The event featured a series of informative presentations from electronics companies and support organisations based in the region that are keen to support students in their progression from graduate to gaining full-time employment in the region. The event was staged in partnership with the Electronics KTN.

Businesses provided students with useful insights into employment, ranging from BioDigital, a small, innovative electronics design company based in Bradford, to EchoStar Europe, a leader in satellite receivers offering cutting edge technology products for television, and multi-national ARM Holdings. In addition, students were given comprehensive information from organisations such as Graduates Yorkshire, The Year in Industry and Business Link, about the support and advice available to students and graduates.

Martin Edmondson, one of the keynote speakers at the event and chief executive of Graduates Yorkshire commented: ?The challenge is to bridge the gap for graduates in making the transfer into industry and full-time employment. This event was clearly successful in providing graduates with a greater understanding of the processes involved and detailed information about what exactly employers in the region are looking for when recruiting.?

Feedback from attendees was very positive, with comments from students and post-graduates such as ?very interesting?, ?extremely useful? and ?invaluable for getting a job in the electronics industry?.

Electronics Yorkshire also launched its new Student Membership at the event and many students and post-graduates took the opportunity to sign up on the day. Membership will enable them to post CVs on Electronics Yorkshire?s Job Board; attend networking events; access Electronics Yorkshire?s extensive website for vital support information and receive free updates and bulletins featuring industry news and events.

Allan Row, Electronics Yorkshire?s business development officer said: ?This was the first time we have organised an event like this and we were delighted with the number of people who attended and the positive feedback. Following the success of this event we already have plans for more events, as we intend to continue to support students in the region as they make the transfer from education to industry.?

Electronics Yorkshire is a not-for-profit organisation supported by Yorkshire Forward and European Union ERDF.

Science Warehouse is a leading provider of on-demand procurement and catalogue solutions. UCD is a dynamic modern university recognised for cutting-edge research and scholarship.

Turlough Kieran, Head of Purchasing in the College of Life Sciences at UCD, said: ?UCD is a centre of excellence for research and teaching and is committed to providing a world-class environment for its staff. Science Warehouse was chosen as the catalogue management solution most able to satisfy our demanding requirements. We expect the solution to deliver substantial benefits for UCD, both for individual staff and the wider University.?

Dr David Hames, Chairman at Science Warehouse, commented: ?We are delighted to have been selected by UCD, the largest university in Ireland, as their catalogue management provider. This is an important milestone for Science Warehouse, extending our community internationally. We look forward to delivering substantial cost savings and efficiencies to UCD and to extending our service to other Irish universities in future.?

UCD joins a growing community of leading European research

Oakland Consulting is internationally recognised for contributions to leading edge management thinking. It has 25 years experience of transferring this knowledge to clients in the public and private sectors and helping these organisations achieve superior process performance, reduce costs, increase efficiency and improve quality.

Science Warehouse delivers on-demand Active Spend Management solutions used by organisations across a wide range of sectors. With a dynamic catalogue solution at its core, Science Warehouse customers benefit from rapid cost savings and improved purchasing control.

Professor John Oakland, founder and Executive Chairman at Oakland, said, ?We are delighted to be working with Science Warehouse to offer turnkey solutions for spend management. We identified Science Warehouse as providing the solution best suited to the needs of our clients across a wide range of sectors. Our partnership provides an end-to-end solution offering rapid improvements in the people, process and technology of procurement?.

Steve Kerridge, Managing Director at Science Warehouse, added, ?We have been particularly impressed by Oakland?s track record of delivering long term benefits to their clients. We are delighted to be working with a partner that is internationally recognised for helping organisations achieve process excellence. The partnership delivers a winning formula by creating value for both companies? sets of clients with a holistic approach to enhancing spend management performance?.

John Oakland concludes, ?Because the Oakland-Science Warehouse offering can be delivered as a stand-alone solution or in combination with existing systems, a wide range of organisations will be able to benefit from this partnership?.

In a slowing economy it is more important than ever to get the best out of every available resource. NESTA recently announced that the creative industries will be a 'key driver for the UK's recovery from recession'. Are you ready for this?

Renew Your Vision

Most managers and consultants we know working to develop the creative economy are so busy coping with day-to-day pressures that they can feel they are losing touch with the bigger picture. Few have structured time and space to step back, renew their vision, and catch up with the latest thinking along with like-minded peers.

At our annual Creative Clusters Conferences we have regular requests from delegates for practical workshops and smaller group sessions that will help them analyse their specific projects in a structured way. The policy interventions we are asked about most often are workspaces and other forms of cluster programme.

And we get a steady stream of enquiries at Creative Clusters from agencies that are making policy commitments and devoting resources to the creative industries, or the creative economy, for the first time. Personnel with new responsibilities and new projects often arrive at the Creative Clusters website looking for guidance.

If any of this sounds familiar, then the Creative Clusters SummerSchool has been designed for you: intense, practical and fun. The principal ingredients are:

• In-depth exposure to the detail of projects and policies through collaborative learning, visits, games, seminars, lectures, social and networking events.
  
• Behind-the-scenes insights into leading creative workspaces that are contributing to the transformation of their local economies: Dean Clough, the landmark former carpet factory in Halifax; the Workstation, anchor building in Sheffield's Cultural Industries Quarter; and the Civic, Barnsley, newly reopened after a dramatic renovation.
  
• We show the pitfalls and perils as well as success stories. The projects we visit are all works in progress, all evolving, and we will look at the setbacks as well as the successes.
  
• Focus groups with practising creative entrepreneurs.
  
• Guest lectures from leading experts in the regional creative economy.
  
• Great social events: barbecue and street party at Huddersfield Media Centre, dinners at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Huddersfield Town Hall.
  
• Substantial learning support: a digital Workbook with MP3 audio guides to the places visited and an archive of working documents to help you develop your own projects.
  
• Course leaders: Simon Evans (Director, Creative Clusters Ltd), Teo Greenstreet (CEO, The Media Centre, Huddersfield), Lee Corner (Consultant and Trainer, LAC Ltd).
  
• Participation by seasoned local partners: Integreat, Yorkshire Forward, University of Huddersfield, Dean Clough Ltd, Sheffield Media and Exhibition Centre, Barnsley MBC, Kirklees MBC, CIDA.
  

The Creative Clusters SummerSchool will help you:

• Deepen your insight
• Galvanise your project
• Focus your commitment
• Build your confidence
• Extend your network

To find out more, go to www.creativeclusters.com

These include providing media relations support for Harvard Engineering plc in Leeds; Magnomatics Ltd in Sheffield; and Safety Management & Monitoring Services in Huddersfield.

In addition, Shrewdd Marketing has also successfully retained the media relations contracts of Redhead International in Bradford and Stonegate Instruments in Leeds.

Austin Duffy, marketing manager at Redhead International, one of the UK?s leading logistics companies, said: ?Shrewdd Marketing has been instrumental in raising our company profile through a cost effective media relations campaign over the last 12 months. They have demonstrated a proactive approach to securing media coverage, which has proved very successful and has formed an integral part of our marketing activities.?

Shrewdd Marketing has been providing marketing services for over five years and recently moved to larger offices in Halifax, as it meets the demands of its expanding customer base.

Mike Westaway, business development director at Shrewdd Marketing said: ?Companies are recognising the need to continue marketing themselves in what is becoming the worst recession in living memory. We are delighted with our recent success as we continue to expand our client portfolio and develop our reputation for providing cost effective marketing services.?

The one-day RE:Skilling the City event will be held at The Source at Meadowhall on May 14^th and will be hosted by Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Sheffield City Council.

Chamber director of business development Paul Reeves said: ?In these ?credit crunch? times, well-trained staff are vital to ensure that business is able to stay lean and emerge stronger.

?RE:Skilling the City will outline what Sheffield is doing to help businesses build their skill requirements and ensure that workforces, both now and in the future, are equipped to face an ever competitive market.?

The event will cover key areas such as Diplomas and Apprenticeships and will also launch the City Skills Strategy.

The conference follows a raft of initiatives by the Chamber on the subject of training and skills development over the last few years.

In 2007 the Chamber linked up with The Source on a service designed to find its members appropriate and able apprentices. The partnership was designed to create employment opportunities for young people aged 16-24 as well as help Sheffield employers seeking to plug vacancies in their workforce with young, motivated staff.

Last year the Chamber threw its support behind the Skills Pledge ? an initiative by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and a voluntary commitment by the leadership of an organisation to support all employees in developing basic skills including literacy and numeracy, and works towards relevant, valuable qualifications.

Through signing up to the Skills Pledge, businesses can apply for funding from the Train to Gain Enhancement Fund to receive 60 per cent funding towards the total cost of training, up to £20,000.

Sheffield Chamber is also involved in the Young Chamber initiative at a local and national level, while its enterprise agency SENTA hosts a national Student Enterprise Competition as part of National Enterprise Week.

For more information on the RE:Skilling the City conference email skills@scci.org.uk, call the Chamber events team on 0114 201 8930 or 0114 201 8899 or visit www.scci.org.uk/skills.

Forming part of the organisation?s dedicated programme of activities to support electronics enterprise in Yorkshire and Humber, the exhibition gave Electronics Yorkshire an excellent opportunity to promote the region?s electronics industry and provide visitors with information about the wide range of electronics solutions available in the area, from concept design and development to prototyping, assembly and manufacture.

In addition, as one of only three IPC fully-accredited training centres in the UK, the team from Electronics Yorkshire talked to visitors about its wide range of industry-specific electronics courses available to electronics companies nationwide, and also featured its training and support material at the show.

Peter Burnley, Electronics Yorkshire?s training manager said: ?The show gave us an excellent platform to promote our IPC training courses. Feedback has been tremendous ? we have clearly raised the profile of Electronics Yorkshire on a national basis, as well as spotlighting the dynamic range of electronics businesses located in the Yorkshire and Humber region.?

Electronics Yorkshire, based at West Park in Leeds, is a not-for-profit organisation supported by Yorkshire Forward and the European Union ERDF.

The iPhone Web App developed by Digital Consortium is for its client Racecourse Hospitality, a small business based in Retford specialising in corporate hospitality packages for racecourses throughout the UK. The iRacecourse Web App enables users to view any UK racing fixture by date, venue or both. The iPhone user can then, with a single press of a button, view a selection of packages on the Racecourse Hospitality website, email the company or call them immediately to discuss the fixture of interest. For those non-iPhone users, there is an alternative web browser version to view a full racing fixture list.

The client who commissioned the iPhone Web App is thrilled that Apple has published his information and has already seen a large increase in website visitors as a result. Digital Consortium looks forward to developing more iPhone Web Apps in the future.

To view the apple.com page with iRacecourse http://www.apple.com/webapps/utilities/iracecourse.html

AWA will be responsible for the design and build of a number of Lakeland?s emails, across a variety of different campaigns. AWA will also be working with Lakeland as it seeks to continuously improve the effectiveness of its digital marketing.

Commenting on their appointment, AWA Board Director Christina Marks said, ?We?re delighted to be working with the team at Lakeland on their tremendously well respected brand.?

?We are developing a range of campaigns which will have strong resonance across the brand?s hugely faithful following. And, by developing email communications which will work hand in hand with Lakeland?s other marketing activity, we will be looking to focus on building genuine relationships with Lakeland?s current and potential customers.?

AWA celebrates its fifth birthday on 4^th March 2009 and has clients including ASDA, Otto, Republic, GatenbySanderson and InterfaceFLOR.

The event is being held at Electronics Yorkshire?s Training and Technology Centre in Leeds on Wednesday 25^th March and will feature a series of presentations from companies and bodies that are keen to support students in the Yorkshire and Humber region as they progress into industry. Attendees will also have the opportunity to tour Electronics Yorkshire?s industry-dedicated facilities and find out about the broad range of support services provided by the organisation to everyone involved in electronics, from company directors to engineers and technicians.

Students at any level of study in electronics and related subjects can apply to attend this free seminar, especially those likely to be leaving education in the near future. There will be information for graduates looking to start their own business; whilst representatives from companies in the region that regularly recruit students will explain what they can expect from employment and what companies look for in student applicants.

Businesses from across the region providing insights into employment range from BioDigital, a small, innovative electronics design company based in Bradford, through electronics manufacturers, to multi-national ARM, which employs around 50 people at its Sheffield design centre. These companies will be joined by support organisations Graduates Yorkshire, The Year in Industry and Business Link, all of which provide advice and assistance to students and graduates.

Dave Williams, Electronics Yorkshire?s business development manager said: ?This seminar will provide those who are studying electronics with a chance to better understand the range of opportunities local industry offers to graduates. We believe this will be extremely useful to students who may not realise how diverse and extensive the electronics industry is across Yorkshire and Humber.?

By way of further support for students, Electronics Yorkshire will also launch its new Student Network Membership at the event. This additional service will enable student members to post CVs on Electronics Yorkshire?s Job Board; attend networking events; access Electronics Yorkshire?s extensive website for vital support information and receive free updates and bulletins featuring industry news and events.

Andy Lee, Electronics Yorkshire?s network and operations manager said: ?The new student membership category has been introduced to help students currently in education or about to leave by providing a chance to interact with the region?s industry so that they can see what opportunities there are in the region, either as an employee or as a graduate looking to start up their own business.?

The ?Meet the Industry? event, which is being staged in partnership with the Electronics KTN, will run from 10.30am to 3.00pm. Students wishing to attend must book in advance by telephoning Electronics Yorkshire on 0113 274 4270 or visiting: www.electronicsyorkshire.org.uk to book online.

Electronics Yorkshire is a not-for-profit organisation supported by Yorkshire Forward and European Union ERDF.

The use of social networks has grown over the past year by 35% in Europe and social networking sites now attract 41.7 million regular users. Usage is expected to more than double to 107.4 million users by 2012.

The agreement, signed by the 17 firms including Bebo, Facebook and Google/YouTube on Safer Internet Day on 10^th February, aims to help young people deal with potential risks they may face online, like cyberbullying or revealing personal information.

The firms will seek to limit these risks by:

• Providing an easy to use and accessible "report abuse" button on their sites, allowing users to report inappropriate contact from or conduct by another user with one click.
• Making sure that the full online profiles and contact lists of website users who are registered as under 18s are set to "private" by default.
• Ensuring that private profiles of users under the age of 18 are not searchable (on the websites or via search engines)
• Guaranteeing that privacy options are prominent and accessible at all times, so that users can easily work out if just their friends, or the entire world, can see what they post online.
• Preventing under-age users from using their services

The social networking sites are due to inform the European Commission about their individual safety policies and how they will put these principles in place by April 2009.

Assistance has come through the introduction of an Enhancement Fund created by Yorkshire Forward, the region?s development agency, and the Learning and Skills Council for Yorkshire and Humber. Initial funding as part of the government?s Train to Gain programme has been enhanced with the aim of supporting individual businesses in the region, and specifically those in need of customised, short or niche training where there is not the critical mass of learners to run a larger course. The fund is intended to support employers to develop and increase the skills base of both the company and the region.

A number of electronics companies have benefited already from the sixty percent discount available off the cost of Electronics Yorkshire courses through the funding programme. Amongst these has been SR Drives Manufacturing Ltd based in Harrogate, which had employees trained on a cable loom assembly course run at Electronics Yorkshire?s centre. The course provides candidates with skills and knowledge to prepare cables and connections for assured use in cable loom or harness assemblies applied, in the case of SR Drives, in electrical control systems for variable speed electric motors.

Electronics Yorkshire delivered the cable loom assembly course over four days at its training centre in Leeds, although employers in the region may also have a tutor use their company?s own facilities or even have all of the training delivered by way of Electronics Yorkshire?s purpose-built mobile training unit whenever this is appropriate.

Allan Blue, production manager at SR Drives Manufacturing Ltd, commented: ?We were delighted to bring our new staff up to the required level to ensure that our products are manufactured to the highest industry standards. The funding support we received has meant that we have been able to make our training budget go further and so carry out additional employee training. This can only be good for our business.?

Peter Burnley, training and technology manager at Electronics Yorkshire added: ?Given the current economic situation, the enhanced training fund has come at an ideal time for companies in Yorkshire and Humber to ensure the skills of its employees are the highest they can be. This is clearly a more cost effective way for employees to gain the skills electronics companies need to keep ahead of the game.?

Other companies in the region which have benefited through access to the Enhancement Fund from training at Electronics Yorkshire have included Comms Design in Wetherby, Electroparts in Huddersfield and Tele-Products in York.

More information about the Train to Gain service and the Enhancement Fund can be found by contacting local broker Brenda Hogan on 07966 719114, email: brendahogan@textile-training.com or calling the free Train to Gain hotline on 0800 052 0111.

Electronics Yorkshire, based at West Park in Leeds, is a not-for-profit organisation supported by Yorkshire Forward and European Union ERDF.

?Northern Laughs? will provide training and development opportunities for up to three comedy writers from each northern region. The selected writers will learn about writing for television comedy through a programme of mentoring and workshops designed to equip them with a detailed and invaluable insight into writing comedy for the BBC. Leeds-born writer and producer Jeremy Dyson (The League of Gentlemen, Funland, Armstrong and Miller) will be mentoring the selected writers from the Yorkshire region, and guiding them through the television comedy writing process.

Jeremy said:
It's brilliant that the BBC and its partners are initiating a scheme like this. It is exactly the sort of encouragement and support I dreamed of finding when I was starting out as a writer. It can be tough when you're beginning and an opportunity such this can make a huge difference.

Each writer will receive a development bursary from BBC writersroom and there will be an opportunity for a writer representing each region to have their work showcased at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2009. At the end of the development process each script will be considered by BBC Comedy and the best ideas will be put forward to the BBC Comedy Commissioner in the North. Writers will also have a calling card script with which they can then apply for the BBC's College of Comedy 2010.

Kate Rowland, Creative Director of New Writing for the BBC said:
New writers are the lifeblood of the BBC and keeping the output fresh and original is our main priority. It?s a brilliant opportunity for us to work in partnership with Screen Yorkshire to find and develop new comedy talent.

It is hoped that the scheme will continue Yorkshire?s already rich comedy writing heritage. Jeremy Dyson is one quarter of the comedy writing team behind The League of Gentlemen, and met his fellow co-writers whilst studying at Bretton Hall College of Performing Arts in Wakefield. Hull-born comedy writer and actor Derren Litten has also taken his place among the comedy writing greats, with credits including The Catherine Tate Show, Green Wing and the award-winning Benidorm, which will return to our screens with a third series later in the year.

WORKSHOPS

To launch ?Northern Laughs?, BBC writersroom and BBC Comedy North are coming to Leeds on Monday 2^nd February to host an evening of talks about writing comedy for the BBC. Anyone who is interested in applying to ?Northern Laughs? is welcome to attend this event which will take place at the Carriageworks Theatre, Millennium Square from 18.00 ? 20.00. Attendees should register by email: writersroom.events@bbc.co.uk. Similar workshops are set to take place in Newcastle and Manchester later in the month. The final deadline for applications is Thursday 12^th March 2009.

To find out more about ?Northern Laughs?, including information on how to apply, go to: www.screenyorkshire.co.uk.

?John has an outstanding track record, currently chief technology officer at ADI, he has a wealth of experience in the digital TV industry, having formerly been director of engineering at Pace Micro Technology. He has also managed and led a wide range of complex projects internationally from both a commercial and technical perspective,? said Powell. ?He is the ideal candidate to continue to build on ADI?s global reputation and success.? Eaglesham is a graduate of Bristol and Cranfield universities.

Prior to joining ADI, Powell was working at Docomo in San Francisco, California. On joining ADI he brought with him a tremendous record in technical development and commercial expertise. The model he has developed for turning engineering skills and knowledge into real jobs offers huge potential for the Yorkshire & Humber region as a whole.

Dr. Bob Gomersall chairman of ADI said, ?The board of directors is very sorry to see Ged leave and is very grateful for his huge contribution, not only to the organisation, but to the region in general and Airedale in particular. He has not only delivered exactly what the the board, Yorkshire Forward and Bradford Metropolitan District Council were seeking to achieve but has established a firm platform for ADI to further build on it?s international reputation and reach. We would like to wish him every success for the future and we look forward to an exciting future with John as CEO?

O2 is a leading communications company for consumers and businesses, with more than 19million mobile customers and over 260,000 fixed broadband customers.

There are now more customers with O2 than any other UK mobile network. It was ranked sixth in the ?Best Companies to Work for 2008? list and boasts a UK mobile network covering 99 per cent of the UK population.

Sheffield Chamber is the leading British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) accredited Chamber in Yorkshire and Humber with a membership of 2,700.

The Chamber ? which is also home to the South Yorkshire International Trade Centre (SYITC) and Sheffield Enterprise Agency (SENTA) - finished 2008 by scooping the ?Chamber of the Year? award in the prestigious national Chamber Awards organised by the British Chambers of Commerce.

The patronage scheme is designed to support the Chamber in policies including the exchange of knowledge and expertise and promoting the voice of the local business community.

Jonathan Wittey, O2 sales manager for the Sheffield area, said: ?O2 North East decided to become a patron of Sheffield Chamber to ensure that business in Sheffield has dedicated support from an organisation that knows the city business region.

?We are delivering a local service that will add value to Sheffield business and our patronage follows on from O2?s previous sponsorship of key Sheffield Chamber events including the RE:Inventing the City summit.

?This patronage is a joint venture with O2 Corporate business and means O2 is effectively providing a full business service for SME and corporate customers in the city.?

Sheffield Chamber head of business development Paul Reeves said: ?Chamber patrons work with us to support community projects and city and sub-regional initiatives and we are delighted to have a major brand such as O2 join us as we endeavour to strengthen the business community?s resilience.

?O2 has gone from strength to strength and I?m sure they will play a leading role in helping to drive the Chamber and its membership forward in 2009.?

Two and a half years after its launch, it is now the fourth most popular internet domain among European country domains and the ninth worldwide. Multinational companies and SMEs, NGOs and think tanks as well as individual Europeans have all adopted .eu to mark their web presence.

By reaching this milestone, .eu now sits amongst the ten largest top-level domains in the world, such as .com, .net. and .org. Registrations for .eu domains have been growing steadily since its introduction in 2006. Most .eu domains have been registered in EU countries with the largest populations and highest internet penetration. Germany continues to lead with 30%, followed by the Netherlands (14%), the United Kingdom (12%), France (8%) and Poland (6%).

Management of the .eu registry (the database holding all .eu registrations) is the responsibility of EURid, an independent not-for-profit organisation. Live tracking of .eu statistics is available at: http://www.eurid.eu/en/about/facts-figures/statistics

Yorkshire and Humber is home to world-class universities offering expertise in electronics engineering and practical resources that companies can utilise. This event will enable managers and engineers to talk directly with representatives from the most relevant university departments and will focus on the wide range of resources available to electronics businesses from the region?s universities. It will help electronics companies understand just how they can access this expertise and the support that exists.

During the half-day event there will be presentations from the University of Hull?s Engineering Innovation Institute, explaining industry-related teaching, research and contract R&D; the University of Leeds? Keyworth Institute, revealing how companies can benefit from working closely with that university; the University of Sheffield?s Electrical & Electronic Engineering Department; and the Materials and Engineering Research Institute from Sheffield Hallam University, each explaining the practical resources they possess.

Electronics Yorkshire staff will also be on hand to highlight its recently-introduced web-based University Resources project, which reveals the pathways into each university?s business centre and opens up the real and tangible benefits that are possible when industry and academia work in collaboration.

Allan Row, Electronics Yorkshire?s business development officer in South Yorkshire commented: ?This event provides electronics companies from around the region with a chance to discover the many developmental opportunities available from the universities in the Yorkshire and Humber region and how to explore the specific aspects of each institution as explained by the key people involved.?

Electronics Yorkshire helps support the growth of the electronics sector in the Yorkshire and Humber region and this seminar event, run in partnership with Electronics KTN, demonstrates another way the organisation interacts positively with companies and collaborative bodies. Companies wishing to attend the event should telephone Electronics Yorkshire on 0113 274 4270 or visit: www.electronicsyorkshire.org.uk

Electronics Yorkshire is a not-for-profit organisation supported by Yorkshire Forward and ERDF.

signs up Netstep for online presence

To mark the re-opening of London?s The Hawley Arms ? magnet of the Capital?s cooler celebs including Amy Winehouse, Sadie Frost, Pete Doherty, The Mighty Boosh and Razorlight ? the pub is to set to launch a website at www.thehawleyarms.co.uk The site and associated online activity is being created by digital marketing agency Netstep.

Patrons and fans of The Hawley Arms will be able to catch up on news and events as well as contribute to a dedicated Hawley Arms Blog. Friends of the pub can also join the Hawley Arms Fan Club Facebook group (already 800 strong) or visit the The Hawley Arms MySpace page.

The Hawley Arms has recently re-opened after it was badly damaged in the Camden fires in Febuary 2008 which also gutted up to 300 shops, stalls and other businesses.

Ruth Mottram, Landlady at The Hawley Arms commented,

?To celebrate the reopening of The Hawley Arms we are giving ourselves an online home. We want to ensure our regulars can keep up with newsand events when they?re not in the pub. Netstep have some excellent ideas on what we?re going to do online - we can?t wait to get it all launched?.

Ricahrd Pratt, Account Director at Netstep said,

?As well as the new site, we are talking to The Hawley Arms about further activity including an online pub quiz and a members area. This is an excellent project for Netstep and it?s definitely a lot of fun exploring all the possibilities. However I feel that I may have to conduct far more site visits to get everything just right !?.

Netstep is also set to create a site for The Hawley Arms sister pub and gig venue The Wilmington Arms.

Pop in to www.thehawleyarms.co.uk

Swamp has been responsible for a complete re-design of the Yorkshire Water consumer website at www.yorkshirewater.com as well as the development of a bespoke content management system. New transactional functionality of the site will enable Yorkshire Water customers to pay their bills and submit meter readings online.

Yorkshire Water is one of the region?s biggest landowners and the site also promotes the recreational activities available on the land and reservoirs it owns - including walking, water-sports, cycling and wildlife watching. A postcode look up search will display which leisure activities are available within a 20km radius of the search using Google Maps. Another postcode search facility will enable users to view roadworks and incidents, again plotted onto Google Maps.

Blogs and message board services allow users to submit content to the site and users can sign up to page subscriptions enabling them to receive email notifications when web pages of interest are changed. It?s also possible to report leaks online or inform the utility supplier of a move of address. To help prospective employees get a flavour of what it is like to work at Yorkshire Water, the careers pages also feature blogs from existing members of staff.

Paul Mallett, Strategic Director at Swamp commented,

?Yorkshire Water is a highly prestigious name in the utilities industry and its marketing team has given us some interesting and forward-thinking plans to work on for the next two years. Swamp is relishing the opportunity to transform these plans into a bright digital future for Yorkshire Water?.

Jane Herbert, Brand and Customer Communications Manager at Yorkshire Water said,

?Yorkshire Water needs to provide first-class communications for our consumers and this new web site provides a destination enabling them to interact with our brand on numerous levels. As well as being able to pay bills and submit their meter readings online, customers can also find out how to enjoy the many recreational pursuits on our land and reservoirs.?

Visit http://www.yorkshirewater.com/

This will be the first time the organisation has exhibited at the event and forms part of its programme of activities supporting electronics enterprise in Yorkshire and Humber. Electronics Yorkshire will be promoting the region?s electronics industry and providing visitors with information about the wide range of electronics solutions available in the area, from concept design and development to prototyping, assembly and manufacture.

In addition, as one of only three IPC accredited training centres in the UK, Electronics Yorkshire will be talking to visitors about its range of industry-specific electronics courses available to electronics companies, as well as featuring its training and support material at the show.

Peter Burnley, Electronics Yorkshire?s training manager said: ?We are delighted to be exhibiting at this year?s event as it not only provides us with a great opportunity to promote the region?s electronics industry, but also our own IPC accredited training courses.?

Electronics Yorkshire, based at West Park in Leeds, is a not-for-profit organisation supported by Yorkshire Forward and the European Union ERDF.

Based on research input from over 4,000 employers, their purpose is to set out a coherent suite of skills strategies that enable each nation to derive maximum benefit from the power of technology to transform competitiveness and productivity.

e-skills UK would like to thank all those who contributed to the consultation on these plans; this input was greatly valued and helped us to shape our prioritisation and action plans.

The strategic plans are available free of charge, in hard and soft copy, on the e-skills UK website at www.e-skills.com/strategy.

According to Sheffield Enterprise Agency (SENTA), start-up numbers in Sheffield remained strong in the final period of 2008, with 63 new businesses reported between October and December. Appointment books with SENTA business advisors are also filling up quickly this month.

In particular, SENTA is focussed on generating new business activity in traditionally deprived areas of Sheffield through the BiG -Make It Your Business programme. The agency has helped almost 300 new businesses start since the initiative was launched last year.

SENTA director Mandip Dosanjh said: ?The impact of a recession on entrepreneurs and start-ups is two-fold. On the one hand, accessing finance can be more difficult, making necessary investments in young businesses harder.

?But on the other hand, the negative economic situation can actually create new opportunities. We have many budding entrepreneurs coming to us who are managing to turn voluntary redundancies into successful businesses in just a few months.

?The majority of new business start-ups reported in Sheffield are actually in deprived areas of the city, which is important if the city is to be well placed to compete on a national level when the upturn arrives.?

SENTA also offers free practical advice to new business start ups and more established businesses, including help with business plans, cash flow management, marketing and legal advice.

?With the right help and advice, the impact of business start-ups on local economies can be profound and should not be underestimated, not just because they serve local needs and the requirements of larger businesses, but because these are the city?s potential success stories for the future,? said Mandip.

Remaining at the cutting edge of industry, GSPK Circuits not only offers and provides it?s customers with a standard 7 day turn around for normal production quantities; but such are their capabilities that they can also provide 3 - 5 day lead times upon request.

The company?s dedication and philosophy to continually developing and improving their lean manufacturing processes is what GSPK Circuits believes will be crucial in them continuing to support their customers through the current and future credit crisis. Directors are convinced that their historic and long-term lean philosophy will now assist those companies who haven?t needed to in the past; but may now need to in the future, reduce their stocks to meet their own company pressures ? but with no added premiums.

Steve Lloyd, Managing Director of GSPK Circuits said ? ?In this current climate and in anticipation of forthcoming Chinese New Year celebrations, we believe it is essential to be able to support our existing and new customers within the UK and Europe without imposing the burden of increased premiums. We try to stay one step ahead in supporting British industry by being dedicated to the philosophy of lean and continually improving and developing our products and processes.?

As a global manufacturer of PCBs, GSPK Circuits has been supplying the electronics industry with PCBs for more than 40 years. Over this time, the company has built up a wealth of experience, and as a result; an outstanding reputation for delivering exceptional quality, service, innovation and value.

North Yorkshire electronic design and manufacturing specialists, GSPK Design Ltd, are proud to announce their recent expansion with the appointment of Tomasz Norowski who has joined the team as a Design Engineer.

Tomasz, who is from Kozienice in Poland, studied at the local Electric Technical School before reading for a Masters degree in Electronic Engineering at Warsaw University of Technology. During his studies he also worked for ABB Poland.

After graduating in 2008, Tomasz moved to England in search of better career opportunities and he brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience which is set to enhance the skills base within the team. This exciting move is as a direct result of the unprecedented success the company has witnessed over the course of 2008.

Jim Needham, Technical Manager at GSPK Design said ? ?We were very impressed by Tom at his interview and very quickly decided to offer him a position working within the company. Although Tom has only been with us a short while; I am very pleased with his standard of work.?

Jim continues ? ?At present, Tomasz is writing C software for a new hand held instrument using an STM32 (ARM Cortex M3) microcontroller. This is a new processor but it has been so successful for GSPK Design that it is already being included within two further new designs.?

Tomasz added ? ?I enjoy my work because I have the possibility to develop my knowledge every day.?

For further information on the GSPK Design Ltd offering, please contact Paul Marsh direct on 01423 865641 or visit their website www.gspkdesign.ltd.uk.