The 18-year-old achieved the accolade at the end of his two year BTEC course in Business Studies. Now he’s planning on taking a gap year and gaining practical experience in the work place before heading to Northampton University to undertake an accountancy and finance degree.
Chris won the award, sponsored by Peterborough-based independent agency Anne Corder Recruitment, on the recommendation of his tutors. They said, “He has applied himself well to his studies and is well motivated. During the time Chris has been with us his self-confidence has grown. He was shy at first but with encouragement from his teachers and tutor he has given verbal presentations and led groups which have helped him to develop.”

Keen cricketer Chris said, “I’m proud to have won the award – it was unexpected. It’s great to have something like that on my CV, especially as I’m now looking for some part time work to get some experience – and some money in my pocket – before going to university.”

Photo: Chris Burling is presented with his award by Karen Dykes from Anne Corder Recruitment.

Environmental stewardship is one of the four pillars of Produce World’s Growing Trust Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme and since the company began the programme in 2007, it has made considerable progress without excessive investment.

In fact, Produce World’s group of businesses has reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill by 43%, cut carbon emissions by 10%, reduced water usage by 20% and cut energy usage by 28%.

Information on how the company’s individual business units are fairing against these non-financial Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is available online, via the Credit 360 Sustainability Performance Reporter. Credit 360 is also used by companies like John Lewis and McDonald’s.

Recently, Produce World won the Innovative Reporting category of the awards run by the Ethical Corporation as part of its Responsible Business Summit. Companies that won other categories, or that were highly commended, included L’Oreal, PepsiCo and Greenpeace.

Produce World’s Group Environmental Manager, Adele Carroll says: “We understand that we have a role to play in protecting our environment and at Produce World our culture fosters a determination to effectively manage our business activities and ensure we have a positive environmental impact.”

The company’s work towards improved performance in environmental stewardship has also been recognised over the past 18 months, with the business securing ISO14001 accreditation for its head office and four of its businesses: potato supplier Solanum; organic specialist RB Organic; Isleham Fresh Produce, which markets root vegetables; and Rustler Produce, a major supplier of onions, garlic and leeks.

“We see ourselves as a progressive and innovative local business and with our investment in the transparency of the Credit 360 reporting system keeping us on track, we’re definitely going the right way to achieving true sustainability across our business,” said Adele.

For more information visit the Produce World website.

The awards recognise success and achievement within the city’s varied business community. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner to be held on November 19, 2010 at the East of England Showground.

If you have a great story to tell, share it with Peterborough Business and the rest of the city. Email news@peterboroughbusiness.co.uk

If you think your business deserves a gong, visit the website at www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/business/business-awards for more information.

This is the 15th anniversary of the awards and the deadline for entries in September 3. Only businesses with a PE postcode are eligible to enter.

As the e-learning market becomes saturated with mobile applications, businesses need to provide employees with more focused learning opportunities to see greater benefits.

Jon Toothill, client services director at Lightbox Education, said, “With regards to technology supporting learning, it is important to consider what people actually want to learn. At the moment there seems to be an app for everything, but how many get used and how much of the e-learning collateral out there is on subjects that people actually want to learn. This is what should drive us.”

Michael Wilkinson, director at i-education, added, “It’s about empowering people to make the best choices about how to access learning, how to capture learning and how to connect with other people to explore that further.

“It is about providing the right tools, whether it is using a mobile device, taking a video, audio diary or even a photograph.”

One business successfully empowering employees to study a variety of courses at different difficulty levels is Learndirect.

Talking at the round table, Gavin Hubbard, market strategist at Learndirect, said, “There is no stigma attached to e-learning now. You can be sitting in a training room in an organisation and someone might be doing an entry level 3 basic skills or numeracy course and next to them can be someone doing a level 3 NVQ. With e-learning it does not matter what course anyone around you is studying for, as this information can be kept private.”

Ultimately, it was agreed that the technology must support the learning and not vice versa. Unlike in the past when it was the technology that excited people, businesses must adopt a pedagogue approach to continue to reverse this.

The round table discussions are held in association with UKFast with the aim of uniting business leaders to share advice and provide a wealth of ideas for other developing companies. The panel was completed by Tony Lowe, managing director at Webducate, and Dan Sodergren of Great Marketing Works.

For more information about UKFast, visit the website: www.ukfast.co.uk

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The report, ‘Making sense of going green – small businesses and low carbon economy’, looks at the many opportunities which will allow small businesses to play their part.

The FSB believes that to get small business owners to proactively embrace energy efficiency, the Government needs to make going green economically viable; currently the upfront cost is a huge disincentive for small businesses, despite the benefits being understood.

With 47 percent of the UK’s carbon emissions from buildings there is an urgent need to engage with the private sector to tackle this problem.

The FSB believes this can be done by:

• Incentivising private sector providers (banks, energy or construction companies) to pay the upfront costs of major building energy efficiency upgrades
• Guaranteeing ‘pay as you save’ repayments through energy bills – by linking the responsibility of repayment to the building would help overcome the landlord/tenant divide
• Supporting new business owners to green their buildings by encouraging firms in the worst G-rated buildings to take steps to move to an F-rating
• Not penalising those who increase their rateable value through greening their premises by waiving the increased business rates

Mike Childs, Friends of the Earth’s Head of Climate, said: “The Government’s immediate priority should be to set all areas Local Carbon Budgets, encouraging councils and businesses to work together to cut emissions, save energy and transform the places in which we live and work.”

Chris Spies, Peterborough Branch Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “If the correct policies are put in place now, then small businesses will have the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions while also delivering the substantial economic growth that the UK economy desperately needs.”

More than 40% of businesses identified an enlarged workforce as the top priority, given a more flexible approach from their lender, followed by acquisitions and mergers, and expansion of their premises (both 26%).

The research also found that nearly half (46%) of East of England businesses plan to reinvest at least 6% of turnover back into their business for commercial growth next year.

One in five companies (20%) plan to invest more than 10%, although nearly a third (29%) said nothing had been earmarked for growth.

The survey found that most businesses had delayed either salary increases (45%) or recruitment (37%) in the past year because of the economic climate.

Martin Guildford, managing partner at Clydesdale Bank’s Financial Solutions centres in Cambridgeshire, said: “From the research it is clear businesses are telling us that their investment and capital expenditure plans remain uncertain over the next 12 months. The decision of when and how much cash to invest back into a business is very important. These results indicate that the majority of businesses are planning a relatively conservative spend in the next 12 months.”

The research showed that a third of businesses (32%) in the East of England cited a lack of cashflow for delaying investment in the past year. A further 30% spoke of the perceived financial risk in the current climate and another 26% deemed the preservation of working capital as more important.

One in four (25%) said a more flexible approach by their bank would allow their business to take advantage of growth opportunities in the next 12 months.

In response to customer demand, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank recently launched a new business support initiative – Investing for Growth – to help successful businesses grow and develop by easing their cashflow pressures. The initiative, which follows the banks’ October pledge to advance up to £10 billion of new lending over the next two years, offers both new and existing business customers a dedicated planning service and a more flexible approach to lending.

A new study by employment law specialists ELAS revealed that the average British worker spends as much as 8hrs 24mins at their office computer researching and booking their next holiday.

As well as spending extra time researching flights and hotels separately, extra tasks include printing off boarding cards, online check-in and booking extras such as transfers, car hire or travel insurance.

Peter Mooney, head of consultancy at ELAS, said those small tasks soon add up.

He said: “Most employers don’t mind turning a blind eye to workers using the internet for personal use as long as it doesn’t get in the way of their work.

“But eight and a half hours is the equivalent of an extra day of holiday for every member of staff.

“Aside from the sheer loss of productivity, employers need to be careful about setting precedents which could lead them open to charges of unfair treatment of staff as and when they say enough is enough.”

The cost to UK Plc of 243 hours of lost time – 8hrs 24mins for every one of Briton’s 28.98million workers – is a staggering £3.023billion.

Had those workers booked package holidays, and so spent a third of the time researching, the cost would have fallen to a still considerable £1.043billion.

ELAS surveyed 1,000 consumers from across the UK on how much time they spent at their desk researching their holiday.

The greatest time was spent choosing and booking hotels, which took the average holidaymaker almost 2½ hours.

A little over two hours was spent choosing destination, 1½hrs was spent selecting flights, while 57 mins was spent researching and booking extras.

A further 68mins was spent on “admin tasks” such as online check-in, printing off boarding cards, printing directions or booking excursions.

Local businesses have until 5pm on Friday 10 September to apply for a grant and this funding can be used to carry-out in-depth market research, helping the business to identify the demand for new products and allowing them to hone their ideas to conquer those markets. Projects must be completed by March 2011.

Since EEDA introduced Proof of Market (formerly Proof of Concept) funding back in 2006, 250 projects have shared a total of nearly £5 million. Everything from waterproof socks, next generation wind turbine technology and superconducting magnets have received funding to take them to the next stage of development.

Paul May, executive director of innovation at EEDA, said: “As the economy continues to recover, businesses are looking to stay that one step ahead of their competitors by bringing new products to market. EEDA’s grants are designed to give local businesses a head-start, by helping them to identify and target lucrative gaps in the market.”

Businesses looking to apply for a Proof of Market grant can visit – http://www.bizmapeast.co.uk/finance/grants/proof_of_concept.aspx for more information and to download the application form.

Councillor Cereste, is organising a series of business surgeries, in partnership with Opportunity Peterborough, to assist established city companies to cut through the red tape and overcome those issues that are hindering their development plans.

Councillor Cereste said, “Our growth plans are not just about attracting new companies to the city, we also want help those existing established businesses thrive and prosper.

“Our message is very much that ‘Peterborough is open for business’. We want to encourage entrepreneurship in the city and help businesses solve any issues they have by removing as much red tape as possible to allow this to happen.”

Panellists including councillors Cereste, cabinet member for business engagement Gavin Elsey and cabinet member for housing, neighbourhoods and planning Peter Hiller, city council chief executive Gillian Beasley, executive director of operations Paul Phillipson, head of planning Simon Machen and Opportunity Peterborough’s director of economic development Neil Darwin are among those who will attend the monthly sessions to offer advice to businesses.

There will also be the opportunity to have individual detailed or sensitive conversations with panellists.

Councillor Elsey, cabinet member for business engagement added: “Whether a planning issue is stunting your expansion plans, you are looking for new premises or need to change or add differing usages to your planning consent, these sessions are there to help you discuss and resolve any issues you have in a timely manner allowing entrepreneurship to be free flowing through the city.

“This is a real opportunity for us to assist our city stakeholders to realise their aspirations and make a positive contribution to the future growth of existing Peterborough business.”

The two-hour sessions will be held once a month, at Stuart House. The first session is on Tuesday 10 August 2010 between 12noon and 2pm. To book an appointment at the first surgery, please call Sally Goulden on (01733) 452481.