The Chamber

On Friday 12 September, local MP Louise Ellman will be at the Chamber to hear your views and concerns. Louise has just been appointed Chair of the Transport Select Committee and so has an important influence on many of the issues close to many members’ hearts.

As well as having a chance to put your opinions directly to Louise Ellman, this event is also an excellent opportunity to network with fellow chamber members.

Last quarter’s briefing  was particularly well attended. A variety of issues were raised including the West Coast Main Line, Worklessness and Congestion Charging – and a lively and constructive debate ensued! We were pleased to note that Louise raised the issue of worklessness in the House of Commons after our discussions in early June.

This is an excellent opportunity for Chamber members to make their views heard in government.

If you would like to attend this event or for further details, please contact Esther Sumner either by phone 0151 227 1234 or email esther.sumner@liverpoolchamber.org.uk. Bookings can also be made via the Chamber website.

The event costs £15 to attend, and includes a networking lunch.

A limited number of places are  available for businesses, budding entrepreneurs (and journalists) to join a handpicked audience at a unique Business Question Time.

The event, taking place on Thursday 23 October 2008, at the Reebok, Bolton, is organised by Chambers of Commerce North West and promises an honest and lively discussion a range of issues affecting our business community

The panel members will all be prominent figures from the world of business, renowned for expressing their hard hitting and frank opinions on a whole range of issues affecting business in our region. Whatever your political opinion or whatever type of business you own or manage we’re sure that you’ll find the event stimulating and entertaining.

This free event will start at 6.30pm and finish at 8.30pm with a buffet supper. We hope that you will be able to join us at the event and look forward to meeting you on the day.

A coach will depart Liverpool at 5pm.

Book your place online at the Liverpool Chamber website.

For more information, contact Liverpool Chamber’s Head of Policy, Maresa Molloy.

The Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills has issued a consultation which considers that all employees should have the right to request training from their employers.

The new right would operate along the same lines as the right to request flexible working. However, whereas the right to request flexible working is confined to certain people in certain family situations, the right to request training would apply to all employees.

The new right is a right to request training, rather than a right to receive training.

The key proposals are:

• The training requested must help the employee to be more productive and effective at work;
• Where training requested ties into nationally funded schemes (such as Train to Gain, employers will be able to claim funding;
• Employees must have been working for their employers for a period of not less than 26 weeks;
• Employees, after consideration of their training needs (with third parties if needs be) would need to submit a request in writing;
• Employees can have a representative with them to attend any employer meeting to discuss this right;
• The number of requests would be limited to one in twelve months;
• There would be right of appeal to the employer, and following that to an employment tribunal. Such appeals would only be allowed where the employer failed to follow correct procedure.

In the proposals, employers could refuse training for the following reasons:

• Lack of relevance of training to business;
• Suitable training is unavailable;
• Burden of cost;
• Detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand;
• Inability to organise work among existing staff;
• Inability to recruit additional staff;
• Detrimental impact on performance;
• Detrimental impact on quality;
• Insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work; and
• Planned structural changes.

The purpose of the proposals is to ‘serve to raise employers’ awareness of the importance of skills to their businesses’ and to act as ‘a significant driver of cultural change, and action, in relation to skills’.

The British Chamber of Commerce want to know what you think. Please take our quick survey to share your views on how this will effect business and whether or not it will change how training is delivered. Take the survey here.

The full consultation can be found on the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills website.

• Do you occupy a public building of more than 1000m2? and
• Is your building occupied or part-occupied by a public authority or institution providing a public service? and
• Is your building visited by large numbers of the general public?

If so, from October 1st 2008 the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive makes it compulsory for you to have a Display Energy Certificate (DEC). This rates the operational performance of your building in terms of CO2 emissions. You also need an advisory report, which highlights cost effective measures you can implement to improve energy performance.
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Liverpool Chamber of Commerce recognises the difficulties faced by small businesses when tendering for public sector contracts. Barriers often quoted include:

• accessing tendering opportunities
• finding relevant contracts
• the pressure to respond to calls within limited timescales
• contracts being too large or diverse for a small business to compete
• even the language of procurement has presented problems.

As a Chamber of Commerce we have worked over a number of years to redress this imbalance for our members and have developed unique products such as our tender alert service to address some of the issues.

An independent inquiry has recently been launched looking specifically at the barriers faced by small businesses and social enterprises when tendering for public sector work. An opportunity has now arisen to put your views directly to government and as your Chamber we encourage you to respond to the consultation and have your views heard.

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On Thursday 19 June, Digital Inclusion Minister, Huw Irranca-Davies MP will visit two leading digital inclusion projects in Liverpool and St Helens. The so-called “digital divide” is increasingly seen as a major barrier to personal, community and regional economic well-being in the UK, which is the least skilled workforce in the EU. Mr Irranca-Davies’ visit will include:

• The AIMES Community Grid project. Acknowledged as a leader in its field, AIMES is leading the Digital Inclusion & Enterprise Programme (DIEP), established as a result of the Government’s 2007 “Digital Challenge”. Mr Irranca-Davies will visit St Cuthbert’s Catholic Community College for Business & Enterprise in St Helens where pupils and parents have been using the managed computing service provided by the Community Grid project since May 2007. As part of the wider DIEP, strategically supported by the GMDDA, AIMES will provide access for around 5,000 homes in the Greater Merseyside region via the Community Grid system over a 2 year period from May 2008.

• The EverybodyOnline Liverpool 8 project is another highly successful digital inclusion initiative focusing on internet and digital technology support for parents. It includes use of the internet, and day-to-day skills such as shopping and banking online, and email. Mr Irranca-Davies will visit a PACT (Parents & Children Together) session at South Liverpool Personnel in Liverpool to speak to users direct.

Mr Irranca-Davies’ visit underlines the importance placed on the Digital Inclusion agenda at Parliamentary level, as Professor Dennis Kehoe, Director of AIMES, explains: “Digital inclusion is a crucial enabler of economic regeneration and growth. Internet access can transform cities and communities, providing improved access to employment, education and health information. The internet can also help to combat isolation and increase a sense of community. We’re delighted to be able to demonstrate our digital inclusion work to Mr Irranca-Davies in person.”

The AIMES digital inclusion project provides a fully managed internet access service to users, a key element in its success and sustainability. AIMES and its technology partner, e-communications specialist OciusB2, provide broadband internet access, a range of software packages, all equipment required, plus training and support to users of the Community Grid. The first 125 homes are now live and for the first 12 months, the service is provided free of charge.

More information here.

Monday 22 – Tuesday 23 September, Annual Conference 2008

This year, the Conference Business Forum (formerly Corporate Day) will be held on Monday 22 – Tuesday 23 September. The number of places is limited and the British Chambers of Commerce would encourage everyone who is attending to inform them as soon as possible by returning the attached booking form. In addition to the full programme you can also opt to attend the Monday only. This includes the full Monday programme but does not require guests to apply for a security cleared conference pass as all Mondays events will be held outside the secure area. On receipt of a completed booking form you will be forwarded a link to obtain your one or two day pass.

Invoices will be raised upon receipt of this form, and further information regarding the day forwarded to respondents in due course.

Chamber of Commerce members are eligible to a £50 discount on the price of their forum pass. To claim this discount please quote promotional code LPCommerce on your booking form.

Download Your application form here [PDF]

The government has recently introduced a common commencement date for new legislation.  Most legislation is now introduced twice yearly, in April and October.

Listed below are some of the new legislation updates coming into effect from April 6 2008. They include changes to Corporation Tax, Capital Gains Tax and the Annual Investment Allowance.

Click ‘more’ for the full list.

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 Liverpool Chamber of Commerce have recently committed to a programme called Hope in the Cities that looks at issues of diversity within business. A high level meeting with some of the city’s key retail employers and Black and Racial Minority (BRM) networks identified the need to look at the issues employers may be having with diversity within their companies. We are all aware that legislation is in place that makes it illegal to discriminate on grounds of gender, race, ethnicity, disability, belief, sexual orientation or age.

This is largely defensive and makes sure employers don’t do the wrong thing. The more positive approach is to look at how diversity can enhance your company’s performance. For this reason we are seeking to enlist your support to build a picture of the level of diversity amongst our members. If you have not already participated, we would appreciate a few moments of your time to complete this survey. Click here and click on Surveys.

The British Chambers of Commerce are working with a company called Better Writing Skills to conduct a nationwide on-line survey of English literacy in the workplace. The company are working with Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce. 

“Research has shown that UK companies are losing billions of pounds of potential contracts due to poor literacy skills.  Many business owners and directors have said poorly written correspondence has influenced them not to do business with the writer or their company.  

Are you confident about your workforce’s grasp of English grammar? 

Do you think potential business is being lost owing to poorly written letters and emails?     

We would appreciate it if you would ask some of your staff to answer this very important survey. They will find ten multiple-choice questions that will assess their understanding of basic writing skills. (Please note that at no time do we ask for their personal or company name.  The only information required for the survey is their postcode, gender, education level and their status at work.)  Answering the questions will give your staff an instant result, and help provide us with a national percentage table of total scores achieved.” Please click here to go to the survey:  www.bwsbusiness.com