Productivity. Sit at any board table and you’ll hear this word uttered on numerous occasions. A word that many company owners love to hate. However, it’s something we can’t get away from, and to coincide with emergency budget day, Radio 5 live recently took a more in-depth look into differences in productivity between British and German manufacturing businesses. Yours truly was invited to join BBC journalist Fiona Trott on a visit to a German company based near Karlsruhe to see if, as CEO of Octink, there was anything I could learn about British and German mentalities, and by extension the reason that they are often more productive as a country than we are. The findings were not surprising: the integration between our respective educational systems and business, alongside a permanent programme of research and development. Listen to the full interview here.

Last weekend saw hundreds of thousands of car and racing enthusiasts, along with the odd celebrity, descend on Goodwood House to indulge in their speed needs at the annual Festival of Speed ‘garden party’. Blessed with (predominantly) good weather, this years’ event was once again a spectacular scene, and one that Octink was heavily involved in for the sixth year running.

June 14th marked the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta.

After Octink marked Responsible Business Week in April we decided to follow up this month by telling you more, including Cultivate London.  We work with local programmes that give young people the opportunity to gain work experience and employability skills. Following on from Will’s blog about Spark! two weeks ago, I’d like to talk about Cultivate London, a West London social enterprise where I am a director.

By Will Tyler 

It’s Responsible Business Week (20-26^th April) this week, a high-profile awareness initiative run by Business in the Community, which aims to demonstrate and celebrate the positive impact of business in society. The week is an opportunity for participating companies to demonstrate ways in which business can, in the words of BITC, ‘work together with other organisations to deliver a fairer society and more sustainable future’. By striving for business excellence in this field, we can all ensure that the future is not only safeguarded, but is successful.

With a long standing commitment to the West London community in projects that help local young people find their way into work, we are delighted to have supported a number of community activities in recent months.

In today’s brand-conscious world, companies are becoming increasingly design-orientated and detail focussed. Indeed, they are recognising how important it is for branding to be consistent at every stage of the customer buying process. They understand that their customers see their brand as representative of the quality of their product and service offering.

A major factor when planning a signage or other branding structure in the UK is the weather. With constantly changing weather conditions, things like wind-loading, geographical location, and the required service life of a structure are all vital considerations. How can you ensure that you’re getting structurally sound signage that will survive all conditions?