Government Grant assistance for businesses is now available to assist achieving ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and other Management Standard certification. Government Grants have been up to 30%. Traditionally the funding has been very defined by the area or the special activity. Then Grants were available under the Growth Accelerator scheme nationally. This changed suddenly when the Scheme was abolished in November...
Whilst the attention has concentrated on the effect of Brexit on the UK, do not forget the effect of Brexit on the EU. With UK within the EU, there has been constant tension. The UK have been often an irritation to other member states. This is because of the stresses between the original concept of a Free Trade Area and the ever closer union heading towards the European state.
The UK joined the EU to be part...
Joshua Slocum, a 51 year old, sailed solo round the world in a 35 foot yacht, which he had rebuilt.
He had no satellite phone, no GPS navigation aids, no radio, no back-up team and no auto-steering system. His timekeeping was a clock, that was missing the minute hand and was about right to the nearest hour.
I should say that Joshua was the first recorded person to sail single handed round the world....
Most Directors and Managers will disagree with the Title because nearly all Organisations have business critical software. However, the significant issue is the number of business-critical software programs, that often include:
1. Sales Contact software to track marketing and sales activities
2. Sales Costing and Quotations for costing and preparing Quotations
3. Order Fulfilment from managing the processes...
Have A Goal and stick to it – Too many fast- growth business leaders change their goals too often, never quiet completing the plan before starting the next. Set medium-term goal and deliver it. Be flexible about how you achieve your goals.
Listen to Customers – Customers have the most relevant ideas, the most immediate feedback increasingly happy to help (through social media for instance)...
A client, who achieved CE Mark & EN 1090 for Structural Steelwork under the Construction Products Regulations, has just reported:Doubled Sales in the last 6 months. Last month, their sales were 3 times last year's averageandIncreased their pricingAdditionally they report that their largest Client, who are national retailer, have reduced the number of Approved Fabricators from nine to the three...
Many times have we seen road signs to “The North” in the UK. However on driving north, we have never found “The North”, likewise for the “The South” signs when driving south.
Image our surprise to find a road sign on leaving Harrogate to both “The North” & “The South”, heading in the same direction – curious
The Eastern Roman Empire centred on Istanbul, survived for 1000 years, after the destruction of the original Roman Empire based on Rome. Istanbul was the richest and largest City in the Mediterranean. For many years, it thrived in-spite of being the target for all its neighbours. For most of this period, it was on the defensive.
Its enemies had very different approaches
The Franks – full...
When it comes to funding, there are two types:
1 Internal Funded - In this type, ideally there is little pressure to achieve aggressive targets and so there is the opportunity of growing the Company using existing resources. Funding is often from own resources or friends or family who can be persuaded to contribute on an individual basis.
If funding is from family or friends, please ensure that
...
Risk at present is very popular. More of different Management Standards are now incorporating Risk as part of their requirements. The reason is that it is a more robust and auditable requirement to assist Improvements than the traditional "Preventative Action", which companies have often struggled to demonstrate compliance. Too often with smaller Organisations, they are regularly implement improvement...