Press release SME Awards to spotlight the real engine of UK growth – small businesses A new national awards programme has been launched to recognise the achievements of the best small businesses across the UK. The Best SME Awards have been created by entrepreneur Debbie Gilbert, who founded the Best Business Women Awards more than a decade ago which celebrates the diversity and power of female-founded enterprises. “I’ve worked with business owners for many years and so many of them achieve brilliant things without ever stepping into the spotlight,” Debbie said. “During the year By Fiona Scott • 2 min read
Press release Micro-Markets, Macro Results: Facilitating Growth in Small Markets The untapped potential of small markets can offer great returns with the right approach that incorporates local expertise and personality. Big cities dominate marketing plans, but the real growth opportunities often lie beyond them. Across the UK, smaller towns, rural communities, and commuter belts are home to millions of potential customers who rarely see the same level of brand attention as those in London, Manchester, or Birmingham. For ambitious companies, those overlooked small markets re By Debbie Shaw • 2 min read
Press release Beyond the Contract: Protecting Brand Reputation Through Smarter Sales Partnerships In smaller markets, a brand's first impression counts even more. Make every moment matter by choosing an outsourced sales team that knows the neighborhood as well as your brand. Most brands look at outsourced sales through two lenses: reach and cost. Can we get into more locations, and can we do it without building a full in-house field team? Fair questions. But there’s a bigger one that often gets missed: who is actually standing in front of your customers, and what are they saying in your nam By Debbie Shaw • 3 min read
Press release Metcor Group wins Best Facilities Management Service Provider at FM & Property Awards 2025 Metcor Group has been named Best Facilities Management Service Provider at the FM & Property Awards 2025, held on Monday evening at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, in front of more than 650 industry leaders. The Group also secured third place in the 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗙𝗼𝗿, a category voted for by colleagues and professionals across the facilities management sector. The award recognises Metcor’s continued service excellenc By Graham Sievers • 2 min read
Press release Honoured for putting client experience first: Filestream celebrate award win Berkshire-based document management specialists, Filestream Ltd, are celebrating winning at this year’s Document Management Awards, taking home the trophy for the best Low Code/No Code Product of the Year. The award recognises Filestream Ltd’s innovative, user-friendly approach to managing documents, making it simpler and more efficient for businesses of all sizes. Filestream Ltd, led by Paul Day, Managing Director, and Layla Cockburn, Operations Director, were nominated in two categories this By Fiona Scott • 2 min read
Press release Social care experts appeal for more carers to come forward A team of experts who have come together to disrupt the expensive and complex social care system by running a recruitment ‘app’ for carers are appealing for more to sign up from Wiltshire, Somerset and Oxfordshire. AgoraStaff is a temporary staffing app for the social care sector founded by Richard Williams-Pears, a former town councillor and former mayor of St Austell in Cornwall, who saw firsthand the rising costs and inefficiencies in social care. He teamed up with his wife Jolene, AgoraSt By Fiona Scott • 2 min read
Press release Specialist building company becomes employee-owned Specialist building company Mike Whitfield Construction has become an employee-owned trust (EOT) in a move designed to secure the company’s long-term future, protect its values, and reward the team who helped build its success. Founded in 2006 by Mike Whitfield (68) who was already a sole trader and a carpenter by trade, the company has gone from strength to strength specialising in (so-called ‘passiv haus’ and eco projects) energy efficient and passive house construction in the Herefordshire a By Fiona Scott • 3 min read
Press release Dementia advocate shares tips for dementia-friendly dining this Christmas As the festive season approaches, dementia advocate and accessibility consultant Dr Carol Sargent of Sargent Group Consulting is sharing her expert guidance on how families can make dining out, or Christmas dinner at home, more inclusive and enjoyable for loved ones living with dementia. “For many, festive meals are a highlight of the season. But for people with dementia, their friends and families, noisy, crowded or unfamiliar environments can make dining feel stressful rather than celebratory By Fiona Scott • 3 min read
Press release Exclusive Creative Nature thins launch on Austrian Airlines long-haul Award-winning allergen-free brand Creative Nature is taking to the skies this November with a new exclusive product for Austrian Airlines. Passengers on long-haul flights will be able to enjoy Creative Nature’s Lightly Salted, Light & Crunchy Thins, a top 14 allergen-free mini corn cracker, available only on Austrian Airlines. Julianne Ponan MBE, Creative Nature’s CEO and founder, knows first-hand how stressful travel can be when you have allergies. “I’ve flown a lot and never really known if By Fiona Scott • 2 min read
Press release Finance expert shares practical cashflow tips for growing businesses Managing cashflow is one of the hardest parts of running a growing business, and one of the biggest reasons scale-ups stall or fail. With a career spanning global finance, start-ups, and FTSE 100 corporations, Romesh Jeyaseelanayagam, founder of The FD Consultant, draws on his experience running his own business over the past five years. He has spent years helping start-ups and scale-ups across the UK navigate the financial pressures of growth. Romesh was recently interviewed by the Institut By Fiona Scott • 2 min read
Press release The leadership imperative: How leaders “Live it” to shape culture and performance Leading by example isn't just a trope, it makes the connection between strategy and execution. The right leader links goals to reality, and the right people will join them. Teams don’t follow slogans; they mirror behaviour. When a leader issues a vision but fails to embody it, the result is compliance at best. When that same leader demonstrates the values daily, conviction follows. Posters or mission statements don’t create culture; it is absorbed, day by day, by watching how leaders lead. The By Debbie Shaw • 3 min read
Press release The ROI of human connection: How personal interactions outperform The value of human connection has only increased in today's flood of automation, and relationships are what provide ROI. By Debbie Shaw • 3 min read
