting businesses and governments globally as they recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19. Early alliance members are Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, IBM, Google Cloud, The Data City, Truata, Rolls-Royce and ODI Leeds. The alliance will be facilitated and co-ordinated by innovation specialists, Whitespace. Together the initial wave of members brings all the key elements of open innovation; data publication, licensing, privacy, security; data analytics capability; and collaborative infrastructure, to kick off its…

Do you worry that your service or product isn’t good enough? Don’t worry it’s more common than you think, you are not alone. This is something I see a lot with start-up businesses and entrepreneurs. It even has a name.. Impostor Syndrome “Impostor syndrome is a term referring to high-achieving individuals marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud”. Despite external evidence of their competence, those exhibiting the syndrome remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved. Proof of success is dismissed as luck, timing, or…

Paul Holmes, managing director of PCH Business Support Ltd, has been awarded the contract to run one-to-one business support on behalf of OxLEP (local enterprise partnership) and the Oxfordshire Growth Hub as part of their response to the Covid19 pandemic. The business man from Swindon will be running virtual sessions with business owners needing help and guidance as a result of the current situation. He said: ““Having worked closely with the OxLEP Growth Hub team over the last six months I am absolutely delighted to be invited to deliver much needed support for business owners across the county. I love…

Five business owners who live in and around the Cotswolds have come together to support local young people who have had their GCSEs and A levels cancelled. The Cotswold Challenge initiative was developed solely to support 16 to 19 year olds in the Cotswolds area to give them something creative to do and offer them the chance to excel, gain a sense of achievement and self-worth and maybe win a monetary prize.  The Challenge launched Monday April 20 and remains open until noon on Monday June 1. Young people who take part must live in the Cotswolds area and for those…

Food entrepreneur Julianne Ponan has donated hundreds of allergy-free snack bars to her local hospital where staff saved her life. Julianne, aged 30, who lives in Waltham on Thames, suffers from anaphylaxis which means she’s at risk of falling very ill suddenly from eating the wrong things and having an intense allergic reaction. She’s become known as a campaigner around food allergies. However, staff at St Peter’s Hospital Chertsey saved her when she suffered three attacks of acute pancreatitis – the first and most serious attack when she was just nine years old. “Now is the time when someone like…

Everyone is still trying to come to terms with how the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has changed the way of life and how businesses operate. The situation is beyond anything that most have experienced or ever thought likely to be facing, and it has evolved at a rapid pace. Neil Robbins, sales manager for Hills Waste Solutions said: “At Hills we have been able to respond to the immense challenges presented by this fast moving situation and remain in a position to continue to provide the essential waste management services required by the commercial, industrial and construction sectors.” “Our team of…

Following the release of the Coronavirus Financial Government Schemes, Centric HR compiled a document to help businesses understand what schemes are available to you from the government. “We understand this is a very stressful and upsetting time for all businesses so we would like to help in any way we can.” Download the document below and we hope you will find that the information will benefit you in some way.