Latest updates and stories from Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce and its Members

Luton Adult Learning are running the following:

Mental Health First Aid 
The Centre for Mental Health has found that mental ill health costs UK employers an estimated £34.9 billion each year - the equivalent of £1,300 for every employee in the UK workforce. Broken down, that's £10.6 billion in sickness absence,

Mary Vincent of Willow Tree Gin is a solo female entrepreneur with a passion for food and drink.

Her love of creating new recipes and experimenting with herbs was the guiding force behind her business venture.

Local community support group Helping Hands Woburn Sands celebrates its first birthday this month and is calling on more people to get involved as part of Volunteers’ Week, a national campaign which runs from the 1^st-7^th June.

When we think of overseas trade, we tend to associate that world with larger companies equipped with thousands of staff, warehouses and factories across the country. But it's a common misconception that is denying so many smaller businesses from pursuing their full export potential.

In the early hours of Monday 13^th May, the Barn at the Forest Centre & Millennium Country Park (Marston Moretaine) was broken into and goods over the value of £30k were stolen. The Centre is run by the Forest of Marston Vale, and such a huge loss is a devastating blow to the charity, who are planting trees and creating woodlands across the area. 

The Total Wellbeing Luton healthy lifestyles team can come to Luton  workplaces and conduct NHS Health Checks around everyone’s busy schedules. 

Whether we've experienced its presence in the media, or benefitted from a successful outcome, lobbying will have played a role in most of our lives.

Perhaps we've even felt its impact as a business, through a policy that was either rejected or supported by parliament.

Despite the fact that we spend an average of 13 years of our life at work, the workplace environment hasn't always gotten the attention it deserves.

Your culture is the lifeblood of your business. In an environment where moral and ethical values are promoted and people are encouraged to think and feel more positively, employees and teams will thrive. This fosters better teamwork, better customer service and as a result, a better overall business performance.

A wide variety of creative and flexible food options to meet the tastes and needs of the latest generation of delegates: that’s what Wyboston Lakes Resort’s Woodlands Event Centre offers now that the Olive Restaurant is open.

We’re yet to determine the exact impact of Brexit on the UK. Never has a country left the EU under such circumstances before, which isn't great news for the forward planners amongst us, and of course, business owners.

The Luton and Dunstable Hospital and Helipad Appeal Chairman, Edward Phillips CEO of the Luton Hoo Estate, are hosting a gala event on the 18^th May 2019 at The Conservatory at the Luton Hoo Walled Garden.

A Partner in local chartered accountancy firm, George Hay, has recently been appointed Chair of the UK200Group’s Property & Construction Committee.

MHA MacIntyre Hudson is adopting the brand identity and ethos of Baker Tilly International, the top-10 global accountancy network with 126 members firms. The new brand look and feel will also be used by all members of the UK MHA network.

Why do some businesses struggle so much to get off the ground? Or, when they eventually gain some momentum, they plateau and fail to sustain any growth?

Commenting on the Prime Minister's announcement she will seek to extend the Brexit deadline, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:

“The clock is still ticking, and avoiding a messy and disorderly exit from the EU is still the top priority

Some of the world’s greatest leaders, entrepreneurs and thinkers are known to be masters of productivity.

Hearing of their work ethics and the subtle hacks they implemented into their days can teach us a lot about how to manage our own time for maximum productivity.