Reviews from brides and grooms have resulted in a North Staffordshire wedding photographer being shortlisted for a prestigious award. Joanna Wilkinson, owner of Toland Photography, is one of just seven finalists in the English Wedding Awards West Midland s photographer of the year competition. The shortlisting came as a major surprise to Joanna, of Wolstanton, who didn’t know she had …

Charity fundraising champion Ada Haywood BEM has enlisted the local business community in an ambitious bid to collect a mile of 20 pence pieces. Ada, of Clayton, who was recognised by the Queen for raising over £1 million for Cancer Research UK has embarked on her latest challenge with the support of BNI networking groups in North Staffordshire. A mile …

Innovative hi-tech telehealth services designed by Staffordshire-based Simple Shared Healthcare are supporting patients’ health from Staffordshire to Australia. Now Let’s Do Mentoring is ensuring the social enterprise behind the successful health applications itself is fighting fit to support patients for years to come. Stoke-on-Trent IT innovator Phil O’Connell has spent years perfecting telehealth services supporting patients with health needs from …

Staff from The Donna Louise Hospice for Children & Young People are carefully taking down the spectacular Taking Flight butterflies installation at Trentham Gardens. But there’s still chances to buy a ceramic butterfly to support the Trentham-based children’s and young people’s hospice with fundraisers appealing to people and companies to buy a butterfly for friends, family members and business customers …

Employers are being urged to react now after a report more than half are unaware of proposed changes to immigration rules that could make it more difficult to source lower-skilled workers after Brexit. A survey of 2,182 employers by the CIPD (the Chartered Institute of Professional Development) found that 58 per cent of businesses had no knowledge of the Government‘s …

A leading Staffordshire expert is reporting high demand for Japanese Knotweed surveys as the invasive plant comes into late Summer bloom. Rising awareness of the destructive properties of Japanese Knotweed has seen Japanese Knotweed Expert Ltd grow its Fenton-based team from three to 10 staff in recent times, with further growth set to take the team up to 15 by …

A fresh approach to branding has made the MC Group’s image sparkle as they expand services and take on new staff. The Cheadle-based MC Group, formerly known as Moorland Contract Cleaning, turned to locally based design, print, marketing company Graphix as they sought a fresh approach to welcome in a new era. Graphix worked closely with MC Group Director Suzanne …

By Emily Jacobs, Director, Richard Jacobs Pensions and Trustee Services. Recent high-profile company collapses, including Thomas Cook and Carillion, have far reaching consequences. In the case of Thomas Cook, much talk has quite rightly been about ensuring holidaymakers are not left stranded overseas. But what about the consequences for workers and retired workers’ pensions? Unfortunately, there is no single easy …

Leading fire door specialists Washington & Riley have launched a unique scheme to help their customers to support the environment – Buy One Get One Tree. The Burslem-based business has teamed up with The National Forest and agreed to one tree to be planted for every fire door fitted. With a national outreach, Washington & Riley are among the largest …

Perks and benefits are becoming ever more important in the workplace in 2019, according to new research by Staffordshire recruitment agency Appointments Personnel. From small gestures such as free tea and coffee, dress down days through to flexible working and the chance to gain extra holiday leave, incentives are becoming ever more important. A massive 92% of employees surveyed told …