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Liverpool born tyre entrepreneur wins another top business award
27 June 2005, Liverpool born tyre entrepreneur, Mike Welch, Managing Director of Black Circles.com, has picked up another top business award.
The 26-year-old business man was awarded the prestigious title of Scotland’s ‘Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year’ by Ernst & Young LLP at a glittering ceremony in Glasgow’s Hilton Hotel
23 June 2005, in front of around 500 business people from all over Scotland. The award is added to a growing list of awards for the fast growing online tyre retailer and fitter including the UK’s Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of Year, Winner of Scottish Enterprise’s ‘Winners at the Web’ and Best E-Strategy at the National Business Awards.
Mike Welch said:- “Of course it’s tremendous to be honoured by other business people but every award has been won because I have a fantastic team of people working with me and making things happen. Black Circles.com is proving a real challenger to the traditional High Street ‘Fast Fit’ centres and I think the awards the business has received are confirmation of that.”
The overall title of Scottish Entrepreneur of the Year was presented to Stewart Milne, Chairman & CEO of national construction company Stewart Milne Group Ltd.
Mike Welch will now attend the UK Final in October and compete against the best of the UK’s entrepreneurs for the national title.
BOOKS ARE A BEAR NECESSITY!
MORE than a quarter of a million pounds worth of books have been given away to children in Liverpool over the last five years as part of a scheme to encourage reading. Since the year 2000, over 18,000 youngsters have benefited from the Bookstart scheme, which sees families given reading materials worth £13 when their child is 9 months old. And to celebrate, almost 100 children are to celebrate tomorrow at an event to mark the 5th birthday of the scheme.
Councillor Warren Bradley, executive member for leisure, said:- "All the evidence that we have shows that getting children into the reading habit early will give them the best possible start in life. Reading is a great way of learning, broadens the mind and of course it is absolutely free if you use a library.”
More than 90% of children born in Liverpool over the last 5 years have benefited from the Bookstart scheme. Youngsters and their families are encouraged to attend regular reading sessions at libraries across the city.
Bookstart is a national project funded by the government's Sure Start programme, and promoted and supported by health visitors and the city council's libraries and Early Years service. It will be expanded in the near future to include more reading material for children over 18 months old and a "treasure box"
for 3 year-olds. It means that in total each child will receive a total of more than £60 worth of books absolutely free of charge before they start school.
The North Is A Great Place To Do Business, In Spite Of Business Optimism Slipping
NEW research has revealed that confidence levels among the directors of mid-sized businesses in the North have dropped in the last 6 months. 59% of respondents feel optimistic about growth prospects now compared with 70% in January. However this drop, whilst considerable is still lower than in the Midlands and South and almost one third of respondents actually felt at an advantage due to the region’s infrastructure.
The survey, carried out by Gresham, the regionally based UK private equity house in their publication, Monitor, found that throughout the service and manufacturing sectors nationally, confidence levels dropped from 76% in January to 65% now.
Andy Marsh, Director at Gresham’s Manchester office, comments:- “The downturn in optimism is perhaps unsurprising in the aftermath of the collapse of MG Rover. At the same time however, the percentage of respondents in the North planning corporate activity in the next 6 months (one-third) is encouraging and nearly 70% of these are confident of completing such activity. This serves to underpin our view that having local offices and relationships is the best way to succeed in what remains an attractive, vibrant and vital part of the UK economy.”
Other key findings of the survey include:-
· Over 50% of mid-sized companies in the North fear road charging and only 38% believe it will have a beneficial effect. 4% are neutral towards its introduction
· Firms in the North are more likely than those in other parts of the UK to seek advice from private equity houses with 25% choosing to go down this route - this is compared to 11% in the Midlands and 17% in the South
· Pension funding is the most important benefit for employees according to 87% of respondents ahead of other
“perks” such as car allowances or flexible working
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RECYCLE 8 TILL 8 ON MERSEYSIDE!
SOUTHPORT born twin brothers, Rob and
Chris Downham, 30, have recently been celebrating the start of
construction of their thoughtful and exclusive development of homes
in rural Bulgaria. The properties range from 1-bedroomed apartments
to 4-bedroomed detached houses and all come complete with stunning
views of the surrounding area – reminiscent of the best the Lake
District and Yorkshire Dales have to offer.
Chris and Rob’s Bulgarian adventure began in
August last year following a desire to use their expertise in
domestic property management to move into the exciting world of
overseas property development. Their company, SimpliBulgaria, was
created in October 2004 and work has recently begun on site, near to
Bulgaria’s ancient capital of Veliko Tarnovo. All of the
properties, which range in price from just £45,000 to £140,000,
are all available to buy now ‘off plan’.
In addition to the properties that have been
architecturally designed in a sympathetic local style, the unique
village development also features a choice of organic restaurants,
traditional craft centres and a spa complex to help residents relax.
On their exciting development, Chris, the
younger brother by just 12 minutes, commented:- “This is a
really exciting and extremely nerve-wracking time for Rob and I! We
just hope that other people will appreciate what we are doing and
share our dream of a tranquil environment where you can escape from
the hassles of everyday life and enjoy the best that nature has to
offer.” Chris added:- “We sincerely believe that the properties
in the village are ideal as either a holiday home, a retirement home
or even just as a sound investment, perhaps even to help people get
on the property market who have been priced out at home.”
On the location of the village, Rob, who gets
married later this summer, said:- “We initially intended to
simply buy a few local houses to renovate, but our plans changed
dramatically as we quickly fell in love with the country. We soon
developed our unique village concept and started investigating areas
in Bulgaria that would be ideal locations. The Central Planina
region of the Balkan Mountains, with its stunning views, varied
wildlife and thousands of miles of great hiking routes, fits the
bill perfectly, especially as it reminds us of the places we love so
much back home. Both Chris and I always enjoyed exploring the Lake
District and the Yorkshire Dales with our parents when we were
younger. We both have plenty of happy memories of trekking through
the beautiful hills during the summer holidays, stopping only for
the occasional cream tea or ice cream!”
And the brothers, who now live in Sheffield,
are very confident that their vision of a deluxe, relaxed rural
community will be a success. So much so, in fact, that they have
entered the prestigious Bentley International Property Awards, which
attracts entries from large, multi-national companies across the
world. The awards are due to be judged over the summer, but Rob and
Chris can afford to be confident given the amount of Bulgarian
support their development has received. Local and national
government have keenly endorsed SimpliBulgaria’s commitment to the
protection of traditional heritage and the development of the local
community, through providing training in leisure and tourism.
LETTERS TO EDITOR:-
"Stars persuade readers to ‘Do it Now!’ during National Transplant Week (3 July to 10 July 2005)."
DEAR Southport Reporter.
"We are delighted to pledge our names in support of National Transplant Week and to promote the benefits of organ donation.
By backing this week-long event, and saying publicly that we’ve all signed up to the NHS Organ Donor Register, we hope it may inspire your readers to do their own ‘star turn’ by signing up today!
Organ donation really is the gift of life. Thousands of people’s lives are saved or transformed each year through this act of kindness but many more could be helped if people were clearer about their wishes in the event of their death.
Research shows that people are willing to help, they just haven’t got round to signing up. We’d urge your readers to ‘Do it Now!’ and tell their friends and family of their decision.
To find out more, you can call the Organ Donor Line on 0845 60 60 400 or visit:-
www.uktransplant.org.uk.
Thank you for your support." Yours faithfully, Trisha Goddard, Gabby Logan, David Gower and Alan Hansen
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