Full fibre network construction is now underway to connect public sector premises across the City of Wolverhampton.

It forms part of the council’s overall Digital Infrastructure Strategy to improve broadband connectivity to enable smart technology and accessibility for all, improved digital infrastructure complementing electric vehicle growth and sustainable transport.

The council last month announced the UK’s third national digital infrastructure platform, CityFibre, as its preferred rollout partner.

They are currently laying fibre in Dudley Street while re-paving works take place in this city centre location.

In the coming months CityFibre, and its build partner Comex 2000, will be carrying out works across the rest of the city to provide future-proof Gigabit connectivity that will upgrade the delivery of frontline public sector services.

Construction of the network to serve public sector premises, including council sites, libraries, Wolverhampton Homes offices and schools, is expected to be completed by spring 2021.

It comes after the council secured £4.9million government funding from the Department of Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) Local Full Fibre Network project.

Taking in around 170 sites, the new network will help to upgrade the delivery of frontline public sector services, lowering operational costs and boosting productivity. It will also help meet the growing demand from residents for digital services in public buildings, support the improvement of educational resources, and bridge the digital divide.

Cabinet Member for Resources, Councillor Louise Miles, said: “The development of digitally innovative and future-proofed learning environments and curricula is vital to ensure that our learners leave school as some of the most technologically capable young people in the country.

“Better connectivity in public buildings is essential to ensure residents are digital included.

“Our libraries are committed to giving people access to new and emerging digital technology through the provision of computers, free WiFi and other digital technologies and developing digital skills.”

Head of Public Sector Sales at CityFibre, Andy Nash, added: “We are working closely with the City of Wolverhampton Council to deliver a much-needed upgrade to crucial public sector infrastructure that will serve the area for decades to come. A full fibre network will ensure the people and businesses of Wolverhampton will be able to access an increasing amount of modern, digital services from their local authority.”

Minister for Digital Infrastructure Matt Warman said: "Thanks to our funding more and more vital public sector sites across Wolverhampton will now have 21st century gigabit speed broadband. This will be a real boost for the city's libraries, educational services and public buildings, with the benefits felt throughout the wider region. This is all part of our plans to level up the country by investing in world-class infrastructure and connectivity."

Naeem Arif is a highly experienced customer-orientated leader, with over 15 years experience as director of multiple successful Private Limited Companies in the Retail and Management Consulting world. He the founder of NA Consulting, a retail and management consultancy, and the Co-Founder and Vice Chair of the Midlands Retail Forum.

With high levels of competition and the explosion of demand for prepared food, technology has presented as the key for enabling brands and independents to stand out from the crowed.

Over the last decade there has been an unprecedented growth in the entire food service industry but particularly with restaurant. Low food crops and an increase in disposable income have created an opportunity for the development of many exciting and attractive restaurant concepts with the aim to engage in Flyers on the fact that more and more people are eating out more than ever.

In response to the increased appetite of consumers the European market has rapidly expanded changed with a mixture of existing brands expanding and refurbishing, new brands being created, independent operators influence appendices brands undertaking international expansion has expanded the food service sector. From the quick service restaurants and street food vendors one end to fine dining at the other, everything else in between.

The UK alone has around 60% of the market is comprised of small restaurant and Gastro pubs. In parts of continental Europe such as Turkey and Greece, that percentage is even higher creating greater competition and the need for engagement and the differentiation.

In order for restaurants to compete in such a booming growing space as well as remaining relevant and appealing to the next generation of younger more tech savvy diners restaurants are embarking widespread refurbishment of the outlets, including overhauling the interaction presentation process.

These diners want more digital autonomous interactive entertaining and self-determined dining and ordering experience.

For all restaurants there is need and opportunity for them to live its new display projection technologies to update the outlets improve visual communication create more dynamic adaptive customer information service points.

Take into consideration the world’s largest QSR brands, they have undertaken a broad update of decor and soft furnishings in the last decade and am now rolling out a variety of digital display technologies to update the one remaining legacy customer experience – point of sale. It is an important time to undertake this update and renewal with any USR brands experiencing wants widespread change not just to the décor and clientele but also to menu options.

Restaurants are embracing everything from organic detailed provenance of produce. This means there is greater detail about menu items to express to customers.

There are various points around restaurants with these transformations are taking place better than the benefits offerings from the wholesale digitalisation of restaurant POS at every level.

It was announced today that MCM Comic Con Birmingham—the celebration of comic books, cosplay, video games, anime, movies and books—will be postponed due to COVID-19.

“Having monitored the situation around COVID-19 constantly over these last few weeks and taking on board the feedback from the MCM community, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone MCM Comic Con Birmingham. The show is now scheduled to run from 27-28th June 2020 at the NEC, Birmingham."

Originally scheduled for 21st-22nd March 2020, any ticket(s) already purchased will still be valid for the new MCM Comic Con dates and no further action is needed on the part of attendees. Should any person be unable to attend the new dates or have additional queries, they can contact the Reedpop Customer Services team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Keep an eye on the official MCM Comic Con website for further updates and information.

In an effort to provide more opportunities for Caribbean nationals pursuing higher education and careers in the tourism industry, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Scholarship Foundation has enhanced and expanded its programme.

With the support of partners in the private sector, the foundation is this year introducing scholarships of up to $5000 in public relations and communications; tourism education or human resources development; hotel, resort, or villa development, design and/or planning; and aviation or air transport technologies. In addition, the Arley Sobers Memorial Scholarship for those seeking to enhance their skills in tourism research or statistics is being doubled from US$2500 to $5000, while a master’s degree scholarship of no less than US$5,000 is being offered for studies in tourism-related disciplines, including language, agriculture, fisheries, horticulture, event management, interior design, medical tourism, architecture, sports, culture and heritage, environmental protection and preservation.

The foundation is also offering a US$5000 scholarship to Caribbean nationals interested in pursuing a first degree in tourism management or marketing, as well as study grants of US$2500 to those seeking to improve their skills in any tourism-related field of study that will enhance the development of a sustainable tourism industry and boost service excellence in the region.

“By expanding the programme to include financial support for study in this wide range of tourism-related subjects, the CTO Scholarship Foundation seeks to meet its objective of ensuring that the brightest and the best are attracted to careers in the tourism sector or in areas that impact tourism, thereby helping to build a Caribbean tourism industry that is globally competitive and sustainable,” says Jacqueline Johnson, the foundation’s chair. “The foundation is profoundly thankful to our partners who have come on board to make these industry specific scholarships possible, and we look forward to welcoming other partners in the future.”

The private sector partners financing various scholarships include Zelman Style Interiors which is funding the hotel, resort, or villa rental scholarship, and Delta Air Lines which funds the aviation and air transport technologies scholarship.

The full list of scholarships and grants, along with criteria for qualification, can be found at: https://bit.ly/2JhVfO3. Applications are currently being accepted and the deadline for submitting entries is Friday, 19 April 2019 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. All applications must be submitted online at: https://bit.ly/2VeNQUX. Applications will not be accepted via mail, email or fax. The foundation selects individuals who demonstrate high levels of achievement and leadership both within and outside the classroom and who express a strong interest in making a positive contribution to Caribbean tourism. 

Individuals who wish to make a contribution to the CTO Foundation can do so via its GoFundMe page athttps://www.gofundme.com/cto-scholarship-foundation. 

The CTO Foundation is a 501 (C)(3) entity established in 1997 with the aim of training and developing future leaders for the Caribbean tourism industry by funding studies in tourism and tourism-related subjects, hospitality and language. Since its inception, the foundation has raised over US$1 million in scholarship funds and has provided over 280 grants and scholarships.

People’s monthly data allowance isn’t infinite, and with movies to stream, music to download, and social media to surf, it can be easy to burn through our allowance in no time at all.

To help combat the dreaded data drain, mobile experts at Mobiles.co.uk have put together five handy tips to make your data go further each month.

Change your social media settings

Scrolling through social media may be a great way to pass the time, but it can be one of the biggest drains on our data, thanks to the video-heavy content.

Videos on Facebook and Instagram are set to auto-play by default so even if you don’t stop to watch the videos, data is being used to buffer them. This can be changed in the settings of both of the apps.

To stop videos playing automatically on Facebook select Menu > Settings & Privacy > Settings > Media and Contacts > Videos and photos and set ‘Auto-play- to ether ‘On Wi-Fi Connections Only’ or ‘Never Auto-play Videos’. To do this on Instagram tap onto your profile then go to Menu > Settings > Mobile Data Use and enable ‘Use Less Data’.

Turn off push notifications

Push notifications may not be the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to limiting your data consumption, but it’s a small change which can certainly make a difference. Some apps use data to send notifications to your device, so it’s worth turning these off for apps you don’t use frequently to cut back on the data being used.

To turn off push notifications on an iPhone go to Settings > Notifications and select the apps you want to disallow notifications for.

To do disable push notifications on an Android device select Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications. Under ‘Recently sent’ you’ll find a list of apps that have recently sent notifications where you can turn off all notifications for specific apps.

Download content on Wi-Fi

Restricting your usage doesn’t mean you have to go without your favourite podcasts, songs or TV shows. Make the most of your Wi-Fi connection and download content to enjoy offline when you’re out and about.

Going offline doesn't mean an end to your streaming services either. Both Spotify and Apple Music allow you to download music to your device to enjoy offline, and watching TV won’t be a problem too thanks to Netflix’s download capabilities

If you’re a fan of podcasts and an iPhone user, simply tap on the + icon next to a podcast while connected to Wi-Fi and it will be downloaded to your phone.

Restrict background data

Even when you’re not using your device, your apps eat away at your allowance by reloading in the background, with social media and news apps taking the biggest chunk of our data.

Although having updated apps may be convenient, the continuous, automated refreshing means that this is one of the worst culprits for both a battery and data drain. Luckily, there’s an easy way to reduce this activity and save on your usage. Here’s how:

Restrict background activity on iPhone:

Open Settings, go to General > Background App Refresh > Background App Refresh and choose either ‘Wi-Fi’ or ‘Off’.

Restrict background activity on Android:

Go to Settings > Select Data Usage > Cellular Data Usage. Tap on the app you want to stop using background data and disable ‘Background data’.

Keep an eye on your usage

It may sound obvious, but keeping tabs on your data usage is essential if you often run short. Most networks come with their own app where you can monitor your allowance and see when it will be refreshed. This is particularly helpful for budgeting your data and ensuring you stay under your limit.

Andrew Cartledge, Mobile Experts at Mobiles.co.uk said: “Cutting down on unnecessary data usage is a great way to make sure you will always have enough to do the things you really want to do with your allowance.

“By following these tips, we hope that smartphone users can make sure that they will never run out of data, allowing them to save money and make the most of what their phone has to offer.”

New research of 1,153 UK adults carried out by gadgets and technology e-tailer, LaptopsDirect.co.uk, found that British couples keep nine gadgets in the bedroom on average – but 72% said they feel this is actually improving their relationship.

The top ten gadgets kept in the bedroom were found to be; Televisions, smartphones, tablets, e-readers, smartwatches, games consoles, Amazon Echo/Google Home speakers, laptops, wearable fitness trackers and baby monitors.

A large number (68%) said they are more likely to go to bed earlier to spend quality time together as a couple - such as settling in to watch Netflix or enjoy a Podcast in bed.

The devices most commonly used by couples in bed was unsurprisingly televisions, with 73% claiming they enjoy watching together whilst relaxing before going to sleep.

More than half (59%) of Brits say that reading an e-book in bed relaxes them, while more than 1 in 3 (39%) couples enjoy the quality time they feel they get from watching TV and films on devices while in bed together. Finally, it was revealed that 16% of those surveyed said that they enjoy quality time together whilst playing games consoles from the comfort of their duvet.

Mark Kelly, marketing manager at LaptopsDirect.co.uk said “It’s great to see how couples are using gadgets to their advantage to enhance their relationships in 2019. In a world where personal relationships are constantly strained, if watching their favourite show together on a tablet means a couple is more likely to snuggle up and enjoy relaxation time in the bedroom together that can only be a good thing.”

Laptops Direct is the UK’s largest online laptop specialist, selling a wide range of new and refurbished laptops from leading brands, as well as a wide range of other lifestyle gadgets.