The Chamber

Energy markets are again in turmoil with record highs being posted on gas and electricity base load prices. Wholesale gas prices have risen by approximately 110% since February 2007 and electricity prices have risen by around 135% over this time.

“The markets are being driven by high coal and oil prices along with the economic growth experienced in China and India who are purchasing as much base fuel as possible,” explained Jeff Wealands, Technical Director for Utility Auditing, which supplies the Chamber Utilities™ service.

He added: “Reduced gas flows into the UK along with ‘outages’ at power plants over the winter have exacerbated matters - driving prices ever upwards. Where will it end? Markets are also affected by global political and natural events. One thing is for sure – price stability in wholesale energy markets is a thing of the past and locking into long term fixed contracts is looking increasingly attractive.”

As well as negotiating the best price on gas and electricity, with impending legislation to reduce carbon and consumption, it is more essential than ever before for organisations to improve their efficiency. Most organisations can cut consumption by up to 20%, which can help mitigate rising costs.

For help and advice on cutting costs and improving energy efficiency contact Chamber Utilities™. Get in touch today to see how you can profit both your business and the environment.

Contact Chamber Utilities™ 0845 120 2423, www.chamberutilities.co.uk

Liverpool Chamber’s training arm, Trident Training Ltd, is offering NVQ Level Four qualifications, equivalent to a degree level qualification, in Management. The training is subsidised by the Chamber through the Learning & Skills Council, meaning that you or members of your staff can take this qualification for as little as £649.

For more information regarding the qualification please contact the Workforce Development Manager Simon Chadwick on 0151 236 5481

This is an exciting new programme led by skilled business coach, Jerry Hopkins. He has over 15 years experience of working in service, food, health, automotive, aerospace and manufacturing, where he has drastically increased performance.  Breakfast workshop on 22^nd AprilThis dynamic new programme starts with a breakfast workshop where you will;• Resolve a key business issue
• Apply a profit improvement techniques

Having experienced the power of coaching and one new profit improvement technique, you will be briefly introduced the great value 1-to-1 coaching packages available through the programme, as well as tailored profit improvement workshops in:

• Creating a value culture for a better service and productivity
• Capturing value and innovation in your business
• Practical cost reduction techniques
• Workplace organisation for higher productivity
• Alignment of employee goals to business goals
• Smart scheduling for increased productivity

This working breakfast place at Liverpool Chamber Cost just £25 includes breakfast. To book contact Alma Mayers on 0151 224 1883 or email alma.mayers@liverpoolchamber.org.uk Following on from this seminar, the high powered programme continues with the following courses, dates announced at the breakfast  –  

1-to-1 in-house coaching packages  

Profit Improvement workshops at the Chamber  

Profit Improvement Workshops in-house

Numbers limited to thirty places. For further information on any of the above contact Alma Mayers on 0151 224 1883 or email alma.mayers@liverpoolchamber.org.uk

A Free Half-Day Taster Event 9.00am – 1 pm  Thursday 6th March 2008 at Calday Grange Grammar School, West Kirby, Wirral CH48 8GG

Merseyside businesses who want to develop their international language and communication skills are invited to attend a free trial ‘taster session’ in mastering basic Chinese. Don’t worry if you have little or no experience, the workshops are designed for people who have no previous knowledge of the language. Help and support will be available all the way through.

The first part of the session will introduce China as one of the world’s most dynamic overseas markets, and will provide insights into Chinese business culture and practice.  Keynote speakers will outline:

• how to find Chinese business partners,
• how to develop a productive working relationship, and
• what grants are currently available to small and medium size Merseyside companies who want to develop business overseas

Delegates will then have the chance to sample the basics needed to communicate when travelling and meeting potential business partners.

These sessions will take place in two of the school’s state of the art Multimedia Language Suites. This is a fabulous opportunity for Merseyside businesses, and opens the door to a fuller intensive Business Chinese course later this year for those who wish to develop their knowledge further.

Lunch is provided 12.00 – 13.00pm

For further information or to book your place, please contact:-Jacqui McIver,Modern Foreign Language Department. email  Jacqui.mciver@calday.wirral.sch.uk Or telephone on 0151 625 2727 Ext 289

Chamber of Commerce members throughout the North West are being offered a 15% discount on a leading management training course being organised by Wigan’s Centre for Assessment.

Centre for Assessment, the established provider of assessment services, is inviting North West businesses to sign up a Behavioural Management training programme, which will equip delegates to communicate more effectively, to think more clearly and to manage thoughts, moods and behaviours in the workplace. Ideal for managers of all levels in small, medium or large organisations, Centre for Assessment offers a taster day in addition to the full four day Diploma course. Following this, a full Practitioner course can also be studied through Centre for Assessment. Behavioural Management, more commonly known as neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), studies how outstanding individuals and organisations get their outstanding results, and teaches others to follow these patterns of behaviour. 

 The training looks at the way an individual thinks about a problem and the outcome they desire, how this has an effect on the way they deal with a situation and the action they choose to take.  It also examines verbal and non-verbal communication, and different states of mind. Many North West-based organisations have already signed up to the management training and are now discovering the rewards.  For more information about the course please contact Isla Owen at Centre for Assessment on 01942 610083 or email Isla.Owen@carnw.co.uk.

This time of year just wouldn’t be right without some lists looking back over the past twelve months. So to avoid being left out, here’s a little look at how Liverpool Chamber got on online in 2007:

• Liverpool Chamber’s main website had over 382,200 unique visitors
• Over 1,201,700 page views
• An average of 1,134 visits a day
• An average of 3,565 page views a day
• Our most popular pages were from the Members’ Directory (where all members can be found by potential customers)
• We took over 400 online event bookings and membership applications
• Our fantabulous free e-newsletter is now received by over 7,000 people a week (you can sign up in the box to the right or here on our main site)
• This blog has had over 50,770 visitors
• The blog now contains nearly 700 stories in 47 different categories

2008 promises to be an even more exciting year for Liverpool Chamber. As well as playing an important role in Liverpool’s Capital of Culture celebrations, we will be continuing to improve the range and quality of services we provide our members. We will also be launching a brand new website with lots of new and exciting online functions. These will make it even easier for you to do business with us and your customers.

So a big thanks to everyone who has visited us and supported us this year. We’ll try and do even better in 2008.

Liverpool Chamber members receive free access to a comprehensive legal expenses insurance package. This offers cover of up to £65,000 per annum on a range of legal expense issues.

Chamber HR is a recent addition to the existing Legal Expenses scheme. Provided by Composite Legal Expenses, Chamber HR enables you to keep pace and more importantly ensure compliance with the ever increasing stream of employment legislation.

Here are a few recent examples of how Chamber Legal has helped our member businesses:

• A member with the assistance of the helpline conducted a selection process for necessary redundancies. Seventeen employees were dismissed by reason of redundancy. One former employee submitted a claim through the Employment Tribunal and claimed losses of £40,000. Chamber Legal Expenses is operating for the member to settle the claim and legal costs are currently reserved at £15,000 which if the business was not a member of a Chamber of Commerce they would have had to pay themselves.

• A Chamber member received notification of a full tax investigation and notified the helpline immediately. Following acceptance of the claim our tax specialists have been liaising with HMRC in relation to their analytical review and responding thereafter to the queries raised by HMRC. Costs incurred to date exceed £2,000 with enquiries ongoing.

For more information contact The Chamber Legal Advice Line - 0870 220 8515.

The Chamber’s very own press and PR guru Pamela Holstein has written an interesting article for the 08 Business Connect site on the importance of well thought out business cards for successful networking:

“At the Liverpool Chamber we meet a lot of businesses, both newly formed companies and long established firms with hundreds of staff. We go to a great many networking events and host over 90 of our own over the course of each year.

During this time, a lot of business cards are exchanged. So why do people give out their cards? You network, meet someone interesting that you’d like to speak to again or hope that you might be able to work with in the future.

You exchange cards with your company contact details on. Once your potential contact leaves an event with a pocket full of business cards, how do you maximise your chance of getting the follow up call that you’re hoping for? Is your business card working for you or letting you down”

Read the full article here

Many British companies are keen to establish contacts in this rapidly growing, dynamic economy of United Arab Emirates.

Dubai ranks as one of the world’s leading trading centres and offers a gateway to a market of more than one billion people, covering the Gulf States, most of the Middle East, East Africa and Asia sub continent. There are reported to be 90,000 British citizens living in the UAE. The trade mission will also visit Abu Dhabi which has approximately 10% of the worlds proven oil reserve and 5% of the gas.

This trade mission is designed to help small and medium sized companies in Merseyside wanting to expand their activity in this market.

Dubai aims to achieve high economic growth through promotion and strengthening of a number of fast growing sectors, including retail trade, transport, tourism, construction, manufacturing, finance and telecommunication. We encourage companies to take advantage of visiting this exciting and expanding market which is full of opportunities and is a springboard to Gulf States.

Help & Support
Don’t worry if you have little or no overseas experience, help and support is available when you need it. An experienced member of our team will discuss your requirements and will also accompany the visit to give you support whilst overseas. Also we have a cost effective travel package

In-Market Activity
Whilst in UAE there will be an in-country briefing, where you will be presented with a market overview and tips on how to conduct business. Thereafter, you will be free to attend meetings with your potential clients identified through research or by yourself. During this trade mission The Middle East Electricity exhibition is taking place. It is one of the leading energy events of its kind in the world and has over 850-exhibitors from 55 countries and we encourage companies in this sector to also attend.

Funding
This is a fabulous opportunity for Merseyside businesses. Having successfully secured European Funding, we are now able to offer you a chance to participate in this trade mission at a more affordable price. Eligible companies will receive subsidy of 50% towards expenses, up to a maximum eligible expenditure of £2000, covering flight travel, accommodation, in-country travel, interpreter costs, in-market telephone calls and certain market research. UK Trade & Investment funding is also available to North West companies outside Merseyside.

Cost
We are presently negotiating attractive rates for flights and hotels. These will be available upon request and through are appointed Travel Agent.

Interested?
Please email export@liverpoolchamber.org.uk or download and complete the registration form and we will send you an application form.

Alternatively call Alison Fisher or Maureen Harmston on 0151 227 1234

Westfield Health has signed up more than 200 employees from Chamber members, Everton Football Club to the Chamber Primary Health Plan.

Sue Arscott, Human Resources Officer at Everton FC said: “Everton Football Club is known as the People’s Club and the Plan helps make this a reality from an internal perspective.

“We wanted to provide employees with access to healthcare treatments and this Plan allows us to give something back in return for their hard work. We enrol staff on Level 1 of the Plan with the potential to increasing to a higher level if successful.

“The benefit to the club is the little amount of administration and effort it takes, while there is a positive end result for staff. It also improves the appeal of working at the club for all potential new employees.

“The Plan raises awareness of enjoying the benefits of a healthier lifestyle and hopefully it will lead to an improvement in employee health. The club has invested heavily on the playing side and this is a way for Everton to invest in their off the field staff.”

The Chamber Primary Health Plan is exclusively available to British Chambers of Commerce accredited Chamber member organisations.

Further details of the Plan can be obtained from :-

Trevor Langley, Business Development Consultant, 01829 730505 or via e-mail tlangley@westfieldhealth.com

Alternatively via the website www.westfieldhealth.com