All Posts in "Month: May 2019"

Wedding Dress Code for Guests: How to Interpret It

It seems a long time ago now since wedding guests were asked simply to come in their best “smart casual” outfits and you could make do with your favorite posh frock and a little hat or fascinator in your hair.

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Nowadays, couples will theme their big day, and the dress code for wedding guests is changing accordingly. You might look for trends in the photos of vintage, rustic and beach weddings. A Wedding Venue has seen almost every theme that there is going and is in some instances even able to help with some of the arrangements.

Whatever the wedding style and location, though, you can be sure that there will be a theme of some description for you to factor in when you attend the Gloucestershire Hotel Wedding Venue.

Traditional Country House

Go for pretty blush pinks and flattering A-line dresses with feature prints of festoons of flowers. Keeping the styles short and flirty but with delicate embroidery for the added class is a must for a summery wedding feel.

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Wedding by the Sea

There’s only one key detail for that upcoming beach wedding – crochet. Be it in soft china-blue patterns, bright reds or lemon yellows, you will find something fashionable enough for being beside the sea. If you really want to get noticed on the sand, perhaps try a bold dress color and match this with an impressive headpiece.

Rustic Outdoor Soiree

For that country retreat or rustic wedding, think subtlety and femininity: classic shapes in soft shades or with flower-spray prints if you really want to look at home in the cottage garden. Alternatively, for something a bit more unusual, choose a trendy culotte jumpsuit.

Vintage/Retro Glamour

If you have a vintage wedding theme to work with, much will depend on the era selected by the wedding couple. You can find plenty of ideas for vintage style, from Old Hollywood and Art Deco to 1950s diner chic. Either think big Grease-style skirts in vibrant shades for fifties glam or try a shoulder-revealing sixties style. Lace makes for a perfect vintage look and can be found in a variety of different colors and patterns.

Opulent City Wedding

For an upscale city wedding, pick a demure ankle-skimming dress and add an understated corsage or sophisticated lace posy for cool city style. If you’re looking for something a bit different to a dress, try coordinating a flowing skirt with a form fitted top.

admin by — May 14, 2019 in Lifestyle
How to Lay Out Your Shop Floor in Easy Steps

Carefully considering your store layout can increase revenue by boosting efficiency, organization and strategically directing your customers towards higher-priority products.

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These seven tips will help you to create a shop floor to increase sales and enhance customers’ experience.

1. Choose a Floor Plan

Most retail stores use one of three store layouts: a grid layout (commonly used by grocery stores); a loop layout, which maximizes wall space and leads customers along a path; and free-flow plans, which are often seen in upscale stores. Choice of layout can depend on the shape and size of your store, the products you sell and your target customers.

2. Create a Blueprint

Before implementing your store layout, creating a blueprint allows you to get a clearer picture and identify potential problems. You may be able to work from an existing blueprint or draw your own schematic using grid paper or online tool. Sketching out different floor plans will help you establish what works best for your space.

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3. Consider Traffic Flow

It is important to keep traffic flow in mind when arranging your store’s aisles, paths, and displays. Having a ‘decompression zone’ is important in creating a transition space for customers entering the store, whilst personal space is also essential to avoid crowding.

4. Choosing a Checkout Area

According to DeAnna Radaj, an expert in retail feng shui, the front left is a good position for the checkout, due to customers usually turning right when entering stores before completing a loop. Therefore, the front left is on customers’ natural exit path.

5. Product Mapping

Product mapping refers to the process of deciding where to feature all of your products. It is important to ensure the most suitable fixtures are chosen, whilst flexibility in display areas is crucial for accommodating seasonal products.

6. Accessories and Amenities

Adding the finishing touches to your store is essential for creating an enjoyable customer experience, such as seating areas and dressing rooms. Retail signage is also a decorative and practical addition, such as retail signage from Mood Media, which includes digital retail signage and promotion boards.

7. Fixtures and Displays

After choosing your store layout and product mapping, it is important to consider your permanent fixtures, such as lighting, shelving, and counters, as well as movable displays, including gondolas, modular units and clothing racks.

admin by — May 13, 2019 in Business
What to include in your SEO strategy

Successful websites need visitors, but visitors that call for the right reason. Without a clear digital marketing strategy built into your website and other business operations, you will struggle to get results.

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Search engines rank your website using a range of factors. Only two are beyond your control – domain name age and your competition – the rest you have to work on, hard.

Keywords

Brand consistency matters even more online than off. Every appearance of your business name and address must be consistent: discrepancies will prevent you from appearing on Google maps let alone search results. Similarly, each webpage needs to be designed consistently around the keywords customers search for. Those keywords should then infuse your website design and other marketing.

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Don’t guess these keywords! You can check how often potential customers search for a keyword or phrase using Google Analytics. However, raw Google statistics can be misleading, and identifying effective keywords can be tricky. For example, if your business sells cooking appliances, the Google popularity of “microwaves” will include people interested in physics not cooking. If your customers are likely to prefer a local business it is wise to also promote your location – for example, “professional SEO services London”.

Continuously monitor your costs and website traffic using Google’s search console, watching how clicks and conversions (sales) respond to your SEO and marketing strategies.

Back-links

The more links to your business that Google discovers on other (respected) websites boosts your ranking. Writing for blogs is one way to promote this. Another is to attract media attention by engaging in community events. At the very least, register with important “yellow page” and directory sites like Yell and My Local Services. Try to keep links consistent with your keywords, for example, professional SEO services London.

Traffic

Nothing succeeds with Google-like success. The more people visit your site the higher Google ranks you, and the higher you’ve ranked the more people visit. It keeps household names on top even when smaller businesses offer better service. To break into that loop use every means to get customers looking for you. Every email, invoice, letter and company van can promote your website. Consider old-fashioned leafleting and direct marketing too.

But remember, you are trying to woo customers not just Google. A sleek professionally designed website will convert more visitors into loyal customers.

admin by — May 13, 2019 in SEO
Five Great Tips for Field Hockey Goalkeepers

It doesn’t matter which position you play in field hockey, there will always be room for improvement in both your physical game and your mental attitude to the sport. The goalkeeping position might seem the least thrilling, but it can be quite the mental battle. Here we look at five key tips for mental and physical survival in the goal position.

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Keep Calm and Keep Your Eye on the Ball

This may seem very obvious. Of course, you need to watch the ball at all times. But watching the ball getting closer or being flicked from way back down the field can cause a keeper to tense up. Stay loose, stay big and occupy that space. The more relaxed you are the more quickly your body will be able to react and stop that goal.

Stay Stable

Try not to wobble around or be tempted to lean back into your net. By keeping the balls of your feet on the ground, your center of gravity is lowered, so you are stabilizing yourself to ensure that when you do have to move, smother or kick the ball, you are in balance and less likely to fall backward. This sounds tricky. The best thing is to watch a hockey drill video to see the stance that the keepers take in between saves and kicks.

Come in for a Safe Landing

While the keeper is well padded, sometimes overly rotating to make the save can cause an awkward landing. You can improve your skills on the field with a hockey drill video. Always make sure that when you smother or dive you land smoothly on your hips and make full use of those guards. Over-rotation can cause knee problems, which can be tricky to fix.

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Hands in the Air

You want to fill that net space as much as you can – less space means less chance of a goal. Keep your hands up but stay comfortable – we don’t want a keeper with cramp. Then you can easily reach for those quickly incoming top corner shots.

Take It on the Chin

Not literally! Some goals are going to get past you. That’s par for the course. Yes, some goals might get through, but you can’t let them get you down. You are still an excellent keeper.

admin by — May 12, 2019 in sport
A short history of the sash window

Timber windows can be traced back hundreds of years in the UK. The sliding sash window originated in London in the 17th century and can be found exported to colonized countries such as India, the US, and the Caribbean. They are becoming incredibly popular additions to homes and many people have these installed after moving into their new property following the legal completion by a Conveyancing Solicitors Manchester company like https://www.samconveyancing.co.uk/conveyancing-solicitors/conveyancing-solicitors-Manchester

But what is the history of these beautiful window decorations? Here is just a very brief look at the history of the sash window.

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The origin of the sash window

The sash window design was born at a time when streets were narrow and any window jutting out could have blocked a thatcher’s path or even touched the opposite building.

The sliding variation of the sash window became prominent during the English Baroque period after the Great Fire of London in 1666. Many architectural gems featuring sliding sash windows were built during this period, such as Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, and Greenwich Palace. The sash window design is not attributed to a specific location or person.

Georgian period

The original paned sash window rose in popularity during the Georgian period (1714-1811). A bowed window was included in the design to bring more light inside, especially in cramped streets. Intricate glazing bars were also added to create smaller, cheaper panes of glass.

Late Georgian or Regency (1811-1830) windows retained the multi-pane appearance but featured ornate moldings and features, creating a distinctive design that was particularly fashionable in Brighton.

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Victorian period

The Victorian era (1830-1901) brought innovation in glass technology. The window tax imposed in 1696 was also abolished, whereby houses with more than ten windows were liable for additional taxes. This tax had a large effect on properties, with bricked-up windows becoming architectural features.

In 1834 a new glass was developed – cylinder plate glass – and became widely implemented across British cities and towns from the 1850s. This facilitated the economical manufacture of heavier and larger panes of glass, with rural areas continuing to install multi-paned sash windows until around 1880.

Victorian houses became associated with single, large-paned windows with square-angled or canted bays, which were considerably cheaper than bowed windows. To fit in with fashion and signify wealth, many Regency and Georgian properties updated their windows to the more modern large-pane style and forwent the glazing bars. Today, Dublin windows and doors are available from companies such as www.keanewindows.ie/.

Modern sash windows

Contemporary sash windows are constructed from Accoya, double glazed, and coated with microporous paint.

admin by — May 8, 2019 in Home
Mobile mechanic insurance – what’s covered?

A mobile mechanic visits customers at their own home or place of work. They operate out of a van and carry tools and equipment from job to job. They may work full time or part time, but either way, they will need a policy that covers all elements of their particular business, from roadside recovery to battery charging.

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Types of cover available

The most basic form of cover is a policy that enables the mechanic to drive and work on customers’ vehicles. There is also a similar policy but with fire and theft cover, whilst the vehicle is in the mobile mechanic’s care.

The third type of motor trade insurance policy for the mobile mechanic is the comprehensive cover, which will protect their own vehicle, and themselves, as well as customers’ vehicles. For a mobile mechanic, their vehicle is the crucial element that enables them to operate their business, so it would be advisable to protect this as well as the tools and instruments that it carries.

If staff is employed, the Employer’s Liability cover will be essential and required by law to cover against any illness, injury or death sustained by an employee during the course of their employment.

Product Liability is a recommended element to the mobile mechanic’s motor trade insurance. This would cover all work on a customer’s vehicle. If, for example, a repair failed, then the mechanic would be covered against any claims made under legislation such as the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and any associated costs.

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Finally, Public Liability covers any claims made by members of the public and is recommended a cover for any business that interacts with the public.

Bespoke policies

There are all kinds of service that a mobile mechanic could offer, such as roadside assistance, recovery, valeting or a home-based MOT service. Therefore, the mobile mechanic should carefully choose a reputable insurance broker who can provide motor trade insurance tailored to suit the mechanic’s business.

The right insurance is highly recommended for any kind of mobile mechanic, whether they work full time or part-time. The nature of their work carries significant risks, which need to be protected. Therefore, trade policy for this specific type of trader needs careful attention to detail and regular review by a broker to ensure all relevant elements of the business are covered.

admin by — May 7, 2019 in Auto