• 270,000 staff will be employed at 35 venues throughout the UK
• There will be an Olympic broadcast audience of over 5 billion
• The UK will be visited by around 20,000 press and media personnel
• 9 millions tickets will go on sale for the Olympic events

Staggeringly the typical sales uplift during the Olympics is around 60%. For retailers, the opportunities are unparalleled, however to fully reap the benefits of this event, planning, for those not already off the line, needs to start now.

Thinking location? With East London starting to buzz with construction, the Westfield Stratford City is standing relatively empty. Current occupants, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis are well positioned, however for such a large retail complex, in the heart of ‘Olympic territory’ to still have room to spare, suggests some retailers are not looking as far ahead as they need to. Given the events of 2009, and the ongoing residual effects, that is somewhat understandable; but with the ‘r word’ fading into history, many retailers have greater freedom to enter into negotiations with retail landlords and physically position themselves for 2012.

For those who remain unclear on how to take advantage of this event, or the full scope of how it may impact retail, Retail Knowledge is running a must-attend event: Opportunities for Retailers from London 2012 is for those who are looking ahead, or who have identified they need to be. Held at the London Marriott, Grosvenor Square on 17 March, 'Opportunities for Retailers' will cover why the Olympics is not about just London, what you can do with the Olympic brand/sponsors/licensed products, which government bodies are there to support retailers and asks are you ready to cope for the disruption during the 100 days over which the event is held. Download the full agenda.

Are you going to let the opportunities of London 2012 pass you by?

How long does the survey take? Five minutes - about as long as it would take for you to have a cup of coffee. Oh, it's times like these I wish I was eligible to enter, alas....but YOU CAN, so get someone else to make your cuppa and get answering!

Mike will be remembered by everyone who knew him as a unique individual, who used his light-hearted ‘cheeky chappy’ persona to bring fun into our days. His passing is a great loss to all and he will be deeply missed.

Our thoughts are, of course, with his fiancé, family and close friends at this time.

Below are a few pictures that show the character we all came to admire, and were privileged to enjoy.

This recession is now starting to bite hard, as we are constantly being reminded by the 'Prophets of Doom', (the press), and many businesses are realising that if they are to survive they will need to adopt a more flexible and resourceful approach to their business strategy.

Whilst causing extreme challenges, these economic conditions also present an opportunity to strengthen business. One way of doing this is by supporting staff and improving operations by investing in training.

If your company, like many others, are looking to restructure and not replace employees who have left the, then the functions of vacant roles are usually taken on by the remaining workforce. While this may relieve economics pressures, companies doing this need to be prepared for the negative impact. Without adequate training the additional pressures placed on the remaining employees will often leave them feeling overwhelmed, disillusioned and stressed. As a result you may encounter an increase if staff sick days and drop in work quality.

Training has been identified as a major motivator in the workplace, and in these challenging times, its value to employees and employers increases even more. Retaining the good staff, those that have proven themselves to be the greatest assets to your company, is always difficult, but, by motivating them, your strengthen their loyalty and they will be more likely to stay.

Cost to the company

Replacing good staff can be expensive, and repairing mistakes left by under-trained staff even more so. By investing in training your employees will be in a better professional position to deal with your customers, and help create new opportunities for the company. These opportunities may not be immediate, but, when the pressure lifts, loyalty created now with customers will be rewarded.

It is important, however, to ensure that any training event is a need and not a want, and to be cognisant that new skills acquired will need to be implemented immediately - not six months later - to gain the full benefit of your training investment. Avoid the costs incurred by running refresher courses.

Training your workforce sends the message that you value them and you see them as important to the company. Often a good training programme runs hand in hand with other measures to improve morale and increase staff motivation. These oher ways include:

• Communication – Keep everyone informed of company successes through regular communication, such as a weekly newsletter.

• Company Awards – If you do not already use them, these can be awarded weekly, monthly, or perhaps quarterly, and do not need to cost a fortune. For many, just to be nominated 'Salesperson of the Month' and be awarded a bottle of wine, is motivation, and will encourage performance.

• Add some fun – Themed days are good way of injecting some positivity into the office. In a previous company, when the schools went back after their break, the staff all dressed in school uniform. I was working for an airline at the time and the 'new uniforms' were seen as a fun break from the usual.

• Personal Support – This is completely free, but can make a huge difference to a staff motivation. Try to ensure each staff member has a mentor that they can go to for advice and learn from. At K3 everyone knows they are free to speak a director at any time for advice and support.

What are we doing to evolve?

Now is not the time for innovation!  The training market is currently responding to changing training demands with more flexible and creative learning solutions.

Many organisations are familiar with the benefits of using e-Learning, particularly successful when supported with traditional Instructor-led training as part of a blended learning programme. At K3 we have noted that more forward thinking HR and Training departments are also turning to the use of online technologies. Applications exist to help manage responsibilities for professional competency, career development and lifelong learning of employees.

A large part of training is the development of the materials - a task that can take considerable time and effort, and with resources pushed to the limit it isn't always a priority. A cost effective way of delivering training to employees is through using ready made computer-based training programs. Programs are available that cover a wide range of subjects and provide an accessible resource, that can include instructions, and be tailored to meet individual or group-specific needs.

Understand the opportunity

We all understand that business is about competition, and that to succeed you have to perform better than your competitors. Sadly, in a recession, some organisations tend to lose focus on everything except cutting costs. They may lost sight of the importance of customer satisfaction - which can lead to customer dissatisfaction. To keep your customers happy you need to deliver great products and services, which means continuing to build your employees' skills. Remember that your competitors are likely to be cutting back on this, leaving you to move ahead with a better trained team.

Recessions tend to hurt the less prepared. If you invest wisely in training you can come out of the fog a lot stronger than your competition; with more customers and greater opportunities.

"In a recession, everyone feels short-term pain. But companies that successfully approach a recession as an opportunity have the potential to realise long-term gain."

So, in a recession, GET TRAINING!

You can contact Andy Barlow about anything he has mentioned here, or if you would like to know more about training with K3. Just send him an email. , and he'll be happy to help.

The astute amongst you will have noticed that we can now be found on LinkedIn. Like most social networking sites, LinkedIn has it’s own distinct personality, its press blurb reading: “LinkedIn exists to help you make better use of your professional network and help the people you trust in return. Our mission is to connect the world’s professionals to accelerate their success. We believe that in a global connected economy, your success as a professional and your competitiveness as a company depends upon faster access to insight and resources you can trust.”

Phew! But don’t let this marketing speak put you off. In essence it’s saying that LinkedIn is a networking site for business professionals. It’s clean, simple, puts you in touch with the people you want to talk to, it’s not overloaded with applications and is low maintenance: all good reasons for us to like it.

We’re also enjoying microblogging site Twitter. Twitter is not only a great method of updating followers on our own latest news, but it offers a wealth of information in the form of other ‘twitterers’ posting links and idea sharing. It gives an immediacy of information that allows us to build a real time picture of what is happening in any given area. While some log in to share what they had for lunch, (we don’t, it’s not that interesting), Twitter can also be an important information gathering tool and a friendly way to connect with others working in your field. According to co-founder, Jack Dorsey, Twitter is what you make it.

And then there is Facebook. While many of the movers and shakers of the retail industry may not be clicking merrily through Facebook with Retail Business Solutions on their minds, by putting ourselves on Facebook we're trying to make K3 both accessible and searchable. Facebook is the most favoured networking site and the second most visited website in the UK, so, perhaps, in terms of the ‘warm waters of social networking’, Facebook is the beach where the beautiful people hang out; it is where you go to see and be seen.

Where do you like to work the net?

ENGAGE will be held on the 19th of March at the Four Pillars Hotel, South Cerney, Gloucestershire. Speakers include K3 customers Digital Village, iForce  and The White Company. We're also very excited to have as partners for this event Agiles, Cenium, Equisys, Handpoint, Lanham Associates, LS Retail, Microsoft, Miracle , Protouch, Servebase, SmartFundIT, SQL Perform, TargIT and Toshiba.

Being the kind hearted souls they are, the K3 Marketing Team has worked hard to make sure the cost is lower this year, and they've also come up with a 2For1 deal.  All the information can be found on the event microsite. Feel free to get in touch with them about coming along.

Despite the bitter cold and snow on the day, all the members of the team completed the event battered and bruised and happy!

The next stage to be undertaken is the conversion of key K3 modules across to the 2009 version. K3 are very excited about t his as the new 2009 version opens up doors in terms of providing a new role based menu and interface. The new three tier architecture also allows easier access to Dynamics business logic through web services.

This is  great news for new customers and  existing customers upgrading to Dynamics 2009. We'll update here as more details on specific features and benefits are released, or get in touch with K3.

Or, of course, you can just keep coming back here.

everything.

For Carpetright, the timing of their investment in a Microsoft Dynamics NAV-based system from K3 couldn't have been better.

When IT Director, Ian Woosey joined the company in 2002, Carpetright's IT focus was split many ways between different suppliers and competing technologies. Their new standardised system means they are well placed to remain strong during the current economic downturn; with smaller, more financially cautious investments available to adapt their system as they require.

Read the full article, as featured in Retail Week here.