The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has today released its 2009 Burdens Barometer - the first time it has been published during a recession.

The Barometer shows that the cumulative cost to business of new regulation since 1998 has risen to £76.81 billion. This is a jump of over £10 billion from last year.

There is a positive note to this year’s Barometer with 18 regulations since 1998 now producing a total saving for business worth £1.4 billion. This is evidence that the government’s better regulation agenda is beginning to do its job. However, considering the current financial pressures on many firms, much more needs to be done to immediately reduce the overall burden.

With business cash-flow being severely squeezed and many good firms going bust, the uncomfortable truth is that despite three Acts of Parliament designed to reduce the regulatory impact, the steady increase continues.

In 2007/08, companies were hit with 19 new regulations costing them £1.75 billion.

The two most burdensome regulations in the Barometer are:

• Working Time Regulations 1999. To date this has cost business £17.8 billion with a recurring annual cost of £1.8 billion.
• Vehicle Excise Duty (Reduced Pollution) (Amendment) Regulations 2000 (EU Pollution Directive 98/69/EC). To date this has cost business £10.4 billion with a recurring cost of £1.2 billion.

Commenting David Frost, Director General of the BCC, said:

“Businesses are facing the toughest economic environment for a generation. Company cash-flow is being squeezed and unemployment is growing as a result.

“The government needs to get serious about reducing the massive burden of regulation on business. Cutting unnecessary burdens and announcing a moratorium on new regulations set to come in this year, is one way of providing instant and inexpensive help to British firms.”

Professor Francis Chittenden of Manchester Business School, said:

“After more than a decade of uncontrolled and often ineffective regulation, government must build on these welcome early signs of improvement by introducing regulatory budgets to contain the flow of new burdens on business.”

Thursday 16 April 2009

10am - 12.30pm (including lunch)

Venue - One Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9HG

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and the China-British Business Council (CBBC) invite you to this seminar, sponsored by Cathay Pacific and supported by the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce to help companies in the North-West of England identify and explore opportunities in China’s regional cities.

The seminar is suitable for:

• companies considering entry into the Chinese market or already operating in China and wish to expand their markets
• companies interested in learning about how the current economic climate is affecting the attractiveness of China as a whole as a place to do business
• companies interested in how the UK government can help support business development in China.

Plus the chance to win tickets and hotel stay in China with Cathay Pacific and Shangri-la Hotels and Resorts -

A chance to win one of two Business class tickets flying to any destination in China on the Cathay Pacific and Dragonair network, including a stopover in Hong Kong AND two-nights complimentary stay at either Island Shangri-La or Kowloon Shangri-La in Hong Kong plus three-nights stay at any hotels in China under the Shangri-la chain.  The prize draw will only be available to registered delegates who attend the Regional Cities events. Full details will be provided at the event.

Cost per ticket -  £34.50 per person (£30 + £4.50 VAT)

For further information please contact Echo Wang at CBBC London, tel: 020 7802 2029 or email: 4Echo.Wang@cbbc.org

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 The BBC say:

Entrepreneurs from across the country once again have a chance to make their business dreams come true by appearing on Dragons’ Den. If you’re genuinely seeking investment for your business idea or invention, we’d like to hear from you.

In the most recent series, 14 entrepreneurs received offers of investment in the Den, with many more going on to find success even without the backing of the dragons.

Last year when three entrepreneurs faced the Dragons they had only dreamt of success for their company, BLINDSINABOX. James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne immediately saw the potential in their innovative product, a paper blind which fits any window, and gave them a much needed investment. Now, with their Dragon support, Simeone Salik , Dominic Lawrence and Janice Dalton are celebrating as a major high street retailer has announced plans to stock the product in all 700 of their stores.

The rules are simple: entrepreneurs can ask for cash investment in return for equity in their business. However, they must get the at least amount they ask for or they will walk away with nothing. The Dragons are prepared to listen to a pitch for any kind of business but they must be convinced that it will make money.

As demonstrated by the investments in the last six series, ideas, businesses and products that meet some or all of the following criteria stand a good chance of securing the Dragons’ interest:

· The Unique Selling Point: a product that serves a need like nothing else.

· Scalability: something that can be up scaled to make real money.

· Route to Market: the clear way the product can be sold and marketed.

· Mutually Beneficial Arrangement: just what will the Dragons get out of it?

· Exit Strategy: a plan of how the entrepreneur/Dragon will exit and make money.

The BBC is currently searching for Britain’s best entrepreneurs and will be auditioning throughout the coming months. We want to hear from anyone who thinks they’ve got what it takes to enter the Dragons’ Den.

If you would like an application form please send an e-mail to dragonsden@bbc.co.uk, telephone 0871 200 3003 (Calls cost 10p per minute from a BT Landline, other operators and mobiles may be higher) or visit www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden where you can also find details of an exciting new opportunity to pitch to two new Online Dragons.

We all have a duty to help in reducing carbon emissions as well as encouraging good work place practices that reduce waste and extravagance. The HR function should help lead the way by pro-actively encouraging the business and the workforce to adopt some simple measures to make reductions.

Here are some simple ways in which the business and the environment can benefit.

a.      Switch it off - Switch off unnecessary lighting - with the lighter days do we need that light or is it just for effect? Where lights are not needed for productive work or for health and safety reasons then make sure they are turned off. This will reduce costs and reduce the heat generated in an office

b.      Reducing monitor waste - Is that computer turned off? Don’t just let your laptop hibernate or your work station tick over, turn it off. At night when you leave the office do you check to make sure that both the hard drive and the monitor are switched off? The number of monitors that hum along on stand by eating up power all night is colossal. Turn it off!

c.      Turn it off last thing - Have an employee designated to check the building last thing to make sure that equipment that does not have to be switched on or on stand by is turned off. Make sure that the lights are turned down and heating is kept to a minimum.

d.      Temperature control - Ensure that all radiators have individual thermostats that actually work. This will enable the heat in a room to be adjusted for ambient temperature to suite the individuals working in that room. Make sure that they some sort of default maximum setting so that heating costs are reduced.

e.      Is that journey necessary? - Think before making a business journey, could it be done in a better way. Is it necessary at this time or can it be combined with another journey? Can video/telephone conferencing be used instead?

f.       Do you have to use a vehicle?- If the destination is close can you walk, could you cycle - is that practical? By allowing more time to go to close locations many may be in walking range. The benefit then is at least two fold - healthy exercise and cost reduction.

g.      Is that printed copy needed? - Why do we seem to have to print every thing that is sent when an electronic copy and back up would almost certainly suffice? The amount of paper that is wasted is considerable and with paper and print costs climbing thing before you print.

h.      Was that photocopy required?- How many of us take an extra copy just in case and what is the cost to business as well as to the environment? Try to think electronically. If a copy is needed for a meeting can it be sent electronically first and perhaps just one copy available at the meeting. Attendees could share information copies to reduce the number needed.

i.        Is that printer necessary?- a good way to help reduce printing costs is to cut the number of network printers and stop buying individual desk printers. Undertake an audit of the staff who really need a printer, they should be only the ones who have to print confidential information and even then only those who need to do it on a regular substantial basis. Think electronically and reduce costs.

j.        Stop web surfing- Many business costs are compounded by individual staff surfing the web for their own purposes at work. There is a considerable cost in lost time but many of these web searches result in reams of paper being used for helpful hints and advertising and holiday searches. Be firm, be fair but put an end to it. It’s costing the business money in many ways and HR must act positively to discourage this waste. Let the staff web surf from designated PCs only and make sure that they are not linked to a printer! The internet is for business use and so only needs to be accessible to a few people who need it to maintain the client service at acceptable levels.

These are just a few of the hints and tips that are available all across the business network. HR needs to help business cut costs and maintain margins as the credit crunch hardens. Think ‘is something really necessary, is there a better cheaper more environmentally sound way of doing something or providing some information?’ Prepare a policy and send it electronically to your staff. Explain the sense of reducing print costs both in hard and soft ware.

It is the role of HR to act in the best interests of the business look for savings, consider reductions and recommend positive steps.

For more information and assistance visit the ChamberHR website www.chamberhr.co.uk

Alan Hunt - Qdos Consulting Limited providers of ChamberHR

Liverpool Chamber’s CEO, Jack Stopforth, has penned a few words to help stop the confusion many people seem to have about what it is we actually do:

The celebrated management thinker and erstwhile Liverpool University lecturer C. Northcote Parkinson (of Parkinson’s Law fame) once wrote, “A failure to communicate produces a vacuum which is quickly filled with drivel, misrepresentation and poison”. How right he was. Another aphorism is that “when communication fails it is the fault of the transmitter, not the receiver”. Therefore, with some embarrassment I have to concede that our transmitter must be faulty.

Nationally, more than 5 million people work in businesses that are members of an accredited Chamber of Commerce, but every day I encounter businesspeople who know little or nothing about Chambers generally and Liverpool Chamber in particular.

In these interesting times, it has never been more important for businesses to appreciate the business opportunity represented by their local Chamber of Commerce and yet some frequently asked questions include:

“Aren’t you part of the Council?” - To which the answer is either “No” or “Hell, no!” depending on how upset we are with the debacle of the day. We are a business generating revenue through subscriptions and commercial services, from training to international trade. Think AA or RAC and you have a better feel for the business model.

“Aren’t you all about ‘funny handshakes’?” - Certainly not. We are not a secret society, a charity or a club. We are not Freemasons or Knights of St Columbus. We are a business whose job it is to promote the best interests of business. We have more than 1800 businesses in membership and this year we anticipate a turnover in excess of £9 million. Membership is open to all.

“Isn’t it all old men in suits?” - We have a young woman as Chair of the Chamber’s Council and another as Vice Chair of the Board. My Deputy CEO is female and a majority of our 90 staff (just) are, too. These include our Head of Members’ Services, Head of Policy, Events Manager and the General Manager of our training business, Trident Training. As for the “old men”, the average age of our board of directors, sadly excluding our Chairman and me, is around 42. Factor us in and it rises to 46.

“What is your day job?” - Some people assume that running the Chamber is a community service and that I must surely earn my daily bread doing something else. In fact, this is the fullest “full time job” I have ever had. With a multi-million pounds turnover, ninety staff, a Members Council, Board of Directors and latticework of committees to service, the Chamber takes a bit of managing.

“Sounds like a talking shop” - No it is not. We take businesses on international trade missions, train young people in business administration and other skills and run non-partisan political campaigns to ensure that politicians take the views of business into account, whether in Wavertree or Westminster.  We work with the police to tackle business related crime, we help people start up in business and we help existing businesses procure substantial new accounts. Oh, and for every business event we run, there is a corresponding social do, so we like to have fun.

So there you go. Visit us at www.liverpoolchamber.org.uk to learn more, or call us on 0151 227 1234 if you’d rather speak to a real live person.

Calling all Liver Birds!

Liverpool’s famous waterfront will be awash with women pounding the prom to help defeat lung cancer, in the city centre’s first charity midnight walk.

Starting and finishing at the Pier Head, home of the world famous ‘Liver Birds’, on Friday 8 May 2009, the 9km walk takes in many of the spectacular waterfront views that the city boasts at night. The route is suitable for women of all ages and abilities, although entrants must be at least 16 years old.

The event is being organised by The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, in partnership with Wild Thang, the ultimate merchandise resource. The charity hopes to recruit 1,000 up-for-it ‘Liver Birds’ to take part in its first ever ladies-only sponsored midnight walk. Entry is limited so early registration is advised.

Registration for the walk is just £10, which includes a free T-shirt and sponsor forms for every participant. For more details and to register on-line please visit www.roycastle.org/liverbirds

The Performing Rights Society (PRS) are launching a consultation on their code of practice.

The British Chambers of Commerce are going to use our response to communicate to the PRS the bad experiences of many of our members and to lobby for a change in their working methods.

Given the interest of the Network in the PRS and their tactics, below is a link to a very short survey (4 questions) which it would be useful if our members could fill in. The survey will close on April 17th.

Take the short survey here.

We have been asked by the BBC to circulate the following info regarding Children In Need Committee vacancies:

BBC Children in Need is seeking to recruit individuals with extensive and demonstrable experience of improving outcomes for children and young people to provide independent, objective contributions to its Northern Regional Committee which is responsible for distributing around £8m annually to organisations delivering services for children and young people on a not for profit basis.

The Northern Regional Committee is the key mechanism for advising the Trustees on which organisations should be funded by BBC Children in Need in the North of England, an area which covers Yorkshire & Humber, North Lincolnshire, the North East, the North West and Cumbria.

This is an opportunity to ensure that BBC Children in Need funds projects which fulfil its mission to positively change the lives of disadvantaged children and young people in the UK and that  funds are distributed across the Northern Region in an effective and objective manner.

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Gas Safe RegisterT

Gas safety in Great Britain is changing. CORGI gas registration ends in Great Britain on 31 March and will no longer apply to gas safety law.

From 1 April, all gas engineers must be on the new Gas Safe RegisterT to do gas work lawfully.  So from April, always ask for a Gas Safe registered engineer.  And always ask to see their ID card. Be gas safe.

For more information go to www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk or call 0800 408 5500.

THE UNITY THEATRE
LIVERPOOL
1-4 APRIL 2009: 8PM
Box Office Telephone: 0151 709 4988

“If you aim at Heaven then you get earth thrown in.
If you merely aim at Earth, you finish up with nothing.”
C S Lewis

‘Aiming at Earth’ is set in 1961 and is built around ten characters,
all of whom live in the streets off the once bustling Scotland Road
area, where John Dillon was born and where he spent his formative
years. It is not a ‘rose tinted’ nostalgic look at ‘the good old days
down Scottie’ but a reflection of the true strengths and weaknesses
that existed within that community. There is much humour to be
found in the dialogue and relationships but there is also ignorance
and innocence, tension and tragedy.

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