Sail Training International, organisers of The Tall Ships’ Races, is holding its annual international Sail Training Conference in Liverpool at St George’s Hall on 16- 17 November this year. This is ahead of the Tall Ships Fleet arriving in Liverpool in July 2008 for the start of The Tall Ships’ Races 2008.

The conference is generously sponsored by Liverpool City Council. In addition to this we are giving local businesses the opportunity to support the Conference by sponsoring it through one of three sponsorship packages.

The conference will attract over 400 delegates of which approximately 200 will be senior representatives of ports and cities throughout Europe and further a-field. The other delegates will be representatives of sail training ships including owners and captains. Many of which will be competing in The Tall Ships Races in Liverpool next July along with their crews of thousands.

The conference programme includes 2 full days of presentations along with a reception for all delegates on the Friday evening and a Gala Conference dinner on the Saturday evening.

For more information contact Gwyn Brown, Business Development Director on 02392 586367 or 07802 640333 and by email at gwyn.brown@sailtraininginternational.org

Click ‘more’ for details of the Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsorship opportunities.

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The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, (DBERR, previously the DTI) has published a business users factsheet on the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive.

These are the regulations on the disposal of electrical and electronic goods, covering everything from PCs to hairdryers.

Read the factsheets on the DBERR website.

Did you know?

• That a contract of employment is required for all employees
• That if you do not have a compliant disciplinary and grievance procedure you may face a financial penalties in an employment tribunal
• If an employer has five or more employees that they have a statutory duty to have a Health and Safety Policy.

As a member of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, you can benefit from a free dedicated telephone advice line supported by a comprehensive website to provide you the necessary documentation and advice you need to implement good human resource practice.

Each year there are in excess of 100,000 employment disputes that result in employment tribunals. Our service will enable Chamber members to seek free invaluable advice from experts early on in a dispute and could help prevent issues escalating to litigation.

The service known as ChamberHR provides members with unlimited telephone Human Resource and Health & Safety advice lines and access to over 150 downloadable documents, letters, policies and procedures. Included with these documents are a compliant Contract of Employment and a Health & Safety Policy. Businesses need to ensure that their employees have a Contract of Employment and if they employ more than five people, they have a statutory obligation to have a written Health & Safety Policy. Failure to comply could lead to financial penalties being imposed by an employment tribunal.

ChamberHR is also complimentary to the Chamber Legal Expenses scheme therefore offering additional peace of mind by subscribing to this scheme. As a result not only will you receive proactive advice through ChamberHR but also reactive insurance to cover the cost of representation and awards in respect of Employment Tribunal claims. Currently there is no ceiling on awards related to discrimination including Race, Sex and Age.

The ChamberHR service is provided by Qdos Consulting, who, are a long established consultancy company providing services to Accountants, Lawyers and Businesses.  For more information on ChamberHR or to obtain your log in and password details, please contact  Jenny Stewart at Liverpool Chamber of Commerce on  0151 227 1234 or email jenny.stewart@liverpoolchamber.org.uk.

Protecting our membership from business risk is a key objective of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce so this partnership with local Broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson and AIG Europe is designed to both highlight the issue of poor risk management and insurance cover as well as provide an innovative product solution.

Jenny Stewart, Head of Membership commented: “Businesses fail every day not because they have a bad idea but because something unfortunate happened to them. In business, as in life, many of us don’t want to think about the risks we are facing. A simple assessment of the risks you have and then a conversation with a broker about putting in place a good insurance policy is going to be the difference between who survives a disaster and who goes out of business. The research on business failure after a crisis makes very sober reading and the message about the need for planning and insurance protection couldn’t be starker. That’s why we feel it is important to work with JLT and AIG Europe to try and spread the word within the small business community in Liverpool.”

Chamber Risk Insurance offers packaged and combined insurance solutions usually enjoyed by large corporates. It offers a comprehensive range of policies designed to provide protection that goes beyond ordinary package cover closing the recognised gaps in standard SME insurance offerings.And what’s more JLT and AIG Europe will also be offering Liverpool Chamber members competitive premiums on their cutting-edge small business insurance products.

Just give us a call on 0845 347 1517 for a quote today.

Wednesday 19 September sees one of Merseyside’s biggest business fairs in its new home at Aintree Racecourse.

With free entry and free parking, over 100 businesses and range of free seminars designed to help your company to grow, you’ll have the opportunity to meet a wide range of potential buyers and suppliers, get sound advice from business experts, FREE one-to-one marketing clinics with the Chartered Institute of Marketing and opportunities to network & prize draws.

Seminars include:

• 10am Waste Minimisation
• 10.30am Successful Negotiations
• 11.30am Maximise Your Training Budget
• 12:00pm Widening the Talent Pool
• 12:45pm Your Office on The Move
• 1:30pm Set Up Your Own Website For Free in 30 Minutes
• 11:15am Public Thirst For Director Accountability
• 2:15pm Successful Marketing on a Shoestring

The business fair is open from 9.30 am - 4pm to find out more contact:

Knowsley Chamber of Commerce - 0151 477 1356

Sefton Chamber of Commerce - 01704 531710

Quantum Event Management - 0800 652 6665