The Thames Valley Expo returns to Reading for its 12th anniversary on Thursday, 12th October, at The Green Park Conference Centre, Green Park, Reading. Great British Expos launched the Reading Business Expo in 2011, and since then, the exhibition has developed and become the largest in the region. The event organisers, Great British Expos, have received inquiries from past attendees of their Thames Valley Expo due to some confusion. Some individuals have mistakenly believed that they are also hosting a similar event on October 19th at the same venue – The Green Park Conference Centre in Reading. …
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Author: Richard Nelson, senior technical consultant at Probrand Knowing where organisations should be prioritising their IT spend has become increasingly challenging in recent years. The upheaval of the pandemic followed by an unstable economic climate means businesses are exercising caution, with many downsizing innovation projects, or scrapping them altogether. Instead the focus has shifted to business critical functions including security, which is now overtaking innovation as a top IT funding priority. Prioritising defences isn’t surprising when you consider that more than half of SMEs in the UK have experienced a cyber attack. But do implementing security measures and pursuing innovation…
Recent research shows that almost 25% of medium and large businesses in the UK have been guilty of ‘greenhushing’ in the past year, which refers to companies deliberately playing down their sustainability credentials for fear of public backlash. Instead of dumbing down these efforts, organisations must be fully transparent about their activities, as this provides opportunities to inspire further change in their industries. This is according to Kyocera Document Solutions UK. The reasons for greenhushing vary, with some businesses fearing that openly celebrating their sustainability initiatives will lead to accusations of greenwashing or hypocrisy. For others, it might be due…
The Thames Valley Expo will return to Reading for its 12th Anniversary at The Green Park Conference, Green Park, Reading. Great British Expos launched the Reading Business Expo in 2011, and since then, the exhibition has developed to become the largest in the region. The event organisers, Great British Expos, have been contacted by previous visitors to their Thames Valley Expo as there is some confusion with people thinking that they are running another similar event on the 19th October @ The Green Park Conference Centre, Reading. Alec Jones-Hall, the founder of Great British Expos, said: “It is unfortunate that two…
Author: Victoria Heyward, Director of Brand & Content Strategy at Sopro In B2B sales you need to do more than just crunching numbers and drafting proposals. Winning business in the B2B sector is all about forging real connections with the right individuals. With that in mind, one traditional strategy is surprisingly often overlooked – gifting. Recent research revealed that a staggering 83% of customers who received a corporate gift in the past two years said that they felt a closer connection to the company that sent the gift. From our own experience, introducing gifting into our prospecting campaigns led to…
The UK and Japanese export credit agencies (ECAs) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support their future collaboration on projects around the world. This will help them as they work together to broker more deals which support exporting businesses. The UK Export Finance (UKEF) and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) MoU sets out revised terms of cooperation which support ambitions for sustainable development outlined in the Hiroshima Accord, G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII) and UN Sustainable Development Goals. With a focus on export credit policy and co-investment projects, continued partnership between the two ECAs will support…
To mark Pension Awareness Week this week (11th to 15th September), Howden Employee Benefits & Wellbeing has launched its latest research findings, ‘SME Workplace Pensions and Benefits Research Report.’ The report sheds light on a significant issue: a substantial number of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are failing to fully maximise the benefits of employee workplace pensions, leaving potential retirement savings untapped. Based on a comprehensive survey involving 500 SME employers and 500 SME employees*, the research found that 90% of employees said their employers haven’t encouraged them to increase their workplace pension contributions to secure enhanced retirement provisions. Many…
The latest research from Bibby Financial Services (BFS) reveals that small and medium sized (SME) manufacturing businesses across the globe are being significantly impacted by current economic conditions. Indeed, four in ten (40%) manufacturers surveyed across nine key international markets agree that global business conditions are worse now than during the pandemic, and over a quarter (27%) also report that the situation now is worse than it was following the global financial crisis. As global manufacturing activity has weakened, so has the outlook of the sector’s SMEs towards the wider economy. Only 16% of businesses surveyed think the global economy…
A recent tribunal case found that Halifax Bank of Scotland had unfairly dismissed an employee for promoting her cake-making “side hustle” while on long term sickness leave, awarding her compensation of £22,000. This highlights the difficulties that employers can face when managing employees who seek to earn extra income alongside their primary job. Whilst not a new concept, advances in technology and the growth of the gig economy have increased side-hustle opportunities. For example, e-commerce sites such as Etsy, Ebay or social media provide money-making opportunities . Moreover, Gen Z is reportedly more entrepreneurial than older generations, favouring multiple income streams to…
Author and keynote speaker, Kim Campbell, shares key learnings from her time in the armed forces Before becoming a leadership coach, Kim Campbell spent 24 years as a fighter pilot and senior military leader in the US Air Force. She led more than 1,000 military and civilian personnel both at home and abroad. Over time, she began to realize that many of the lessons she learned in the cockpit had broad applicability to her role as a leader as well. Kim comments: “Fighter pilot culture is unique, we spend our lives working in a high-stakes environment, where we have to make split-second…