The cumulative cost of regulation since 1998 has risen to £55.6 billion. The regulatory burden is continuing to grow at an incredible rate.

One of the national Chamber campaigns focuses on the cost of regulations. We need you to tell us how your business is affected.

We are looking for specific business case studies of firms affected by red tape for national media coverage. In particular we would like firms who have just started up and are willing to talk about the difficulties that they have faced and firms who say they are being held back from growing due to regulatory burden. Ideally these will be firms that are ‘interesting’ and have a good story to tell.

If you feel that you have a story to tell, please contact Maresa Molloy, Head of Policy & Information at Liverpool Chamber on 0151 227 1234 ex 2234 or email policy@liverpoolchamber.org.uk.

Alternatively, tell us your experiences by leaving a comment here on the blog.

As a business grows and becomes sucessful it can be very easy for it to lose the personal touch that made it so attractive to customers in the first place.

Direct mail can talk to your customers by name in the way that you no longer can. There are a few other benefits . . .

Personal
Addressed mail is literally designed to reach an individual. Mailings can have a unique design to suit each particular recipient and mail comes straight to people’s hands and gets their full attention.

Universal
Everyone consumes mail and Royal Mail provides access to virtually everyone in the UK.

Tailored
Mail can be personalised to individuals or groups. That unique flexibility enables greater relevance, delivering greater impact and often applying data already provided by the customer.

Targeted
Mail can focus on the relevant audience i.e. by interest, demographics, purchase or behaviour. This reduces waste as your message only goes to those that you select.

Direct
Mail doesn’t compete with and is not dependent on other communications in magazines, newspapers online, so it delivers much greater engagement and understanding.

Flexible & Creative
Mail has few restrictions in size weight and colour leading to limitless creative possibilities. The creativity cuts through and gets people talking.

Measurable
Mail is one of the easiest media to measure; responses can be attributed to a specific activity.

Portable
A letter, leaflet, brochure or mail pack can be taken anywhere. Customers love the fact that they are in control and can read information when it’s convenient to them.

Physical
Mail is the only medium to provide the creative possibilities to engage the customers on all levels.

Complementary
As part as an integrated campaign, mail has a strong role in providing personal, compelling messages delivered directly to recipients own hands and household. Case studies show how it not only builds short and long term effects but is often kept for reference, prolonging the brand presence and deepening the communication effect.

With accelerated learning you’ll get all you really to fulfil your true potential and make a difference.

This course has a dual accreditation with an independent moderator, endorsement from the Institute of Leadership and Management (who are the largest leadership and management awarding body in the U.K. they are also part of the City & Guilds Group) and accreditation from the Liverpool Coaching Academy.

The Accelerated Learning course is a four day course running on the 3rd/6th/12th/13th of December 2007.

This course is ideal for you if you -

• have the responsibility for training people.
• find it difficult to present in public.
• are searching for a new career.
• want to coach and share your knowledge and experience.
• are a Manager who wants to increase your team’s performance.
• are a business owner who wants to motivate and train their own staff.

Member cost: £975.00

Non-member cost: £975.00

Venue: Liverpool Coaching Academy.

Contact Name: Alma Mayers

Contact Tel: 0150 224 1883

Contact Email: alma.mayers@liverpollchamber.org.uk

As part of the Chamber’s belief that businesses views need to be heard by politicians - and the best people to put across those views are business people themselves - Liverpool Chamber regularly hosts meeting with local MPs.

Louise Ellman, as MP for Riverside covering the city centre, has always shown great interest in the issues facing business will be meeting businesses on Friday 7th December.

Issues raised are under Chatham House rules (i.e. anything discussed cannot be attributed to an individual) and the Chamber’s policy team use the comments made to inform future lobbying.

The meeting takes place 11.00 a.m - 12.30 (Lunch included) in Council Chamber, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce.

Member cost - £12.50, non-member cost - £12.50. Numbers are strictly limited so if you wish to attend please contact nicky.lunt@liverpoolchamber.org.uk or call 0151 227 1234 x 2237.

You can also book your place online.

As part of its commitment in investing in skills and sharing best practice, Investors in People Champion Merseytravel is holding a joint event with Investors in People UK, Unionlearn and the LSC. This will showcase the approach Merseytravel has taken in relation to Investors in People and the benefits they have seen from using the Standard and working in partnership with other organisations such as UnionLearn and the LSC.

This free event will take place on 5 December 2007, at Merseytravel’s Head Office, 24 Hatton Garden, Liverpool.

Speakers include Neil Scales, Chief Executive and Director General at Merseytravel, Frances Graham, Head of Skills Investors in People UK, Liz Smith, Director of Unionlearn and Paul Holme, Regional Skills Director for the North West.

The event is all day from 9.30am til 4pm, further info and booking details are available from Andy Thornton on 0151 330 1269 or by email at andy.thornton@merseytravel.gov.uk.

Liverpool Chamber is nurturing start-ups and young businesses to encourage them to grow through successfully bidding for tenders.

Kevin Griffiths, Liverpool Chamber’s Director of Commercial Services said: “This ESF funded project will provide free training and support to new and young companies, providing the necessary entrepreneurial skills and business knowledge for them to successfully bid for a variety of tender opportunities.”

Training will consist of ‘hand holding’ the young companies in how to identify and write bids for the tenders and guidance on the type of information they should have before they tender.

In addition to guidance, Liverpool Chamber will be producing a guidance booklet on public sector tendering and giving the companies access to a series of ‘Meet the Buyer’ events and registration on LiverpoolTenders.com, a web-based tender alert service which simplifies the way that small businesses access information on tenders.

Kevin continued: “We aim to develop a best practice network of tenderers, increasing their competitiveness by assisting them to increase their turnover, efficiency and profitability through enabling access to wider markets.”

For further information or to pre-register, contact June Davies on 227 1234 or email june.davies@liverpoolchamber.org.uk.