Opus Energy – a leading independent electricity supplier to businesses – have just launched Opus Evolution, a real-time online energy purchasing system that gives customers direct access to wholesale electricity markets.
The system, which, for the first time, gives smaller (non-half hourly) customers the chance to take advantage of pricing deals normally only offered to larger (half hourly) customers, is the first of its type in the UK.
Year: 2008
Free relocation guide for UK businesses
Windsor Telecom Plc, UK’s 2nd largest provider of 0845 memorable phone numbers and inbound call solutions has published a free guide to relocation aimed at UK businesses of all sizes.
The two handy guides, for the corporate and SME markets, provide valuable information on how to make the right move, an essential ten step plan to successful moving , and a comprehensive directory of useful contacts.
Search for investment just got easier
A new website is set to provide an easy boost for anyone seeking venture capital or private equity funding.
Investor Search is a specialist search engine that will greatly simplify the task of identifying investors with interests or preferences that match a company’s investment needs. It is designed for trading companies that need capital to grow, for start-ups looking to get off the ground or potentially anyone in the investment community.
Standing out from the crowd
With an average annualised turnover of £25 million, The Commercial Group is the largest independently owned office services company in the UK. In its 17 years of business it has built a reputation based on exceptional customer service, superior consultancy and a quality product range.
Determined to continue to spearhead change within its market place, Commercial works tirelessly to innovate, promote best practice and, where necessary, instigate debate to ensure the standards it has set itself as a company challenges others to assess their own processes and systems.
With this dynamic background it may be surprising that the Directors have thrown all of their efforts into a campaign across the business to embrace a culture which is unashamedly green. But because the business is at the top of its game it is crucial that it continues to seek ways to further differentiate itself from its competitors and this is where the almost messianic drive for green credentials has been put at the heart of the corporate agenda. Naturally where there are leaders in industry there are followers and what once set you apart can eventually become a standard offering.
The ability to change
For Commercial its ability to anticipate change and ensure it can accommodate it, whether it is an e-commerce solution or software integration, has enabled the company to not only develop and grow but remain the supplier of choice to over 6000 companies.
The return of the formal office wear
The White House recently made the headlines by banning flip-flops. 83 per cent of UK businesses agree, saying that these are not suitable work attire. 70 per cent of UK businesses would not allow shorts, and 88 per cent do not allow mini-skirts, so even in a more relaxed working environment there are still some boundaries.
Staff exaggerating expenses
More than five million people – 30 per cent of all employees who claim, or have claimed employee expenses in the past & admit to exaggerating their expenses reveals a new survey.
The ‘It’s not easy being green’ myth
A belief, held by many, that ‘It’s not easy being green’, still seems to prevail for many small-to-medium sized businesses.
The end of the office affair?
Office affairs are classic television comedy fodder. Think of any office-based 1970s sit-com and you will undoubtedly recall a male boss incessantly flirting with his pretty, young secretary.
Things have moved on a little since then, but, according to a recent poll, office romances are still rife. In fact, the survey showed that 59 per cent of the respondents freely admitted to having had romantic encounters in the workplace.
While this is often viewed as a bit of harmless fun and no business of bosses, the reality is much harsher. Many people have no idea that a fling could actually cost them their job. It’s only that bosses turn a blind eye to many affairs that the professional risks are kept to a minimum.
Round the table
The emergence of the latest generation of internet applications, dubbed Web 2.0, has meant a renaissance for many technologies that never quite made it. Social networking, with sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and the huge rise of instant messaging and the near cult status of the Blackberry, have all meant we now consider online communication as the norm.
One industry that has been quietly but effectively growing in this area has been video-conferencing – a technique that was once a bit of a black art, with kit that was complex to set up and dodgy video quality, something even industry experts have been forced to admit.
"The legacy of the first wave of video-conferencing is that many firms invested in expensive end-point video equipment and due to various reasons the investment failed to deliver the expected returns," admits Steve Frost of networking company Cisco. "The systems used to be far too complex. People used to step into a room and be given a remote control and told ‘set it up, then’ – it was never going to work."
Computing on the move
It used to be a simple equation – on the road you had an underpowered but light machine to take notes, while back in the office was a powerful desktop for most of your day-to-day work. Today, however, things are blurred, to say the least. When you’re out and about there’s a choice of mobile phone, Blackberry, ultra-light portable or laptop, while in the office, it seems you really don’t need a desktop at all, with some laptops now sporting 17-inch screens and enough processing power to handle anything you can throw at them.
There are, however, a few things to bear in mind. The biggest issue is battery life – in a highly powerful machine, don’t expect longevity. These are really designed to be used at a desk, next to a power supply. If battery life is an issue, then it’s well worth looking for something with a slightly lower spec – it may not be as quick, but at least you’ll be able to get your work done without the horror of the "low battery" warnings. For processors, look out for Intel’s Core™ 2 Duo processor – it’s the best around at the moment, and will give you desktop-like performance without almost instantly draining the battery.
Here are a few of the best of the new breed of dual-purpose portables.
Reading’s new Novotel
WHAT’S IT LIKE? First impressions were good – the hotel felt bright, fresh and spotlessly clean, and the reception staff were welcoming and happy to help with queries such as searching the internet for directions to a shopping centre.
WHERE IS IT? Around five minutes’ walk from Reading mainline station. The hotel has a few parking spaces (£7 per day), and an agreement with the NCP car park for half-price parking for guests. Drivers should plan their route before they arrive though as the centre of Reading is a one-way maze – I pulled up at the front of the hotel, only to be directed on a ten-minute round-Reading trip to the car park entrance, about 50 yards from where I’d started.
National minimum wage: Employers beware
Is the national minimum wage (NMW) rises year on year this increases the importance of SMEs conducting a balancing exercise to ensure payment of sufficiently high salaries to enable recruitment and retention of quality staff, whilst at the same time seeking to minimise business costs as far as possible.
Taking the leap of faith
Three years ago, while juggling a full-time job and bringing up a young family, Rachel Birch decided it was time to turn her hobby into a business and become her own boss.
“Spurred on by a burning desire to be my own boss and to give people a taste of what the countryside has to offer”, as she puts it, after years of planning, research, product testing and saving up, Melton Mowbray Drinks was born.
Although her sales projection for the business were 200 bottles in the first year, 500 in the second and 750 in the third, sales have now reached almost 4000 bottles a year.
Think big, stay local
It’s tough for would-be entrepreneurs carrying the tag “budding” in front of their career description. But it’s a stage they all go through – somewhere between having the idea to go it alone and taking delivery of the executive jet.
For most budding entrepreneurs it’s a familiar picture: you wake up at 6am to start your work day, only you aren’t heading into town to sit at some comfy corner corporate office suite. You might still put on a suit and tie, but you are in fact only headed as far away your home office, which is, in fact, a desk in the corner of the lounge. With the cat and dog as your only company, you begin to settle down to work for the day.
How will the new corporate manslaughter act affect your business?
The majority of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act will come into effect on 6 April 2008 but will not be retrospective. So, you have plenty of time to prepare for this.
An organisation is defined in the Act as being: “a corporation (not including sole corporations); a partnership; a trade union; an employer’s association.”
An organisation will be guilty of the offence of corporate manslaughter in England or corporate homicide in Scotland if the way in which its activities are managed or organised causes a person’s death, and amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organisation to the deceased.
