Building a smarter business in 2007!
So how are you going to set about reviewing 2006?

I suggest you start by taking a look at your sales - which customers spent the most, better still which ones generated the most profit for your business?

Similarly, which products or services sold best?

Overall is there a trend, are sales values increasing each month or are they very much feast or famine?

Reading Insurance Firm Goes Paperless
Reading-based insurance broker Macbeth & Co celebrated the start of 2007 by announcing the successful completion of its move to a paperless office environment. The move follows two years of research and investment in new IT systems and office processes - including an 8-month changeover period when the company disposed of 16 filing cabinets and more than 1,700 client files. The estimated reduction in paper consumption alone equates to approximately 3.75 trees a year.

Paper consumption in the UK continues to rise by about 5% a year, often fuelled by extra regulatory demands on industries such as insurance where new FSA rules have generated vast amounts of policy documents and supporting literature.

Conference Production Service From Lexicon
Did you know that Lexicon's Nicola Joyce offers a freelance conference production service? Freelance event producers are hard to find unless you go through a specialist recruitment agency - and that's expensive. So, if you've got an event to produce, why not give Nicola a call? She understands that conferences take weeks of phone calls and research to effectively programme and that you simply might not have the time. She'll do it for you. She has years of experience.

Coming Soon Electric Cars
Since the 1960s there have been numerous attempts at producing vehicles that run on electricity. In general batteries are too heavy and need frequent charging which means limited mileage and low performance. Now General Motors is developing 2 types of electric commuter vehicles and may have working prototypes ready by the end of 2007.

Recruitment Drive for B&Q Reading
DIY giant B&Q is renowned for taking on experienced older workers to act as in-store specialist advisers to help customers tackle DIY projects. Qualified electricians, plumbers, builders and interior designers are all part of the team. In the latest recruitment drive for their Reading branch the firm is highlighting its ‘age no limit’ policy.

B&Q’s warehouse in Reading is nearing the end of an extensive refit and still has around 50 vacancies to fill. The firm wants to promote the diversity of it’s workforce and is therefore highlighting the 60 year age gap between its oldest and youngest employees. It’s a move designed to attract a diverse mix of people to the recruitment drive.

Franchisees Find Sales Success with Berkshire Postcode
A Berkshire franchise has brought exceptional sales growth for a couple after they decided to extend their original patch in Guildford.

Toby and Polly Smalley bought their original Dream Doors Guildford franchise, supplying replacement doors and bespoke kitchens and bedrooms, in 2004 and made the decision to open a showroom in Berkshire the following July.

Workers Who Reveal Confidential Details 'at Risk of Fraud'
The workplace is the second most likely place for people to become victims of fraud, yet new research shows that millions of workers give out confidential information over their office phone.

A study by online payment provider PayPal has revealed that 8.8 million UK workers - one in five - are happy to read out their debit and credit card details over the phone at work.

Join Jon in losing some pounds to Thames Hospicecare
Add your weight of support to Thames Hospicecare by taking part in the Sunflower Slimathon. Windsor businessman Jon Davey is making his New Year resolution really count. By resolving to shed some of the pounds he has put on over Christmas he is at the same time helping Thames Hospicecare pile on the pounds needed to purchase essential medical equipment.

Inside Business Reading
Hasnain Mahmood is building on the success he has achieved with Inside Business Slough and launching the Reading magazine. He is making you an offer you can’t refuse.

Full A4 page Special Offer - £300 + Vat (normally £500 + Vat) Text, logo’s and images need to be supplied.

You only have till 4pm to get your orders in!

HotAV Powers Carling Cup Semi-Finalists Wycombe Wanderers
HotAV, proud sponsor of Carling Cup Semi-Finalists Wycombe Wanderers, helped accommodate its local team’s recent big game against Chelsea FC.

HotAV, as the team’s official AV supplier, supplied all the equipment needed for the pre-match press briefing attended by over 60 media, including Sky Sports, BBC, ITV, BBC Five Live and Talk Sport.

Grab the Top Spot
Currently the top news spot on our homepage is devoted to our latest slice of Business in Berkshire news. But with over 57,000 site visitors enjoying one of the 200,000 pages they visited during December 2006, we’ve decided it’s time we offered this prime position to you – a great opportunity to put your business in the spotlight.

Business in Berkshire had over 50,000 visitors per month through the last 3 months of 2006, a figure that’s been growing steadily. So it really makes sense for us to offer the prime spot on our homepage for sponsorship – it’s on the top right of the page, the ideal place to grab every reader’s attention.