Two new tech start-ups join the Westcott Business Incubation Centre

LIFT ME OFF Ltd and Nickless Technologies Ltd are the latest two companies to join the Westcott Business Incubation Centre, which provides incubation support to early stage businesses working in the areas of rocket propulsion, drones and 5G communications. The Incubation Centre is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and delivered by the Satellite Applications Catapult, Rockspring Hanover Property Unit Trust and the Buckinghamshire Thames Valley LEP.

LIFT ME OFF aims to provide novel in-orbit transit solutions for the small satellite market through the development of dedicated bolt-on space services, whilst Nickless Technologies will be focusing on making the unmanned autonomous vehicle market more accessible to businesses with the development of a drone platform with advanced sense-and-avoid capabilities.

Over the next 12 months, both start-ups will receive specialist business and technical support tailored to their individual needs, as well as access to test facilities and equipment through connections within the Westcott Space Cluster. The support provided by the Westcott Business Incubation Centre will enable these businesses to accelerate their product development and commercialisation and prepare them for the next stage of their growth.

Letterbox4you receives Feefo Gold Trusted Service award 2019

Letterbox4you has won the Feefo Gold Service award, an independent seal of excellence that recognises businesses for delivering exceptional experiences, as rated by real customers.

Created by Feefo, Trusted Service is awarded only to those businesses that use Feefo to collect genuine reviews and insights. Those that meet the high standard, based on the number of reviews they have collected, and their average rating, receive the award. A badge of honour, this accreditation remains unique, as it is based purely on the interactions with real customers. As all reviews are verified as genuine, the accreditation is a true reflection of a business’s commitment to outstanding service.

James Hakesley is crowned Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2019!

James Hakesley, Co-founder & CEO of Cube Video was crowned the winner of the prestigious Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in January at the Thames Valley Business and Community Awards.

The 28 year old Young Entrepreneur shared his excitement about winning this fantastic accolade: “This recognition is a testament to the hard work that goes on behind the scenes. As an individual, this is obviously a fantastic personal achievement but I could not have done this without the Cube Video Team.”

Whilst Cube Video are a growing business based in Buckinghamshire, they work both nationally and internationally, filming in various glamorous locations. They are well-known in the local community as they have worked with several local businesses and charities and James Hakesley is a Growth Champion for Buckinghamshire Business First, often sharing his wisdom at networking and educational events.

Exciting Royal visit to grant Queen's Award for Monodraught

A message from the team at Monodraught:

His Royal Highness, the Duke of Kent has awarded local business Monodraught Ltd with the Queen’s Award for Innovation. The award was granted for our Cool-phase hybrid cooling solution. He was accompanied by several other local dignitaries, including the High Sherriff of Buckinghamshire, the Chair of Wycombe District Council, the Chair of Buckinghamshire County Council and the Mayor of High Wycombe.

Receiving the award, Andrew McCubbin, Managing Director of Monodraught said: “This is a landmark moment in Monodraught’s history, and represents the culmination of years of engineering innovation. We believe the world of today needs environmentally sustainable solutions more than ever, and we are very proud to play our part.”

New Head of Innovation for at Epoq IT

A message from the team at Epoq IT:

Following a new year recruitment drive due to growth and Epoq’s commitment to provide exceptional IT service management to our clients, we have great pleasure in announcing the recent promotion of Andrew Williams to Head of Innovation. This newly created role will ensure we continue to deliver the right advice and solutions to our clients as we enter a world of digital transformation and cyber resilience.

e2b delivers operational support to several major brands at IFE

Highly experienced in delivering event logistics for many of the UK’s leading food and beverage brands, e2b lent operational support to several of its clients, existing and new, for The International Food Event (IFE) 2019. Held at London’s Excel from March 17th-20th, the popular show is a celebration of 1,350 innovative, global and cutting-edge food and drink manufacturers.

GIG in action at TV’s biggest night of the year

Widely regarded as television’s biggest night of the year, the National Television Awards (NTAs) returned to the O2 Arena in London on January 22nd 2019. The star-studded ceremony saw award-winning catering and hospitality specialist GIG deliver a wide range of crew, media, guest and VIP catering services.

More than 70 of GIG’s experienced crew, including 12 chefs, were involved. Initially they served 1,970 crew meals during the two-day build and a further 650 on show day.

Eat to the Beat gets its skates on with ITV’s Dancing on Ice

ITV’s Dancing on Ice live grand finale was screened on March 11th and award-winning caterer Eat to the Beat was on-hand throughout the series to deliver crew catering services for the second year in succession.

The popular TV programme was filmed at a purpose-built ice rink and TV studio at Bovingdon, Hertfordshire. Eat to the Beat arrived onsite at the beginning of December to serve the show’s crew with nutritious and hearty meals to fuel them through the build. Throughout the live shows, Eat to the Beat served breakfast, lunch and dinner to the crew, celebrity contestants and their professional skating partners, with just shy of 10,000 meals served during the course of the series.

The Muddy Stilettos Awards return with £1,000 cash prize

Award-winning website Muddy Stilettos holds its seventh annual Awards in Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire, supporting and celebrating the very best lifestyle businesses - and for the first time all winners will be eligible to win a £1,000 cash prize.

Muddy Stilettos’ Editor-in-Chief Hero Brown says: “We want to support local businesses and our local high streets as practically as possible. The £1,000 cash prize is natural progression for the Muddy Stilettos, as our whole ethos is about promoting the best independent local companies.”

For the list of categories, visit: https://muddystilettos.co.uk/lifestyle-business-awards/

UK’s first purpose-built conference centre enters 50th year on a high

The UK’s first purpose-built conference centre has started its 50th year in business on a high. Lane End Conference Centre finished 2018 celebrating a 69% increase in referrals and a 5% increase in revenue.

Now, the residential conference centre is gearing up to mark its Golden Anniversary milestone with a year-long programme of showcase events and celebrations with customers, agents and staff.

Following a rebrand in 2005 and major refurbishment work in 2011, the site now houses 32 conference spaces and meeting rooms, as well as 111 en-suite bedrooms.

Tims Dairy and youth charity Depaul partner for ‘The London Collection’

London’s local yogurt brand Tims Dairy will be supporting youth homelessness charity Depaul UK throughout 2019 with profits from the sales of their new range of Greek style, bio-live, lactose free yogurts - ‘The London Collection’.

The partnership represents the shared values of both brands, from both their London histories through a strong joint belief in integrity, quality and aspiration – and even shared anniversaries! Depaul work to empower young people affected by homelessness in London to move on to better lives. Tims Dairy is run by four second generation brothers who identified early on in their business that investing in their people would help the company succeed.

Become a Mental Health First Aider With Buckinghamshire Mind

Buckinghamshire Mind, the mental health charity, is offering Adult Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) two-day training, accredited by MHFA England, that qualities delegates as a Mental Health First Aider.

As an expert mental health partner, Buckinghamshire Mind specialises in delivering professional training courses to support people to live well in their communities and thrive at work. Now, the charity is calling on local businesses to manage the mental health of their employees by booking places on the charity’s MHFA training courses in Aylesbury.

To find out more, please visit: www.bucksmind.org.uk/training-services/mhfa

Lindengate mental health charity welcomes new Director

Lindengate is delighted to welcome new Director, Jan Webster, to lead its transformational organisation and the Lindengate community to the next phase in its evolution.

Jan has over twenty years’ experience in supporting organisations with leadership, planning, evaluation and fundraising. Operating in some of the poorest communities in Africa, within challenging environments, Jan has initiated a well-respected flourishing organisation that works with brain trauma survivors.

Invitation to meet Jan Webster:

Lindengate are holding a special “Welcome to Wendover” for Jan on Wednesday 1st May, between 5pm-7pm. This will give you the opportunity to meet Jan and visit our stunning 5-acre gardens and see first-hand how Lindengate supports those with mental health needs. Refreshments will be served. Visit social media sites for updates: Twitter - @Lindengate, Facebook - @LindengateGardening.

Midsomer Supports Good Causes in Thame

Thame’s Midsomer Walking Tours are supporting three good causes in Thame, with a contribution of over £1,600 from their ticket income this year.

The Mayor’s charities, the Sharing Life Trust and Thame Youth Projects, will each receive a share of a cheque for £804. Thame Museum, a registered charity, will also receive £804 towards its upkeep and maintenance.

Thame’s Midsomer Tours have enjoyed growing popularity since they started in May 2017. In 2018, bookings were taken from nearly 400 Midsomer fans who came from the local area and further afield in the UK, as well as from Australia, Scandinavia, USA, and Germany.

Moorcrofts LLP advises firms on exciting developments

Leading Thames Valley law firm Moorcrofts’ commercial property team has been advising The Access Group on its progressing plans for the expansion of its head office, with a move to a new 100,000 sq. ft. office on the Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park. Moorcrofts’ head of commercial property, Ian Hylton, has been leading the legal negotiations for The Access Group with support from Julia Ferguson and Anita Johnson.

Moorcrofts’ commercial property team are advising Riwal UK Limited as it prepares to open a major new depot for London and the M1 corridor. Moorcrofts’ has advised Riwal UK on the pre-let leasehold acquisition of a new 21,000 sq. ft. unit with 19,000 sq. ft. external space in Prologis Park Hemel Hempstead, in Hertfordshire. The new depot is due to open in spring 2019.

Moorcrofts has advised MRIB Group on the group’s acquisition of a specialist and chartered insurance broker for the UK’s health and fitness sectors, Independents Insurance. Moorcrofts’ head of corporate and partner, Teri Hunter, led the deal with support from William Pearce and Mohsin Shabbir.

Seymour Taylor announces promotion as business goes from strength to strength

Seymour Taylor, one of High Wycombe’s leading Accountancy firms, is delighted to announce the promotion of Rachel Pugh from Associate Director to full Board Director and Head of Operations.

Managing Director, Simon Turner, said of Rachel’s promotion: “Congratulations to Rachel in her well-deserved promotion which is in line with our growth plans. Rachel’s experience and skillset in managing the operations of the business whilst building excellent client relationships will help us on our vision to grow the firm in the next five years”.

Low Carbon Workspaces’ Anom nominated for prestigious award

Anom Ahmad of the Low Carbon Workspaces team has been nominated for The Alice Driver Award; an award in part recognising women’s contributions to addressing pervasive socioeconomic and health problems.

The award is in recognition of volunteer work on a project called Reading Hydro, which aims to generate electricity for people who struggle to pay their bills, especially heating for the winter. In addition, Anom gave a talk to an event called Sanctuary in Parliament last year, talking about refugees and how they contribute to the economy, breaking the stereotypes of refugees and especially women and highlighting the support that can be given for them to succeed.

Pinpoint Marketing gets small business award from Theo Paphitis

Pinpoint Marketing has received a business boost from Dragons’ Den star and retail entrepreneur Theo Paphitis. Nicole Martin, owner of Pinpoint Marketing, tweeted Theo about her business during ‘Small Business Sunday’ and was one of the weekly winners to gain a retweet by Theo to his 500,000 Twitter followers. The weekly initiative, set up by Theo in 2010, now has over 3,700 #SBS winners and supports small businesses in the UK. The worthy winners account for less than 1% of the entrants which is a real achievement to those chosen.

IBB Solicitors shortlisted at Thames Valley Deals Awards

IBB Solicitors was shortlisted for 'Law Firm of the Year' and Adam Dowdney was shortlisted for ‘Lawyer of the Year’ at the Thames Valley Deals Awards 2019.

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