< PreviousBlogging with Authority & Trust Thursday 18 January East Midlands Chamber, Leicester Blogging for business is much more than writing an update on the company or repurposing a newsletter. Not only can it improve your website’s overall performance but it can set you apart from your competition, positioning you as an organisation with knowledge, expertise and great service. But what do you blog about? Who should author the content and how can you use content as a springboard to generating more leads and closing business? This action planning workshop will look at the different elements of blogging for business: what to write about, how frequently and how to ensure it doesn’t just sit there doing nothing. For more information visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blogging-with-authority-trust-tickets-777807562357?aff=oddtdtcreator East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk thriving businesses. They will share their own inspirational stories; explain how they have overcome adversity in their own lives and give their own take on what entrepreneurial thinking means to them. For more information visit www.emc-dnl.co.uk/ events/generation_ next_-_conference_ 2024_facing_ adversity_and_using_entrepreneurial_thin king4216582168/ Lincolnshire Construction and Property Network January Tuesday 16 January Marshall Jaguar Land Rover, Lincoln From sole traders to large housing associations, construction and property businesses come together to talk business at the Lincolnshire Chamber’s Construction Network. As the saying goes, ‘Time is Money’. Attending the Construction Network for two hours every month is one of the most productive ways that you can keep up to date with project news and new business and tendering opportunities amongst contractors and suppliers. This event will also hear from Rebecca Heald who will Lincolnshire Devolution: The Business Briefing Tuesday 9 January Online In November 2023, it was confirmed that Greater Lincolnshire is set to strike a Devolution deal which will result in more money for the county, better targeting of needs and new localised powers through an elected Mayor. While this is all great news, feedback suggests that county businesses are not feeling informed on what this will really mean for them, their employees and their families. To address this, FSB Lincolnshire has created this special edition webinar to help you get to grips with devolution. For more information visit www.fsb.org.uk/event- calendar/lincolnshire-devolution-the- business-briefing.html Generation Next – Conference 2024 Friday 12 January Nottingham Forest - The Robinhood Suite, Nottingham This half-day conference features a series of guest speakers who are all within the Generation Next age bracket and linked to events be delivering a presentation on ‘Breaking the Silence: Navigating Mental Health in Construction’. For more information visit www.lincs-chamber.co.uk/events/ lincolnshire-construction-property- network-jan/ FSB Business Bootcamp: New Year Refresher Thursday 25 January The Woodlands at Hothorpe Hall, Leicester Join a special, New Year edition of © stock.adobe.com/Malambo C/peopleimages.com © stock.adobe.com/ Art_Photowww.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link Igniting a Culture of Creativity Wednesday 10 January Delta Hotels by Marriott, Nottingham In the face of such fast paced change, it’s widely recognised that the ability to be consistently creative is a critical issue for teams and businesses worldwide. Those who can see the world differently and find new ways to engage their clients, customers, staff, supporters, stakeholders and communities will have a huge advantage. Based on the lessons and models that have allowed many of the world’s most brilliant creative thinkers and businesses to innovate, this 1 day in-person Masterclass puts you on the road to creating a culture that ignites the creative potential of you, your teams and your organisation at will. For more information visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/igniting-a- culture-of-creativity-tickets-731268883917?aff=oddtdtcreator Getting Started with Net Zero Thursday 1 February Online Are you a small-medium business owner in Lincolnshire or Rutland who wants to learn more about Net Zero and how to achieve it? If so, join this free one-hour webinar on ‘Getting started with Net Zero’ covering: what Net Zero means and why it is important for your business and the planet; planning for Net Zero; what the legal and regulatory requirements are for Net Zero in the UK; how to create a realistic and achievable action plan and set SMART targets. For more information visit www.businesslincolnshire.com/events/event- details/?id=4362&navigatedFromSearch=true © stock.adobe.com/kitinut FSB’s flagship Business Bootcamp event, where businesses will be brought from across the East Midlands to a stunning woodland retreat to help you get your mind, body and business ready for the year ahead. For more information visit www.fsb.org.uk/event- calendar/fsb-business-bootcamp-new-year-refresher.html#msdynmkt_ trackingcontext=db65db4e-08c7-46fe-b19a-8e855de6b686 Midlands After Hours Tuesday 30 January The Grand Hotel, Leicester The Midlands After Hours Networking Events from the Department for Business & Trade (DBT) will help to facilitate networking opportunities and build your knowledge and best practice in selling your services internationally. For more information visit https://eu.eventscloud.com/ehome/200265111#msdynmkt _trackingcontext=958a58d1-b879-48f0-a40d-1b0e10c99b5a Building a Culture of Resilience Wednesday 31 January Delta Hotels by Marriott, Nottingham All too often, sessions on ‘resilience’ or ‘dealing with change’ involve charts and bell-curves that make big promises and offer utopian outcomes. “If you just do x, y and z, your world will be full of pink fluffy unicorns, dancing on rainbows.” This is NOT one of those sessions. Instead, in a highly interactive full day in-person Masterclass, culture change expert David Chabeaux looks not at the theory of how we deal with change, but at some practical ways you can create a culture which better deals with change and uncertainty NOW. We need to start making some different choices. David will show you four. And there will be no unicorns in sight. For more information visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/building-a-culture- of-resilience-tickets-731273226907?aff=oddtdtcreator Here’s Frazer’s collection of the weird and wonderful ‘news’ that came his way over the last few weeks. And finally The world of Frazer 62 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk The value of VR VR (virtual reality) has been making its way into the business realm for quite some time and is a handy piece of tech that is constantly being improved for wider implementation. However, a new use for VR glasses is proving rather peculiar. Boffins have developed VR goggles for lab mice to simulate a life of freedom — as well as show what it’s like to be hunted by a bird (just what every mouse wants!). Like VR for humans, the mice are unable to see the outside world and are made to feel as though they are somewhere else, ultimately allowing researchers to gain a greater understanding of their behaviour. Though it might seem an odd use of research hours, with findings showing that the mice wearing VR specs learned more quickly and were better at completing tasks, the goggles could help gain new insights into how the human brain adapts and reacts to VR exposure — an area that is currently little understood. Out of office email avoiders We’ve officially returned from the festive season, when many businesses down tools for a well-earned break. This usually becomes the period of ‘out of office’ messages galore, yet a new survey has revealed there are mavericks amongst us. Bosses…look away — a shocking one in five Brits have NEVER sent an out of office email, according to a Preply study. What’s more, a quarter of those surveyed admit to only occasionally switching on their out of office automated response. Interestingly, there are demographic differences, with more people who identified as female finding themselves regularly forgetting to put their out of office response on, while when it comes to age groups, the demographic most likely to switch on their auto response are 55+. A new pet peeve or two More and more studies are coming across Frazer’s desk on office pet peeves, but a recent press release has highlighted a fresh, and odd, wave of ‘icks’ that are quite different from the traditional. A curious mix of tech-savvy, health-conscious, and lifestyle-driven pet peeves have come forth, according to Digital ID. First is the rise of the ‘Office TikToker’. These are colleagues who, at any given opportunity, are filming their latest dance challenge right in the middle of the office; while it may be a bit of fun, it can also be a bit of a distraction. Next up is ‘Vapers.’ The issue arises when the sweet scent of various vape flavours starts permeating the office space; not everyone wants to walk through a cloud of candy floss! Finally, we have the ‘Cold Water Swimmers’ — the colleagues who start their day with an icy dip and like to share their experiences in detail. While it’s certainly an impressive habit, the constant talk about cold water swimming can become too much, annoying colleagues. Fortunately for Frazer, no co-workers have yet participated in these behaviours! © stock.adobe.com/ sitthiphong © stock.adobe.com/ Antonioguillem © stock.adobe.com/ ihorvsnTOWER FIELD SERVICES Cat Tech Tower Field Services offers bespoke mechanical services to oil refinery and petrochemical plants all around the world. Our team has vast experience in overseeing and undertaking the installation of all types of Tower internals. Our Tower tray, packing and other internals installation services has deep roots, with several of the senior team at Cat Tech being involved in the founding of the Cana-Tex organisation. Since 1971, Cana-Tex had been the premier global Tower speciality contractor; performing Tower maintenance and plant turnaround projects around the world. These origins, with the addition of new team members, make Cat Tech Tower Field services a global operation which is both cost effective and technically experienced. We strive to create new ways to make your Tower work safer, faster and more productive and that can make very good things happen for your business. We thrive on exceeding our clients expectations and understand the need for upfront communication in relation to timescales and costs. No-one likes surprises in this industry and we ensure that everything is done, from pre-job planning, on site activities to post job reporting in a manner which allows our customers to concentrate on their core business. Let us show you what we can do. We work hard to maintain an industry reputation for safety, speed and dependability. Ours crews have been trained by us, this allows us to staff a project with the proven skills necessary to produce customer satisfaction. It is our intention to demonstrate the benefit of utilising Cat Tech for all of your Tower work. The benefits of engaging Cat Tech are: l Experienced Tower specialists. l Proven track record. l Ability to supply spares and replacements. l Spade to Spade service. l Revamps or modifications to Towers / Internals. l Inspection of Tower internals. l Supervision of external/client labour force. l Detailed inspection reports. l Cleaning of tower internals. l Reactor tray field services. l Turnkey reactor tray field services. At Cat Tech, we continue to create new ways to make Tower work safer, faster and more productive. And that can make very good things happen for your business. Contact us for further information. Our well established sales team have a wealth of experience. We take pride on ensuring all enquires are dealt with quickly and efficiently. China: Cat Tech Services (Shanghai) Ltd., Room 1230 No.1, 58 Nong Huachi Road, Putuo District, Shanghai 20061 CN Phone: +(86) 2152 9175 08 Fax: +(86) 2152 9175 05 Singapore: Cat Tech Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., 17 Fan Yoong Road, Singapore 629794 Phone: +(65) 6264 6261 Fax: +(65) 6264 6401 South America: Please contact the UK office on +44 1724 871 747 Thailand: Cat Tech Services (Thailand) Ltd., 2/1 Soi Banbon Nuenpayom Road, Maptaphut Sub District, Muang Rayong District, Rayong Province 21150 TH Phone: +(66) 894 064 100 Fax: +(66) 638 692 382 MAKING YOUR PLANT WORK… SMARTER www.cat-tech.com PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/KAWINNINGSArmstrong house Armstrong House, Armstrong Street, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire DN31 2QE Tel: (01472) 310301 Email: s.fisher@blmgroup.co.uk Superb Location - - Close to the ports of Grimsby & Immingham - Great motorway links - Close to the town centre Secure off street parking High speed internet availability A range of affordable office sizes 3 3 3 3 Last remaining office suites Prime location in Grimsby Offering a prime position in Grimsby, Armstrong House on Armstrong Street is ideally located. Close to the ports of Grimsby and Immingham, motorway links and the town centre, off-street parking is also available for all staff and visitors, meaning it’s convenient too. Our spacious, welcoming offices are located on the ground floor and are both secure and CCTV-monitored, giving you the ultimate peace of mind. At Armstrong House, when it comes to affordability and with a range of office sizes there are opportunities for all types of business. If you require virtual office services, prices start from just £15 per month. For more information, or to discuss your office requirements call 01472 310301.Next >