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Archive for March, 2010

Good by March hello ‘Bacon Buttys’

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

I can hear just fine!’
Three retirees, each with a hearing loss, were playing golf one fine March day. One remarked to the other, ‘Windy, isn’t it?’ ‘No,’ the second man replied, ‘it’s Thursday.’ And the third man chimed in, ‘So am I. Let’s have a beer.’
Don’t forget Chester Business Club & Chester Rotary Charity Walk
Sunday morning 25th April registration at the Chester Groves Bandstand from 10am
Walk with friends and colleagues to help support the little charities in and around Chester who do not get funding. Kids dogs and your best friends all welcome

Chocolate top – Stop – Fruit Juice stop – Bacon Butty stop – Gin Stop*
*Recommended at the end of walk not the beginning.
Venue for lunch, for those that want it, will be at The Hickory Smoke House, The Groves Chester. Contact: Duncan Falconer (who is providing Bacon Buttys)

Posted in Business Link, Charity Walk, Chester, Chester Charity Walk, Liverpool, Local information, Serendipity | No Comments »

2008 Alistair Darling today confirmed that the Landfill Tax will rise by £8 per tonne each year from next month, as part of his first Budget as Chancellor.

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Landfill Tax will, as expected, be £32 per tonne from April 1, 2008.

2010 £48 per tonne

Mr Darling said within a Budget, which was given a green tint thanks to a pledge on plastic bags, that the Landfill Tax will, as expected, be £32 per tonne from April 1, 2008.

The tax – working with other measures – has been successful with overall quantities of waste recorded at landfill sites registered for the tax falling by around 26%.

It is seen as the key driver of the UK’s move away from using landfill disposal – and the main hope of meeting European waste targets under the Landfill Directive in 2010, 2013 and 2020.

Wednesday 12 March 2008 Legislation News

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

Save up to 50% on your returned and ‘gone way’ mail

Monday, March 29th, 2010

We are in partnership with Arbutus Ridge to process their CodEffect 2d barcode, a powerful method of encoding large amounts of data and successfully used by HMRC and Tesco. The latter have seen a 50% reduction in its operational costs for returned mail. It attracts a lower charge rate to capture than standard alpha/numeric data and we can return the data files on a daily basis if required.
Veridata now offers this encrypted 2d bar-coding system which means that capture of name & address, campaign codes etc. is considerably cheaper and enables us to offer our customers great savings for processing their returned mail.

CodEffect capture solution offer a fixed charge, regardless of the amount of data captured. The service has two distinct elements – simple data capture from returns and data verification & enhancement. If required it can explain the reason for returns, which can be run against a number of industry wide data sets.
The discreet two-dimensional barcode can be set in various places in or outside the envelope

For the “core” data capture service the price is simply based on the number of scans performed – the amount of data captured is irrelevant. There is no charge for the software or the creation of the barcode.
Also included in the cost is the destruction and responsible disposal of all waste paper, which is recycled locally; reduces your carbon footprint. Our service also helps you to comply with EU Directives on Landfill PAS2020 and Royal Mail’s Sustainable Mail.

Technical Requirements
Veridata in partnership with Arbutus Ridge will provide all software required to manage the printing of the CodEffect 2d barcodes free of charge and will work alongside the Client and chosen print company to install and test the process. Full technical requirements will be produced on agreement of contract.
Supplied as Windows DLL’s, which you can integrate using Visual Basic

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, Catalogues, CodEffect 2d bar code, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

Andrew Marr and The Silent State

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Always work from home Monday and always listen to Start the Week while I check emails and sort out my diary. One particular guest, Heather Brooke, and her talk on the secret British society really resonated with me and it is quiet scary stuff. But then why am I surprised over the years I have been in business I have come across this time and again, call up a PLC or any company organisation and ask for the name of a director/partner and there is every chance you will be told we are not allowed to give the names. Oh really, why?
Go to a website in the UK and try to find out the same information about a company and so often it’s made as difficult as possible to find out anything about the people who run it. Go to an American website they will give you chapter and verse on every one who works there. I have noticed it has got better over here since the take up on Linkedin and Google will get you almost any name if you dig hard enough. But one of the things she raises, and which is something I have always resented, is the culture of arrogance found in the public sector and her observation about .. ‘the extent to which the government collects information on us while refusing to make civic information available to the public.’

The demise on local papers and journalists who covered local council meetings is also another great loss and a allows these petty little people even more power without accountability. This is definitely a book I will buy as soon as it is published.
Seems winter has returned and I have had to order yet more oil. We want to move the tank this Spring to make way for an extension, so I requested 300 only litres please but was told they cannot deliver less than 500 litres because Trading Standards, (not H&S sic), set that amount as the minimum. Can someone please explain that one to me?
(more…)

Posted in Chester, Freedom of Information, Government and SMEs, Local information, Moral questions, Radio 4, SMEs, Serendipity | No Comments »

Data validation data capture, and opt out solutions

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Today met with the MD of data8 a dynamic data management company based in Ellesmere Port www.data-8.co.uk.

Looking forward to working with them as their product(s) especially their on-line data validation solution can add value to our service and would be of interest to many of our customers.

The integrity of data can have a huge impact on any direct mailing campaign and indeed on any large mailing undertaken in the private or public sectors.

Our service provides data capture of Returned and Gone Away Mail and helps to cleanse our customer’s data bases, saving money and ensuring safe destruction and recycling of all waste paper.

Data validation can supply so much more valuable information checking against a raft of suppression files, giving specific reasons for the ‘gone aways’ and trace address information.

See also opt out solutions allowing customers to choose which companies they do not want to receive mail from. http://www.optoutlive.co.uk/dm/directmail.aspx#

The whole debate around ‘junk mail’ (Advertising Mail) is highly emotive but so many of us buy from direct mail and welcome some but not all of it. According to the DMA, UK consumers generate over £25 billion worth of sales from Direct Mail every year so it is fair to say that most people appreciate the information and special offers they receive by post.

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Direct Mail, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail | No Comments »

These are the days we live in

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

If you have run your own business and have not had the highs, and the lows, you’re a better man than I Gunga Din. Running an SME is fraught with setbacks hopefully we learn from our mistakes and keep going, the following appealed to me:

Whenever you make a mistake or get knocked down by life, don’t look back at it too long. Mistakes are life’s way of teaching you. Your capacity for occasional blunders is inseparable from your capacity to reach your goals. No one wins them all, and your failures, when they happen, are just part of your growth. Shake off your blunders. How will you know your limits without an occasional failure? Never quit. Your turn will come.
Og Mandino, 1923-1996

Posted in Chester, Finance for SMEs, SMEs, Serendipity | No Comments »

Further Restrictions on Landfill and Returned Mail

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

I am thinking how will this affect the Direct Mail Sector? There are targets set to reduce all waste paper generated by direct mail going to landfill as there is already the issue of ‘producer responsibility’ in that all waste paper generated is disposed of properly. 80% of the carbon footprint for a piece of mail is in this ‘end of life’ solution.

Our service includes safe destruction and recycling of all waste paper and helps meet the requirements of PAS2020 and Sustainable Mail

Consultation on the introduction of restrictions on the landfilling of certain wastes
1. I am writing to invite views on the possible introduction of further restrictions on the landfilling of biodegradable and recyclable wastes in England and Wales.
2. This joint Defra and Welsh Assembly Government consultation is in response to the commitment in the Waste Strategy for England 2007 and the commitment of the Welsh Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing’s written cabinet statement of 2nd December 2009 to consult on whether the introduction of further restrictions on the landfilling of biodegradable and recyclable wastes would make an effective contribution to meeting the objectives set out in the respective waste strategies for England and Wales, of reducing GHG emissions and increasing resource efficiency and in respect of Wales, of decreasing the ecological footprint associated with waste. The consultation aims to obtain the views of interested parties on the policy options presented with a view towards introducing one or more of them into law(s) in England and Wales.
3. This is a first stage consultation on the options under consideration for restricting wastes from landfill. It is intended to be a high-level consultation to identify preferred option(s) which could be taken forward if desirable, practical and affordable. If Government decides change is desirable a second stage consultation will follow on the preferred option(s) and the way any restriction or requirement would be introduced and who the onus would fall upon and accompanied by draft Regulations to implement these option(s).
4. The following documents may be found on Defra’s website at:
www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/landfill-restrictions/index.htm
and on the Welsh Assembly Government’s website at:
www.wales.gov.uk/consultations / www.cymru.gov.uk/ymgynghoriadau

Issued: 2010-03-18
Consultation starts: 2010-03-18
Consultation closes: 2010-06-10

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

Annual Charity Walk Chester Business Club & Rotary

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Calling Chester Desk Jockeys

Tighten that Tum

Don’t Talk the Talk

Chester Business Club

Challenge You to

Walk THE Walk

Sunday morning 25^th April

And

Cough up for a good cause

The unsung under funded

Small Chester Charities

Registration starts at the Bandstand Chester Groves from 10am

Walk 6.5 miles, chocolate, juice, bacon butty and G & T stops on the way

Posted in Charity Walk, Chester, Local information, Serendipity | No Comments »

The Benefits of using a 2d bar code

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

We have are licensed by Arbutus Ridge to process the CodEffect 2d barcode, a powerful method of encoding large amounts of data. It has been used by HMRC for some time now and is completely secure.

It attracts a lower charge rate to capture than standard alpha/numeric data and we can return the data files on a daily basis if required.

CodEffect has 2 distinct elements – simple data capture from returns and data verification/enhancement. These are 2 distinct and separate services, designed so that users can ‘buy-in’ to both services, however this is not mandatory.

Veridata through Arbutus Ridge will provide all software required to manage printing of the CodEffect 2d barcodes free of charge and will work alongside the Client and chosen print company to install and test the process. Full technical requirements will be produced on agreement of contract

The cost of processing your returns, and capturing additional valuable marketing information, is greatly reduced by using this intelligent 2dbar code.

For further information on how you can dramatically reduced costs and stay ahead of the competition call: -

Tim Craig on 01244 350700

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Catalogues, DMA, Direct Mail, PAS2020, Postal returns, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Royal Mail, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

France vs England 20th March Paris Foden to start

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Ben Foden getting his start, well deserved and long overdue, he’s the only England player to catch the eye of the France defence coach. His reason, its impossible to plan a defence against the way he plays especially with the likes of Croft on his shoulder, that’s a nightmare for defence coaches and players. Here’s hoping…

Posted in England RFU, France, Rugby Union Six Nations, Serendipity | No Comments »