news Archive 03/2010

Can your business supply International Federation Approved Taekwondo Mats, Crash Mats, Stretch Mats and Wrestling “Training Dolls”?
In just one of the latest business opportunities posted on CompeteFor, LOCOG are looking for expressions of interest from potential suppliers of sports equipment. Or, if your business supplies hotel quality linen and towels then log in to CompeteFor, where these, and many other requirements, including projectors, desks and swivel chairs, work suits and high-viz jackets, can be found.
Click on the link below to see this week’s summary.

In 2008, BusinessZone.co.uk held a small pitching competition in Bristol for entrepreneurs to present their business idea to a panel of experts. The format was so successful that in 2009 the competition went on the road, visiting five major UK cities and holding a grand final in London.
Judges tasked with rating the entrants’ pitches included former TV dragon Doug Richard, The Apprentice winner and founder of the Bright Ideas Trust, Tim Campbell, and founder of Pimlico Plumbers Charlie Mullins. Anthony Lau, inventor of an innovative new product for locking up bicycles, the Cyclehoop, walked away with a £50,000 prize package and the title of Britain’s best new business.

The Pitch 2010 aims to uncover a fresh new batch of entrepreneurial talent

This year, The Pitch is set to evolve again as part of a new business event, The Business Factory, and will aim to uncover, support and promote a fresh new batch of entrepreneurial talent.

With heats in Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool and London, The Pitch is a truly national competition. If you think you have what it takes to challenge for the title of Britain’s best new business, click here to find out more about The Pitch, and to download an application form.

The competition will close to entries after 15 June, so get your application in early to avoid disappointment.

Do you have a new business idea but don’t know where to start? Or do you own a business and want to take your company in a new direction, but need help putting your plans into action?

Perhaps you need a sounding board to help you decide if your idea will work, or practical advice on business planning. Maybe you want advice on how to ‘pitch’ your idea and learn how to identify prospective customers, or maybe you’re looking for tips on improving your marketing strategy.

Whatever stage you’re at, Barclays Business Springboard Seminars can help make your business ambitions a reality. Part of the successful Barclays Let’s Talk programme, the next event in North London will be held at the Emirates Stadium on 15th April.
For more information, and to book a place at the seminar go to the Barclays website at www.bank.barclays.co.uk/Businessservices

The Nectar Business Small Business Awards 2010 are open to all UK Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and UK Social Enterprises.

The awards are completely free to enter and they aim to celebrate business success, recognise their dedication and hard work - especially in tough times - and highlight the wealth of fantastic business ideas that are out there.

If you have a business success story to tell, want to stand out from the competition, raise your profile in your local area and the credibility of being an award winning business then Nectar want to hear from you. Winners will receive £2000 plus 50,000 Nectar points! 

There are four award categories:
  1. Small Business of the Year
  2. Entrepreneur of the Year
  3. Contribution to the Community Award (NEW)
  4. Online Business of the Year (NEW)

To be in with a chance of winning, to get more details and to download an entry form go to the Nectar website at www.nectar.com

A landmark agreement between London’s five Olympic Boroughs and central Government will lock in the benefits of the £9bn investment in the 2012 Olympics for local people.
John Denham, Communities Secretary, said:
“We promised that the Olympics would transform East London for years to come. Our joint aim is to close the gap between East London and the rest of London. This means more jobs, more skills training and a high quality environment. Narrowing the employment gap means at least 8,000 more jobs but we can aim as high as 40,000.”
London’s Olympic Boroughs are already working hard to deliver a successful 2012 Games, but every level of Government wants the legacy to change things for local people and the local area too. Central Government is making sure councils have all the powers and support they need to do that.
Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest have today signed an agreement with Government, known as a Multi-Area Agreement (MAA), which gives them new powers to unite and direct funding to boost local jobs and skills support and make sure public areas are ready to be showcased to the millions of visitors expected to come in 2012.
Many issues that affect people’s lives do not stop neatly at council boundaries. Councils will now be able to join forces through the MAA to mastermind solutions that could help thousands of people back into work, raise skills levels, and transform the public areas appearance.
This year the five boroughs received over £2bn in government grant and over £9bn is going into the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games including £350m to turn the Olympic Park from a Games venue into a new city district. Almost £500m has been committed to improving transport links.

In addition a deal, announced yesterday, to transfer the Olympic Park land to the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) has secured an excellent value for money basis to regenerate East London. It will mean 10,000 homes and 10,000 new jobs; three new primary schools; a secondary school; health facilities; a modern commercial sector and waterside park.

In the clearest signal yet that London is beating the recession, two-thirds of international firms say they are more confident about doing business in the capital compared with 12 months ago, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, revealed at the MIPIM property conference in Cannes.

Ninety per cent of overseas firms are satisfied with London as a location to do business, and the capital’s proximity to markets and qualified staff was revealed as the key driver for businesses locating here.

The figures were released as part of Think London’s first ‘FDI (foreign direct investment) Barometer’, conducted in association with independent research organisation Ipsos MORI, to evaluate business investment confidence amongst the capital’s 20,000 or more overseas-owned companies.
Key findings include:

  * 61% described that they were more confident in the economic prospects for their business in London over the next 12 months than the previous 12 months.
  * 90% of overseas-owned companies are satisfied with London as a location for their business.
  * Taxation and transportation are the key areas where they would like to see change, with nearly three quarters of businesses saying the London Underground upgrade programme will be important to their business

To read more go to the Think London wesbite by clicking here

For the latest opportunities posted on CompeteFor, click on the link below:

Over 5,500 contracts from approximately 700 buying organisations have now been advertised through CompeteFor. In addition to London 2012-related opportunities, 361 opportunities have come from other public sector organisations including the London Development Agency (120), Transport for London (80), Westminster City Council (76), the Metropolitan Police (19) and Crossrail (11). Local authorities in the capital; including Tower Hamlets, Haringey, Waltham Forest, Hackney and Hammersmith & Fulham; are also currently piloting CompeteFor with the view to adopting the system in the coming months.
Since January, over 250 CompeteFor contracts have been awarded to UK businesses, including many from London:

- Transcription services for the London Assembly (Transport for London) – Awarded to Merrill Legal Solutions (Islington)
- Film production (London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) - Tilling Productions (Hillingdon)
- Landscape labourer programme (Olympic Delivery Authority) - Havering College of Further & Higher Education (Havering)
- Work wear clothing - t-shirts and shirts (London Fire Brigade) - Burlington Uniforms Ltd (Hackney)
- Transport standards and integration study (Crossrail) - Steer Davies Gleave (Southwark)
- Service maintenance for office space (Olympic Delivery Authority) - Gratte Brothers Service & Maintenance (Islington)

In February, LOCOG also announced their procurement schedule for the coming six months. Very shortly, LOCOG will place many more direct contracts on CompeteFor. These opportunities will be in the areas of Artists Performance & Events, Facilities Management & Catering, Security, Services, Sports, Technology, Transport & Logistics and Venues & Infrastructure. Download LOCOG’s procurement schedule here.

As with LOCOG’s previous procurement, the window of opportunity to apply for these contracts is often quite small. Therefore, all businesses registered on CompeteFor should fully publish their business profile. This will allow CompeteFor to alert you of these opportunities as soon as they are posted. It will also minimise the work required to apply for the contract.
Find out more about CompetreFor and register for free here.

The new Green Homes Strategy could provide opportunities for Hackney based companies.
A new local approach will see energy companies and local authorities teaming up to make homes more energy efficient – with energy companies required to help householders become more energy efficient. This will involve retro-fitting of energy saving measures, installing and manufacturing energy saving measures or providing home energy advice.

The new local partnership approach will take over from 2013, once the current Carbon Emissions Reduction Target ends
*  Paving the way for ‘pay as you save’ green finance to make energy efficiency pay from day one
* Up to 7 million British households to benefit from eco upgrades by 2020
* Up to 65,000 jobs in the green home industry
* Energy companies and local authorities to join forces to help consumers
* New standards for social and rented accommodation to be proposed

A green transformation of Britain’s homes will take place over the next decade – making them more comfortable, warmer and cheaper to run.

With around one quarter of UK emissions coming from energy used in homes the Warm Homes, Greener Homes Strategy is aimed at cutting emissions from the UK’s homes by 29% by 2020.

The new strategy will help people make smarter use of energy in homes, making it easier to take action and reduce bills. Installing some technologies, such as solid wall insulation, could see energy bills cut by £380 a year (average between 2013 and 2020).

The new strategy will also be good for jobs, with up to 65,000 jobs required in the green homes industry as a result, for example installing and manufacturing energy saving measures or providing home energy advice.

The strategy will be implemented in a three stage plan:

  * To insulate 6 million homes by the end of 2011
  * To have insulated all practical lofts and cavity walls by 2015
  * To have offered up to 7 million eco upgrades by 2020; all homes to have smart meters.

Ed Miliband, Energy and Climate Secretary, said:

“This shows we can meet the national interest of tackling climate change and reducing our dependence on foreign energy at the same time as we help people save money.

“The Warm Homes, Greener Homes Strategy will remove the deterrent of upfront costs and reduce the hassle of the move to greener living.

“Making homes more energy efficient will help protect people from upward pressure on bills, tackle climate change, and make us less reliant on imported energy.

“New ‘pay as you save’ green finance, a new alliance between energy companies and local authorities to help people in their communities, as well as moves to encourage landlords to stop ignoring energy wastage in their properties, will help deliver the radical transformation that’s necessary.”

Communities Secretary, John Denham, said:

“Local authorities are uniquely positioned to drive and shape a low carbon economy, low carbon living and influence the kind of behaviour change that will be needed to meet the UK commitment to the 34 percent cut in emissions on 1990 levels by 2020.

“Councils are already making huge advances on this agenda. We want all local authorities to take the lead on reducing emissions in their area. There are obvious benefits for local people both financially and in terms of quality of life and it is crucial that local authorities maximise these and involve local people every step of the way.”

John Healey, Housing Minister, said:

“The new measures announced today put the consumer in control of greening up their homes. More than a quarter of carbon emissions come from our homes, so it is vital people are able to make the improvements that will lead to smarter use of energy. It also puts social housing centre stage of efforts to reduce bills and carbon emissions to help the poorest first, with council and Housing Association landlords linking up with energy companies to get efficiency work done, and tenants getting the benefits of warmer, greener homes with lower bills.

“Today I have also announced an additional £2.5m to provide a network of Green Show Homes across England, lived in by ordinary people and open to the public. People will be able to see first hand what a refurbished green home is like to live in, and the new technologies they can use to improve the energy efficiency of their own homes and save money on bills.

“There’s a driving force behind the green homes movement with homeowners, developers and local authorities lining up to get on board. There is a lot of momentum to change and radically re-think how we track our energy use and refurbish our homes and buildings for the future. People in their own homes will get help with costs, and there will be help for private landlords and tenants, but we’re also ready to regulate in the future if landlords will not do the green refurbishment needed.”