Business

A recruitment event being held in Northampton will match jobseekers with vacancies at a number of companies in and around the town centre. The jobs fair is being staged by Northampton Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID) as part of a drive to boost employment in the town and help companies find the perfect candidate to fill gaps in their workforce. The event will be held from 11am-3pm on Friday 4th March in the Grosvenor Gatherings unit in Grosvenor Shopping Northampton (located next to River Island, Upper Floor). It follows from the success of a Christmas jobs fair held last year. Mark Mullen, BID Operations Manager, said: “Our first jobs fair proved a big success with plenty of employers able to meet prospective employees and showcased the wide variety of roles available across multiple sectors here in Northampton. “The event will be the perfect platform where all those looking for..

A recruitment event being held in Northampton town centre promises to be ‘just the job’ for anyone looking for work in time for Christmas. The jobs fair is being staged by Northampton Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID) as part of a drive to match jobseekers with vacancies at a number of companies in and around the town. The event will be held from 11am-3pm on Friday 12th November in the Grosvenor Gatherings unit in Grosvenor Shopping Northampton (located next to River Island, Upper Floor). Mark Mullen, BID Operations Manager, said: “We have heard from a number of town centre businesses with vacancies to fill and we wanted to provide a platform where all those looking for work could come and chat to prospective employers and see what’s available. “Christmas is a hugely important period for retailers in particular and it’s a good time to find work and build a career...

Town centre businesses will have the chance to ‘get Northampton gleaming’ as part of a dedicated tidy day ahead of the busiest shopping period of the year. The concerted clean-up campaign will see business owners team up to get the town centre looking its best and make it even more appealing to visitors this Christmas. The event, which takes place from 9am to noon on Monday, November 8 and will get underway in Market Square, has been organised by Northampton Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID) - an organisation working to make Northampton a better place to live, shop and work. It forms part of a series of projects to tidy up Northampton town centre, and follows a previous tidy day held in August which saw almost 50 people collect more than 100 bags of rubbish from known litter hot spots around the town centre. Mark Mullen, Northampton Town Centre BID operations..

Shoppers are being urged to support their favourite local traders this weekend as part of ‘FiverFest’ - a new campaign aimed at promoting Northampton town centre’s independent retailers. Retailers and food outlets have been encouraged to put together a series of special £5 offers as part of the two week initiative, with visitors to the town centre encouraged to ‘keep their money in the town’ by buying from independents. FiverFest is a national campaign organised by Totally Locally. It has been adopted locally by NLive Radio and Northampton Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID) and will run from Saturday, October 9-23. BID Operation Manager, Mark Mullen, said: “People spending just £5 per week in their local independent shops can have a huge impact on our town centre. “FiverFest is a chance for independent businesses to encourage people back to Northampton, to say thank you to customers who have supported them..

Prologis DIRFT Zero Carbon Tour. Join us on the next stop of the Zero Carbon Tour in Northamptonshire sharing the net zero message with the local business community.  The #ZeroCarbonTour is headed to Prologis DIRFT in Northamptonshire as they make their way through the UK to COP26 in Glasgow in November, sharing the net zero message with the business community. Join them and their hosts, Prologis as we accelerate the UN-backed Race to Zero as part of the UK's #TogetherForOurPlanet campaign. Shaping a brighter future is not something any one organisation can achieve alone. It requires collaborative and decisive action that will create a future of unprecedented business opportunities – finding new growth and talent, lowering costs and building greater resilience. On the day, you’ll see the UK's first 100% electric coach, affectionately named the ‘Carbon Battle Bus’, find out more about the UN-backed Race to Zero and Together For..

For Square Media Solutions, success is about nurturing and developing a long-term relationship with its clients. Collaboration, says managing director Matthew Rigby-White, is key. That is why the company is so excited about a new partnership it has forged with Pulse Group Media, publisher of the lifestyle MK Pulse and NN Pulse magazines and of Business Times and Business MK, the leading business newspapers in Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes, North Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. The link-up will see Square Media bring its expertise in web design and functionality to upgrade the websites of the area’s leading publications in their field, bringing them closer to their customers as they evolve to meet the changing demands and needs of their customers. And Pulse Group Media will deliver Square Media’s message to its total readership of more than 200,000. “We have the digital capability and expertise and Pulse Group Media has fantastic reach and reputation,”..

Digital Manufacturing in Northamptonshire As I reported in last month’s article, it started with a rumour. Tesla owner, Elon Musk was in the UK possibly scouting for a new plant location. I had heard that there were delays and problems with his venture in Germany. It was an opportunity that I and my close colleague and former Business Secretary, Andrea Leadsom grasped immediately, so we wrote to Elon Musk proposing Northamptonshire as the natural place to open a high-end engineering plant to support the new electrical automotive sector. The public and business interest in this resulted in a very welcome and unexpected invitation to visit the cutting-edge and brand-new DMC (Digital Manufacturing Centre) factory located at the Silverstone Technology Centre.  DMC was created by K W Special Projects,..

A small, Northamptonshire family vineyard is marking its tenth anniversary in the best possible way, by raising a glass of its own award-winning fizz to celebrate picking up a top national accolade!  Stonyfield Wine, based at Blisworth, has won a gold medal and the Dudley Quirk Trophy for Best Sparkling Blend 2021 from WineGB, the UK body for grape growers and winemakers – an honour usually bestowed upon the country’s larger, southern vineyards.  After planting the first vines in 2011 on the south-facing slope of spoil left behind after the digging of the Grand Union canal and Blisworth tunnel in the late 18th Century, Stonyfield partner John Folliott Vaughan says they’re delighted to be recognised in this way just a decade later: “We’re flattered and frankly amazed to be both the first small and only Midlands-based vineyard to receive this national trophy and all the more so when you appreciate..

An expert HR consultancy has taken on its first ever marketing manager, to further strengthen the award-winning team. HR Solutions, which supplies outsourced HR support to small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs), recently scooped the Professional Services Award at the Northamptonshire Business Excellence Awards, impressing the judges with its three mergers and acquisitions and a year-on-year growth of 20%. The Kettering-based company now welcomes Rebecca Gormley to the fold as the firm’s first-ever marketing manager. In this newly created role, Rebecca will be focused on developing and implementing the company’s marketing strategy and growing its digital footprint through brand awareness. Rebecca will be responsible for and work closely with existing staff to promote services to HR Solutions’ client base. Rebecca brings a wealth of B2B marketing experience to HR Solutions as well as a creative eye, having recently completed an extensive renovation to the 18th century cottage she shares with her..

This month’s article is about ways you can find and secure new customers for little to no spend. What’s not to like about that? What many people don’t realise is that the old payment model for software has completely changed so there is plenty of software available that doesn’t have to cost you a penny. SaaS and how it has changed the way we pay for software Largely, gone are the days when you paid for a software license. It came in a nice box with a manual and you owned it forever. Most software developers now prefer a cloud-based Software as a Service, or SaaS, model meaning you pay for the software monthly or annually and what you pay is based on the features you choose and how many people use it. The downsides to this are that you never really own it, the costs can change at any..

Shoppers are being urged to show their support for town centre traders when restrictions are relaxed on Monday, with non-essential retailers and outdoor hospitality venues in Northampton preparing to reopen their doors. More than a year after the pandemic first hit, shops will be able to start trading once again while pubs and restaurants will be able to serve customers sitting outside. With shoppers eager to make the most of their new-found freedom, Northampton town centre is expected to be busy, and extra measures have been taken to encourage social distancing and keep everyone safe. Mark Mullen, operations manager for Northampton Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID) − the organisation working on behalf of businesses to enhance and promote the town centre − said: “It feels so good to finally be back. After what has been an incredibly difficult year for all of us, we can’t wait to get that..

An estate agent with branches in Corby and Kettering has launched an in-house mortgage advice service to help customers looking to purchase a property. Belvoir, which is based on George Street in Corby and Newland Street in Kettering, is working in partnership with Narcisz Sweeney, an independent advisor with Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB), to deliver the new service which will offer practical advice on the mortgages currently available on the market to prospective homeowners. As well as advice on mortgages, remortgages, Right to Buy and shared ownership, the service will also help homeowners access later life lending like equity release, second charge mortgages and commercial mortgages. Narcisz - who speaks English, Hungarian, Slovak and Czech - will also be on hand to help customers understand the different types of mortgages available, from repayment and interest-only, to shared equity and buy-to-let and give advice on the right solutions for them based..

The world doesn’t stand still and neither should a brand. In fact, things change so fast nowadays that brands simply can’t do enough to keep up with the times and often miss major opportunities that can be exploited by a real shift in direction. This month’s article is about how your brand should evolve not only to survive but to prosper. Why your brand must never be static Let’s remember first exactly what ‘brand’ means. Your logo is not your brand. It is only a part of your brand, often referred to as your ‘branding’ or ‘brand identity’. The brand itself is every aspect of how you do you what you; the very fabric of your business, the values and beliefs that drive things from the inside and how every detail of..

To support town centre staff, owners and managers Northampton town centre Business Improvement District (BID) has organised a virtual Google Garage event. The event, set to take place on Tuesday, 23 February 2021 from 11am, will help organisations create their own digital marketing strategy - an integral component to growing a business online. Mark Mullen, the BID’s operations manager, explained: “We are delighted to have teamed with Google Digital Garage, to help our businesses build a digital marketing strategy. This online event will help businesses consider all the digital marketing channels available to them and to then plan for how these can be applied to their own business objectives.” In this one-hour session, organised by Northampton BID in partnership with Google Digital Garage, businesses will: Understand what Digital Marketing is Learn about Digital Marketing channels Build a Digital Marketing plan Delegates will explore the role digital marketing plays in business..

Desborough based Poppy Design Studio have been invited by Enterprising East Northants to feature at the Recovery Through Enterprise Business Festival taking place later this month. The Festival which starts on Monday 22nd February commences at 9.00 am and forms part of Phase 2 of the Recovery Through Enterprise programme which will see the delivery of the Business Festival. The Festival will also champion entrepreneurship and innovation, provide essential advice for businesses with ambitious growth plans and champion sector-led growth in East Northamptonshire and Wellingborough. Included in the Festival will include webinars, lunch and learn sessions, a focus on buying local food and drink, information on grants from SEMLEP Growth Hub, a Dragons Den style competition as well as a presentation from Head Designer and Director Marie Baker and Marketing Manager Simon Cox. The presentation will focus on what to do with your website to aid economic recovery from the..