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7 Excellent Marketing Strategies for Growing Brands

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7 Marketing Strategies which should be taken into consideration for new businesses wishing to expand their brand awareness.

In marketing your brand, it’s important to find a balance between the cost and the results. Particularly for a new brand that’s trying to grow, the goal is to maximize your ROI (Return on Investment), by finding the most effective strategies for the least amount of money. Here are some of the best and most cost-effective marketing strategies to explore.

  1. Blogging

One of the simplest and most effective ways of driving traffic to your site is to have a blog. Google’s search algorithms favor websites that are updated frequently and provide high quality, relevant content to their users. A regularly updated blog serves both of these purposes.

According to one source, sites that post 16 blogs per month (roughly 4 blogs per week) generate 3.5 times more web traffic than sites that blog four times or fewer. The more high quality blogs you post, the more opportunities your audience will have to visit and interact with your site, and the better exposure you’ll get for your brand.

  1. Mailing lists

“No matter what kind of customers you encounter,” says John Matson of TopCreditCardProcessors, “Get them on your mailing list, to build up your contacts.” E-mail lists have developed a bad reputation in recent years. But used correctly, they can be a very useful tool. If you’re spamming random strangers to tell them to buy your products, your brand will become annoying and unpopular.

So instead, you need to build a list of people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer, and provide them with regular updates about what’s going on in your company and why it’s of interest to them. You’ll see much better results and generate real, qualified leads that can be nurtured into sales.

  1. Online companies

One of the best and most cost-effective ways to reach new customers is by using online sites to market you company. Depending on your business, there are a number of sites that can help you reach new customers through search results and networking. A Yelp profile can increase your visibility to potential customer. It also gives you an opportunity to encourage loyal customers to leave you positive reviews, thus boosting your reputation. TripAdvisor provides the same opportunities for hotels, restaurants, and other tourist-centered businesses. And Mogul provides a platform for female business owners to show potential audiences what their companies are all about.

Social media can be a helpful tool in this regard as well. Ty Crandall, CEO of CreditSuite says, “Some of the most effective and cost-effective marketing strategies for growing a new business now come from social media. Platforms such as Facebook now make it easy to test headlines, images, concepts, ads and more for investments of less than £10 per day. Once you know what works, then it’s easy to apply that to other platforms that might cost more. This type of strategy can save you a ton of money and help you figure out what works quickly, even if you are only working with a shoe-string budget.”

  1. Calls to action

“The key to growing your business is understanding how your target market is looking for your service, and then maximizing efforts in those marketing channels with relevant and strong calls to action,” explains Spencer Kirk, CEO of Extra Space Storage. Believe it or not, many sites don’t include a call to action in their content. Every on your site, every blog you post, and every e-mail you send, should suggest the next step for interested users.

It may be, “Contact us for more information,” or “Download our white paper,” or “Subscribe to our newsletter,” but there should always be an opportunity for those who want to know more to further their relationship with your company.

  1. Press releases

Distributing press releases is a great way to keep people in your industry apprised of important updates from your company. You can create press releases to announce new products, award or accolades you’ve recently received, changes to your company structure, and more. It may take time to build up the right press contacts to gain your announcements real exposure, but the longer you persevere and the more effort you put into it, the better results you’ll see.

  1. Coupons and discounts

One thing is guaranteed to get your audience’s attention: telling them how they can save money. Offer discounts and coupon codes on your products or services. Make them seem exclusive, like the customers who are getting them are part of an elite few. By offering a few dollars off of your regular price, you can bring in customers who will stay loyal to your company for years to come.

  1. Using videos

Videos are one of the most effective tools to use in your marketing campaign. You can either create them in-house or outsource them to another company that specializes in creating high quality video content. Whichever option you choose, videos are a great way to engage your audience visually and increase your brand’s visibility.

 

These are just a few of the strategies you can use to grow your business cheaply and effectively. Do some experimentation, and see what strategies work best for your company, and have the biggest impact on your customer base.

 

Are you interested in careers within Marketing? Be sure to check out our latest range Marketing Job Roles on our website by following this link!

– Steve Olenski

15 Steps on how to get into Software Development

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Considering a career in Software Development? Read these 15 Steps which could help send you on your way to an exciting new career!

More people than ever before are entering Software Development from non-traditional backgrounds. The number of coding bootcamps is increasing, and there’s a broad push from the industry to attract more diverse developers. Many companies are no longer solely focused on hiring senior developers, and have realised that it may be smarter to train and upskill the next generation of senior developers instead.

Software Development pays well, the industry is booming, and compared to many other careers, software developers get treated very well. But the thing that draws most career-changers to software development, is the search for more rewarding work.

The career transition stage can be a big, scary, but exciting place to be. It can be one of the most challenging life-changes a person could make however, the finishing result could be a more fulfilling career.

If you’re considering a career change, there’s one question that you should ask yourself, above all others: if you make the switch to software development, will you like it? Getting to a level of skill where you are hireable is a lot of work, and you may be leaving behind a promising career in the process. The stakes are high.

If you don’t know whether you’re going to like it, build things with code. Create a Tic Tac Toe game. Start a small online business and do the development yourself. Contribute to open source. Make games. Complete programming challenges. Build a personal website and do all the design and development yourself. If you enjoy any of these things, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy working as a software developer.

Switching careers can be an epic, challenging journey – but it could just be one of the best things you’ve ever done.

There are a thousand ways to learn to program; the route you take will depend on how you learn best. You can take online courses, find a teacher or mentor, watch YouTube videos, read books, get a Computer Science degree, watch screencasts, or simply jump onto the command line and start experimenting, hitting up Stack Overflow as you go.

 

Here are 15 tips which could help you start your journey to becoming a Software Developer!

1. Have something you (passionately) want to make: Whether it’s a blog, a game, a website, a SaaS startup, an online dating website, or an app to manage your family’s finances, having a project that you’re motivated to build, will push you through the tough times when learning to program. A real-world use-case for your skills will accelerate your learning.

 

2. Attend a coding Bootcamp to get a taster and see if you feel it will work for you: A good coding bootcamp will give you a focused environment, help when you need it, and support when the journey gets tough. When you’re first learning to code, it can be really hard to know what you should focus on.

A good coding bootcamp will also assume no prior programming knowledge, and teach you the skills you need from the ground up, unlike many programming articles and videos, which will be written with professional programmers in mind.

 

3. Connect with other people learning to program: Learning to code can be difficult at times. Having a network of other people going through the same challenges can be hugely important. If you don’t know anyone making the transition, attend local meetups and talk to people there, especially if you’re focused on languages popular among junior developers (Ruby and JavaScript in particular). If you’re lucky, your local programming meetup may even host a ‘Newbies’ night now and again. Make sure to go!

 

4. Find a mentor who works in the industry: A friendship or mentorship with a working software developer can also be immensely helpful in your journey. They will know what the interview culture is in your local industry, will be able to give you advice when you get stuck, help you focus on the most important skills to learn, and give feedback on your code. If you’re lucky enough to find a software developer generous with their time in this way, make sure to give back somehow, even if it’s just buying lunch when you meet. Once again, meetups are a great way to meet potential mentors.

 

5. Focus your learning:If you’re hoping to do backend programming primarily (the engine of most apps, not the visual presentation), focus on learning one language and one web framework as well as you can. Also aim to be somewhat familiar with JavaScript, HTML and CSS, as many roles will have you working with both the frontend and backend of an application. If you’re aiming for a front-end role, focus on JavaScript, HTML and CSS. You might also focus on a popular JavaScript MVC framework like React or AngularJS.

 

6. Be prepared to invest in your career change:You can spend a lot on the transition; books, courses, classes, and screencast subscriptions can add up to hundreds of pounds a month, and many boot camps are over £6,000. Despite the hype around programmer salaries, you can expect to make between £20k and £30k as a junior developer. At first, it might seem like you’ve invested a lot in this career change without much financial reward. Over the long term though, this investment should pay off as you rise to a senior developer level with the potential to earn between £50K and £70K.

 

7. Don’t worry if your journey isn’t linear:Learning to program is tough; it takes time. If you’re juggling a pre-existing career and other commitments, it may be difficult to focus on it for more than a few hours a week. You may have doubts, you may get distracted, and you may stop progressing for days, weeks, or months. Trust that if software development is truly what you want to do you’ll find your way eventually, even if you end up taking the scenic route.

 

8. Create an account on GitHub, build your profile, be selective about what you show: GitHub is an online hosting service for git repositories, best described as version-controlled programming projects. When a repository is public on GitHub, anyone can read through your code. Many hiring managers will check the GitHub profile of applicants, to get an idea of how they write code when nobody is watching. When evaluating junior applicants, the hiring managers may not be looking for amazing code, but instead looking for enthusiasm, work done on multiple projects, willingness to try out new things, and a sense of play. Your GitHub profile is a great way to show this, but keep in mind that hiring managers may only have a few spare minutes to review your profile. For this reason, it’s a good idea to make only substantial or interesting projects public. For projects which you were just using to learn, it might be worth making them private to give your best stuff the limelight.

 

9. It’s hard sometimes:Self-doubt is a common trap for junior developers, especially those from groups who are underrepresented in the software industry. If something feels hard, it’s not necessarily because you’re not cut out for this. It might be because you have more to learn, or perhaps, because the thing you’re working on is actually hard. You may also be concerned when something you find challenging seems easy to someone else, especially when that someone else has a similar level of experience. But stick with that person long enough and you’ll likely encounter something they struggle with, that you find really easy. We’re all different, we bring different pre-existing skills to the table, and we all practice differently. Programming is like any skill: you can become good at it if you persist long enough and care about getting better. Avi Flombaum, co-founder of the Flatiron School, says “I absolutely believe that anybody can learn how to program in the same way that we know anyone can learn how to read and write.”

 

10. Be aware of your blind spots:By all accounts, career-changers have been making waves in the development community. They’re self-starters who’ve sacrificed an existing career, and sometimes a higher salary, in order to become software developers. However, we do have blind spots. The inner-workings of computers and the internet are mind-bendingly complex, especially to anyone from a non-technical background. Mastering one programming language, one web framework, JavaScript, HTML and CSS might take up all your available time. However, when you’re starting out as a junior developer, you probably won’t realize that these things are just a small slice of the technologies you work with every day.

Think about the answers to some of the following questions:
How does your code get run?
How does your language’s interpreter or compiler know when it encounters a syntax error?
How does typing a URL into your browser toolbar result in a web page being rendered on your screen?
How does a web server work?
How do you stay logged into websites even after you close and reopen your browser?
How does your app run on a web server?
Your project is hosted on Heroku or AWS, but what do they use under the hood?
When people say an object is ‘in memory’, what does that mean?
How do you SSH onto a server?
How do you set up and use a build pipeline?
How does your operating system run on your computer?

Of course, this list could be much longer. There’s so much to learn that it can feel overwhelming. The good news is that you don’t need to know the answers to all these questions in order to be hired as a junior software developer, but you should try to learn them as you go further in your career. You can’t get really good at software development unless you have a working understanding of the tools that you work with every day. Increasing your understanding will empower you to make better choices, become better at debugging, and make better design decisions.

 

11. When you’re struggling, take time to appreciate the unique skills you have that computer science graduates may not have yet:If you’ve attended or scheduled a work meeting, been given tricky feedback at work, been through a performance review, or led a team, you already have valuable skills that recent computer science graduates may not have. You may be more at ease talking with stakeholders, better at meetings, planning and organization, simply through having more experience. Most importantly, you may have better perspective. After all, if you’ve previously worked as a nurse in an operating theatre, a bug in production might not seem so overwhelming. After all, nobody is going to get (physically) hurt!

 

12. Get experience with pairing:Pairing is the practice of having two developers share one computer and work on the code together. One developer will write code, while the other watches and does some of the following things: makes suggestions, asks questions, catches errors, and thinks more broadly about how the code being written, fits into the larger program. Since both roles are fatiguing, they will usually swap anywhere from 15 minutes to every few hours.

Pairing is a common practice in the industry and even more common in the coding interview process. You don’t need to be an expert, but pairing for the first time can be a little intimidating, especially when pairing with a senior developer. Despite this, pairing can actually be really fun, and is a fantastic way to learn. If you can, get some practice with pairing before you begin doing coding interviews. If you have a mentor, pair with them. Otherwise, you can find opportunities to pair at hackathons and hack nights in your local area.

 

13. Set up a mock programming interview:Programming interviews are likely to be quite different to the interviews you took to get a job in your current career. They often involve coding challenges, writing pseudocode on a whiteboard, pair programming, and feedback on your code. Learn as much as possible about coding interviews by researching them online. Then practice them with a friend. Find a whiteboard and solve simple problems by writing your code on it. Get your friend to ask you common programming interview questions. It doesn’t matter if your friend is non-technical. The experience will really help when it is time for your real coding interview, as they can be a little intimidating at first!

 

14. Before test-driven development, practice error-driven development:Errors will be your constant companion when learning to code. You’ll be breaking stuff all the time, and will be face a lot of error messages. As once non-technical people, error messages can be scary. Before learning to code, they may have meant that you wrecked your computer while installing a game, or bricked a phone while trying to unlock it. An important mindset when programming, however, is to see error messages as helpful.

When many developers encounter an error message, they react a little like they’ve been slapped on the hand, quickly navigating away from the browser or shell window and peering at the code they  just wrote, trying to figure out what might have made the computer so angry. In most cases, the computer is already telling us, via the error message it just printed, but we need to slow down and read it before we can reap the benefits.

Jeff Cohen, an instructor at my coding bootcamp, encouraged us to practise error-driven development. This method goes beyond slowing down to read error messages, and instead, lets a succession of errors guide you forward in your development. Call a method that doesn’t exist, see a ‘no method’ error, and then write the code to bring that method into existence. Reference a view that doesn’t exist, see a ‘no view’ error, and then create the view. Errors are not to be feared, in fact, they can guide you and help you build your skill as a software developer. Just try to avoid errors in the final product!

 

15. Learn about and practice test-driven development (at least a little bit): Once you’re comfortable with error-driven development, test-driven development is the next step in your learning. Test-driven development is a sought after skill in the industry, and familiarity with it is a requirement to get hired at some software companies. It’s the practice of writing code to ‘test’ how your program behaves, and to drive out a better design for your program. If you’ve ever added some functionality to a program, only to have it break something else that was previously working, this is one of the things that test-driven development (often abbreviated as TDD) can help with!

Few programming resources for beginners focus on TDD, mainly because it can be a difficult concept to teach. When you aren’t sure how to write good tests, it can feel more difficult than writing code. You may encounter a situation where you know exactly how to write the code that will solve a problem, but designing a test around it takes an hour because you’re not sure of the appropriate way to exercise the code with a test. Learning TDD will slow you down at first, but you’ll be repaid with confidence – confidence that your programs work, and confidence that if you break something, you’ll know immediately. Tests are an incredibly useful safety net for junior developers.

You don’t need to be an expert at testing, but some familiarity with TDD will put you ahead of many other junior applicants, especially those coming from traditional Computer Science backgrounds where test-driven development is still not always taught. Bonus points if you can eventually articulate the difference between a mock and a stub.

We hope you have found these tips useful and will have hopefully broadened your knowledge on ways of becoming a software developer. Apply yourself! You don’t need to be a genius to get into software development. Just make sure you remain consistent with your practice and studies. Remember that you will hit barriers and most importantly remember to push through them and never give up. As previously mentioned, becoming a software developer is a challenging career path, but the resulting future prospects can be outstanding. You could find choosing to become a software developer might end up being one of the best decisions of your life. Good Luck!

If you considering a career in Software Development and would like to know more, be sure to get in contact with us here!

If you already have experience in Software Development and you are seeking new opportunities, make sure you check out our latest job role by clicking here!

-Natasha Postolovski

6-STEP Guide on Transitioning from Excel to ERP

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Transitioning from Excel spreadsheets to an ERP system can be daunting. These tips will help ensure the process goes smoothly.

Spreadsheets are cheap, easy to manage and can accommodate many different types of data. Therefore, it’s no surprise that, according to reports, 71 percent of companies still rely on spreadsheets as a pose to ERP for budgeting and planning. For many small businesses, spreadsheets are a system of first choice when just starting out.

However, something happens when your business matures and becomes more successful. As an organization grows, so much data is generated that it makes manipulating figures and creating accurate financial statements a time-consuming and error-prone task when using spreadsheets.

The biggest problem with spreadsheets is often their isolation from the rest of the enterprise, making collaboration fraught with challenges. Data cannot be automatically or even easily incorporated in the system. Even when it is, it is nearly impossible to prevent multiple versions of the same data from distorting results.

Most organizations accept that spreadsheets are going the way of landlines, encyclopedias and floppy disk drives. However, after making this tough decision, businesses face a challenging prospect: how to get all that data from Excel and into their ERP software of choice. Modern-day ERP offers some powerful tools for seamless integration – and the resulting solution is well worth the time and effort.

Here are six tips for making your transfer from spreadsheets to ERP as easy and painless as possible.

1. Evaluate Your Current Data Processes

When businesses have used the same systems for years, they can fall into a pattern of habituation, where tasks and reports become automatic, filled out without much thought to their need and use. Only when an issue with an internal procedure/process arises does a system get reevaluated and updated.

The transition from a system of Excel spreadsheets to an ERP solution can be an ideal time to take another look at the processes your business has in place. Evaluate what information you currently gather, how that information is used and what additional information would be beneficial. The added capabilities provided by ERP systems can also provide you with a new lens through which to consider your current processes — and may unearth new procedures you wouldn’t have considered otherwise.

2. Determine if You Need All the Data

In addition to reviewing processes and procedures, take a closer look at historical data and consider how often it gets used – and what might no longer be needed. Determining a specific date and only transferring files from after this date can optimize the process and save a lot of time and energy. You can always go back and add additional data if needed.

Speaking with an expert who has experience in this area can be helpful, as they will already understand potential pitfalls and help you avoid them. Check with other business owners in your circle who may have already completed their own transitions, or ask the companies you are considering purchasing your system from for references.

3. Break Data up into Sections

Just like anything else in business, you need a plan to be successful when transitioning data over to a new finance system. Decide if it makes more sense to attempt a mass transition, or a slow and gradual process. Keep in mind that most companies benefit from a gradual process, but there are instances where a quicker transition might be the better option. An example of this would be if the data is used regularly and needs to be accessible in its entirety, even during the transition.

Make a list of the milestones you need to achieve. Include steps like picking out the right product, testing the system and training end users. This list will ease some of the stress associated with the migration.

4. Choose ERP Product Based on Your Specific Needs

Before choosing an ERP solution, you need to understand all of your options, both customized and out-of-the-box solutions. First, however, you should understand which kind of systems your organization needs. Once you have this information, it will be easier to compare software programs and choose the right solution.

For example, a company that outsources its marketing functions may have little use for an ERP that prioritizes marketing. However, that same company may thrive on the increased knowledge it has from automated financial reports that highlight just where improvement is needed and which areas of the business are performing best.

It sounds like a no-brainer, but when making a decision, pick a finance system that meets your exact needs. Try not to make any assumptions at this stage in the process, as the answer to a quick question can often change the direction that your company chooses to go in. It is important to uncover what exactly each vendor offers and how it could benefit your company’s operations. There are many systems out there capable of managing your finance system, but powerful capabilities are only beneficial if they can be directly applied to your business.

5. Prepare Your Team

Most likely, you aren’t transitioning to a new financial system alone. Consider how you want to prepare your team to help in the transition. You have two types of people to prepare as part of your transition: team members who will help you migrate your information, and end users of the software programs selected. Get feedback from both of these groups on what they need out of the new system early in the process so they remain more invested over the long run.

Regardless of how you choose to transition the data over, allow extra time in your plans. Something unexpected may come up and you don’t want to be caught off guard. By anticipating that the project may take a little extra time and preparing your team for this, you may be pleasantly surprised with an earlier-than-planned finish.

6. Remember Long-term Benefits of ERP

It is easy to forget the reasons why you are transitioning to a new system in the middle of the process and instead be caught up in the ups and downs of day-to-day work, that, let’s be honest, can be tedious and challenging when working on a full data transfer. Whenever you question if the process is worth it, try to take a step back and remember all of those benefits of switching to a new accounting system, including increased accuracy, better analytics and a streamlined business process. Encourage the rest of the team to do this as well.

In Conclusion

Setting out to implement a new ERP solution, especially when it comes to your business’ financials, is a daunting task. However, by approaching the task with the right mindset — and a few industry tips — you can reduce stress and minimize the time it takes to be up and running with a new system. Organizations that go beyond spreadsheets are able to make faster and better decisions by reducing manual routine work and human error.

Are you already familiar with Enterprise Resource Planning strategies? Looking at taking the next step in your career within the ERP Business Analytics sector? Why not check out our latest job role by clicking here!

 

How a Recruitment Agency can help you find the right job

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Looking for a job is a full-time job in itself and can be extremely time consuming and daunting. That’s where a recruitment agency can help.

Not only helping you to manage the ‘workload’ of a job hunt, the benefits of a recruitment agency stretch right through to helping you succeed in an interview. And for job seekers, a recruitment agency is absolutely free to use!

So just how exactly can a recruitment agency prove beneficial when seeking a job? Here are 5 key points:

1. A more tailored job search

The advantages of using a recruitment agency are clear when you look at how they can help tailor your job search. Skilled recruiters will know their clients well – and the roles they have available. As a result, they will be able to target the vacancies they put you forward for.

With a recruitment agency helping you with your job hunt you will be put forward for roles that are right for you, as oppose to applying blindly to companies with only the job description to go on and perhaps the companies website to build up an idea of what they’re about.

2. Support and guidance

A recruitment agency is built on the skills of its recruiters – they know the job market, they’re experts in interviewing and skills assessments, they know their client’s requirements and they know how to help you shine in the eyes of the employers.

A great recruitment agency will be able to help you strengthen your interview skills, tidy up your CV and focus your career goals. Nurture the relationship with your recruitment agency and they could prove instrumental in your career progression.

3. Making the job hunt more manageable

Your job hunt can easily get out of control. You may send your CV off to lots of different companies and get responses coming through here and there. But how do you know if you need to follow up on an application? Do you have a structured way of knowing where you should be and for what interview? Have you had the opportunity to do enough research into the job and organisation you’re applying for?

A recruitment agency will have an organised system to help manage job seekers and clients – and it can take a huge weight from your shoulders. They will be the ones to send your CV to targeted clients, they will organise the interviews and they will give you updates and feedback. They’ll also be able to tell you the details you need to know about the employer, helping you to focus your efforts.

4. An ongoing relationship

A recruitment agency doesn’t need to be a one-off support system. If you make a good impression with recruiters, they will be happy to help you later down the line when you’re ready to make another career move.

In another example, if you work in HR and are placed as a candidate by a recruitment agency you can easily build an ongoing relationship that benefits your work. You can make the transition from candidate to client, using the agency’s skills to help you place candidates in your organisation.

5. Feedback

Finally, a recruitment agency will help you go onwards and upwards by providing constructive criticism and feedback. If you didn’t quite get that job after an interview, recruiters will be able to help you understand why and then help you strengthen your interview skills or otherwise in time for your next attempt.

Here at Graffiti Recruitment, we take the time to get to know you, your business, thoughts, dreams and aspirations. We consider ourselves IT Matchmakers, Artists and Scientists all rolled into one. This combination allows us to be a professional soundboard and advise you on the best options for you!  Our Graffiti team are all self-confessed IT geeks and are proud of it, so when we talk to you we have a genuine interest in your career and business requirements.

If you are interested in a career within the IT Industry, get in touch to see how we can help you on 0330 2233 047 or submit your CV on our website by following this link.

Oculus Rift to Launch in UK

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Facebook has finally unveiled the UK launch date and price for its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset

Oculus Rift, the Facebook-owned virtual reality headset for gamers, is finally coming to the UK next month.

After launching in the US in March , Oculus has announced the Rift will go on sale in Europe and Canada on 20 September.

The headset will sell at a recommended retail price of £549 – significantly more than the $599 (£461) it costs in the US.

It is available to pre-order today from a range of retailers, including Amazon.co.uk , John Lewis ,Curry’s PC World , GAME Digital Plc , and the London department store Harrods.

“We’ve seen interest in virtual reality rise dramatically in the last few months, with sales of the Samsung Gear VR, powered by Oculus, headset up 310% in the last six weeks alone,”said Will Jones, Head of Buying for Electricals at John Lewis.

“The Oculus Rift device is a significant progression in virtual reality technology, set to reinvent how we work and play, and we are proud to offer our customers the chance to experience it first.”

The Oculus Rift, which began life as a Kickstarter project in 2012, has been through several pre-production models before being released to the public.

The finished virtual reality headset has an OLED display with a 2,160 x 1,200 resolution and a 110-degree field of view, designed to fully immerse the wearer in whatever they are watching.

It is intended for use with a PC, but the headset requires a lot of processing and graphics power, meaning that not all computers are compatible.

If you want to use it for gaming you’ll need a PC with at least an Nvidia GTX 970 GPU, an Intel i5-4590 processor and 8GB of RAM.

If you want to try Oculus Rift for yourself before buying, there will be demo experiences rolling out across the UK in the coming weeks.

Every Oculus Rift purchased headset ships with a copy of the virtual reality game Lucky’s Tale , along with hundreds of free 3D 360 videos and VR movies.

Users can buy more VR games and films from the Oculus Store, with several new titles being unveiled the Gamescom video game conference in Cologne, Germany, this week – including Dead & Buried , The Unspoken and Ripcoil.

– Sophie Curtis

Shrewsbury Development will see 400 new Shropshire Jobs

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400 new Shropshire Jobs will be created following development plan by major food company ABP.

More than 400 Shropshire Jobs are to be created by food giant ABP, with a £20 million investment at its operation in Shrewsbury.

The redevelopment of its site in Harlescott is the company’s latest vote of confidence in Shropshire.

Last year ABP completed a £30 million overhaul of its site at Hordley near Ellesmere.

ABP is already one of the biggest private sector employers in Shropshire, with 732 staff at the Battlefield Enterprise Park in Shrewsbury and more than 725 at Ellesmere. The new additions would take its total workforce to almost 1,900 in Shropshire.

ABP said there will also be a significant number of construction jobs generated during the project.

Its county operations supply beef to major customers across the country, with Sainsbury’s a key contract for the company.

The latest proposal is for a new retail meat packing building that ABP said will improve the existing Shrewsbury plant.

The new building will also include a dry goods store, employee amenities, canteen facilities and administration and staff offices.

But director Seamus Banim sounded one note of caution over the impact of Brexit on farmers in the UK.

“The vast majority of cattle coming to ABP Shrewsbury is sourced from farms within a 50-mile radius and it is our hope that this supply of quality British cattle will not be impacted in a post Brexit non CAP era,” he said.

A planning application for the development is expected to be made public in the next few days.

Councillor Malcolm Price, Shropshire Council’s portfolio holder for housing, said: “The comments we have received so far have mostly been positive. When it is completed it will be one of the most modern and efficient packing plants in Europe. All the equipment will be brand new, state-of-the-art.

“The good thing about the company is all the meat that goes into the site comes from within 50 miles of Shrewsbury.

“This is a major investment for Shropshire. It is significant employment and economic investment.

“In 15 years of being a councillor I have never heard a complaint against ABP. They are a very professional and well-run company. They have a great reputation.”

– Shropshirestar

 

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