Leicester Mercury | Time to tap into this county's diverse talent

When it comes to awarding contracts, businesses take all manner of things into consideration, including price, quality of the product, and customer relations. But what about ethnicity?

There is a target set by Government for 25 per cent of all public sector contracts to go out to small and medium-sized firms such as Texane, but there is currently no emphasis on ensuring these targets are inclusive to black and minority ethnic (BME) firms. I believe there should be.

BME businesses are successful drivers for our economy. The Government should be making sure they get a fair slice of the public sector pie.

While many start-ups fail, 70 per cent of BME businesses are still here after five years, and they grow 20 per cent faster than other small firms.

Read the full article on the Leicester Mercury online here.

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Earlier this month, Texane spent some time at the annual Leicestershire Business event at the Leicester Tigers ground.

This event has been a major trade show for eight years now, attracting over 800 visitors.

Texane joined 113 other exhibitors at the event, which is a fantastic networking opportunity. The stand was a hive of activity all day, and it was great to get to know some of the faces behind Leicestershire’s brightest businesses.

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Zero hours contracts: 'Bad for morale – bad for business'

Business owner Arnab Dutt says zero hours contracts are harming the economy and should be scrapped.

It has been claimed that zero hours contracts make the UK more competitive by providing labour market flexibility.

The evidence challenges this. In reality, the widespread abuse of these contracts has harmed the economy and the fabric of our society.

Read the full article on the Leicester Mercury here

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Wheel manufacturer Texane wins airport contact

Picked up a copy of the Leicester Mercury today? If so, turn to page 3 of the Business Weekly section to see a feature all about Texane's fantastic three-year contract win for Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

Texane, of Market Harborough, will be supplying super tough polyurethane wheels for travelators throughtout Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, which ahs more than 60 million passengers a year.

The contract is worth £410,000 over three years to the company, which also supplies wheels for London's underground system and the New York subway.

Leicester gets The Giving Project off to a great start

“We know children and families on our doorstep in Leicestershire need support, and the money raised by The Giving Project will go to local projects that really can help. I wholeheartedly support this campaign so I’m urging other businesses to get involved and give where we live.”

Businesses, community groups and councillors have pledged their support to The Giving Project, launched by Voluntary Action LeicesterShire (VAL), which delivers vital support to community projects to lift local children out of poverty.

What the rail critics refuse to understand

It never ceases to amaze me how few people appreciate the fact that Britain's rail network needs a vast amount of investment to make it safer and better. 

As one of Network Rail's "watchdog" public members, it's fair to say I'm more up to speed on the investment programme than the average rail traveller.

If you ask anyone on a train today what they think of the rail network in Britain, you should expect to hear some ill-informed nonsense – yet Network Rail will spend £37 billion upgrading and improving our railway infrastructure over the next few years....

To read the whole article, visit the Leicestershire Mercury website.