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JAMES: "I'VE DONE SOMETHING TO FIRMLY PUT MYSELF OUTSIDE OF MY COMFORT ZONE . . ."

After nearly 9 years it’s a wrap.  I know!  It definitely feels like end of an era. I launched Visual Punch back in 2013 not long after getting a first-class degree in Film and TV production.  I quickly discovered that it was extremely difficult to get a role within the sector - it was the old adage of companies wanting experienced people for entry-level roles but there was no way of getting it.  However, I didn’t want that to stop me from doing what I wanted to do so I d...

PETER THOMAS - CONSETT TOWN CENTRE QUESTIONNAIRE - RECLAIMING CONSETT

As part of an Eco project with young people from Consett, we are asking people of all ages to complete this online questionnaire.  It is about how people feel about Consett and how they feel it could be improved. Once you have completed it, can you please share it (https://forms.office.com/r/sjTAj9kzFc). The more responses we have the better! Thank you!Peter...

HAPPY BUSINESS BIRTHDAY TO MOIRA BARNES SALES CONSULTANCY

September 28th marked my first business birthday! In those three years, I have worked with several DBNers including James Ibbitson of Visual Punch, Melanie Cant of Elm Marketing Solutions and of course with the DBN team, delivering sales training workshops in-person and online to all the wonderful members. My 3 top tips if you are starting out in business… Networking - find a friendly bunch who will look after you (like DBN). Don’t worry about selling yourself at these events to start w...

THIS AUTUMN, DISCOVER THE LAND OF OAK AND IRON AND THE HERITAGE AND NATURE OF THE DERWENT VALLEY

The Heritage Centre is situated in the beautiful lower Derwent Valley in Winlaton Mill, and hosts a range of events and activities, along with our lovely little café and shop.Upcoming events include guided bird and nature walks, creative workshops, art exhibitions, local artist and maker events, music and pizza evenings, book launches and evening talks.Join one of our events for our climate awareness week in October, try a social morning with Woolly Wednesdays and Board Game Tuesdays.Starting i...

GED NAUGHTON - CONSETT THE WORLD!

A Consett project that uses soccer to bring people from different continents together is appealing for football gear to send to Africa. Ged Naughton from Consett is asking people to collect second-hand boots, strips and other kit to send to four teams in Liberia, West Africa.  Ged has been connected with Liberia for more than 25 years and for three years has organised the Christmas Dribble - a sponsored walk in December kicking a football 15 miles to raise money to cover transport...

EXCITING NEWS FROM DURHAM COFFEE!

Our brand-new roaster, after a long journey, has arrived and we are finally open to the public.  Our Roastery Opening Times are: Wednesdays 10am - 1pmThursdays 10am - 1pm The Roastery is located at: Industrial Estate, Unit 8, AMR Building Sacriston, Plawsworth Road, Sacriston, County Durham DH7 6JX. As well as all of our coffees, gift box, soaps etc. you will soon also be able to purchase some brewing equipment from our online store (or at the roastery), such as the Hario V60 Dripper S...

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT - THE SENSORY ROOM PROJECT IS COMPLETED

After the huge challenges of Covid, we are delighted to say that our Sensory Room programme with the young people Learning for Life & Consett Academy has been successfully completed!The film of the project can be seen below and we have added the DBN logo to the closing credits & tagged you in to social media where possible.Many thanks for your support - it is going to make a real difference to some of the most vulnerable in our community.Peter Thomas...

GREAT TO BE BACK AT EMCON 2021

The atmosphere at EMCON Engineering & Manufacturing Show 2021 felt like a reunion party as everyone enjoyed the novelty of being back out connecting with each other in-person again. Owen Weightman of 3D Virtual Spaces had a stand in the ‘incubator’ zone and collaborated with Ann English of Create Intrigue on the design and visual marketing.  This time-lapse video shows how the ideas were transformed into reality. There is support available for Durham businesses to exhibit at EMCON next ...

RUTH AT JACWICKS DESIGNS

Happy Business Birthday to Jacwicks Designs In September Jacwicks Designs celebrated its 3rd Birthday!  As you can imagine the past year has been a rollercoaster but we made it through.  I’d like to say a huge THANK YOU! to all customers and supporters over the years, I couldn’t have done it without you. Looking forward to the coming year, there will be some exciting new product launches and the revival of Shows, Fairs and events across the UK. I am very excited to be launching som...

RUTH AT LAND OF OAK & IRON - MEET THE MAKER

DATE & TIME: Saturday, 16th October - 10:00-16:00VENUE: Land of Oak & Iron Heritage Centre, Spa Well Road, Winlaton Mill, Blaydon upon Tyne, NE21 6RU.Land of Oak & Iron are excited to host the next of our regular ‘Meet the Maker‘ events at the Heritage Centre in Winlaton Mill.  Our next Meet the Maker is with Ruth Jacobs.  Ruth is the founder of Jacwicks Designs and designer of the Perch range of waterproof sit-mats and picnic rugs.The Pocket...

LAND OF OAK AND IRON - MEET THE MAKER WITH JOANNE ROWLAND

DATE & TIME: Saturday, 2nd October - 10:00-16:00 VENUE:  Land of Oak & Iron Heritage Centre, Spa Well Road, Winlaton Mill, Blaydon upon Tyne, NE21 6RU. Land of Oak & Iron are excited to host the next of our regular ‘Meet the Maker‘ events at the Heritage Centre in Winlaton Mill.  Our next Meet the Maker is with Joanne Rowland. Joanne is a professional wildlife and pet portrait artist, based in County Durham, in the North East of England. ...

Storage Needed

The local councillor for Blackhill is looking for free temporary storage for a toy appeal she is running. If anyone can help please DM us. ...

ILLUMINATIONS NETWORKING BY LUMO

DATE & TIME: Wednesday, 29th September - 15:00 VENUE: The Willow Suite, The Greenhouse, Amos Drive, Greencroft Industrial Park, Annfield Plain, Stanley, DH9 7XN Booking is still open for this event and there are a number of places available. To register your interest or to find out more call Louise Mcvittie on 01207 460 616 or email louise.mcvittie@lumo.tax. We can finally put the Zoom calls in the back pocket and enjoy the energy & excitement of a live networking event! Lumo Tax are proud ...

GED NAUGHTON – CONSETT THE WORLD

A Consett project that uses soccer to bring people from different continents together is appealing for football gear to send to Africa.  Ged Naughton from Consett is asking people to collect second-hand boots, strips and other kit to send to four teams in Liberia, West Africa.  Ged has been connected with Liberia for more than 25 years and for three years has organised the Christmas Dribble - a sponsored walk in December kicking a football 15 miles to raise money to cover tra...

FREE Fire Safety Live Event

The Fire Safety Team at Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service is running a free live event aimed at those who have a responsibility to ensure fire safety management (local businesses, community centre reps etc). It will be held on a Teams “Dial in” on Thursday, 16th September 2021 between 14:00 and 16:00. To attend this live event contact josmith@ddfire.gov.uk....

Tackling the Social Care problem - tax impacts for SME owners

Yesterday, the Government announced increases in National Insurance Contributions for employees, employers and the self-employed and an increase in the rates at which dividend income will be taxed from April 2022.  All three will increase by 1.25 percentage points from that date and from April 2023 employee’s payslips will see the NIC elements transformed into something called the “Health and Social Care Levy”.There is an awful lot of politicking to be done before these changes come i...

NBSL Bitesize Business Training Courses are back!

NBSL are hosting a series of shot, snappy, bitesize business sessions to feed your business brain! Designed to help you build your confidence in business whether dealing with customers or trying to keep track of time. With customers, costs and confidence being some of the most important factors in today’s business landscape, our latest County Durham programme has been designed to give you the confidence and courage to move your business forward. These sessions are available online and are held...

LAND OF OAK & IRON - MEET THE MAKER - PHIL BENTON

DATE & TIME: Saturday, 21st August - 10:00-16:00 LOCATION: Land of Oak & Iron Heritage Centre, Spa Well Road, Winlaton Mill, Blaydon upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, NE21 6RU Land of Oak & Iron are excited to host the next of our regular ‘Meet the Maker‘ events at the Heritage Centre in Winlaton Mill.  Our next Meet the Maker is with local photographer Phil Benton. Phil is a north east photographer who creates very different and beautiful photographic images. L...

Isabella's Indian Tapas Night

Isabella's Coffee Shop in Shotley Bridge is hosting an Indian Tapas night this month due to the request of their customers.In June and July they hosted a similar evening event with an Italian theme and it was an instant hit! Since then their customers have given them a few ideas around other themed events so they have decided to give them a try - so far they've been a huge success ! This months Indian Tapas nights are on Friday 20th & Saturday 21st August.  For just £17.50 per pe...

Jobs Fair at Derwentside College

Richard Holden MP will be hosting a ‘Jobs, Jobs, Jobs’ Fair on Friday 17th September 2021 between 10am and 3pm at Derwentside College (Front Street, Consett).  This event is aimed at those seeking work, as well as employers who are looking to take on new staff and apprentices from September onwards. Those organisations wishing to promote future employment opportunities are also welcome to attend. The event is free for both attendees and stall holders so if you would like ...

Our first Beamish micro meeting - a huge success!

It was our very first DBN micro meeting at BEAMISH MUSEUM today with DBN members Phil Benton, Peter Jackson, Ann English , Owen Weightman, and Jane Anderson PhDThank you to Matthew Henderson, Retail Development Manager at Beamish for showing us the new Beamish retail stall - all items on this stall are supplied by local small businesses 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻The feedback from members has been fantastic and so we are arranging more dates for the comi...

DBN Member Noriko Art has been working with the BBC!

DBN Member Noriko Matsubara recently announced that she's been working with CBeebies for the BBC. Noriko is an artist and children's author & illustrator and we regularly feature her amazing work in our monthly newsletter.  Her commission with the BBC started back in January 2021 but it only been recently that she's been able to share her great news with us now that CBeebies have launched their new Storytime App.Noriko said, "Yes, I've been working with the BBC! I've been quiet ab...

DBN NEWSLETTERS 2021

DBN Newsletter - 15th January 2021 DBN Newsletter - 26th January 2021 DBN Newsletter - 2nd February 2021 DBN Newsletter - 15th February 2021 DBN Newsletter - 22nd February 2021 DBN Newsletter - 2nd March 2021 DBN Newsletter - 9th March 2021 DBN Newsletter - 26th March 2021 DBN Newsletter - 13th April 2021 DBN Newsletter - 4th May 2021 DBN Newsletter - 2nd June 2021 DBN Newsletter - 1st July 2021 DBN Newsletter - 2nd August 2021 DBN Newsletter - 1st September 2021 DBN Newsletter - 14th October 20...

International Speaker at DBN

We have much to celebrate this month; New member announcements, birthday celebrations, awards, funding updates, breakout room networking and Jason Tiller from Rocketspark is dialing in from NZ to talk to us about how to productise your services! Make sure you book your place: https://bit.ly/3iHn7iR PS: If you have a special announcement you'd like to share at our July meeting, please email us at connect@dobusinessnetwork.com See you all soon! Mel, David & Gary...

CE MARK, 6 MONTH COUNTDOWN TO UKCA & UKNI

With only 6 months (until 31st December 2021) to go until it will be mandatory to use the new UKCA marking (UKNI for Ireland) for products that currently require CE Marking, new guidance has been produced by UK Government.  Please see detailed step by step guidance and one page guides for both UKCA and UKNI as well as a FAQ document. Work is currently being done to translate guidance into other languages so that businesses can make their overseas clients aware of the changes, as there is cu...