From:	Philpot, Graham
Sent:	08 April 2009 14:54
To:	Philpot, Graham
Subject:	Cheltenham Business Pride e-bulletin April 2009

Importance:	High

e-bulletin – April 2009

This monthly e-bulletin aims to keep you up to date with the latest information from Cheltenham Business Pride and the Borough Council, as well as picking out some of the key financial and economic issues that may affect local businesses in Cheltenham.

We welcome your thoughts on what you would like to hear about; please get in touch with us on the contact details below with any suggestions.

In this month's e-bulletin:

Lloyds TSB boss - the recession will be over in 2010

After last week's Lloyds TSB commercial event for local businesses, director Graham Hare told the conference that the bank's chief economist believed that Britain would start to show signs of growth and coming out of the recession by the second quarter of 2010, and that fears of a depression were unfounded.
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Cheltenham Business Pride members offered discount conference facilities at the Holiday Inn Express Cheltenham

Cheltenham Business Pride member the Express by Holiday Inn Cheltenham, is re-launching their brand to become the Holiday Inn Express Cheltenham in April.
To celebrate, the hotel have an exclusive offer for members of Business Pride, with some healthy discounts on conference facilities and accommodation costs to help local businesses alleviate the cost of the recession when planning a venue to entertain corporate clients.
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Shell Step scheme relaunches for summer 2009 - can you benefit?

Every year the Shell Step programme places nationally approximately 600 undergraduate students with small and medium-sized businesses for an 8 week summer placement to undertake projects that make a real difference. The student gets a taste of the life beyond university and in many cases, the company gets a burst of energy and new ideas that can help make it a better business. Now an offer is being put to the members of Cheltenham Business Pride, to see where they can benefit.
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Have your say on Cheltenham Low Carbon Partnership 

Cheltenham Low Carbon Partnership, which is a partnership of major public and private sector local employers coordinated by Cheltenham Borough Council, is conducting a survey to gather information on staff awareness campaigns held in the workplace. Find out how you can have your say.
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Five Facts you didn't know...

· Facebook was born in a student dorm at Harvard University just five years ago and now expects to register its 200 millionth any day soon. (BBC)
·    CO2 levels are up 35% since 1750 but plants and trees are growing bigger and faster in response to the extra billions of tons of CO2 released. (Science Magazine)
·    The Cheltenham Business Pride grants scheme has now been extended until March 2010 
·    More than £20,000 has been given to local businesses since Business Pride was launched in June 2008
·    On 6th April, The Employment Act 2008 will come into force in England, Wales and Scotland 

Last month's BIG Question

Q: 	If you were looking to make staff redundancies in the recession, where would be your first port of call?

A:	Business Link.

This month's BIG Question

Q: 	The new Employment Act 2008 is about changes to the National Minimum Wage  - true or false?

E-mail your answer to business@cheltenham.gov.uk.  Answers will be printed in next month’s e-bulletin.

Cheltenham Business Pride 
business@cheltenham.gov.uk
01242 264230

Cheltenham Borough Council
Municipal Offices
Promenade
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
GL50 1PP
www.cheltenham.gov.uk/businesspride