Free advice to beat recession

Business leaders gathered at the Norton Grange, Castleton, for an event providing recession-beating information.

Organised jointly by Oldham and Rochdale councils, more than 70 people attended the free workshop during which experts debated the challenges faced by local businesses.

There was free advice from Business Link, representatives from both councils, banks, accountants, legal and insolvency practices, the educational sector and HM Revenue and Customs.

Keynote speaker Paul Stewart, from Bolton Business Ventures, made a clarion call for businesses to market their way out of the recession, with data, customer and staff relationships at the heart of the strategy.

He described a good business database as liquid gold and declared that developing a punchy description of the business was a vital marketing tool, adding: “Remember — you have only 15 seconds to make a good impression on the web.”

A representative from HM Revenue and Customs — still the tax office to many of us — left a good impression on the representatives from the Evening Chronicle.

Dianne Smith offered a range of free, follow-on workshops to businesses covering all aspects of pay, taxation and the dreaded annual returns.

Jonathan Phillips, from Oldham Council’s Economy and Enterprise Unit, said: “This was the first in a series of business events offering practical help for local businesses.

“Businesses have not only been given free advice but they have had the chance to meet other businesses and share experiences.”

For a factsheet from Oldham Council, go to www.oldham.gov.uk/factsheets/ocfs-business, or send an e-mail request to jonathan.phillips@oldham.co.uk.

The next event — a free marketing workshop — takes place on Thursday, July 25, at the Honeywell Centre, Ashton Road, Hathershaw, starting at 5pm.

To book a place e-mail open@theenterprisecentre.co.uk or contact Jay on 0845-388 7701.



Bizarre bosses



MORE than half of bosses have become worse at motivating their staff since the start of the recession, resorting to bizarre behaviour to try to make people work harder.



A survey of 1,600 workers by campaign group Keep Britain Working found that one manager made his staff clean toilets to save money, while another boss chanted “Hit this target, keep your job.”

One boss brought in his hunting rifle and pretended to fire at staff to make them work harder, the research found.

One in three managers have increased the criticism of workers and a similar number hid themselves away, said the Keep Britain Working group, which promotes job creation.

Most workers said productivity suffered if managers failed to motivate staff and a third said it made company failures more likely.

James Reed, founder of Keep Britain Working said: “Bosses need to realise that they have a huge effect on those around them, and that no matter how they feel, their first responsibility is to do more to motivate staff. This will lead to greater productivity.”