Broadland District Council are launching a new Environmental Network aimed at sharing best practice and lowering business costs across the business community.

Broadland businesses are being invited to the free launch event of the on Wednesday 12th September 2012, taking place at The Space, Norwich from 8:30am-11am with breakfast provided.

Adapt Low Carbon will give an introduction to achieving good environmental practice, this will be followed by 2 local business case studies. Presentations on D & F McCarthy and Barnwell Print will show what they have achieved environmentally and the business benefits of doing so, sharing best practice.

The event will provide an opportunity to find out more about how your business can reduce energy, resource and fuel use and the assistance available to help you do so. There will also be an opportunity for you to ask questions and put forward your view on how the Environmental Network could be tailored to best support your business.

At the event you will also be given further information on joining the network and how we will continue to support you with relevant events on a range of environmental topics, and an online forum with regular new updates of assistance and opportunities available.

To book your free place at the event please email robert@thelivelycrew.co.uk. Places are going fast so to avoid disappointment book your place ASAP.

UK-based thermal insulation cover manufacturers Enviro-Pod have launched a unique internal roll cage lining which is currently being used to transport chilled goods throughout Spain for a major supermarket chain.

The new innovation is designed to fit within a roll-cage, allowing produce to be sealed at a chilled temperature for long periods, without the need for electricity or any other assistance. Having the material secured inside the cage gives it protection by reducing wear and tear and reducing the chance of produce becoming unsecured in transit.

Independent tests have proven that Chill Pod’s use of NASA’s Flectalon technology can result in a considerable reduction on fuel costs and the carbon footprint of transport companies and storage units, by maintaining temperature, without the need for an additional fuel source. By removing refrigeration from delivery vehicles, companies are also able to increase their distribution capacity, reducing the number of journeys required.

The unique insulating properties of the covers are constructed from a flat polymer sheet, coated with a thin layer of aluminium which combines conventional trapped air thermal insulation with multiple mirror finish surfaces to maintain the correct temperature of the product contained within. When tested against a competitor the unique Chill Pod design saw an increase of only 3.4 degrees over a 12 hour period, compared to 7 degrees by a leading competitor.

Chill Pod Director Valerie Bullard added “With transportation costs spiralling and legislation on corporate carbon reduction tightening, it is important that we look at innovative solutions. The flexibility and performance of the material means that the Chill Pod range of covers provides the solution the logistics industry has been waiting for. Independent tests prove that Chill Pod can lower costs and reduce the carbon footprint of any business using temperature controlled transport, at a time when an estimated 15% of energy usage in industrialised countries is devoted to refrigeration.”

Manufactured in the UK, Chill Pods can be tailor made to specific client specifications. Chill Pods are lightweight, hard wearing and water resistant and boast excellent impact and abrasion resilience.

For more information please call 01603 702374 or email info@enviro-pod.co.uk

We are delighted to announce that we will be exhibiting at the Royal Norfolk Show, with our Director Valerie Bullard hosting a special marketing workshop on request of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

Alongside discussing our role as a full-service marketing agency, covering Norwich, Norfolk and beyond, we will also be exhibiting the full Enviro-Pod sustainable product range, including our unique ethylene control technology, Fresh Pod.

Fresh Pod's method of ethylene control has been independently proven to be the most effective form of ethylene control available in the UK and is now being used by many national and international fresh produce distributors, to keep produce at it's best and limit wastage.

Alongside Fresh Pod we will also be exhibiting our unique Flectalon material which, originally developed by NASA, has been independently proven to significantly outperform other thermal and chilling products on the market. Our Flectalon range includes, chill bags, diving suits, blankets, animal jackets and even high-visibility workwear.

Taking place on June 27th and 28th, the Royal Norfolk Show will be an ideal opportunity for us to spread our message of saving money and reducing waste, for both businesses and households, looking to maximise their finances and become more sustainable in the coming months and years.

The Lively Crew will be exhibiting on stand 178, Avenue 6. If you would like to book a free marketing workshop with Valerie, please email info@thelivelycrew.co.uk or call 01603 702374 to book your space.

If you have any questions on marketing, Enviro-Pod, Flectalon or ethylene control, please come and ask a member of our friendly team who will be happy to help.

For those of you who have attended one of our recent business forums and heard David Coulson explain how a presence on the CompeteFor website, can help your business attract tendering opportunities for the Olympics and other public sector organisation’s work, and have yet to upload your businesses profile - then you are not the only one.

On the front page of a recent EDP, businesses across Norfolk were being urged to sign up as there are still contracts worth millions of pounds up for grabs. If that was not incentive enough to set-up a profile, then remember that, at the very least, a business profile page on CompeteFor will improve the visibility of your business online, including in search engine results.

One of the biggest challenges facing businesses is time allocation and experience in navigating the internet, whilst still doing the day job. More and more businesses are using social media and other websites to promote their business and it is not as expensive, time consuming or as painful as it might appear. Spending a short amount of time getting up to speed with it, will ensure your business reaps the benefits long term.

If you are still unsure, do not have the time or would like a second opinion on the viability of your website which will include the loading of an EEDA web page for your business, if required, then give our Marketing Manager and Social Media guru, Andy at The Lively Crew a call on 01603 702374, or email andrew@thelivelycrew.co.uk and he will be able to advise you on, how your business can quickly become more visible on the internet, how to set-up quick business profiles, and a hassle-free way to use the internet and social media as an ongoing marketing tool for your business.

 The Broadland Online Business Directory and Business Forum has received glowing praise from Broadland District Council Economic Development Manager Hamish Melville.

"I, on behalf of Broadland District Council, would like to pass on my sincere thanks for the way in which your team organise and manage our Business Forum.

We have, in the past, struggled to sustain a consistent and purposeful Business Forum for various reasons. However, now that The Lively Crew is handling all matters concerned with the Forum on our behalf, I am delighted to say they have become enormously popular and successful.

Typically, fifty+ businesses attend the quarterly events, which even attract our local Members of Parliament and feedback would suggest that the local business community in Broadland consider these to be of great value.

We will look forward to continuing to work with you and assist with structuring themes for events on an ongoing basis" said Hamish.

We are delighted that the Forums have been recognised for the positive role they play in the economic development of the Broadland business community. The next Forum is due to take place on Wednesday 25th April.

For more details, or to book your place, please contact Jodie McGill on 01603 702374 or email jodie@broadlanddirectory.co.uk