Hull is celebrating being shortlisted for City of Culture.   The city submitted a serious bid, not celebrity-led, but designed to shine a light on Hull’s home grown talent, its growing independent cultural sector and the many artists, writers and musicians who have studied or worked here.   The approach has paid off and Hull is proud to join the other three cities competing for the title.

Scandinavian Airlines is expanding its regional network and launching a new direct route from Humberside International Airport to Copenhagen with operations scheduled to start on 28 October 2013.   SAS will be flying once a day to Copenhagen from Humberside, five times a week. Tickets will be on sale from 17 June 2013 and flights start from just £103 one-way including taxes and charges.  

COMMUNICATIONS provider and World Trade Centre partner KC has been shortlisted in five categories of the 2013 ISPA (Internet Service Providers’ Association) Awards, which recognise the best internet services in the UK.
For the first time, the awards include a Best Superfast Broadband category, which KC’s Lightstream fibre broadband service is in the running to win. KC’s business broadband service has also been shortlisted in the Best Business Broadband category.

The Humber’s competitive advantages for offshore wind are being showcased to visitors to a major offshore wind conference and exhibition this week.  The Humber LEP has brought together businesses and local authorities to sell the area for trade and investment on a dedicated Humber Renewables exhibition stand, the fourth joint presence it has organised at a major event in the last year.
The Humber’s strength in the burgeoning Renewables sector was well documented in The Times Humber supplement, initially published in April and being distributed at the conference.  The Humber’s importance is highlighted by Centrica who have invested in wind farms in the North Sea and says “The Humber had never been more important to us as a business.”

SHE Knows Health & Safety has had more success in the Middle East in Oman and is closing on a deal in Libya.  The company, which has offices in Hull and Grimsby, is midway through a senior management training contract for the Sultanate of Oman.   The company is delivering an IOSH accredited Directing International Safely course to the Omani ministry dealing with electricity and water. This follows a four-year contract awarded last year to help train 5,000 Omani petrochemical workers.

World Trade Centre Hull & Humber has set out its ambitions, which include bringing a major global business conference to the city.
Capitalising on its international links, the centre’s new development plan aims to enhance the activities of organisations engaged in the Humber’s economic development.   The not-for-profit, private sector run business which has operated from Hull’s Queen Street since 2010, is part of a global network of world trade centres and the only active centre in the UK. It has become a home for the Humber LEP, UK Trade & Investment, Team Humber Marine Alliance, Hull & East Yorkshire Bondholders and Language is Everything.

The sky’s the limit for a new Hull renewable energy company, following its UK-wide launch of innovative, new active daylight enhancing skylights.   The active skylights work by capturing available light and driving the light down into the building for up to ten hours a day, reducing energy consumption, improving people performance and giving environmental gains.   Ciralight UK is the sole UK distributor of the US developed Active Skylight that is, quite literally, brand new to the UK.   They have already been successfully launched into northern continental Europe, including Belgium and the Netherlands, and are widely used across the US in commercial buildings, such as offices, factories, retail stores, and public facilities, including schools.    

The “Growing the Humber” scheme, backed by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF), has launched a South Bank Engineering Apprenticeship programme, available to businesses in both North and North East Lincolnshire.   The programme offers a grant of £6,000 towards the first year wage costs of a new level three engineering apprentice.The scheme is part of a wider job creation programme delivered through the RGF “Growing the Humber” Programme which is managed by the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC).