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With the recession hanging over us debt is on many people's minds. Housing, money, and employment worries can be enormously stressful, especially if you don't know where to turn to for support. Colchester Borough Council has been helping the Colchester residents by giving advice about jobs, businesses, money concerns and to people are worried they will lose their homes.
Since the beginning of 2008, Britain's businesses and economy has been affected by the biggest recession since the very early 90‘s. Nearly everyone has been hit by it and companies all around the UK have had to cut jobs to try and save the money that they have been losing. However, many small companies have not survived the recession as they could not handle the money losses and have unfortunately had to go into administration. The house prices have fallen by almost 3% in the UK over the past year, and the banks have stopped giving out big loans like they used to. This is proof of the fall in the economy.
The level of youth unemployment has risen to 12.4% among 18-24 year olds. The number of people out of work overall in the UK however, is the worst since 1995. It increased by a total of 220,000 in just 3months leading up to June 2009 taking the total jobless rate to 7.8%.
To support the local people and businesses that have been hit by the recession, the University of Essex has been awarded £328,000. It is one of 58 UK higher education institutions that have been awarded cash from the Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF). Their aim is to provide the universities with extra resources so that they can respond quickly to the current economic downturn. Working in partnership with Colchester Borough Council and other local universities and businesses, the University will run a programme to support those who are returning to work, the recently unemployed, new graduates, and small businesses.
Spending even a small amount of money can help your business become more popular and gain more customers, which effectively earns your company more money. You can do this by promoting your company on the Internet for a small fee. The best way to do this is to advertise your business with Activ Colchester, the most comprehensive guide to Colchester on the Internet.
All it takes is a small sum of money, less than advertising for one night in a local paper, and this will gain you valuable advertising space on Colchester's best local community website. Spending this small amount to promote your company on the Internet will make sure that more people see your company, and divert them to your website, which could lead to your company gaining more customers. Activ Colchester is a local website made for the community and will therefore mean that a most of the people that visit the website will be from in and around Colchester and will potentially boost your reputation with the local residents.
By using Activ Colchester to promote your company, you are potentially helping to put Colchester in a better place to fight the recession and this will also help your own business as you will be getting more exposure on the Internet, which means you will be potentially, gaining more customers.
In the last few years Solihull has witnessed as increase in trade and other activities. At the heart of this increased business activities is the local government authorities, who plan to encourage trade by establishing a number of shopping malls, cinema's, theatres, restaurants and a market for both the local and international traders. The idea of is to expand the business opportunities in the borough and attract more companies to establish their operations here.
Along with the picturesque pedestrian friendly High Street, the town centre consists of a blend of indoor and outdoor shopping centres. Mell Square Shopping Centre and Touchwood are the two main shopping centres and home to major retailers.
Mell Square Shopping Centre has an attractive open air environment and most of which are open 7 days a week enviable blend of over 90 stores including major names, it has specialist independent shops where you can buy exclusive designer labels. Mell Square is named after Maurice Mell who is a well known former town clerk responsible for planning the shopping centre.
Touchwood boasts as one of the biggest shopping malls in the country. Inaugurated in 2002 by Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to the town, the shopping mall covers an area of 6, 50,000 sq feet. Touchwood has a very high footfall and attracts a wide range of visitors. Last year they was an estimated 17 million visitors who visited Touchwood. The mall has natural lit arcades, leafy courtyards and open spaces designed to show the glory and heritage of Sohillul. Touchwood comprises the only John Lewis department store in the West Midlands as well as 80 other stores, over 20 restaurants and a nine-screen multiplex cinema. It also includes 6,000 car parking spaces.
With Solihull renowned as a shopping destination, there are masses of opportunities for doing business in this affluent locality.
Besides the shopping malls, Solihull has also attracted a large amount of inward investment in recent years as a result of major companies relocating to Solihull and settling in the business parks in and around the borough. Despite the recession and economic situations, there are a further 20 companies planning to establish their operations from this city making it one of the fastest growing and upcoming cities of the country. This is simply because businesses recognise Solihull's unique position. It lies at the centre of the country's motorway network, it is home to a mainline rail station and an international airport is in very close proximity.
Though a majority of business issues facing Solihull businesses are the same as faced by other businesses throughout the country, there are issues that have a local twist. To support businesses overcome local issues, Solihull Chamber of Commerce offers support on national subjects but keeps its ear to the ground and finds solutions for those topics unusual to the borough's businesses.
The Chamber has a membership of over 460 businesses. It also has well established partnerships with the Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Solihull and Shirley Town Partnerships. The Chamber is the leading business support agency in Solihull borough and is well equipped to understand and help the needs of local businesses. The Chamber is definitely an integral part of Solihull's aim to promote trade and business activities in the borough and continue adding to its prosperity.
The global credit crunch and the weak UK economy have forced many Solihull businesses to review their costs and cut budgets. Advertising costs is one of the foremost areas which businesses cut in order to save money. Activ Solihull aims to help businesses in Solihull save a significant amount in advertising revenue by offering FREE advertising up to end of June 2009 for all businesses in Solihull.