James Mills is a web developer in the North East of England and founder of Refresh Teesside »
Mike Hughes is the Head of Business for the Evening Gazette. He will be blogging on all matters of importance to Teesside businesses - and some that are just worth knowing »
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Deloitte, which has 23 offices across the UK including Newcastle, is among the country's leading professional services firms » 
ClimateNE & Climate Change Schools Project support the move to a low-carbon, resilient economy and help businesses avoid risk and realise commercial opportunities. Posts by Jen Atkinson, Krista McKinzey and Harriet Thew » I'd like to highlight the first company I've encountered in 2009 who has lost business due to being inaccessible. I won't name them, as you may choose to look at your organisation and say "That Could Be Me"!
WheelchairSteve Ltd , my company which helps businesses benefit from being more accessible for disabled people and others with special access needs, e.g. elderly people, are members of a regional networking group called DCM - Dual Concept Marketing. In addition to the kind of thing traditional networking organisations do, DCM members collaborate on projects for mutual benefit.
One such project which is being developed involves offering a residential weekend retreat for members of the public at a venue in the region.
A potential venue was identified and we were ready to make progress to booking what would be the first of several of these events throughout 2009 and beyond, when we learnt - THEY DON'T HAVE FACILIITIES FOR DISABLED PEOPLE!
So instead of taking thousands of pounds at each of these events, surely critical income in a time of financial crisis, inaccessibility has cost this organisation business.
The lesson here is take a look at your business and think if you could be missing out on not having accessible faciities for disabled people.
And remember, not everyone is in a wheelchair, so major structural changes, which I regularly find is what every business expects to have to make, are not always necessary. It's about thinking outside the box, which is what wheelchairsteve.com is all about helping you do.
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