Midlands growth partner Champions (UK) plc have announced their latest business summit for November in Birmingham.

Following successful entrepreneurial events in London, the organisation have decided to host their next summit at Squire Patton Boggs in the city centre on Wednesday 20th November.

The Champions’ Entrepreneur Investment/Exit Summit will look to help business leaders and decision makers successfully navigate securing investment and organisational exits. Speakers will also be discussing the power and opportunity of AI and automation in order to deliver improved multiple.

Across the summit, speakers will include former Dragons’ Den investor and AI expert Piers Linney, former Olympian Derek Redmond, strategic advisor and business owner Emma Tolhurst, and global EDI advocate Jamie McAnsh, opened by Champions’ Managing Director Matthew Hayes.

The itinerary involves talks surrounding ‘growth to exit’, ‘high performance leadership’, ‘the importance of people in delivering capital value’, ‘overcoming adversity to reach your goals’ and ‘the power of AI’.

Speaking ahead of the event, Matthew Hayes commented: “I’m incredibly excited for our upcoming Entrepreneur Investment Summit, especially after the success of our previous events that have offered the expertise to help business owners thrive.

“This event’s focus on finding investments and capitalising on the potential of AI will provide entrepreneurs with the tools and insights they need to grow in today’s fast-paced market. We’re dedicated to helping businesses connect with the right investors and seize emerging opportunities in the tech landscape.

“A big thank you to the team Squire Patton Boggs for hosting this event and supporting our mission.”

The event will begin at 2pm with speakers continuing until 6pm, which will be followed by complimentary drinks and networking opportunities.

To register your interest in the free event, visit https://championsukplc.com/page/rsvp-summit-event

Knutsford-based national same day courier Speedy Freight has invested £2million in the launch of new fulfilment service Speedy Fulfil.

A complete fulfilment service offering flexible and tailored inventory and supply chain management for businesses of all sizes, Speedy Fulfil supports startups wishing to scale their operations quickly to more established retailers seeking to outsource or improve their current fulfilment process.

Powered by Speedy Freight’s self-developed in-house technology, the service allows customers to integrate their own webstores, including order data from multiple platforms such as Shopify and WooCommerce, into a central portal where orders are then picked, packed, labelled and despatched by Speedy Fulfil through leading carrier pathways such as Amazon, DPD, DHL, DX and Tuffnells.

Delivering cost and time efficiencies for businesses, Speedy Fulfil tailors solutions to meet individual needs, from small goods to consignments of irregular dimensions and weights, and provides comprehensive stock control and real-time status updates throughout the entire delivery process.

Chief operating officer at Speedy Freight, John Munnelly, commented: “We are delighted to announce the launch of Speedy Fulfil, a new service that allows us to help businesses effectively manage their ecommerce supply chain. Our revolutionary tech platform takes full care of logistics, offering a choice of multiple domestic and international carriers, and gives customers total visibility of their stock and delivery tracking, with the benefit of one relationship and one invoice for consistency and continuity.

“What sets Speedy apart is our commitment to service, having real people in place to understand our clients’ needs and be there to onboard and support throughout.  Speedy Fulfil has been extremely well received so far, and we’d urge any new or established businesses to get in touch to discuss their fulfilment needs with us, especially as we move into one of the busiest times of year for many.”

The introduction of Speedy Fulfil follows the recent successful launch of Speedy Parcels; a multi-carrier parcel solution that leverages an extensive partnership network to provide cost-effective, reliable, and flexible 24 and 48-hour parcel delivery services across the UK and internationally.

For further information, please visit www.speedyfreight.com or www.speedyfreight.com/fulfil/

About Speedy Freight

Founded in 2006, Speedy Freight was born from a desire to make logistics solutions simple. Over the last 18 years, the company has grown from a single regional office in 2009 to more than 60 branches covering every postcode in the UK and continues to expand with a presence in Spain and the USA.

At present, Speedy Freight has more than 15,000 customers across the UK, mainland Europe and the USA, with major contracts in multiple different industries.

Speedy Freight’s recent awards include BFA Franchisor of the Year (finalist), Highly Commended in the Bifa awards for Training, Road Freight Operator of the Year at the 2021 Multimodal awards and most recently shortlisted for the Customer Service award at the 2024 Motor Transport awards and Supply Chain Excellence Awards. What’s more, the brand boasts a 5-star rating on Trustpilot.

Real estate has long been seen as a reliable way to build wealth, but high barriers to entry have kept many potential investors from participating. Tokenized property is about to change that, allowing anyone to own a piece of real estate by buying digital tokens representing fractional ownership. Project Nexus is leading the way in this space, making it easy for users to invest in tokenized real estate directly through its app.

The Project Nexus platform allows users to buy, sell, and trade tokenized real estate, stocks, and cryptocurrencies, all within a single app. By using blockchain technology, Project Nexus democratizes access to the real estate market. Instead of needing large amounts of capital to buy a property outright, users can purchase real estate tokens for as little as $5, gaining fractional ownership of high-value assets.

How It Works

Investing in tokenized property on the Project Nexus app is straightforward and user-friendly, making it an excellent option for beginners. Here’s how it works:

1. Fractional Ownership: Users can invest in a wide range of global properties by purchasing tokens. These tokens represent shares of the property, allowing investors to own a fraction of real estate without the high costs typically associated with it.

2. Earning Opportunities: Token holders can earn rental income, benefit from capital appreciation, and even use their tokens as collateral for loans. This unlocks multiple ways to grow wealth without the complexity and time commitments of traditional real estate investing.

3. Collateral and Loans: One unique feature of Project Nexus is the ability to use your real estate tokens as collateral to secure a loan. This means you don’t have to sell your assets in times of need—simply borrow against your holdings.

4. Diversified Portfolios: If you’re not sure where to start, the platform also offers pre-built portfolios that include a mix of real estate, crypto, and stock derivatives. This allows investors to diversify their holdings with minimal effort and without needing deep knowledge of each asset class.

Beginner-Friendly Features

The app is designed to be user-friendly for beginners while offering advanced tools for more experienced investors. Whether you’re interested in long-term property investments, generating passive income, or building a diversified portfolio, the Project Nexus app simplifies the process. One KYC (Know Your Customer) verification gives you access to all markets within the app, meaning you can explore property, stocks, and crypto without needing to navigate multiple platforms.

Join the Movement

According to recent market data, real estate has a global market cap of $325 trillion, and thanks to tokenization, this massive market is now open to investors of all sizes. Project Nexus is at the forefront of this shift by offering a one-stop shop for investors to trade tokenized real estate, stocks, and crypto all within one platform. The app is designed to be simple enough for beginners while providing advanced tools for experienced traders. Project Nexus bridges traditional and decentralized finance, making investing more accessible than ever. To get in early and support the project, join the Telegram group here.

Globalized business means dealing in foreign currencies, and exposure to fluctuating exchange rates that can cripple profit margins. Large financial institutions hedge this forex risk with automated algorithmic trading strategies executed by intelligent bots. Now, this powerful technology is also within reach for small and medium enterprises aiming to maximize profits.

Forex bots enable continuous hands-free trading, faster reaction times, and more advanced strategies than humans can replicate manually. While bots can seem intimidating at first, a prudent and selective approach unlocks formidable advantages for business investors savvy enough to harness them.

Surviving Volatile Currencies

With global business comes global currency risk. Fluctuating exchange rates affect competitiveness, supply costs, profit repatriation, and overall stability. Mitigating this starts with accepting continual manual oversight is unrealistic.

The Need for Speed

Volatile forex markets require split-second responsiveness no human can match. Bots, however, can execute trades in milliseconds when programmed conditions are met. This high-frequency automated forex trading captures fleeting opportunities impossible to grasp manually.

Ever-Vigilant Oversight

Rather than relying on staff to continually monitor markets across time zones, bots trade around the clock. Consistent execution minimizes volatility’s impact, as bots stick to defined strategies without distraction or exhaustion.

Pattern Recognition from Big Data

By continuously analyzing historical and live market data, trading algorithms detect and exploit patterns human analysts likely miss. This empowers superior forecasting and intelligent entry/exit timing.

Unleashing Next-Level Strategies

With superhuman speed and analytical capabilities, bots enable next-level trading strategies off-limits to manual traders. Sophisticated algorithms combine technical, fundamental, quantitative, and news data into dynamic decision-making.

Optimal Order Execution

Bots minimize trading costs by splitting large orders into small chunks executed incrementally to avoid signaling intentions and impacting price. More trades at better pricing fuels profitability.

Event-Driven Investing

By linking real-time news monitoring with trading execution, bots act rapidly on market-moving events before human traders even process the information. This news-based trading capitalizes on big geopolitical and economic developments.

Portfolio Protection

Bots enforce preprogrammed risk limits on individual trades and overall portfolio exposure. Once market conditions hit risk thresholds, bots automatically execute hedging strategies to protect assets.

Are Bots Right for Your Business?

While bots clearly enable strategies otherwise unfeasible for SME investors, they aren’t necessarily a good fit for every company. Before jumping in, consider a few key factors:

• Assess internal trading expertise. Bots amplify human insight—they don’t replace it. Understand market fundamentals and risks before deploying bots.
• Start with limited bots trialing specific strategies. Closely monitor performance and risk management. Scale bot usage only after gaining confidence.
• Research providers thoroughly. Bot quality depends entirely on programming. Scrutinize track records and transparency.

Used judiciously, forex trading bots offer incredible opportunities to amplify profits and better manage currency risk amidst global expansion. But a measured approach based on realistic expectations remains prudent as automation accelerates into the future.

Conclusion

The blistering pace of technological change often leaves businesses uneasy about adopting new innovations too quickly. Yet as artificial intelligence and automated trading reshape global finance, the prudent path forward has become embracing change courageously rather than resisting progress reflexively.

With forex risk management now a competitive imperative, small and medium enterprises can ill afford to ignore algorithmic trading’s advantages out of caution or complacency. By judiciously implementing forex bots to maximize profits while minimizing risk, forward-thinking business leaders can secure a competitive edge for the volatile currencies and dynamic markets ahead.

Competition entry form will close at 5pm on 30th August

*T&Cs apply

 Thousands of employees dream of quitting their 9-5 and starting a business of their own. With this in mind, garage door specialists Garolla has launched a new competition for aspiring business owners to kickstart or accelerate their dream venture.

For existing business owners working from home, it can also be a great way to free up the rest of your house by making more use of your garage space. Plus, many of the most successful businesses started out from a humble garage (including Apple, Google, and The Walt Disney Co., to name a few).

One lucky winner will win a garage fit out worth up to £5,000, plus a brand new Garolla garage door, to help their business idea become a reality, or grow an existing small business. The prize will also consist of furnishings to transform the garage into a usable business work space (e.g. storage, office equipment, lighting, heating, flooring, specialist equipment, etc), depending on which is most suitable for the winner’s business.

To win, budding business owners need to fill in a short entry form, including a top-level description of their business (including desired fit-out ideas), and upload a photo of their current garage set-up for consideration. The competition is open to prospective business owners, as well as existing small business owners with an at-home set up. To enter, visit: www.garolla.co.uk/win-home-business-fitout

Once the competition has closed, a shortlist of entries will be contacted to discuss their idea in further detail and to gather any additional eligibility information. On review of this additional information from the shortlisted entries, one final winner will be chosen via a random draw and announced.

Alastair Mayne, COO at Garolla commented: “We’re so excited to hear about the UK’s passions and entrepreneurial dreams. Whether you want to set up your own fitness or wellbeing business, hair and beauty salon, or even an ecommerce business (such as handmade crafts, like woodworking, fashion and accessories, jewellery, home décor, or personalised items) – there are no restrictions on the type of business that can enter our competition, providing it can be done from a properly fitted-out garage space on your property.

“Proper security measures are key to protect your new livelihood, and one key aspect to consider is your garage door. However, not all garage doors are made equal… Unless properly reinforced, older garage doors with an ‘up and over’ mechanism can be forced open, making these garages more vulnerable against intruders and the contents susceptible to burglary. These older doors can also let in draughts, aren’t watertight, and take up lots of valuable space, which can all impact the running of your business.

“As part of the prize, the winner will receive a new Garolla garage door (including installation) – Garolla’s electric roller garage doors are made from double-skinned aluminium and insulated with high-density polyurethane for added strength, as well as secure guide rails, auto locks (which ensure the door cannot be lifted manually), and anti-clone remote control technology. Our SafeGuard Plus system also features ‘KeeLoq’ – a rolling code technology to prevent remote control fob cloning by criminals”.

The competition opened at 09:00 (9am) on Tuesday 16th July 2024, and is open for over 6 weeks, with the entry form closing at 17:00 (5pm) on Friday 30th August 2024.

*Full competition terms and conditions can be found here: www.garolla.co.uk/terms-conditions

The managing-director of fashion giant Whispering Smith says the company’s move to a new Manchester headquarters is evidence of the business staying true to its roots.

Rohil Kumar said Whispering Smith, the UK’s largest importer, wholesaler and distributor of fashion clothing, is planning to write a new chapter in its legacy, and wants to expand their team at its new head office on 274 Deansgate.

Already a worldwide leader in design, production and delivery, the firm is a third generation global business which supplies top retail and ecommerce names.

Whispering Smith also has its own portfolio of brands, including Brave Soul, Good for Nothing and Night Addict. But having outgrown its original HQ on Great Ducie Street, the business is now trading from the heart of Manchester City Centre in a new five-storey, 23,688 sq ft Deansgate base which it acquired for £6.35 million.

Commenting on the move, Mr Kumar said: “After occupying our previous premises for almost 30 years, we realised that in order to keep up with Manchester’s ever-changing landscape, we needed to relocate to the heart of the city.  Our relocation is a testament to our commitment to Manchester’s growth, and our investment reflects this promise.

“This site offers many benefits, not least superb transport links for the buyers we work with couple with the buzz of a city-centre life which will help add to the vibrancy behind our brands.

“But, most importantly, we are now in the heart of Manchester, which remains at the centre of England’s textile industry, and which has played a vital role in the industrial revolution. With its strong foundations, we believe Manchester remains the epicentre of the UK fashion industry. And, crucially, Manchester is where our family’s legacy began and it’s why this great city will continue to be the base of our global operations.”

Currently employing about 70 members of staff, Mr Kumar confirmed Whispering Smith has aspirations of growing even further employees in the next two-to-five years.

“We see opportunities for growth in strategic partnerships for our brands, Mr Kumar said. “We plan to expand the team in HQ in the areas of marketing and branding to support this.

“The industry has undergone significant changes since Brexit and Covid. There have also been many disruptors that have either faded away or are still present. But I believe the market is slowly adjusting itself, and we continue to have a positive outlook for the future.”

Explaining what will be happening at their old site, Mr Kumar said plans were in place for the site to be developed as part of Manchester City Council’s wider scheme for the regeneration in and around the area.