Category: advice
As the weather hints at warmer days to come we see an increase in camping enthusiasts collecting their gear from storage.
It’s time to prepare for the season by checking through equipment, replacing anything that’s damaged and trying out the latest outdoor gadgets. As experienced campers will tell you, once you fall in love with holidaying under canvas, you’ll be adding to your camping must-haves every year.
However, if you’re new to camping it doesn’t have to cost a fortune in gear to get started. We’ve put together a few of the essentials for a weekend trip to get you snoozing under the stars in comfort.
The perfect tent
There are so many options on the market that choosing the perfect tent can feel overwhelming. You do need to research tent reviews online, speak to dealers and visit local camping shops to see some on display.
However, you don’t have to pick one straight away. If you can, borrow a tent first to get a feel for the features you like. Plus it’s a good way to be sure camping is right for you anyway. You’ll find that most regular campers have been through a number of tents before settling on a manufacturer and layout they prefer.
A good nights sleep
If you don’t get a good night’s sleep you will never enjoy camping to its fullest. You need to be comfortable and warm – there’s nothing worse than waking up cold or damp.
Remember that throughout the night temperatures fall and the ground gets cold. Insulating your bed from the floor helps keep you cosy. Place a picnic blanket under your bed, or use foam mats. Then, choose between an inflatable airbed, a camping bed or a SIM (self-inflating mattress).
Each type of bed has pros and cons. Airbeds can be very comfortable, but are prone to deflate. They can also be cold as the air inside cools, so you’ll need a blanket between your sleeping bag and the bed. Camping beds can be quick and easy to erect, but quite restrictive on space and quite firm, while a SIM can be comfortable, if you’re prepared to pay more for one thick enough to keep you from feeling the hard ground. Laying your SIM on top of a camping bed is a great alternative, but costs more in equipment.
The final ingredient to a good nights sleep is a thick sleeping bag, wide enough to allow movement, or if you prefer, a large, warm duvet. Take a couple of extra blankets in case you need them.
Something tasty to eat
All that fresh air helps you build up a healthy appetite so remember to take your cooker. A simple portable gas cooker is fine, and most come in their own carry case. Don’t forget the gas.
Then you’ll need cookware – a saucepan and frying pan, a kettle, plates, cutlery and a large mug for your morning cuppa. Unfortunately camping holidays do mean you have to do your own washing up, so a bowl, tea towel and washing up liquid.
As well as food – most camping trips involve a proper English breakfast – you need a cool box to keep your milk and bacon in.
Evening entertainment
One of the best things about camping is settling down by the campfire (if you are allowed one on site). A portable firepit is a lovely luxury – don’t forget the wood. Lightweight folding chairs and a table are perfect for an evening playing cards, and you’ll need a some powerful camping lanterns for light to play by.
Finally, make sure you pack some warm clothing, a change of shoes in case you get wet – well, we are talking camping in Britain – and your bathroom essentials.
And one more thing – don’t forget the bottle opener for the wine, to toast the success of your first trip.
Despite the month ending in storms, there are signs that spring is on the way. Snowdrops and daffodils are poking green shoots up through the snow and there are more birds about, ready to start building their nests.
After a long cold winter we’re all ready to get out and about – some fresh air, long walks and even cycling ahead. We know that there are some fabulous places to visit in the West Midlands, so we’ve asked you to share some of your favourite with us. Here’s what you recommended.
Park Lime Pits
When you live in the middle of a town, it can be hard to imagine beautiful countryside a mile or two away. Park Lime Pits is just that – a stunning nature reserve only 3 miles outside of Walsall, complete with tranquil pools, mature woodland and a diversity of wildflowers and birds. We’ve been told you can even see wild parakeets – make sure you take a camera.
Barr Beacon
If you feel like a good walk to stretch your legs, then set off to the top of Barr Beacon. One of the highest points of the West Midlands, you’ll find outstanding panoramic views of 11 counties.
One of the focal points is the War Memorial, lovely in the daylight and magical at night for the clear night sky views. In fact, it’s a popular place for stargazing and has been designated a Dark Sky Discovery Site.
Red House Park
The Red House is a listed building standing in 27 acres of parkland. While the house itself has been converted to apartments, the park remains open to the public. Two pools – or small lakes – and beautifully maintained gardens provide a lovely area for walking, while the woodlands, park and playing fields are the perfect place for children to blow off some winter steam.
Kingsbury Water Park
With 15 lakes to explore, you could send the whole day here cycling. There’s fishing, sailing, pedal boats – everything you would expect from a water park, in fact. Children will love the farm and donkey rides, as well as the usual play areas. Hop onto the Echills Wood Railway for a fun way to explore more of the park’s wooded areas.
Shustoke Reservoir
Shustoke Reservoir is a lovely place to hike or bike, and is certainly popular with nature lovers for the abundance of wildflowers. There’s an on site café if you need a hot chocolate in the crisp spring air – but we particularly liked that this recommendation came with the suggestion of stopping in at The Plough after your hike for a well-deserved pint.
Sutton Park
The most popular place you suggested by far was Sutton Park and it’s easy to see why. 2,400 acres of Nature Reserve, with heathland, woodlands, lakes, marshes, cattle and wild ponies sound amazing already, but on top of that there are playgrounds, restaurants and cafes, sailing and fishing, as well as plenty of room for walking and cycling.
Whether you’re walking your dog, exploring the woodlands, looking for group fun or peace and quiet, this really is a place for everyone. Make sure that when you visit, you stop by the donkey sanctuary.
The West Midlands has a multitude of nature reserves and countryside spots to visit. We’ve picked out the ones closest to home here near Sutton Coldfield and Minworth, but we’d love to hear more suggestions. If you’re planning to head out into the fresh spring air, tell us about your favourite place to visit.
Although we all use computers in business today, many industries still generate large amounts of paper records – much of which has to be kept for long periods of time.
Financial, legal, insurance and medical records, as well as tax records, architectural drawings and project information – whatever your industry, you probably have a lot of files that you need to store.
There’s no need to use your valuable office space, particularly if you’re paying premium city rates for every square foot. Self storage units offer you a cost-effective and secure place to keep your confidential and important documents.
When you start looking for a self storage unit, don’t assume all operators have the same offer. It’s worth looking about to see what you need.
Distance from your office
While your first thought might be to look for the closest storage unit to your office, in fact this may be the least important consideration.
Many industries need to store files for up to 10 years, but the paperwork is rarely needed during that time. Choosing a storage operator outside of the city limits will result in the benefit of lower costs that outweigh the distance to go for the occasional file.
External or internal units
Some storage units are external lock ups, while others are indoor units. If you do choose an external lock up, you’ll need to be aware of potential damage to your files from damp and rodents.
An indoor unit will mean that your paperwork stays dry and rodent free, so there’s no chance of mould or chewing to ruin essential files.
Security features
Another advantage of indoor units is that you are not only relying on your padlock to keep your data secure. Check that the operator you are considering offers CCTV both inside and outside of the facility. Some facilities, like Cookes, are manned throughout the day and have PIN code access, providing another layer of reassurance.
Room to grow
The great thing about self storage is that not only are the contracts flexible, so is the space. So, as your business grows and your records increase, you can easily expand the size of your unit.
Added extras
If you do need to access your records, you’ll want to be able to get hold of them easily. You can be sure that if you just pile boxes on top of each other, the files you need will be at the bottom of the heap.
Adding shelving to your unit will allow you to easily access individual files, and means boxes won’t get crushed and damaged. At Cookes, our archive units are prepared for you with pre-installed racking – giving you one less thing to do.
Record system
Make sure you clearly label each box before it goes off to storage. Whether you mark them by year, by project name or some other system, number each box and set up a simple record system on your computer. Then, if you do need to retrieve a file, you can easily identify the right box.
Collection services
Once your boxes are full, you’ll need to get them to your unit. Paperwork can be surprisingly heavy and inconvenient to move about.
We have a simple solution – our removals team will collect your boxes for you, and move them into your unit, secure and stored until you need them.
GDPR
With the deadline for GDPR compliance coming in May 2018, firms are reviewing their data storage right now. No matter where you store your confidential files, the onus is on your business to keep them safe. Make sure the storage firm you use has a clear understanding of GDPR, and how they can help you keep your files secure.
Cookes Archiving Solutions
At Cookes we have a ready make archiving solution for businesses, including pre-installed racking in your unit, a supply of extra strong archiving boxes, a padlock and marker pens, and an LED light to help you find your way. Once you’ve packed your boxes, our removal team will collect them for you and install them in your unit.
Call Cookes – we’re here to help your business grow.
Can you believe eBay has been around for over 20 years? It’s a huge marketplace, providing sellers with access to a worldwide audience of customers. EBay allows small companies and sole traders to set up shop alongside high street brands and compete more evenly.
Of course, the bigger shops still have some advantages – with bigger buying power and larger sources of stock, there’s more room for them to reduce prices. But it’s not all about the price – so here’s our top tips for growing your own eBay business.
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Clear, branded eBay descriptions.
As with most everything online, you only have seconds to grab the attention of your customer. After spending hours combing through the search pages of eBay to find ‘Rattan Garden Furniture’ or a ‘Vintage Child’s Toy Kitchen’, there’s nothing more off putting than a poorly written listing.
Create your own shop logo, and make sure it’s visible at the top of each description. It gives your shop a more professional and reassuring feel. Make sure every description is concise, but contains key details – the technical specifications and colour, dimensions and cleaning instructions.
If you have all of the details to hand, a buyer will feel more confident in knowing what to expect, and will be happy to pay a little more for that certainty.
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Fair postage and policies
Buying from eBay can feel a little daunting to the uninitiated, as it’s not always clear whether the seller is an established retailer. Of course, this benefits us as sole traders, as there’s no immediate advantage to being a high street brand on eBay – as long as we have clear policies in place.
Make sure your postage is fair – it’s easy to be found out if you are inflating courier charges or trying to profit on a stamp, and it will be noted in your subsequent feedback.
Have policies in place that outline whether you’ll accept returns on faulty items. Nothing reassures a buyer than knowing there’s an easy solution to potential problems.
Finally, take advantage of the About page to give some background to your business and location.
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Speedy communications
By providing clear and detailed item descriptions, you’ll cut out a lot of repetitive questions from potential customers. However, you’ll still get some queries before a sale, as well as customers contacting you in relation to delivery issues and so on.
Make sure you respond to every question clearly and quickly. Waiting days for an answer to a problem will just aggravate the situation, while potential sales will be lost as shoppers go on to the next seller.
When a sale is made, providing swift confirmation followed by emails to acknowledge postage and delivery will also build confidence in your brand.
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Organisation
Organisation is the key to running any successful business. While your eBay shop may start off as a hobby, as it grows it will take more and more of your time. To keep both your reliability – and your own sanity – it’s important to develop a process.
Firstly, if you can, keep to office hours. Then when you ‘finish work’ for the day, you can turn off your computer and relax, while your online shop just keeps on selling.
Secondly, develop a routine. Spend the morning answering queries from customers and organising new stock. Next focus on printing off new sales up to your cut off time. Then allow time to package and address them all, in time for collection by your courier, or for you to skip off to the post office.
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Expand and grow
As your sales increase, routine becomes more important. Most eBayers start off at home. The constant swapping of the dining table from family use to functional production line will soon lose its appeal though.
As boxes of stock start to take over the available space in the home, consider expanding your operations to a storage unit. There are a number of advantages.
You’ll have a clear divide between home life and work life. You can set up an office space inside your unit, with a desk for your computer. This will allow you to focus without distractions during office hours. Many self storage units can be equipped with heating, power and Wi-Fi.
Your storage unit can also be fitted with racking, keeping boxes of stock organised and easy to hand. The tools you need for packaging, weighing and labelling items can stay out where they are needed.
A self-storage unit also has benefits over traditional shop premises. There is no separate business rates or council tax. You pay one rental fee – and only on the size of the unit you need. Then, as business booms, it’s easy to move into larger units or rent a second one – with more stock allowing you to match high street prices.
Finally, storage companies often offer other business perks. Cookes has a kitchen, bathroom and meeting space on site for your use – removing practical concerns from working on site all day. And we’ll accept deliveries, so you can forget hanging about waiting for stock to arrive, and spend your time elsewhere.
If you’re thinking of starting, or expanding, your eBay business, then get in touch. We’re here to help.
Sharing a house with another person can be exciting, but leaves plenty of room for tension as well. Whether you’re leaving home for the first time, sharing with friends or moving in with a partner, there’s a few tips to making sure your new home doesn’t turn into a nightmare.
Sharing money
Money is always a source of arguments, even between long term couples. It’s important to work out, probably even before you move in, how you will share the bills and shopping. You might choose to keep separate food cupboards, or to create a kitty for essentials such as bread, teabags and washing up liquid.
Keep track of any furniture or decorations you buy for the house as well, so that if you do move out you know who owns what.
Sharing space
Even if you have your own bedrooms, you and your new housemate will be sharing living space, so start by making each room into a place you both enjoy.
Enjoy picking out pieces of furniture together and discuss where you’ll put them. You may have pieces from home, and you will most likely end up with duplicates of some things, such as pots and pans and other kitchen utensils. If you do, consider putting them in storage until you move into your next home and need them.
Sharing jobs
No one likes clearing out the bins or cleaning the bathroom, but if these jobs don’t get done regularly and equally, tensions will rise. So it’s worth making a rota from the very beginning for the worst jobs and make sure you do your share.
Sharing things
Eating each other’s food isn’t the only way to cause friction. Helping yourself to shampoo, clothes or other personal items will just irritate your housemate. Remember as well that the furniture might belong to one of the others, even though it’s for everyone to use. So take care of it, just as you would your own.
Sharing issues
No matter how well you plan or what good friends you are, there will be times when you get irritated. It’s important to discuss issues and be open with each other.
Spend time together to build strong bonds and – importantly – to have fun. Why not make it a habit to watch a favourite soap, share a meal or have a film night with popcorn once a week. That helps keep communication open and build shared bonds.
House sharing can be great fun, and create friends for life. It’s all about showing each other some respect, and getting through each issue together.
As the children head off back to school, it does start to feel like summer is over. The official end of summer isn’t actually until 22 September – which means there’s still time to enjoy the last bit of sunshine, and start getting your garden ready for autumn.
Enjoy the summer harvest
All of your hard work through the spring and summer is now showing the benefits. If you had fruit and vegetable beds growing, you’ll be enjoying the harvest. If it’s not quite ready, check your netting is secure. The birds will be getting hungrier about now.
It’s time to get jamming and pickling – storing your harvest for the future. You can also freeze fruit, so make sure there is space in your freezer.
Make sure you dig up any potatoes, the slugs are out about in force. You can leave them out in the last of the summer sunshine to dry for a few hours, before storing in a dry, dark place to keep you going through the next few months. Remember that they need air or they’ll go mouldy.
Hanging baskets and container plants are still flowering and looking beautiful. Keep up the feeding and they will last until the frosts begin.
Autumn garden tips
The first thing that happens in autumn is, of course, leaves start to fall from the trees. Make sure you put netting over ponds, ready to catch them all. It saves a lot of time and cleaning later. You’ll also need somewhere to put all those leaves, so make a space for new compost piles if you can.
Summer’s plants are beginning to die back, so you can start clearing them out, particularly if you have a greenhouse. This means you’ll have the space to get some new plants in over the autumn.
Remove weeds and the dead crops – a little time tidying up your beds and vegetable patch now will save you time nest year, when the ground may still be firmer.
Thinking ahead to spring
The ground is still soft and warm enough to start thinking about next spring. Now is the time to be planting your spring bulbs – daffodils, crocus, hyacinths and so on.
It’s also the best time to be planting new trees and shrubs. The increased rainfall will help them settle in, ready to burst into new growth next year.
New lawns will grow well right now, so putting down seed, aerating your lawn and giving it some food will help improve any poor patches.
Storing your garden furniture
As well as preparing the garden, it’s time to care for your tables and chairs. By the end of September the weather will be poorer, and the temperatures much lower. One of the last jobs of the month is to give everything a good clean, and put it away for the winter.
Give your shed or garage a good clear out, and make a space between the bikes and wheelbarrow. If you don’t have the room, consider putting your furniture in self-storage for the 6 months until you need it again. It’s dry and out of the way, leaving you more room at home for your spring potting.