Inspire July

INSPIRE.21 The business magazine of Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce July - August 2017

Inspiring Hertfordshire Awards 2017 Outstanding achievements and contributions from local Hertfordshire businesses - page 4 n

Hertfordshire Global Launch

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Building a Smarter Future

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Chamber recognised as employer of the year

Expanding horizons Post-Brexit

Annual environmental conference

Championing the positive contribution

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a huge success - page 29

of Apprentices - page 47

Welcome

From the Chief Executive Cautious optimism For Herts Chamber — despite the current post-Brexit contradictory climate of uncertainty, opportunity, negotiation and frantic media speculation — there is a business sense of getting on with it… planning future growth, employing and upskilling staff, considering diversification, product or service expansion, customer focus.

There is cautious optimism, and a strong inclination towards exploring new business opportunities, particularly abroad. This cautious optimism is also present at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). Adam Marshall, Director General, has written a lengthy letter to the Prime Minister, inviting her administration to work in partnership with the Chambers on: • best possible environment for business growth • industrial strategy and local growth to help business achieve its potential • a pragmatic, comprehensive Brexit deal with sustained practical support for international trade However, for me… the most rewarding experience in recent months is acknowledging the winners of the Inspiring Hertfordshire Awards 2017.

Inspiring Hertfordshire Amid the noisy snap General Election and the noisier debates over Brexit, it is unexpectedly soothing to be a part of the jubilant — if even noisier — celebrations of award winners.

We congratulate the winners, and also the finalists, for the very fine effort they put into their businesses… that puts them in such strong contention for winning business accolades. (see pages 4-11) Our evening at St Albans Abbey surpassed our expectations. One word sums it up – collaboration.

The teamwork between the Chamber staff, particularly Naomi Powell and Courteney Black (an apprentice), the Abbey staff and the external production teams — staging, video and digital, and design and print — overcame obstacles that resulted in a highly enjoyable and memorable occasion. To everyone who helped, and to our sponsors, please accept our heartfelt thanks.

Hertfordshire Global launches On 16 June, a week after the Awards evening, Herts Chamber launched Hertfordshire Global in Stevenage, attended by broad-ranging businesses: agriculture, banking, trade, investment and currency services, health, technology and software and general manufacturing, among others.

Our Chairman, Neville Reyner, in his customary debonair and effective manner, chaired the panel of speakers: the Chief Executive of COBCOE, Anne-Marie Martin and Joost Visser (COBCOE Connects), the Director of Corporate Services:(British Chambers of Commerce, Ronan Quigley, and Sergei Averin (RussoBritish Chamber of Commerce).

On 23 June, a year after the EU referendum, in collaboration with Signpost2grow (LEP initiative), we ran a morning seminar in Hitchin on aspects of protecting one’s business, payment security, new market access and finding global business partners as part of our Hertfordshire Global campaign.

We learned that there is a lot more support, insight and professional help for trade forays beyond our borders than is immediately discernible. The new MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, Bim Afolami, introduced himself and his commitment to Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

On 5 October, we are hosting a black-tie dinner at Hanbury Manor, with after-dinner speeches on postBrexit Britain.

Hertfordshire growth and infrastructure Our honorary president, Lord Salisbury (Hatfield House, Gascoyne Cecil Estates) leads on the county’s infrastructure initiative supported by business and council leaders. This feeds into the British Chambers of Commerce’s national campaign for housing, roads, rail and skills, and our own to plan for population and employment growth.

We have scheduled an event on 13 July to discuss the preliminary approaches to negotiating and lobbying for improved Hertfordshire infrastructure of mobile phone, internet and road connectivity.

If you are interested in participating, please contact: naomipowell@hertschamber.com.

Hertfordshire construction – building a smarter future We ran a day’s conference, with Ambition Broxbourne (Broxbourne Borough Council), on smart and sustainable building approaches to sustain our needs for housing and energy-efficient building on 26 June.

The day was most ably chaired by seasoned Richard Potter (Sopra Steria). The presentations focused on future house and building design, ambitious, bold planning, innovative master planning for communities, energy efficient building process and affordable housing.

We thank the keynote speaker, Michael Pawlyn (one of the lead architects of the Eden Project, Cornwall) and VolkerWessels UK, Carbon 60, Crest Nicholson, AECOM and the BRE Group for their most informative presentations and panel participation.

Hertfordshire venues: hertschambervenues.com The county — the supreme place for meetings, conferences, seminars, training, away-days — is close to London and international airports.

Hertfordshire Chamber Venues is our platform that facilitates quick venue search and booking (see Hertschambervenues.com).

The facility is promoted through Herts Chamber PA Club.

Summer holidays The Chamber continues its planning and with providing business support through the summer months.

For those members taking a holiday, we wish you and your families a very good break and a safe journey.

Yolanda Rugg Chief Executive Officer Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce

Contents Inspiring Herts Awards 4-11 Economy 12 Patron Focus 13 Hertfordshire Global 14-15 Past Events 16-17 Big Interview 24-25 Chamber Events 26-28 Environmental Conference 29 Tourism 30-31 Finance 33 24 Hours 34 Health & Wellbeing 37 New Members 38-39 Members News 40-42 Member Benefits 43 Development 46 Apprenticeships 47 Last Word 50 •••• Editorial and General Enquiries Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce MacLaurin Building, 4 Bishops Square, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9NE Tel: 01707 502180 Email: enquiries@hertschamber.com Web: www.hertschamber.com Chief Executive: Yolanda Rugg Publisher Ian Fletcher Benham Publishing 3tc House, 16 Crosby Road North, Crosby, Liverpool L22 0NY Tel: 0151 236 4141 Fax: 0151 236 0440 Email: admin@benhampublishing.com Web: www.benhampublishing.com Published July 2017 © Benham Publishing and Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce Advertising and Features Karen Hall Tel: 0151 236 4141 Email: karen@benhampublishing.com Production Manager Mark Etherington Tel: 0151 236 4141 Email: mark@benhampublishing.com Media No. 1559 •••• Disclaimer Inspire is published for Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce and is distributed without charge to Chamber members.

All correspondence should be addressed to Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

Views expressed in Inspire are not necessarily those of Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce. Reprinting in whole or part is forbidden except by permission. ©2017 Please note that submitting an article does not guarantee publication.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of material published in this journal, Benham Publishing and its agents can accept no responsibility for the veracity of claims made by contributions in advertising or editorial content.

Benham Publishing cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies in web or email links supplied to us.

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Inspiring Hertfordshire Awards 2017 The Inspiring Hertfordshire Awards 2017 were incredible once again at the stunning St Albans Cathedral celebrate the outstanding achievements and contributions from local Hertfordshire businesses.

Thank you Sponsors We would like to say a huge thank you to our Headline sponsor, Hillier Hopkins – one of the region’s leading independent Chartered Accountants supporting Hertfordshire businesses for over 80 years.

We thank our associate sponsor, Volkerwessels - leading multidisciplinary contractor that delivers innovative engineering solutions across the civil engineering and construction sectors.

Thank you to Hertfordshire Mercury for being our Media Partner and Alison Jenkins for taking beautiful photographs.

“Winner or finalist; the lengths to which organisations go to achieve a goal, an exceptional result or an extraordinary outcome for the business or its community is in evidence in every entry, including those that weren’t shortlisted. When there is so much uncertainty out there in the economy what really makes a difference is being able to stop and celebrate what we are achieving in our day to day businesses.”

Yolanda Rugg, Chief Executive at Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce

Thank you all entrants

Outstanding Contribution to Business Sponsor:

Tate Recruitment

Winner:

Dr Peter Bonfield, Chief Executive, BRE Group

This year’s award has been given to Dr Peter Bonfield, Chief Executive of world leading building science centre, BRE. In May 2012 Peter received the prestigious Peter Stone Award from the Association of Building Engineers (ABE) at a ceremony in the House of Lords. The following month he was awarded an OBE from the Queen for services to research and innovation in the construction industry.

In July 2012 he was elected as Fellow of the Royal Academy of 4

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Engineering in recognition for his contribution to the leadership of innovative research associated with the build environment, and in applying systems engineering to sustainable development.

In appreciation for the centre of excellence at BRE today, Herts Chamber are proud to work with Peter and his team in Herts and Beds Constructing Excellence, and Building a Smarter Future Conference in June, and wanted to recognise this year, Peter’s outstanding achievements.

InspiringHertfordshire

Business of the Year Small to Medium Sponsor: Ambition Broxbourne Winner: Woodhouse Workspace Family run business Woodhouse Workspace have a vision is to create beautiful environments for businesses to thrive in, across the public and private sector. The judges commented that not only did the entry tick

all the boxes it exceeded them.

Well run business with a great effort. Seems like a lovely place to work with growth and customer satisfaction high on the agenda.

Business of the Year Medium to Large Sponsor: SA Law Winner: Quanta Consultancy Services Quanta are a bespoke search agency with expert teams working across multiple specialist sectors including Energy, Shipping & Trading, Technology and Management Consultancy.

Quanta is a global business, operating in 20 countries and

were a Queens award winner for enterprise in 2016. The judges commented that they showed a true commitment to developing staff new to the industry and progressing them through the organisation. Exciting times are ahead as they embrace a more global model.

Business of the Year North Herts Sponsor: Stevenage Borough Council Winner: Blackmores UK Blackmores is a consultancy firm with a distinctive approach to working with clients to achieve and sustain high standards in Quality, Risk and Environmental Management. Melanie Blackmore started the firm with just an old laptop, business cards

and bags of motivation.

Since then Blackmores has become a market leader employing ten people, with 13 associates in 24 countries globally. The judges commented that Blackmores are an excellent, outstanding company.

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Business of the Year East Herts Sponsor: Longmores Winner: Ashbourne Insurance Ashbourne Insurance is a family owned insurance broker established in 1981 employing 16 members of staff with offices in Hoddesdon and Cheshunt.

Ashbourne has continued to focus on its personal contact and local reputation.

The judges commented that Ashbourne stick to their family values and have a great vision of the future plan of action. Ashbourne provide an impressive business model for an impressive, forward thinking business.

Business of the Year South Herts Sponsor: Lexus Hatfield Winner: Woodhouse Workspace Woodhouse is a family business that combines a reputation for innovation with a long history of excellence in construction. For more than 40 years Woodhouse has been helping organisations achieve high-quality workspaces that are crafted to their needs.

The judges commented that Woodhouse have a clear and very well thought out plan and easy to understand what they do. They also reward staff well and show great evidence of team building.

Business of the Year West Herts Sponsor: Porsche Centre Hatfield Winner: Osborne Appointments Established in 1995, Osborne Appointments is an award winning independently owned recruitment company.

They have five branch locations in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, North London, Buckinghamshire and North Yorkshire. The judges

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commented that Osborne Appointments are a recruitment agency with a clear vision on how they can be different. They have shown year on year growth achieved with a solid business plan focusing on what the industry needs.

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Excellence in Customer Service Sponsor: Austin’s Family Funeral Services Winner: DB Sharp and Sons Ltd DB Sharp and Sons are a family run leading building, plumbing, heating and electrical contractor business. They judges commented that they have built business focusing on high quality workmanship, exceeding customer

expectations, customer satisfaction and creating a happy work environment.

The judges commented that DB Sharp and Sons are an inspiring business with a strategy to support a local market and other areas.

Excellence in People Development Sponsor: James Hallam Insurance Brokers Winner: HB Accountants HB Accountants have a professional but family firm culture, embedding company values around a strong team ethos, excellent client care, being dynamic and focused and putting people at the centre of their operation.

The judges felt that HB

accountants provided a really good image of how the firm embraces development of individuals, both personally and professionally, for future growth and long-term succession planning showing a positive feeling about the organisation & its people.

Innovation through Technology Sponsor: Serverchoice Winner: Pearldrop Limited Pearldrop Limited founded in 2003 create video content for internationally prominent brands and individuals as well as major corporations and SMEs. They develop their key service offering, we have gathered

together a core team of skilled professionals and associated suppliers. The judges felt that Pearldrop showed a fantastic example of how innovation is used in a business through technology.

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Investment in Young People (IiYP) Sponsor: London Luton Airport Winner: MBDA MBDA based in Stevenage, designs and manufactures high end defence capability for the armed forces. MBDA support a wide variety of STEM activities in schools, and apprentices and graduates are offered external

further and higher training.

The judges stated the current work MBDA do is FANTASTIC! With structured programmes to meet future engineering and to support staff.

Community Champion Sponsor: Motion Media Winner: Home-Start Hertfordshire Home-Start Hertfordshire are a Charity established in 2016 based in Stevenage. Home-Start support families struggling to cope or at risk of a breakdown.

The charity provides families with skilled experienced volunteers, providing essential support, empowering and building resilience and

confidence back at home.

The judges chose Home-Start Hertfordshire as their winner as they are incredible organisation powered by resilient staff and supportive volunteers.

Making a real difference to the community and those receiving Home-Start’s support.

Education in Employment Sponsor: Aubrey Park Hotel Winner: Solveway Apprenticeships Solveway Apprenticeships established in 2001 are an independent apprenticeship provider. The judges feel that Solveway’s entry provided a very well structured approach to support students learn and also to

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help improve local businesses. They had a good focus on soft skills and easily explained. Solveway continually overcome challenges by focusing on quality output with both apprentices & employees.

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Achievement in International Business Sponsor: Handelsbanken Winner: Grace Foods UK Grace Foods is a global company in the world foods market supplying a diverse range of food and drinks.

The judges felt Grace Foods demonstrated its well thought

out business plans and evidenced how it has grown internationally. They also show clear establishing of new market and adapting to local demographics.

Most Promising New Business Sponsor: Astute Electronics Winner: Business Film Booth Business Film Booth launched their video production and film hosting business in July 2015.

Since then they have made 4621 videos for 100 companies. The judges

commented that they provide a great idea, with real demand, demonstrating innovation.

The growth through franchisees already shows they are looking ahead strategically.

Social Enterprise of the Year Sponsor: DB Sharp and Sons Ltd Winner: Home-Start Hertfordshire Over the last 12 months, Home-Start Hertfordshire has helped move 150 families, recruiting and training over 30 volunteers, - with now 200 volunteers. The judges felt that Home-Start Hertfordshire provided an outstanding performance in the last 12 months demonstrating

commitment to the charity & future projects. Our judges were amazed with Home-Start understanding the difference they make to others really is life changing. This team of committed volunteers really do so above & beyond to deliver their service.

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The Environmental Award Sponsor: Veolia Winner: JPA Furniture JPA Furniture are a family run business established in 1974 supplying office & educational furniture.

The judges felt that JPA are a wonderful example of a local business with

drive, ambition and passion for their business, staff, customers and environment.

Their entry displayed a clear understanding on how they are reducing waste to landfill, making furniture part of the circular economy.

Made in Herts Sponsor: AIM Sales and Marketing Winner: Chilfen Group Established 1960, the Chilfen Group, is a family run, joinery and export packaging business – employing 117 staff.

Chilfen is a civic business, with a strong local recruitment and

procurement policy, and supports a number of local charities and community initiatives. The judges commented that Chilfen Group provide a clear entry of supporting business through exporting.

The Tourism Award Sponsor: Hanbury Manor Winner: Aubrey Park Hotel Aubrey Park is an independent 4 star hotel who has a strong customer centric and business vision, strongly supporting CSR, recycling, local tourism and the thriving local business community.

The judges commented that there is evidence for

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encouragement and support to all team members and to train the team when required to increase the hotels presence and reputation.

In 2016 they opened the Oak Suite accommodating up to 220 which has proved a popular conference space.

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Entrepreneur of the Year Sponsor: Gascoyne Cecil Estates Winner: Vida Barr Jones, Focus7 International Vida Barr Jones, founded Focus7 International in 2015 with Leona Barr Jones and David Langdown, and Focus 7 has since become a hugely successful award-winning business. Vida’s ideas have helped push the team to raise the bar, push boundaries and

be true innovators; leading to increased growth.

The judges commented that Vida is passionate about what she does and is clearly a well-respected business person with commitment to staff, business development and long term strategy.

Inspiring Business of the Year Sponsor: Hillier Hopkins Winner: Chilfen Group The Chilfen Group, winners of the Made in Herts Award were chosen as the Insipring Business of the Year because

Special Recognition Awards

International Technology awarded to Kelvin Hughes

of their support of international trade and the export market through their export packaging products.

Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce was delighted to acknowledge the incredible work by two Hertfordshire businesses.

Export Champion awarded to Silver Fox

We would also like to say a huge thank you to: St Albans Cathedral, Elior UK, Pumphouse Productions, Pearldrop limited, Sir John Lawes School, St Albans Girls School, The Flower Guild, Hemel Trophies and Jewellers, Guinea Fowl Creative and Media Five INSPIRE

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Economy

The General Elections impact on business As the dust settles on the general election campaign, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of British Chambers of Commerce comments:

Our pre-election discussions with Chamber business communities were about the Prime Minister’s government’s policy choices — both here at home and abroad — and whether they were the right ones for business growth and prosperity.

When the election was called, Theresa May seemed unstoppable. She had calmed her party's incessant infighting, committed to a Brexit plan, and seemed on course for a large Commons majority.

Six weeks later: what concerns me now is the impact that the General Election and the make-up of the new UK Parliament will have on the issues that matter for Chamber business communities.

A new source of uncertainty?

While our chief immediate concern is the formation of a workable administration that gives businesses confidence in basic economic management, the longevity of that government is very much an open question.

Businesses may be getting more used to uncertainty after the events of the past decade, but that doesn’t mean they like it — or appreciate yet another source of instability.

Keeping a watchful eye on sterling, and constant reminders to the politicians that their words move markets will be important tasks over the coming weeks.

A better brexit for business?

If the Conservative minority government manages to become established over the coming weeks, there is a very real possibility of a re-think of some of the

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assumptions that governed Mrs May’s pre-election approach to Brexit negotiations. The increased influence of the DUP, for whom the avoidance of a hard border on the island of Ireland is crucial, and of the Scottish Conservatives, who are vocal advocates for what they call a more ‘open’ Brexit, open the door to a different approach.

In this scenario, we could have an important opportunity to push the many practical Brexit priorities put forward by Chamber members, to ensure the most business-friendly Brexit transition possible.

We will be consulting on this with Chamber members, and also working closely with other business organisations where possible, over the weeks ahead.

A gridlocked parliament?

The new parliamentary arithmetic will turn every piece of legislation into a political football — but this could cut both ways for business. On the one hand, bold policies to boost business growth are unlikely to materialise — given the chance they would be voted down. On the other, some of the more worrying propositions put forward by the parties before the election may also fail to see the light of day.

Many, many businesses over the years have told me that their favourite governments are the ones that do as little as possible. This election result could mean

that there will be horse-trading over the big-ticket items, like Brexit legislation and the Finance Bill, but less of the sort of constant tinkering that has increased up-front costs and so irked business over the last two decades.

A more United kingdom?

The imminent possibility of another Scottish independence referendum — a source of uncertainty affecting businesses and investment not just in Scotland, but in many areas around the UK — has receded in the wake of the election.

An opportunity or a setback for devolution and place?

A weakened central government provides a real opportunity for local areas, regions and devolved administrations to step up a gear — and deliver a better environment for business and growth, spurred on by the civic business communities at the heart of Chambers of Commerce.

Absent the controlling hand of the centre, innovation may just be able to flourish, even without major injections of new resources.

Urgent clarification will be needed to support business communities that want to see greater local control over decisionmaking, as well as greater business input.

Our drive to ensure that place is at the heart of government policy must continue.

“Keeping a watchful eye on sterling, and constant reminders to the politicians that their words move markets will be important tasks over the coming weeks.”

PatronFocus

Altro hit the big ten Altro employees celebrated after the company was named in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For ranking for the tenth year.

Employees marked the occasion at Altro’s Letchworth Garden City offices having fun at a fancy-dress party, playing games and enjoying a little down-time.

Every member of staff globally also received a gift to mark the accolade and as a thank you for their part in making it happen.

Altro CEO Richard Kahn said: “The events were a small way of celebrating being rated a ‘Best Company to Work for’ for an incredible tenth time, and of thanking everyone who works here for the positive feedback.”

The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For list is the annual ranking of ‘the cream of Britain’s happy and motivated workforces’. With more than 1,000 companies taking part, it is considered the most extensive research into employee engagement carried out in the UK. Altro’s 350 UK employees were invited to take part in the survey, which asked questions about how they feel about the support they receive from the company, their training and development and their opportunities for career growth, amongst others.

The company scored highly in all areas with particularly high scores when employees were asked about their team, well-

being, personal growth and how they rate their manager.

Altro has been at the forefront of innovation for almost 100 years. Working closely with architects, designers and contractors around the world, its insight and expertise help the company transform everyday spaces into environments that can improve the wellbeing of everyone that uses them.

One example was the work done with North Hertfordshire College where the combination of Altro Whiterock™ hygienic wall cladding and Altro Stronghold™ 30 safety flooring delivered a tough and hygienic solution in the kitchen and canteen in the £10 million refurbished campus.

The new-look Hitchin Campus, an award-winning design by architect Scott Brownrigg, is a modern, practical space, with a strong entrepreneurial theme.

Clark Barton, Associate at Scott Brownrigg, explained why he chose the Altro package for the new kitchen and canteen, saying: “These products are a proven combination of hygiene and robustness,” explained Clark. The seamless, grout free Altro Whiterock provides the ultimate, practical, wipe clean surface, and it’s quick to install, and that’s very important when build timescales are tight.

“It’s also a very good-looking product – clean, fresh, bright, and fits very well into designled projects that require a modern feel without compromising on quality.

Altro Whiterock Premier Installer, Blagbrough Contracts, fitted Altro Whiterock wall cladding and Altro Stronghold 30 safety flooring in the kitchen and canteen.

“Altro Stronghold is the ideal slip-resistant tough flooring for busy catering areas, where potential for spills and safety is a major factor. It has some great colour choices, too, so again we can use it within projects that require aesthetic appeal, as well as a practical solution. Together, these two Altro products are superb at creating the ultimate safe, practical, hygienic, yet visual appealing environment.”

Brian Sapsed, Head of Estates & Facilities for the college, said: “The combination of Altro Stronghold™ safety flooring and Altro Whiterock™ hygienic wall cladding in the kitchen and canteen is perfect for this environment, and exactly what we wanted to achieve. It’s not only hygienic and safe, but it looks superb as well – crisp, clean and very professional."

“The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For list is the annual ranking of ‘the cream of Britain’s happy and motivated workforces’. With more than 1,000 companies taking part, it is considered the most extensive research into employee engagement carried out in the UK.”

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ExportHertsGlobal

Expand your horizons Post-Brexit, roads to new markets Herts Chamber’s long-established International Services has expanded its own horizons. Frances Harris and Trevor Clark have been providing export consultancy, training and documentation services to businesses in Hertfordshire and beyond, for 15 years. and events, which can include networking sessions, training courses, seminars and conferences, as well as talks, round tables and panel discussions, and meetings with leading business figures, diplomats, politicians and government officials.

Market intelligence and advice may also be available. Some provide hot desks and meeting rooms. In some countries the British chambers have expanded into regional centres away from the capital, so it’s worth checking to see where the chambers are operating.

With the transition from International Services to Hertfordshire Global, Keith Moore joins the team with the responsibility of adding value to the Global Membership portfolio for businesses either looking to expand into new overseas markets, or undertake first steps towards exporting their products or services.

Launching Hertfordshire Global, 16 June The breakfast event was attended by a broad range of businesses: agricultural, banking, trade, investment, currency, manufacturing, health, electrical circuitry, distributors, software and technology, export and language services, among others.

The speakers were Anne-Marie Martin, Chief Executive of the

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Council of British Chambers of Commerce in Europe, COBCOE), Ronan Quigley, Director of Corporate Services (British Chambers of Commerce) and Sergei Averin, Russo-British Chamber of Commerce. Neville Reyner, Chamber Chairman, chaired the panel session.

Continental Europe potential The UK may be about to cut political ties with the 27 countries in the European Union, but our economic ties are as strong as ever and business carries on.

With its population of 678 million, continental Europe, is vast, diverse and on our doorstep.

Whether you are looking to export, expand or outsource, Europe has much to offer. From the large mature markets of France and Germany in the west, to highgrowth developing ones such as

Romania and Slovenia in the east, you can grow sales or reduce costs by taking your business to our closest neighbours.

How the COCBOE chamber network can support you Whichever European market you set your sights on, it will have a British Chamber of Commerce in its capital city.

The British chambers belonging to COBCOE are located in 35 European countries, stretching from Portugal in the west to Russia in the east, and from Norway in the north to Israel in the south. This makes us the only pan-European British business organisation.

Our member chambers are independent organisations, run by members for members. Each one offers a unique range of services

Around the network our members work closely with their local British Embassy. The British chambers in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and Romania also host British Business Centres for the Department of International Trade, providing practical advice on exporting to those markets.

In addition to the online platform, COBCOE Connects, for finding trusted contacts, COBCOE runs the Make Europe Work! programme to foster business growth through trade with Europe.

This includes the First Call scheme providing chamber members with an hour’s free professional advice within the COBCOE network of participating chambers.

COBCOE can also provide access to contacts, expertise, crucial information and support services such as market research, market visits, referrals, trade promotion and roadshows, B2C and B2B meetings, events management and publications. In trying to break down the barriers to international trade, we have also compiled valuable and unique Guide to Business Culture and Etiquette across Europe.

ExportsHertsGlobal

Russian potential The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation is the biggest non-government membership organisation in Russia. It is an umbrella organisation for 180 local Chambers, representing 50,000 member companies, mostly SMEs. It helps non-Russian businesses find relevant business partners in both countries, undertakes due diligence, assists in promoting their goods and organises business missions into Russian industry and trade sectors.

Russia is an emerging market and that is why contracts are very profitable. The profit is much higher than in any western country, said Sergei. He encourages entrepreneurs with an eye out for new markets to contact him at the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce in London: 0207 931 6455 averin@rbcc.com

COBCOE Connects Business development platform for SMEs

British entrepreneurs should consider the opportunities that the size of Russia presents: nine time zones, infrastructure project opportunities (roads, railways, airports renovation and refurbishment), e-commerce, logistics, and a middle class sufficiently wealthy and willing to buy quality goods and services.

Joost Visser (COBCOE Connects) says: “We provide instant access to international business opportunities in a safe and trusted environment, moderated by an international network of bilateral British Chambers’ staff.

The moderation by local chamber people is a critical success factor of the platform.”

“Russians love to buy luxury goods,” said Sergei Averin. “There is a saying in Russia: We are not rich enough to buy cheap things.”

He points out that Chambers of Commerce know their markets better than anyone else. They can follow up with contacts and help companies with additional introductions and services they may need in markets that are new to them.

He says the weak Rouble allows British business to take advantage of the less expensive Russian goods, labour and also tourist services.

“Like with any digital platform ou are dependent on the amount of data it contains. In designing the platform we ensured there were ‘no dead ends’ for SMEs looking for international business contacts and opportunities.”

If you are interested in doing business in a country but do not find a local chamber member that meets your criteria, COBCOE Connects allows you to invite new members on the platform from the Kompass directory of 4.5 million companies worldwide. This ensures there is always a result!

The Hertfordshire perspective Yolanda Rugg, Chief Executive of Herts Chamber, says “It seems so clear to me that Hertfordshire is so well placed to explore post-Brexit business opportunities abroad.

We’re within an hour of four international airports (Heathrow, London City, London Luton and Stansted). We have huge pools of talent serving very strong global organisations (Airbus, MBDA, Glaxosmithkline, Roche and others) and we have wellestablished and new emerging industries that are fast making their mark on the world.”

“We have huge pools of talent serving very strong global organisations (Airbus, MBDA, Glaxosmithkline, Roche and others) and we have well-established and new emerging industries that are fast making their mark on the world.”

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Past Events

May Chamber Lunch - 18 May L to R • Craig Musson, Corporate Account • Mary Palmer, Business Development Manager UK, Qatar Airways Manager, Hertfordshire Chamber • Claire Austin, Managing Director, of Commerce • Neville, Chairman, Hertfordshire Austin's Funeral Service Chamber of Commerce • William Hobbs, Head of Investment • Chris Watts, Business Development Strategy UK and Europe, Barclays Plc Manager, DB Sharp & Sons

May Chamber Lunch - 18 May L to R • Neville, Chairman, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce • Mary Palmer, Business Development Manager, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce • Craig Musson, Corporate Account Manager UK, Qatar Airways

Hertfordshire PA Club Launch - 25 May University of Hertfordshire 3D Printing and Design Event - 18 May L to R • Keith Moore, Export Administrator, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce • Councillor Frances Leonard, Former Mayor of St Albans City & District Council

L to R • Mary Sykes, Business Development Manager, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce • Kanta Nar, Executive Assistant, BRE Group • Courteney Black, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce • James Cook, Digital Services Director, Focus7 International

• Naomi Powell, Operations Manager and PA to CEO, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce • Bridget Webb, Business Support Manager, Focus7 International • Vera Westerfeld, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce • Fay Monk, Executive Assistant, Focus7 International

Inspiring Hertfordshire Awards 2017 “On behalf of the entire team at Hanbury Manor, I would like to thank you all for such a fabulous experience at last night’s event. I can honestly say, the setting was breathtaking and perfect for the occasion. It’s a complete honour and privilege to be Patrons of the Chamber and we look forward to many more special partnerships.”

Launch of Introhive - 6 June • Keith Moore (right) with delegates

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Simon Dowell, Director of Sales & Marketing Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel & Country Club

Past Events

Patrons, JPA Summer BBQ - 15 June L to R • Gemma Rydqvist, Business Development and Engagement Manager, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce • Yolanda Rugg, Chief Executive, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce • Fiona Edwards, Commercial Director, JPA Furniture

Property and Construction with Herts and Beds Constructing Excellence - 22 June • Delegates enjoying a tour of Ten Oaks Farm in Chipperfield at our Property and Construction Forum.

Hertfordshire PA Club “Thank you for identifying the need for this network and supporting a frequently overloaded profession!”

Laura O’Malley, LOM Virtual Solutions “A wonderful idea – hope to see the club flourish and grow.”

Lisa Wood, Rayden Solicitors

Brexit 12 months - Are you ready to take on the world? - 23 June • Bim Afolami MP for Hitchin and Harpenden speaking to delegates

Building a Smarter Future Conference - 26 June L to R • Mary Sykes, Business Alliance Partnership, Director, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

• Melanie Miller, Marketing and Programme Manager, Broxbourne Borough Council • Michael Pawlyn, Lead Architect, Eden Project • Naomi Powell, Operations Manager and PA to CEO, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce

“Lovely staff & organisers” Parveen Dharar, Diageo

iThink Media Digi Day - 29 June L to R • Dave Cable, Client Services Manager, iThinkMedia • Natalie Howard, Digital PR specialist, ithinkMedia • Christine Taylor, Rye House Kart Raceway • Mary Sykes, Business Alliance Partnership, Director, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

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Happiness is a brand new car Five big reasons why more and more companies are choosing Tusker’s Car Benefit Scheme for their employees.

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Attract the best talent

Big savings

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A loved benefit

Greener than green

Call 0333 4000 554, email hello@tuskerdirect.com or visit tuskerdirect.com/salary-sacrifice-cars/inspire to find out more.

• Develop your people through HR & L&D support • Invest in your Future through Apprenticeship, Graduate & Work Experience Programmes • Develop your Leaders through Management & Leadership Programmes

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• Coaching & Mentoring

Inspire Support & Elevate Performance

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INSPIRE

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To find out more about our services please

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CorporateEvents

Celebrate summer with a corporate Karting event at Rye House Rye House Kart Raceway in Hoddesdon is one of the oldest and most respected karting circuits in the UK. It is where a young Lewis Hamilton honed the driving skills and techniques that would propel him to three Formula One World Championships.

Today it is also a great venue for corporate meetings, team building exercises, and business seminars, training days or networking events.

Rye House Kart Raceway offers an exciting alternative to reward employees, entertain clients, host staff meetings or network with potential customers during a unique to a day to remember.

An expert team is on hand to help deliver an exciting event and experience in a professional manner whatever your company needs. Facilities include a restaurant and licensed bar, themed hospitality suite, fabulous circuit views from the first floor balcony and extensive car and coach parking.

Team Building activities are designed to facilitate communication and increase teamwork. Participating guests will gain valuable skills that will improve efficiency, productivity and motivation back at the workplace.

Meeting rooms can be customized to cater for specialised needs and several

food and beverage menu options are available for guests.

Pricing for the recently renovated meeting rooms and hospitality suite includes Wi-Fi, AV equipment, flat screen TVs and seating with tables and chairs.

Employees, clients and customers will have a blast racing around the exciting racetracks in a brand new quarter million pound fleet of 320cc, Le Mans twin engine karts and leave with a sense of accomplishment.

Rye House Kart Raceway is open 7 days a week, from 10:00am-10:00pm, and is located in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, just off junction 25 of the M25 and the A10, and adjacent to the Rye House mainline train station from Liverpool Street, London.

TAKE YOUR CORPORATE EVENTS INTO THE FAST LANE

For more information, or to book a visit, CALL: 01992 460 895 or go to www.rye-house.co.uk

“Employees, clients and customers will have a blast racing around the exciting racetracks in a brand new quarter million pound fleet of 320cc, Le Mans twin engine karts and leave with a sense of accomplishment.�

FOR A CORPORATE/TEAM BUILDING EVENT WITH A DIFFERENCE WHY NOT COME KARTING AT RYE HOUSE?

BOOK A MINIMUM OF 15X KARTS FOR AN EXCLUSIVE EVENT! CALL & BOOK NOW! 01992 460 895 EXT 1.

QUOTE REF. INSPIRE/072017 WWW.RYE-HOUSE.CO.UK RYE ROAD, RYE HOUSE, HODDESDON, HERTS. EN11 0EH

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MembersNews

Hertford Regional College sees campaign success with Barley House Group Hertford Regional College has reported a fantastic response to an enrolment campaign created by Cuffley-based brand communications agency Barley House Group. team at HRC was a pleasure, they gave fantastic direction which enabled me to produce creative ideas that met their objectives. My inspiration came from social media platforms and I wanted to create a journey for prospective students, hence the travelling theme.”

Ms Bass added “We were particularly pleased with the refreshed branding Corrina designed which will continue to be used as our campaign theme for the foreseeable future. This has had very positive feedback from students, staff and governors.”

Golden Bites was born from the desire to bring something different, exquisite and delicious to the catering industry.

Because of our Brazilian heritage and passion for food we thought the idea to combine the most popular street food in Brazil with the most popular flavours in the UK would be terrific.

So in 2016 Golden Bites Ltd was formed and we have started a production of a new canapé/snack which is widely used in Brazil for wedding, birthdays, corporate events and any type of celebration really! It consists of a two bites size (20 grams on average), very specially made creamy dough, breaded and deep fried, with different fillings such as country chicken, cheese and herbs and smoked sausage to name a few.

We also produce a sweet snack which is our take on the traditional churros but ours is a mini version (also 20 grams) and filled with Dulce de Leche, delicately delicious!

We are working on a number of flavours both sweet and savoury to broaden our range, and they should be ready very soon.

So if you are a Distributor/buyer/wholesaler of frozen foods or owner of any type of food related business and are always looking for something new to have on your menu please get in touch to arrange a tasting and further discuss the possibilities we may have.

Golden Bites Cafe Maylands Business Centre, Redbourn Road, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP27ES

www.goldenbites.co.uk thegoldenbites@gmail.com 07872309360 20

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“HRC is really pleased with the work Baines Design and Kanga Marketing produced to support our 2016 Summer enrolment campaign which was successful in helping the college achieve its targets” said HRC Marketing and Communications Officer Sophie Bass. “The team were responsive to our brief, worked to a tight deadline and provided constructive feedback and solutions where needed.”

The Further Education college with campuses at Broxbourne and Ware received a boost in online enquiries and a 38% increase in visits to their website following the campaign. Initially a seven-week campaign during late summer and the beginning of the College’s academic year in September, its themes have been continued and have proved successful in building the profile of all that the College offers, particularly highlighting the options for those aged 16+ and 18+.

Corrina Cohen, lead creative for the campaign at Barley House Group, said “Working with the

Working in close collaboration with the Marketing and Communications team at HRC, the campaign was entirely planned, designed, implemented and/or printed here in Hertfordshire.

The fully integrated campaign reached its audience via print, digital and social media platforms and centred around HRC being part of a student’s career journey, helping each to reach their dream destination. The concept was carried through social media, newspaper and transport advertising, the College website and special events. An invitation for an Apprenticeship event, for example, was created in the form of a boarding card. ‘Wish you were here’ is now used throughout the College prospectus and associated materials.

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BigInterview

Providing stability in uncertain times Nobody who was present at the recent Inspiring Hertfordshire Awards ceremony could have failed to be impressed by the stories of the businesses that are thriving in the area.

That was certainly the case for Alex Bottom, Principal of main event sponsor, the chartered accountants Hillier Hopkins, who saw the event as an excellent way to celebrate the achievements of the area’s businesses.

For Hillier Hopkins, its support of the event at St Albans Cathedral was not just about raising its profile within the business community but also part of a commitment to the community that runs deep within the firm.

Alex, who is based at the firm’s Watford offices, said: “We sponsored the awards event in part because, although we are well known, we felt that the time was right to raise our profile, but also because we feel part of the community and are always looking for ways to put something back.

“As a business which has been operating in the area for more than eighty years, we feel that we are living history and we regularly sponsor local sports clubs and arts events as part of our contribution to the community.

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INSPIRE

“Sponsoring the awards was a way for us to celebrate the achievements of local businesses and to say ‘this is Hertfordshire and it is a success.’ We have a real sense of civic pride in supporting these kind of events.”

Hillier Hopkins is part of the fabric of Hertfordshire.

Established in 1933, the firm has grown to become one of the region’s leading independent chartered accountants with offices in Watford, London and Milton Keynes.

Employing 145 staff with 19 Principals, it provides advice and support to individuals and businesses ranging from small family enterprises to large international corporations.

Alex himself joined the firm in 1997 after reading Politics at Lancaster University. Qualifying with first time passes and passing the Case Study with a top 10 finish in 2000, he became a Principal of the firm in 2010.

He acts for many of the firm’s larger corporate clients, mostly advising owner managed businesses on their corporate

structure and senses a resilience despite these uncertain times.

Alex said: “There are always challenges for business. These are particularly uncertain times but our experience is that business is determined to carry on.

“After the Brexit vote you saw a dip in business confidence but it recovered fairly quickly and you had the same after the recent General Election result.

“I think that business acknowledges that, despite the uncertainty, the main thing is to continue doing what they do.

“Part of that is a realisation that whatever happens we are not going to see a sudden impact. The changes will not happen overnight.

“The problem comes if you suddenly approach a cliff edge but, even if the Brexit negotiations with the European Union do not do well, we will have twelve to eighteen months to prepare.

“Certainly, at the moment there is not a strong sense that businesses in the South East are being affected by Brexit, partly because a lot of them do not export.”

One of the trends that is becoming more pronounced for the firm, though, is its increasing involvement with third sector organisations, including charities and educational institutions who are taking on more responsibility as a side-effect of austerity cutbacks in the public sector.

Alex, who has steadily grown a large portfolio of not for profit clients, mostly in the education sector, said: “Although a lot of our work is with SMEs, a growing proportion of our clients are in the third sector.

“We are seeing councils outsourcing more and more of their services to third sector organisations, which presents those organisations with a number of challenges.

“They are having to move from operating in an amateurish way – and I do not mean that in a derogatory way – to something more professional.

They are having to learn new ways of working and to develop new skillsets.

BigInterview

“We sponsored the awards event in part because, although we are well known, we felt that the time was right to raise our profile, but also because we feel part of the community and are always looking for ways to put something back”

“They are having to be more disciplined and, all in all, I think they are doing it pretty well in Hertfordshire.”

Also doing well is Hillier Hopkins itself, which is enjoying steady growth. Alex said: “We are performing well. We saw a ten per cent growth last year and, although this year’s budgets are tougher to take account of that, I am confident about the future.”

Thought of the future is also highlighted when it comes to bringing on the next generation of talent and Hillier Hopkins has developed a strong training programme.

Alex said: “A company’s success is built on its people and we pride ourselves on the way we bring through young talent, either through our apprenticeship programme or through direct recruitment.

“We do a lot of school visits and attend a lot of careers fairs in the hope that we can persuade the young people to consider accountancy as a career and regard working for Hillier Hopkins as an option.”

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ChamberEvents

Monthly Business Leader lunches How to thrive… not just survive

Date: Time: Event: Venue

19 July 12.00 – 14.00 July Chamber Lunch Beales Hotel, Hatfield, AL10 9NG Member: £27.00 Non-Member: £35.00 Guest speaker Steve Clarke from Eureka Selling, is a professional speaker and serial entrepreneur.

Author of “How to thrive… not just survive” in which he spells out his formula for business success. And “Eureka Moments” - offering practical advice on how to get to ‘yes’ in all areas of your business.

He has owned and operated many businesses in the UK and US, taking

Regeneration of Stevenage Date: Time: Event:

16 August 12.00 – 14.00 August Chamber Lunch Venue: Cromwell Stevenage, High St, Stevenage SG1 3AZ Member: £27.00 Non Member: £35.00 We will be joined by our guest speaker Councillor Sharon Taylor OBE, Leader of Stevenage Borough Council.

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one from start up to stock market flotation, another to a successful multi-million-pound sale and exit.

Everything he shares is from practical first-hand experience to inspire and motivate all on all areas of sales, business growth and leadership.

We will also be joined by Helen Tomlinson, Operations Director at Seetec. Helen has spent over 20 years with a variety of leadership roles in Recruitment, Skills and Employability sectors.

Helen has worked with both commercial businesses and commissioners across Sales and Operational disciplines, obtaining knowledge that is second to none.

Sharon has held this position since 2006. She is Deputy Chair of the Local Government Association and is Deputy Leader of the Local Government Association Labour Group (since 2008). She is also a member of Hertfordshire County Council and was Leader of Hertfordshire County Council Labour Group from 2009 to 2014.

Sharon will be sharing an update on transformation of The Regeneration of the Stevenage Town Centre Economy undertaken by Stevenage First.

This event is open to sponsorship including a 10 minute speaking opportunity.

If you would like to sponsor this event or find out more information, please contact enquiries@hertschamber.com or call 01707 502180.

INSPIRE

All prices quotes include VAT at 20% unless otherwise stated. For more information on any event: 01707 502180, bookings@hertschamber.com – or www.hertschamber.com

ChamberEvents

How to Build a Powerful Brand for your Business Date: Time: Event:

14 September 12.00 – 14.00 September Chamber Lunch Venue: Beales Hotel, Hatfield, AL10 9NG Member: £27.00 Non-Member: £35.00 Our guest speaker James Hammond from Brand Doctor will be demonstrating the four-step process to building a winning brand and how to harness the power of the five senses

SAVE THE DATE

to create a total brand experience that will keep your customers coming back for more.

He will also be explaining brand innovation and how to achieve it.

He will be examining what a brand is and isn’t.

In James’ 35 year career, he has worked with some of the biggest brands including British Telecom, Barclaycard, Yellow Pages, Virgin and EMI, as well as helping numerous SMEs and startups build powerful brands.

He is also the author of the Sunday Times international best-seller Branding Your Business. Brand Doctor is the UK’s leading sales, marketing and brand consultancy.

Date: Time: Venue:

5 October 18.00 – 22.00 Hanbury Manor, Ware, SG12 0SD Member: £39.00 + VAT Non-Member: £49.00 + VAT Hertfordshire Global helps you search for new markets and new ways to develop business prospects.

Save the date for: Thursday 12 October Beales Hotel Hatfield Thursday 23 November Beales Hotel Hatfield

or would like an International host on your table please contact export@hertschamber.com We also have the opportunity for you to bring a banner and collateral for our drinks reception along with an advert in the brochure.

Please contact us for more information.

Make sure you join us at our Black-Tie dinner to hear from expert guest speakers to help develop and grow your business nationally.

Hertfordshire Global Black-Tie Dinner

If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities at our pre-dinner drinks reception in our ‘international village’, would like to reserve a table

INSPIRE All prices quotes include VAT at 20% unless otherwise stated. For more information on any event: 01707 502180, bookings@hertschamber.com – or www.hertschamber.com

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ChamberEvents

Forthcoming events programme Hertfordshire PA Club Topic: Top Tips Guest Speaker: Michael McGrath, CEO, Muscle Help Foundation Date: Tuesday 22 August Venue: Needham House Hotel, Blakemore End Rd, Little Wymondley, Stevenage, SG4 7JJ Time: 12.00-14.00 Member: Free of charge Non-member: £10.00 Date: Venue: Time: Member: Non-member: Date: Venue:

Time: Member: Non-member:

Thursday 21 November Hanbury Manor, Ware SG12 0SD 12.00-14.00 Free of charge £10.00 Thursday 8 February Aubrey Park Hotel, Hemel Hempstead Road, Redbourn, St Albans, AL3 7AF 12.00-14.00 Free of charge £10.00

These events are aimed to be a fun, interactive, social business benefit for all PAs and EAs, to help you become more efficient and proficient in your roles, making your life easier!

Please note: The Hertfordshire PA Club is open to Personal, Executive and Virtual Assistants in Hertfordshire only.

Chamber HR Forum Topic: Date: Time: Venue:

Employee Engagement Wednesday 6 September 09.00-12.00 Longmores, 24 Castle Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire, SG14 1HP Member: £15.00 Non-member: £18.00 ‘Employee engagement’ is a popular phrase currently circulating the business world. But what does it actually mean? We will explain what employee engagement actually is, why it is important for your business, and ways in which it can benefit your organisation. We will look at how engaging with your employees effectively can help to prevent employee disputes, and improve profitability, using real-life examples and case studies.

Topic: Family Business Date: Tuesday 14 November Time: 09.00-12.00 Venue: Longmores, 24 Castle Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire, SG14 1HP Member: £15.00 Non-member: £18.00

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Chamber Benefits Roadshow

Women in Leadership Lunch

Saving business thousands of pounds!

The aim of our Women in Leadership events is to enable Hertfordshire's business women to network with peers and develop their leadership skills as well as provide mentoring, support and inspiration to the County's next generation of women business leaders.

Guest Speaker: Kerry Cobb, Presenter on Verulam Radio Date: Thursday 16 November Time: 12.00-14.00 Venue: Lussmanns Fish & Grill Restaurant, Waxhouse Gate, High St, St Albans, AL3 4EW Member: £25.00 Non-member: £35.00

Date: Time: Venue:

Thursday 21 September 09.30-11.30 Aubrey Park Hotel, Hemel Hempstead Road, Redbourn, St Albans, AL3 7AF Member: £10.00 Non-member: £12.00 Come along and meet our Chamber benefit partners and learn how to support your business and employees at free and discounted rates. From discounted healthcare plans, legal protection to free HR and health and safety advice our benefits are here to help you grow your business all included in the cost of your membership.

Property and Construction Forum The Chamber Property & Construction Forums are held in partnership with Constructing Excellence and will be particularly informative for businesses with an interest in construction, property or the built environments.

Topic: Tour of BRE Innovation Park Date: Thursday 28 September Time: 17.00-19.00 Venue: BRE, Bucknalls Lane, Bricket Wood, Watford, WD25 9NH Member: £15.00 Non-member: £30.00 The BRE Watford Innovation Park is the flagship development of an international network of innovation parks aiming to push forward the boundaries of knowledge and practice by testing and showcasing innovations. This event will enable you to see emerging and innovative approaches to sustainable buildings and landscapes and low-carbon design and construction with full-scale demonstration buildings displaying innovative design, materials and technologies and addressing development challenges.

A technical tour led by a BRE expert guide or a self-guided audio tour of the park is also included, plus the opportunity visit the Victorian Terrace refurbishment project.

Topic: Smart/Sustainable Products Date: Thursday 9 November Time: 17.15-19.00 Venue: Venue to be confirmed Member: £15.00 Non-member: £30.00

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All prices quotes include VAT at 20% unless otherwise stated. For more information on any event: 01707 502180, bookings@hertschamber.com – or www.hertschamber.com

Chamber Christmas Lunch Date: Time: Venue:

Tuesday 5 December 12.00-14.00 Brocket Hall, Hatfield, Welwyn, AL8 7XG Member: £35.00 Non-member: £42.00

To find out more about sponsorship opportunities or to attend, please contact 01707 502180 or email bookings@hertschamber.com

EnvironmentalConference

Building a smarter future Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce, collaborating with Broxbourne Borough Council, ran its annual environmental conference, Building a Smarter Future, on 26 June at the Lee Valley White Water Centre.

It attracted 43 organisations — developers, town planners, construction and engineering companies, architects and supply chain SMEs, and over 80 delegates.

For housing development planners, construction companies and also investors, this was a very interesting, thought-provoking day. For the uninitiated, it was downright fascinating.

Biomimicry Keynote speaker, Michael Pawlyn, one of the lead architects of Cornwall’s Eden Project, spoke compelling about biology producing the supreme solution for future building of houses, and also of buildings where people work or spend their leisure time.

The foundations for future planning and constructing of houses (badly needed in the UK) and commercial and administrative buildings must be based on using less energy, materials, human endeavour, and on greater efficiencies. This is possible through biomimicry.

Observation of the female woodwasp as she effortlessly creates her larvae nest by boring through tree bark has led to energyefficient construction innovations.

Observation of a camel’s nostril — how air passing through its nasal cavities creates condensation, producing greater hydration — led to truly ingenious solutions for the building of a water treatment centre in the Middle East.

Looking for water in a desert means looking at adapting organisms’ means of survival – Australia’s thorny lizard uses its sharp spines not only for defence but to collect moisture from night-time condensation in the arid desert, which is channelled in grooves to its mouth. Building design is looking at deploying similar techniques.

We must also look to the pre-fossil fuel age for tomorrow’s construction solutions. Ancient

Persians (400BC) living in desert climates developed a system of making ice in winter using an evaporative cooling system to provide ice in summer.

Observing biology shapes like shells alters the building design approach to energy-intensive linear layouts and helps control temperature ambience; a notable example is the Eden Project that emulates both rainforest and Mediterranean climates.

Michael Pawlyn argues that in nature there is an inherent algorithm for efficiency in energy consumption. The three to eight billion years of bio-solutions can help us rethink building design.

Design for People Ant Wilson (Building Engineering UK, AECOM Fellow) is one of the UK’s most influential building services engineers.

He has considerable experience in low and zero carbon systems, façade engineering and green measurement tools. He also has absolute passion for his specialism, low energy building design.

His message was equally straightforward: spend more on fabric, spend less on energy, spend less on space. The outcomes will be an improved environment at cost-optimal outlay.

He prefers the term smart to sustainable, and brilliant to smart. Smart should be the human response to using digitally transmitted data to pursue energy efficiencies, in both building design and building use. Smart technology, upgrading to brilliant technology, is essential to curtail energy wastage particularly where it indicates that natural ventilation in a building environment is achievable. His interest in the redesign of ducting and piping is reduced energy use.

He argues that we are still not using smart technology properly to save energy. We need to use the output data to change the way we consume energy, both

(L to R) Richard Potter, Director of Innovation at Sopra Steria, Michael Pawlyn, Lead Architect of the Eden Project, Ceri Humphreys, Finance Director at VolkerWessels , Ant Wilson MBE, Director of Building Engineering UK and AECOM Fellow, Dr Deborah Pullen MBE, BRE Group Research Director, Stephen Stone, Chief Executive of Crest Nicholson, Yolanda Rugg, Chief Executive of Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce, Tim Hutchings, Non Executive Director, Lecturer and Local Politician and Russell Beck, thought leader in Talent Management, Carbon60

for consumers and for building designers. There is a dichotomy in low carbon targets sometimes achieved by using more energy.

Future challenges Panel discussions and Q&A session are usually the most revealing. In discussing future needs for housing and building development, it was interesting to note that designing school environment’s energy consumption has changed from gas (heating) to electrical supply (technology and computers) over 40 years. It is likely than in five years’ time, local communities will source and conserve their own power.

There would be more use of biological algorithms, but the challenges lie in educating policy makers and confronting political short-termism to create the proper appetite for change and to overcoming the challenges.

Who would finance these necessary endeavours to create a more sustainable environment?

It was felt that the private sector is too risk-adverse or lacking in vision to participate in such endeavours. A zero-waste and zero-carbon building design

policy incurs a pay-back term of 60 years. Neither politician nor investor would find this attractive.

What of our over-consumption of water? Recycling of water is a strong option, but cultural perceptions make it less appealing. We have the infrastructure to do this, but it’s old, and needs upgrading.

More dialogue, more attention, more conviction One surmises — on reflection on the presentations and panel sessions — that it is clear that the knowledge, ideas, expertise and vision are abundantly available in the built environment industry.

What is less in abundance are people’s willingness to change behaviours, and governments’, central and local, conviction to create the environments in which necessary build principles are supported, and funded.

Buildings are after all, environments for people.

They are places where people work and live and play. Surely this is sufficient to focus the attention of people and politics on building a smarter future.

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Tourism

The Meetings Show 2017 Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce was delighted to attend The Meetings Show 2017 with Uniqueworld at Olympia, London with over 3,000 meeting industry professionals from 13 to 15 June.

It was a pleasure to see so many of our members there including Aubrey Park Hotel, Tewin Bury Farm Hotel, Luton Hoo Hotel, Needham House Hotel, Brocket Hall and Patrons Hanbury Manor.

If you are looking to book meetings and events in Hertfordshire, our new free online tool will be the perfect help for you. By using Hertfordshire Chamber Venues you will be supporting local businesses, have direct contact with the venue and gain support from the dedicated Chamber team all through the simple navigation of the website.

Visit www.hertschamber.com for more information or to book your conference, event or meeting today.

“Uniqueworld were delighted to work with Herts Chamber Venues at the Meetings Show. During the hree days we made over 200 new contacts from event planners across europe . Speaking with the team at Herts Chamber plus Aubrey Park and Tewinbury it was a great to have the ‘destination ‘ promoted.

I spoke to several agency clients who had specific business opportunities for both hotels.

Hertfordshire offers a great variety of historic venues and hotels as well as world class experiences.

Chamber Venues Herts now positions these unique venues in one ‘easy to book’ solution.”

Christian Hobbs – Sales and Marketing Director, Uniqueworld

Chamber Members engaging with visitors on the day

David Timmis, Managing Director at Aubrey Park Hotel Chelsey Raysbrook, Event and Sales Manager, Aubrey Park Hotel Simon Dowell, Director of Sales and Marketing, Hanbury Manor Hotel

Zoe Peck, Sales Manager, Luton Hoo Hotel Mary Sykes, Business Development Manager, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce

Mary Palmer, Business Development Manager, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce, Sophie English, Sales Executive, Tewin Bury Farm Hotel Mary Sykes, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce alongside two representatives from Needham House Hotel

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Tourism

Find your ideal Venue in Hertfordshire Hertfordshire Chamber Venues, Hertfordshire’s top conference venues at your fingertips.

Down Hall Country House Hotel

Rothamsted Conference Centre

Its purpose is to bring the perfect destination for all kinds of meetings: interviews, awayfrom-office meetings, training, seminars, exhibitions and major conferences. Visitors can book their ideal venue quickly and easily, saving valuable time.

Free-of-charge, this venue promotion website enables Chamber members to showcase their conference facilities.

Venue owners can upload their own content, so that they can properly demonstrate everything that their venue offers the meetings organiser. Each venue is offered their own profile page to showcase their unique facilities: conference rooms, capacity and delegate prices.

The website also contains a Chamber Venues blog. This provides users with the latest information on the tourism industry and news from the participating venues. Tourism industry guest bloggers will be invited to share their insights and experience.

Website visitors are presented with key information on available venues and their benefits.

Making it easy to decide which venues meet their needs.

Hertfordshire Chamber offer additional promotion platforms to boost website traffic as an aid to the marketing of the venues, to help the venues raise their profile and generate bookings.

Hatfield House

Hertfordshire is the ideal destination for business and leisure activity; with many different and unique locations of outstanding beauty, easily accessible from London and surrounding counties, and numerous different styles of accommodation and facilities.

“Free-of-charge, this venue promotion website enables Chamber members to showcase their conference facilities.

Venue owners can upload their own content, so that they can properly demonstrate everything that their venue offers the meetings organiser.”

Make sure you follow us on Twitter: @VenuesHerts Other conference venues in Hertfordshire interested in the Hertfordshire Chamber Venues website should contact the Chamber on 01707 502180 or visit the website www.hertschambervenues.com

Paradise Wildlife Park Corporate Showcase Event We were delighted to join Paradise Wildlife Park on 4 May for their Corporate Showcase Event. It was fantastic to see the support from many Chamber members who joined us on the day to engage and learn about team building activities, parties, conferences, meetings and staff benefits.

It was a great opportunity for delegates to meet new contacts and network with a range of Hertfordshire businesses.

Thank you to Paradise Wildlife Park for having us all!

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Extracting profits from your business... what is the best way?

Here’s a scenario many of our clients are facing. You own your own business and it is thriving and all that hard work is paying off. Now there is a profit to be distributed. The problem you face is determining the most tax efficient way of extracting it from the business.

So far, you’ve paid yourself a salary of £8,000 to use up the bulk of your income tax personal allowance and you have paid dividends of £37,000 to take you up to the higher rate tax threshold. You have further profit of £50,000 which you want to extract out of the business, what are your options?

Option 1 - Additional Dividend Corporation tax of £9,500 would still be due on the £50,000 plus an additional £13,162.50 in dividend income tax.

That equates to an effective tax rate of 45.3% and means that you would be left with just £27,337.50 from the £50,000 for you to spend.

Option 2 - Additional Salary You would pay no corporation tax on the £50,000 but you would pay £6,043.38 in employer NI,

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£4,562.65 in employee NI, £9,482.65 in income tax plus an additional £8,262.50 in dividend income tax (as the dividends would now be pushed into higher rate).

That equates to an effective tax rate of 56.7% and means that you would be left with just £21,648.82 from the £50,000 for you to spend.

Option 3 - Employer Pension Contribution You would pay no corporation tax, income tax or NI on an employer pension contribution, therefore the full £50,000 can be invested.

Also, the pension fund can grow in a tax efficient environment and is outside of your estate for inheritance tax purposes.

Of course the downside is that pension funds cannot be accessed until you are at least 55 but if that’s ok, the tax position for extracting

that money is a lot more attractive!

When you access the funds, you can withdraw 25% tax free with the residual 75% taxed as income.

Assuming the income falls within the higher rate tax band, the income would be taxed at 40% (if current tax rates continue to apply).

There is no NI on pension income so the total tax bill is only £15,000 (ignoring investment returns).

That equates to an effective tax rate of 30% and means that you would be left with £35,000 from the £50,000 for you to spend, which is far more than the first two options considered. (The rate would be even better if you were a basic rate taxpayer at this time!)

Pensions are far more attractive compared to the punitive taxation within the dividend or salary options. However, there are

limitations regarding how much you can contribute each year (your Annual Allowance) and also the size of your pension fund when you start to take the benefits (Lifetime Allowance) so it is important to seek advice, and in particular to have a written financial plan setting out your goals and dreams. Your Trinity adviser will construct this document for you and then walk with you until those goals are achieved.

For advice on pensions or any other Financial Planning requirements please get in touch. Email: Adam.Vanstone@twm.uk.com or by phone: 01727 851123

FinanceforBusiness

Government’s clean energy drive invests £35 million in projects A new funding award will help companies seeking to deliver clean growth and affordable energy as part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy.

“The UK government is committed to leading the world in delivering clean energy technology and this investment shows that we are prepared to support innovation in this critical area.”

The opportunity is part of the Government’s campaign to help organisations seeking to take advantage of the revolution in new green technologies.

Announcing the initiative, Minister of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Claire Perry announced funding for two innovative clean energy projects which will create local investment opportunities across the country.

She said that £35 million funding, which will come from the BEIS Energy Innovation Programme, will go towards smart heating systems and innovation in using hydrogen as a potential heat source.

Under the new investment, £10 million will sponsor the second phase of work by the

Energy Systems Catapult on its Smart Systems and Heat Programme.

The programme will help develop local energy plans alongside Local Authorities, and bring down the cost of energy bills, while supporting the development of the UK’s low carbon heating projects.

A further £25 million will be invested in potential uses of hydrogen gas for heating, testing the possibility of domestic gas pipes for hydrogen and developing a range of innovative hydrogen appliances such as boilers and cookers.

Hydrogen is increasingly being seen as an alternative to more traditional forms of energy generation because it is abundant and has dramatically less impact on climate change.

Claire Perry said: “The UK government is committed to leading the world in delivering clean energy technology and this investment shows that we are prepared to support innovation in this critical area.

“Our aim is for the UK to be a global leader in innovation, science and research and our Industrial Strategy will help us to deliver our ambitious CO2 reduction targets while, creating jobs and opportunities for people across the country.”

This investment follows the Government’s commitment to double energy innovation investments set out in the Industrial Strategy green paper, to £400 million per year by 2021.

Philip New, Chief Executive of the Energy Systems Catapult, said: “This is very welcome.

It is a reflection of the Energy Systems Catapult’s growing track record in delivering challenging and innovative programmes that have impact on some of the most intractable questions in the transformation of the energy system.

“Phase 2 will see our team working with others, building the foundations for innovative energy service business models, encouraging a new generation of energy service providers and testing new offers for British households.”

More details of the BEIS Energy Innovation Programme and funding are available from the GOV.UK Energy Innovation page.

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24Hours

24.Hours Making space for creativity in the working day “We place creativity at the heart of what we do and it can be a challenge balancing the day to day demands of running a business with the need to be creative.

“To keep our team fresh, we give them plenty of time to brainstorm and share ideas. We have an area in the loft of our converted barn where they can think and we will regularly get staff together to develop ideas for campaigns.

“We believe that there is no such thing as a bad idea because very often one idea can spark other ideas which turn into what we do for a campaign.

The team at the Inspiring Herts Awards

Leona, a former soldier who is the Operations Director, begins her working day early at home, answering emails and monitoring social media.

“We work hard to look after our staff.

All our apprentices went on to secure jobs with us and we are currently funding 50 per cent of our staff to take degrees or diplomas as part of their professional development.

Our mantra is that, if you look after your staff, they will look after your clients.”

There is also strong community ethos running through the company. Leona and her team deliver masterclasses in everything from strategy to digital technology for Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce, on whose board she sits, the company does a lot of charity work and its team works in schools to help prepare young people for the workplace and to support Young Chamber.

Leona said: “We are very much a civic business. Being a part of the community is important to us.”

Leona also works as Deputy Commandant of Essex Army Cadet Force (ACF) and sits on various boards around Hertfordshire, representing businesses on County Resilience and Armed Forces Employer Engagement.

She said: “A key part of our work is innovation so it is vital that we keep up to date with developments so I keep a regular eye on the likes of Facebook and Linked-in for new trends.

She does not have a set time for finishing work, saying: “The day finishes when it finishes, which means with all of her additional commitments, they can be long days.”

Operations Director Focus7 International

“People think we are a bit mad, sometimes.

For instance, because we work three months ahead on campaigns we start playing Christmas music in September and the tree comes out early. And in December we can be thinking about Valentine’s Day!

For Leona Barr-Jones, the working day is a mixture of structure and creativity as she oversees the talented team at Hertfordshire company Focus7 International.

“Recently, because we did work for a client in Champagne in France, the team bought baguettes and cheese and went outside for a picnic to get them in the mood.

The company, which specialises in marketing, software, business intelligence, strategy and business planning, employs 20 people and allowing time for creativity is a key part of the working day.

“I am a great believer in management by walking around, sitting down with a member of staff to develop ideas.

Leona Barr-Jones

Clearly, the approach worked as the two-year-old business has already doubled its annual turnover.

“I will be in the office about 9am and I tend to keep my day as fluid as possible.

Much of the day will be taken up with one to one meetings with members of the team to catch up on what they are doing and give them the chance to discuss their work.

“My job is to provide leadership and management, something I am familiar with after 21 years as an officer in the Army, and we like to provide as much coaching and mentoring as we can for our team, as well as for our clients.

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Team on an away day

“We place creativity at the heart of what we do and it can be a challenge balancing the day to day demands of running a business with the need to be creative.”

Five reasons to use specialist finance Advertisement feature

CommercialFinance

Jon Elliott, regional development director at specialist lender Together, explains when SMEs can benefit from using specialist finance.

The use of alternative finance for SMEs has been becoming more mainstream for quite some time now. In fact, the country’s largest banks are now referring clients that they can’t help directly to alternative lenders under the Government’s new bank referral scheme, a scheme which we are a part of and one which is expected to fuel growth in Britain’s SMEs. At Together, we have 43 years’ experience in providing finance to suit a wide range of needs and often help businesses and entrepreneurs that require funding which may not fit with the more rigid criteria of the mainstream lenders.

To help you to understand how alternative finance could boost your

Commercial finance

business plans, here are the five most common reasons businesses use our specialist lending services:

To purchase property

Often we are able to provide finance in situations where mainstream lenders are unable to meet the necessary timescales. When a property purchase requires a quick completion, for example, we can provide fast and flexible funding.

To seize an investment opportunity

Likewise, when businesses are looking to seize an investment opportunity, whether to purchase equipment or stock, expand operations, or to acquire retail

or office space, our common sense approach means that we are able to work with businesses of all sizes and across multiple sectors in order to secure the funding they need.

To refinance existing debts Refinancing can help small businesses by consolidating debts into one, making them easier to manage and enabling them to plan ahead.

Being able to refinance when necessary can also help improve cash flow, whilst paying off creditors and maintaining relationships with key suppliers can be crucial in securing the reputation of the business.

To release equity

Another reason businesses may need to use a specialist lender is to release equity, by allowing the client to raise money against the value of a residential property and providing funds for business use.

So, if you think short-term finance could benefit your business, contact the regional development director for the South East, Jon Elliott, on 01432 486 065 or email jon.elliott@togethermoney.com Find out more at: www.togethermoney.com

Bridging finance Auction finance Commercial mortgages Buy-to-Let mortgages Development funding

Long-established experts... in short term lending As a principal lender, with over 40 years’ experience, we’re dedicated to working closely with our professional sector partners. Our expert team is here to support you and your clients in a range of short-term property funding requirements.

Taking a common-sense approach, we aim to put your clients in the best possible position to complete.

Contact Jon Elliott the Regional Development Director for the South East.

Call us on - 01432 486 065 or visit togethermoney.com/southeast This advertisement is intended for professional intermediary use only and must not be distributed to potential clients.

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Health&Wellbeing

Spire Harpenden Hospital gave me my smile back Every day most of us can find something to smile about, but what if it was your smile that was stopping you from being happy? Sarah Chittenden has been speaking to Emma O’Keeffe, a recent patient at Spire Harpenden Hospital, about her experience of getting her smile back.

Mr Schreuder

the prospect of my lip forever having a hole in it that I wouldn’t be able to hide.”

“It started with an infection in my lip,” says Emma who is from St Albans. “It kept getting bigger and bigger, I went to my GP who tried to treat it but wasn’t able too. I was sent to my local NHS hospital as well as a hospital in London for various tests, all of them came back inconclusive. The whole time I was in agony with my lip, I had to drink everything through a straw and I didn’t want to leave my house because I couldn’t stand the way it looked. My local NHS Hospital decided they’d operate to remove it, unfortunately this left a huge hole in my lip, they tried to stitch it back together but it kept separating.

The whole experience had been going on for 5 months and I was truly miserable at

Feeling at her lowest Emma contacted Spire Harpenden Hospital, her local private hospital, to see what options were available for her. Emma booked an appointment to see Cosmetic Consultant Surgeon, Mr Frederik Schreuder the coming Monday, following her appointment her surgery was scheduled in for that Monday evening. “I was at zero confidence when I went for the appointment and he promised me he’d give me my smile back and he did!” said Emma.

Before going for surgery Emma was given all the information she needed to make her decision including an all-inclusive package price so that she knew the costs.

Although making the decision to go for surgery was easy, going through with it wasn’t exactly straight forward, Emma explains; “All the surgery I’ve had has been under local anaesthetic, I have had so many injections I now have a huge fear of them.

When they tried to give me the local anaesthetic for my latest operation I totally freaked out. Pippa was my theatre nurse and she was brilliant, she really calmed me down, I held her hand so hard I think I might have broken some fingers! But with her help I was able to go through with the injection and the operation and I’m so glad I did.”

“I could tell, even with all the swelling after the operation that Mr Schreuder had done a great job. He was brilliant and I’d recommend him and the hospital to everyone.

I had my stitches out a week after the operation and could see what a fantastic job of reconstruction he’d done. He’d rebuilt the whole of my lip.”

Emma adds; “I wrote a review on the hospital facebook page and got the best reply back, it was the highlight of it all!

My thanks go to the hospital staff, Mr Schreuder, my dad and my company for their support throughout it all, now I can get back to normal life with a big smile on my face.”

Mr Schreuder said “The moment I met Emma I could see that she had a real problem that needed dealing with urgently. Through teamwork and staff flexibility we were able to offer Emma reconstructive surgery that evening at Spire Harpenden.” He added “I am very pleased that she has made such an excellent recovery.”

Spire Harpenden Hospital is located on Ambrose Lane in Harpenden. Self-funding appointments are available and many times a GP referral isn’t necessary. Finance options are available on the majority of our procedures.

For further details please call 01582 714 420 or email info@spireharpenden.com

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NewMembers

Welcome to new members AECOM

CST Instruments

FP Mortimore Web Design

Building Engineering, Transportation Environment and Infrastructure AECOM House, 63-77 Victoria Street, St Albans, AL1 3ER 01727 535000 www.aecom.com

Scientific Instrument Manufacturer Based in Letchworth Garden City 01462 412024 www.cstinstruments.com

Web Designer Based in Welwyn Garden City www.fpmortimore.co.uk

Data Relish

GSA Business Development

Data consulting and training 4 Jacketts Field, Abbots Langley, WD5 0EW 07584 678999 www.datarelish.com

Grow business through lead generation including telemarketing Unit 85, Wenta Business Centre, Colne Way, Watford, WD24 7ND 0845 658 8192 www.gsa-marketing.co.uk

Boston Digital Drive traffic online, making technology work more efficiently 28 Castle Street, Hertford, SG14 1HH 0333 344 0858 www.bostondigital.co.uk

Certax Accounting St Albans Accounting/Auditing & Book Keeping Services Enterprise House, 5 Roundwood Lane, Harpenden, AL5 3BW 01582 463484 www.certaxstalbansdistrict.co.uk

Circadian FX Foreign Currency Exchange 3 Gilbey Avenue, Bishop’s Stortford, CM23 5NX www.circadianfx.com

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Deve Ltd Business development including marketing, business planning and design print Blackhorse Lane Redbourn, St Albans, AL3 7ES 01582 792875 www.deve.co.uk

Enterprise Accountancy Ltd Accountancy services Fairclough Hall, Halls Green, Weston, SG4 7DP 01462 441678 www.enterprise-tax.co.uk

Epson UK IT Manufacturer Based in Hemel Hempstead www.epson.co.uk

Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust Charity working to promote wildlife conservation Grebe House, St Michael’s Street, St Albans, AL3 4SN 01727 858901 www.hertswildlifetrust.org.uk

Hitchin Daily Press News, Media and Digital Marketing Advertising First House, 11 Furzton Lake, Shirwell Cresent, MK4 1GA 07961 424862 www.hitchindailyprss.co.uk

NewMembers

My Language Hub

Strive Development

Translation localisation language training 21 Chiltern View, Letchworth, SG6 3RJ 01462 612922 www.mylanguagehub.com

Learning and Development Consultanct Avaland Hosue, 110 London Road, Apsley, Hemel Hempstead, HP3 9SD 07930 286721 www.strivedevelopment.co.uk

Necton Consulting Leadership Coaching and HR Consulting 59 Necton Road, Wheathampstead, St Albans, AL4 8AT 07973 295331 www.nectonconsulting.co.uk

Net 2 Work Connecting young people and companies for career opportunities Based in London www.net2work.co.uk

Pertemps Recruitment 22 Mark Road, Hemel Hempstead, HP2 7BN 01442 219989 www.pertemps.co.uk

sales-mind(UK)Ltd Sales training Based in Berkhamsted www.sales-mind.com

The BMH Group Management consultant in education 61 Calson Way, Letchworth, SG6 4QJ 07747 113620 www.thebmhgroup.com

Trade River Alternative finance provide of trade finance to SMEs in the UK Based in London www.traderiverfinance.com

Ultratec IT recycling for unwanted laptops, servers, photocopiers, network printers Unit 1, Stevenage Business Park, Eastman Way, Stevenage, SG1 4SZ 01438 211200 www.ultratec.co.uk

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MembersNews

Decisions needed urgently

By Professor Greg Clark CBE TfL Board member and former Chair of the London Stansted Cambridge Consortium After months of political excitement, ministers will arrive in Whitehall this month to hard choices.

Nowhere is this more urgent than at the Department for Transport, where the Secretary of State faces decisions on a range of big projects: Heathrow, Northern powerhouse rail - and Crossrail 2, the proposed railway linking Surrey to Hertfordshire via a tunnel under central London.

Of these, Crossrail 2 is where a decision is most urgently needed.

For while none of this infrastructure investment should be seen as a zero-sum game - we need investment in the North just as urgently as in the South East Crossrail 2 is the big project that’s closest to starting. And for Hertfordshire, a huge amount is at stake.

Th ree weeks before the election, Transport for London submitted a revised Strategic Outline Business Case for the project to the Transport Secretary. As it convincingly shows , Crossrail 2 is vital to the future of the whole South East. It will transform journey times, reduce crowding and mean more frequent train services across a huge swathe of southern England.

The railway would tackle key pinch points on the Cambridge-HertsLondon railway. Crossrail 2 would mean more fast trains into Liverpool St, relieving overcrowding and improving a vital link for this dynamic corridor. It will be a game changer for businesses around Stansted, Broxbourne, Harlow and beyond – and it will drive desperately needed housing development too.

Now we just need firm commitment to the project from the Government, so that project can move forward to the next stage of design – and then to a Hybrid Bill to seek planning consents in 2020. It’s the only way we can have the railway up and running in the early 2030s.

It sounds a long way off – but as Hertfordshire businesses know, we can’t afford to delay on such a crucial, long-term project. Crossrail 2 is a project for the future of the whole South East – let’s get it moving now.

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The benefits of networking

By Jo Ward of JW Virtual Business Assistance After five years working within the corporate world, setting up my own business of Virtual Business Assistance is everything I thought it would be, and so much more.

I've spent much of the past 6 months networking across Hertfordshire, and have drunk more than my fair share of coffee.

I've learnt to describe what I do in less than two minutes to a room full of strangers, frequently culminating in a follow up meeting, discussing areas these business owners are struggling with.

Subsequently many of these lovely people have become my clients and I provide them with a variety of business support from Telemarketing and producing

newsletters to Social Media management and 121 training.

I've learnt that businesses constantly need to evolve including my own. What initially took flight as a Virtual Assistance business model in January 2017, is blossoming into a business support service with many happy local clients.

Having met Mary Palmer in my first month of trading, I immediately joined the Herts Chamber of Commerce and I haven’t looked back since.

Having met some wonderful Chamber members at a various networking events, my Chamber highlight has to be the launch of the Hertfordshire PA Club.

We supped champagne on the terrace of the beautiful Luton Hoo Hotel one very sunny afternoon in May. So far removed from my corporate days, life really doesn’t get much better than that.

Focus and resilience in the sales environment The newest member of the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce is Mark Williams from sales-mind.

Selling your products and services is an important part of running a successful business, and Mark’s specialism is in helping salespeople develop qualities such as focus and resilience in order to maximise effectiveness.

Using evidence-based research, sales-mind’s thought-provoking and innovative one-day workshops are designed to improve the mindset needed to succeed in today’s sales environment.

CEO Mark Williams collaborated with a psychologist to develop the training courses that focus on strengthening mental approach.

He said: “Traditional sales training addresses ‘what to do and how to do it’, but not the attitude needed to apply it consistently.

That’s why I wanted to develop more mindful sales training.

Our workshops have been designed to encourage a more effective mindset towards business development and sales in order to maximise selfdetermination, clear thinking and personal effectiveness.”

Feedback from previous workshops has shown there can be phenomenal results.

After being trained by sales-mind, one participant’s average monthly sales performance increased by a massive 97%!

Aimed at SMEs and sales teams, sales-mind’s one-day Focus and Resilience workshops will be held at the luxurious Hunton Park Hotel near Watford on 6th July, 18th September, 12th October and 14th November.

For further details and to book, please visit: www.sales-mind.com /course-dates

“Our workshops have been designed to encourage a more effective mindset towards business development and sales in order to maximise self-determination, clear thinking and personal effectiveness.”

MembersNews

Alternative finance provider joins Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce to support Herts businesses TradeRiver, an alternative finance provider of trade finance, has formed a strategic partnership with the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

TradeRiver will be working with the Chamber to increase the availability of unsecured trade finance that businesses engaged in UK and international trade in the region can access.

TradeRiver CEO Richard Fossett says: “We’re really pleased to be partnering with the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber plays a significant role supporting business growth and we wanted to be part of that.

“Access to flexible finance is especially important in this uncertain environment and the unsecured working capital we provide can help businesses in the Hertfordshire area maintain their competitive edge.

“By working with the Chamber we can ensure that smaller, fast growth and mid-sized companies really understand the range of finance options available to them beyond that of the banks.”

Yolanda Rugg, CEO of Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce, says: “When it comes to managing cashflow,

SMEs need all the help they can get. Our partnership with TradeRiver will mean that fast growing companies in the Hertfordshire region will be able to access short term working capital that will complement their existing banking arrangements.

“The flexibility provided by TradeRiver’s facility ensures that businesses can decide for themselves how they use it, which is invaluable in any fastmoving business environment.”

The facility that TradeRiver provides, which is managed online, can be used to fund the payment of either goods or services for UK importers, or alternatively by UK exporters to fund their imported raw materials. The facility provides buyers with access to additional working capital and a further 120 days credit, beyond existing terms.

To find out more visit www.traderiverfinance.com

“By working with the Chamber we can ensure that smaller, fast growth and mid-sized companies really understand the range of finance options available to them beyond that of the banks.”

Sopwell House appoints Thomas Garlich as General Manager Sopwell House in St Albans, one of the UK’s most prestigious country house estates,has appointed Thomas Garlich as its new General Manager.

In his exciting new role, Thomas will oversee the 128 stylish guest rooms, 16 exclusive Mews Suites, two restaurants, an elegant cocktail lounge and conservatory bar, along with the strong conference and wedding business within the 19 meeting and banqueting spaces.

As the new General Manager, Thomas will also be responsible for the extensive expansion of the spa which will commence later this year.

He joins Sopwell House from Luton Hoo Hotel Golf and Spa where he was Resident Manager for eight years.

Thomas has worked in the hospitality industry since 1983. He started his career as a Chef apprentice in Germany where he worked in a number of Michelin starred restaurants.

In 1996, Thomas completed his Master’s Degree in Hospitality Administration and Management in Dortmund, Germany.

In the early 2000s, Thomas took his experience to Front of House and commenced working within the management side of the Hotel business. Starting as the Food & Beverage Manager at the Pink Beach Club in Bermuda, he was soon promoted to Resident Manager where he worked for eight years gaining invaluable experience.

Thomas is now ready take on new challenges as the General Manager at Sopwell House and is looking forward to working with the hotel’s passionate team. Looking to the future he is keen to cement Sopwell House’s position as one of the market leaders in the luxury destination hotels arena.

For further information visit www.sopwellhouse.co.uk

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MembersNews

Keeping business safe online Hertfordshire Constabulary are working with the University of Hertfordshire’s Cyber Security Centre to provide small businesses with practical advice around a range of online safety topics.

We are working to produce a series of easy-to-understand printable fact sheets containing tips and advice from the experts. The first fact sheet in the series is about backing up your data.

When speaking to businesses who have been affected by malicious software, theft, or other crimes that have resulted in loss of devices or data, it has often come to light that the victims had not adequately backed up their data, meaning vital business information or important contact details were lost. The fact sheet explains the importance of creating backups; describes some of the different types of backups that are available, together with their advantages and disadvantages; and gives some recommendations and “top tips” for ensuring that your back up system meets your individual needs.

Join Hertfordshire’s Business Watch to receive regular crime alerts and security advice from your local policing team and business crime experts.

Register at: www.owl.co.uk A fact sheet can be viewed on the Chamber website or download at www.hertschamber.com/news/c hamber-news/cyber-safety-factsheet-backing-up-your-data

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FOCUS7 International celebrates incredible end to 2nd year Hertfordshire-based business growth agency Focus7 International is celebrating its second anniversary, after another year of award-winning success.

Launched in June 2015, Focus7’s initial aim was to be recognised as a collaborative agency that would work with businesses to help them towards long term success – guiding them down a bespoke path that would see them achieve a fruitful and sustainable future.

Uniquely, Focus7 approaches each client project with three words in mind: Think, Create, Deliver.

Developed by a Board with an unrivalled amount of experience, ‘Think’ develops critical business strategies that help organisations take real steps towards their goals. ‘Create’ involves an inspired creative team that provide a powerfully innovative look at marketing and branding.

And to ‘Deliver’ for you, to you or with you, Focus7 implements cutting-edge software that supports marketing automation and digital transformation.

In two short years, Focus7 ‘International’ has become just that: working with clients and partners in France, the USA and the Caribbean. Having begun working solely with office products clients, they have also now diversified across multiple markets, including skincare brands, security, international property developments, trade associations and specialised therapy.

Focus7 has achieved recognition both locally and globally for their pioneering work. In 2016, they won the Innovation Through Technology Inspiring Hertfordshire Award for their work with software; they were highly commended for Initiative of the Year at the Boss Industry Awards; selected as finalists for the East of England Business Champions Awards; and achieved the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Silver Award for supporting ex-Armed Forces employees. Focus7 has also become Patrons of the

Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce, and now hosts masterclasses to share their steps to success with other local businesses.

2017 is proving just as fruitful for Focus7, having already been selected as finalists for 5 Inspiring Hertfordshire 2017 Awards, including Most Promising New Business and Excellence in People Development.

“It’s been an amazing journey,” says Managing Director Vida Barr-Jones, “We always knew we wanted to create a business growth solution that any business, in any industry and of any size, could benefit from. Of course there have been obstacles,

but to see our team grow, learn and flourish has been a unique and humbling experience.”

“With so many recent successes, and our tenacious ability to overcome the challenges every new business faces in their first few years, we look forward to a bright and prosperous future.”

“I would like to personally thank every person who has supported Focus7 throughout the last two years, from valued clients to talented partners & associates, all of whom have made the process of growing our business an absolute pleasure.”

Visit www.focus7international.com for more information.

“With so many recent successes, and our tenacious ability to overcome the challenges every new business faces in their first few years, we look forward to a bright and prosperous future.”

MembershipBenefits

Hertfordshire Chamber Member Benefits Saving business thousands of pounds!

Chamber Energy Solutions Can water deregulation benefit my small business?

With the biggest overhaul of Britain’s water industry in 30 years currently underway, what will water deregulation will mean for small firms?

The landscape has shifted for over a million small businesses across the UK last month due to the launch of water deregulation in England.

In short, water deregulation will give small business owners the

opportunity to take control of their water supply by enabling them to shop for the best water deals – in a similar way to choosing an energy provider.

The freedom to choose supplier brings not just greater choice but will also deliver higher customer standards, more tailored services and, most importantly, lower prices.

Contact Chamber Energy Solutions on 0333 000 0132 to speak to a dedicated Account Manager.

TradeRiver Finance

Microsoft Office 365

TradeRiver is dedicated to helping businesses grow.

Your business shouldn’t start or end at your office desk.

TradeRiver does this by providing you with a revolving credit facility that ranges between one hundred thousand pounds and five million pounds. You can use this to buy goods or services from anywhere in the world without putting pressure on your cash flow.

If you have a turnover of two million and above, trading for at least a couple of years and can demonstrate you are creditworthy, profitable and have a clear plan, TradeRiver can help you.

Now you can keep working anywhere your customers are with Office 365. With Office 365 Business, familiar tools like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook are available where and when you need them.

To find out more please contact Herts Chamber on 01707 502180.

Store, sync, and share your files online so they're always up to date. Plus, you can edit documents wherever you are.

We are delighted that Chamber members are entitled to an exclusive discount.

To find out more please contact the Herts Chamber team on 01707 502180.

If you want to find out more about your membership, interested in joining the Chamber or want to know more please contact Gemma Rydqvist on 07377 361609 or email gemmarydqvist@hertschamber.com INSPIRE

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Creating smarter, vibrant & flexible workspaces for your staff…

We Make Spaces Work for People – call us on 01727 840800 or email info@jpa-furniture.com

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Apprenticeships

Employer of the Year Award On Thursday 29 June we had the honour of receiving the ‘Employer of the Year Award’ presented by Oaklands College.

Within the local business community they champion the positive contribution the

apprentices have provided top their organisation. The team at the chamber provide

consistent support to their apprentices and have invested time and energy in providing them with a solid intro to the world of business”.

Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive, Yolanda Rugg said, “We were very privileged to be amongst inspiring winning students.

We were delighted to win this award and are extremely grateful for the outstanding support from Oaklands College and the Apprenticeship assessors.

We hope our award will inspire more SMEs to employ apprentices in the future”.

Welcome to Gemma We are absolutely delighted to welcome Gemma Rydqvist, Business Development and Engagement Manager to our team.

Gemma supports the growth and success of local businesses from a sole trader to large corporate companies in the West Herts area, covering Dacorum and Watford.

Gemma works with local businesses and potential partners, building relationships to influence the shape of future programmes.

Gemma will exploit our network to help businesses promote and raise their profiles with Chamber initiatives.

We are really excited to have Gemma on board!

If you would like to meet with Gemma please call 07377 361609.

Getting the message out thanks to Apprenticeship

by Courteney Black I have just completed my Higher Business Administration Apprenticeship (Level 4) at Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce through Oaklands College. I am now thrilled to be the Marketing and Communications Executive and have recently been awarded the Employee of the Year award at the Chamber. Throughout my Apprenticeship, I have learnt crucial skills needed in day to day business including flexibility, willingness and a passion for doing something I thoroughly enjoy doing.

Within my job I am responsible for the marketing and the communications for

internal and external stakeholders, including Chamber members, staff and the Board of Directors.

Within my marketing responsibilities, I have been given the opportunity to co-ordinate the Inspire magazine, create marketing collateral, manage a range of social media accounts and work on developing our website.

Choosing the Apprenticeship route was definitely the best option when leaving school.

It has given me the opportunity to develop myself through practical learning rather than theoretical whilst still earning. I would definitely recommend an

Apprenticeship to anybody considering an alternative route to University.

Completing my Apprenticeship through Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce is something I will always be grateful for.

Having the chance to work with great colleagues, meet a huge number of fantastic Chamber members and Patrons and attend local and national events are just some of the few things that I have experienced.

I look forward to continuing my journey at the Chamber and meeting and supporting even more businesses!

Yolanda Rugg CEO of Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce congratulates Courteney Black on her achievement

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Health&Wellbeing

Mental Health in the Workplace What employers can do to support their staff

Mental health problems at work are common. According to Mind, the charity for better mental health, at least one in six workers is experiencing common mental health problems, including anxiety and depression. Support mental health in the workplace.

Mind’s research shows that 56% of employers would like to do more to improve staff wellbeing but don't feel they have the right training or guidance.

We’ve asked four experts for their top tips on how to support mental health in the workplace.

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“Mind’s research shows that 56% of employers would like to do more to improve staff wellbeing but don't feel they have the right training or guidance.”

Health&Wellbeing

Anna Pinkerton

Encouraging good mental health needs a top down approach The best ways to promote and support the mental health of your employees are to: 1) Demonstrate good mental health yourself.

Leaders must show fully functioning human-ness. Speak with emotional intelligence – employees won’t open up about how they feel if managers never use emotional language.

2) Create a kind corporate culture.

Don’t think ‘fluffy and weak’; think ‘robust, flexible and kind’.

Make it an environment where people feel respected, considered and able to be honest.

3) Educate directors and managers against the ‘stiff upper lip’ attitude.

The idea that hiding weakness helps overcome it is outdated.

Bottling up emotional pain drains the energy of employees.Don't leave your health and wellbeing policy in your filing cabinet.

Make it part of everyday business.

Therapeutic coach, corporate therapist and leading expert in PTSD, Anna Pinkerton is author of Smile Again: Your Recovery from Burnout, Breakdown and Overwhelming Stress.

Embed mental health in your overarching people strategy

Support your staff’s mental health by living your company values

According to Mind, 1 in 4 employees describing their mental health as poor say work is the primary cause.

1) Ensure mental health strategy forms part of your overarching people strategy Remove any stigma associated with mental health and be proactive and open in supporting employees. If the company’s people strategy is supportive, employees will be more confident in raising the subject.

2) Remove, mitigate and manage known triggers Leaders must understand the triggers that lead to potential work-related mental health issues. Create a secure working environment – e.g. instigate regular check-ins to understand performance, workloads, hours and overtime requests.

3) Spot the signs in self and others Encourage employees to highlight behaviours that are causing them concern (unable to switch off, poor sleep patterns, loss of appetite), and enable managers to spot the warning signs in their people. Document the support available clearly in the company’s people strategy.

To support employees properly, best practice for supporting mental health issues at work needs to be stated in your company values and then taken seriously.

CEO of Pti-Worldwide, a business growth consultancy specialising in unlocking people potential, Royston Guest is author of Built to Grow: How to deliver accelerated, sustained and profitable business growth

Stephen Frost

Mental health is still taboo at work because it is an invisible disability Signs of disability we can see for ourselves, such as wheelchairs or guide dogs, may be easier to sympathise with than the invisible issue of mental health.

Discussing mental health at work is still taboo, perhaps because its formlessness makes it challenging to approach – we often prefer to avoid thinking about or admitting it.

Employers can create a more inclusive environment for team members with mental health issues by raising the issue pre-emptively and shifting the burden from the individual to the team or organisation.

Company values often ignore organisational culture, or are adopted only as means to an end and then dropped as quickly.

Values can be empowering or they can be highly demotivating when the company does not deliver on their promise. Empty values statements create disenchanted and unhappy employees.

People will not speak up about their issues if they perceive company policy on those issues to be hollow.

So make sure your company values regarding mental health are part of the fabric of everything you do in the company; they have to be translated into the DNA of the culture. By creating an environment where people understand their company will support them in case of difficulty, you free up your employees to be positive and productive.

Personal leadership coach Andro Donovan is author of Motivate Yourself – Get the life you want, find purpose and achieve fulfillment.

Rather than putting all the pressure on the individual to speak up, we can raise it as a society-wide issue.

If we talk empathetically about neurodiversity and moods as natural and normal, and acknowledge that we all have good and bad days, we start to enlarge the conversation and bring in those with more challenging mental health issues.

Royston Guest

Founder of Frost Included, a consultancy helping people understand diversity and inclusion, Stephen Frost is author of Inclusive Talent Management – How business can thrive in an age of diversity.

Andro Donovan

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LastWord

Getting the networking right Graham Pulsford Managing Director JPA Furniture Q What do you do?

I am the MD of JPA Furniture.

We specialise in project fit outs and commercial furniture supply across London and the Home Counties and create wonderful people centred working environments for happier, more productive users across office, healthcare, educational and hospitality sectors.

We’re a family business with more than 43 years’ experience of creating tailored workspaces which reflect our Client’s personality and supports their needs.

We tender for much of our business via government and local authority portals, construction industry portals and various journals and as an independent company we are not limited to manufacturers or suppliers when it comes to picking the right products for each job.

Wellbeing is firmly at the heart of our project work, based on biophilic principles and the ways that our environment impacts on us.

Q Who do you work for?

I work for our amazing JPA team to ensure we provide an exciting, engaging and fun place to work for everyone. It’s my job to futureproof the company by developing our USPs, our customer experience and driving change and innovation in a rapidly changing market.

For example, our unique furniture take-back scheme enabled us to

Patrons

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win new blue chip business including our first £1 million pound refurbishment project – now delivered and invoiced!

Q Why did you join the Chamber?

We’re proud to be both members and Patrons of the Herts Chamber of Commerce to help us develop our Hertfordshire business, a core strategy in our business plan.

The bulk of our business is in the North but we are actively developing Hertfordshire as another primary market.

Q What you do get from it?

The Chamber team are a font of useful knowledge which has helped us establish specific targets. All the staff without fail are lovely and have been instrumental in making introductions to key individuals who can help us take the business forward. They also provide valuable insight into government strategies which in turn help us to identify opportunities and potential gaps in the market. Yolanda and her team have been a great help.

Q How has it helped your business network?

We actively network less now than a year ago but in a more structured, more effective way and I would say our business network is in good shape, far better than it has ever been. The Chamber has also

helped raise our business profile in Hertfordshire through social media, event sponsorship, Patronage branding and the Inspiring Herts Awards which have all been good for JPA.

Q What advice would you give someone starting out?

Sort out your USPs at the start and go for it. Get creative and gaps will appear. Don’t be afraid to deviate from a plan – as long as you have a direction. It’s ok to get knocked back you’ll learn something from every experience. Finally, build a great team around you and you are more than halfway there!

Q What do you think is the biggest challenge affecting running and growing a business?

Q How confident are you that your organisation/ business will grow in 2017?

Over the last 12 months we have re-structured the company to ensure we can cope with future growth and invested in staffing, training, product development and research to support our business targets.

We have sown the seeds for growth and after the first 6 months of 2017 are already 58% up on 2016. We can’t stop pushing forward or take our foot off the pedal as the world won’t wait – innovations, technology and workplaces continue to evolve as we must to stay ahead of the game.

These days I would have to say, keeping up with the rate of change, the skills shortages and holding on to your great staff!

Q What support do you want from government?

Don’t get me started! Less red tape, less tax and all the usual stuff. Supporting better finance for business, cutting the cost of compliance and reducing the cost of doing business. Not forgetting a freeze on business rates, and removal of the VAT element charged on fuel duty contribution to pump price!

JPA Furniture Directors

Chartered Accountants and Tax Advisers

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