30/06/2007 by admin.

Mail deliveries in Wrexham were hit yesterday by the first national walkout by postal workers in over a decade.

Up to 130,000 members of the Communication Workers Union took action after rejecting a 2.5% pay offer, and warning that the Royal Mail’s modernisation plans will lead to 40,000 job losses.

Talks aimed at breaking the deadlock failed on Wednesday evening, and lead to warnings that the strike would damage the postal organisation and boost its competitors.

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30/06/2007 by admin.

A Wrexham childrens charity is set to close after losing vital funding. The withdrawal of £36,000 funding has left the Wrexham Play Association with no choice but to close.

Although there are less than three weeks before the planned closure, there could still be hope for the association if a sponsor were to step in. Anyone who can help should call to discuss any proposals on 01978 661818. Read more…

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30/06/2007 by admin.

Wrexham Town Centre Forum has reported that clothing sales have suffered during the wet weather. The like for like figures compared with last year for general sales have been poor. However while some individual stores have traded ‘extremely well’ some weeks wet spells during peak summer trading has not helped clothing sales.

It was also reported that the town centre has a number of vacant units at present and said some of these were because of ongoing redevelopment in the future.

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29/06/2007 by admin.

Mecca Bingo firm Rank have revealed that their sales declined less than expected in the first weeks of the smoking ban in Wales.

The City was suprised when the group’s three Welsh clubs including Wrexham reported a like-for-like sales drop of 5% in the period since April 2, compared with the 14% deterioration that Scotland experienced when the ban was first introduced there over a year ago.

Rank mitigated the impact by introducing measures such as smoking shelters where customers can continue to play while they smoke.

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28/06/2007 by admin.

One of Wrexham’s largest law firms has appointed a new solicitor advocate at its Oswestry office. The firm now has five lawyers who are able to make representations in all courts in England and Wales. Paul Bennett worked for Terry Jones Solicitors and MFG prior to joining the team at Gwilym Hughes and Partners.

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28/06/2007 by admin.

Business guru Nigel Risner is to speak to North and mid-Wales entrepreneurs next month as part of a drive to support fast-growth new enterprises in the region. He will address company owners at a free event in the Op TIC Technium, St Asaph, at 6pm on July 17. The event is being staged under the auspices of the Welsh Assembly Government’s High Growth Programme. Pre-register for the event by calling 01745 584 511 or visit http://www.entrepreneuraction.co.uk. Click here for more Wrexham business events.

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28/06/2007 by admin.

It was once believed that adult creativity was the exclusive province of writers and artists - certainly it was seldom spoken of in the context of business.

Think for a moment who the people are in your line of business that you most admire. Possibly in some way they are pioneers - people who came up with something new - or a new way to present something old. We study what such people do, but generally we copy their outcome, not the process they used to reach their outcome. As a result we become good imitators but don’t come up with breakthrough ideas ourselves.

But more and people are recognising that ideas are the new currency of business. Or are they? Unfortunately for most businesses creativity remains an abstract notion: they’d like to have more of it, but they’re not sure how to get it, or what to do with it once they have it. This is where the idea of brainstorming comes in.

Brainstorming can be defined as a process creative people use to invent an idea, find a solution to a problem, or answer a question. We can brainstorm in a group, or by ourselves.

We are brainstorming whenever we spend time generating lots and lots of ideas that might help us solve a problem. If you are brainstorming in a group get everyone to start suggesting ideas. The object of brainstorming is to produce as many ideas as we can and there should be no pressure on the brainstormers to make every idea a brilliant one.

Don’t make the mistake of criticising other people’s ideas. Just because somebody suggests something you don’t agree with doesn’t mean that you have to do it. Often, brainstorming as a group is better than by yourself because more ideas can be generated. Make sure that you write everything down - perhaps use post-it notes to write down each idea, and stick them on the wall. Next categorise the ideas you have and decide which ones are the best.

Finally don’t be afraid of change. If you are afraid to step outside your comfort zone you might decide to make changes a little at a time - but this isn’t the stuff of breakthroughs. The big changes that revolutionary ideas bring require you to walk on the edge, not knowing from moment to moment how things are going.

Once you make a habit of using your creativity, you will find that it will give you an endless flow of ideas for your business life and personal life and both will be enriched beyond measure.

Remember, nearly every great idea started with a brainstorm. . .

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27/06/2007 by admin.

New research shows that workers are most likely to surf the internet looking for a new job on Tuesday afternoons.

According to recruitment website fish4jobs, productivity falls to its lowest point at 3.15pm on a Tuesday as workers rush online to hunt for new prospects.

A survey of 700 workers found that once they have logged on each jobseeker spends over eight minutes surfing the internet for a new job.

Two thirds admitted they had been caught out job hunting by their boss.

Joe Slavin, chief executive of Fish4jobs said: “In our experience, Tuesday afternoons are the trigger point in the week when most employees’ minds start to wonder and reflect on their current job situation, hence we always see a spike in traffic just after 3pm.”

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25/06/2007 by admin.

Thousands of businesses face higher electricity bills this year despite falling wholesale prices, due to SMEs being caught by the small print in their energy contracts. British Gas recently proudly revealed that 95% of their small and medium sized businesses were retained due to customers choosing not to shop around.

It is estimated that 600,000 businesses have not changed their contract terms since the deregulation of the electricity market in 1999, despite the highly competitive market for the supply of gas and electricity to Britain’s small businesses. Existing customers are being offered higher rates than new customers, who haggle for a cheaper price. Read this article…

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24/06/2007 by admin.

Or to put it another way: What is your unique selling proposition, or ‘USP’?

Before you even start to develop your product, or build your website you must be able to clearly articulate what it Is that makes YOU different from your competitors.

Just saying “I have the lowest price!” or “I have the best quality!” is not good enough – they simply don’t work. After all if someone told you that their USP was about price or quality would you believe them?

Because so many big brand companies have abused these two USPs, potential customers have become desensitized to them. “Low price!” or “Best quality!” adverts no longer grab people’s attention or give them a unique, believable reason to buy your product.

If you want to be really successful you need to stand out from the crowd by offering a USP that’s truly different - something your competition just can’t claim.

To get you thinking, here are some successful USPs:

Sainsburys - “If we are late with your order we will pay you £10!”
Travelodge - “give you all the things you need without having to pay for things you don’t”.
M&M’s - “The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand.”
Head & Shoulders - “You get rid of dandruff!”
Olay - “You get younger-looking skin!”
Red Bull - “You get stimulation of body and mind!”
and of course Wrexham Today - “the definitive portal for Wrexham”.

You know that your USP is a good one when other people start trying to copy it - but it won’t sound so believable when they use it because you offered it first!

These are all clear, to-the-point messages conveying a simple idea that differentiates their product from everyone else’s. But most importantly, they’re believable!

So what is your USP? What makes you different from your competitors — in ten words or less - and gives your customers a powerful, compelling reason to buy your product?

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