Featured news this week:

• Global Infusion Group win Queen’s Award
• Mediplus win Queen’s Award
• BTVLEP’S Skills Hub teams students with entrepreneurs
• Local resident seeks corporate sponsors for solo ski to the South Pole
• Thames Valley Women in Business invite you to network
• Learn about the Internet of Things with FMCentral
• North Mill Stoves’ 30th anniversary
• Life-changing treatment leads to epic cycle challenge

Global Infusion Group win Queen’s Award

Global Infusion Group (GIG), the UK’s leading catering, logistics and brand support specialist, has been named as a recipient of The Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2017.

It is the second time that Buckinghamshire-based Global Infusion Group has received the UK’s highest accolade for business success in recognition of its outstanding international trade results which have seen the company, formed 33 years ago, expand into a global operation.

Read more: https://bbf.uk.com/news/catering-logistics-company-gig-wins-second-queens-award-for-enterprise.

Mediplus win Queen’s Award

Mediplus is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a Queen's Award for Enterprise, the UK’s most prestigious business accolade, for its pioneering catheter insertion kit dubbed ‘a GPS for the bladder’.

The High Wycombe healthcare manufacturer was presented with the award under the Innovation category for its S-Cath™ System; a breakthrough technology that prevents injuries from occurring.

Read more: https://bbf.uk.com/news/mediplus-wins-queens-award-for-enterprise-innovation-for-pioneering-bladder-gps.

BTVLEP’S Skills Hub teams students with entrepreneurs

Three local schools in Buckinghamshire have gone head-to-head in the county’s first ever Sales Apprentice Challenge, organised by Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership’s Skills Hub to help students gain essential sales experience in a fun and practical way.

In this initial pilot, three schools - Buckingham School, Aylesbury College and Amersham & Wycombe College (The Peter Jones Enterprise Academy) - were teamed up with entrepreneurial local businesses to compete against each other for the CV-enhancing challenge. Serious Brands, Webmart and ANT Telecom joined forces to deliver the exciting opportunity for year 12s, developing the core sales skills everyone needs professionally and in life, and to gain valuable real experience.                                     

Marina Jackson, Under 19 Skills Manager, Buckinghamshire Skills Hub, said: “The challenge gives students the opportunity to discover traits common to all sales professionals, exploring and developing confidence, knowledge, presentation, communication, research, resilience and persistence.”

The final was judged by Nick Coleman, local entrepreneur and founder of the Snaffling Pig and Medical Supermarket and Amrita Das of the Careers and Enterprise Company. Competition was tight, but Amersham & Wycombe College, mentored by ANT Telecom, were the overall winners.

Learn about the Internet of Things with FMCentral

Facilities management and building services professionals will be able to understand more about what the Internet of Things is, how it is being used in their industry sector, and what opportunities it creates for them, at the next FMCentral event.

The free event, on Wednesday 24th May, will be held at The Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, near Aylesbury from 6pm to 8:30pm.

Speakers include:

• Penny Dablin, Senior Copywriter, Enterprise Marketing Solutions
• Joe Miles, Managing Director from Hausmate Ltd
• Ben Jackson, Chairman of Quainton Railway Society Ltd, The Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

'The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming part of our everyday life,' stated Karen Moule, Co-founder of FMCentral. 'We are now at a stage where anything can be fitted with a microchip sensor to collect and report data, including heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. The possibilities for using IoT to improve business efficiency and effectiveness are endless.'

To find out more and to book your free place, simply click here www.fmcentral.co.uk or email network@fmcentral.co.uk.

Local resident seeks corporate sponsors for solo ski to the South Pole

James Redden, a resident of Long Crendon, is planning a full distance, solo and unsupported ski to the Geographic South Pole in December 2017 – and he is searching for corporate sponsors to help fund the journey.

James will be travelling a distance of 700 miles and climbing to a height of 3,000m, a journey that will require him to travel for up to 12 hours a day in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius. James is planning to break the UK record time for reaching the South Pole (29 days, 19 hours and 24 minutes).

During the trip, which is in aid of UK charities Soundabout and Meningitis Now, James will be wearing a device which will collect health information and track him via GPS. This information will be sent back in real time to a server where the data will be presented in a visual format (a world first). The tracking website will be available to view by interested parties.

How businesses can get involved

One example of how businesses could work with James on his trip could involve James taking a certain product with him to the South Pole and demonstrating it working in an extreme environment.

For more information visit James’ website at www.jamesredden.co.uk, follow him on Twitter, and visit his Facebook page.

Thames Valley Women in Business invite you to network

The next Thames Valley Women in Business speed networking event takes place on Monday 8th May in Cookham. Attendance is free for members, and for the month of May only, it is also free for guests.

Details are below:

DATE: MONDAY 8th May 2017  from 7:15 PM to 9:15 PM
VENUE: CIM, Moor Hall, Cookham, SL6 9QH
COST: Free for members and for this month only there is no charge for guests.
PARKING: Plenty of parking available at the rear of building 
REFRESHMENTS: Tea/Coffee and water are available in the bar area

To book, visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tvwib-may-meeting-speed-networking-tickets-31216109223.

North Mill Stoves’ 30th anniversary

North Mill Stoves is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and have opened a second showroom across the border in Oxfordshire. The small family business is based in Bledlow, where it started out in 1987 in a former paper mill dating back to 1740.

Life-changing treatment leads to epic cycle challenge

A man who underwent a ‘life-changing’ operation as a child is geared-up to raise hundreds of pounds for the hospital that treated him when he takes part in an epic cycle challenge.

Laurence Male, 30, of Woburn Sands, will embark on the 930-mile challenge from Lands’ End to John O’Groats in aid of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital on Sunday, August 20. Laurence works as a Purchasing Assistant at Calumet Photographic’s head office in Tilbrook, Milton Keynes. The leading retail company is supporting him to reach his £2,500 fundraising target by providing complimentary sensor cleaning for most DSLR and CSC cameras in return for a donation at Calumet’s next Open Days, which start later this month.

People can sponsor Laurence by visiting his Just Giving page >

For more information on Calumet’s Open Days, visit their website.

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