Consultation on Buskers
(Picture courtesy of Worcester News)
We are keen to know what businesses feel about buskers in the city centre. We hear the praise for their quality but more often it is complaints from the noise levels and so we are looking at ways in which we can make busking a more positive experience for the public and your employees. We get particularly frustrated that our Street Rangers don’t have the powers to move them on if they are causing a noise nuisance. Let us know what you think by emailing
adrian.field@worcesterbid.com and your views will be collated to then take appropriate action.
Customer Service Assessments
Many thanks to those businesses who have signed up to the annual customer service assessments (mystery shopping). We have received 119 requests to be assessed from businesses and the results will be announced at the Awards Ceremony in April. Watch out for details!
Not Much Bob to Post Your Job
The organisers of Worcestershire Hour have just launched a Job Board. It is easy to upload a job and for the rest of February any jobs posted are completely free. After that they will charge just £20 per vacancy for 30 days including tweets to our local audience. Profits go to their social enterprise fund. With over 14,000 mainly local followers this is a great means of promoting your vacancies.
Invitation to Student and Graduate Careers Event
at Worcester Business School, City Campus, Worcester
Tuesday 1st March 2016, 4.30pm – 7.00pm
The event is aimed at business and computing students who are looking for graduate roles, placement opportunities for 2016 and 2017, and students searching for part time work experience. To help your business, they would like to invite you to host a small stand and be available to discuss opportunities you may have for graduates, internships, placements, or part-time work with their business and computing students. To book a space please email Kat Jones with the completed attached booking form. There is a limited amount of room available for stands so please book early to secure your place. Additionally, if you have any opportunities currently open for applications please email the advert and job description to the same email address the University will promote these to their students.
Business Workshops
A series of exciting free workshops are taking place at The Hive in the next few weeks all with the aim of helping your business:
Google Garage Workshop – Tues 1 March – Making the most of the web and growing businesses and careers
This special one-off workshop led by Google for The Hive will focus on key digital marketing skills, from how to build and optimise a high-performing website, to being found online, managing your presence through social media, and tracking performance. 4 – 6pm, free. Book ticket
Social Media Marketing Workshop – Tues 22 March
Local social media experts Fresh Nous will lead an interactive session sharing successful strategies on how to use social media to market your company. 4 – 6pm, Free Book ticket
Web Design Basics Workshop – Tues 19 April
Award winning Worcester based creative design agency Modus will lead an interactive web design basics workshop which will provide insight into how to create a fantastic website for your company. 4 – 6pm, Free Book ticket
Social Media – Tues 26 April
Business breakfast sponsored by Haines Watts. 7.30am – 9.30am, free. Book ticket
In addition, the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce are running the following 2 events which might be of interest to BID members:
HR Forum
The Chamber of Commerce’s Worcester HR Forum in association with Hewett Recruitment have their next event on Wednesday 9th March between 9.30 and 11.30am at the Chamber’s offices and is free for their members and clients of Hewett Recruitment. The HR Forum is aimed at HR representatives responsible for more than 10 employees. It is a confidential forum designed to allow you to share best practice and seek advice and support from peers in an open and supportive environment. Speakers include Guy Salter from SME Solicitors. Guy will present on ‘‘Employment law update – what we have learnt from cases in 2015’. Book now
Agile Mind
The Worcester Women’s Business Forum always provides lots of added value to attendees and their next event is on Thursday (25th) at Alexander’s in New Street between 9.30 and 12noon. Each event is aimed at business people from across Worcestershire – not just women – and is held at family friendly hours, meaning attendees have the opportunity to drop their children off at school / childcare before joining fellow business people for a delicious brunch. The speaker at this event is Dave Morris from Zentano who will deliver a presentation on ‘Thinking agility…what does it mean and how can it add value to you and your business?’ The cost is £17.50+VAT for Chamber members and £35.00+VAT for non-members. Book now
Open All Hours
Congratulations to the new business who have set up in the city centre recently:
Ian Quartermaine Shines Again in Awards
Congratulations once again to jeweller Ian Quartermaine who has been shortlisted for the Retail Jewellery Awards (the Oscars of the jewellery trade). See the full story here
Healthier Choices Food Award
Catering businesses who have achieved level 5 of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme and want to stand out from the competition can apply for an award scheme created by Worcestershire Regulatory Services. The award recognises business owners who offer alternatives such as a choice of portion sizes and healthier menu options to cater for customers who are looking to lead a healthier lifestyle.
There are two membership levels, with Gold membership available to those who use some locally sourced food. For more details, click here
Museum wins over £1 million
Congratulations to the Museum of Royal Worcester who have secured £1,282,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to deliver a project which will bring the story of Worcester Porcelain alive, by focusing on social history, the sense of community that the factory inspired and the extent of its worldwide distribution. It is expected to provide a welcome boost to visitor numbers to the museum and the city centre as a whole. The full press release is here
Your Chance to Sponsor the 2016 annual City of Worcester Sport Awards
We are looking for local businesses to sponsor the 2016 Sport Awards evening in Worcester. The evening will be hosted by Steve Cram CBE at The University Arena In September, where local athletes, clubs, volunteers, teams and coaches get the recognition they deserve for their achievements in sport.
Find out about their sponsorship package – all prices have remained the same as 2015 (£400 for Platinum/ Event and £175 for Gold/ Award). Please can you let Hannah Cox know if this is something that you would be interested in by 1st March as all sponsors need to be secured for the 24th March to maximise coverage of the awards and sponsors in the nomination process. Sponsorship is offered on a first come first served basis.
Head Back Down to This Green Earth
Worcester Museum & Art Gallery in Foregate Street have an exciting new exhibition: This Green Earth – Bridget Macdonald and the Landscape Tradition of Claude Lorrain, Samuel Palmer and Peter Paul Rubens which runs until 25th June. Their next bite-sized talk is on 8th March – Medieval Medicine. Full details are available here
Race for Life is Back!
Worcester Race for Life is back and open for entries for 2016 and they need everyone to spread the word. In 2016 there are 5k, 10k and Pretty Muddy on the NEW dates of 16 & 17 July. Everything you need is to be found at raceforlife.org. For any queries, please call Kelly.rumble@cancer.org.uk
