Back to School is very much the theme in business this month and at SiGNAL we're doing it in style. We've used a fabulous tech platform called SKOOL to launch a new collaborative online community for our 100 or so members.

We are living in a golden age of technology and happily for all businesses there are multiple exciting ways that affordable tech can be put to use to innovate and create a better customer experience.

SKOOL is a platform that combines events, training, messaging and a shared calendar. It may as well have been designed with SiGNAL in mind!

We've packed the platform with information, resources, events and training but most of all we hope that our community will embrace this platform as a means of engaging in seamless collaboration.

There's an element of fun too as we can use gamification to encourage conversation and engagement across the platform and to reward contributors.

As with all innovation this carries some risk and will no doubt be a work in progress for some time but we look forward to getting constructive feedback and working with our lovely business community to deliver an even better SiGNAL experience.

'Connected Communities Create Opportunities' as we say and this move will bring the SiGNAL community even closer together as we move towards winter.

Its Gin O Clock at SiGNAL

Local business owners listen up! If you are a lover of craft gin or the occasional cocktail you are in luck. There's a new bar in town!

The Hogmoor Distillery joined SiGNAL as an early stage start-up in 2018 and has since gone from strength to strength with their range of craft gins and rums distilled here on the premises using botanicals from the Hogmoor Inclosure. They also offer gin and rum distilling classes for those who would like to mix their own botanicals!

Co-founders Pauline and Mairead have now opened a bar in the SiGNAL grounds where you can come and enjoy a gin cocktail or two in lovely woodland surroundings. You can put this in your diary every Friday 12pm to 9pm, all year round.

Hungry? They have also partnered with local street food vendors so that you can sample delicious artisan foods with your drinks. This Friday 8th September they are being joined by The Hampshire Shepherd with their lamb truck but for up-to-the-minute information on the food trucks available each week just go to The Hogmoor Distillery Facebook Page.

For SiGNAL tenants, there is a 10% discount on your drinks and a 20% discount on off-sales!

You can find the Hogmoor Distillery on the SiGNAL Kildare Road entrance GU35 0DJ. See you there!

When designing a new town centre, collaboration is key.

In July members of the SiGNAL BiZHUB were invited to participate in a workshop focused on the development of Whitehill and Bordon town centre. Here is the summary conclusion:

'A number of traders were quick to focus on operational matters (arguably inevitable in an audience of this nature), but table feedback was nonetheless forthcoming which provided a steer on each of the 3 tiers (The Shed, The Mess Hall, Town Centre 2).

Key takeaways from the group as a whole were as follows:

• The relationship between the Shed, Sergeants’ Mess and TC2 needs to be developed with branding in mind - what sort of town centre and destination do we want to become?
• Any communication explaining everything that is going on in the town needs to be improved and made visible to all.
• Skills, training and investment in the local workforce will be key in the delivery of uses proposed.
• Lack of investment in public transport links remains a weakness and could impact on success.

Table-by-table suggestions were lively and imaginative and are all recorded in the full report. If you would like a copy it is now available on our new Skool platform, or if you aren't a member, please contact [email protected].

Congratulations Team SiGNAL, finalists in the National Entrepreneur Awards!

Last year Lou and I went up to the EC Getting and Keeping Customers Convention in Birmingham and made a vow that we would return this year as VIPs and shortlisted for an award! This week that promise has been realised with the news that we are shortlisted in the category 'Best Business Enabler'. We'll be heading up at the beginning of October to the prize-giving ceremony so fingers crossed for a win! There are plenty of awards still to apply for this awards season including the first-ever Hampshire Business Awards.

For full details of these and other current awards, grants and funding, SiGNAL BiZHUB members can now go straight to the Community section of the new SiGNAL Skool platform

It's all about the money in this new article looking at town centre regeneration

Read the next article in our series about the trials and tribulations of the British High Street - article 3/6 "It's All About the Money, Money, Money ". Regeneration of our town centres is expensive - who should pay?

We interview leader of the Whitehill and Bordon Town Council Andy Tree and Director of the Whitehill and Bordon Regeneration Company James Child.

Become a SiGNAL wildlife sponsor!

Over the summer we have been putting our biodiversity plan into action across our Martinique House and Bungalows sites. Now there is an opportunity for our community to get involved by becoming wildlife sponsors. From just £7.00 (one-off payment) to sponsor a Roosting hanger for birds, or £15.00 to sponsor a ladybird hotel, this is a way to contribute to your local environment without breaking the bank.

All details are on our website, where you can also take a look at our biodiversity map and some great new footage of Claire explaining the different biodiversity areas under development. If you aren't sure whether to give that a go, here's a very short clip of her work!!

What's in the bushes? (out take!) With thanks to Claire and Gareth.

That's all for this month. Been away? All editions of SiGNAL Snapshots can be accessed by SiGNAL BiZHUB members in the Community section of Skool

The next edition of SIGNAL Snapshots is out on October 5th