PETER BARRON, the Director of Communications and Public Affairs for computer giant Google in Central Europe, is the key speaker at Hull Digital Live 2010…

Read more…

The meteor shower is caused by debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle, and this only happens every 133 years.The huge comet rockets through the inner part of our Solar System where Earth is and leaves behind a tail of debris, dust and gravel.

When the Earth spins through the debris, parts of it hit our atmosphere at very high speeds (140,000mph) and the flashes of light the particles disintegrating.

People need ideally to head away from city lights for the best views, to get a pitch black sky for viewing the show.

More info….

The Spirit of Australia team win the 35’000 mile clipper race around the world and was welcomed by 50’000 people  as all the yachts sailed into Hull Marina.

more inf o…

HULL DAILY MAIL RESORT TO SMEAR CAMPAIGN TO DRIVE HU17.net OUT OF TOWN

In a flagrant display of malicious bullying, The Hull Daily Mail are about to produce an article which they hope will put an end to the HU17.net website. Because of the continued success of the website, with numbers of hits growing week on week, HU17.net is covering events in the area of Beverley much better than the local paper, and they are about to do something about it.

The success of HU17.net is down to one man, Paul Smith. He hasn’t had much of an education, and has had few lucky breaks. By his own admission, he isn’t great with words, but he has always shown enormous commitment and passion for the things he believes in. Several years ago, having been made redundant from an on-line finance company in Leeds, he taught himself how to build web-sites and tried his hand at running a company of his own, designing graphics and websites for companies, and facilitating internet marketing. He built the infrastructure of websites for anyone who wanted one, and soon had the likes of Lloyds TSB, Yahoo, Playboy, Nochex, Metacharge and OT Publishing on his books, although their requirements weren’t enormous and did not create much revenue.

More info…

‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ won best tourist board website on TravelMole voted by subscribers. Gary Verity, chief executive of ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ said “Our website is our opportunity to sell Yorkshire to the world so we are very proud to have won this award ”

The interactive flash navigation on the home page really puts it aside from your run of the mill website and keeps visitors looking around the site.  The TLD (Top Level Domain) Yorkshire.com also helps attract more visitors to the April 09 launched site as companies alike are seeing the benifits of generics.

Savvy businesses such as B&Q with their diy.com, British Gas with their Gas.co.uk, ToysRUs latest buy or Lloyds TSB with their insurance.co.uk domains. They have for many years reaped enormous rewards and marketing kudos from owning THE prime generic domains that define their respective industries.

Nothing in the eye of the public and businesses is more memorable than a domain that “Does exactly what it says on the tin”! and we think Yorkshire.com hits it on the head!

For further information about Yorkshire.com please contact Dee Marshall
Email: dmarshall@yorkshire.com
Direct Line: 0113 3223505
Mobile: 07950 325 901

Beverley Richmond
Email: brichmond@yorkshire.com
Direct Line: 0113 3223507

Press Release:

New film highlights wealth of investment in region

As a city that is on the up, Hull has made some real progress in terms of its regeneration and consequently there is a high demand and opportunity for businesses to invest in Hull & East Yorkshire.

• A city centre apartment in Hull can now sell for 500,000
• 800,000 people are within a 45 minute drive of Hull, including 220,000 ABC1′s with a comparison spending power of 1.9bn
• Hull’s hotels are at over 80% occupancy mid-week
• Hull & Humber has the largest ports complex in the UK, handling 16% of all UK’s seabourne trade
• World Trade Centre Hull & Humber connects into more than 90 countries and 750,000 businesses

Find out how you can be part of Hull’s success:

Opportunities in Hull City centre for:

• Bistro/cafe bar on landmark footbridge
• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Offices
• Retail
• Conference and entertainment

Press Release

Aiming to reach businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber – seeking to take advantage of growth in the offshore wind market.

VEN Management a subsidy of Yorkshire Forward is creating a supplier database of regional companies that have an interest in the offshore wind turbine market. This will be made available to wind farm developers and manufacturers when looking for operations and maintenance suppliers. With significant developments planned, such as the Humber Gateway offshore wind farm and many onshore developments, there are many opportunities for regional businesses.

Using this database, VEN Management will promote to customers in the offshore wind farm market, the range of skills currently available in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Developers and manufacturers are looking to September 2009 to begin supplier selection on phase 2 & 3 offshore projects.

Market Yourself to the Offshore and Onshore Wind Sector

VEN Management will be presenting a database of Yorkshire and Humber based suppliers to major wind farm developers and manufacturers. With our region being a key location for offshore and onshore wind farm development it is crucial that the region’s businesses take full advantage of these opportunities.

Please complete our brief questionnaire to register your details for this database.

For questions relating to YHwind please contact sam@venmanagement.com

Reports have indicated that the Powerfuel Power Ltd Hatfield site in South Yorkshire has now been short listed to be a site for the European scheme to start Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).

€1.25bn has been allocated by the European Commission for 5 European sites to enable the capture of carbon.

Carbon dioxide is been emitted into our atmosphere (also called CO₂) from cars, fires, boilers or whenever we burn any type of fuel, anywhere. The biggest source for this release is cars, trucks, and power stations that are non-nuclear.

To prevent the ever increasing amount of CO2 building up in our atmosphere which could be possibly helping with global warming and other problems it can caught and stored. The fact we would need to collect probably billions of tons of CO₂, we cannot just build tanks or storage units, but ironically use the natural storage facilities of old gas and oil fields such as those in the North Sea.

The system would also be installed at power plants to capture and compress carbon dioxide on site rather than just letting it go.

Capturing CO2

There are 3 main ways to capture Carbon Dioxide

Post-combustion capture

Just after the fuel has been used and burnt the Carbon Dioxide is then removed from the flue gas. A process that is already being implemented for supplying pure CO₂ to very niche markets.

Pre-combustion capture

A process called gasification is when the fuel is converted into CO2 and Hydrogen through. The CO₂ can then be removed before use.

Oxyfuel combustion

This process involves burning the fuel in pure O2 (oxygen). This only produces CO₂ and water vapour. After the water vapour condenses a pure stream of CO₂ is produced.

World wide storage sites from Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage

The number of apprentices qualifying in Yorkshire and the Humber has more than doubled in just four years, figures show today. A total of 15,380 people completed an apprenticeship in 2007/08, compared to just 6,530 in 2003/04, an increase of 135 per cent or 9,000 more apprentices.

The percentage completion rate in the region is the highest outside London and the South East. In Yorkshire & Humber, Barnsley and the East Riding showed the highest percentage increases in the number of apprentices qualifying, both over 200 per cent.
New analysis, issued as part of the national Apprenticeship Week, show how each part of the region has fared with the numbers qualifying between 2003/04 and 2007/08:

• Barnsley – 730 – up 218 per cent from 230
• Bradford – 1,090 up 142 per cent from 450
• Calderdale – 560 up 150 per cent from 220
• Doncaster – 1,100 up 178 per cent from 400
• East Riding – 2,010 up 215 per cent from 640
• Hull – 840 up 86 per cent from 450
• Kirklees – 1,150 up 166 per cent from 430
• Leeds – 1,430 up 166 per cent from 540
• NE Lincs – 400 up104 per cent from 190
• N Lincs – 440 up 94 per cent from 230
• North Yorkshire – 2,470 up 80 per cent from 1,370
• Rotherham – 690 up 103 per cent from 340
• Sheffield – 1,270 up 118 per cent from 580
• Wakefield – 830 up 167 per cent from 310
• York – 390 up 156 per cent from 150.

Source: Government Offices for Yorkshire and the Humber

MindWorks

Stress and mental problems are not good in the work place if not dealt with properly. MindWorks are offering courses to help businesses and their employees to cope with the current climate of stress.

MindWorks have the following dates for individuals who are interested in our specialist away day training courses.

If you would like a specific course tailored to your needs, would like more information about alternative course dates or you would like to discuss your training requirements, then feel free to contact us for further details.

FEBRUARY 2009

• MWCR289     27-February     Stress Management In The Workplace

MARCH 2009

• MWCR282     02-March     Time and Priority Management
• MWCR290     13-March     Disability Discrimination Act
• MWCR291     30-March     Mental Health Awareness

APRIL 2009

• MWCR296     09-April     Absence Management
• MWCR297     17-April     Stress Management In The Workplace

MAY 2009

• MWCR299     29-May     Managing Stress In Your Staff

JUNE 2009

• MWCR300     04-June     Understanding Mental Health Conditions
• MWCR301     15-June     Handling Difficult Situations
• MWCR302     30-June     Stress Management In The Workplace

JULY 2009

• MWCR303     09-July     Disability Discrimination Act
• MWCR304     24-July     Mental Health Awareness

In-house training course prices are negotiable and vary depending on what the organisations needs are. We can take your specific requirements and tailor a course unique to your organisation. For a full day’s in-house training course for between 8-15 delegates, prices usually start at around £850 per course.
mindworks@mindhey.co.uk

Date: 18 February 2009

Time: 10.00 am to 4.30 pm

Venue: Hull City Hall

Type of event: Your Future Exhibition – many local employers offering full-time, part-time and seasonal vacancies, together with training, recruitment and development ideas all under one roof.

Contact Details: www.thisisyourfuture.co.uk

Source: Job Centre Plus

Top 6 tips for small businesses with late payments from clients.

1. Submit your terms: The first important thing you can do to make sure clients don’t have excuses for late payments is to state the terms and conditions of the payment clearly on your initial invoice. State to the client when you expect to be paid in advance. It is surprising how very few small businesses remember this important must!
2. Charge interest on late payments: All companies have a legal right to start charging interest on any late payments. Although many small businesses won’t like to do this in case  they lose the work, what harm can be done in mentioning that late payment interest may be added on the invoice to remind the client about it. It might even encourage clients to before the due date.
3. Get tough: Most small businesses often fail with the lack of financial stock and skill that would ensure they are paid on time, therefore anything you can do to increase you weight of cash will help your case. Some small businesses even put a stickers on all their invoices saying ‘we use a debt collection agency for overdue payments’. Clients will not want the hasle of a debt collection agency knowing about their late payments as it could in fact harm their credit references, so including stickers on your invoices could help you get paid more quickly. Very Simple, but very effective.
4. Building up relationships: Many reasons are the cause to late payments but one of the main problems with late payment is that it’s often anonymous: accounts departments may not know you and can’t put a name to a face. Single out someone who can help you and introduce yourself and try to speak to the same person each time and create a good relationship. Once you have built up a good friendly working relationship, it will be much harder for them to let you down or not send out payment.
5. Don’t focus work on one company: Relying for revenue on one big company or client for most of your profits is a BIG recipe for disaster, this can cause huge head aches if they are late payers. Avoiding this is simple, try and get a mix bag of clients who are both small and large companies, this will spread your risk. It’s just not worth the gamble on one big client, no matter how big and well respected they are companies go bust.
6. Call it a day while you’re ahead: The important question to ask yourself when dealing a company that’s a late payer is: ‘Am I still making money out of this client’?’ If the deals you are doing with this company not leaving much profit margin anyway, and your waiting for the payment is it causing you to incur debts, then you could be making a loss out of the deal. Do your sums, do the add up in your favour? Make sure you know when it’s time to cut away.

Google maps have been around for a few years now and have added new features over them. You can plan routes, look into your next doors garden and can be viewed in many ways.

They have now launched a new feature to Google maps which shows the speed flow of traffic. A red line for slow traffic, Yellow for fair and green for free flowing fast. Here’s an example of the Humber area Google traffic flow map

Reports say that Pulse Tidal have plans to install a tidal stream energy generator in the east coast Humber estuary.

The company resposible is Pulse Tidal who are based at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham.

They have developed the prototype pulse generator which is able to produce a power level of up to 0.150MW and will be one of the very first tidal power devices to supply the UK national grid. If the tests are successful, it will be used to help develop much larger 1MW unit which could be deployed in arrays each generating up to 100MW, this would be enough to power the equivalent of 65,000+ homes.

The eco electrical system has been successfully tested at Hull University and the systems technology works by using the energy from tidal flows that will power a pair of straight horizontal hydrofoils, 11 metres in length, which will move up and down like a dolphin’s tail.

The scheme is backed by the Secretary of State for Energy, John Hutton and successfully secured around £2m from private investors, the government and European funding.