Established in 2007, when Severstal Group, one of Russia's most successful metals and resources corporations, decided to move into the gold market, Nordgold has since become recognised as one of the industry’s fastest-growing gold mining companies with operations based in West Africa, Kazakhstan and Russia.

“The company itself commenced operations in 1994 with only a small handful of employees, focusing at that time on electronic products, repairs on remote control system, lights and radios,” explains Marc Lamothe, Business Development Manager for Meglab. “When our President, Louis Valade, bought into the company in 2005, bringing with him some 30 years of mining experience, he quickly set about establishing a whole new electrical division within the company.

With a name meaning “place of leopards” in the language of Sesotho, Mangaung, also widely referred to as Bloemfontein, is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa and one of the country’s three national capitals. Officially founded in 1846, “the city of roses”, as it is affectionately known due to both the abundance of the flowers in the city and its annual rose festival, is today home to approximately 370,000 people, while the Mangaung Local Municipality boasts a population of more than 645,000.

It's really not long since we last spoke to Éléonore's energetic site manager Guy Belleau, but in the space of little over eight months – eight months with a severe Canadian winter in them by the way – the site has changed beyond all recognition. Belleau has lost none of his infectious élan. “We are on the last stretch now. I can smell the gold. We promised we would be pouring gold in the last quarter of this year and that is what we will be doing!”

Lying in close proximity to Gelibolu, along the coast of the Dardanelles, one will find Gelibolu Shipyard. A present day reminder of the historic links this part of Europe has to the maritime sector, Gelibolu Shipyard is a family owned newbuilding yard founded in 1975. One half of Aksoy Shipping Group, it specialises in the building of small-to-medium sized sea and river going vessels for its ship chartering sister company, Ali Riza Aksoy Denizcilik.

Who would invest in an airline? The industry is facing a lot of challenges right now with escalating fuel prices, reduction in passenger volumes caused by the global recession and arguably the growth of technology that allows people to communicate and confer without the need to travel. These are things that affect airlines all over the world, but in South Africa life is even more challenging for a private sector airline operator that has to compete with the heavily subsidised national carrier South African Airways (SAA) and its low-cost brand Mango.

ImportGenius.com provides data mining tools that make complex trading relationships easy to understand. Its diverse members use the service to extract detailed information relating to all aspects of cross-border trade, including shipping records, product lines, and exporting volumes for factories around the world.

Health and safety is an issue businesses of all sizes cannot afford to ignore but, if research carried out by YouGov on behalf of HSE consultant Seton is anything to go by, is something many could still improve on.

It spoke to employees and senior decision makers at 525 small and medium enterprises about the subject and 22 percent (excluding those operating as sole traders) stated there is just one person, or no one at all, at their organisation that has received any kind of workplace health and safety training.

In surveys, people often say they want more money and shorter hours, but these are just hygiene factors, it stops them from being unhappy, but it doesn’t engage them. Engagement and motivation comes from having the right leaders and a good workplace culture and leaders who value their employees. Nowadays, work is so integrated into our lives that it is important to feel motivated and fulfilled. To achieve this, leaders need to create a sense of purpose and vision. A sense that what people are doing really does matter.

10. Not doing the washing-up
It’s hard to believe that this is one of the top ten causes of work conflict, but there always seems to be one employee who doesn’t do their fair share.

It’s unfair to assume that only the most junior of staff should hold the tea and coffee duty, and it is important to make sure you take it in turns.

Why not draw up a rota, which will ensure everyone knows where they stand and does their fair share. Failing that, invest in a dishwasher.