Back to Blog

CREATE INTRIGUE WITH ANN ENGLISH

#FREEDAY is a wonderful idea which launched last week, and was started  by Michael Owen.  DBN member Gillian Fortune has since joined in too and it is growing every day. We can all get involved and pledge to offer our time, expertise and wisdom for free to help support other businesses.  Here is what I'm doing . . . Every Friday in April, May and June 2020 I've reserved 3 x 45 minute digital meetings via Zoom or Skype. I can help you with any questions you have around Vi...

VISIT GILLIAN FORTUNE'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

Hello! Welcome to Gillian's YouTube channel where we offer videos that help our viewers to cope with the challenges of everyday life.We aim to educate and entertain - edutain, if you will ;-)In this time of uncertainty, more people are in need of a pandemic pick-me-up and we've got just the thing. Subscribe to our channel to stay 'edutained' while your distancing/isolating.Check out our website for details of our personalised 1-2-1 online support sessions.A pandemic pick-me-u...

RUTH TAKES LOCKDOWN POSITIVE ACTION

With business severely affected by the lockdown and like so many other sewing businesses, I have diverted my sewing skills to helping those on the front line. I have joined the ever-growing team of sewers and machinists via the Northeast England Sewing for the Front Line group on Facebook.Set up by Zoe Worrall and Alison Matthews, the aim of the group is to share patterns and discuss making headbands, scrubs, wash bags and anything else we can sew to help out the NHS and the ...

PAULINE IS LOOKING AFTER OUR HANDS!

Don't forget to look after your hands too!  There's free postage for DBN members.  Just click the image above to visit Pauline's website....

SUZANNE OFFERS FREE SUPPORT TO FRONTLINE HEALTH WORKERS

Suzanne Milbourne has been in touch with a special offer to health workers. "I'll see any NHS frontline worker for one hour free via video link if they are struggling with anything related to coronavirus.  This might include things like their fear or anxiety about becoming ill, they may be experiencing trauma as a result of the work they do or they may be experiencing burn out. They may just want to talk."My work includes, relaxation, mindfulness, hypnotherapy, NLP (neuro linguistic program...

CASHFLOW FORECAST TEMPLATE

Sharron Skeen (Westwood Accountancy) has put together a simple cashflow forecast template.  It’s not designed to be super sophisticated, it’s so people can track their daily cashflow and input where they think they may have payments/receipts in the future so that they can track their cash and see if there are likely to be any issues.Hope you find it useful!Sharron is also happy to help answer any questions, if she can, regarding the various claims which are going round at the moment.&nb...

ADAPTABILITY IS THE KEY TO BUSINESS AS USUAL

It's business as usual at Brenda Beveridge Wills & Trusts Ltd and during recent weeks my working practices have changed enormously.  I’ve had to be very creative to ensure Wills and other documents are signed appropriately, are valid, while still observing social distancing. This has included holding all meetings online which has been very interesting for some of my more elderly clients and it’s opened up a whole new online world for them, which many are keen to embrace.I...

NATHALIE PARIS & LEARNING FRENCH

Nathalie Paris, from Nattalingo, has quite a sad announcement to make: in February, after 5 joyous years, she had to say “au revoir” to her amazing languages mobile library bus. It was a difficult decision to make, but it had lost her a lot of money in 2019… Imagine, in the current situation, if she had kept it and it was just sitting there losing some more! The good news is that she had been getting more and more work supporting the teaching of French in primary schools with regular ...

NORIKO STARTS 'LOCKDOWN CARTOON'

Noriko Matsubara of NorikoArt has just started her new art project ‘Lockdown Cartoon.’  Inspired by her conversation with Ann English during the #FREEDAY session, Noriko decided to take action.To record what’s like to be in the lockdown home with young children, she is drawing cartoons about her everyday family life.  “The children are with me at home 24/7.  It can be challenging but it gives me the opportunity to conn...

BOWE DIGITAL: HOW SAFE IS YOUR BUSINESS?

During these challenging times one of the things for businesses to think about, apart from your’s and your family’s heath is how safe is your business.Already increasing in startling numbers, cyber attacks continue to be a daily occurrence.  Unfortunately the hackers are using the current situation to their advantage.Bowe Digital have uploaded some free tips to help keep your business safe....

FURLOUGH EXPLAINED BY HELEN McDOUGALL

Until recently I had not heard of the word but of course we are all now fairly well conversant with it.  The term refers to the laying off of staff in accordance with the Governments Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which is a grant for wages that is available to employers for the period of 1st March to 30th June 2020.  Companies can claim for furloughed employees who were on the PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020 and which were notified to HMRC on an RTI submission on or before ...

JOANNE HAS SOME CANNY CROSS STITCH IDEAS

Joanne Rowland Art has taken a little different turn since the Covid 19 outbreak, of course we're still ploughing on with commission work that was previously booked in, but our website pretty much closed due to printing partner closures, etc. We're all facing a different lifestyle at the moment in one way or another, and lots of us are finding time on our hands we don't normally have.  So, I started creating Cross Stitch Charts from my drawings and paintings!  We've named thi...

"FAMILIES NEED TO STICK TOGETHER" AND "LEAN ON ANYONE IF IT HELPS YOU" - BOTH BY OUR INCREDIBLY TALENTED PHOTOGRAPHER PHIL BENTON

...

WORKING FROM HOME - GOOD, BAD OR JUST DIFFERENT?

Dr Jane Anderson contacted us the other day about an article she posted on her blog about working from home and it really struck a chord. Many of us are used to working from home but the current situation is different somehow and even with more time available to catch up on all those outstanding tasks, many of us aren't feeling as productive as we think we should be…Quite a few DBN members have been in touch about working from home. While it might seem to be an ideal time to do ...

CENTURION COMPUTERS - HELP! WE ARE HERE TO HELP

Centurion Computers are available to support you when working from home. Remote Support / Telephone Support and Product Purchasing. Always available to help: our Technical and Sales Team will be available on our normal Telephone Number to assist you with any queries, from IT Support to replacement devices. For more introduction or to speak to our head office, an advisor will be available to assist you. Telephone: 01434 604 800; Email: tech@centurioncomputers.co.uk Home & Business: ...

CONGRATULATIONS TO TONY LIDDELL!

...

WELL DONE SAM!

What do you do to fill your days when you are a furloughed tennis coach, used to being on court every day and evening?  The answer for one Co. Durham coach was easy, put your 3D printer to use, when not making tennis racquet parts, why not have a go at making face masks for front line workers in care homes and surgeries who are struggling to get hold of personal protective equipment. Sam Stokoe, who is employed by Durham Community Tennis heard of the problems currently being experience...

FINALLY . . .

One of our local councils has been complaining about the increase in fly tipping which has gone up a huge amount in the countryside recently while the tips are closed.  We did report some of it to the guys at county to see if they’d remove it but it’s not on public land so we need to find who owns it (and the tips are closed).  However, he did say after looking through it that it’s mostly cannabis farming waste . . .Monica...

AND FINALLY . . . THE OVERNIGHT BREAD THAT WASN'T

So the plan was to let the dough rise very, very slowly overnight in a cool room and it would be ready to be baked in the morning.  Just like those YouTube videos... A quick check just before bed and the dough had gone completely crazy and was about to overflow all over the place.  And so the bread went into the oven at midnight and then no-one was going to bed until it was "quality checked" with some butter at 1:30am . . .  Today a 16 kg bag of bread flour has arrived . . .John @...

LAND OF OAK & IRON

Did you know that the Derwent Valley once played in building wooden sailing ships, in particular, the supply of oak and ironware to the shipbuilding ports on the south coast of England and particularly Greenwich on the Thames. It is more than likely oak was provided from Chopwell Wood, as in the case of HMS Sovereign of the Seas, built for Charles I (1625 – 1649) launched in 1637.You can read more about this here on the Land of Oak and Iron Website....

Is Virtual Networking Any Good?

We've had to quickly adapt to different ways of doing business. The feedback from our virtual meetings has been really positive and several of our members have had business enquiries and leads following the meetings. So please don’t just assume that people have stopped buying at present. Let's remind ourselves why we network... 1. To make business contacts2. Build relationships3. Learn something new such as "how to..."4. Share news and information5. Reduce isolation and build communi...

WHAT HELP DOES YOUR BUSINESS NEED RIGHT NOW? PLEASE LET US KNOW.

Businesses need lots of help and support at this difficult time. We're working with other networks and organisations to co-ordinate packages of vital support for our businesses. This week, we'll be speaking with MPs and local authorities about urgent help for our business communities. We want to ensure that it is effective and properly co-ordinated. It's really important that we understand what support will be the most useful to your business at present. For example: Rent / rates relief, help to...

TRAVEL & COVID-19

From Hays Travel for Business . . . We are using the attached images across our social media channels which we would be delighted if anyone can share. As this is a time of uncertainty not only for the travel industry but on a global scale for many, many companies. Airlines are following FCO advice and cancelling flights for the foreseeable. With this in mind, Hays Travel and Hays Travel for Business are encouraging all holidaymakers and business travel clients to amend their bookings f...

HOW DBN WILL SUPPORT YOUR BUSINESS.

We're very concerned about the impact of the pandemic on our small business community and we want to do everything possible to support our members at this difficult time. We met up with some of our members this morning and agreed to take the following positive actions. From today, we will extend the membership period of all our current members by two months. We are doing this to give extra support to our local business community when they need it most. This means you will get two additional mont...

March DBN Meeting Postponed

Hello! As you know the situation has changed significantly since we contacted everyone earlier this morning. Clearly we can't run a DBN meeting in the light of the recent Government advice so we are postponing the meeting on Tuesday 17th March. We're very sorry about this but our priority must be to protect people and try to prevent the virus from spreading. People have still been booking to attend as late as 9pm this evening but we simply cannot run the risk of holding the event. We (the DBN Te...