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How to attract Millennials


By Katie Hale Client Services Director PLOTT Creative


This generation (18-34 year olds) has a reputation of being expectant, lazy and aimless, so why would we want to attract them? By 2050, 50% of the workforce will be made up on Millennials (Guardian 2016). So we can either complain about them or we can harness the power of Millennials and work out how we attract them into our businesses and motivate them to stay! This generation has grown up


with tech and watched how it’s changed the world, making it more efficient. They put a lot of value on the importance of work/life balance and actually put less value on monetary gain. Millennials question everything, understand the need to help others, expect quick results and celebrate diversity. They adapt quickly and are un-phased by change including new technology, in fact that’s what they look for! So what do you need to do? Millennials want to feel like


they are a part of something meaningful, which is why open communication is so important to them. They like to see leaders in action and want to feel inspired. Progress is of higher value to them than financial benefit. Maybe offer flexible working, give them an opportunity to be heard and get involved in bigger causes. With this generation you must communicate with them to understand what it is that they want. Engage with them to make them feel more valued and make your business more appealing by offering flexible working hours outside of the 9-5 standard. There are so many opportunities to engage Millennials - this is only scratching the surface. If you want help if aligning your brand to attract Millennials call us for a chat about how it can work for you.


Katie@plottcreative.co.uk 01675 434583


12 CHAMBERLINK February 2017


AIE rewrite the future of the rotary engine


By Jon Griffin


A tiny Staffordshire company is gearing up to become a world-beater – and unveil the untold story of the rotary engine to a whole new range of 21st Century customers. Lichfield-based Advanced Innovative Engineering


(UK) Ltd have their sights set on conquering this largely untapped market, once hailed as the ‘powerplant of the future.’


Taking on the world: Nathan Bailey with his rotary engine


The engine was designed in the 1950s by German


inventor Felix Wankel and within a decade was regarded as the next great innovation in car design, with the likes of General Motors showing keen interest. The fuel crisis of the 1970s largely put paid to the


dream of mass Rotary Engine production – but now Lichfield-based AIE are in the vanguard of the movement to write another chapter in the latter-day story of Wankel’s invention. AIE managing director Nathan Bailey said: “The


story of the Rotary Engine has largely not been told in the UK, and I would like to play a part in telling that story. “The engine was once seen as a revolution, the


engine of the future. General Motors, Mercedes, all the big boys started to develop vehicles using. But the fuel crisis of the 1970s made all auto manufacturers reassess their strategies, and concentrated on economy rather than power. “The Rotary Engine was seen as less economical


than the piston engine, nobody was going to be buying engines based on performance.” Today there are less than 10 companies in the


world manufacturing – and AIE, formed in 2012 and, with £3m worth of investment from Middle East and Indian backers, has bold ambitions to race ahead of the pack. “We have done a phenomenal amount in the last four and a half years. We have had innovation grants and project funding – the UK and the Midlands is a fantastic area to create technology, I still consider the


Midlands to be the UK’s centre of


manufacturing excellence.” Nathan said AIE had sold 20 in the past 12


months, with products ranging in price from £2,500 to £30,000. “There is no volume in what we are doing at the moment so the cost of the engines has to be higher. We see this


technology as being focused on niche markets, I do not see being mass volume or being manufactured in thousands a year.”


City library is Britain’s most visited


Birmingham’s library is the most visited in Great Britain. New figures claim the Library of Birmingham received more than 1.6m visitors in the past year – almost 120,000 more than Manchester’s Central Library. However, the Chartered Institute


of Public Finance and Accountancy’s annual library survey revealed libraries across England, Wales and Scotland have had funding cut by £25m in the past year. The survey says council-run


libraries have also experienced an overall decline in visitors, with 15m fewer visits in 2015/16 compared with the previous year.


and libraries are just one of the services bearing the brunt. “But despite the grim outlook,


libraries are continuing to transform and innovate, adapting to changing visitor habits and providing a raft of new services and offerings.” The Government’s Libraries


Rob Whiteman, chief executive


of CIPFA, said: “This fall in library funding comes at a time of unprecedented budgetary pressures for local councils. “In this climate really tough decisions are having to be made


Taskforce has pledged £4m to support disadvantaged communities through libraries and urged councils to consider libraries when delivering other public services. The findings echo a five-year


trend of decline. Libraries across Great Britain have seen a 14 per cent reduction in total net expenditure, from £979m in 2011/12 to £842m in 2015/16.


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