Connections are crucial to the success of any business. Visit our latest news to keep up to date with the latest business news from across the region.
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Connections are crucial to the success of any business. Visit our latest news to keep up to date with the latest business news from across the region.
Connections are crucial to the success of any business. Visit our latest news to keep up to date with the latest business news from across the region.
Connections are crucial to the success of any business. Visit our latest news to keep up to date with the latest business news from across the region.
Blogs
Check out our blogs section where Chamber representatives, members and high-profile business figures write about a range of topics. If you are a member and want to submit a blog, please click here.
Cross-selling – The secret technique that boosts sales
By Chloé Cordell | Sales-i
In 2020 so far, 69% of Americans have shopped online and 25% of those do so at least once per month. But with 47% of these shoppers buying additional products following their first item, it’s clear that the cross-selling techniques used by retailers on eCommerce websites should be adopted by many businesses. Cross-selling is encouraging customers to buy additional, related products before they commit to their order. Having an eCommerce website suggest complementary products in a recommended section is often too much temptation for most shoppers and there is a high probability they will add to their basket. But it’s not just online giants that use these strategies, brands such as Staples, Asos,...
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Why digital technologies will be crucial to our post Covid-19 economic recovery
By Wendy Sycamore | BT Group
As we work together to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s sobering to take a moment to reflect on just how big an impact the crisis has had on both our home and working lives. BT Group has seen a significant rise in demand on both our fixed and mobile networks, as people stayed at home during the lockdown and millions of people migrated towards working from home. Our networks have stood up well to this challenge and have been extremely resilient, but the predicament we all find ourselves in has prompted questions about what the ‘new normal’ might look like when we emerge from this pandemic. As part of Birmingham, and the wider UK’s, longer-term economic recovery it’s important that we collectively...
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We hear it everywhere but what is Globalisation?
By Romit Limbu | ALM Translations
Simply put, globalisation is the process of connecting different countries, cultures, customs and information available through trade and commerce. Connecting countries and cultures across the world have been an endeavour pursued by us as a species since the beginning of civilisation. The Silk Road is a perfect example. The Silk Road evolved further via the spice trade routes all made possible by ships that could transport both people and goods to the ends of the earth. Even today, this mode of transport is still essential for distributing goods around the world. Between the 1800s and early 1900s, rail travel allowed for more interconnected cities, thus making the economies of countries and...
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Reimagining Birmingham’s public transport options
By Fiona Woolston | Copper Consultancy
Copper Consultancy’s Senior Account Manager, Fiona Woolston, examines Birmingham’s upcoming e-scooter trial and how targeted engagement and communications is vital to converting individuals to new modes of transports. As lockdown restrictions are eased, regional and local authorities are exploring how public transport users can maintain social distancing. Implementing physical space between rail, tram and bus commuters is challenging, even with fewer people using these services. Cycling and walking have been championed as alternatives, with the government pledging £2 billion to boost active travel and relieve pressure on public transport. Alas, these options are not accessible to all due to...
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Perfect passwords
By Jason Tedale | Hipposerve
Ok, hands up – who here uses the same password – or the same group of passwords for the majority of their logins? Well you would be in good company, as it is thought that about 80% of people do just that. Up until a few years ago I did exactly the same. I had my old trusted group of passwords that I had been using – well forever it seemed! I had one I used for my banking. One I used for my computer login, and another I used for everything else, email, website memberships, app logins – LITERALLY EVERYTHING else. Password Breach Then one day, I was using updating my website and the security plugin threw up a warning. It has a tool that analyses the integrity of a password and was able to tell...
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How furloughed managers can still contribute
By Claire Evans | STAR Manager
The Coronavirus crisis has had a huge impact on every aspect of our lives, not least, on employment. The Government’s lockdown has meant that for many businesses, commerce has all but dried up, and many are having to mothball their businesses and furlough their employees for an indeterminate period. Whilst this might be a life-line for your organisation, with so many being paid to sit at home, is there anything useful at all that your managers are allowed to do whilst they’re furloughed? What can furloughed managers do? If you find yourself with a workforce that includes furloughed managers, rather than simply expecting them to down tools completely, you may want to give some thought to...
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Let’s get (and stay) motivated
By Clare Whalley | Meta4 Business Coaching
Aside from the all-important question of, “is it OK to market?”, the second most frequent plight from business owners during these times has been, “how do I stay motivated?”. Every single business across the land has been affected one way or another, from major staffing challenges through to establishing new ways of continuing delivering to customers within serious limitations, whilst simultaneously managing children at home or vulnerable family members with their own pressing needs. No easy feat! This has seen an uprise in a rollercoaster of emotions to which I am sure you can relate. A positive mindset should never be underestimated in business and the need for it has never been more prevalent....
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Home-maker wife compensated for sacrificing her career in divorce settlement
By Mauro Vinti | Sydney Mitchell LLP
Despite the drive towards achieving economic equality between the sexes, it remains common for women to give up their promising careers to support their husbands and devote themselves to child rearing and home-making. An important High Court ruling addressed the burning issue of how such sacrifices should be quantified in money terms in the event of divorce. The case concerned a former couple who met when they were both working for a leading law firm. After their relationship blossomed, they decided that it would be inappropriate for them to continue working together. He remained at the firm, becoming a very highly paid equity partner, whereas she took an in-house position at a bank, which yielded...
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On reflection: Birmingham, ‘readying for the restart’
By Joseph Moore | Copper Consultancy
As Birmingham begins to emerge from lockdown and the infrastructure and construction sectors ramp up activity, Joseph Moore, Senior Account Executive at Copper Consultancy, delves into how the second city can respond to the challenges of ‘restarting’ the city’s post-COVID-19 economic growth and what the future holds for the city’s development plans. The city of Birmingham is at a critical juncture in its development. Prior to the introduction of lockdown measures on 23rd March 2020, the city was steaming ahead – preparatory works were underway for the delivery of HS2’s Curzon Street Station, the construction of Arena Central and the Paradise development was in progress and the city’s plans to...
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Why you should take the leap and start up a fledgling business
By Lisa Attenborough | LA Consulting
While we are in the midst of very uncertain times and will be looking at a different world when we emerge from this unusual period, now may be exactly the right time to think about your future and start planning for it. Economies will need more entrepreneurs and start-ups and if you’ve been mulling over a new business idea, these are some of the burning questions or concerns that people often ask me when thinking about getting a new business off the ground: Isn’t a new business bound to fail in this economic climate? Not if you’re looking in the right place and you’re adding value in the business supply chain. Many new businesses have started up in the past few months, finding new products...
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