#business card printing shop birmingham

[keiraconnery]

Why Flyer Printers in Birmingham Offer More Personalized Service Than Big Chains

In the competitive world of print media, businesses often find themselves at a crossroads when selecting a printing service. While large chains promise efficiency and lower prices, the flyer printers in Birmingham provide a unique advantage through personalized service. Choosing a local printer can significantly enhance a company's marketing efforts, presenting a more tailored experience that resonates with their target audience. This article explores the various factors that contribute to the superior service provided by local flyer printers, emphasizing the importance of personalized attention in today’s fast-paced market.

Local Knowledge and Community Engagement

One of the most significant benefits of opting for local flyer printers in Birmingham is their intrinsic understanding of the local market. These printers are often deeply rooted in the community, allowing them to grasp the nuances of local culture, preferences, and trends. They are familiar with the local demographics and can create designs that speak directly to the audience, making a more substantial impact.

For instance, a local printer can provide insights into popular colors, themes, and messaging styles that resonate with Birmingham residents. This knowledge translates into more effective marketing materials, as local printers can advise businesses on how to craft their flyers to align with community values and interests. In contrast, big chains may lack this intimate knowledge, relying on generic templates that fail to connect with potential customers on a personal level.

Flexibility and Quick Turnaround Times

Another compelling reason to choose flyer printers in Birmingham is their flexibility. Local printers are often more agile in responding to clients' needs. Whether it’s a last-minute order or a request for a specific type of paper, local printers can accommodate changes more swiftly than large corporations that may have rigid processes in place. This adaptability is essential in the fast-evolving world of business, where marketing campaigns can change overnight.

Moreover, the quick turnaround times offered by local printers can be a game-changer for businesses. A small business in Birmingham may find itself in need of flyers for an upcoming event, and a local printer can often provide those materials in a matter of days. This immediacy fosters a sense of reliability and partnership, reinforcing the bond between the printer and the business. In contrast, big chains may have extended timelines due to their extensive order processing systems, which can hinder a business's ability to respond to market demands quickly.

Personalized Customer Service

When working with flyer printers in Birmingham, businesses benefit from a level of customer service that is often absent in larger establishments. Local printers pride themselves on building relationships with their clients. This personal touch means that businesses are not just another order number; they receive individualized attention throughout the printing process.

From the initial consultation to the final product delivery, local printers engage with their clients, offering guidance and recommendations tailored to their specific needs. This hands-on approach fosters open communication, allowing businesses to express their vision and collaborate more effectively with the printer. In contrast, larger chains may struggle to provide such personalized service due to their high volume of orders and less direct customer interaction.

Quality and Attention to Detail

Quality is paramount when it comes to marketing materials, and local flyer printers in Birmingham often excel in this area. They take pride in their craftsmanship, ensuring that each flyer meets high standards before it reaches the client. Local printers typically have a keen eye for detail, spending time ensuring that colors are vibrant, text is legible, and overall design aligns with the client's branding.

Furthermore, many local printers employ advanced printing technologies and techniques that may not be readily available to larger chains. This commitment to quality not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of the flyers but also reinforces the brand image of the businesses they serve. Clients can trust that their marketing materials will reflect the professionalism and quality they wish to convey, setting them apart from competitors who may rely on less meticulous production methods.

Building Lasting Relationships

The relationship between a business and its printer is crucial for long-term success. Flyer printers in Birmingham prioritize building lasting partnerships with their clients. By understanding their clients’ evolving needs, local printers can offer ongoing support, ensuring that businesses can rely on them for future projects. This continuity allows businesses to maintain a consistent brand voice across various marketing materials, which is essential for brand recognition and loyalty.

In contrast, larger chains may not invest the same effort in developing relationships. When a business works with a big chain, they may find themselves starting from scratch with each new order, which can lead to inconsistencies and miscommunications. The personalized service of local printers fosters trust and collaboration, enabling businesses to focus on their core operations while feeling confident that their marketing needs are in capable hands.

Conclusion: Choosing Colprint for Your Printing Needs

In a world where personalization is becoming increasingly important, the advantages of choosing flyer printers in Birmingham are clear. Their local knowledge, flexibility, personalized customer service, commitment to quality, and focus on building relationships create a powerful combination that sets them apart from larger chains. Businesses looking to elevate their marketing efforts should consider the unique benefits offered by local printers. Colprint exemplifies this personalized approach, providing tailored solutions that meet the distinct needs of each client. By choosing Colprint, businesses can ensure that their flyers not only capture attention but also resonate deeply with their audience, ultimately driving success in their marketing campaigns.

[hydreams]

To be hunted.

As a conscious African American man, it would be impossible and would not be of my character if I did not express how I feel about the realities that I have always lived with and the ones that have for the first time become a reality for the world. 

  I have like many others felt the call to go represent us on the front lines.

 I have done so and I will again. 

Though, the need or urgency to post these photos evade me. 

Even looking at them at this point, is difficult.  

How can you process history fully, while you're still living through it?

So I refrained. 

Sometimes silence can be deafening. 

Sometimes the south can be threatening.

The stillness of my surroundings, compounded by the weight of the nation unveiled the reality that even with the world fighting for change for people who like us.....here in Alabama.

We didn't seem to care.  

We have accepted our standard of living so long ago, that the idea of a world or at minimum a state where we aren't followed, harassed or in fear of our lives every moment that we step outside of our neighborhood is one that most can not comprehend. 

Until recently, neither could I.

My dad was the same age that I am now, twenty-eight during the 92 riots. Escaping the south with a degree that in his eyes meant nothing more than a piece of paper that gave him acceptance into a world that was designed to keep him out. I come from a long line of educators, it has been one of the primary pillars of the southern family. My grandmother always preached and instilled in us the importance of a college degree. Her mother was a teacher and her grandmother’s mother was a slave; in the 1950’s the only way out of Evergreen, Alabama was school. In her eyes, the fewer cards stacked against you the better, and the only way for a black man or woman to get any place of status in this country was through education. Life in the south for us is different. 

Separate but equal. Racism has always been the most evident below the Mason Dixon line. In most cities in the south, you have the black side and white side of town. The black side of town always being the most run-down and decrepit.  The standard of living in the inner cities is more vividly desolate in the south I feel. “Things don’t get rebuilt here, they crumble and die.”….. I was surprised to see nice homes, and backyards when moving to South Central in 2012; no abandoned homes, very few vacant lots, crackheads only came out at night.  “L.A. has some of the nicest but dangerous neighborhoods in the world.” I think the only difference is that you don’t have to walk out your door every day and see the poverty so vividly.

A black man in the south without a degree is a “strong back”. You either play football, sell drugs, college, or the state docks. Our worldview doesn’t exist much more than our 8-10 blocks and what is portrayed to us on the television.  So my grandmother made it a point to educate all of us and push most of us across the stage. I hate to use this terminology but, below the Mason Dixon line..mentally a lot of us down here are still enslaved. 

The generation before us lived with the belief that if we educate and work hard enough we can have a piece of the "American Dream".  Maybe for some, but for most, we are for a better word "fucked" from birth. The average household income in Prichard, Alabama for a family of 3 is 25,100 a year according to the most recent census. The minimum wage currently in the state of Alabama is $7.25. Let that sink in. Now explain to me how a family supposed to see any way out of this environment other than education or sports down here. 

1981, was the year my dad graduated high school and was also the year of the last recorded lynching in America. Michael Donald, in my hometown of Mobile, Alabama. My father recounts the day very vividly, with his mother quickly rushing him and his brother home inside the house. He spoke of him and his best friend sitting in the yard for a few hours furious at how a 16-year-old classmate could be beaten and hung so brutally. He knew then that this one no place for him. My dad was 17. I am 28, and there have been four unrecorded lynchings ruled "suicides" within the past two weeks alone. 

 The middle child of five, he was the only one to go to a school outside of Alabama. With the stigma of racism and poverty consistently surrounding him, he always told me coming back was never an option.  A graduate of Dillard University, he and two other high school friends found black conciseness through reggae music and the teachings of Marcus Garvey. By graduation day the three of them had committed to a life outside of “Babylon” and saw no need to return to the outdated ways of southern culture.

They grew their locks, took on African names, changed their diets, and moved to Los Angeles, shortly after graduating. Pops instilled me at an early age, the Garvey teachings of “the man who can’t get work, make work”. Even with college degrees, no one was hiring black men with dreadlocks at the time and my father not being one to quit went into business for themselves, opening “Know thyself Bookstore & Screen printing Shop”  one of if not the first on King Blvd. They watched first hand, the Rodney King tape as it was broadcasted live and gathered together as the verdict came down and the city burned.

To be California born and southern raised is to see two sides of America’s coin. "The only difference between Birmingham and Los Angeles, is the police call you Nigger down here when they beat you up.” - Malcom X. In retrospect I feel my parents chose inadvertently racism over the gang violence that encompassed Los Angeles in the 90s. I’ve grown to operate in both worlds and understand the desperate need for change across the board in our communities. Moving forward my goal is to create content and moments that invoke the change I want to see in the world.

Sincerely,

Tim “Menyelek” Coleman - aka Hydreams.

[loadoutlet812]

Time Clock 1

Time Clock 120v Not Digital

Reset Clock 1

I love Time Clock Wizard! Their service department has impressed me the few times whenever I've needed to contact them - they even incorporated a change in the interface that I had submitted and has also sent a thank you note. Time Clock Wizard is an integral part of my service business. I am really very happy using these services!!

Electronic time clock

A time clock, sometimes known as a clock card machine or punch clock or time recorder, is a device that records start and end times for hourly employees (or those on flexi-time) at a place of business.

Free employee time clock app. Clockify is the most popular free online time clock app for employees. With it, employees can clock-in and clock-out using an online timer. Great for tracking employee attendance, seeing who works on what, and exporting data for payroll or billing. Get Started — It's Free! Available for web, desktop, and mobile.

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In mechanical time clocks, this was accomplished by inserting a heavy paper card, called a time card, into a slot on the time clock. When the time card hit a contact at the rear of the slot, the machine would print day and time information (a timestamp) on the card. One or more time cards could serve as a timesheet or provide the data to fill one. This allowed a timekeeper to have an official record of the hours an employee worked to calculate the pay owed an employee.

The terms Bundy clock, bundy clock, or just bundy(1) have been used in Australian English for time clocks. The term comes from brothers Willard and Harlow Bundy.

History(edit)

Origins(edit)

Early time clock, made by National Time Recorder Co. Ltd. of Blackfriars, London at Wookey Hole Caves museum

Bundy clock

An early and influential time clock, sometimes described as the first, was invented on November 20, 1888, by Willard Le Grand Bundy,(2) a jeweler in Auburn, New York. His patent of 1890(3) speaks of mechanical time recorders for workers in terms that suggest that earlier recorders already existed, but Bundy's had various improvements; for example, each worker had his own key. A year later his brother, Harlow Bundy, organized the Bundy Manufacturing Company,(4)(5) and began mass-producing time clocks.

In 1900, the time recording business of Bundy Manufacturing, along with two other time equipment businesses, was consolidated into the International Time Recording Company (ITR).(6)(7)(8)(9)

In 1911, ITR, Bundy Mfg., and two other companies were amalgamated (via stock acquisition), forming a fifth company, Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), which would later change its name to IBM.(10)

The Bundy clock (see image left) was used by Birmingham City Transport to ensure that bus drivers did not depart from outlying termini before the due time; now preserved at Walsall Arboretum.

Time Clock 120v Not Digital

In 1909, Halbert P. Gillette explained about the state of the art around time clocks in those days:

IBM time clock

Time clocks.—Such an appliance which may not, in general, be used in the field, but which is of immense value in the office and particularly in a shop, is the time clock. Various forms of time clocks are in common use, two types of which are illustrated. (The first) is a time card recorder, which is a clock so made that it will automatically stamp on a card inserted in a slot in the clock by the workman the time of his arrival and of his departure. The cards are made to hold a record covering the pay period and need no attention from a timekeeper or clerk until the termination of this period. Parallels network & wireless cards driver download for windows 10. The record of the men's time can then be compiled very readily by one who need not be a skilled mathematician or time clerk.

The time clock system has been developed very highly in shops for keeping track of time used in completing any job by workmen, but as this in a way is not in the realm of field cost keeping, it will not be entered into here.

Another form of time clock (..) has the numbers of the employees fixed on the outer edge of a disk or ring and a record is made by the employee who shifts a revolving arm and punches his number upon entering the office and leaving. The working up of employees' time then becomes simply a matter of computation from printed figures. These two types are made by the International Time Recording Co. of New York.(11)

An example of this other form of time clock, made by IBM, is pictured. The face shows employee numbers which would be dialed up by employees entering and leaving the factory. The day and time of entry and exit was punched onto cards inside the box.(12)

Mid 20th century(edit)

In 1958, IBM's Time Equipment Division was sold to the Simplex Time Recorder Company. However, in the United Kingdom ITR (a subsidiary of IBM United Kingdom Ltd.) was the subject of a management buy-out in 1963 and reverted to International Time Recorders. In 1982, International Time Recorders was acquired by Blick Industries of Swindon, England, who were themselves later absorbed by Stanley Security Systems.

The first punched-card system to be linked to a Z80 microprocessor was developed by Kronos Incorporated in the late 1970s and introduced as a product in 1979.(13)

Late 20th century(edit)

In the late 20th century, time clocks started to move away from the mechanical machines to computer-based, electronic time and attendance systems. The employee registers with the system by swiping a magnetic stripe card, scanning a barcode, bringing an RFID (radio-frequency identification) tag close to a reader, entering a number or using a biometric reader. These systems are much more advanced than the mechanical time clock: various reports can be generated, including on compliance with the European Working Time Directive, and a Bradford factor report. Employees can also use the system to request holidays, enter absence requests and view their worked hours. User interfaces can be personalized and offer robust self-service capabilities.

Electronic time clock machines are manufactured in many designs by companies in China and sold under various brand names in places around the world, with accompanying software to extract the data from a single time clock machine, or several machines, and process the data into reports. In most cases local suppliers offer technical support and in some cases installation services.

More recently, time clocks have started to adopt technology commonly seen in phones and tablets – called 'Smartclocks'. The 'state of the art' smartclocks come with multi-touch screens, full color displays, real time monitoring for problems, wireless networking and over the air updates. Some of the smartclocks use front-facing cameras to capture employee clock-ins to deter 'buddy clocking' or 'buddy punching', whereby one employee fraudulently records the time of another. This problem usually requires expensive biometric devices. With the increasing popularity of cloud-based software, some of the newer time clocks are built to work seamlessly with the cloud.(14)

Types(edit)

Basic time clock(edit)

A basic time clock will just stamp the date and time on a time card, similar to a parking validation machine. These will usually be activated by a button that a worker must press to stamp their card, or stamp upon full insertion. Some machines use punch hole cards instead of stamping, which can facilitate automated processing on machinery not capable of optical character recognition.

There are also variations based on manufacture and machine used, and whether the user wants to record weekly or monthly recordings. The time cards usually have the workdays, 'time in', and 'time out' areas marked on them so that employees can 'punch in' or 'punch out' in the correct place. The employee may be responsible for lining up the correct area of the card to be punched or stamped. Some time clocks feature a bell or signal relay to alert employees as to a certain time or break.(citation needed)

Fraudulent operation of time clocks can include overstamping, where one time is stamped over another, and buddy-punching, where one employee records time for another. In extreme cases, employees can use buddy-punching to skip entire days of work or accumulate additional overtime.

Self-calculating machines(edit)

Reset Clock 1

Contactless magnetic time clock card

Self-calculating machines are similar to basic time clocks. Nevertheless, at the end of each period the total time recorded is added up allowing for quicker processing by human resources or payroll. These machines sometimes have other functions such as automatic stamping, dual-colour printing, and automated column shift.(citation needed)

Software based time and attendance systems are similar to paper-based systems, but they rely on computers and check-in terminals. They are backed up with software that can be integrated with the human resources department and in some cases payroll software. https://loadoutlet812.tumblr.com/post/657433190171017216/download-sealevel-port-devices-driver. These types of systems are becoming more popular but due to high initial costs they are usually only adopted by large business of over 30 employees. Despite this they can save a business a lot of money every year by cutting down errors and reducing administration time.(15)(citation needed)

Mobile time tracking(edit)

With the mass market proliferation of mobile devices (smart phones, handheld devices), new types of self-calculating time tracking systems have been invented which allow a mobile workforce – such as painting companies or construction companies - to track employees 'on' and 'off' hours. This is generally accomplished through either a mobile application, or an IVR based phone call in system. Using a mobile device allows enterprises to better validate that their employees or suppliers are physically 'clocking in' at a specific location using the GPS functionality of a mobile phone for extra validation.

Biometrics(edit)

Biometric time clocks are a feature of more advanced time and attendance systems. Rather than using a key, code or chip to identify the user, they rely on a unique attribute of the user, such as a hand print, finger print, finger vein, palm vein, facial recognition, iris or retina. The user will have their attribute scanned into the system. Biometric readers are often used in conjunction with an access control system, granting the user access to a building, and at the same time clocking them in recording the time and date. These systems also attempt to cut down on fraud such as 'buddy clocking.' When combined with an access control system they can help prevent other types of fraud such as 'ghost employees', where additional identities are added to payroll but don't exist.

See also(edit)

References(edit)

^Bundy. (n.d.). Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bundy

^Willard Legrand Bundy Biography

^U.S. Patent 452,894

^IBM Archives: Bundy Manufacturing Co.

^Bundy Museum of History & Art

^Engelbourg (1954) p.33

^Belden, Martin; Belden, Marva (1961). The Life of Thomas J. Watson, Little, Brown; p. 92

^IBM Archives: International Time Recording

^IBM Archives: ITR time recorder

^Bennett, Frank P.; Company (June 17, 1911). United States Investor. 22, Part 2. p. 1298 (26).

^Gillette, Halbert Powers, and Richard T. Dana. Construction Cost Keeping and Management. Gillette Publishing Company, 1909, p. 110-112.

^Engelbourg, Saul (1954). International Business Machines: A Business History (Ph.D.). Columbia University. p. 385. Reprinted by Arno Press, 1976, from the best available copy. Some text is illegible.

^Kronos History

^David Needle, TabTimes, Android tablet gives old punch card time clock facelift

^'Time Is Money'(PDF). https://www.accelo.com/assets/Uploads/WhitePaperTimeIsMoney.pdf. July 2014.External link in |website= (help)

External links(edit)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Time recorders.

IBM Time Clocks (PDF files)

www.timerecorder.de/ (mostly in German, but partly translated into English) is one of the most comprehensive online documentations of the history of time recorders and time clocks

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Time_clock&oldid=991721279'

[helenastokesbcu2]

Curvé Branding

Packaging

Trials:

Final Packaging:

As we are an online store, the packaging will be the first thing our customer sees when receiving a product from our brand, and is part of the customer experience. Because of this our packaging needs to represent our brand qualities.

We wanted our packaging to have a luxury feel, so we have decided to use a recyclable matte black box with our logo printed with a gloss finish. This style looks sleek and sophisticated on instantly conveys the luxury aesthetic of our brand. On the inside of the lid we have put our slogan of 'Stand out. Show out', so it will appear when you first open he box. An illustration of a curvy silhouette is also displayed behind the slogan and all the bottom of the box to celebrate curvy body and empower our customers. The products will be wrapped in tissue paper, sealed with a sticker of our logo, and also come with an inspirational cards, with illustrations of curvy silhouettes and empowering quote on it, that the customers can keep and take around with them.

Place

Website trials:

Final Website: We decided to sell our products directly to customer through our own website. We decided to use a neutral colour palette of black, white and nude for our website as we thought this looked sleek and conveyed the luxury aesthetic our our brand. We have the text used in our logo at the top of the page, with it remaining there even when you start scrolling down. When you first open the website our slogan of 'stand out show out' appears next to fashion images of our most recent collection or special offers. The background of the website is a photography image of stretch marks, which we wanted to include because as a brand, we want to normalise all bodies and normal 'imperfects', and empower our customers.

Promotion

We have decided to promote our brand through social media, specifically instagram. As our target customers are young women aged 18-30, we felt that instagram would be the most effective way of promoting our brand and communicating without our audience. We wanted to convey our brand message and voice through our instagram platform, so, our first posts are our slogan "Stand out, Show out" with images of curvaceous bodies spread across 3 posts, coming together on our feed. This is so when you first look on our page you instantly know what the brand is about. We stuck to a colour scheme of white black and purple to relate to our brand Idetity. On our instagram, we have posted aesthetic mood boards - showcasing images of some of the hobbies and places our customers will be interested in as well as inspirational posters and captions to empower our followers.

Club night event: As we are making evening wear to be worn going out and celebrate coming out of the pandemic, we thought that having a club night launch party event to show off our brands first collection would be perfect. It will take place 101 Nightclub in Birmingham, a dressier nightclub with booths that serves cocktails. We will have Plus-size female staff wearing our garments whilst serving drinks, to show them off to our target market. To promote this event we have created a vibrant, eye-catching poster, that we will make into both leaflets and posters and place around the town centre, near pubs and universities where young people and our target market might be, as well as promoting it our social media.

Pricing

After doing research we found that our packaging can be ethically manufactured as it is 100% recyclable. Each box would cost £2. Once we grow our brand and begin to have more orders we can mass-produce out packaging and the £2 per pack will be reduced to £1.

Our fabrics will cost £10 per metre, from a local business. This combined with the cost of labour will mean the average manufacturing price for one garment will be £25, due to our products being manufactured in the UK.

The cost for our club event and promotion posters will cost £750, our entrance fee tickets will cost £5

For shipping fees we will charge £5.99 for next day delivery and £3.99 for second day delivery to make a profit on our shipping

Considering manufacturing and shipping costs we will be selling our products for £115 each on average , to make around 2.5x profit.

Future of Curvé

Mid-Term

Once our brand grows in exposure, we would like to have brand ambassadors made up of UK based plus-sized, young social media influencers to promote our brand and products on their platforms. By having brand ambassadors we will be able to get our brand name out to a wider audience of young women and attract more customers. We would hope to expand on this, having ambassadors outside of the UK to gain recognition and possibly grow our brand internationally.

After the pandemic we hope to have a number of pop-up stores featuring limited ranges in big cities including Birmingham, London and Manchester, so our customers can have an in-person shopping experience and can see our clothes in person. Hopefully, we will also be able to also attract new customers, who either don't use or haven't seen us on social media. Hopefully we will be able to grow our brand so that we can have permanent in-person stores in the long-term.

Long-Term

Once have grown our brand, and are earning a steady profit we could begin to experiment with alternative, more sustainable ways of production and manufacturing, we could look at having fully, biodegradable packaging, using recycled and ethical materials such as biodegradable sequins. We could also work towards zero waste production, using zero waste pattern cutting strategies and new digital technology like virtual toiles and mock-ups.

As a brand we hope to promote change and our message that you can feel confident and sexy whatever your size or shape. We would like to create campaigns that promote self-love and empower plus-size women.

[bigyack-com]

Your Money: A Hub for Help During the Coronavirus Crisis

If your income has fallen or been cut off completely, we’re here to help. This guide will connect you to the basic information you’ll need to get through this, including on government benefits, free services and financial strategies.If there’s something you need — or something you can offer that large numbers of people can access — please write to hubforhelp@nytimes.com. Ron and Tara will respond to every message they can.

How unemployment insurance works

The coronavirus outbreak has already handed many people sudden drops in income, if it hasn’t dried up completely. Anyone who has experienced this or is worried they might needs to understand unemployment benefits.How they work and how much they’ll help depends a lot on where you live. The program is jointly run by the federal government and states.States have their own eligibility rules about how many hours you must have worked or how much you must have earned, and over what time span. Benefits are generally a percentage of your income over the past year, up to a certain maximum, but states set their own rules — and some are more generous than others. Typically, though, unemployment replaces about 45 percent of your lost income.Most states pay benefits for 26 weeks, but some have pared that back: Michigan, Missouri and South Carolina pay benefits for 20 weeks; Arkansas pays for 16; and Alabama pays for 14. Five states — Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Idaho and North Carolina — have sliding scales tied to unemployment levels.Many states only cover full-time workers, and some have made it more difficult for temporary workers to get coverage. Gig workers are also unlikely to qualify because they’re largely considered self-employed.One important note: You might not even have to lose your job to qualify. If you’re quarantined or have been furloughed — and you’re not being paid but expect to return to your job eventually — you may be able to get benefits.

Where to get free financial planning help

Many financial advisers are offering free phone sessions to people whose incomes have fallen, no matter where they live.The XY Planning Network of advisers has a spot on its search webpage for “Coronavirus help” and will be adding names to it as people sign up. There are already dozens.We’ve heard from the following planners or firms who want to help as well: Daren Blonski, Wesley Botto, Jill Isbell, Fairlight Advisors, Ted Klontz, Andrew Komarow, Brandt Kuhn, Anna N’Jie-Konte, Elizabeth Lundstrom, Kevin Mahoney, Howard Morin, Maddi Napier, Kimberly B. Ogden, Alan Rhode, Matt Rinkey, Dawn Santoriello, Chris Saxton and Alex Wilson.We’ve included links to their sites so you can see their experience and credentials. Nearly all of them are certified financial planners, a designation that requires continuing education and passing a difficult exam.

How consumer lenders are helping

On Sunday, Goldman Sachs and Apple told Apple credit card customers facing hardship that they could skip this month’s payment. They won’t have to pay interest, either.We asked the biggest card, mortgage and auto lenders whether they would allow customers to do the same thing. American Express and Capital One said they would. If their customer service representatives claim ignorance, point them to this item and let us know if they still don’t help.Bank of America, Barclays, Ford Credit and General Motors Financial will allow skipped payments, but interest will still accrue.We could not get firm commitments from Bank of America, Citibank and Wells Fargo.And Ally Bank, a big bailout beneficiary during the last economic downturn? They would not match the offer from Goldman Sachs and Apple.

Ways to keep the lights on and the phones working

Some utility providers are offering to stop cutting people off for nonpayment.A number of large internet companies have agreed not to terminate residential or small business customers who can’t pay their bills: AT&T, Comcast, Cox, RCN, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. A full list of companies is available on the Federal Communications Commission site.It is not yet clear whether companies want customers to call to invoke this relief and provide proof or whether they will offer it automatically to everyone. People who need help should call and ask.A number of water service providers have either suspended shut-offs for nonpayment or don’t shut service off for late payments generally, according to a ProPublica roundup. They include Atlanta; Birmingham, Ala.; Long Beach, Calif.; Los Angeles; Newark; New York City and St. Louis.In Washington state, the main Seattle area utilities are suspending cutoffs as well. In addition, the provider of electric and water service in Seattle is allowing people to self-certify their recent income reductions in order to qualify for at least half off their bills.In California, Pacific Gas and Electric has, until further notice, stopped shutting off its services to consumers and businesses who have not paid.In New York, Con Edison also has temporarily suspended any electric and gas service shut-offs.If utilities in other areas follow suit, they are likely to publish alerts somewhere on the top of their websites or in the news release section of their pages.

How student loan relief may help, or may not

President Trump said he was waiving interest on tens of millions of student loans held by the federal government until further notice. But here’s the catch: Monthly payments are not actually going to decrease.Instead, people will pay the same amount they are currently. The difference is that the full sum will go toward the principal on their loans, according to a Department of Education spokeswoman.That means they could pay their loans down faster, but they won’t have more money in their pockets now.The biggest benefit may be to borrowers who have paused their monthly payments because of hardship, or may in the future. In student loan terms, this is known as forbearance. Normally, the interest on their loans would continue to pile up, but that won’t happen during the waiver period.The waiver will not apply to student loans issued through state agencies and private lenders, including Sallie Mae. Other loans that are not part of the waiver program include the majority of Federal Family Education Loans, which are mostly held by commercial lenders, and school-held Perkins loans.And if you take the tax deduction for student loan interest? The waiver might raise your tax bill, Forbes reported.

What a shady sales pitch looks like

Sometimes you can tell by the exclamation marks. One email sales pitch arrived with the subject line: “The Coronavirus may be Fatal — to Your Retirement Savings!”It may be tempting right now to buy into anything offering safe returns. But now is when you’re most vulnerable — and you have to scrutinize any sales pitch more carefully than ever.The sales pitch above involved an annuity. Not all annuities are ill-advised, but they’re often confusing. Some can provide retirees with a pension-like stream of income, which can bring peace of mind at a moment like this. But there are many kinds — some with unappealing attributes — and they can be offered by brokers collecting commissions of up to 8 percent, so they have plenty of incentive to close a sale.“One of the things you don’t want to do is buy them when you are emotional,” said David Lau, founder and chief executive officer of DPL Financial Partners, which helps financial advisers find insurance products for their clients. “Now is not the time to rush out and buy an annuity because you are feeling panicked.”Fixed-index annuities, for example, can keep most of your money locked up for many years, accessible only if you pay a painfully high surrender fee. You might also hear about buffer annuities, which allow investors to capture some gains, while curbing some, but not all, losses. Then there are variable annuities, which may promise guaranteed income. They are essentially a portfolio of investments tied to an insurance policy, which can be expensive.“If you need more than the back of a cocktail napkin to explain the math, I’d be concerned,” said Mark Cortazzo, a financial planner and founder of Annuity Review, a service that analyzes annuity policies for a flat fee.Mr. Lau suggested focusing not on what is being pitched, but on the problem you’re wanting to solve. If you want a guaranteed stream of income or to ensure you have enough to cover your fixed expenses, that’s a concrete goal you can keep in mind as you read the fine print.

How to prep for refinancing your mortgage

Mortgage rates are very low right now, so it’s a great time to refinance. But that means everyone else is trying to do it, too.Lenders are being swamped by requests, and you can only lock in a low rate for so long. And if you don’t get everything done during the lock-in period, your lender might charge you a fee to extend it.Communicate constantly. It sounds simple, but check your voice mail and your spam folder. Don’t miss a request for a document. And respond right away.Pick your rate and go. Don’t get distracted by changing rates, and know how to find them. The best rates don’t always show up on aggregator sites, so contact your current lender directly. And once you find the rate you want, be careful not to miss your chance by shopping around some more.Ace your appraisal. Print out listings of comparable properties for your appraiser, who might not know your area well. If you remodeled, provide before-and-after photos and paperwork.Avoid dumb credit moves. Lenders often check your credit report more than once during the application process. If there have been inquiries or new debt, they come back to you with questions, which slows things down.“Don’t open up any new auto loan, credit card or any new credit while this is in process, period,” said Bill Banfield, an executive vice president at Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest lender. “People get very excited about refinancing and suddenly want to go out and buy a new BMW.” Read the full article

[annamsmith-blog]

I carried out my project from the end of second year as my personal project, working on the fashion brand Everyday Beautiful. The target audience for this brief are 19-30-year-old fashion forward individuals without judgment of age and gender, and high-end retailers. The branding for Sarora Knots was a collaborative live project with Sian, targeting creative individuals, horticulture enthusiasts, predominantly women, and people with a funky unique sense of style. My competition brief was another collaboration with Sian for the Grown Up Chocolate Company, which is targeted at young professionals of any gender who are fans of chocolate, and for customers looking to give a thoughtful, quality, playful gift.

 Everyday Beautiful

 I started off my personal project by researching and developing ideas for a fashion installation as they’ve become the latest ‘trend’. As I tried to develop ideas, it was difficult to picture what I had in my head in a physical space, and even harder to sketch out the journey the audience will experience. I decided to convert all the research and sketch ideas I had into a concept shop. As part of Everyday Beautiful’s audience is high-end retailers, I decided to design the shop as part of a concession for Selfridges, Birmingham, this would also help me create a journey as I had a rough idea of the space available. After looking back over my development sketches, it was clear for me to see three elements to include in the shop to make it a memorable experience for the audience: touchscreen pods where the audience can design their own outfit, how the clothes are hung, and a screen playing a presentation style video of models wearing the Double Vision collection which the audience could interact with through the Kinect sensors.

           For the phone app design and concept, I carried on the same style I used for the website concept last year. I wanted the audience to interact with the clothes as much as the two other elements, so I created a barcode scanner page which the audience can use when they’re in the shop. I also included the tablet concept on the app, where the audience can create their own unique outfit using Double Vision pieces. I thought it was important that this was included on the phone app so the audience got a better understanding of the collection, and so the two apps relate to each other, not only with their elements but also the design.

           As the Double Vision collection was inspired by shape, structure, detail and architecture, I designed the poster and leaflet in a 3D cube illusion style, allowing the audience to get a sense and feeling of the collection before seeing it. Also, after going through research for my dissertation, it came to light that fashion brands didn’t put photos of their collections on invites or posters as they wanted to keep it a secret and help build up the suspense.

           I think that my personal project was successful, the research I carried out for my dissertation helped a lot, and the outcomes from the project related back to my dissertation. I carried out the branding and style I used for the Everyday Beautiful project in second year, so all the different elements relate to each other and follow the same guidelines. The shop concept, being the main part to this brief, was successful, the final visuals created using strata design look professional and the concepts of all three elements come across well to the viewer. The phone and tablet app are visually pleasing; the designs relate to each other and they’re both easy to navigate around. The poster design was also successful, the concept from the collection was portrayed well through it.

           If I were to change anything on this project I’d create a window display for the collection, as I think this would be effective to attract people walking by to look at the collection. I’d change a couple of design faults on both apps, such as font and some graphic features being too small, and complete the design up feature on the tablet app. It would have been nice to print out my poster or leaflet, but I though as we aren’t handing in anything physical it’d add to the costs of things, and it looks professional on a mock up anyway; if it were in my FMP I’d get it printed.

 Sarora Knots

My live brief was a collaboration with Sian where we did the branding for a small plant hanging business. We looked at brands such as Made and Urban Outfitters to get some inspiration for the style of the designs we would be creating. We split the work between us, and for my role I created a leaflet, business card, title pages for the lookbook, packaging and a brand guidelines booklet. To make sure all the elements looked like they were for the same brand, we had to be sure to communicate well between not only each other, but with the client.

For some aspects of the brief, such as the title pages for the lookbook, we included the client into the collaboration where we asked her to write a short paragraph which would feature at the start of each collection. I think that this worked well as she not only had better literature than me, but it added to the voice and tone of Sarora Knots by the audience having a personal connection with the owner. I had difficulty trying to get the leaflet to line up properly, so I carried out many experiments to test the fold so it worked out perfectly. I made sure to get feedback for the elements I designed from Sian, and sent the developments to the client so I could change parts where needed as I went along.

This brief was successful, the client loved everything we designed and said she would be happy to use us in the future. The key thing that made this brief work so well was communication, to have a good relationship with the client made the working process so much smoother and easier, and therefor we got what we needed doing done quicker. The outcomes look professional, even if some were finalised on mockups, you still got the experience and feel of them.

What didn’t work so well for this brief was trying to get the photos off the photographer; we thought we could rely on him to work professionally and send the outcomes on time, but it took us a couple of weeks from asking nearly every day to finally get the photos. In the future, I’m definitely going to consider collaborating with a different photographer. I would of also designed the leaflet in the two other colour schemes we used throughout the project. Although I made a mockup of the packaging, it would have been nice to see it physically to show how it would work.  

 The Grown Up Chocolate Company

It took me a while to find a competition brief that appealed to me, I decided to go ahead with this one as I haven’t got anything to do with food packaging in my portfolio. Again, I collaborated with Sian because we have previously worked well together and although we both weren’t keen on this brief, we bounced ideas well of each other. As most of my time was spent on my other projects and my dissertation, I didn’t get to spend as much time on it as I would have liked. We went back and created more moodboards of playful packaging targeted at adults hoping that some ideas would start developing. We both looked at branding and packaging agencies to see how they solved their briefs, and how they approached the problem in a creative way. We had to go through a lot of development and ideas at the start of this project for something to kick off and spark ideas.

After speaking to one of our tutors, helpful feedback allowed us to carry out more development and finally come up with a concept we both liked. I’d say that the style of this project wasn’t really me, but I enjoyed working on it with Sian and getting more experience out of drawing vector illustrations on illustrator. I thought I’d avoid using aftereffects for this project, but when I tried to upload my designs to Invision, they didn’t upload properly and I didn’t have enough time to figure out what the problem was, so I resulted to aftereffects to create a mockup of the landing page I created.

For the time spent on this project, I think that it’s turned out well. The final packaging turned out how we liked it and it hits the brief. We managed to follow the brand guidelines from the booklet provided with the brief, which I think is good practice for future clients. If we were to have more time on this brief I’d have liked to have created at least three different designs from the same concept, so the audience had a range to choose from. I’m disappointed that we didn’t manage to get the final packaging design printed as I think to get the full effect of the design and concept it’s always best to have a physical copy, so we had to result to using a mockup to show the final design.

[shelawmsluderym09insurance-blog]

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[keiraconnery]

How to Find the Best Wedding Card Shop in Birmingham for Your Budget

Planning a wedding involves countless decisions, and one of the most important yet often overlooked aspects is the selection of wedding cards. Your wedding invitations set the tone for your celebration, providing guests with their first glimpse into the style and theme of your special day. For couples in Birmingham, finding the right wedding cards shop can be a daunting task, especially when trying to stick to a budget. This article offers guidance on how to locate the best wedding card shop in Birmingham that fits your financial plans while ensuring quality and style.

1. Define Your Budget Clearly

Before embarking on the journey to find a wedding cards shop in Birmingham, it’s crucial to have a clear understanding of your budget. Wedding expenses can quickly add up, and invitations are just one of many costs to consider. Start by determining how much you are willing to spend on wedding cards, keeping in mind that prices can vary significantly based on design complexity, materials, and printing techniques.

To set a realistic budget, consider the number of invitations you will need. Typically, you should plan for one invitation per household, which can help streamline costs. Once you have a budget in mind, you can begin your search for a wedding cards shop that offers options within that range. Knowing your limits will help you focus on shops that can meet your needs without overspending.

2. Research Local Wedding Card Shops

Birmingham offers a plethora of wedding card shops, each providing unique designs and services. Start your search by exploring local options, as this not only supports the community but also allows for personalized service. Look for shops that specialize in wedding invitations and have a good reputation within the area.

Utilize online resources such as reviews, social media, and wedding planning forums to gather information about local shops. Pay attention to customer feedback regarding quality, service, and pricing. Recommendations from friends or family who have recently planned weddings can also provide valuable insights. Compiling a list of potential wedding cards shops will give you a solid starting point for your exploration.

3. Visit Shops in Person

Once you have a list of potential wedding card shops in Birmingham, plan visits to each location. There’s something to be said about experiencing the product in person, and this step allows you to assess the quality of materials and designs firsthand. During your visit, take note of the shop’s ambiance and how welcoming the staff is. A friendly and knowledgeable staff can make a significant difference in your overall experience.

While browsing through the selection, pay attention to the variety of styles available. Whether you’re looking for traditional, modern, or themed invitations, a well-stocked shop should offer a range of options to suit different tastes. Don’t hesitate to ask questions about custom designs, printing techniques, and turnaround times. Engaging with staff can provide clarity on what to expect and help you make an informed decision.

4. Explore Customization Options

Customizing your wedding invitations is an excellent way to make them unique and personal. When visiting wedding card shops in Birmingham, inquire about their customization options. Many shops offer personalized designs that allow you to incorporate your wedding colors, themes, and even personal messages.

Customization can also extend to the type of paper, finishes, and embellishments used in your invites. While these features may add to the cost, they can also enhance the overall aesthetic and feel of your invitations. Discuss your ideas with the shop staff, who can guide you on how to achieve your vision while staying within your budget. A good wedding card shop should be willing to work with you to create something special without breaking the bank.

5. Compare Pricing and Packages

Once you have gathered information from various wedding card shops, it’s time to compare pricing and packages. Many shops offer different pricing tiers based on the complexity of the design, quantity, and materials used. Some may even provide package deals that include RSVP cards, thank-you cards, and other stationery items, which can save you money in the long run.

When comparing prices, consider the value of what you are receiving rather than just focusing on the lowest price. Quality materials and craftsmanship are essential for creating an inviting and memorable card. Balance your budget with the quality of the product to ensure you are making a sound investment in your wedding stationery.

6. Inquire About Discounts and Promotions

Don’t hesitate to ask wedding card shops in Birmingham about any ongoing discounts or promotions. Some shops may offer seasonal sales, package deals, or discounts for bulk orders. Additionally, if you are ordering other wedding stationery, inquire if there are bundled pricing options that can help you save.

If you have a specific shop in mind, consider signing up for their newsletter or following them on social media. Many businesses share exclusive promotions or discounts with their followers. Staying informed about these opportunities can provide you with further savings while still obtaining high-quality wedding invitations.

7. Seek Recommendations and Testimonials

As you narrow down your options, seek recommendations and testimonials from couples who have previously used wedding card shops in Birmingham. Online reviews can offer valuable insights into the experiences of others, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of various shops.

Engaging with wedding planning communities online can also provide additional perspective. Couples often share their favorite vendors and experiences, making these platforms a great resource for finding reputable wedding card shops. Trustworthy recommendations can help you feel more confident in your decision-making process.

8. Trust Your Instincts

Finally, trust your instincts when selecting a wedding card shop. While pricing and quality are essential, the overall experience matters just as much. If you feel a connection with a particular shop and believe they understand your vision, it may be worth prioritizing that relationship. A supportive and friendly shop can make the process of selecting your wedding cards enjoyable rather than stressful.

As you navigate your choices, remember that your wedding invitations are an integral part of your wedding experience. They set the tone for your celebration and provide your guests with a glimpse of what to expect. Choosing the right wedding card shop can greatly enhance this experience, making it memorable and meaningful.

Conclusion

In conclusion, finding the best wedding card shop in Birmingham for your budget requires careful consideration and research. By defining your budget, exploring local shops, and engaging in the customization process, you can discover a shop that meets your needs while providing high-quality products.

As you embark on this journey to create the perfect wedding invitations, consider connecting with a trusted local service like Colprint. Their dedication to quality and customer service will help you design wedding cards that reflect your unique style and vision. Embrace the process and let your invitations set the stage for a beautiful celebration.

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Same Day Printing In Bulk Quantity For Promotion & Marketing

We live in the competitive world and marketing and promotion of our business would be the top priority for various businesses. Though the trend of online shopping is growing, there are many locally based businesses that need to concentrate on spreading their customer base in the particular territory. Even various core financial businesses such as insurance, loans, mutual funds, bonds and so on need to be reached to the prospective customers through leaflets, broachers and many other advertising materials.

 There are online printing services that offer same day printing of different promotional and advertising material. Thus the companies can get splendid quality prints at affordable price and on the same day. Printing Shop Bradford UK can be a one stop shop for all the printing needs for different sizes, colors, designs and thicknesses of papers used for promotion and advertisement including hotel menu cards and invitation cards for different events as well.

 The facility:

The printing service has state-of-the-art infrastructure and machinery to undertake designing of the leaflets, letterheads, business cards and invitations and the sophisticated machinery for high quality digital and offset printing as well. Thus they can print different sizes of jobs in bulk quantities. The workforce deployed for attractive designing of the matter to be printed uses advanced software applications to design the matter. They would work closely with the clients to create the designs as per the requirements and expectations of the clients. Accordingly, they would use the best in class raw material and inks for printing and print the jobs beautifully. Thus flyer printing leeds UK would provide good quality prints instantly.

 The urgency:

The service provider is well-known to provide instant solutions in the best possible quality. Same Day Printing Bradford UK would execute any sort of printing job as quickly as possible without compromising the quality. Thus the aspirants can get their advertising material without any delay. Thus they can plan the promotion events and get the desired material printed at the earliest. This is one of the most important benefits of working with the reputed online printing service. In-house designing facility and fastest printing allows the companies to get the work done according to their plan.

 Variety in work offered:

The aspirants can get printing for various purposes on various sizes and designs of papers and other printable material.

Business cards: This would be small rectangular piece of paper with contact details of the person. This plays an important role to retain the contact details and also for creating long lasting impression through the presentable matter on the visiting card including the logo.

Restaurant menu: This would be the display of offerings in the particular restaurants along with the prices of various dishes. Aspirants can get folded takeaway menu printing Birmingham UK instantly designed and printed at the printing service.

Leaflets: This would be an essential tool for the sales and marketing team of various companies to spread awareness about the brand and the range of products and services offered. They can get the bulk quantity of leaflets printed on the same day with design according to their requirements.

[bigprintbham-blog]

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5 #Thingsweprint 1. Roller Banners 2. PVC Banners 3. Shop Signs 4. Flyers 5. Business Cards Mak of Big Print Birmingham 07702153393 (at Birmingham, United Kingdom)

[mryxmas2017latestwishes-blog]

How to Say Merry Christmas in Spanish

The term Scrooge turned into an equivalent word for recluse, with "Bah! Fake!" contemptuous of the bubbly spirit. In 1843, the principal business Christmas card was created by Sir Henry Cole. The recovery of the Christmas Carol started with William Sandys' "Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern" (1833), with the main appearance in print of "The First Noel", "I Saw Three Ships", "Look the Herald Angels Sing" and "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen", promoted in Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

In Britain, the Christmas tree was presented in the mid nineteenth century following the individual union with the Kingdom of Hanover by Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, spouse of King George III. In 1832, the future Queen Victoria expounded on her enjoyment at having a Christmas tree, hung with lights, decorations, and presents set round it. After her marriage to her German cousin Prince Albert, by 1841 the custom turned out to be more across the board all through Britain.

A picture of the British regal family with their Christmas tree at Windsor Castle caused a buzz when it was distributed in the Illustrated London News in 1848. An adjusted adaptation of this picture was distributed in the United States in 1850. By the 1870s, setting up a Christmas tree had turned out to be basic in America.

In America, enthusiasm for Christmas had been resuscitated in the 1820s by a few short stories by Washington Irving which show up in his The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. what's more, "Old Christmas". Irving's stories delineated agreeable kind English Christmas celebrations he encountered while remaining in Aston Hall, Birmingham, England, that had to a great extent been abandoned, and he utilized the tract Vindication of Christmas (1652) of Old English Christmas customs, that he had interpreted into his diary as an arrangement for his stories.

In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore composed the lyric A Visit From St. Nicholas (famously known by its first line: Twas the Night Before Christmas). The lyric promoted the convention of trading presents, and regular Christmas shopping started to expect monetary importance how to say merry christmas in spanish. This additionally began the social clash between the occasion's otherworldly criticalness and its related corporate greed that some observe as ruining the occasion. In her 1850 book The First Christmas in New England, Harriet Beecher Stowe incorporates a character who gripes that the genuine importance of Christmas was lost in a shopping binge.

While the festival of Christmas was not yet standard in a few locales in the U.S., Henry Wadsworth Longfellow distinguished "a progress state about Christmas here in New England" in 1856. "The old puritan feeling keeps it from being a bright, generous occasion; however consistently makes it more so." In Reading, Pennsylvania, a daily paper commented in 1861, "Even our presbyterian companions who have up to this point ardently overlooked Christmas—tossed open their congregation entryways and amassed in power to commend the commemoration of the Savior's introduction to the world."

The First Congregational Church of Rockford, Illinois, "despite the fact that of bona fide Puritan stock", was 'getting ready for an excellent Christmas celebration', a news journalist revealed in 1864. By 1860, fourteen states including a few from New England had received Christmas as a legitimate holiday. In 1875, Louis Prang acquainted the Christmas card with Americans. He has been known as the "father of the American Christmas card". On June 28, 1870, Christmas was formally announced a United States government occasion.

[chloefaeillustrations-blog]

My stall selling my illustration work at the Etsy made local Birmingham Christmas event

On the weekend I had a stall at the Council House in Birmingham which I sold lots of my illustrated handmade paper goods that I sell on my online store Chloe Fae Designs. I sold cards, prints, badges, stickers, notebooks, tote bags and lots of other items that could be given as little gifts for Christmas.

The stall was a lot of fun and the event was full of shoppers! It was a great experience to see what it would be like being a small business owner as an illustrator. I met lots of other creative business owners and it was lovely to see how customers interact with my work in person and what target audience my work is aimed at. At the moment my online shop is very feminine and mostly appeals to young girls which I noticed was a very small percentage of buyers at the market. In the future when I add more products to my shop I want to think more about my target audience and how I can make my work so that it appeals to a wider audience/population.

I also added an activity page from my kids magazine to try and promote it. I added some text to the sheet asking people to post their drawn character to the instagram page once it is completed.

[tarmacadamsurfacingcontractors]

Ms Smith Goes to Westminster

Eleanor Smith was just 10 years old when Enoch Powell made his infamous Rivers of Blood speech, in her hometown of Birmingham in 1968. But she was old enough to be aware of the frightening repercussions of that speech on her parents’ West Indian community.

“I can remember my mum and dad saying, ‘I can’t believe this man. He came to the West Indies asking us to move to Britain and do their jobs – and now he’s asking us to get out.’ When an MP could come out with that, in public, it was a scare, a wake-up call. My parents were asking, ‘Was it the right decision to come? Should we go back home?’

“Some people were actually scared to come out of their houses, because of the National Front,” she adds. “But at the same time we were defiant. We wouldn’t back down.”

Her use of ‘we’ in that sentence is telling, for the 10-year-old would grow up to become someone willing to fight battles with and for others, first as a long-standing UNISON activist – peaking when she became the union’s first black female president – and now as a newly-elected member of parliament.

And in a wonderfully fitting turn-up for the books, the former nurse’s constituency as MP, Wolverhampton South West, is the very seat occupied by Enoch Powell. And in winning it, she’s become the first black MP in the West Midlands.

“I hadn’t realised how significant it was until I actually won,” she admits. “I didn’t know it was his seat, in the first place. No idea. Then when I found out, I played it down. A former MP here, [Conservative] Paul Uppal, is a Sikh, so his was an important achievement.

“But people said no, it’s significant because Powell’s speech was particularly about West Indians. And my winning this seat shows that we have moved on. You have to look forward and say, ‘That was then, this is now’.

We can all work together to find the solution for the different problems. And I’d like to be the glue

She praises the diversity of her constituency today, which includes Kurdish, Poles, Eastern Europeans, Indians, Pakistanis – both Muslims and Sikhs – and native Britons.

“They all have their faith. And that hasn’t split them, it’s brought them together. It’s what I like about this community, they support each other. For example, after those horrible events in Manchester all the different faiths got together to support the Muslims here, who were feeling very vulnerable.

“We have our issues, but they affect everyone across the community. What I’ve said is that we can all work together to find the solution for the different problems. And I’d like to be the glue.”

Appropriately, U meets Ms Smith in her new constituency office, a large, handsome detached building, which is still in the midst of a major paint job – the MP sidestepping the painters in her heels while giving an enthusiastic tour.

She chose the building because of its location – on a busy street, close to the city centre, in an area that includes homes, offices and student residences.

‘Accessibility’ is her byword. “I want people to see me.” She’s moved home from Birmingham to Wolverhampton. And as well as meeting constituents in the office, she’s struck up an agreement with a nearby Sainsbury’s for her to hold a surgery in the supermarket cafe, where mothers in particular may find it easier to see her, while shopping with their kids.

She seems to love talking to the public. “You start by talking about everyday things – giving your daughters swimming lessons, the rubbish that’s on YouTube for kids, having trouble reading small print without your specs. You get paid for the month, but after three weeks there’s no more money.

“Sometimes you have been through the same thing, and that’s where you can connect. People don’t want to be patronised, but to feel that you’ve been there too. And then you can see them relax and you take it from there.

“It’s the same as when you’re a union rep,” she adds. And then she laughs. “I’ve always felt that I have the Oprah effect.”

First and foremost she wants to be a good constituency MP. “I want to make a difference for the people I represent. My aim is to put Wolverhampton and my constituency on the map.”

So she’s pleased as punch about one local success story that she’s already had a hand in, that of Brian White, a Zimbabwean-born orphan who was adopted by a British couple, moved to Wolverhampton at 15 and won at place a place at Oxford University – only to face losing it when threatened with deportation.

“I was made aware of Brian’s case through parents from his school. I went to the school, was introduced to him, and helped with the campaign on his behalf. I took it up with the Home Office, and got him to do an online petition which went viral.

“And this morning we got the news that he can stay here, and go to Oxford. I felt so proud. I’ve asked him to formally open my constituency office.”

On a larger scale, homelessness and youth unemployment are the “burning passions” that she wants to tackle in Wolverhampton. While in Westminster the nurse of some 40 years expects to be fighting many a battle on behalf of the NHS.

For me to make any kind of difference, particularly for the NHS, becoming an MP felt like the only way

Ms Smith was one of the record 208 women elected in June. Within days of her landmark victory she was entering Westminster as an MP.

“It was so surreal at first. As I was walking through the building somebody said, ‘These are the corridors of power’. And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh. I’m in this position now.’”

She gets very excited when relating the Commons traditions, including her favourite – the prayer card. Backbench members can guarantee a particular seat by placing a card with their name behind it, which also commits them to attending prayers in the chamber – whatever their faith – before the day’s business begins.

“As a Christian I like the idea of going to prayers first, anyway.” And what seat did she bag? She smiles. “There were three of us, who just wanted to be near the front, in the thick of the action. Then when everyone came in we realised we were just behind Jeremy.”

While her two grown-up daughters (a nurse and an events coordinator) took a while to get their heads around their mother’s new role, her six-year-old granddaughter is taking it in her stride. “Tia has told everyone that ‘Nan’s an MP’. I took her to Westminster last week. She kept her security pass, of course, but then lost it, so she drew another one with a picture of herself and the words Tiana Smith, MP. She’s creative like that.”

After her own parents moved to Birmingham from Barbados, her mother worked as a caterer in a children’s home, her father as a paint sprayer in a small garage. She believes that it was all those years ago, at the family’s kitchen table in Birmingham, that she developed her social consciousness.

“We had politics in our house all the time. That’s why I’m Labour – you couldn’t vote any other way. My parents were Pentecostal Christians, and the values they had, about helping and supporting other people, were very much Labour’s.

“And we’d talk about what was going on in the world – what was happening with race relations in America, in South Africa, and comparing those places with the UK.”

She cites her mother, a member of NUPE back then, who’s since passed away, as her biggest inspiration. “She was resilient. She had seven kids, and brought us up all to be independent. She told us that as a black person – woman or man – you’re going to have to up your game, and work harder than your white counterparts. And she used to tell us, ‘Don’t be jealous of anybody.”

It was through conversations with her mother that she decided to become a nurse. Though she worked in intensive care and A&E, it was as a theatre nurse for 30 years “where I found my passion”. She’d love to keep her hand in, “but realistically, I don’t think I can’.

She joined NUPE during a pay and grading dispute at work, which was affecting her as she returned from maternity leave. After her successful appeal, she trained to become a steward so that she could represent her colleagues who were still being affected.

Over the years, and as NUPE became part of UNISON, she moved through the ranks, from branch secretary, to the region, to the National Executive Committee and, in 2012, president.

And it was the union presidency that inspired her to run for government. “It felt like the right thing to do, to take my career to the next level. For me to make any kind of difference, particularly for the NHS, becoming an MP felt like the only way.”

She’s off to a flying start, with shadow home secretary Diane Abbott asking her to become her parliamentary private secretary, which will give her an immediate proximity to and experience of the shadow cabinet.

Considering her breakthroughs as a black woman, both at UNISON and in Wolverhampton, does she regard herself as ground-breaking?

“No, I don’t actually. And you know what, it should have happened a long time ago, particularly with the parliamentary seat. Why has it taken this long in the West Midlands? But anyway, it’s done now, and hopefully there will be others to follow, and others to think that they can do it.

“If I’m a role model, I want it to be for ordinary people, not black people. I want everybody from a working class background to feel that they can achieve what they want.”

Portraits: © Jess Hurd 

This article first appeared in the Autumn 2017 edition of U Magazine. 

The article Ms Smith Goes to Westminster first appeared on the UNISON National site.

from UNISON National https://www.unison.org.uk/news/magazine/2017/11/ms-smith-goes-westminster/ via IFTTT

[scribbler3d-blog]

Scribbler 3D Pen DUO

Cheap Business Printing

In very similar method that additional commodities can be brokered (insurance, mortgages, pensions etc.), therefore also could produce: that's what print agents or managers do.

They act as an outsourced income solution to their trade- only manufacturers. These providers sustain minimal costs by - among other means - not utilizing committed revenue team of the own: they out source income on a part time schedule to printing management companies. Those organizations then represent a "combined" of units, who together offer a total publishing solution.

Usually, you had purchase business cards in one provider, brochures from another and significant -structure graphics from just one more. To free their methods up and save them being forced to check around, several customers employ organizations do it for them: allinone place.

Like?

Along with providing aone-stop option, management organizations are utilized for many other activities:

An task, which will normally require many manufacturers with distinct aspects of experience? Release your methods out-source and to concentrate on that project the printing to your service provider.

Exhibiting in a show or truthful? Similarly, focus on the logistics and leave a Brokerage with the publishing of exhibit design business cards and stands and pamphlets.

Printing brokers do not have any publishing clicks?

No. They're management organizations, utilizing the various and varied equipment of these supplier base that is similarly different and various. They're being a massive print company which could produce whatever their consumers require: the complete sector is represented by them.

A is really varied and various that no printer that is individual may desire to offer the complete market well. They'd have down time on their clicks and so on. Print agents take a quantity of trade-only manufacturers, with various gear able offer it up to serve the complete marketplace and take it for the market as a full answer.

Is this a brand new market market?

Print agents and administrators have been about for a time. In fact, a few of the many productive businesses in the industry do not have any presses in their own.

Just how can brokerage or a produce boss be the cheapest, quickest and most green, while they frequently maintain?

They scour for their consumers to have the option that is very best in the market. They ensure because they have a wide ranging supplier base and that each task is created to the gear that is best suited, they've access to just-about any printing press you would care to think about. No publishing organization that is specific will be able to deal with every printing need but agents can, through their varied supply chain. Prices are kept by them along through the use of trade- only vendors and keeping reduced costs of their own. Their offer platform that is considerable ensures that they're able to constantly find the appropriate company for the job: this gains their suppliers by making a share with their overhead plus it benefits their buyers due to the reduced costs that they are able to attain publishing for.

Often nevertheless, an individual qualification will soon be really specialized or period-sensitive. In these instances, value is not automatically the main problem.

Since they have no idea where else to go in these circumstances, they will be approached by a printing specialistis buyers. They are able to undertake an extended seek out the most likely providers but to release their resources, they hire a management company. As well as a general print administration company, these businesses are able whereby their source platform permits them to provide virtually anything, any time to provide a service. They're printing professionals and exist as an out sourced procurement service for their clients.

Who are produce administrators' customers?

Their customers include local experts, associates of the public, sole investors, medium, tiny and big businesses; government departments, individuals and charities.

Whatever the case - whether lone investor or multinational corporation - all of their clients are similarly important to them and buyers use produce professionals or brokers for the service which an out-sourced provider that is provides in purchasing their publishing.

Just how do print agents make money?

As being a business, there stay naturally has to a printing broking company a problem that is lucrative. They keep low costs by devoid of their particular publishing equipment, among other means. They obtain items with respect to their consumers through business-only vendors who've low overheads themselves: they do not use sales team (they out-source that operation to management firms) and so they inhabit areas in geographical locations where business prices are aggressive (generally out-of-village).

Print agents utilize a border that is small with their industry purchasing rates and their prices for the end-line individual are representative of these which their consumers might locate in the marketplace that is commercial; frequently less so. A brokered or handled printing service is value added and a print manger or brokeris diverse company bottom enables them to become a one-stop means to fix their customers, preserving these customers the cost and resource of employing a committed customer.

That are a produce broker's rivals?

Professional printers and High Street -based printshops. Neither do although the other does but printing management businesses offer what equally do and more besides. A print dealer's maintained produce alternative implies that they could offer their competitors' services in one container; usually at a reduced-cost.

How do produce management organizations be better than standard units?

Many classic printing businesses make an effort to offer the one stop option which printing agents do but they have larger costs. Therefore, all low-primary business that they outsource can come in a quality. In addition they do not have the assets to get reviewed their low-core business marketplace carefully enough, or often adequate team to offer service's level which an administration organization that is passionate delivers on outsourced function. Print executives and agents are dedicated to a consistent understanding of the modifications as well as the market to constantly present their consumers the printing solution that was very best.

Since they out-source their customers' initiatives, the print brokerage's internal sources are free to handle their customers' publishing for them.

Why don't buyers cope specifically using the vendors of a management company's?

Because printing brokers' vendors solely handle the industry (managers and brokers). They would must use sales staff and get the incomes and indirect expenses associated if they were to offer immediately with buyers. They cannot justify such an purchase with their individual, promotions that are certain, so they out source their sales on a part time base to print brokers, and also other suppliers presenting different goods and services.

Why wouldn't a print brokerageis providers approach an individual directly?

Because they don't have dedicated salespeople and utilize publishing management companies in that purpose. From the produce administrator or agent's perspective, if any of their providers were to adopt this kind of training, themselves would be denied the other prospects which can normally be introduced for them by them.

Who is in charge of "handled" publishing?

The print management organization are: even though they're print executives - middle men - because the consumer is worried, the dollar has to halt somewhere and as far, that money stops using the supplier. Otherwise customers may aswell offer immediately with all the director or specialistis manufacturers and for factors provided above, they really don't want to do that. Brokers provide a complete managed produce assistance, which reaches overall duty for customers' printing: they are able to accept proofs on-media, thus that customers do not have to; advise on preflighting customer files and are fundamentally responsible for their customers' printing and all that's required therein.

Why could an individual handle a and not a "conventional" publishing firm?

Because brokers and print professionals represent aone-stop option a customer 's printing for all requirements. As opposed to check around several units for most correct manufacturing choice and the best package, printing brokers do this because of their customers.

Manchester Print Brokers are a Process out sourced complete print procurement option.

London Printing Brokers act as an out-sourced revenue solution to deal-only manufacturers. These vendors sustain low overheads by - among different means - not using committed revenue team of the own: they out-source income on a part-time base to Print Brokers. London Print Brokers then represent a "combined" of units, who together offer a print answer that is total.

Traditionally, printing buyers would purchase - for example - business cards from one company, pamphlets from another and large-format artwork from yet another. To free up their clients' sources and save them being forced to shop around, Birmingham Produce Brokers take action for them: all in one place.

Along with giving a one-cease managed produce alternative, Birmingham Printing Brokers' shoppers use them for many other things:

A complex task, which would generally entail several companies with various regions of expertise For printing, like: customers may free their assets up to concentrate out-source and on that project the printing to London Print Agents.

If your customer is showing at a show or fair, they are able to focus on the logistics and depart the publishing of business cards, exhibition graphics and stands, pamphlets and brochures to Print Brokers.

Cheap Business Printing Options

Accomplishing top quality company printing in an inexpensive

Organizations can devote hundreds on published resources to millions of pounds sterling. The aim of this paper is to show that by inspecting the different functions of a firm's printed products, organizations can dramatically conserve money and time on their printing materials by using new online and publishing systems.

Offset

It's crucial that you know what sort of printer to make use of when choosing a publishing method :Offset printing is definitely an older process which styles using metal discs to transport the picture on to the document. Publishing with this particular approach means that the individual elements inside the printing substance cannot be changed unless there is a new material dish produced. When used for printing large amounts, this process is cost effective. Digital printing is just a newer publishing technique which reproduces pictures onto the page. This printing method facilitates variable publishing without influencing the fixed costs by which any aspect in the printing product could possibly be modified. This method is cost effective when useful for smaller levels (roughly 10-500 computers).Office Publishing can be a comparatively new way of publishing. With all colour models as being a choice in virtually every office's development, publishing resources at the office can be an advantage that is practical. The drawback is the fact that report and tattoo for publishing in larger amounts can be very costly. Along with the price, not absolutely all office units provide professional-quality desired for products such as pamphlets and data sheets. Knowing which printer is acceptable for quality and that volume of the resources required, will aid the proper choice to be made by companies and save on publishing charges.

Business Printing Techniques

Step one to business publishing that is inexpensive is currently wearing down the function of one's printed materials.

Many printed materials provide a triple-function: Presenting a qualified impression that is good to appropriate parties such as for example, brand-awareness Improving by departing applicable parties with a graphic memory of merchandise/support and a firm. Talking information about products or an organization's services towards the parties that are appropriate. Data sheets 3D printing and company account brochures are necessary to get a company's photograph. These produce components also talk data to customers in regards to the company's services and products. Methods are provided by this whitepaper for designing saving time and money on planning, and printing of office and promotional materials, by separating and studying their functions.

Pamphlet and datasheet printing - Strategy to save on publishing expenses. Data sheets provide like a connection software to aid shoppers and suppliers realize a company's solution. To be able to achieve a low cost per sheet several companies produce at the least 1000 copies of every information sheet on an printer. With the arrival of digital printers, possibly to print volumes that are smaller but while the quantity increases while printing on an offset printer provides a decreasing cost-per info page as printing volume increase the cost-per info page is stationary. When the specifications of the solution improvements, the info page is outdated and has to be updated. The obsolete data sheets are often removed.

A visual artist should make the format and artwork for that authentic data sheet theme. This price might range from about ?300-?700. After the format is produced, each extra alteration price may range from ?70-?200 after which another ?70-?150 for all layout alterations. Printing pamphlets and the information sheets on an office printer will fulfill the function of interacting info since the key intent behind a-data sheet would be to share data and reinforce the Business's image however it does not fulfill the reason for strengthening the company's image. Producing premium quality presentation folders on an offset printer may resolves this issue. This may present a first impression that reinforces the Business's impression in an organized fashion to the customers