Is your area making the switch to FTTP?

Many business and residential broadband lines are still FTTC (fibre to the cabinet), which simply means that those ultrafast fibre optic cables that are so vital for quick broadband connection only reach the little box – AKA the cabinet – down the bottom of your street; from there, standard copper wires connect the cabinet to your home. Meanwhile, FTTP (fibre to the property) uses fibre optic cabling directly from the source to your home, allowing for significant improvements in broadband speed and reliability.

You may have had a flyer pop through your letterbox, letting you know that you will soon be eligible to get ultrafast broadband connection in your home. What you may not be aware of are the benefits of choosing Logic partner, Zen, over leading providers.

It’s easy to get drawn in by the names you recognise but it may surprise you to know that, in a survey by Martin Lewis (MoneySavingExpert), a staggering 94% of Zen’s customers rated its service ‘great’. Multi-award-winning Zen also has over 25 years of experience, 75% ‘Excellent’ reviews on Tripadvisor, and is rated ‘great’ on Trustpilot. On top of that, Zen is the only Which? recommended broadband provider in 2021, confidently surpassing several well-known names. And, if that’s not enough, they even achieved Carbon Neutral Plus status in February 2020.

Have you ever been in a panic trying to attend a virtual meeting that won’t stop buffering? Or maybe an urgent email attachment just wouldn’t send. According to Zen’s research, 38% of home workers lose productivity due to poor connections, with over half an hour’s work lost from the day. If you’re working from home and live in an area supported by ultrafast speed, then Zen can give you Gigabit broadband with speeds of up to 900Mbps! Look forward to reduced buffering, quicker download and upload speeds, and greater coverage across your home. Zen even include a free static IP address, for easier remote access to connect to your remote desktop.

Zen also has a range of fantastic broadband packages for business, from smaller start-up groups to larger organisations. So, you can rest assured that all your team will be working to the best of their abilities with reliable, speedy connection.

Here at Logic Business Systems Ltd., Carlisle, our friendly, experienced IT team are happy to discuss all available Zen broadband packages to find the perfect fit for your home or business. Give us a call on 01228 527676 or email sales@logic-ltd.co.uk

If business is booming but you’re struggling to cope, don’t panic – you’re not alone! For many small businesses, the excitement of flocking customers can sometimes be overshadowed by the panic of running to a single ringing phone. If this is sounding all too familiar then you need PhoneLine+: Gamma’s NEW phone system for small businesses, sure to outperform your traditional landline telephone and even save you up to 40%^*!

Available from just £6.95pm from Logic Communications, Carlisle, PhoneLine+ is a clever VoIP system in the form of a simple-to-navigate app. The app is immediately sent to you via email after purchase, so you can start taking advantage of its fantastic features without the fuss of a time-consuming set-up. Better still, you don’t even need to change your company phone number!

Download PhoneLine+ to your mobile, tablet, laptop, IP handset or any other compatible device, and instantly start taking and making calls wherever you are; as long as you are logged in on your device, it will ring when a call comes in. Set your out-of-hours and record your own greetings to add an extra personal touch to your company. You can even ‘Set yourself to Away’ if you’re busy with a customer, transferring the call to another colleague or sending the caller to voice mail.

Want to know exactly when to expect the most calls? With PhoneLine+’s call analytics, you can prepare your staff for the busiest times of the day and even see the details of any calls your team may have missed.

Sometimes, you have to prepare your company for the unexpected. If your organisation suddenly needs to change its opening hours due to illness, traffic, bad weather or even bereavement, you can easily change your preferences via web browser, wherever you are, to inform callers that your business will not be open.

You may still be unsure about making the leap to VoIP, but the decision will soon be taken out of your hands. From 2025, the “Big Switch Off” will have taken effect, rendering all UK landlines completely obsolete. So, what does this mean for your small business? Well, in just a few years’ time, you will no longer be able to take or make calls via landline telephone, severely impacting the way your customers get in touch to make a table reservation, book a hotel room, arrange a hair appointment, etc.

So, stay one step ahead with PhoneLine+ and join the growing number of small businesses who are succeeding in the modern world. Get PhoneLine+ today by contacting sales@logic-ltd.co.uk or 01228 527676

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Una Health and Fortress Diagnostics are partnering with the Department of Health & Social Care in the Real Time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) Study into COVID-19. The REACT study is being led by Imperial College London and Ipsos MORI and is looking to understand how many people are currently infected, or have been infected, with the COVID-19 virus.

Peter Lucas, who heads up Pathology at Una Health, said, “We have worked with Fortress for a number of years and know that their diagnostics kits are held in high esteem across the world. We are delighted to be involved in this study as we look to understand the spread of this virus and, ultimately to save lives.”

Having antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in theory means that a person’s immune system will be able to identify, target and fight off the infection if the person is re-infected. The exact strength of the immunity these antibodies may provide is still unspecified due to the unknown nature of how significantly the virus mutates. Having a trusted method to diagnose the presence of these antibodies is crucial and that’s why Una Health are working closely with Fortress Diagnostics to bring you the most accurate possible diagnostic solution throughout the pandemic.

So far, research has identified antibodies with specificity to surface proteins of the SARS-CoV2 virus in people who tested positive for the virus, but despite the speed of progress, it has yet to be proven whether these antibodies are capable of conferring immunity to someone subsequently re-exposed to the virus, and if so, for how long that immunity would last. Nonetheless, the presence of antibodies in the bloodstream can be used as an indicator of what percentage of the population has been exposed to SARS-CoV2. This information could prove to be vital when determining safety measures in workplaces and across the UK.

We are pleased to be supporting Imperial College London during the next stage of the REACT study whereby they will be testing over 200,000 people nationwide for COVID-19 antibodies. This phase of testing, which will continue to detect the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in England, could help the UK plan the most effective strategy to see us through the pandemic.

Being able to provide a trusted, easy to use testing method for antibodies throughout the pandemic has been a priority and we are proud to be working alongside Fortress Diagnostics to bring the ‘antibody test of choice’ directly to healthcare and workplace settings.

The rapid Antibody tests supplied have been vigorously tested and proved to be robust, practical and easy to use.

We are now also supplying the Fortress Fast Rapid Antigen Test, for rapid detection of COVID-19 antigen. The Fortress Fast Antigen Test is an accurate test that detects COVID-19 infection. Visually read results in 15 minutes with no instrumentation or additional equipment required. For further information contact enquiries@unahealth.co.uk.

Cost savings as Welsh farm improves soil health with Farming Connect support

A Welsh upland farm is spending less on feed and fertiliser and is finishing lambs four weeks earlier since improving soils and animal health management.

The Davies family farm 320 acres at Waen Gwyn, Cefn Coch, Welshpool, where they run a flock of 750 ewes and 25 suckler cows; they also rent another 45 acres of land.

Chris Davies, who farms with his father and grandfather, Glyn and Jim, and step-brother, Mark Bellerby, has taken advantage of multiple Farming Connect initiatives.

He credits these and his membership of the Farming Connect-run Severn Valley Sheep Discussion Group for the improvements the business has made with grassland and livestock performance.

The foundation to these was a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) provided through the Farming Connect Advisory Service.

Chris has since had input from leading soil and grassland specialists, Mark Tripney and Chris Duller, by accessing other Farming Connect initiatives.

“We have found that if you get your soils right everything else just follows, it all starts with the soil,’’ he says.

“Since addressing compaction issues and revising our fertiliser policy we are growing better quality grass and more of it and that means our ewes and cows are more productive and our lambs and cattle are quicker to fatten.’’

Chris was advised that the business was spending money unnecessarily on a slow-release fertiliser.

“We had used that fertiliser for years but learned that it wasn’t what our soils needed; it was actually making the situation worse.’’

As a result, they now use a cheaper, standard fertiliser treatment for grassland.

Chris was advised to use a sub-soiler on compacted ground. The grazing pattern of the sheep flock confirmed it was the right decision.

“The sheep grazed the half of the field that we had subsoiled the ground. You could see a line down the middle of the field showing where their grazing preference had been,’’ says Chris.

While the Davies’ have reduced their fertiliser costs their biggest saving is on concentrates.

Lambs from the flock of 750 mostly Texel x Mule and Mule ewes are weaning at 100 days, a month earlier than previously, and the majority are finished on grass only.

Soil and grass sampling, which is 100% funded through the Farming Connect Advisory service group advice, revealed a deficiency of selenium, an important trace element in livestock fertility.

Cattle are now bolused and this year the entire herd scanned in-calf.

Chris had funding through Farming Connect to fertility test the stock bull after a poor year for fertility.

“That test gave us the confidence that he is performing at his optimum,’’ says Chris.

He has also been working with Hafren Vets, Newtown, to eradicate BVD from the herd and this has been successful with the herd accredited as BVD-free.

To protect animal health, the herd is run as a closed herd apart from purchased bulls.

Other services Chris has taken advantage of through Farming Connect include an on-farm Red Meat Clinic run by Precision Grazing and several courses including spraying and sheep dipping.

As Farming Connect Development Officer for North Montgomeryshire, Owain Pugh has helped Chris to access these services.

“At a time when reducing cost of production and improving herd and flock efficiency is of the utmost importance, farmers should consider seeking external advice.

Sometimes, someone looking ‘in’ from the ‘outside’ will see something different and even a small change can make a big difference to your business.

Chris urged others to make use of the Farming Connect Advisory Service.

“As farmers, we must be willing to consider making changes instead of continuing with the same practices if we are not getting the best from the land and our stock, unless we do that, our businesses won’t progress.’’

The Tower by Big Padlock

Big Padlock Self Storage are excited to announce the opening of ‘The Tower’, a multi-story professional office complex. Located on the desirable Champions Business Park on the Wirral, the site is in close proximity to motorway access and plenty of public transport links.

These newly built offices some in a variety of sizes, ranging from 200 sqft to 1000 sqft, perfect for any growing business. Tenants will also have access to meeting/conference rooms and kitchen and toilet facilities.

Our company prides itself on security and the protection of our client’s belongings. The facility has monitored CCTV, state of the art alarm systems throughout and fobbed access to the main offices. We also have an onsite management team who are on hand to help in you need any help or information.

Situated on site is also our Self Storage facility, Big Padlock. We offer low cost business storage as well as a wide range of other storage opportunities, allowing businesses to keep stock safe and secure in the same location with 24/7 access when they need it.

With a professional atmosphere throughout Champions, it would be a fantastic place for any company whether you’re a small start-up or a well-established business, we will have something to suit your needs.

To find out more information about our office space or our self storage services, call our friendly helpful staff today on 0151 677 1660 or visit www.bigpadlock.co.uk today.