News

All the latest NTFA software enhancements, product and service additions....

March Prize Daw Winner (1 April 2011)

We are pleased to announce that the winner of our March prize draw is 'bettyboo', who
we will be contacting shortly. (The draw took place on 31st March 2011 and the prize was a Marks and Spencer gift card.)

Twitter & Facebook (15 March 2011)

We are now actively trying to increase our membership and to help us do this we have decided to create both a Twitter page and a Facebook page to promote the 'Need to find a' website.

Both Twitter and Facebook pages can be accessed via the links on our home page.

February Prize Daw Winner (1 March 2011)

We are pleased to announce that the winner of our February prize draw is 'crazyhorse', who we will be contacting shortly. (The draw took place on 30th January 2011 and the prize was a Marks and Spencer gift card.)

January Prize Daw Winner (7 February 2011)

We are pleased to announce that the winner of our January prize draw is 'skiers29', who
we will be contacting shortly. (The draw took place on 30th January 2011 and the prize was a Marks and Spencer gift card.)

Trade Association Logos (5 February 2011)

To help Business Plus members get their message across, we are now working on a set of logos representing trade associations and skills accreditation. These can be used full size on your web pages or in miniature on your "electronic business card" to give potential customers a better idea of your skills and which trade associations you belong to.

So if you've got it, flaunt it!

A few examples, but no means all of them:

Prize Draw Eligibility (2 February 2011)

To encourage member registration, we are extending eligibility for our monthly prize draw to newly registered members and existing members who recommend us to their friends.

Anyone who joins NTFA as a member or a business will be automatically entered for our next prize draw provided that they consent to receive our e-mail newsletter. This is only sent out periodically (usually monthly).

Existing members can also gain entry by recommending NTFA to their friends. If someone registers with us as a result of your recommendation, you will be automatically entered for our next prize draw provided that the new member consents to receive our e-mail newsletter and provides us with your username during the registration process. So if you do recommend us, make sure your friend knows your username to gain entry to the draw!

We are currently limiting this to members that are located within one of NTFA's live areas, which at this point means business addresses with postcode postal district 'S' (ie Sheffield postcodes). This does of course include towns such as Chesterfield, Rotherham and Barnsley.

The prize for our draw is a Marks & Spencer gift card.

NTFA Prize Draw (3 August 2010)

As a thank you to our members who recommend new businesses to us, we are introducing a monthly prize draw.

Anyone who recommends a new business that subsequently registers with 'Need to find a' will be entered in one of our monthly prize draws after the business has completed registration (by new business we mean one that isn't already registered with NTFA and is providing one of the services that NTFA promotes).

We are limiting this to businesses that are located within one of NTFA's live areas, which at this point means business addresses with postcode postal district 'S' (ie Sheffield postcodes). This does of course include towns such as Chesterfield, Rotherham and Barnsley.

Members will be entered for a prize draw each time a business that they have recommended registers, so the more successful recommendations, the greater the chance of winning!

The prize for our first draw will be a Marks & Spencer gift card.

Don't worry if you have already recommended a business during our pilot project. The first draw will include entries for all members that recommended businesses who registered with us during that time.

Pilot Project Completed (24 May 2010)

We have (finally) completed our pilot project, which has helped us iron out the bugs and make sure the service meets the needs of our members.

Thanks to everyone in Sheffield that took part in the pilot - both members and businesses. Your contributions, comments (and patience) are greatly appreciated.

It has taken longer than we anticipated to get to this stage, but we think the service and improved facilities now available make the additional effort worthwhile.

We have been reluctant until now to let our members spread the word about the service simply because we wanted to keep volumes down while we checked and rechecked the system and our supporting processes. NOT ANY MORE! Please let anyone in the Sheffield area know about us if you think they would benefit from our service.

Enhancement - Business Plus Editor (27 April 2010)

Business Plus members can now take advantage of our new web page editor. Yes, we know we already had an editor, but we didn't like it so we threw it away in favour of the new one. A training program will be provided for Business Plus members who have been using the mk1 editor. Don't worry - the new one is easier to use and produces better results!

Enhancement - Postal Districts (3 February 2010)

Business Plus members can now see a list of the communities that comprise each postal district when selecting the areas they wish to cover - just hover over each postal district to view the appropriate list.

New Feature - Maps (10 December 2009)

Business members can now elect to display a map showing their business location. The map is displayed in a separate window when a visitor clicks on the map link icon on the "electronic business card" in the search results. This option is not exclusive to Business plus members - all business members can use it. Please note that this option is switched off until you sign in and change it under your business details.

Need To Find A Pilot Project - Maps (30 October 2009)

The website is up and running on the web, but we feel the need for a cautious start to make sure everything works in the real world.

The Need to find a service will run as a pilot for the time being, in collaboration with a selected group of people and businesses. Once we have fully evaluated the service, we will make it available to a wider audience.

So if you happen to come across this site while we are still in the pilot stage, please be aware that the number of products and services you can search for will be limited for the time being.