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How to build your personal brand, and why!

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How much attention do you put on developing your personal brand in your career planning? An effective personal brand can transform your career and here are the steps to creating one.

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Construction leadership council Guidance for employing young people

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Skills in Care .org Vocabulary for personal statements demonstrate the skills and qualities that the sector values.

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https://ncclondon.sharepoint.com/Foundation_English/Rainham%20project/Forms/AllItems.aspx

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Disability in Sport: An Interview with Ashley Hull-Owolabi  

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Disability in Sport: An Interview with Ashley Hull-Owolabi  

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Disability in Sport.docx

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Nursing - Practice Component 2.docx

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Car technician who complained about faulty lavatory wins £32,000 for unfair dismissal

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Worker’s bosses were ‘aggressive’ after he raised ‘genuine health and safety concerns’ with council about blocked loo, tribunal rules

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Tech venture builder. Co-founder and CEO at .
AI is upending nearly all industries and businesses, including those that have been around for decades, like auto sales. Car dealerships that relied on traditional methods for advertising, customer service, management, inspection and repairs-and for nearly all other aspects of the business-are feeling these changes and are under pressure to become more efficient.

Dealers who want to remain ahead of the curve should consider how to adopt AI and machine learning tools-because their competitors are doing so. As more sales shift online and more automakers consider selling directly to consumers, the right AI tools can help dealers become more competitive, allowing them to achieve their goals of higher sales, increased customer retention, more efficient administration and better customer experiences.

How Data Transforms Sales And Advertising

In the past, sales were a hit or miss. If the right person was reading your ad or listening to your radio or TV spot, and they needed a car, liked your brand and they were in the right demographic, they would come in for a test drive. In order to make a sale, dealers and customers would bargain until they made a deal.

AI upends that process-but can also improve it. By using data gathered from manufacturer or dealership databases and external sources, dealers can focus their outreach campaigns to specific demographic groups that are most likely to become customers.

Ad campaigns can be conducted through a variety of social media channels with AI guiding the messaging for the specific demographic being targeted. By reaching the potential customers that are most likely to become actual customers, dealers can save time, money and effort, while ensuring a much higher return on their outreach costs. The data they gather on their customers based on an initial sale can also help them retain that customer when they decide it's time to buy another vehicle.

Using Chatbots To Better Serve Customers

AI has a reputation of being a cold, faceless technology. But the truth is that AI can help humanize the purchase experience for customers. Sophisticated chatbots that draw on advanced AI-based conversation technologies help customers feel that someone is listening to them and immediately answering their questions or concerns.

Advanced AI technology enables chatbots to answer a wide range of questions, and systems will also flag queries that the chatbot can't answer, enabling a human member of the dealership to quickly intervene and answer.

Trust, of course, is one of the most important elements in the customer-seller relationship, and studies show a close correlation between trust and communication; the easier it is for customers to get answers, the more they are likely to trust the dealership, and the more likely they are to buy-and come back again. AI-powered chatbots can help dealers build that communication-and trust.

Enhancing Repairs And Inspection

Here, too, AI has an important role to play-reducing costs for dealers, while ensuring that customers get what they need. AI inspection systems -which, full disclosure, my company offers-can parse through many parts of a vehicle and quickly determine what needs to be fixed. Often, a symptom, like an overheated engine, could be caused by the malfunctioning of a small part; AI systems can suss out the problem, saving mechanics time and effort.

AI in the repair shop also helps increase customer trust. Instead of relying solely on the recommendation of a mechanic-whom some customers may suspect of misleading them in order to increase their bill-an objective, AI-based diagnostic and inspection system can identify what should be repaired, and even how much it may cost.

And in the case of an accident repair, a report provided by an AI system using advanced vision technology to pinpoint damage, and help adjusters determine responsibility, is also more likely to be accepted without questions by a customer's insurance company.

Preparing For The Sales Model Of The Future

As the world transitions to electric vehicles, the sales model is transitioning as well, with more sales moving online and with some manufacturers, including Ford and Volvo, preparing to sell directly to consumers in the future.

In this changing sales environment, the role of dealers may be diminished. With AI, the best dealers can remain relevant and survive the competition that direct online sales will bring. By targeting customers in their own local markets, and appealing to them with special deals and personalized service-using AI-powered tools-dealers can build a sales and service platform made to order for the mid-21st century.

Anonymized data on customer preferences, leisure activities, price points and thousands of other details can help dealers develop campaigns that precisely target the customers most likely to be interested in a specific vehicle. Dealerships should consider partnering with data companies that specialize in developing algorithms to accomplish this, and use this data to develop sales and marketing campaigns to reach specific customer groups. In this way, dealers will be able to efficiently utilize their limited resources.

Dealers have always faced challenges-competition, customer retention, customer satisfaction and more-but those challenges pale in the face of what the future holds now, as social and legal forces change the way people shop, buy and get service. AI tools can help dealers even out things, giving them a fighting chance of not only surviving but thriving in this new era.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?

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Council Post: How AI Is Changing The Car Dealership Business Model

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Dealers have always faced challenges-competition, customer retention, customer satisfaction and more-but those challenges pale in the face of what the future holds now.

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Elon Musk’s brain implant company is approved for human testing. How alarmed should we be?

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The billionaire’s record has raised concerns over Neuralink’s ability to responsibly oversee the development of such an invasive device

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Greenwich Aldi opens its first till-free supermarket

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Greenwich Aldi opens its first till-free supermarket

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Aldi has opened its first checkout-free supermarket where people can shop without having to scan a product.

The grocer is operating a "trial" store in Greenwich, London, which allows customers to complete their shop and pay without going to a till.

Instead, customers can download the Aldi Shop&Go app, and will then be automatically charged for their purchases once they leave the store.

Aldi's new store follows similar moves by Tesco, Sainsbury's and Amazon.

The supermarket's new site will also allow customers to buy alcohol, using facial-age estimation technology, to check whether they appear to be over the age of 25.

People who cannot or choose not to use this system can have their age verified by a member of staff.

A series of hi-tech cameras will track customers as they do their shopping, and then bill them when they leave.

Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK and Ireland, said he was "looking forward to seeing how customers react" to the trial, which he said used the "very latest in retail technology".

Lewis Esparon, Greenwich store manager, added: "We have been working towards this day for several months now so it will be great to see how our customers react to the new technology.

"For us, steps like this are always about improving the customer experience and the whole team are looking forward to being on-hand and ready to help to ensure that experience is as smooth as ever."

Before the service was launched, Aldi trialled the format with employees.

Aldi is Britain's fifth largest supermarket with more than 950 stores and about 38,000 staff.

Online retailer Amazon inspired the "grab-and-go" shopping phenomenon in Seattle, when it opened its first checkout-free store in 2018.

Dubbed the "future of retail", Sainsbury's launched its own till-less shop later that year which allowed customers to scan goods with a smartphone and put them straight into a bag, and pay via phone.

Meanwhile, Tesco has enabled customers with the Tesco.com app be able to pick up the groceries they need and walk straight out at its branch in High Holborn, London.

A combination of cameras and weight sensors establish what customers have picked up and they are then charged for products directly through the supermarket's app when they leave.

Retail expert Natalie Berg, founder of NBK Retail, said till-free shopping was "only going to grow".

"Retailers are in a race to offer the most frictionless in-store experience - in retail 'no touch' has become the new normal," she added.

"Amazon was the main catalyst for this trend and the pandemic has really accelerated this."

Ms Berg said it was "interesting" that Aldi had adopted this approach, with many discount supermarkets tending to "shy away" from anything that "adds costs to the business".

However, Ms Berg suggested Aldi could see the till-less supermarket as a long-term opportunity to reduce labour costs.

"There is a fine balance retailers have to strike between seamless and soulless. The danger with too much automation is that it can make stores feel cold and uninspiring," she added.

'Best ever Christmas'

Separately, Aldi has hailed its "best ever" Christmas after a jump in December trading.

The discount supermarket said sales increased by 0.4% compared with the same month last year, when grocery stores had been buoyed by lockdown measures affecting hospitality firms.

In the run-up to Christmas, it sold more than 43 million mince pies and 118 million Brussels sprouts.

Boss Mr Hurley said the supermarket would commit to offering shoppers the lowest grocery prices throughout 2022 amid concerns over the rising cost of living.

"As we look ahead, the top priority for most families this year will be managing their household budgets in the face of rising living costs," he said.

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Aldi opens its first till-free supermarket

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Aldi has opened its first checkout-free supermarket where people can shop without having to scan a product. The grocer is operating a "trial" store in Greenwich, London, which allows customers to complete their shop and pay without going to a till.

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Could contact lenses be the ultimate computer screen?

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Could contact lenses be the ultimate computer screen?

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Emma WoollacottTechnology of Business reporter

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Could contact lenses be the ultimate computer screen?

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Firms are developing smart contact lenses that can project data in front of the user’s eye.

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Strengthen your Relationship Based Practice

Thursday, 11 June 2020 - 12:30pm to 1:30pm

Professional Development Hours

1.00

This forum is for Children and Families social workers in practice looking to refresh and develop their direct work with families. You are invited to this small forum with other social workers to:

Share ideas and reflect on best practice

Consider ways to improve relationships with Children and Families

Work effectively in a time of Social Distancing

Everyone who attends is asked to contribute and agree to maintain confidentiality.

Joining details will be provided when you book.

Contact gavin.moorghen@basw.co.uk for further details.

About the 80-20 Campaign

The BASW England 80-20 Campaign works to promote relationship-based practice within social work. You can find a number of 80-20 resources to help facilitate relationship-based practice on our 80-20 homepage.

You might also be interested in

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BASW England: Children and Families Social Work Forum

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This forum is for Children and Families social workers in practice looking to refresh and develop their direct work with families. You are invited to this small forum with other social workers to:

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The White Card, Soho Theatre review - expelling the audience from its comfort zone
Friday, 01 July 2022
We’re in New York City, in an upscale loft apartment, with that absence of stuff that speaks of a power to acquire anything. There are paintings on the walls, but we see only their descriptions: we learn that the owner (curator, in his word) really only sees the descriptions, too, and that the aesthetic and artistic elements barely register.
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The Fellowship, Hampstead Theatre review - strong clashes, too little drama
aleks Sierz Wednesday, 29 June 2022
I live in Brixton, south London. A few days ago, the borough’s aptly named Windrush Square hosted events which celebrated the contribution of the Windrush Generation and their descendants.
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Mad House, Ambassadors Theatre review - David Harbour is magnificent in Theresa Rebeck's family drama
Tom Birchenough Monday, 27 June 2022
For sheer extremes of family dysfunction Theresa Rebeck’s Mad House must be aiming to set new records in American drama. The latest in a line that stretches back to Eugene O’Neill, the plentiful other contenders that have appeared over the decades mean that it’s become a crowded field but, on the cantankerous patriarch front at least, Bill Pullman’s performance as Daniel, Rebeck’s cussed paterfamilias, trumps most of its predecessors for sheer malevolence.
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A Doll's House, Part 2, Donmar Warehouse review - Noma Dumezweni nails it
Matt Wolf Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Slamming the door on experience comes with repercussions in A Doll's House, Part 2, the thrilling Broadway entry from American writer Lucas Hnath that has arrived at the Donmar as part of an America-friendly season at that address including Marys Seacole (already finished) and The Band's Visit (still to come).
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Bangers, Soho Theatre review - sizzling gig theatre
aleks Sierz Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Is gig theatre the latest sugar rush? Okay, it ups the brain’s serotonin levels and charges around your body like a crazy electric current, but amid the joyous nerve reactions does the music speak louder than the words?
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King Lear, Shakespeare's Globe review - eviscerates emotionally while illuminating a society rotten with lies
Rachel Halliburton Monday, 20 June 2022
Kathryn Hunter’s performance as Lear forges its heat from contradictions. She is as frail as she is strong, as detestable as she is loveable, as powerfully charismatic as she is physically diminutive. That she is a woman playing a man is the least extraordinary aspect of what she achieves in this production.
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That Is Not Who I Am, Royal Court review – gimmicky post-truth spoof
aleks Sierz Monday, 20 June 2022
What is the shelf life of a theatre gimmick? In April, the Royal Court announced that they were going to stage a debut play by an unknown writer, Dave Davidson, who has worked for decades in the security industry. His drama was hyped up, helped by Time Out magazine, and by fellow playwrights Simon Stephens and Dennis Kelly.
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Jitney, Old Vic review - a directorial delight
Tom Birchenough Saturday, 18 June 2022
It’s great to see August Wilson’s early play – the first of his “Century Cycle”, that remarkable decalogy that explored a century of Black American experience through the prism of the playwright’s native Pittsburgh – back on the London stage. It’s been two decades since it premiered at the National Theatre, winning the 2002 Olivier Best New Play award.
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Ulysses, Abbey Theatre / The Tin Soldier, Gate Theatre, Dublin review - peerless Joyce marathon, Andersen squashed
David Nice Friday, 17 June 2022
A pot plant on a stand, two tables with glasses of water, two chairs – one plush, one high – are all the props needed on the stage of the Abbey’s second theatre, the Peacock, for the ultimate complete reading of James Joyce’s Ulysses in its 100th year. For Barry McGovern is a master: one of Beckett’s favourite actors, on a par with Billie Whitelaw, and immersed in all things Joycean over the past 30 years (★★★★★).
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The False Servant, Orange Tree Theatre review - Marivaux's cruel comedy gets a modern spin
Helen Hawkins Wednesday, 15 June 2022
There probably isn’t a more able translator of vintage drama than Martin Crimp, the playwright whose 2004 version of Pierre Marivaux’s 1724 play about deceit, greed and sexual politics has been revived at the enterprising Orange Tree. The finale has been slightly tweaked now, which helps repurpose the play as a work with today’s interest in gender fluidity in its sights.
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We’re in New York City, in an upscale loft apartment, with that absence of stuff that speaks of a power to acquire anything. There are paintings on the walls, but we see only their descriptions: we learn that the owner (curator, in his word) really only sees the descriptions, too, and that the aesth…

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As worker shortages are felt across the hospitality sector, the owners of the Bella Italia chain are turning to robots to provide table service to customers.

Big Table Group, which also owns Café Rouge and Las Iguanas, is testing out the robot at its Bella Italia restaurant in Center Parcs Whinfell Forest in Cumbria, in the first such trial by a big restaurant chain.

The BellaBot, made by Chinese company Pudu, can carry up to 40kg on four trays and deliver and retrieve plates from tables with help from humans who load and unload its “body”.

Bella Italia has more than 90 restaurants across the UK. Photograph: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

Eric Guo, the chief executive of Spark which distributes Pudu robots in the UK, said there were 60 working across 20 British businesses and he expected more orders in the year ahead. Most are operating in restaurants, but hotels, supermarkets, care homes, snooker clubs and bowling alleys are also experimenting with the technology.

“It has become an apparent trend that hospitality owners enquire [about] bot services to help resolve the hospitality staff shortage,” he said. Guo added that the robots also helped businesses gain publicity on social media when customers took videos and posted them on sites such as TikTok.

People interact with the BellaBot delivery robot at the Pudu booth at the CES tech show in Las Vegas. Photograph: Joe Buglewicz/AP

Big Table Group, which runs 150 restaurants under its various brands, said the test was operating in one outlet and it had not confirmed plans to expand the pilot.

The experiment comes as 10% of hospitality jobs remain unfilled, according to the UKHospitality trade body, as Brexit combined with the pandemic to prompt many European workers, who have played an important role in the UK industry, to leave the UK.

Competition from other sectors – where hours may fit more easily with family life and pay may be more attractive – is also a factor.

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The shortages have led to wage inflation of 13% across the industry, as businesses try to attract the best staff in areas where there are particular shortages, such as chefs.

Lisa Gibbons, the chief operating officer of Bella Italia, said: “We’re always open to innovative solutions which benefit our teams, improve service and improve our guests’ experience.

“By having intelligent robots conduct simple tasks, such as retrieving dirty dishes, our teams are able to focus on doing what they love and delivering an amazing experience. It’s still early days in the trial, but we’re looking forward to seeing the impact that having an extra pair of ‘paws’ has on dining satisfaction.”

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Not-so dumb waiter: UK restaurant chain Bella Italia trials robot service

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Hospitality businesses look to hi-tech gadgets amid staff shortages after Covid pandemic and Brexit