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Proud to be an Export Champion

East of England Export Champion 2020 4Col thumbnail2US2U Consulting have been awarded the prestigious title of 2020 Export Champion by the UK Department for International Trade.

This is in recognition of the international work we have done over the last few years, with international projects and trade visits to the likes of Belgium, Ireland, Canada, USA and across the Middle East - along with the insights our teams can share with other businesses looking to export their goods and services. Read more >>>

News & Events

US2U Online Coaching: Keep Calm and Change How We Carry On

At US2U Consulting, problem-solving and adapting to change are two core values underpinning everything we do. The Coronavirus situation presents urgent challenges to people and businesses worldwide, with everyone having to adapt how they work and live for the timebeing.

US2U Consulting can help businesses to meet some of the imminent work challenges being faced, particularly in regards to working from home and finding ways to ensure business objectives are still being met. We have launched an Online Coaching Service to enable this to happen.

Below are some of the key services we can provide to assist in adapting with remote or virtual-based teamworking over the coming weeks and months. We are experienced at communicating virtually with clients, using platforms such as Skype, Zoom and Google Hangouts, and we are flexible to accomodate different schedules and timezones to ensure we can assist wherever you are in the region, country or world.

 1:1 coaching, and small group-based coaching

 Mental health and anxieties relating to the Coronavirus situation

 Effective working with your team remotely

 Goal setting and time management

 Performance management

 Project management, and how to structure working multi-site

 Communication and influencing skills while working remotely from home

 Leadership, Executive Coaching and People Development

Looking for the opportunity in the adversity, this may be a great time for some companies to focus on the Leadership and Development of their teams and to get ahead, ready for when they return.

If you would like to learn more about how our Online Coaching can help you manage the change over the coming weeks and months, please contact Rachel and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or telephone 01603 716852.

US2U Consulting named 2020 Export Champion by Department for International Trade

US2U Consulting have been awarded the prestigious title of 2020 Export Champion by the UK Department for International Trade.

This is in recognition of the international work we have done over the last few years, with international projects and trade visits to the likes of Belgium, Ireland, Canada, USA and across the Middle East - along with the insights our teams can share with other businesses looking to export their goods and services.

In this role US2U Consulting will provide peer-to-peer support, offering advice and inspiring others to export; raise awareness of UK DIT's services; and act as a sounding board for what exporters want, to help create a supportive exporting ecosystem.

Please get in touch to find out more about how we can assist with your export strategy.

Engaging with Generation Z

Rachel Blackburn volunteered to run two Recruitment Interviewing Tips workshops for students at East Norfolk Sixth Form College on Monday 2nd March to support National Careers Week 2020. "It was interesting to work with this group of young people to find out what their ideal job is and how they can promote their skills to achieve their goals" said Rachel.

Michelle Atkins, Work Placement & Employer Engagement Co-ordinator at the College said, "I just wanted to thank you for taking the time out today to speak to the two groups. I think they will all benefit from attending, and will take at least a couple of important points each away from the sessions this morning. I'm certain they will find it more beneficial than they realise at the moment, and what they learned today will come back to them when they're in a real life interview situation".

We were part of a Roaring Success

US2U Consulting were pleased to be able to attend the North West Childline Ball in Manchester on Saturday 29th February, which had a Roaring Twenties theme. The evening raised an amazing total of £145k which will be used to provide the support services for vulnerable children in need.

Four-time World Superbike champion Carl Fogarty and Brooke Vincent from Coronation Street (pictured with Rachel Blackburn) were two of the famous faces in attendance. Rachel said "it's always great to be able to meet such interesting people and raise money for a good cause at the same time".

 

 

Working Together to Prevent Modern Slavery

The thought of employing or encouraging modern slaves in our businesses or in our supply chains is not acceptable or desirable from a personal, moral, ethical or legal point of view. However, we can never be 100% certain that we have not done this or will not be doing this during 2020. This was one of the key messages from the recent Working Together to Prevent Modern Slavery conference that was hosted by G's Fresh in Ely, Cambridgeshire and attended by Rachel Blackburn and some US2U Consulting cients.

John Shropshire OBE, CEO of G's Group - which employs over 7000 people across multiple countries - gave an overview of some of the challenges and a variety of speakers including Dame Sara Thornton, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Nick Dale, Superintended of West Midlands Police and Paul Willgoss, Technical Director, Marks and Spencer, all shared their experiences and frameworks for managing businesses to prevent this type of suffering and exploitation. The conference contained film of victims of Modern Slavery explaining their stories as to what had happened to them and the ongoing trauma, even after they had been rescued from most distressing iving conditions in the UK.

Priority messages to conference delegates were to focus on prevention by raising public awareness of Modern Slavery (known as Trafficking in Scotland), making sure that all staff are trained to spot any signs, and the importance of sharing information across the business community and with relevant authorities if there are suspicions that gang leaders are exploiting vulnerable people across multiple companies and sectors.

US2U Consulting Attend Trade Mission to Qatar with UK DIT

US2U Consulting were pleased to participate in a UK Department for International Trade trade mission to Doha, Qatar on 9-10th December.

The trade mission focused on the arena of Leadership Development, in line with the objectives of the Qatar National Vision 2030, and US2U were joined by several other businesses to meet with various Qatari companies and organisations to explore exporting opportunities within the country.

US2U Consulting was represented by Rachel and Kerwin Blackburn, who met some fascinating people and gained some great insights from the meetings.

Reflecting on the mission, Rachel commented, "It's been great to come back to Qatar and further explore opportunities at an exciting time for the country, with Qatarisation and the Qatar National Vision 2030, and with excitement already building for the World Cup in 2022."

Kerwin said, "This has been my first visit to Qatar and it's been a fantastic opportunity to learn about the country's culture and national objectives, and to learn about how US2U Consulting's services can contribute."

As we often use Belbin Team Role Profiling as part of our leadership development solutions, we have partnered with Belbin Associates to offer taster sessions for any Qatari organisations wishing to learn how this tool can help to make a positive difference to individual, team and business unit performance.

View our promotional flyer about our key services for Qatar below:

US2U Consulting - Leadership & Management Training and Executive Coaching for Qatar

Kerwin Blackburn Launches 'By Kerwin' Online Art Store

US2U Consulting Consultant Kerwin Blackburn has launched By Kerwin, an online art store selling prints of his hand-painted acrylic paintings.

Following a year spent working at a startup in Singapore, Kerwin has returned to the UK and has now developed this artistic hobby of his into an e-commerce site. The site features a wide collection of his paintings, including his latest series of Jackson Pollock-inspired action portraits from the world of music, featuring The Beatles (pictured), Amy Winehouse, Oasis, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Paul Weller, Diana Ross and more. Worldwide shipping is available.

He recently donated a print to local charity Break at the Norfolk Chamber Christmas Breakfast networking event.

Browse and shop the collection now at bykerwin.com, and keep an eye out for new releases!

Christmas Jumper Day 2019!

We enjoyed taking part in Save The Children UK's Christmas Jumper Day for the second year running, this year donating £60 to the charity.

Save The Children operates in over 100 countries to help every child reach their full potential, and have used their annual Christmas Jumper Day to raise funds and awareness for their cause.

Pictured is Rachel Blackburn in her reindeer-themed effort!

Norfolk Chamber Christmas Breakfast 2019 with Break Charity

Rachel and Kerwin Blackburn attended the Norfolk Chamber Christmas Breakfast networking event 2019 in Norwich on 5th December.

The festive breakfast event celebrated the Chamber's featured charity, Break, which provides long lasting care and support for children and young people, with seven children's homes across Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.

Kerwin donated a print of his handpainted Liam Gallagher acrylic action painting from his new By Kerwin collection, which launched at the end of November. Prints of all paintings can be viewed and purchased at bykerwin.com.

 

City College Norwich Graduation Ceremony 2019

Rachel Blackburn was pleased to be invited to attend this memorable and spectacular event at Norwich Cathedral on Saturday 19 October.

City College Norwich is an Associate College of the University of East Anglia. It was positive to see so many people achieve success.

In particular our congratulations are offered to Katarzyna Izabela Mydlik on being presented with the HE Student of the Year Award, pictured with Rachel.

Rachel said "Having been a mentor for Kasia back in 2016, it was great to see how she has worked to achieve success in challenging circumstances and we wish her all the best for the future".