Herbal medicine gives NHS staff immune boost

Deborah Grant gives NHS staff an immune boost for less than a weekly Starbucks bill.

Medical Herbalist Deborah Grant is helping NHS workers to stay healthy and keep their immune systems in shape by offering them a reduced price consultation at her herbal medicine clinic in London.

After reports that NHS staff sickness rates are 1.5 times higher than private sector levels, and with more than 45,000 NHS workers reporting sick each day, Deborah Grant is keen to help NHS workers to say on top form and is offering them a 25% reduction off a private consultation.*

According to Ms Grant, stress is likely to be one of the primary underlying causes of health related problems in the NHS workforce and having successfully treated many patients for stress induced illness, she is confident that a prescription of herbal medicine can help relieve the effects of stress on the body.

“Stress has a hugely negative impact on a person’s immune system. Think about how many times you have gone down with an infection after a period of stress. When the body is helped to deal with the effect that stress has on it, and this includes restoring adrenal function, immune function is invariably improved,” explains Ms Grant.

With cases of Swine Flu likely to rise over the winter period, NHS staff need to ensure their natural defences are on top form and with a maintenance programme of herbal medicine costing less than a weekly Starbucks bill, keeping healthy doesn’t have to cost the earth.

*special offer applies to any NHS workers who book their consultation before 31^st October 2009.

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Notes to Editor

Deborah Grant BSc (Hons) Consultant Medical Herbalist

Deborah Grant is a qualified Medical Herbalist with a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Herbal Medicine and has diagnostic and clinical training at degree level. Deborah uses herbal medicine to treat the underlying cause of health-related problems as well as the symptoms and has experience in treating a wide range of conditions, attaining a high rate of clinical success.

Deborah has experience in treating a wide range of conditions including interstitial cystitis, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (enlarged prostate), Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn’s disease, Graves disease, stress, angina, mild/moderate depression, recurrent infections, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, menstrual and menopausal problems, infertility, migraine, digestive problems, asthma, bronchitis, eczema, psoriasis, gastric reflux and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Deborah says:

“21st Century science-based Herbal Medicine is becoming increasingly popular and more and more people are turning to it as a safer, gentler alternative to the one-size-fits-all pharmaceutical drugs with their sometimes unpleasant side-effects. Many of the common health problems, which you would normally take to your GP, can be effectively tackled with a drug-free approach.“

Every prescription is tailored to meet each patient’s unique needs as Deborah believes that this approach gets the best results. Medicines are dispensed from her own dispensary, using medicine authorised by the Department of Health’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and licensed under the European Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicine. Her high quality plant extracts have been proven to give a high and consistent level of clinical success.

Deborah has practices in Canary Wharf and St John’s Wood, London. She also has a Menopause Clinic, an Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Clinic and an Interstitial Cystitis Clinic (IC) and is a member of The British Herbal Medicine Association (BHMA). Her website, where she sells practitioner-only, high quality health supplements, is www.herbalist-medicine.com.

Information supplied by Media Jems. For press enquiries please contact Amy Larman on 01603 283 463 or email amy@mediajems.co.uk.

Give your business a boost with a £5000 business prize

Better Networking is giving businesses a chance to shine during the recession with a once in a lifetime business prize worth over £5000.

Due to launch on 1st September, Better Networking are opening a competition that will give businesses the boost they need to succeed in the recession, holding both benefits for the winner and the business.

With a grand prize of a weekend break for 2 at a luxury health spa, it is sure to attract many, offering a chance to relax and wind down after a hard week at the office.

Of the many prizes, one is an opportunity to develop a winning sales and marketing strategy with Master Business Development coach Richard White. Richard has over 8 years experience in helping people who hate the idea of selling to quickly develop more business and he is now one of the UK’s leading trainers in Soft Selling techniques. Richard is also the founder of AccidentalSalesman.com ® and a self confessed accidental sales man himself.

“In the current economic climate, only those with a strong sales and marketing strategy will survive and this strategy will need to accommodate existing customers as well as attracting new ones. Having helped hundreds of business owners to define their strategies, I am looking forward to helping one lucky business owner to develop their winning strategy to overcome the recession and come out on top,” says Mr White.

Other prizes include: VAT Advice, Business Coaching, Rebranding, Copywriting, Online Visibility Boost, Business Strategy and Planning and a Weekend Break for 2 at a Health Spa. There are also runner up prizes of Amazon gift vouchers and IB Consulting free membership for 1 year.

To enter simply click here. The competition is based on finding the answers to ten clues. As the answers can only be submitted after the tenth clue is released the competition has an entry deadline of 30th September 2009. Answers to the ten clues must be submitted by the 23rd October, all late entries will be disqualified. Entry is free and the first answer drawn at The Accidental Salesman® Live Event on 2nd November 2009 will win the Grand Prize.

You do not need to attend the event in order to win or collect your prize, the winner will be announced on the Better Networking website (www.betternetworking.co.uk/blog) and notified by email and telephone.

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Brands At Risk As Customer Service Not Up To Speed

In light of the misleading broadband speed claims revealed in the latest Ofcom survey, telecoms providers are being urged by customer service expert Derek Bishop to focus on improving customer satisfaction and transparency in their communications, or risk permanent brand damage.

The Ofcom survey revealed that whilst 80% of consumers are happy with their current broadband speeds, it is still misleading for broadband providers to continue to sell broadband at a lower quality than it should be, something which Mr Bishop describes as a common telecoms service failure gap.

According to Mr Bishop, a former Head of Customer Service, industry judge and founder of Abeo Consulting, download speed is one of the top things consumers look for in a price sensitive market and so a failure to deliver on this promise will have a serious impact on customer satisfaction, loyalty and dashes any hopes of future advocacy.

“This is a classic scenario of marketing and advertising material which promotes a certain type of service, yet what gets delivered is something else entirely. Many telecoms brands think that small print providing caveats around download speeds are enough but from customer service perspective, it’s not really being clear and upfront with customers,” explains Bishop.

Bishop stresses that when looking to improve the customer service experience, telecoms providers must consider what the different segments of customers need and want in relation to customer service and tackle each delivery channel individually to ensure the end-user experience in seamless.

“The service providers as well as looking into improving the customer service experience must also review the proposition messages being published, as downloads speeds are being promoted which are frequently not achieved, even if they do caveat with ‘Up to 8mbps’. They must also review how they do their service, is their business saying one thing and doing the complete opposite? And they must also act on the mismatches and this should include whether there are inconsistencies in the expectations of the customers, the proposition messages and the service being delivered by channel and they must then focus on aligning these aspects for maximum impact,” says Bishop.

For more information please visit: www.abeoconsulting.co.uk

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Hypersensitive customers vote with their feet in light of poor service

Retailers are struggling to cope with a new breed of customer for whom customer service can often be a more critical factor in influencing the sale than the price, according to customer service expert Derek Bishop.

Following reports by BDO Stoy Hayward LLP that 74% of consumers said they would leave a store if they encountered poor service, Derek Bishop, MD of Abeo Consulting and a Customer Service industry judge, is urging retailers to rethink their proposition to cater for a new type of ‘hypersensitive’ customer.

According to Mr Bishop, the ‘hypersensitive’ customer needs to feel that retailers are happy to have them in their store and if treated badly will not think twice about going elsewhere. This is reflected in the BDO Stoy Hayward report’s revelations that 71% would be happy to buy at full price to treat themselves and that less then half felt they had less to spend now than they did before the recession.

“Regardless of the state of the economy, the key to customer satisfaction is managing their expectations correctly. You may not have the most up to date systems or be the cheapest in the market, but if you can deliver a consistent level of service which matches (or exceeds) what your customers are expecting, your customers are likely to remain loyal and advocate you to others based on their own experiences,” says Mr Bishop.

Mr Bishop is advising retailers to utilise customer contact by asking questions which will give the organisation more insight about their customers wants and needs. He claims that customer behaviour is changing dramatically, so asking questions beyond just resolving the specific query/request will provide huge insight into the current customer challenges, concerns and issues.

“Retailers should pay particular attention to their customer facing staff as their mindset will have a direct bearing on how they interact with customers and subsequent satisfaction levels. It is hugely important for retailers to engage with their staff and communicate actively with them and if staff are extremely well informed, they will naturally exert confidence to the customers. In high volume, high pressure environments, it is very easy to focus purely on answering queries instead of focusing on the emotional customer experience, which is a key factor for the hypersensitive customer,” adds Mr Bishop.

Cosmetic Expert Delivers Recession-Busting Advice To Salons at Olympia Beauty Show

Founder of multi-award winning cosmetic clinic Riverbanks Dr Ravi Jain will be showing beauty professionals and salons how to maximise their revenue with the latest non-surgical treatments at the forthcoming Olympia Beauty Show on 20th September 2009.

Held in the Grand Hall in Olympia on 20th September 2009 from 10am to 5:30pm, the Olympia Beauty Show is predicted to attract hundreds of beauty professionals looking to maximise their client base and knowledge from both the 250 major brands from all corners of the beauty industry and by watching the two free live educational stages.

Dr Ravi Jain, medical director at multi-award winning Riverbanks Clinic in Harpenden, will be taking to the beauty stage between 3.30-4pm to provide advice on the best non-surgical treatments available on the market and how salons can boost revenue with value-add cosmetic offerings.

“In the current climate, salons need to find ways of maximising income from existing customers as well as draw in new clientele. At Riverbanks Clinic, we’ve experienced tremendous growth in the past year during one of the toughest economic climates on record and the key to our success has been to move with market demand and adapt our product offering accordingly. Salon’s need to identify what their customers want and find ways meet this demand in way that is profitable for the business and doesn’t detract from their core services, ” Says Dr Jain.

In addition to Dr Jain, other keynote speakers on the day include Lesley Saville from Dermalogica and Eve Taylor OBE founder of Eve Taylor (London) Aromatherapy skin care. Ian Archbold Show Director of the Olympia Beauty Show is delighted with the calibre of speakers at this years show.

He says:

“The recession has meant that salons are under increasing pressure to keep business coming in. As the owner of a multi-award winning clinic, Dr Jain’s expertise and knowledge of the industry is set to give attendees much food for thought and we are delighted to have him on our speaker panel for The Olympia Beauty Show.”

This event is open to trade and professionals only and any persons under the age of 16 are not permitted. If you register before 18th September admittance is free, otherwise on the door price is £15 per person.

For more information please visit: www.olympiabeauty.co.uk

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Editors Notes

The award-winning Riverbanks Clinic is one of the UK’s leading clinics for non-surgical cosmetic and dermatological treatments. Formerly the Luton Skin Clinic, the prestigious Riverbanks Clinic helps men and women to turn back the clock, with the help of the very latest safe, non-surgical, highly effective anti-aging skin treatments. The clinic also specialises in treating skin problems such as acne and Roseaca.
The most popular treatments offered by Riverbanks Clinic include Vaser Lipo, Botox, Dermal Fillers, Sculptra, Smartxide DOT Laser and Accent Radiofrequency.

For more information visit www.riverbanksclinic.co.uk

Riverbanks Clinic Scores Top Marks in Latest Patient Survey

Behind every successful business you’ll find a host of happy customers and multi-award winning cosmetic clinic Riverbanks is no different after their latest patient survey revealed that 95% of patients were extremely satisfied by the end of their consultation at the discreet Harpenden clinic.

Riverbanks Clinic is renowned for its high standard of patient care, top calibre doctors and tranquil location and its latest patient survey conducted last month revealed that every patient questioned had an excellent consultation with a doctor who was ‘polite and considerate and very good at listening to what they had to say’.

The survey of 20 patients from a spectrum of age groups also revealed that they were not only satisfied with the opportunity to ask questions but also the ability to receive answers to all their questions. They also stated that each doctor was very clear by explaining in the way they can understand and the patients were allowed to be involved in as much as they wanted to be when it came to decisions about their care and treatment. Dr Ravi Jain, medical director at Riverbanks Clinic and former Harley Street practitioner is delighted with the results of the survey has urged other businesses to focus on customer service as a way of building and maintaining their customer base during a difficult trading period.

“Customer satisfaction and a good reputation is the most important asset you can poses, especially in the cosmetic industry where clients need that extra bit of support and dialogue from the doctors in order to feel comfortable going ahead with a procedure. At Riverbanks Clinic, we’ve certainly seen this to be the case which is why many of our new patients have come to us through word of mouth recommendations,” says Dr Jain.

Riverbanks Clinic opened the doors to its new refurbished clinic in Autumn 2008 and has experienced phenomenal growth this year despite the recession. With ‘Best New Clinic’ and ‘Best Business Development’ Awards tucked neatly under their belt, Dr Jain and his team at Riverbanks Clinic were recognised by the Aesthetic Medicine Awards judges for their ‘high standards of patient-centred care’, and Dr Jain believes it is this aspect, combined with the quality of staff at the clinic that has contributed to such high levels of customer satisfaction in patients.

“During an economic downturn, businesses need to focus as much on their existing customer base as they do on bringing new custom in and our latest patient survey shows that there is no need to cold call or spend thousands on advertising. Customer service is the best kind of selling, it’s not difficult, it creates a great atmosphere and best of all it’s free. All it takes is listening carefully to individual’s requirements and expectations. At Riverbanks for example, we clearly outline ways in which patients can regain and maintain their skin’s vitality, suppleness and glow. We can help them select the procedures that will best benefit them in the long term, and help them develop an ongoing programme to get the most out of the treatments they choose,” adds Dr Jain.

For more information please visit: www.riverbanksclinic.co.uk

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UK Summer Flop Spurs Last Minute Translation Rush

Thousands of British holidaymakers could now be looking for a last minute sun holiday after the Met Office revised their weather predictions, but many overseas destinations may not be ready for the rush, according to the language experts at Thames Translations.

With the recession forcing many holidaymakers to cut back on their overseas travel this year, Thames Translations believe that a number of tourist attractions and destinations may have cut back on their translation spending this year until the market picked up again and now might find themselves inundated with enquiries from British holidaymakers looking for a last minute sun break.

The Met Office, who had previously issued a ‘barbecue summer’ prediction have now revised their weather reports and are now predicting a gloomy outlook for the summer season. Many holidaymakers were reported to have decided to stay in the UK and enjoy the summer sun but Thames Translations’ MD Simon George claims many will now look to the web to find a late holiday deal.

“People are still budget conscious because of the recession, so will not be wanting to spend a lot on their holiday and for this reason, people are likely to spend time browsing the net for good value holidays. We have found that whilst the major destinations tend to have adequate translations in place, a number of newly emerging tourist destinations are still lagging behind when it comes to catering for overseas visitors through a well executed website,” explains George.

According to George, newly emerging tourist destinations such as Eastern Europe, including Russia, and China are not only becoming popular with British tourists but also use a different alphabet which makes understanding their language even more difficult. These destinations and others need to take action quickly to ensure that their websites are geared up to cater for an increase in overseas interest over the coming weeks.

“If you can talk the customer’s language, they are far more likely to stay on the site longer; in fact, a report from Quova (www.quova.com) revealed that their clients saw visitor drop off rates shrink by as much as 70% when content was delivered in the right language. Geo-location software is great because it can tell you exactly where your online customers are in the world and by knowing this information, you can ensure that your website is translated into the correct languages and also monitor how your visitor demographics change over time, and adjust your communication mix accordingly,” says George.

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Notes to Editor

About Thames Translations

Hertfordshire-based Thames Translations is renowned for providing high quality translation services to a broad range of professional and commercial organisations, utilising over 2000 ‘mother tongue’ qualified translators.

The company was founded in 1972 and was acquired by successful entrepreneur and businessman Simon George 11 years ago. Its success continues to be built on a long-standing reputation for excellence, reliability and innovation.

Thames Translations boasts an impressive client portfolio including British Gas, Arriva, Black & Decker, Direct Line, Dixons, Eurostar, IPC Media, Microsoft, Monarch Airlines, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Tesco and Virgin.

For more information visit www.thames-translations.com

Press Enquiries

For further information, images or to arrange an interview please contact Amy Larman on 01603 283 463 or email jenna@mediajems.co.uk