All change – will the new broom’s sweep clean. We will all have to wait and see! I will pass on changes that could affect small to medium businesses as and when they reach my desk.

To put my positive spin on things, we must treat this as an opportunity, but that will entail reacting to change very quickly to get the best for our individual businesses.
I am very impressed that one of the first objectives is to cut through some red tape – “bring it on”!!!

The world markets are on radar but just observing and the numbers will tumble and rise in line with policy changes.

RBS announced a further 2,600 job cuts bringing the total to 22,600 – were they over staffed???!!!
22 June is the first budget (hold tight).

Two thirds of businesses not ready for carbon reduction. MORSE report that 72% of respondents are unaware of how to reduce their emissions.

It has now been definitely confirmed that John Penrose MP has taken the post of Minister for Tourism which, as a seaside town, is great for us!

Quote of the Week:
“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it” – Dennis Kimbro

All the indicators are sharing my concerns that business is going on hold for the run up to the election. The uncertainty is having an effect on everything and the sooner it is over the better.

My advice is to batten down the hatches and weather the storm, those that do it well will be the survivors and the strength in our future growth and economy. We might expect a stead growth for the rest of the year and some recovery in property sales.

Finance is available – it is not easy, but once you have jumped through the hoops, loans are trickling out. I will be happy to direct clients in the best direction for their business sector.

June is going to be a great month for Weston. Most of the upgrade and road repairs should be completed and there could be some major events near the end of the month. Weston and North Somerset should come alive, so hang in there we have a lot more to look forward to than most.

Weston 200 is gathering more support. The Royal Hotel, which is the centre of our birthday celebrations, has an impressive line up of artists and special events – even Elvis is appearing!!!

The wheel is coming back (great news) and the water park is underway and our now regular steam fair is on the programme – make sure you get a copy of “What’s On” from North Somerset Council. All the events across North Somerset are promoted there and it’s free!

Get involved! Join the North Somerset Business Club, the Chambers of Trade, the Hotels Association, the Federation of Small Business – meet and talk to other businesses. Keep up to date and informed of opportunities.

And finally:

In the 1500’s bread was baked and divided as follows:

• The burnt base was given to the poor
• The middle bit for the working families
• The top to the guests or the rich

And so we have “the upper crust”!

Terry Gilbert is Business Support Manager for the North Somerset Enterprise Agency www.northsomersetenterpriseagency.co.uk as well as being the director for the Weston Town Centre Partnership and Chair for Weston 200 and Weston Arts Social Enterprise.

The Weston Echo news team is made up of volunteers, most of which have day jobs and dedicate a small amount of time per week to writing about the local subjects that interest them most.

We are expanding our news team as there are various areas that we do not currently cover in local interest which we would like people to write for, these categories are listed below so please have a look through to see what you would enjoy writing about. If you have any friends, family or work colleagues that would be interested please point them in our direction.

Benefits of writing for the Weston Echo

• Get your voice heard in the local community writing about the things you love
• Local recognition for your writing talents
• Free promotion for your personal or business enterprise
• Exclusive yourname@westonecho.co.uk email address
• Being part of something new and exciting

The following categories currently require more writers to submit their stories:

• Education
• Local Affairs (General News)
• Food, including restaurant reviews
• Sport – Football, Motoring, Rugby to name but a few
• What’s on, cinema and theatre

Are other categories not listed here always have space for more articles so take a look at the menu at the top, or even suggest a new category for us!

Contact Matthew Stone at editor@westonecho.co.uk for more information on getting started.

Matthew Stone is the Editor of the Weston Echo. He is also an established I.T. Professional working for a local database marketing company

Mortgages
As many as one in three customers are paying more than they need to for mortgages. There are so many special offers at the moment and it is a great time to get a free check to see if you are on the right package with insurance also being far too high on some policies.

This applies to business as well as domestic mortgages – Get a free 30 minutes check free of charge for peace of mind – telephone the North Somerset Enterprise Agency 01934 418118.

Innovation
Innovation and diversification are major factors in who will cope with the recession, even during these hard times we see plenty of examples of local companies who are doing well and bucking the trend. In fact many of the world’s largest corporations were founded during times of economic downturn, such as Microsoft and Disney! Some of the positive aspects of a recession are labour is easy to find due to large amounts of redundancies, competition is less fierce due to cost-cutting and rivals going out of business means more trade for those still operating. What is your business doing to stand out from the crowd?

Health & Safety Straightjacket!!
David Cameron is currently reviewing Health and Safety Legislation, and is looking to clear out alot of the bureaucracy involved to help us run our businesses. Its election time in a couple of months so maybe common sense will return!!!

VAT
VAT rates return to 17.5% on 1 January 2010, so remember to update all your books and systems for any finances or invoices due beyond the 31st December 2009

Bank Loans
Bank loans for small businesses allegedly readily available, enquire with your Bank manager today and let us know your experiences in the comments section below!

The Grand Pier
The world will be watching our pier which is growing every day, and is on track for completion for the summer season in 2010. We all need to use this – if they can rebuild the pier, we can all rebuild our business – onward and upward!

Terry Gilbert is Business Support Manager for the North Somerset Enterprise Agency www.northsomersetenterpriseagency.co.uk as well as being the director for the Weston Town Centre Partnership and Chair for Weston 200 and Weston Arts Social Enterprise

We are proud to announce the launch of the Weston Echo, the community driven online newspaper for North Somerset.

We have lots of exciting developments coming soon, and hope to have the website fully updated within the next few weeks and we need your help to do this. If you’ve ever fancied writing your own articles or reviews then email and let us know what your would like to do.

UPDATE: We are now accepting subscriber registrations through our website, just click on the Register link on the right hand side.