The blog for smart businesspeople
Monday, 23 March 2026
That's Food and Drink: Ebrofrost & Food Team International promote pre-co...
That's Food and Drink: Ebrofrost & Food Team International promote pre-co...: Stand No. N4160, London Excel, 30th Mar to 1st Apr 2026: Ebrofrost, a global specialist and leading B2B supplier in cooked frozen grain-base...
That's Food and Drink: Troubled by brown avocados? Not anymore! Natavo Av...
That's Food and Drink: Troubled by brown avocados? Not anymore! Natavo Av...: On Stand No. N2657, London Excel, 30th Mar to 1st Apr 2026, Natavo Avocado will showcase its 100% natural, non-browning avocado at the upco...
Saturday, 21 March 2026
Why Charity Shops Must Be Run Professionally. And Why Rude Volunteers Damage More Than They Help.
Charity shops are a cornerstone of the UK high street.
They raise vital funds, support local communities, promote sustainability, and give pre-loved goods a second life.
But there’s an uncomfortable truth that many shoppers and donors quietly recognise:
When charity shops are poorly run, or staffed by rude volunteers, everyone loses.
The Reality: Good Intentions Aren’t Enough
Volunteers are the beating heart of charity retail. Without them, many shops simply wouldn’t exist. But goodwill alone doesn’t create a positive customer experience.
Charity shops are still retail environments.
Customers expect:
Friendly service
Fair pricing
Clean, organised spaces
A welcoming atmosphere
When those basics aren’t met, shoppers don’t complain, they just stop coming back.
And when donors feel judged, dismissed, or treated poorly, they take their bags elsewhere.
The Cost of Rudeness
It only takes one negative interaction to undo months of goodwill.
Rude behaviour, whether it’s dismissive comments, passive-aggressive attitudes, or outright hostility, can have serious consequences:
Lost sales: Customers walk out and don’t return
Reduced donations: People choose other charities or disposal options
Brand damage: Word spreads quickly, especially online
Volunteer morale issues: Toxic environments drive good people away
In short, poor behaviour directly impacts fundraising, the very purpose of the shop.
Charity Shops Are Businesses. And Should Be Treated That Way
While charity shops exist for a cause, they operate in a competitive retail landscape. They compete with:
Other charity shops
Discount retailers
Online marketplaces like eBay and Vinted
To succeed, they must be run professionally.
That means:
Clear management structures
Proper training for volunteers
Defined customer service standards
Accountability for behaviour
A charity shop should feel just as welcoming and well-run as any high street store, if not more so.
The Volunteer Question: Support, Not Excuse
Volunteers give their time freely, and that deserves respect. But volunteering is not a free pass for poor behaviour.
In fact, volunteers represent the charity’s brand every time they interact with the public.
Charities should:
Provide basic customer service training
Set clear expectations from day one
Address complaints promptly and fairly
Remove volunteers who consistently damage the shop’s reputation
This isn’t about being harsh, it’s about protecting the charity’s mission.
Professionalism Drives Profit (and Purpose)
Well-run charity shops consistently outperform poorly managed ones.
Why?
Because they:
Build loyal customer bases
Encourage repeat donations
Create positive community hubs
Maximise the value of every item sold
Professionalism doesn’t undermine the charitable spirit, it strengthens it.
A Simple Standard: Be Kind, Be Respectful, Be Professional
At its core, this isn’t complicated.
Every charity shop should operate on three simple principles:
Treat every customer with respect
Appreciate every donation
Create a welcoming, inclusive environment
Anything less risks turning away the very people charities rely on.
Charity shops do incredible work. But to continue thriving, especially in today’s challenging retail climate, they must balance heart with professionalism.
Because raising money for a good cause starts with how people are treated at the till.
Discover why professionalism in charity shops matters, how rude volunteers impact sales and donations, and what charities must do to protect their reputation.
Global energy body backs carpooling as UK fuel prices rise
Carpooling specialist Mobilityways has welcomed the International Energy Agency's call for governments and businesses to encourage car sharing, and is urging UK employers to act immediately as energy prices continue to rise.
The IEA, which counts the UK among its 32 member nations, this week outlined ten measures to reduce energy consumption worldwide in response to the ongoing conflict in the Gulf.
Car sharing and efficient driving featured prominently. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told the BBC the world faces "the greatest global energy security threat in history".
Mobilityways says the numbers make the case plainly. UK cars currently average just 1.55 passengers per journey. Raising that to 1.8 would reduce fuel consumption by approximately 14%, saving around 4 billion litres annually.
That is not a distant ambition: France already achieves 1.7 to 1.8 average occupancy through systematic carpooling support, and during the 1970s oil crisis, UK car traffic fell around 5% through largely informal arrangements with no digital tools at all.
Today, the UK has Liftshare.com: founded in 1998 as the world's first digital carpooling platform, with over 700,000 registered members. The infrastructure is already here.
Ali Clabburn, Chairman of Mobilityways and founder of Liftshare told That's Business: "We now have 700,000 people already on Liftshare.com and a platform that can scale within weeks. The IEA is telling the world to carpool. The UK can lead on this because we already have everything we need."
Julie Furnell, Managing Director of Mobilityways, told us: "Every empty seat on the commute is wasted fuel.
"Large employers need to consider how they can support their teams with the rising fuel costs. With a carpool community your employees save money, you reduce your Scope 3 emissions, and you are doing something real in response to a genuine energy challenge. We are ready to help any organisation get started."
Mobilityways works with large employers across the UK, including Heathrow Airport, Lloyds Banking Group and over 30 NHS Trusts, to measure, reduce and report commuter emissions through its enterprise platform, Liftshare For Work.
Members of the public can join for free at www.liftshare.com.
Friday, 20 March 2026
FCM M&E Makes Power Move with fresh Acquisition — And It Changes Everything for Events
The global MICE heavyweight has snapped up fresh, the award-winning creative force behind standout brand experiences for giants like Visa, Vodafone, M&S and Samsung.
This isn’t just another industry deal. It’s a statement of intent.
By bringing fresh into the fold, FCM M&E is transforming from a logistics-led events player into a fully integrated experience powerhouse, one that can design, produce, and deliver world-class events from concept to curtain call.
Scale, speed, and serious creative firepower
The immediate impact is huge. The combined UK team will quadruple in size to nearly 100 specialists, with new hubs in Manchester and Edinburgh joining its London base. That’s not just growth, it’s strategic expansion into key creative and commercial centres.
But the real story is capability.
FCM M&E can now offer clients a single, seamless service that covers everything: global travel logistics, event delivery, creative concepting, content production, and even high-end film production, all under one roof. No more juggling agencies. No more fragmented execution.
Why this matters right now
The timing couldn’t be sharper. With 98% of event organisers now prioritising attendee experience, the pressure is on to deliver events that are not just well-run, but unforgettable.
The acquisition of fresh plugs a long-standing gap in the MICE sector: the disconnect between planning and creativity. Now, strategy, storytelling, and execution sit side by side.
From logistics to “standing ovation” moments
This is about more than efficiency, it’s about impact.
With fresh’s creative DNA now embedded into the business, FCM M&E is positioning itself as an end-to-end partner that doesn’t just manage events, but creates experiences people remember.
As fresh CEO Lee Harris puts it, the goal is simple: remove friction, amplify creativity, and deliver measurable ROI — all backed by global infrastructure and smart tech.
The bottom line
FCM M&E hasn’t just expanded. It’s reinvented its proposition.
In a sector where expectations are rising fast, this move signals a clear shift: the future of events belongs to those who can think, create, and execute, all in one place.
And right now, FCM M&E looks ready to own that space.
Thursday, 19 March 2026
That's Green: Bluwater Solutions: Smart Water Innovation for a G...
That's Green: Bluwater Solutions: Smart Water Innovation for a G...: Water is one of our most precious natural resources, yet it’s often taken for granted. Across the UK and beyond, concerns around water qual...
AI Needs Power. PoweringAI Thinks It’s Found It
And right now, Europe doesn’t have enough of either.
Enter PoweringAI, a new pan-European venture with a simple but ambitious idea: stop waiting for perfect sites, and start transforming the ones we already have.
Launched as a spin-off from advisory firm Xynteo (and backed by Leon Capital), PoweringAI isn’t playing the usual data centre game.
Instead of battling over scarce land and grid connections, it’s going after overlooked industrial and port sites, the kind of places that already have the one thing AI desperately needs: power.
And it’s not starting small. The company launches with a hefty 350 MW pipeline (with ambitions pushing closer to 500 MW), positioning itself as a serious contender in Europe’s race to build AI-ready infrastructure.
From Rust to Revenue
PoweringAI’s model is as pragmatic as it is clever: take legacy industrial land, plug it into modern energy systems, and turn it into high-performance compute hubs.
Think less “greenfield dream” and more “industrial reinvention.”
It’s a strategy that ticks multiple boxes:
Brings dormant sites back into productive use
Supports local job creation in post-industrial areas
Speeds up delivery by bypassing land and power bottlenecks
Aligns neatly with Europe’s sustainability and circular economy goals
In short: it’s infrastructure with a second life, and a business case.
Why This Matters Now
AI isn’t slowing down. If anything, demand for compute is accelerating faster than most infrastructure pipelines can keep up.
The real constraint? Not chips. Not software. Not even talent.
Power.
PoweringAI is betting that the winners in the next phase of the AI boom won’t just be the companies building smarter models, but the ones solving the unglamorous, foundational problem of where all that compute actually lives.
A Different Kind of Developer
Backed by Xynteo’s industrial network and over a year of groundwork in site origination and development, PoweringAI is positioning itself at the intersection of three forces:
That’s a crowded Venn diagram, but also where the biggest opportunities tend to sit.
The Bottom Line
While others are still wrestling with planning delays and grid constraints, PoweringAI is effectively saying: the infrastructure we need is already here, we just need to rethink it.
If it delivers, this won’t just be another data centre developer. It could be a blueprint for how Europe powers its AI future, faster, smarter, and with a bit of industrial common sense thrown in.
And in a sector obsessed with the future, that’s a refreshingly grounded place to start.
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