1430 - 1700 pm, 12th December 2008
Council Chamber, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce

Seminar: Impacts of Credit Crunch on Post-Olympics China Market
1430 - 1530

What should British business make of the impacts generated by the Beijing Olympics? Will China or Beijing suffer a post Olympics blue?

Will China be affected by the credit crunch? Will China’s economy slow down significantly or will China be the new opportunity for the global economic growth? What are the policies of Chinese government toward UK-China trade and investment? How should the importers, exporters and investors reposition themselves and change their China strategy under the new global uncertainty? Will China continue to be the workshop of the world? Where will be the new growing hotspots in China? What are other potential new challenges and opportunities?

Speakers at the seminar to cover the topics include:

• Jack Stopforth, CEO, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce
• Mr. Ni Jian, Chinese Consul General in Manchester (to be confirmed)
• Dr. Kegang Wu, CEO ChinaDirect UK and Consultant to Liverpool Chamber

China Market Trade Clinics
1530 - 1700

You will have an opportunity to book an one to one session with Dr. Kegang Wu, consultant to Liverpool Chamber and a leading China market adviser in the UK market to discuss specific project or issue of China market.

The Chamber have been operating a number of services and programme in supporting Merseyside companies in international trade and a member of the Chamber’s team will be available to discuss with you about our current / future programmes, please specific one of the following topics when you  book:

• Finical support for SME companies in Merseyside
• ERDF China programme

The seminar and trade clinics are free. You could attend any one of them or both of them.

For more information or to book, please email: chinalink@liverpoolchamber.org.uk

Options to meet the capacity challenge in Merseyside were unveiled today as Network Rail, on behalf of the rail industry, launched a consultation on a new strategy to shape the future of rail travel in the area.

The Merseyside Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) predicts that passenger numbers using the Merseyside rail network could increase by 40% by 2020, and seeks to accommodate this demand by improving links between Liverpool city centre and Chester, north Wales, Southport, Ormskirk, Preston and Wigan.

The RUS looks at the impact population, employment and housing forecasts will have on demand for rail services, and subsequently estimates rail usage over the next 10 years in the context of longer-term growth. It sets out the industry’s preferred strategy that could be adopted to help meet this demand.

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Tens of thousands of new trees are to be planted in Liverpool to create a new community woodland that will form the legacy of the City’s status as European cultural capital in 2008.

More than £700,000 of regeneration funding is to be invested by a partnership of Liverpool and Northwest organisations to transform 25ha of brownfield land in the West Derby area. The project is striving to create ‘the world’s most colourful woodland’, which will also be a showpiece for the city’s forthcoming ‘Year of the Environment’ (2009).

This new community and cultural woodland for Liverpool is situated off Mab Lane in West Derby and incorporates a former playing field and an area of land known locally as ‘the back field’ close to Stockbridge village and Croxteth Country Park.

£440,000 of investment for this project has been provided by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) via the NWDA and Forestry Commission-partnership programme, Newlands.  Further funding has come form the Forestry Commission through their English Woodland Grant Scheme, The Riverside Group via the Big Lottery’s Changing Spaces programme, the Mersey Forest via Objective 1 (ERDF) funding and Liverpool City Council.

Businesses of all shapes and sizes are now being invited to enter the 2009 Northwest Business Environment Awards.

They can nominate themselves, via a simple application entry form, in one or more of the following award categories:

• Best Environmental Practice (products and service)
• Built Environment
• Sustainable Procurement
• Environmental Innovation and Environmental Champions.

The awards are a great way to let customers and staff hear about your hard work. Winning an award can help raise profiles and boost reputations as well as gaining recognition from the high-profile media and marketing campaign.

Previous finalists have all cited the awards as a great opportunity to demonstrate their green credentials.

Entry to the awards is free and easy, and I have taken the liberty of attaching the entries forms. Entry can be made online at the Mersey Basin website.

If you would like to discuss your entry in more detail, please contact the Mersey Basin Campaign direct on 0161 242 8200.

Closing date for entries is February 2nd 2009.

Are you looking for something special as a gift this year?

Then check out the annual selling exhibition from the Mersey Jewellers And Metal Artists Network (MJMAN) - Sparkle 08.

The event takes place over the first and second weekends in December.

It’s a great opportunity to pick up hand-made jewellery, craft and art at reasonable prices. The event is always popular and you are sure to find something as a  gift (or even for yourself).

The exhibition is taking place in the Old Barber’s Shop on School Lane, to the left of the entrance to the Blue Coat Chambers.

Dates:

Thurs 4th Dec 5 til 8pm
Sat 6th Dec 10.30 til 5.30pm
Sun 7th Dec 10.30 til 5.30pm

Thurs 11th Dec 5 til 8pm
Sat 13th Dec 10.30 til 5.30pm
Sun 14th Dec 10.30 til 5.30pm

Get directions with Google maps

During these testing times, it’s almost inevitable that some companies will have to resort to redundancies.

So it’s vital to handle these issues responsibly from the start.

Don’t forget, your Chamber membership gets you free HR support and advice from Chamber HR

No employer should consider this measure before taking professional advice at the outset, indeed it should be before the outset.

In many cases professional advisors can help long before a redundancy situation has to be considered. Remember that in tough times although employees are a major cost burden, good motivated employees are also a positive asset to have on board to help you steer through the changing climate of the economic downturn. A well handled re-evaluation programme can help you focus on the profitable parts of your business, assist you with retaining essential staff and in a final resort look at measures to cut costs which can include restrictions on recruitment, reduced use of agency staff, short time working, lay off and maybe redundancy.

However, redundancy should be one of a range of options considered and usually only considered when all else has failed. Redundancy can lead to loss of skills and abilities within the workplace. It will almost certainly lead to loss of morale and faith and that in turn will lead to even more employees leaving, sometimes your best. So a well handled redundancy situation is not about just shedding jobs but about handling it in a sensible manner dealing with the challenges of keeping the workforce focused, retaining the best and shedding jobs as a last resort.

It is also about ensuring that when it is done it is carried out properly and avoids the high cost in terms of time and money that Tribunal claims can bring upon any employer, large or small.

One of the best ways to ensure that you handle the position properly is to take advantage of a specially prepared Redundancy handling consultancy provision that the advice service can offer. You can receive on site help as well as that all too crucial training for your managers. Training in, not only how to handle a redundancy, but how to avoid it where possible and if it becomes inevitable how to negotiate the shark ridden waters and emerge relatively unscathed at the other end with a sound group of rowers left in the boat with you.

Find out more about Chamber HR here.

Email our membership team if you can’t find you Chamber HR log-in details.

Chamber charity member The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation have come up with a fab idea to save you time this Christmas AND support a very worthy cause. Read on, gentle visitor…

Christmas is fast approaching and no doubt there’s a million and one things to do.

So, how’s this for a great idea?

Instead of writing Christmas cards to your work mates, why not write one cheery message to all of them on a specially designed poster (supplied by the Foundation), and give the money you would have spent on cards, to their worthy cause.

So, if you and your colleagues would like to give writer’s cramp a miss this year and support The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation at the same time, contact Janine or Liz on corporate@roycastle.org or ring 0151 254 7200 and they will send you a Christmas pack which has a specially designed poster on the back which can be displayed in the workplace for everyone to write their festive messages to each other on.

Chamber member Claire House would like to invite you all to their Christmas Fair/Light up a Life.

It’s this Saturday November 29 and it’s a great opportunity to come and see what Claire House is and the work that they do under the umbrella of a very festive Christmas theme.  This invite is not just for yourselves but to partners, friends, children or even your next door neighbour!

The day will be split into two:- 12.00-16.00 will be our Christmas fair where they will offer  tours, a chance for the children to meet Father Christmas and ofcourse mince pies for all. The later part of the day will be from 16.00 - 18.00 and this is when they will light their version of a Christmas tree.  It’s tree is made up of thousand and thousands of lights each representing the life of a child and the option is available to sponsor a light for £5. Its visually outstanding especially against the backdrop of Christmas carols and a glass of mulled wine.

Claire House Children’s Hospice
Clatterbridge Road
Bebington
Wirral

Trident Training, the training arm of Liverpool Chamber, is now offering an NVQ Level Two Certificatein Volunteering.

This qualification is suitable for those individuals who work within the voluntary sector.

It is designed to help learners understand the role of a volunteer within a voluntary organisation; understand the activities of voluntary organisations; understand the regulatory frameworks that may apply to being a volunteer; and identify the skills required to be a successful volunteer.

This course will allow for progression onto a Business Administration / Customer Service or IT NVQ at Level 2.

The course is delivered over a 10 week period (or 20 guided learning hours)  and there will be an element of self study with support packs provided.

Trident assigns each candidate a personal assessor, who will deliver the course at the candidate’s workplace or in a group situation within Trident Training’s state of the art training suite.

Once competence in the modules has been observed and worksheets/assignments have been completed, individuals will be awarded with an NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Volunteering.

There’s more info in this PDF

Or email Trident Training for further details.