Sales of VW cars across Europe have begun to grow again for the first time since the diesel emissions scandal hit the company in September 2015, causing a dent in its reputation and its profits.

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The news that the company was found cheating on diesel emissions tests in the US last year has hit the Volkswagen group hard, with profits down by 20 per cent in the first quarter of this year. The company was found to be using so-called “defeat device” software that was able to detect when the car was being driven on a test cycle, allowing it to deliver much lower exhaust emissions than it would produce during normal road driving.

It seems that there is now light at the end of the tunnel for the beleaguered company. Against a background of rising new car registrations across Europe, sales of Volkswagen cars rose by 2.7 per cent in April.

Growth across Europe

All of the major European car markets recorded growth in April, with Spain and Italy leading the way and Germany, France, and the UK also seeing increased sales, indicating an upturn in consumer confidence. This has been the highest month for car sales volume growth in Europe since April 2008, with sales reaching 1.3 million vehicles.

The sales of used VWs don’t seem to have been badly hit by the scandal, and it hasn’t caused a slump in used car prices as some industry experts predicted it would. If you’re looking to acquire a new VW via car leasing in Leicester from a company like http://leasing.totalmotion.co.uk/, you don’t need to worry that you could lose out on the deal due to a drop in the car’s residual value.

Slowest brand

Despite the good news about its return to positive growth, with 2.7 per cent growth overall, Volkswagen was still the slowest-performing brand in the VW group. Compared to its premium Audi and Porsche brands, which both showed growth in double figures, Volkswagen still has some catching up to do. Sales across the VW group as a whole – including the Seat and Skoda marques – rose by 5.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, other car makers have shown a strong performance in April, with Renault sales up by 5.1 per cent and Ford showing a 4 per cent growth.

It is high time to shake off the “boring” label that corporate events come with and start thinking about hosting your next event somewhere unique and unforgettable. Perhaps you are arranging a corporate event for your own colleagues or employees, or maybe you want to entertain clients, hold an awards ceremony, or put on a promotional evening, talk or discussion. If you want your Dublin evening corporate event to go off with a bang, consider one of these unique venues.

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Smock Alley Theatre

This unusual venue dates from the 15th Century and offers three separate function rooms and the option to offer something really different. You may want to book the ornate Banquet Hall for a sit-down dinner or gala event or perhaps even hire the main theatre space, which houses up to 178 people and can be used to put on a show that you organise with the theatre itself for private viewing. The stage also provides a platform that is ideal for talks and awards ceremonies. The Boys School is a smaller performance space for more intimate performances, talks or discussions.

Luttrellstown Castle

If you are looking to organise outdoor corporate events in Dublin, a highly unique venue can be found on the grounds of Luttrellstown Castle. The castle offers a number of team building day and evening events that range from blindfolded driving to cocktail making.

The National Gallery of Ireland

The National Gallery in Dublin isn’t just one venue space – it’s actually several in one. The best way to decide the right one for your evening corporate event is to appoint an experienced team such as those at Davis Events Agency, who know the venues inside out and will know which is best for your event. The beautiful Georgian Rooms at Number 5 Leinster Square are ideal for throwing a lavish staff party, whilst the modernised Lecture Rooms are perfect for a talk or discussion group and the bright and spacious Atrium space is ideal for inviting clients to a promotional corporate event.

Dublin is full of unique venues that range from the historic to the modern and everything in between. Make sure your next evening corporate event in the city is one that your guests will remember!

After a colder than expected spring, the UK is due some warmer weather, with the summer already delivering warm sun and clear skies for many parts of the country.

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Some experts are predicting that things could really heat up in 2016, with the suggestion being that up to three months of exceptionally hot temperatures are on the way. The national record of 38.5 degrees Celsius might even be broken between now and August.

It is perhaps because of this that sales of air conditioning units, ducting and air management systems have continued to grow.

Rapid Expansion

While globally the air conditioning market grew by just seven per cent last year, in the UK the housing boom in London helped to push sales up by 22 per cent.

Although new builds are undoubtedly contributing to this rapid expansion, plenty of people are looking for budget options that will keep the impact of a heat wave from disrupting their summer. And as a result, officials are advising homeowners to paint their properties white to reflect much of the heat and keep the interiors cool.

Of course with more people seeking air conditioning in Belfast, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds and even Edinburgh, the decision to acquire affordable air conditioning and air flow management systems from companies such as Enviro Group NI will become increasingly common.

Market Manoeuvres

Aside from climatic changes which are spurring on greater investment in air conditioning, certain market factors are catalysing the growth of sales in the UK and helping it to achieve buoyancy at a time when the global outlook is not quite so positive.

The building of flats and apartments in the Capital and other major cities is being accompanied by increased investment in fan coils and chillers, even in situations when older premises are converted into accommodation, rather than in the scenario in which developers are starting from scratch.

As always, the driving force behind the market beyond commercial building projects is the weather itself, with the anticipation of a scorching summer set to significantly increase the number of air conditioning purchases made by the British public over the coming weeks.

While this may also stimulate debate about the state of the climate as a whole, it is undoubtedly good news for air conditioning manufacturers and installation firms.

More and more web marketers are getting wise to that fact that quality content is the cornerstone of a strong marketing strategy for websites. A varied roster of different types of content enriches the online presence of a business and will ultimately drive up website traffic. Google itself has some extremely powerful tools that can be harnessed to supercharge your content marketing efforts.

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Understanding Knowledge Graph

Google’s Knowledge Graph first made its appearance in 2012, with the goal of displaying results that are relevant to user’s intent. Over time, this has morphed into a more sophisticated part of SERPs by returning a range of information on any given subject, providing the user with a variety of options to explore further. Generic terms, for example, will force Google’s Knowledge Graph to provide more varied search results, increasing the likelihood of people finding what they are looking for.

This feature is particularly well suited to marketing for local businesses. For example, if someone searches for ‘best Somerset web design’, then Google is able to pretty accurately analyse the user intent and return search results that are based on matching the subject and location. This is where having a pool of user reviews comes into play, as it’s well known that users tend to be influenced by what other people have already said about their experience of a product or service.

Using Featured Snippets

Snippets appear in search results when there is valuable content linked to the search query. Here is where having stellar content comes into play; if you have something that is more in-depth, you’re more likely to establish an authority for the subject matter. Somerset’s leading web design team are able to factor this into the construction of your website, making sure content is displayed in the most user friendly way possible to minimise the risk of high bounce rates.

The takeaway is that content marketers need to be more in-depth with the content that they are providing. Valuable content not only has a high chance of being shared, but it also stands the test of time. By targeting user intent with their blogs, images, and videos, there is greater probability that you will be ticking all of the relevant boxes when it comes to performing well in Google searches.