Happy Birthday to a venerable institution in the secretarial world, Queen's Business and Secretarial College. This year the college, based in London's fashionable Kensington, celebrates 80 years of training secretaries and PAs. "We're very proud of the college's achievements over the years," said Corinne Bickford, Principal of the college since 1996. "We still believe that solid, quality training is key to developing students who can perform in the workplace."

The college opened its doors in 1924, and since then has charted the progression of technology in the office from manual typewriters to PDAs. "The challenge has always been to keep courses relevant for today's world, and we work hard to keep skills up to date," continues Corinne. And far from offering only secretarial options, the college now offers diverse courses, including Marketing and Business Skills, and an Intensive Business Skills course, often taken by graduates who recognise the killer combination of academic and practical skills on their CVs.

Thousands of students have passed through the doors of the college en route to some of London's most desirable jobs, and work experience placements often lead to job offers on the spot. "We like to watch our students become increasingly confident as the courses progress, and leave the college highly skilled and prepared to cope with the demands of today's offices," Corinne explains. And long may they continue - here's to the next 80 years, Queen's!

If you want to keep up with the movers and shakers in the venue business, this is for you. The British Association of Conference Destinations (BACD) is due to unveil a new tool on its website - an Investment Register. "We aim to keep event organisers bang up to date with news on which venues are significantly refurbishing their premises, and any new and exciting building projects," explains the BACD's Executive Director Tony Rogers. "That way, PAs, event co-ordinators and conference organisers will be able to access information to help them plan their future conferences, meetings and events, and see where new offerings are coming on stream."

According to Tony, investment is on the increase in the venues sector, and he sees a long-awaited up-turn in confidence. "Wherever I go around the country, I see the same story," he says. "Billions of pounds are being spent on venues and supporting infrastructure, which is great news for event organisers."

Visit www.bacd.org.uk for more details, and keep an eye out for the new Investment Register, coming soon.

Congratulations to UK stationery firm John Dickinson, which this year celebrates its 200th anniversary. The organisation is the largest stationery manufacturer in Britain, and its famous brands - such as "Basildon Bond", "Black n' Red", "New Guardian", "Challenge" and "Cambridge" - are a familiar part of everyday office life for most of us.

In 1804, John Dickinson was just 22 and set himself up in business as a stationer in the City of London. Over the next few years he developed his skills as a papermaker, and - always innovative - he took out a number of patents on new ways of making paper.

By 1860, when Dickinson retired, he had an empire of four mills, all in Hertfordshire – Apsley, Croxley, Nash and Home Park. At its peak in the 1920s and 1930s, the main Apsley plant employed 5,000 people and even had its own fire tender (think about it… a paper factory?).

The brand names associated with John Dickinson have a long heritage: "Basildon Bond" and "Three Candlesticks" were introduced in the early part of the 20th century, for example, and "Black n' Red", "Plus Fabric" and "Cambridge" - though relatively young - are all more than 50 years old.

The firm owes much of its longevity to its constant innovation, an ethos driven by John Dickinson himself. The company introduced "wiro" binding in the 30s, and was behind many familiar products today, such as continuous stationery, gummed tape, and seal-easi latex envelopes. A popular item in today's offices, the Easy Open envelope with its tear strip which avoids damaging the contents (which costs no more than an ordinary envelope), was developed in the 1940s for use in wartime blackouts, and was called the "Blitz" envelope.

And inventive design goes on today - among the most impressive being the transformation of the trusty Black n' Red notepad into the Digital Notebook. Printed with millions of tiny dots, the pages can be used with a special digital pen, so handwritten text can be transferred direct to a PC. In this 21st century link-up with phone giants Nokia and software experts Anoto, this text can then be turned into typed text, without retyping! Just think of the magic of transferring those handwritten board Minutes to typed text…

So next time you seal an envelope or take notes on your notepad, think of the 200 years of innovation, investment and industry which lie behind it. It's stationery, that's anything but stationary. There are precious few manufacturers left in the UK who can celebrate 200 years, so well done John Dickinson!

If you want to hold events in the historic London borough of Westminster, you now have only one phone call to make. A new group joins together nine of the district's most famous venues, under the banner "The Westminster Collection". The Collection includes the Royal Horticultural Halls & Conference Centre, the Conference Centre at Church House, Central Hall Westminster, Banqueting House Westminster, One Birdcage Walk, the Grange Hotels Group, One Whitehall Place, Thistle Inn Victoria, and City Inn Westminster. When availability may be tricky in one venue, the group can point you to another in the area. For more details visit www.thewestminstercollection.info/

You may have the impression that redundancies are still commonplace, but new research from leading recruitment company Reed tells a different story: redundancies are at their lowest for two years. And the job market is looking remarkably healthy - firms are gearing up for recruitment again, and downsizing is becoming a thing of the past.

Nearly 1,500 organisations across the UK are surveyed each quarter for the Reed Recruitment Index, and the most recent results show that 88% of organisations are putting together recruitment plans for the second half of this year. This represents a significant rise - 10% - on the previous quarter. Good news, too, is that a further 48 per cent of firms are recruiting to keep staffing levels stable by replacing leavers.

The new figures show that fewer organisations are planning to downsize or create redundancies. A huge exception to this is, of course, the Civil Service, where more than 100,000 jobs are to go in Chancellor Gordon Brown's planned cuts. The report highlights starkly that recruitment growth has slowed most in the Public Sector where more massive downsizing is to come.

The Reed findings are echoed in a survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development which predicts a spurt in growth in jobs, reporting that a majority of firms are planning to hire extra staff this summer. Economic recovery is gathering pace, according to the Institute. Almost six out of 10 of employers plan to recruit additional new staff this quarter, up on the 53% who said they planned to last quarter. In the Institute's analysis, business confidence is growing and firms are recruiting to support all areas of their organisations.

It could be time to feel sorry for your boss! A new study from the Chartered Management Institute reveals that Britain's managers are too afraid to take a break from their jobs. They are fearful about the workload they will face on returning from a holiday and some are just unable to "let go".

More than 3,000 managers were questioned, and the Institute found that work overload means more execs are reluctant to use their full holiday allowance each year. Only half claimed to use their full entitlement, compared to 66 per cent last year.

Bosses have trouble leaving the office behind, mostly because of the huge in-tray they say awaits them on their return. Over 40% expect to have to deal with more than 100 emails on their return after just one week away, and a beleaguered 3% have more than 500 emails in their inboxes.

Interestingly for PAs and support staff, many bosses admitted they're not good delegators. Around 22% admitted that they find it hard to let go of responsibilities and give work to colleagues. Managers also find it hard to cut that cord with the desk - 26% take a laptop or PDA away with them specifically to access work and almost half leave contact details with their employer (way up from 29% in 2003).

Congratulations to the following ON! Office Networks subscribers, who won in our free giveaway in the last issue. These lucky winners will be receiving a copy of business psychologist Sue Firth's excellent tape, "How to Maximise your Self-Esteem" - Tobina Sale, Legal PA at Allen & Overy; Kaye Knight, PA at BP plc; Janice Dickson, PA at T R Fastenings; Pam King, Secretary at University of Sheffield; and Karen Hart, Senior Administrator at AstraZeneca.

We also had 10 copies of the Kogan Page guide "30 Minutes to Improve your Networking Skills" and these subscribers can expect their free copies any day soon: Sue Burroughs, Secretary at Powergen plc; Debbie Ward, Secretary to the Commercial Director, Kent Pharmaceuticals Ltd; Pam Boylin, PA at Egg; Karen Grout, PA at Lykiardopulo and Company Ltd; Carol Spencer, PA at University of Nottingham; Sam Clarke, Data Management Operations Co-ordinator, Nestle Purina Petcare; Kim Carter, Secretary for East Devon District Council; Nicola Sutton, PA to Operations Director, Reed Business Info; Arlene Duff, PA to MD, MacFarlane Smith; and Rosemary Janes, PA to MD, Chemetall plc.

Don't miss our excellent giveaway in this issue of ON! Office Networks!