Chris Billington Hughes from Results Corporation will show businesses how to structure the most effective marketing and sales processes. He will explore why commonly held marketing misconceptions are holding most businesses back from achieving the success they want and deserve.

Chris Billington Hughes is regularly invited to present to audiences all over the UK and Ireland, for many leading organisations such as Lloyds TSB, Barclays Bank, The Institute of Directors, The Business Club, Business Link, Business Money Magazine and many others. He understands what it is like being ‘out there’ as a practitioner not a theorist, making it happen in a fast moving, demanding business.

This conference will identify some of the most effective ways to:

• Generate more leads (of high quality).
• Increase your average sale values and avoid discounting.
• Generate more sales revenue from your existing clients.
• Improve your conversion rates from all your marketing and sales activities.
• Understand how you can maximise your returns from direct mail, sales teams, advertising, brochures, websites, online marketing, pay per click, proposals and all marketing expenditure.

Speaking after one of Chris Billington Hughes’s presentations, Bob Lefroy, editor in chief of Business Money Magazine said, “Chris could have gone on for hours and held our attention. His knowledge of the science of marketing, and I mean real marketing with targeted lead conversion and well written advertisements, held everyone spellbound. I have seen him do this before with Lloyds TSB Business Banking.”

The event starts at 9.30am (coffee from 9am) on May 5 at the Marriott Hotel, Lynchwood, Peterborough. It will finish about 12.30pm when lunch will be served.

Tickets for individual Grow Your Business Forums are £40 plus VAT.

How to Grow Your Sales is the eighth event in the Grow Your Business Forums organised by GreenStones Accountants. Click here for more information and details of offers for GreenStones customers.

On the agenda of the breakfast seminar on June 9 is the likely impact of the Agency Workers Regulations, coming into force in October.

Hegarty LLP Solicitor’s partner and employment law expert Martin Bloom will be covering in detail the points in the Regulations which businesses need to be aware of and providing tips on how internal processes can be altered to ensure all requirements are met.

Delegates will have the opportunity to ask questions during the event.

“We have been working closely with our industry body the REC for more than two years to ensure we are perfectly placed to advise our clients on preparing for the introduction of the regulations,” said Anne Corder. “There is only a small window left for businesses to ensure compliancy and we are hoping the seminar will give people the push they need to put those final measures in place.”

For more information about the seminar please contact ACR on info@annecorder.co.uk or telephone 01733 319888.

Organiser Louise Hodgkinson (left), who runs Marketing in Action, said, “The workshop is designed for small businesses who need to promote themselves on a limited budget. It will give delegates 11 shoestring tips that can used straightaway.”

Ms Hodgkinson will contact each delegate at a convenient time before the event to discuss individual marketing challenges in a 30 minute telephone coaching session.

For more information about Marketing and PR on a shoestring, to be held at Eventus, Market Deeping on May 12, from 8.30am to 10.30am, click here or call 01780 250130.

The free networking events, which are open to all businesses from the Greater Peterborough area, are held on the first and third Wednesdays of the month and start at 6pm. They previously took place in the bar aboard Charter’s boat on the river. It is anticipated that the move to a venue outside the city centre will enable more local businesses to attend the events to raise their company profile.

Helen Bosett, who organises the regular events on behalf of the chamber, said, “We always see a big leap in numbers in January as businesses act on their New Year resolutions to get back out there on the networking circuit and put their business firmly on the map. So it’s the perfect time of year to move to a new venue and hopefully draw in new companies that wouldn’t normally attend, while also giving the evenings a new lease of life for the businesses that come along regularly.

“Charters have previously provided a great venue for the events for the past couple of years, and we can’t thank them enough for their hospitality and generosity.”

As well as providing an opportunity to promote products and services, the evening events also encourage companies to discuss the local issues affecting businesses across the city.

Iain Crighton, chair of Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, said, “Each time I attend one of these evenings I’m always impressed by the diversity of businesses attending and the great atmosphere that’s generated. Apparently without any effort, everyone mixes well and no-one is left alone in the corner.

“It’s interesting when I ask why people are attending, as there seem to be so many reasons. Some are new in business and need to meet people, some of whom later become like mentors or business advisors and some they gain new business from. And other regular attendees find it is useful to just have a drink and share some of the problems they’ve been having that week.

“The events are free to attend and open to businesses of all sizes and sectors. Simply drop-in anytime between 6.00-8.00pm, buy a drink from the bar, and stay as long as you like.”

The Ramada Hotel is located just off the roundabout that joins Thorpe Road to Thorpe Parkway, near the rowing lake. It was formerly known as The Butterfly. The informal networking evenings are posted on the Peterboroughbusiness.co.uk events calendar (click).

BGL – parent company of businesses such as comparethemarket.com – won top large business and contribution to the community awards. It has seen profitability rise 15 per cent in 2010, has raised £200,000 for the NSPCC and aims to raise £250,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Queensgate Centre won the environmental achievement award. Coloplast, based at Lynch Wood, won the people development category.

Rob Facer, founder of city developers Barnack UK, won Business Person of the Year and The Business Achievement Award for Services to the City was won by Roger Hutchings, former director of Queensgate.

John Bridge, chief executive of Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, said, “It is a testament to Peterborough that so many excellent companies have performed really well, especially in these trying economic times.

“There may only be one winner in each category, but everyone who has taken part in the awards is a winner in their own right. Celebrating the success is a positive thing for everyone.”

Chairman of the judges, Bill Agnew, said, “The standard of entries has been high. All businesses that have entered the awards are sure to gain valuable recognition.”

About 300 guests, including business and civic leaders, enjoyed a champagne reception before dinner and the awards presentation, made by ex-Olympic athlete Roger Black.

The offer is open not just to visitors of the exhibition but also to local businesspeople who wish to attend one or more of the free seminars or Meet the Buyer appointments being held during the day.

Helen Bosett, who is organising the event on behalf of Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, said: “It’s always really useful for us to know how many people are planning to attend the exhibition as it assists us with our organisation on the day, and of course it means that we can let visitors know beforehand which seminars are already fully booked so that no-one leaves the event disappointed.

“The Apple iPad is a popular piece of kit for businesses of all sizes, so hopefully it will prove to be a successful incentive to get people pre-registering ahead of the exhibition on Wednesday 13 October.”

This will be the tenth consecutive year that the Business Focus exhibition has taken place in Peterborough and this year the event has been extended to include six free business development seminars and one-to-one procurement advice and support.

Visitors will be able to pick up advice on how to create a successful social media campaign, how to apply proven growth strategies to manage businesses through the downturn and even ways to maximise the performance of a company website.

Brian Soanes, Managing Director of co-organisers The Business Club, added: “To celebrate our tenth anniversary we wanted Business Focus to be bigger and more beneficial for visitors and exhibitors than ever before. With the introduction of such wide-ranging free seminars, and of course the return of Meet the Buyer appointments with key public sector bodies and other large organisations, we’re confident of record-breaking visitor numbers next month.”

Visitors can pre-register online at: www.businessfocus.uk.net, or for any further details call the Business Focus line on 01733 513002.

Also under the spotlight at the event, hosted by Anne Corder Recruitment and Hegarty LLP Solicitors, will be the newly announced phasing out of the default retirement age – and how that will translate into the business arena.

As predicted the advent of the new coalition government has seen the rapid announcement of a number of proposals which will affect businesses from an HR perspective. There will be discussion about these using case laws as examples.

The seminar is now in its 12th year and is recognised as a key date in the business calendar and an opportunity to hear news and advice on the very latest employment issues.

“With an election due, the business world spent the first part of this year almost paused – not wanting to make any big decisions without knowing what the future would hold,” said Anne Corder. “Now, as predicted, with a new government the changes are coming fast and furious and business is having to react quickly. At the seminar we will be addressing the most urgent concerns and helping businesses pinpoint what procedures they need to put in place.”

Speakers will be Martin Bloom and Tim Thompson, both partners at Hegarty LLP Solicitors. They will also stage a question and answer session.

The briefing traditionally attracts around 200 HR personnel from the Greater Peterborough area.
The event, which includes breakfast, is being held at the Cambridge Suite, at the East of England Showground in Peterborough on Tuesday, September 28.

For more information or to book your free place – subject to availability – please call 01733 319888 or email info@annecorder.co.uk.

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.

City-based agency Anne Corder Recruitment (ACR) has worked closely with industry body the Recruitment and Employment Confederation since the Agency Workers Regulations were first discussed. They are now on the statute books and all employers will have to comply by October 2011 or risk legal action.

The agency is hosting a one off law briefing, in conjunction with Hegarty LLP Solicitors, to update city HR professionals on the practical and legal implications of the regulations. Speakers at the event on Wednesday, June 30 will be Hegarty’s employment expert Martin Bloom and the REC’s director of external relations Tom Hadley.

The Agency Workers Regulations are aimed at giving temporary workers the same rights after 12 weeks in a position as permanent staff members in a comparable role.

Experts at ACR have shared the concerns of the REC that the introduction of the rules could result in curbing demand for temporary workers – a market worth around £22 billion annually. http://www.rec.uk.com/press/news/650

Anne Corder said, “The Regulations are in place and our concern now is to help our clients and other businesses in the local area put in place the procedures they need to ensure they are fully compliant. The Breakfast Briefing is aimed at giving local HR professionals an overview of the law and the implications of its introduction.

“We are delighted that Tom Hadley has agreed to come and speak at the seminar. He is very knowledgeable on the subject and this is a great opportunity for local HR professionals to tap into that knowledge.”

For more information about the Agency Workers Regulations please visit www.annecorder.co.uk