Do you know if your business is meeting its legal requirements for health and safety?

According to St John Ambulance*, worryingly over 15% of businesses have never carried out an assessment to determine risks within the workplace and therefore how to protect staff. The organisation has launched a new course in Liverpool and across the North West aimed at helping small to medium sized businesses understand the basic processes involved in making their workplace legally compliant.

In 2008/9 there were nearly 105,000 injuries which led to absence from work - around two fifths were caused by handling, lifting or carrying and nearly a quarter were due to tripping or slipping**.

The nation’s leading first aid and health and safety organisation is encouraging SMEs to learn how to ensure good practice and prevent workplace accidents.

The new St John Ambulance Health and safety basics course is accredited by the British Safety Council and successful completion of the course results in a BSC certificate. The course is available across the country and includes:

• Health and safety legislation 
• Overview of what a company needs to do to remain compliant 
• Overview of risk assessments and basic procedures
• Introduction to the language of health and safety
• How to stay informed of latest changes
• Ongoing support from a designated SJA health and safety expert via email

Richard Evens, Training and Marketing Director at St John Ambulance says: ‘In the last year there have been over 1100 cases of businesses being taken to court because of health and safety failings, resulting in 87% being convicted. The repercussions can be immense, not only in terms of the safety of their employees but also legally and financially.

‘Health and safety is certainly not something that should be skimped on but we realise that smaller businesses can find it daunting when faced with the prospect of dealing with risk assessments, protocols and legal obligations without having the same resources as large companies. Our Health and safety basics course will help clear up any confusion and ensure employers become proficient in this area and understand how their business can comply.’

Prices for the Health and safety basics course start at £270. The next scheduled courses in Liverpool will take place from 5-6 May and 4-5 August.

Chamber of Commerce members are entitled to a 10% discount off St John Ambulance courses in the North West. 

Call 0844 770 4800 or visit www.sja.org.uk/training

The public sector tender market has £500 billion worth of business available each year and its important that local businesses are in the best position to be successful.

Stepclever hosts a series of free workshops designed to help north Liverpool and south Sefton businesses to win more business in both the public and private sectors.

These workshops will provide the skills and information to tender successfully and win new contracts.

23 February
Where to Source Public Sector Contracts
Your Business and the Environment & Consortia
This workshop looks at how to identify tender sources and search for tender opportunities. How company and supply chains impact on the environment and how consortia or partnerships can help in maximising business opportunities.

2 March
How to Complete Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQs) /
Successful Tender Management
This workshop focuses on understanding PQQs and the pre-preparation required to assist in successful completion. How to identify which are the best tender opportunities for your business and how to submit successful bids and tenders.

8 March
Understanding Business Finance
Understanding the finances business is key to success. Valuable advice for sole trader, a partner or director it is beneficial to understand the finances of your business.

This programme introduces the documentation and its analysis and also looks at the key business ratios that affect that information and what external people see when they look at financials.

19 March
Effective Credit Control
Effective credit control - getting paid promptly and in full is a vital addition to a business toolkit. This workshop will highlight how late payments affect finances, how effective a company is at recovering debt and what action to take to improve debt collection processes and techniques.

These workshops will be held at Anfield Sports and Community Centre,Lower Breck Road, Liverpool L6 0AG. It will be held from 9.00am to 4.00pm and include refreshments, lunch and course notes.

To book call 0151 224 1891 or email: june.davies@stepclever.co.uk

This workshop is part of a series of FREE workshops to improve the chances of winning contracts in both the public and private sectors. Stepclever workshops are free for anyone that lives, or runs a business in the wards of Anfield, Everton, County, Kirkdale, Linacre and Derby

Chamber member The International Coaching Academy have some great courses coming up soon that could transform the way you work.

Time Management
Monday 22nd February, 10.00am-2.00pm
Thursday 15th April, 9.30am-1.30pm
Monday 17th May, 9.00am-1.00pm

Make the most of your time and do 8 hours’ work in two hours!

Accelerated Learning
We have a course starting on Monday 22nd February, running over 4 evenings, 5.00pm-9.00pm.

The greatest computer in the universe is between your ears. Learn how to use it more efficiently and you have a free gift for life.

Sales Success
Tuesday 23rd February, 10.00am-2.00pm
Thursday 11th March, 9.00am-1.00pm
Monday 22nd March, 10.00am-2.00pm

Learn how to overcome some of the most common objections to completing a deal with these great courses.

Click ‘more’ for all the details on these courses

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Charities are finding it increasingly harder to collect payment of pledges their supporters have made.

To help improve the cash flow for charities Liverpool Chamber of Commerce has joined up with Credit Management Group UK who have designed a training course aimed to train fundraisers on how to collect payment in a way that doesn’t taint the relationship with their sponsors.

At the end of this training course, fundraisers will be more confident in tackling outstanding pledges, have a strategy in place to contact supports and have standard letters to send our to supporters.

• Attributes required to effectively negotiate payment
• Telephone collections:  Overcoming objections, negotiating and closing calls
• Negotiating techniques:  To get paid more quickly without effecting the relationship with the supporter
• Active listening:  How to use effective listening skills to influence the supporter
• Using leverage to get paid:  Using the charities mission effectively as leverage
• Collection Letters:  Impact, wording and timing
• Collection Strategy

Testimonial:
We found the course very informative and specifically tailored to meet the needs of a charity. It was delivered in an informal and humorous manner, whilst at the same time remaining very professional.
Janine Drew fundraising Manager, Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.

To book onto this course please contact our team on 0151 224 1888
or email on info@merseyskills.co.uk

Please book as soon as possible to avoid disappointment

9th March 2010
9am Registration (for 9.30am start)
1.30pm finish

11th March 2010
12pm Registration (for 12.30 start)
4.30pm finish

Lunch provided

Cost:  £45* per person

* with SkillWorks (up to 60% funding) is available for eligible companies.

A selection of courses has been developed to respond to the specific needs of your business.

These high value courses are specifically designed to have a positive effect on the bottom line of your organisation.

Environmental Champion
This course is for individuals within an organisation who have concerns for the environment and their interaction with it. This course will give attendees the knowledge, skills and confidence to tackle environmental issues such as energy management, waste reduction, pollution control, transport issues and water use in the workplace. The course focuses on the benefits of reducing the environmental impact of an organisation and how all individuals can contribute towards this.     

Environmental Awareness
This course is for Managers or Employers who are responsible for developing and implementing an organisation’s environmental policies and practices.  The content covers environmental issues (pollution, energy, waste, water and transport), legal issues, and environmental standards and how to achieve them.  This course lays the foundations for an organisation to start the process of building an Environmental Management System.

Environmental Policy & Environmental Management Systems
Over 45% of North West Businesses do not have an Environmental Policy in place . This course will show Managers how to start developing and implementing an Environmental Policy and EMS, introduce practical tools useful for development, investigate potential problems and highlight the many Company benefits of developing an Environmental Policy and EMS.

Cost Savings for Small Businesses
Stay in the black by becoming green. This course covers the bottom line and as such is aimed at all Managers with fiscal control. Topics covered include tax concessions, government grants, transport initiatives, utility savings, supply chain savings, and cost reduction services. If you want to reduce your running costs, this is the course for you.

** This course offers a free 1 hour consultation with
an Environmental Auditor for your business.

Bookings can be made by contacting the Chamber Business Skills team on 0151 224 1888.

*SkillWorks funding is available for eligible SMEs – please call the Mersey Skills Network team for further information on reducing the cost of your training by half!

E mail: info@merseyskills.co.uk or call the team on Tel: 0151 224 1888.

FACT’s new courses for creative businesses

New Tools is a training and development programme for creative professionals offering courses and workshops with a new media focus.

Taught by industry professionals and Apple-accredited tutors, our courses provide a full range of beginner to advanced and bespoke options in Open Source and industry standard software from post-production editing to 3D modeling/animation and programming with interactive hardware.

These include:

• Final Cut Pro
• After Effects
• Apple Color & Motion
• Blender
• Flash & ActionScript
• SketchUp
• Art of Illusion
• GIMP
• Interactive
• Photoshop

All our courses are based in FACT’s Media Lab - an Apple-accredited training centre, ideal for desktop learning.  Please ask about our tailor-made courses and bespoke training for individuals, organizations and company staff. We can accommodate groups of up to 12 and offer group booking discounts.

To see a list of scheduled New Tools courses, please visit: http://www.fact.co.uk/whatson/coming_soon/

Or contact Claudia.lastra@fact.co.uk 0151 707 4433

Liverpool Crime Alert is once again running its vital ‘Project Argus’ anti-terrorism training day for the city’s shops and businesses.

What is Project Argus?
Project ARGUS is a National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) initiative, delivered by your local Counter Terrorism Security Advisors, exploring ways to aid you in preventing, handling and recovering from a terrorist attack.

It achieves this by taking businesses through a simulated terrorist attack. The simulation identifies the measures to take for preventing, handling and recovering from a terrorist attack.

Who should attend?
Shopping Centre managers / Store managers / Loss Prevention managers / Security managers / Building - Facilities managers / H&S managers  anyone in a supervisory role of both staff & public. “First come first served”

What you can expect?
Argus is a completely free event which takes you through a realistic terrorist attack using a multi-media simulation. The blue light services and emergency planners will be in attendence to offer advice.

A series of questions and challenges are put to you, both individually and as a group and will have to resolve them. You will work in small syndicate groups with other local business representatives. The whole event including a coffee break will last three hours.

When & Where?
Friday 2nd October 2009 - Book online
Friday 6th November 2009 - Book online
Thursday 3rd December 2009 - Book online

10:30 -13:30hrs

Liverpool Chamber of Commerce
No1 Old Hall St, Liverpool L3 9HG

How do I ensure I don’t miss out?
Invitations are going out to all businesses in the City Centre, demand for places will be high and numbers will be on a “first-come, first-served” basis.

To reserve your free place:

You can book online:
Friday 2nd October 2009 - Book online
Friday 6th November 2009 - Book online
Thursday 3rd December 2009 - Book online

Alternatively:
Phone: 0151 224 1859
Email: joanne.joynson@liverpoolchamber.org.uk

Liverpool Chamber member Credit Management Group UK are running some courses to help you take control of your cash flow…

We have some places available for our very popular training course :

How to use the Small Claims Courts for debt recovery
Tue. 22nd September 2009
Holiday Inn Express, John Lennon Airport, Speke.

We will show you how to use the small claims courts to get your outstanding invoices paid.

We can still get Merseyside SME’s Skillworks funding of  50% if they contact us this week

Other courses are running in September/October are:

Improving Your Collection Performance.

This course is a must for anyone directly involved in chasing payment from customers.

We show you how to get paid quickly and in a customer focused way!

Improving Cash flow for Managers

This course looks at the ‘order to cash’ process and the systems you need to have in place in your business to make sure you get paid quickly.

Places are limited, so please contact us now to book your place. info@CMGroupUK.com or call us on 0845 054 0504

LEAD, a £9.5m groundbreaking initiative supported by the NWDA aimed at the small business leader, is now available on Merseyside.

LEAD features world class speakers, personal coaching and group learning events and has been proven to deliver impressive results to small businesses over a 4 year study by Lancaster University.

Merseyside has 3 LEAD providers:

• No Guru in partnership with Freedom Business Coaching
• University of Liverpool
• Knowledge Transfer International (KTI)

Providers are hosting FREE “taster” events taking place across the region during August and September.  These will show you what LEAD is, how it works and allow you to decide if the programme is right for you and your business.

Chamber members who have up to 20 employees (or any members who have small business clients) are warmly invited to attend these sessions which promise to be inspiring, stimulating and involving.

Why not find out about LEAD by booking a preview session near you?

University of Liverpool preview event / session on 8th September @ The University of Liverpool Management School (session 10am – 1pm)

No Guru preview sessions:

25th August   Liverpool Marina Harbour Club
7th September   Whiston Village Hotel
(all sessions 5:30 – 8pm)

Knowledge Transfer International preview session:  18th August at The Heath Runcorn (session 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.) with Steve Smith, Olympic High Jumper ‘Raising the Bar’

Follow this link to the Business Link website  to register for a place on one of these events.  Simply choose the Provider/Event you are interested in from the list.

Training delivery has begun with Aim Higher GM for ‘Access to Medicine’ courses.

Twenty Year 12 students from Greater Merseyside were given the opportunity to take part in an exciting new ‘Aimhigher Access to Medicine’ project on 27th June.

The project, in partnership with Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, provided a comprehensive day of activities to support pupils interested in studying medicine as they aim to gain a place at University.

The day, delivered by a team of qualified doctors, included sessions to help students prepare their UCAS applications for medical school, information on education testing, interview preparation and techniques as well as “insider knowledge” of the system.

Find out more here