St John Ambulance has recently launched a LinkedIn group, St John Ambulance First Aid at Work (FAW) Training to help local business people with workplace first aid and health and safety issues.

Experts in first aid and health and safety such as Richard Evens, Commercial Training Director, and Clive James, Training Development Manager from St John Ambulance will be on hand to provide free advice to members of the forum.

Chamber members should note that the LinkedIn forum is very much an information service and provides an opportunity to discuss and ask questions about health and safety.

To join the forum you should have a LinkedIn account, and once logged on to the LinkedIn site, just apply to join the St John Ambulance FAW Training forum.

Chamber of Commerce members are entitled to a 10% discount off all St John Ambulance business training courses in the North West. (Terms and conditions apply). Call 0844 770 4800 or visit sja.org.uk/training

Liverpool Chamber member,  accountants Mitchell Charlesworth is warning small firms to be wary of a slew of inaccurate fines being issued in the last month by HM Revenue & Customs for late submissions of end-of year tax returns.

Mitchell Charlesworth issued its plea after the case of Hok Ltd v HMR&C, which saw the firm’s £400 fine for failing to file a P35 reduced to £100, because the penalty was not sent out until four months after the error was made.

Mitchell Charlesworth payroll manager Joanne Nieman said a raft of companies have been hit by similar fines over the last month. 

She is now urging any firm worried or concerned about fines related to the late filing of Employers Annual Return forms to contact a payroll specialist immediately.

“The fine structure has seen businesses being charged per month after missing the tax return deadline,” said Mrs Nieman. “But critically many of these firms weren’t informed until several months down the line. It is a

ludicrous scenario because many businesses would have remedied the situation much earlier had they been made aware.” She added: “Many firms have taken the matter to tribunals and have been successful in getting these fines waived through formal appeals.

“Many new cases came to light in recent weeks when the HMR&C issued penalty notices for late P35s. This led accountants and lawyers to warn company owners to check their post.”

Mrs Nieman said HMR&C designed the timetable for issuing penalties to allow a reasonable period for employers to give notice if they have no return to make.

She added: “There are real problems with this penalty notice system. A number of first tier tax tribunal judges have criticised HMR&C for not issuing penalties earlier. We would advise anyone who feels a fine issued against them is unfair or excessive to seek help and challenge the appeal.”

A further HMR&C computing issue has seen a number of Mitchell Charlesworth clients receiving penalties for non-submission of P35 forms – despite logging nil returns with the HMR&C website.

The firm said that even though submission receipts were emailed to firms, nil return submissions had not been recorded.

Mrs Nieman added that a recent investigation at HMR&C revealed a problem in dealing with P35 ‘no return to make’ notifications. This has resulted in some penalty notices being issued in error.

Anyone seeking advice on P35 forms can email: enquiries@mitchellcharlesworth.co.uk or call Liverpool: 0151 255 2300

Merseyside’s membership and loyalty scheme One Card Liverpool has expanded its menu by signing three new dining partners to the card. One Card Liverpool provides members with a wide range of discounts and offers for over 130 venues and businesses in the region across the dining, retail, culture, attractions and wellbeing sectors.

New One Card Liverpool partners include eastzeast, the new Indian Restaurant at Kings Dock, Hanover Street Social Brasserie and Bar and Radisson Blu’s Filini and the White Bar. eastzeast and Filini will be offering members a 20 percent discount on food. Hanover Street Social will be offering a complimentary 500ml carafe of house wine when two people dine from the a la carte menu, whilst the White Bar will offer selected cocktails for £5.

South Liverpool based Laura’s Little Bakery has also joined forces with One Card Liverpool, offering cardholders the chance to win a selection of home-made cupcakes. Laura’s clients include Bold Street Coffee and local footballers, including LFC star Steven Gerrard.

The One Card has over 105,000 residential members and is signing over 1000 new members each month since the rebrand of the former 08 Card in April this year.

One Card Liverpool account manager Karen Podesta said: “I am delighted that such fantastic businesses are attracted to our scheme. We aim to offer our members deals and benefits from as wide a range of venues as possible. Our latest partners reflect our diverse offering. In today’s climate more and more people look for offers and discounts before eating out and our range of partners makes that easy, especially since we launched our One Card iPhone app, which allows our customers to view the latest offers on-the-go.”

For further information on the One Card Liverpool please visit www.onecardliverpool.co.uk or telephone 0151 235 8777.

Additional information can be found at

Facebook: www.facebook.com/onecardliverpool

Twitter: www.twitter.com/OneCardLpool

Bang & Olufsen of Liverpool, dealers in prestige home entertainment solutions will support Liverpool Philharmonic as a Corporate Member. 

Offering a further enhancement to their Corporate Membership support, the Liverpool Castle Street showroom of the prestige international company is extending an invitation to Liverpool Philharmonic supporters to visit them with their favourite Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra CD recording and listen to it through Bang and Olufsen’s high specification audio products.

Carl Hestford, Manager at Bang & Olufsen of Liverpool said:

“We know that Liverpool Philharmonic has an extensive back catalogue of acclaimed recordings, and that they’ve just won a prestigious Gramophone Award for one of their latest releases. We thought if would be a nice gesture to invite the orchestra’s supporters to try out the unique home listening experience that Bang & Olufsen offers. We believe it’s the next best thing to the unique experience of a live performance.

“Some of the team at Liverpool Philharmonic have already visited the showroom to listen for themselves.  They tell us that what they heard was quite extraordinary and said that the sound was so good it genuinely gave them goose bumps.”

Liverpool Philharmonic’s Corporate Membership scheme is tailored to suit the exact requirements of each individual partner company.  Partner benefits include hospitality opportunities, brand visibility, generous ticket allocations and invitations for partners’ employees to prestigious concerts and events. 

Charlie Taylor, Liverpool Philharmonic’s Development Manager said:

“Critical to Liverpool Philharmonic’s current success is the strong relationships that we have built with our sponsors and corporate partners. We’re therefore delighted to welcome Bang & Olufsen of Liverpool as a Corporate Member and are very grateful for their support.     Our corporate partners are held in the highest regard by our deeply committed audiences and we look forward to working with Carl and his team to ensure that our partnership generates significant value for his business.”

Pictured are Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra musicians Concettina Del Vecchio (violin), Cormac Henry (principal flute) and Richard Wallace (viola)

For further information about Liverpool Philharmonic’s Corporate Membership scheme and other ways for businesses to get involved with Liverpool Philharmonic, contact Charlie Taylor, Development Manager on 0151 21o 2903,  charlie.taylor@liverpoolphil.com.

A fast growing renewable energy company has moved to a new head office – seven times bigger than the one it has vacated – as it bids to keep pace with its rapid growth.

Liverpool Chamber member Eco Environments has signed a five-year lease on 9,000sq ft of office and warehouse space on Wellington Industrial Park South in Dunes Way, Liverpool.

The move to bigger premises coincides with a period of remarkable growth for the four-year-old company. The firm now employs 38 people compared to 11 at the same time last year and it is on course to increase turnover from £1.4million to £5million during the current financial year.

Eco Environments designs, installs and commissions renewable energy solutions for the domestic, commercial and construction sectors. It offers a comprehensive range of technologies including Solar Photovoltaic (PV), wind turbines, solar thermal and air source heat pumps. It is one of only a small number of companies to have successfully secured Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accreditations for all four of its specialist areas.
The company enjoys strong relationships with some of the world’s leading renewable energy manufacturers including Hyundai, Proven Energy, Sanyo and Sharp.

Mike Clarke, Eco Environments’ Managing Director, said: “We had been planning to move to bigger premises during 2012, but the company is growing so quickly we had to bring the date forward.

“The new offices and warehouse give us the space we need to move forward confidently with the next phase of our business growth.

“Wellington Industrial Park South provides modern facilities close to the city centre and has been built to extremely high standards which will help reduce our own energy bills and carbon footprint. We will even be installing a small ground mounted solar PV system.

“Our landlord Langtree has been superb, pulling out all the stops to help us move in quickly.”

Apart from its new head office in Liverpool, Eco Environments has regional offices in Carlisle, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham and St Asaph. During the next few months, further offices will open in the south of England. Staff numbers will also rise to approximately 60 during the current financial year.

Mike Clarke added: “We have laid strong foundations during the past four years and now have the right team, infrastructure and partnerships with some of the world’s leading manufacturers to achieve our objective of becoming the UK’s leading provider of renewable energy solutions.”

Apart from Mike, the senior management team at Eco Environments is made up of fellow directors David Hunt and Mark Buchanan and non-executive director and successful entrepreneur Steve Bramwell.

Wellington Industrial Park South is the first comprehensive industrial development in the North Liverpool Docks area for over ten years. Comprising a total of 103,000sq ft, it has been developed by Langtree.

Local residents’ membership and loyalty scheme One Card Liverpool (www.onecardliverpool.co.uk), has announced a record period of growth in the last six months. One Card Liverpool – the former 08 Card created by Livesmart to celebrate the Liverpool Capital of Culture – was launched in April of this year.  Since the rebrand, the One Card Liverpool has added over 1,000 new members each month, with a number of new partners joining forces with the card.

One Card Liverpool is a membership card which provides local residents with a combination of great offers and competitions from over 130 local venues and businesses from across the region.  The One Card website and newsletter also offer information on local events. The membership card currently has over 105,000 residential members.

Matthew Wood, Head of Technology and Operations at One Card Liverpool, said that the growth in members and business partners is due to a combination of the growing numbers of deals which are available to members and improvements made to the technology by which this information is delivered.

“We have been working hard at One Card Liverpool to create an up to date members card which meets all of the needs of the modern consumer,” he said.  “As the recession has continued to hit the UK, there has been a massive increase in demand for discounted deals from consumers who are looking for offers from their favourite venues. We have worked hard to sign up 130 of the region’s best venues, attractions and events organisers who provide us with exclusive deals which are available to One Card Liverpool cardholders only.  We have also worked hard to improve our technology to ensure our members receive news of these deals instantly. Our new services include our own iPhone and iPod touch application and One Card Loyalty Points Service.”

The One Card Liverpool application enables members to access the best offers when they are out and about. They simply present their card (or virtual card via the app) at the venue to benefit from the deal. The One Card Loyalty Points service is available via One Card Liverpool’s online virtual high street. By accessing and shopping through this site, members can earn points at selected national outlets, which include eBay, iTunes, John Lewis, easyJet and ToysrUs – which can then be redeemed at local One Card partner venues.

Matthew Wood said that these improvements were the result of a focused and passionate like-minded team.

“Prior to the rebrand, One Card Liverpool appointed Karen Podesta, who previously managed events for a range of organisations including the British Film Institute and the British Library. Karen’s ability to identify and work with an interesting range of businesses, venues and events has enabled us to sign up some of the best partners in the region for One Card Liverpool.”

Karen Podesta said: “I am delighted to be working back in Liverpool alongside so many fantastic attractions, venues and businesses. Working closely with such successful events as the Liverpool Shakespeare Festival and the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival have been recent highlights. The combination of my passion for local events and the city, and Matthew’s IT skills, has enabled us to provide both our partners and members with an improved offering.”

For further information on the One Card Liverpool please visit www.onecardliverpool.co.uk or telephone 0151 235 8777.  Additional information can be found at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/onecardliverpool

Twitter: www.twitter.com/OneCardLpool

Leading Liverpool accountancy firm and Liverpool Chamber member Mitchell Charlesworth is urging firms to be aware of looming changes to late payment law.

Mitchell Charlesworth which specialises in accountancy for small to medium sized businesses said the coalition government has announced it will fast-track adoption of the EU late payment directive – so that it can become a UK law in 2012, ahead of the 2013 deadline.

Mitchell Charlesworth Liverpool based partner Richard Johnson said the EU regulations set 30 days as standard terms for public and private sector organisations to pay invoices.

“This is very good news indeed for a lot of small firms managing tight cash flow,” he said. “For too long good businesses have been undermined - some fatally - by slow paying clients particularly big firms and the private sector. So we strongly urge firms to ensure they are fully aware of this legislation so they can actively enforce it as part of their credit control systems.”

Mr Johnson said the main points in the directive include public authorities having to pay suppliers within 30 days of being invoiced. He added that the directive introduces a cap on the maximum contractual payment period at 60 days, unless other terms are agreed.

Businesses will also be automatically entitled to claim interest on late payment and claim around £35 for recovery costs. The statutory interest rate will rise to at least 8 per cent, bringing it into line with the current UK standard.

In most cases payment terms beyond 60 days will be termed “grossly unfair” and hence unlawful.

Mr Johnson said: “Mitchell Charlesworth manages accounts for many SMEs across the region and there has long been a concern that larger companies are improving their cash flow at the expense of suppliers by delaying payment. Invoice management is a critical part of any business and it is essential that all business owners are clear on where they stand.

“In the past legislation added to late payment rules has been little used. The new limits which the directive introduces will help to clamp down on unfair payment terms and encourage a change in culture ensuring that paying late is simply unacceptable.”

For further information contact a member of the Mitchell Charlesworth team in Liverpool: 0151 255 2300 Manchester: 0161 817 6100 Chester: 01244 323051 Warrington: 01925 635141 Widnes: 0151 423 7500.

LT Print is investing £50,000 in a new booklet making machine with technology that is the first of its kind in the UK.

The multi-storey booklet maker will allow the Wirral based printing and digital design firm to bring in more business and also boost its green credentials.

LT Print is the first firm in the UK to invest in the cutting edge technology, which is arriving direct from the Japanese makers Horizon.

Keith Goodridge, Operations Manager at LT Print, said the new Horizon Booklet Maker machine is the “newest, fastest and most accurate” on the market, and will further enhance the firm’s printing capabilities.

“With 40 feeding stations the Horizon Booklet Maker is the answer to problems that call for fast, flexible turnaround. It will replace our old Duplo 4000, which only has around half the capacity of our new stitching machine. This investment will allow us to bring more work in as we can do much larger multi page booklets in a shorter time, offering a better service to our clients.

“The machine includes technology which is the first of its kind in the UK – it can stitch, fold and trim up to 3,500 books per hour.”

The machine will also enhance LT Print’s green credentials, cutting down on waste and the firm’s carbon footprint.

Mr Goodridge said: “Previously we have had to outsource this work but now it is in house, which means less travel and a reduction on our carbon footprint. We are aiming to be the greenest printer in the region so this will boost our eco friendly credentials.

“We have achieved the highest environmental standard ISO14001 as well as Forest Stewardship Council status, demonstrating that we comply with the highest social and environmental standards on the market.”

LT Print – which is celebrating its 40th year of trading – works with clients across the UK and Europe, offering a complete print solution including design, full colour and digital print, web-to-print, and large format and exhibition systems. The firm operates across a wide range of sectors including education, health services, hospitality and leisure, and professional services.

For more information on LT Print Group services ring 0151 647 8006 or visit www.ltprintgroup.co.uk

Check out Liverpool Chamber member Novotel’s fantastic festive offerings!

Christmas starts at Novotel: the place for modern celebrations with just the right amount of seasonal tradition and sparkle –plus that little extra to make it special.

From private Christmas dinners to memorable office parties to stayover escapes from your annual routine, we’ve everything you need for your ideal contemporary Christmas. Our Christmas list includes lunches, and dinners during the run-up to the big day –always served and hosted with style and sparkle.

Christmas lunch and dinner
Soak up the atmosphere with our Christmas menus, featuring your traditional favourites as well as our chef’s new creations. Relax and treat your family, your friends or your colleagues to Christmas lunch, or add a dinner date to your seasonal schedule – we’ll do all the work so you can enjoy the food, fun and festivities.

Party like it’s…2011!
Ensure your end of year goes with a swing by booking into one of our festive dinners, held during December. Dress up and enjoy a superb dinner. Numbers are limited so be sure to book early.

Why not stay over?
Avoid the hassle and expense of a cab and stay over in comfort and style. You’ll be taking advantage of our special overnight rates.

Demand is always great so we recommend early booking.

To book call Ashley Corish on 0151 702 5120 or visit the Novotel Liverpool website

Novotel Liverpool Centre is situated in the heart of Liverpool: five minutes’ walk from the famous Albert Dock and close to a number of famous tourist attractions.

Excellent for Xmas!

• 209 bedrooms including 12 accessible rooms
• Elements restaurant and bar
• InBalance fitness centre and relaxation pool

Free ‘Learn Spanish’ taster classes
Monday 12 September and Tuesday 13 September 2011

Free taster classes are being held for people who want to learn Spanish – and organisers hope to raise money for charity too.

The taster events, run by new Liverpool Chamber member www.speakfluent.co.uk are open to everyone.

Principal teacher Tim Smith – who provides supportive and enjoyable Spanish group and personal tuition – will also be raising money for Claire House Children’s Hospice, Wirral.

Fund-raising raffles will be held for the charity, which cares for children from across Merseyside, and winners will each receive a half-term of group Spanish classes from Tim.

The free tasters in Formby take place on Monday, September 12 at The Bier House, at St Peter’s Church, Green Lane, at 5.30pm for children and 7pm for adults and Tuesday, September 13 at Mossley Hill Athletics Club (L18 4PT) at 1pm for adults; and at Penny Lane Development Trust (L18 1BW) at 5.30pm for children and 7pm for adults. 

Wirral-born Tim, aged 39, has 10 years’ teaching experience; lived and worked in Spain for seven years; is fully Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) approved; and is registered with the General Teaching Council (GTC).

He said: “Spanish is a great language to learn, whether it’s for work, a holiday, moving abroad, or you just want to experience something new or make new friends.

“Our learners love what we do and our classes are enjoyable, relaxed and supportive. They’re not about exams, homework, grammar tests or textbooks.

“They’re about speaking, having fun, and being confident to use Spanish for yourself.”

Groups are available for learners of all abilities and already run in Cheshire and Staffordshire.

To book a place at the free tasters, call Tim on 07952 819744, email tim@speakfluent.co.uk or visit www.speakfluent.co.uk