Unique Client Solutions on the Escalating Fuel Strike Problems

The proposed strike by petrol tanker drivers over working conditions and pay is starting to take its toll on petrol station forecourts across the UK. Unique Client Solutions tries to make sense of the conflicting information out there.

Customer acquisitions and direct sales company Unique Client Solutions has been following the escalating fuel row carefully. They understand that if the threatened strikes go ahead the implications could be wide-ranging as 90% of forecourts are supplied by roughly 2,000 drivers who are members of the Unite union. No actual dates have been set yet and the union has announced that they would give seven days notice before any action took place. Why then have forecourts been jam-packed already?

Simon Tomlinson, a manager at Unique Client Solutions, believes that the answer is simple. “This is a classic case of panic buying. Because there has been a great deal of coverage in the news about the proposed strikes, people around the country who rely heavily on their cars are stocking up in case a strike were to take place.”

It seems that the government has done little to abate the panic buying.  David Cameron gave vague advice to stay ‘topped up’ which has been criticised by Labour ministers who are seeking an apology for the handing of the situation. Labour leader Ed Milliband has said, "The prime minister is presiding over a shambles on petrol." Energy Minister Ed Davey has had to give further advice after the confusing comments of the prime minister.

Unique Client Solutions feels that his comments are in fact very sensible, if delivered a little late. Mr. Davey said “We don’t think people need to change their behaviour very significantly at the moment…There will be seven days’ notice so people will be able to top up them.” The government has also had to admit that they made a mistake on early advice when cabinet minister Francis Maude advised drivers to store “maybe a little bit in the garage as well in a jerry can.” The Fire Brigade Union and the AA have both criticised the advice as a jerry can holds 20 litres of petrol which is more than the official limit that can be safely stored at home.

Mr. Tomlinson said, “There has clearly been a great deal of confusion and mis-information over the situation. What’s even sillier is that no strike has even been announced yet. At Unique Client Solutions we understand people rely heavily on their cars for work and recreation. We would advise the public simply to be sensible, top up as usual until anything has been announced and then ensure that you have a full tank in the seven days before any announced action.”

RMI Petrol, who represents independent retailers, found that petrol sales were up 81% and diesel up by 43% on Wednesday. Unique Client Solutions is hopeful that the strikes can still be averted before it affects the general public any further. 

Unique Client Solutions Delighted by George Michael’s New Tour Dates

Unique Client Solutions were sad to hear that George Michael had been forced to postpone tour dates last year due to illness. The superstar was due to sing in Sheffield but had to pull out when he was diagnosed with pneumonia.

The Sheffield-based customer acquisitions company was thrilled to hear last week that George Michael has fully recovered from his illness and was raring to get back on the tour bus to complete his missed dates. Yesterday the rescheduled dates for his Symphonica tour were announced and he is due to resume the sell-out concert series on 4th September in Vienna.

The city was not originally on the tour schedule but it was were Mr. Michael was treated for his illness. Unique Client Solutions was impressed by the generosity shown by Mr. Michael when they heard that he had donated 1000 tickets to the medical staff that had helped look after him.

The singing legend said: "I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you first to the doctors and nurses who saved my life and took such great care of me and to all my fans, family and friends for their love and support.”

Unique Client Solutions admire the strength of the star and his commitment to finishing the tour now he is well. “It takes a strong man to recover from such an illness and still be so eager to finish the tour” said an associate at Unique Client Solutions.

The superstar is due to perform at Sheffield’s Motorstar Arena on the 1st of October 2012. Unique Client Solutions reminds all ticketholders who are unable to make the new date that they should apply for a refund by 30th April 2012.

Unique Client Solutions Congratulates the Olympic Torchbearers

The street-by-street route that the Olympic torch will take has been announced as well as confirmation of the torchbearers. Unique Client Solutions looks into some of those who have been selected.

Unique Client Solutions understands that the torch will arrive in the UK on the 18^th of May and will start on its long journey from Lands End the next morning. The 8,000 mile journey will be undertaken by 8,000 torchbearers who have been nominated through various progammes run by Locog, Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung, the latter three are major sponsors of the London 2012 Games.

A spokesperson for the customer acquisitions company said, “All of the torchbearers should be incredibly proud to have been nominated and selected for this honour. At Unique Client Solutions we think that it is a great way to recognise the personal achievements or community spirit which got them nominated in the first place. It is a fantastic reward for their fantastic effort. It is in the perfect spirit of the Olympic Games.”

The torch will visit every region in the UK and stop off at landmarks such as Stonehenge and the Giant’s Causeway.

There will be 7,300 nominated torchbearers and the remaining 700 will be athletes and celebrities. Each of them will carry the torch for approximately 300 meters meaning that on average there will be 110 people carrying the flame each day. Sheffield-based Unique Client Solutions have learnt that the Olympic Chief, Sebastian Coe, will be carrying the torch through the Steel City as it was his home town. He said of the honour, “For me Sheffield was where all my athletics really happened so that would be the obvious place to be involved.”

Another of the torchbearers will be Steven Tomlinson the 14 year-old son of Jane Tomlinson who raised £1.85m for charity before succumbing to breast cancer in 2007. He will carry the torch through Leeds on behalf of his mother in recognition of all her hard work.  The oldest torchbearer will be Diana Gould who will be 100 just before the start of the Olympics. Unique Client Solutions were delighted to hear that she still runs exercise classes in her retirement flats.

The representative for Unique Client Solutions finished, “Carrying the Olympic flame is such an integral part of the Olympics, we’re so excited to see it come through Sheffield and we’ll definitely all be leaving the office on the day to watch it go by.”

Unique Client Solutions would like to congratulate all of the individuals both nominated and selected to be Olympic torchbearers for the London 2012 games.

Unique Client Solutions Focuses on Empowerment in Leadership

Just how important is making people feel good when you're a leader? Very says Unique Client Solutions.

There are hundreds of different styles of leadership and one person will tell you one thing whilst another the complete opposite. However, most leaders are agreed that sometimes a little tough love is needed. Of course, says Unique Client Solutions, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do it carefully. The customer acquisition company in Sheffield is all about making their team feel great and shares their experience with you.

As a leader you should think of yourself as a mirror. If you reflect optimism and confidence, your organisation will do the same. At Unique Client Solutions the goal of every conversation is to make people feel more capable and more willing to work to the best of their ability. As a leader you’re there to empower them, not tread them into the mud.

The key skill you need to learn as a leader, believes Unique Client Solutions, is humility. Before you’ll ever be a great leader you need to be confident enough in your achievements to realise that not everything is about you anymore. Once you find a route to humility you will quickly get out of the way of your own ego and will lead others with confidence, focusing on their needs.

Leadership should not be thought of as telling people what to do, rather guiding people to think for themselves. You can set the pace, the attitude and educate those people, if you don’t then you’re never going to see them taking it to the next level and working alongside you, rather than for you.

Leadership is all about how you make others feel. Simon Tomlinson, one of the team managers at Unique Client Solutions had these words of wisdom to impart; “How good you are as a leader is not reflected in you but in the achievements of those you work with. If you make others feel inspired, motivated, happy, confident and empowered you’re going to see great things coming from them. If you make them feel humiliated, embarrassed and angry then you’re not.”

Unique Client Solutions is confident that with these ideas in mind you can lead your way to a happier, more successful team.

Unique Client Solutions Checks Out What’s On The Big Screen!

Unique Client Solutions, a customer acquisition company based in Sheffield, has a keen film interest. So the team took a trip to the cinema this week to see what was on offer. The film taste at Unique Client Solutions is varied and the cinema at Meadowhall definitely had something for everyone.

For those who enjoy an action movie, Unique Client Solutions checked out ‘This Means War’ starring Reese Witherspoon and Tom Hardy. The film is about two CIA agents who are also best friends and just also happen to be dating the same woman! The film is a hilarious battle between them to get the girl.

Another action movie topping the charts this month is ‘Safehouse’ starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. It’s a nail-biting thriller with an impressive cast. The film sees a young CIA agent (Ryan Reynolds) who is ordered to oversee the running of a Safehouse in South Africa. He runs into trouble when faced with the prospect of going on the run with CIA agent gone bad, Denzel Washington, to keep him safe from a murderous gang.

If CIA agents and action movies are too much for you, Unique Client Solutions also viewed ‘The Vow’, a romantic comedy based on a true story. Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) are the ideal couple; happy, successful and totally in love. Then a car crash changes everything. After walking from a coma Paige suffers from tragic memory loss and she doesn’t even remember her husband. With a perfect couple comes a perfect ending, the film is bright and heart-warming.

Unique Client Solutions particularly enjoyed ‘The Woman In Black’ starring Daniel Radcliffe, better known as Harry Potter. The ghostly film is full of jumps and fights for those who like to terrify themselves.

Get your popcorn at the ready, you’ve got plenty to get watching in the cinema this month. Let us know which was your favourite!

BCC believes UK Will Avoid Double Dip Recession Unique Client Solutions Learns.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) are hopeful that the UK will avoid a double dip recession but believe that growth will be lower than expected Unique Client Solutions understands.

The BCC has lowered its forecast for economic growth from the 0.8% it had originally estimated to 0.6%. The leading business group produces a quarterly economic report and in it they wrote that Britain still faced, “serious challenges”, that the country’s debt levels were too high and that unemployment was set to rise to almost 3 million by January 2013.

Unique Client Solutions was encouraged that the BCC noted that the Olympics in July and August could show unusually high growth figures in the summer. Simon Tomlinson, a manager at Unique Client Solutions said, “We’ve always believed that aside from hosting the Olympics being a real honour, they would also bring a huge amount of money and work into the UK .” Other encouraging news was that business investments and growth from exports would help to prevent Britain from falling back into another recession, which had been feared.

Mr. Tomlinson added, “One factor that is exceptionally worrying is that unemployment appears to have no sign of abating. The BCC predict that it will rise by 8.6% this year to almost 3 million and that at the start of 2013 youth unemployment will be at 23%.” This astronomically high figure is something that has been concerning Unique Client Solutions for some time. “Quite aside from the financial repercussions of young people being out of work, psychologically it is a very sad way to begin your working career and we believe that we’re going to see a huge group of young individuals who are lacking in confidence as a result.”

The BCC, like many other business groups, are urging the Chancellor to really focus on business, in particular smaller firms, and must do everything they can to help them “squeeze every last drop of growth” from the economy. The director general of the BCC, John Longworth said, “Businesses up and down the country are doing their utmost to find new markets and grow their firms, despite the difficult economic challenges they face. Only the private sector will drive recovery and help deliver public services, like education, healthcare and pensions.”

Unique Client Solutions, a customer acquisitions company based in Sheffield believes that the government must take the advice of the experts in the next budget. Mr. Tomlinson concludes, “Times are very tough for businesses, we’ve been fortunate that we’ve seen some fantastic growth over the last 2 years but we recognise that other businesses haven’t been so fortunate. The BCC know what they’re talking about, the government must listen before it’s too late.”

UK’s Largest Union Might Strike During Olympics Unique Client Solutions Discovers

The leader of the UK’s biggest union Unite told the Guardian that strikes could be timed to disrupt the Olympic Games this summer. The suggestion has been condemned by political leaders and the associates of Unique Client Solutions were similarly shocked.

Today Len McCluskey, leader of Unite union told The Guardian “If the Olympics provide us with an opportunity, then that’s exactly one that we should be looking at.” He continued, “The attacks that are being launched on public sector workers at the moment are so deep and ideological that the idea the world should arrive in London and have these wonderful Olympic Games as though everything is nice and rosy in the garden is unthinkable.”

Unique Client Solutions, a customer acquisitions company based in Sheffield, are eagerly anticipating the Olympics particularly with so many teams due to train in Sheffield in the weeks leading up to the games. “Everyone here was incredibly shocked to hear the news. This is a time when we should be showing the world how well we do things in the UK not striking just to get attention. There is a time and a place for everything,” said Simon Tomlinson, a manager at the company.

The suggestion has been widely criticised by politicians far and wide. Prime Minister David Cameron said that it was “unacceptable and unpatriotic.” Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said “People will just be gobsmacked, appalled, at Mr McCluskey’s remarks” he continued that to “mess up the Olympics to prove a point” would be incredibly negative for the country. Even the Labour leader Mr Milliband said that “any threat to the Olympics is totally unacceptable and wrong. This is a celebration for the whole country and must not be disrupted.” Unique Client Solutions believes his remarks are incredibly poignant considering that Unite is Labour’s biggest donor.

Mr Tomlinson summed up his feelings, “At Unique Client Solutions we’re incredibly excited for the Olympics, and we want to show what a great country the UK is both on and off the sportsfield. The timing of these suggested strikes would be incredibly detrimental and we would be disgusted if they went ahead. We will be focusing our attention instead on cheering for our athletes and welcoming our international guests.”