The redesigned 10-year UK passport, now featuring strengthened security features and iconic images from across the nation, will be issued from October, with pages of the passport containing well-known UK scenes, including the White Cliffs of Dover, the Gower Peninsula, Ben Nevis and the Giant's Causeway.
0 CommentsCelebrity chef Heston Blumenthal’s pub, The Hinds Head in Bray-on-Thames has been named as Pub of the Year 2011 in the latest Michelin Eating Out in Pubs guide launched today (9 September).
0 CommentsThose all-important business travellers are returning to the skies with airline industry trade body IATA reporting that the number of passengers buying premium airline tickets increased in June.
0 CommentsThe US Customs and Border Protection agency has confirmed that UK travellers are to be charged to visit America from next month.
0 CommentsWith the news that budget airline Ryanair has introduced new baggage charges from the beginning of July, ferry companies are hoping to cash in with travellers to the near continent.
0 CommentsMore of us are holidaying in the UK and, with the recent good weather, maybe it’s time to head for the West Coast of Scotland. Some great ‘Summer Sizzler’ breaks are on offer at Loch Melfort Hotel near Oban over the holiday period.
0 CommentsThe trial of BA sales boss Andrew Crawley for price-fixing has sensationally collapsed after prosecuting counsel Richard Latham told the judge at London’s Southwark Crown Court that he would offer ‘no evidence’.
0 CommentsBusiness travellers face severe disruption as all flights in and out of the UK, Ireland and the Nordic and Benelux countries have been suspended while a high-level cloud of ash from the volcanic eruption in Iceland moves south.
0 CommentsA combination of corporate travel bans, new technology and the financial squeeze on consumers has made for an extremely tough year for the airline sector.
0 CommentsA rise in English seaside holidays last summer means the so-called ‘staycation’ trend was more than just a media phemonenon, VisitEngland said today (15 December). According to figures from the UK Tourism Survey, the number of holiday trips taken by Britons within England between June and August was up by 22%, and the amount spent increased by 20%, compared with the same period in 2008.
0 CommentsJust days after easyJet announced its departure from East Midlands Airport, low-cost airline bmibaby has announced major expansion plans from the airport on 9 September.
0 CommentsFancy nipping out for a quick pub lunch or a relaxing weekend away? The Masons Arms in Knowstone, Devon, has been named Pub of the Year 2010 in the latest Michelin Eating Out in Pubs guide launched today (9 September).
0 CommentsFor those of us who have to spend a large percentage of their time on planes pursuing global business, here is a reminder that it’s usually not as glamorous as our colleagues may think. But, hey, maximum credit to the pilots in this video!
0 CommentsA war of words has broken out between the airline and teleconferencing industries as they battle to attract the sales sector.
Faced with many companies banning all but essential air travel during the downturn, a focus on greener ways of doing business, the underlying terrorist threat and the proliferation of teleconferencing technology, it’s not surprising that this last year has been a dire one for airlines.
But it’s not just been the traditional carriers like British Airways that have suffered; low-cost airlines like Flybe (partly owned by BA and Britain’s largest domestic carrier) have also had to fight for every passenger.
So you know not to tuck your napkin into your collar – but it’s amazing how many faux pas are still actually committed, whether you’re entertaining over dinner or at an informal networking event, writes Tina Lofthouse.
A business-woman sits at a table in a top restaurant waiting for her client. As she waits she applies lipstick, combs her hair – and then reaches into her suit jacket and pulls her breasts up in her bra. Her guest arrives. Phew, thank god he hadn’t turned up a split second earlier. She then notices with horror the mirrored wall facing her, which would have been fully visible as he made his way from the entrance to the table. And yes, he’d seen her in action, as had several other diners.
Mortifying, absolutely – and one of several cringe-worthy anecdotes told by Linda Allan, a management consultant and coach specialising in business behaviours, on what not to do when client entertaining. ‘I’ve seen people clean their specs or mop their head with a dinner napkin,’ she says.
While the ground rules for holding an effective meeting seem like common sense, they’re much harder to put into practice. Tina Lofthouse takes a look at how you can actually make them work…
Sales meetings may be virtually the only time when members of the field force come together to discuss customer reactions to products and promotions, feedback market information and trade war stories. Such get-togethers play a vital supportive role, helping individual members feel part of a team, sharing and solving problems and instilling a sense of common purpose. They also help to channel a two-way flow of information: market intelligence back from the field and product and company data to the customer.
But the rest of us – whether we’re in telesales, marketing or management (and particularly in larger organisations – Ed) – can spend a great deal of our working lives in meetings, many of which are unproductive, with egos jostling for air-time, speakers wandering off-topic and boredom quickly setting in among unengaged attendees.