Surrey chamber Jan 2013

theChamber Voice&VisionofSurreyBusiness| January-February 2013 www.surrey-chambers.co.uk | ÂŁ3.95 (where sold) New Year, New Horizons!

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In this issue.....

News & Views Business Management Leisure & Corporate Hospitality New Year, New Horizons Training & Development Legal & Financial Healthy Workplace International Trade Events

PATRONS

INTRODUCTION

theChamber Voice & Vision of Surrey Business

Chamber Contacts

Contents

Chief Executive Louise Punter Finance Caroline Cherryman Business Development Team Amanda Masters Ella Parkes Andy Willmott Charlotte Heywood Membership Support Team Carol Squires Amanda Hutchison Richard Guillaume Chris Blenkiron Office Unit 14a, Monument Way East, Woking, Surrey GU21 5LY Tel: 01483 735540 Fax: 01483 756754 Email: info@surrey-chambers.co.uk Editorial and membership enquiries Tel: 01483 735545 Email: marketing@surrey-chambers.co.uk Publisher Benham Media 4th Floor, Orleans House, Edmund St, Liverpool L3 9NG Tel: 0151 236 4141 Fax: 0151 236 0440 Email: admin@benhampublishing.com Web: www.benhampublishing.com Advertising and Features Deborah Watson Tel: 0151 236 4141 Email: deborah@benhampublishing.com Production Manager Fern Badman Tel: 0151 236 4141 Email: studio@benhampublishing.com Accounts Joanne Casey Media No. 1283 Published January 2013 © Benham Media Disclaimer The Chamber is published for the Surrey Chambers of Commerce and is distributed without charge to Chamber members in the county. All correspondence should be addressed to the Editor at Surrey Chambers. Views expressed in The Chamber are not necessarily those of Surrey Chambers of Commerce. Reprinting in whole or part is forbidden except by permission of the Editor. © 2013.

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

2 theChamber

January-February 2013 www.surrey-chambers.co.uk

Introduction 4 4

A word from our CEO A word from our President

News & Views 5 6 7 8 9 9

Surrey’s Police and Crime Commissioner New Members Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal Latest research shows Surrey business increased by 12% over the last 12 months Calling all cycling enthusiasts!

Surrey Hills Spectacular? It’s a classic …

Business Management 10 10 11 11 12 12

What’s your corporate PITA rating?

The Statutory Registers: what are they and why are they important?

Bidatask Just Electronics - Just Ask! Technology Tip: Next Year’s IT Budget What steps are Surrey businesses taking to retain key customers in the New Year?

Leisure & Corporate Hospitality 13 Major retrospective of Guildford-trained sculptor Elizabeth Frink 13 The pirates are coming!

New Year, New Horizons 14 Why use social media as part of job search?

15 New Year, New Career

Training & Development 16 17 17 18 18

Understanding finance will help you weather the harsh economic climate Nescot Higher IT Apprentice highly commended at London awards Neighbour Training – enjoy the apprenticeship journey Which do you put first - People or Profits?

Progression in recession: why training is still vital to success

Legal & Financial 19 20 21 22 22 22 23 24 25

Monitoring and managing your profit and loss Debt Recovery - Costs Benefit Analysis RBS - Supporting local businesses Full maternity leave for fathers Thousands of businesses to get records checked by HMRC Surrey based SME Eurofinance continue to provide alternatives to bank funding Your perfect HR partner Does tribunal reveal HMRC’s new approach to tax collection?

HFS Milbourne outperforms industry benchmark

Healthy Workplace 25 Making the right choices about Laser Eye Surgery 26 Managing staff wellbeing shown to increase corporate performance

International Trade 26 UK businesses losing out by trading only in English

Events 27 Spotlight on events

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INTRODUCTION

NEWS & VIEWS

Welcome to the Chamber

A word

from our Chief Executive Louise Punter

from our president Dan May

Towards the end of 2012 Lord Heseltine delivered a wide-ranging and independent review on the subject of growth to government ministers. The accredited Chamber of Commerce Network across the United Kingdom welcomed the growth challenge laid down by Lord Heseltine – and stands ready to play an ever-greater role driving local business growth, supporting regional economic development, and facilitating international commerce.

Surrey Chambers welcomes the fact that Lord Heseltine has recognised that Chambers of Commerce are local, resilient, independent, internationally-focused and pro-active in their communities. We are pleased that he believes Chambers can continue to play a central part in making local growth happen.

On behalf of the Chambers board and staff, can I take this opportunity to wish you a very happy New Year! And let’s hope that 2013 is a prosperous year for Surrey businesses.

With the release of the Autumn Statement at the end of 2012 we were happy to see the Chancellor endorsing Lord Heseltine’s review and showing support for the local chambers to continue working with LEP’s to increase growth in their local area.

Along with the national network of accredited chamber we are great advocates of local solutions for local growth. We will continue to work closely with local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and others to build stronger places, stronger business support, and stronger exporters.

We were also satisfied with the announcement of more incentives for investment for small and medium sized businesses, by raising the annual investment allowance to £250,000 for the

next two years. We believe that this will help boost SME productivity and create more opportunities for 2013.

Surrey Chambers welcome the New Year with some exciting events including our new Creative Media & IT Forum in addition to bringing back our popular Chamber Connections Breakfasts and Meet the Media events. We continue to support the Construction & Property Forum with informative events as well as providing a regular HR Forum to help businesses with issues around employment. We hope many of our members will take part in Activity4Charity, a six week health challenge starting on January 28th 2013, where teams of five will compete to complete 10,000 steps a day for their nominated charity. This is a great way to increase competition within the workplace as well as kick starting your New Year’s resolutions to get fit and active! Lastly I would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2013!

2012 was certainly a positive year for the local economy. Research commissioned

by Chamber members ramsac, Hart Brown and PKF, suggests that the Surrey economy has seen significant growth during the last year. Figures show the collective turnover of Surrey businesses was £155.6 billion, an increase of 12% over the year, with pre-tax profits rising by 55% to £11.0 billion and a profit margin of 7.6% - up from 5.6% the previous year.

The research also suggests there are significant signs of improvement in the construction industry – a key indicator of economic conditions when there has been a downturn. For example, the research showed Fourfront Group, an independent office refurbishment company based at Egham, increased sales by 57.5% to £82.8million, whilst The Berkeley Group plc, specialists in urban brownfield housing redevelopment, achieved an extra 40.2% of sales to reach £1.04billion.

Foundation Developments, the Wallingtonbased civil engineers saw turnover rise by 56% to £54 million.

At an individual level, there has also been some impressive performance by Surrey businesses. The county’s largest employer, Compass Group plc, increased staff numbers by 10% and now has 471,000 staff across the world, all run and administered from its Chertsey headquarters. To put that figure into context, the last census revealed that Surrey in total has about 560,000 people who are classified as able to work.

Naturally this growth also means benefits

Surrey’s Police and Crime Commissioner for suppliers and providers of support services which equally rely upon large organisations.

Looking further afield, the total number of people employed by the top 250 companies in Surrey is 1,095,076, which is an increase of 3.5% over the year. The biggest increase in staff numbers in Surrey was at oil pipeline contractors Alkor Holdings which upped its numbers from 602 to 3056 staff in the last 12 months.

The total salaries paid by the top 250 Surrey companies (leaving aside national insurance contributions by both parties) is £19.5biillion, compared to 17.9billion the year before. The average salary, minus National Insurance and pension contributions, is £44,943 - up by 3.5% over the year (for the previous period the rise was 2.2%). At the top end, Director’s salaries are often under close scrutiny, but the CEO of Compass Group for instance had a remuneration of £2,334,000, a reduction of 8.8% over the year, whilst being responsible for a business which made a 4.9% increase in pre-tax profits to £958 million and which contributed a not inconsiderable £273 million in corporation tax to the public purse. Perhaps not surprisingly, the highest average salary in the county is at Fulham Football Club, which has its administrative offices at New Malden. Although the glittering salaries of their Premier League players are tempered in the averages by the myriad of support staff, the average salary was still £220,743 - a 12.9% increase.

The increased growth in local business has also been of benefit to local charities. Charitable and community donations – be it money, time, or product – by the top 250 companies in Surrey totalled £36.4million, an increase of 7.4%. But for the second year running, the lion’s share was provided by just two companies. Mondi plc of Addlestone gave £14.5m (an increase of 37%), whilst Compass Group, gave £5.9million, up £100,000.

The results paint a very positive picture of the Surrey economy and we hope this trend will continue to grow, keeping the county at the forefront for the British economy.

I am honoured to have been elected as Surrey’s Police and Crime Commissioner following the election on November 15th. After a 30 year career as a police officer, I am excited to have this opportunity to continue to contribute to policing and community safety in a new and exciting capacity.

The elections were effectively the biggest consultation ever undertaken on policing in this country. In my election campaign I made a number of promises to Surrey people which will be the guiding principles for my term in office. In short, these are: • Take a Zero Tolerance Policing Approach • More visible street policing • Put Victims at the centre of the Criminal Justice system • Give you the opportunity to have a greater say in how your streets are policed • Protect your local policing • I will be uncompromising in the standards you expect from your police Space prohibits me from going into detail about these promises here so I would encourage you to visit the new website for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner at www.surrey-pcc.gov.uk to find out more. You can also follow us on twitter @SurreyPCC. I am very keen to consult with Surrey’s business community about the police and crime issues that matter to you and to explore how we could work together to help make our county a better place to live and do business. I will keep you updated as to my plans as they begin to take shape.

Copy Deadlines Edition Mar-Apr 13 May-Jun 13 Jul-Aug 13 Sep-Oct 13 Nov-Dec 13 Jan-Feb 14

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Deadline 1st February 5th April 31st May 2nd August 4th October 29th November

Members wishing to submit editorial please contact Ella Parkes before copy deadline.

Email: ella.parkes@surrey-chambers.co.uk Tel: 01483 735545 Anyone else wishing to advertise in The Chamber please contact Deborah Watson before copy deadline.

Email: deborah@benhampublishing.com Tel: 0151 236 4141

Kevin Hurley Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey

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NEWS & VIEWS

NEWS & VIEWS

New Members

Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal

Surrey Chambers of Commerce Welcomes...

3 Counties Transport

Chris Lane Leisure

LC Energy Ltd

St John Ambulance

41 Keswwick Drive, Lighwater, Surrey, GU18 5XE 01276 474724 http://www.3ctransport.co.uk

Tall Trees, Smugglers Way, The Sands, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 1NA 07801 476576 http://www.chrislaneleisure.com

The Bothy, Albury Park, Surrey, GU5 9BH 0844 875 1320 http://www.lcenergy.co.uk

St John House, Stocton Close, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 1HA 01483 446676 http://www.sja.org.uk

ENERGY FROM BIOMASS

FIRST AID TRAINING

TAXI & PRIVATE HIRE

CUSTOMER CARE CONSULTANCY

ACS Surrey Ltd

Cobbett Hill Earth Station

Suite 8 2nd Floor, One Crown Square, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6HR 01483 850083 http://www.driveacs.com

Normandy Business Park, Cobbett Hill Road, Normandy, Guildford, GU3 2AA 01483 238955

CHAUFFEUR SERVICES

SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SERVICES

Active Surrey

Compufix Computer Services

35 Guildford Road, Quadrant Court, Woking, GU22 7QQ 07791 327755

2 Katherine Mews, Godstone Road, Whyteleafe, Surrey, CR3 0ED 0870 740 6563 http://www.compu-fix.com

SPORT PROMOTION IN SURREY

Addiction Care Limited 1 Wey Court, Mary Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 4QU 01483 533300 http://www.addictioncare.co.uk ADDICTION TREATMENT

b :web Unit 205, Lansbury Estate, 102 Lower Guildford Road, Knaphill, Woking, Surrey, GU21 2EP 01483799475 http://www.bwebsites.co.uk WEBSITE DESIGN

Balaka 105 High Street, Horsell, Woking, Surrey, GU21 4SU 01483 761144 http://www.thebalaka.com RESTAURANT

Bespoke HR 40 Occam Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7YG 07813 659614 http://www.bespokehr.com HR SERVICES

Bidatask

IT NETWORK AND HOSTED SERVICES

DMH Stallard LLP Gainsborough House, Crawley, RH11 7FZ 01293 663532 http://www.dmhstallard.com SOLICITORS

East Surrey & Sussex News and Media Regent House, 1-3 Queensway, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QT 01892 239020 NEWSPAPER

Evensure Management Ltd The Sussex Barn, Home Farm, Loseley Park, Guildford, Surrey, GU3 1HS 01483 456730 http://www.evensure.co.uk CONTRACT SECURITY

Filecycle (Geerings IT Limited) Room 507, Building 500, Shepperton Studios, Studios Road, Shepperton, Middlesex, TW17 0QD 01932 593061 http://www.filecycle.co.uk OFFICE EQUIPMENT, DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT

From The Hip

llocally 14 Lovelace Drive, Pyrford, Woking, Surrey, GU22 8QU 01932 918 686 http://www.llocally.com WEBSITE BUILDERS FOR LOCAL & START-UP BUSINESSES

Nelson Direct Marketing Ltd Unit 17, Quadrum Park, Old Portsmouth Road, Peasmarsh, Surrey, GU3 1LU 01483 532737 DIRECT MARKETING

Norris & Gardiner Ltd The Old Builders Yard, Limecroft Road, Knaphill, Woking, Surrey, GU21 2TH 01483 289111 http://www.norg.co.uk LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT & MAINTENANCE CONTRACTORS

Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation Leatherhead Court, Woodlands Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 0BN 01372 841127 http://www.gef.org.uk CHARITY FOR EMPLOYMENT

SETsquared - Surrey 40 Occam Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7YG 01483 685722 http://www.setsquared.co.uk BUSINESS SUPPORT/OFFICE SPACE FOR START-UP COMPANY

Sheppard Glass Dapdune Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 4NZ 01483 821541 http://www.sheppardglass.co.uk

TensCare Painaway House, 9 Blenheim Road, Longmead Business Park, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 9BE 01372 723434 http://www.tenscare.co.uk MEDICAL

The Albert Arms 82 High Street, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9QS 01372 465290 http://www.albertarms.com PUBLIC HOUSE

The Comms Company 4 Tannery House, Tannery Lane, Send, Surrey, GU23 7EF 0203 418 9000 http://www.thecommscompany.com TELECOMMUNICATIONS

The Eikon Charity Eikon, Selsdon Road, New Haw, Addlestone, KT15 3HP 01932 347434 http://www.eikon.org.uk CHARITY SUPPORTING YOUNG PEOPLE

The charity is looking for people to support the Great Daffodil Appeal this March by becoming a local collector. Just one or two hours of your time will help Marie Curie nurse more local people with terminal illnesses, making their final hours as comfortable as possible.

To become a collector for the Great Daffodil Appeal this March, visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/daffodil or call 0845 601 3107.

BUSINESS ADVISORS

The PR Farm 10a Woodside Park, Catteshall Lane, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1LG 01483 892301 http://www.theprfarm.com COMMUNICATIONS & PR SERVICES

Vines of Redhill Ltd 10-12 Bonehurst Road, Salfords, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 5EP 01293 787882 http://www.vinesofredhillbmw.co.uk VEHICLE SALES

Watts Gallery

SME Surrey Business Connections

ART GALLERY

Global House, 1 Ashley Avenue, Epsom, Surrey, KT18 5AD 01372 253210

Unit 10B, Woodside Park, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1LG 07766 037501 http://www.fromthehipvideo.co.uk

IT SOLUTIONS PROVIDER

VIDEO PRODUCTION

Blaser Mills

Guildford Spectrum Leisure Complex

19 High Street, Staines, Middlesex, TW18 4QY 01784 273904 http://www.blasermills.co.uk

Space Maker

Freedom Leisure, Parkway, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 1UP 01483 443331 http://www.guildfordspectrum.co.uk/

Unit 5, Wells Place, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 3DR 01737 645454 http://tinyurl.com/bpq2u5z

55 Drury Lane, London, WC2B 5SQ 0207 240 2220 http://www.wpt.co.uk

SOLICITORS

SPORTS & LEISURE COMPLEX

SELF STORAGE

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW

6 theChamber

Since the first Great Daffodil Appeal took place in 1986, an incredible £61.5 million has been raised to fund the charity’s work. This money has enabled Marie Curie to provide more of the free hands-on care and emotional support the charity is renowned for.

The Infinite Group

Down Lane, Compton, Guildford, Surrey, GU3 1DQ 01483 813580 http://www.wattsgallery.org.uk

BOOK-KEEPING TRAINING

The Great Daffodil Appeal is vital in helping Marie Curie Cancer Care to nurse more people with terminal illnesses. Every March millions of people across the UK support the charity’s biggest fundraising event by simply giving a donation to wear one of the charity’s iconic daffodils.

25 Lower Road, Fetcham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 9EL 07596 608484 http://www.the-infinite-group.com

COMMERCIAL AND DOMESTIC GLAZIERS

Suite 7 Charles Summer House, 56 Hobill Walk, Surbiton, Surrey, KT5 8SZ 020 8393 1044

Marie Curie Cancer Care provides free hands-on nursing care for people with terminal cancer and other illnesses in their own homes. The charity is best known for its network of Marie Curie Nurses working in the community to provide end of life care for patients and emotional support for their families. They allow people to spend their final weeks, days or hours at home, in familiar surroundings with family and friends close by.

Wheatsheaf Hotel London Road, Virginia Water, Surrey, GU25 4QF 01344 842057 http://www.goodnightinns.co.uk HOTEL

WP Thompson

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NEWS & VIEWS

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Latest research shows Surrey business increased by 12% over the last 12 months

Calling all cycling enthusiasts!

New research funded by ramsac, Hart Brown and PKF also shows 55% growth in pre-tax profits during 2012

New research commissioned by leading IT solutions consultancy ramsac, solicitors Hart Brown and accountants PKF, suggests that the Surrey economy has seen significant growth during the last year. Figures show the collective turnover of Surrey businesses was £155.6 billion, an increase of 12% over the year, with pre-tax profits rising by 55% to £11.0 billion and a profit margin of 7.6% - up from 5.6% the previous year.

The research also suggests there are significant signs of improvement in the construction industry – a key indicator of economic conditions when there has been a downturn. For example, the research showed Fourfront Group, an independent office refurbishment company based at Egham, increased sales by 57.5% to £82.8million, whilst The Berkeley Group plc, specialists in urban brownfield housing redevelopment, achieved an extra 40.2% of sales to reach £1.04billion. Foundation Developments, the Wallington-based civil engineers saw turnover rise by 56% to £54 million.

Reflecting on the results, Managing Director of ramsac, Robert May, commented, “As a surrey based company with many of our clients based locally, we were interested to see exactly how the local economy has fared over the last 12 months. Overall the

The total salaries paid by the top 250 Surrey companies (leaving aside national insurance contributions by both parties) is £19.5biillion, compared to 17.9billion the year before. The average salary, minus National Insurance and pension contributions, is £44,943 - up by 3.5% over the year (for the previous period the rise was 2.2%). At the top end, Director’s salaries are often under close scrutiny, but the CEO of Compass Group for instance had a remuneration of £2,334,000, a reduction of 8.8% over the year, whilst being responsible for a business which made a 4.9% increase in pre-tax profits to £958 million and which contributed a not inconsiderable £273 million in corporation tax to the public purse. Perhaps not surprisingly, the highest average salary in the county is at Fulham Football Club, which has its administrative offices at New Malden. Although the glittering salaries of their Premier League players are tempered in the averages by the myriad of support staff, the average salary was still £220,743 - a 12.9% increase.

The increased growth in local business has also been of benefit to local charities. Charitable and community donations – be it money, time, or product – by the top 250 companies in Surrey totalled £36.4million, an increase of 7.4%. But for the second year running, the lion’s share was provided by just two companies. Mondi plc of Addlestone gave £14.5m (an increase of 37%), whilst Compass Group, gave £5.9million, up £100,000.

figures suggest a very healthy pattern of growth and development, with Surrey showing it is continuing to be an economic powerhouse region, helping to strengthen and extend the UK economy as a whole. At ramsac we have found that there is plenty of business for companies that offer the right products and services at the right price and even though many organisations are perhaps more careful about how they spend their money, there is still a keen demand in the economy.”

At an individual level, there has also been some impressive performances by Surrey businesses. The county’s largest employer, Compass Group plc, increased staff numbers by 10% and now has 471,000 staff across the world, all run and administered from its Chertsey headquarters. To put that figure into context, the last census revealed that Surrey in total has about 560,000 people who are classified as able to work.

Naturally this growth also means benefits for suppliers and

Wates construction and development group, located in Leatherhead, was the largest independent company charities donor, giving £2.6million, an increase of 24%. The average total donation by a Surrey Top 250 company is £145,600, (but if the top two donators are factored out of the equation, the average drops to £60,000). The biggest increase came from chemical distributors SGI Group of Woking, who increased donations from £144 to £10,000. Steljes, the interactive whiteboard provider based at Bagshot, increased from £200 to £10,600, with a special mention to Esher-based civil engineering group Keltbray who still donated £143,105 - even though that sum would have halved trading losses for the year. The biggest donor in terms of charitable giving as a percentage of profit was the Book People Group (£234 thousand which represents 16.2%), but only 20% companies gave more than one per cent of pre-tax profit, with 0.1 or 0.2% being the norm.

organisations. Looking further afield, the total number of people employed by the top 250 companies in Surrey is 1,095,076, which is an increase of 3.5% over the year. The biggest increase Holdings which upped its numbers from 602 to 3056 staff in the last 12 months.

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Eikon is a Surrey based charity that has been working in the local community for almost two decades, providing long-term support to some of the county’s most vulnerable young people and their families (visit www.eikon.org.uk).

In 2013, the charity has a fantastic programme of exciting events lined up that you can be part of; this includes a limited number of exclusive places in RideLondon 100.

RideLondon 100 is set to be a cycling challenge like no other: On Sunday August 4th, 20,000 competitors will have the chance to compete in a 100mile race through the closed roads of London and the Surrey Hills, just hours before the world’s top cyclists complete the “RideLondon Classic”. Eikon is thrilled to have a very limited number of “Golden Bond” places to allocate to those who would like to fundraise for the charity. The initial registration fee is £50, followed by a minimum sponsorship target of £500.

Robert May concluded, “The results paint a very positive picture of the Surrey economy and we hope this trend will continue to grow, keeping the county at the forefront for the British economy.”

For more details on all ramsac services please visit www.ramsac.com or phone 0844 225 1600.

For more information contact Jessica Maybanks: jessica@eikon.org.uk or 01932 347 434.

in staff numbers in Surrey was at oil pipeline contractors Alkor

Surrey Hills Spectacular? It’s a classic …

Investec Wealth & Investment (IW&I) has announced plans to sponsor The Surrey Hills Music Festival 2013, a three day celebration of world class classical music which brings together illustrious professional musicians more usually only experienced in prestigious London venues, to intimate locations across the Surrey Hills.

If a 100km ride at a more leisurely pace is preferable, then check out Nightrider 2013. This well-established event will take place on Saturday 8th June. The route passes some of London’s most famous landmarks, including Tower Bridge, The City of London, Canary Wharf, Piccadilly Circus, The British Museum, The Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square to name but a few. And what makes this event more exciting is that it all takes place at night time! Registration fee is £39, with a minimum sponsorship target of £175.

providers of support services which equally rely upon large

NEWS & VIEWS

Set in three locations over the May Bank Holiday weekend, the 2-4 May 2013, the event gets off to a spirited start on Thursday at Denbies Wine Estate with Philip Achille, the multi award winning virtuoso harmonica player performing with festival director, Tessa Marchington on piano. Employing both classical and jazz styles and accompanied by double bass and saxophone, the set will include everything from Bach to Brubeck.

The Holy Trinity Church, Guildford is the setting for Friday night’s performance of Quartet for the End of Time by Olivier Messiaen. Michael Collins, the world famous clarinettist will play this rare and fascinating piece accompanied by the internationally celebrated Sitkovektsy Trio comprising Wu Qian on piano, Leonard Elshenbroich on cello and Alexander Sitkovetsky on violin.

A dazzling finale awaits festival goers on Saturday at St Teresa’s School, Effingham.

Sarah Connelly CBE, the internationally acclaimed mezzo soprano and recent star of the Royal Opera House who has been described by her peers as “unrivalled, simply the best, most exciting, most galvanising performer we have today”, will perform alongside the London Mozart Players and the Russian violinist, Alexander Sitkovetsky. The evening will include music from Mendelssohn Overture, Violin Concerto, Aria from Mozart’s opera Clemenza di Tito, and Mozart’s Symphony 35 conducted by Gergely Madaras, one of the most exciting young European conductors of his generation.

Tessa Marchington, festival director says “Classical music is enjoying a surge in popularity amongst a younger audience right now. The internet and social media have created a platform to showcase upcoming and emerging talent and as a result classical music is instantly accessible to a much wider audience, more so than ever before and it seems that the public is just loving it! The festival, now in its fourth year, is an opportunity for people to enjoy world class musicians without the inconvenience or expense of going into London. I would like to

encourage anyone who has not experienced the excitement of a live classical performance to come along to the festival, especially as for three days next May a whole mix of incredible talent will be on the doorstep in Surrey!

“The involvement of corporate sponsors such as Investec makes our task of attracting top quality artists to the festival that little bit easier. We would like to thank Investec for their continued support of the festival.”

According to David Richardson, divisional director (IW&I) “Investec is a keen supporter of the arts and to be able to play our part in helping to bring such eminent musicians to the Surrey Hills for the enjoyment of the local community is a great privilege. The festival director, Tessa Marchington and Wu Qian, artistic director have done a great job in attracting the finest musicians to the Surrey Hills for our benefit as the concert programming this year is outstanding. The festival deserves to be a great success and we are happy to lend our support.”

In the UK, IW&I is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). For more information on IW&I visit www.investecwin.co.uk or call 01483 304707.

Tickets for the festival range from £22-28 per performance with concessions priced at £11-14 and are available from 1 January from the Guildford Tourist Information Centre on 01483 444334 or from the website at www.surreyhillsmusicfestival.com

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BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

What’s your corporate PITA rating?

The Statutory Registers:

By Gordon Bromley, Surrey Academy Chairman

what are they and why are they important?

They are registers containing information about your company and, as the name implies, they are statutory meaning that it is an offence not to keep them!

Do you know where your registers are? If so, are they up to date? These are two important questions that you, as a director or a company secretary, should be asking yourself.

If the registers are not kept at the company’s registered office address, an officer of the company should file a SAIL form at Companies House detailing the address of the alternative location.

As we enter another new year I’m sure you have your business goals clearly defined but to start 2013 I’d like to challenge you to a different kind of personal leadership evaluation by taking the PITA test below.

CEOs have enormous power and authority within their organisation but let’s be honest, this success can go to your head and make you dangerously detached from those around you at work – very few of whom will point this out to you!

See if you can spot any of these warning signs in your own modus operandi.

1. Are you often late for meetings without apology or cancel at the last minute?

2. Do you fail to read briefing papers before meetings yet expect staff to be prepared?

3. At networking events do you (obviously) search for a more important person in the room?

4. Do you hurry to finish conversations?

And then fail to deliver on your promises?

5. Do you pretend you’re listening and zone out?

6. Are you impossible to reach? Are you slow to reply to messages?

7. Do you ask your PA to answer your emails on your behalf?

8. Did you leave the Christmas party as early as you could get away with?

9. Do you obsess about your image and profile?

10. Do you treat your partner’s wishes like a business deal?

11. Do you love the sound of your own voice?

12. Have you got (or reinstated) directors parking spaces at the front of the building?

If you’ve answered yes (or even maybe!) to four or more of these consider at least the possibility that you’re already on your way to becoming a Pain in the A***?

For more information about joining an Academy for Chief Executives group in Surrey contact Gordon Bromley at gordon.bromley@chiefexecutive.com or call him on 07802 461431

10 theChamber

Once you know where your registers are, take a look at them and check that they are up to date.

What registers are statutory?

The Companies Act 2006 requires the following registers to be maintained for each company: • Members (shareholders) • Directors • Directors’ Residential Addresses (new requirement) • Secretaries (even if you don’t have one) • Charges It is interesting to note that rather than the issue of a share certificate, it is the entry in the register of members that constitutes the holder as the legal owner of those shares and allows them to exercise the rights attached to those shares.

Other registers are often kept but are not a statutory requirement, however if they are kept they must contain certain information.

Who can look at your Statutory Registers?

• Your shareholders (copy provided on payment of a prescribed fee) • The general public (on payment of a prescribed fee) • Banker/Investors who may want to review prior to providing additional funding • Lawyers/professional advisors Your shareholders and the general public can make a request to the company for sight of the registers and any request must contain certain prescribed information. On receipt of any request, a company has five days in which to either comply or seek a court order allowing it to refuse the request.

SO ARE YOU COMPLIANT? If you are unsure and want further advice, or if you want assistance in creating or updating your registers, please do not hesitate to contact Michelle Lamberth of Herrington & Carmichael LLP on 0118 989 9706 or michelle.lamberth@herrington-carmichael.com.

Bidatask In a world of multi platforms enticing you to connect with the business world, the variety that you’re faced with can be overwhelming, confusing and leave many of you asking who is best? Who will your audience listen to? Who can you trust?

What is the point!?

Bidatask understands how this can prove to be a frustrating and a difficult decision to make. So we have created the one B2B portal that you can rely on to manage all your business needs, with unique features that enable you to create and maintain professional contacts and develop your business relationships, the portal also gives you the opportunity to promote your business, find new projects, products, look for new staff and invite trusted suppliers among many other innovative tools. Constantly progressing alongside your business to ensure you have all the support you need. It’s easy, effective and all in one place.

Bidatask recognize, the need for trust between businesses and value for your money means more than ever right now, this is why we promise to provide you with a stable, trusted platform for you to work with.

Sign up for free today www.bidatask.com and start looking for that vital new connection.

Just Electronics - Just Ask! If you need electronic products manufactured or repaired, then Just Electronics is here to help.

We try to repair most types of out-of-warranty electronic goods, and are completely independent, so we can give unbiased advice but have access to a very wide range of spare parts.

We can build circuit boards and complete products from your own specifications, make prototypes from limited information, and offer a design service as well, to help you turn your idea into a real-life product.

Just Electronics are based in Wallington, and started in the middle of 2009, as the recession started to take hold. Thanks to our increasing number of customers and the wide range of products we make and repair, we have grown from year to year.

We have invested in more staff and equipment to keep up with demand, but we pride ourselves on always treating our customers with a personal touch.

Telephone: 020 8241 6959 Email: info@justelex.com Website: www.justelex.com

theChamber 11

LEISURE & CORPORATE HOSPITALITY

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Technology Tip: Next Year’s IT Budget Tony Richards, Director, Computer Strategies

What steps are Surrey businesses taking to retain key customers in the New Year?

Major retrospective of Guildford-trained sculptor Elizabeth Frink

The pirates are coming!

At the beginning of 2012 youbecome® partnered with the Surrey Chambers of Commerce to conduct a research project which looked to understand how well Surrey businesses were managing their people through tough economic times. The results of this ground breaking research are starting to take shape. Participating organisations are seeing the benefits of

In the current financial climate companies need to radically review and prioritise each year’s IT spend. Should they replace those ailing PCs? Should they upgrade their office software? Perhaps their server is looking old? Or that tape drive is becoming less reliable? These are just several of the common day to day issues that companies face.

understanding the confidence and morale of their staff. As part including a benchmark score compared to other organisations in the project. The free analysis also looked at the effectiveness

Where do you start in addressing these issues?

of their management team as well as training and performance

The following guidelines may help you.

management among other things.

1

Ensure you are storing your data on a reliable server(s) The trading and economic outlook for 2013 remains bleak, and

2

Make sure you are achieving reliable backups, copies are being stored offsite and you have sufficient backups going back far enough to satisfy your business needs.

Ensure that you regularly prove out recovery from this backup media.

These two steps will ensure that you have a reliable platform from which to operate.

Pirate Island Adventure Golf, an innovative and fun concept designed to encourage families to enjoy the sport, will open on Saturday 22nd December 2012 at Hoebridge Golf Centre, Woking.

of the project, participants received a confidential analysis

Elisabeth Frink, Eagle Lectern, 1962 © The Elisabeth Frink Estate

Dame Elisabeth Frink RA (1930 – 1993) will be the subject of a major retrospective

so youbecome® will also be working with Surrey Chambers to

exhibition at The Lightbox gallery and museum in Woking, Surrey from 19 February

research how effective Surrey businesses are at retaining their

until 21 April 2013. Bringing together many of the artist’s most important works with

customers - a direct impact on profitability. In fact ‘the ROI is up

photography, correspondence and personal items from The Frink Estate – a number of

to 10 times higher for investments in customer retention than for the acquisition of new customers’ according to recent US

which have never previously been on public display – the exhibition will explore how

After that we recommend looking at the business applications that you currently run.

research. Yet, most companies are busy chasing new business,

Frink became “one of the most profound sculptors of human condition in post-war

often neglecting their most valuable asset – existing customers!

Britain” (Elspeth Moncrieff).

1

youbecome has developed a customer retention programme

2

Are they running reliably? Are the PCs they run on dependable?

Do they satisfy your current business needs?

The business applications you currently run are core to your business. Upgrading these can be expensive, but it is normally far easier to justify.

By implementing the above changes you will optimise your current IT investment.

There are many other areas to consider – New business software, networking software, email software virus protection, internet connectivity, including internet backup connections etc etc. Professional advice is recommended in helping you make these decisions.

Your data is the key IT component of any company. We are often asked by companies to help them recover old emails and deleted files. With so much data on your systems there is a constant need to have ready access to this information.

If you have experienced any such problems we would be pleased to tell you about the products and services that can help you take full control of your data.

Tel: 01483 238260 or visit www.computerstrategies.co.uk

®

that will provide Surrey members with the tools and support to improve customer retention rates and protect existing revenue

Elisabeth Frink began her artistic career by studying at the former Guildford School of Art

streams. This ensures valued customers and subscribers don’t

and it was during this time in Guildford that she discovered her talent for sculpture. By

leave for the competition.

the age of 22, Frink had completed Chelsea College of Art, hosted her first exhibit with Beaux Art Gallery, and sold a bird sculpture to Tate. This early sign of great talent led to

In 2013, as a valued partner of the Surrey Chambers of

a long and impressive career which included being elected as a Royal Academician in

Commerce, youbecome® is committed to supporting the membership and help provide each willing research participant with the key information they need to retain their most valued

1977, being awarded Dame of the British Empire in 1982, and creating a large and

Mike O’Connell, Senior General Manager of Hoebridge Golf Centre, commented: “We are keen to encourage more people to enjoy the healthy benefits of the sport and our exciting Pirate Island Adventure Golf attraction offers the perfect opportunity in a fun and safe environment.”

“We want to introduce more young people to golf, although Pirate Island Adventure Golf is an activity that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, including work colleagues looking to arrange a spot of team-building.”

greatly admired portfolio of sculpture. www.hoebridgegc.co.uk www.pirateislandgolf.co.uk/woking

customers and identify problems before it is too late. Let’s shake off the negative news and help make 2013 a memorable year for

Pirate Island Adventure Golf, designed to appeal to all ages, is based around mini golf with players requiring only a putter to navigate their ball around an 18-hole theme-park course festooned with obstacles. Features on the floodlit and wheelchair-friendly theme park includes waterfalls, shallow lakes and streams with islands, rafts, treasure chests, cannons, decorative crocodiles, parrots and swords, and various species of plants adding to the swashbuckling landscape.

‘Elisabeth Frink: A Retrospective’ will be the first retrospective of Frink’s work for over

Surrey businesses!

25 years. It will draw on works from The Ingram Collection of Modern British Art – About the author: Mike Turner is the MD of youbecome® mturner@youbecome.com 01932 888 489 www.youbecome.com

one of the largest privately-owned, publicly accessible collections of Modern British Art in the UK, which is on loan to The Lightbox - along with objects from Tate, Elisabeth Frink Estate and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The exhibition is supported by The Henry Moore Foundation.

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theChamber 13

NEW YEAR NEW HORIZONS

NEW YEAR NEW HORIZONS

Why use social media as part of job search?

New Year, New Career

by Graham Liddicoat, Career Consultant, Margaret Martin Associates Limited

Created in 2004 as a college project the Facebook website has seen phenomenal growth over the past 8 years. Just 2 years ago there were 500million active users registered on the site.

This has mushroomed to 900million in July 2012. The floatation of Facebook in May last valued the company at £66bn.

So what is it about Facebook particularly and social media in general that makes it so attractive to users and investors? Put simply, social media has transformed the way hundreds of millions of people around the world communicate and network. It is also transforming the way companies and institutions advertise to their current and potential new customers.

Using social media as part of job search Networking has always been a vital element of any successful job search and never more so than in today’s challenging employment market. Increasingly recruiters are making use of social media (a term which covers networking sites, like Facebook and LinkedIn and other online communities, such as Twitter and YouTube) as a recruitment tool. For the job seeker the prospect of being able to network with so many people is an opportunity that should not be missed.

With employers and recruiters increasingly using social media in recruitment, Jobvite, a leading USA online recruiting software platform, published the results of their fifth annual ‘Social Recruiting’ survey of 1,000 recruiters recently and concluded that: • Social recruiting had become an integral part of the recruitment process, with 92% of US companies using social networks to find talent in 2012, up from 78% five years ago.

• 66% of companies now use Facebook for recruiting, up from 55% the previous year.

• 54% used Twitter as part of the search and selection process.

• LinkedIn remains the foremost networking site however, used by 93% compared to 87% in 2011.

• 75% of companies check social profiles and activity.

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• 80% of respondents reacted positively to seeing membership of professional organizations.

These findings illustrate just how important social media is becoming for both recruiters and job seekers alike. For the job seeker the findings also indicate how crucial it is to maintain an up-to-date social profile and present a professional image, both to the world at large and potential employers.

Whilst social media is an excellent medium for broadcasting messages concerning current status, networking and submitting CVs and applications it should be borne in mind by job seekers that it is also a valuable format for sharing experiences and contributing to the wider community. Using social media in this way establishes a professional presence that will extend far beyond an individual’s personal network.

Here are 4 ideas on how a person can use social media to raise their personal profile: • First, take up blogging to share their knowledge and experience with the community. This will establish their identity and be much more effective at promoting them than just a static Facebook or LinkedIn ‘profile’.

• Set aside time each day to become active within online forums and groups by providing information and knowledge on their specialist subject(s). Seek out and engage in discussions within their profession and share their expertise.

• When it comes to sharing information some people prefer a visual format to the written one, so, they should consider making a video of themselves talking about their knowledge and professional experiences. Then upload highlights to YouTube (www.youtube.com) and recommend it to others within their network.

• Finally, when corresponding with prospective employers, job seekers can optimise visibility of their personal profile by incorporating, as part of their e-mail signature, links to the various social media that they are using.

By utilizing social media in this way the job seeker will be viewed as someone with knowledge and expertise; two of the most valuable commodities for any employer.

MMA social networking support Recognising the needs for online support facilities that included social networking tools Margaret Martin Associates Limited (MMA) commissioned Insala Technology in 2009 to develop a web-based career management system for use by our clients.

Launched in 2010 Focus4Change (F4C) provides a complete resource for our clients to manage their own career transition campaign and includes such networking tools as: • People Directory – browse the directory to find others interested in networking • Networking Forum – organised by geographic region, users can read and post messages and questions for others while gaining networking contacts • My LinkedIn Network – this tool provides users with the ability to network with others using the world’s largest professional online networking platform, LinkedIn. Further information and advice on the support services available by MMA can be obtained from margaret@mmartin-associates.co.uk or www.mmartin-associates.co.uk

There is something strange going on in the UK employment market. Employment has never been higher, but economic growth is negligible and productivity is falling.

Economists at the ONS (Office of National Statistics) are scratching their heads, trying to work out what is going on…

Maybe they need to take a look at what is going on in the every day lives of people trying to make ends meet in tougher economic times. As companies, large and small make cut backs, ambitious professionals are taking their lives into their own hands and becoming self-employed.

There is a demand for flexibility from all age groups thanks to several factors, a main one being technology. But desire for a better work life balance for those with families or those heading towards retirement is making people look at work in a different way.

So, if you are attracted to greater flexibility - what are the options? They include working part-time, job sharing, operating as a contractor, working from home. You could also….

Become an interim – traditionally interims are board level and have extensive experience. They are often called in for turnaround situations or to fill a management gap. They command impressive day rates and work on a fixed term contract.

Invest your experience in a start–up – if you are able to work for love rather than money, early stage companies would appreciate your skills and the challenge is sure to be extremely satisfying, but remuneration may be by way of equity or a Non-Executive Directorship.

Become a self-employed consultant – this is becoming popular with many ambitious corporate employees, who already provide specific skills to their company’s clients but think that they would do better selling directly.

There are as many options as there are New Year resolutions. The question is: how to fulfill our goals of more exercise, more family time and so on? If you believe that one good thing can lead to another, then perhaps flexibility is the answer and should therefore be the main resolution we embrace this New Year. www.workpond.co.uk is an online marketplace, helping companies source experienced professionals on an interim, part-time or consultancy basis.

For further information, contact sara.acworth@workpond.co.uk or call Sara Acworth on 07887 592248

theChamber 15

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Understanding finance will help you weather the harsh economic climate As the dark nights draw in it seems as though the economic winter might never end.

The headlines of the day show austerity across the globe. The U.K. economy seems to be buffeted by continuing difficulties while the man in the street feels uncertain about job security and erosion of the value of the pound in his pocket. Icy blasts blow in from around the globe; strikes across Europe as the Eurozone slumps, Obama’s back in The White House but his hands are tied, and even the new leaders in China are likely to pursue a different growth path. How can you insulate your business from these shocks? When top-line growth may be elusive what else can drive your business?

When you have tough decisions to take, how confident are you in the information you base these decisions on?

In order to meet these challenges you will have to draw on all your resources as decision makers and one of the crucial qualities needed will be an understanding of the key drivers of your business. Feeling comfortable with the key financial and accounting indicators may be essential to survival and sustained growth. Surrey Business School aims to demystify these key issues through an intensive 5 day programme ‘Accounting and Financial Management for Decision Makers’. The emphasis is firmly placed on practical application and features a combination of presentations, case studies and group work; developing the skills to apply directly into your workplace. Topics fall under three broad headings; Financial Accounting, Management Accounting and Finance.

The programme includes interpretation of the profit and loss account, the balance sheet, cash flow statement, break-even analysis, budgeting and financial ratio analysis, followed by investment analysis, company valuation and financial risk management.

Programme leader Dr. Andrew Mason, a former investment manager and analyst, made the following comments: “Although times are tough this may be just the time to invest in yourself and your business.

Many of the best investments are made at the toughest time…It’s important to understand these indicators as a source of information for decisions making- that’s why our focus is on interpretation of key figures not preparation of accounts…

Our aim is to build decision makers’ confidence by equipping them with the right tools to grasp the key issues”.

‘Accounting and Financial Management for Decision Makers’ takes place at Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, Monday 8th April – Friday 12th April 2013.

For details, visit www.surrey.ac.uk/financeforexecs or contact Dr Andrew Mason andrew.mason@surrey.ac.uk 01483 683 093

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Nescot Higher IT Apprentice highly commended at London awards Nescot IT apprentice Chris Doherty came close to winning one of the top awards at The National Apprenticeship & Training London Regional Awards, held at City Hall on the 25th September. Chris was highly commended in the Higher Apprentice of the Year category and was narrowly beaten to the top award by BT apprentice, James Mellor.

Vic Grimes, National Apprenticeship Divisional Director for London and the South East, said: “This year’s awards were a terrific showcase of the outstanding wealth of talent that we have across London. Given the volume and high calibre of entries we received, I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Chris Doherty for this superb achievement. They are a testament to the many benefits apprenticeships bring to businesses, allowing employers to tap into new raw talent, up-skill their staff and grow.”

Employed by AVIS Software, a software development house based in Sutton, Chris is involved in consulting with clients to design, develop, test and implement new software. He has grown the company’s web based work from zero to around 20% of the business.

Chris believes his apprenticeship has given him the experience employers look for. His long term goal is to complete a Masters Degree with the ambition to one day develop defence software for the Government. “It was an honour and a privilege to be selected for the shortlist final in the Regional Apprenticeship Awards. Nescot College and my employer gave me tremendous support throughout the application process and I was extremely proud to represent them that evening,” said Chris.

Neighbour Training enjoy the apprenticeship journey At Neighbour Training we pull out all the stops to ensure that both employers and learners benefit from the apprenticeship journey.

Don’t just take our word for it read what they have to say: “Achieving their apprenticeships gave our staff confidence, especially when young (estate) agents were dealing with mature clients. It focussed them on the responsibilities of the job role and helped them to believe in themselves” - Goodfellows “I would like to express how happy I was with the service that Diana & Lynne provided, if ever I felt confused or required assistance they were always swift and helpful in aiding me. Many of the staff in the office commented on how great they were to talk to and how well they got on with everyone. I could not have asked for a more easy to understand and organised method of learning” - Level 3 Apprentice We are good at what we do and we enjoy doing it so if you want to benefit from our funded Apprenticeship Training, either as an employer or learner, talk to us on 01737 842286 or look at our website on www.neighbour-training.co.uk. We look forward to discussing your training requirements.

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theChamber 17

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Which do you put first - People or Profits?

“Any company that choses one or the other is in danger of losing both. Every business has to keep a steely eye on the bottom line and if your people are disengaged from their work, not loyal to your organisation and not focused on customer satisfaction, the negative effect they’ll have on your profits can’t be underestimated.

Failing to invest in leadership development costs UK companies millions; our research suggests that for every year a company delays investing in leadership development, it costs that organisation a sum equal to 7% of its total annual sales.

We can help you invest in your people to maximise your profits, whether you’re a small business or a multi-national, and whether you want in-company training or to use our training centre in Guildford.

Take the first step to creating an energised, productive and profitable workplace. Experience our leadership journey.”

Jim O’Brien, Managing Director, The Ken Blanchard Companies UK

LEGAL & FINANCIAL A Guide to Finance for SMEs

Progression in recession: why training is still vital to success

Monitoring and managing your profit and loss

By Andy Lee, Area Director for Lloyds TSB Commercial in West Sussex and Surrey

With economic conditions remaining tough for many small businesses across Surrey, it is particularly important that firms fully understand where they are making the best return and incurring the highest costs.

All of us are to some degree affected by the current economic climate. Irrespective of whether you are managing a team, a department or an organisation, you will be under severe pressure to do more with less, while at the same time trying to maintain employee motivation and focus.

Typically, during a recession organisations will look to cut overheads. This often results in a demoralised workforce where staff are not replaced, workloads increase with the danger that they feel undervalued and leave once the economy begins to recover.

Attracting and retaining talented and highly skilled staff is fundamental for competitive industries. Investment in the development of your staff will ensure your organisation can cope with current challenges and is ready to capitalise on the upturn when it comes.

An important part of this process is maintaining a profit and loss (P&L) account. Not only will this help you keep a grip of the activities that produce the best return, but it will also form an important part of any application you may make for a loan or other form or finance.

You should never underestimate the importance of keeping key members of your support network, including your bank, fully updated on the status of your business. A relationship based on transparency and understanding means you will be in a better position to secure funding when you need it.

discounts or allowances. Deducting cost of sales provides your gross profit.

Expenses and other ‘fixed’ costs are then deducted to identify your operating profit.

You then add in any other income (for example, from machinery sales or rent from tenants in your office space) to give you your profit before tax.

Take the tax away from profit before tax and you have your net profit or loss. It would be usual to express this as a percentage of turnover – i.e. the net profit ratio.

Keeping your P&L budget It could be that you choose to use accounting software, such as Sage, to create your P&L account.

Also take a look at breakeven – that is the level of turnover necessary to cover fixed costs. It is calculated by dividing the total fixed costs by the difference between the product’s average sale price and unit cost (gross profit).

The key elements are then to track turnover (gross income) net of any

Using your P&L to raise finance Showing the profitability of your business

in a clear and concise way will stand you in good stead to raise any finance you may need.

The bank will also look to see more formal accounting records – dependent on turnover this may mean audited or confirmed accounts prepared by a qualified accountant. A cashflow and profit forecast will also be needed to show past, present and future business performance and allows an informed discussion around your financing request. A solid professional presentation will also stand any business in good stead.

At Lloyds TSB Commercial, we can provide a range of products to help your business grow. To find out more, please contact Simon Hodge on 07725 068881 or simon.hodge@lloydstsb.co.uk All lending is subject to a satisfactory credit assessment Lloyds TSB Commercial is a trading name of Lloyds TSB Bank plc and Lloyds TSB Scotland plc and serves customers with an annual turnover of up to £15M.

Anne-Marie Dunn is a Management Training Consultant, with over 35 years in the sector. “In my experience in industry, successful businesses have one thing in common. They recognise that the true quality of a business is defined by how it develops its people. Good leaders have a responsibility to help people understand, develop and fulfil their own individual potential. The real value for the business is that successful businesses build their opportunities for growth through growing their staff. It’s a ‘Win Win’ formula”.

Services to Business, part of Guildford College Group, can work with you, in identifying skills gaps within your organisation and provide flexible training solutions to meet your needs. With a large network of industry-experienced trainers, we can provide training across a broad range of sectors, targeted to meet particular requirements and situations. Solutions include: • Short courses to meet mandatory workforce regulations • Specific training designed to solve current business issues • Leadership & Management programmes, from one day to Accredited courses such as ILM and PRINCE2® Project Management • Apprenticeship programmes for new or existing employees looking to enhance their skills.

To find out more about the range of support we can offer visit servicestobusiness.net or contact a member of our team on 01483 448530.

PRINCE2® is the registered trademark of the Cabinet Office

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LEGAL & FINANCIAL

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

LEGAL & FINANCIAL

Debt Recovery

RBS - Supporting local businesses

Costs Benefit Analysis

When it comes down to it, any decision a business takes will require a cost benefit analysis to be undertaken. Taking debt recovery action is no different. Therefore, it is important to understand the amount of effort you need to take, both in terms of financial resources and time spent, in order to make an informed decision as to what debt recovery action is in the best interests of your business. In doing so you should ask yourself the following questions:

Q.How much time will I spend?

The amount of time you spend on recovery of your debts is really up to you. The actual time to make a telephone call once a fortnight to those individuals who have not paid your bill is quite small and if it encourages prompt payment, it is time well spent.

If you choose to initiate legal proceedings the amount of time spent will largely depend on the response of the debtor and whether or not you appoint legal representatives to act for you.

If the debtor does not defend the claim and you have appointed lawyers to act for you, then your input in terms of time should be fairly low providing you have documentary evidence of the contract that was entered and the amount of the debt outstanding.

However, if your debtor disputes that the money is due and defends the court claim then, even if you have solicitors appointed, you will be expected to be much more involved as you will need to prepare a witness statement and attend court for the final hearing. Whether this is proportionate will depend on the size of the debt that you are pursuing and whether you have capacity to spend time on legal proceedings. Therefore, if a defence to your claim is received you will need to do a further cost benefit analysis at that time to ensure that you are still acting in the best interests of your business.

Q.How much will I have to pay out?

The cost of debt recovery will vary considerably depending on what action you take. If your debt recovery protocol is limited to making phone calls and sending reminder letters, then the actual outlay will be minimal albeit you should review the value of the time you are spending. If you choose to appoint a solicitor to send a letter chasing payment then their costs will vary

depending on who you appoint but you can expect to pay a relatively small amount for this initial letter. For example at Herrington & Carmichael LLP we charge £20 + VAT per debtor for the initial chasing letter under our undefended debt recovery scheme.

If the debtor still does not pay, the cost of issuing proceedings will depend on the size of the debt. For example an unpaid debt of between £3,000 and £5,000 will require you to pay a court fee of £120 at the time of issue. If you appoint solicitors to prepare the court papers they will be able to give you a quote for this work. By way of guidance Herrington & Carmichael LLP’s costs for preparing court papers for a debt of £4,000 (which is not disputed) will be £102 which is the fixed costs that can be recovered from the debtor. Obviously if the debtor disputes the money that is due your costs will increase significantly as there will be further court fees and if you have legal representatives their costs will also increase.

We can also provide an extensive suite of products and services by working with colleagues across The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Our joined up approach with customers enables us to tailor value added, bespoke solutions which really address each customer’s financial and business needs.

In the current climate, a bank that understands your business can make all the difference, and that’s why we make sure that relationships and knowledge are the foundation for everything we do.

Customers are at the heart of our business and we recognise that we must invest time, effort and resource in ensuring that we deliver a proposition which goes beyond expectations.

Our commercial acumen and financial awareness is a strong combination and enables us to forge a close working partnership with our customers. This allows us to provide much more than simply financial facilities but also to act as a trusted business partner who can help businesses identify new opportunities and future growth areas.

Our team of dedicated relationship managers work across the whole of the South East serving customers with a turnover of £250K and above, working alongside SMEs and mid-corporate businesses. The team are committed to providing the very best level of service to

understand customers’ business plans.

This level of support is also complemented by specialist sector teams who can add value for customers operating in many niche fields from professionals, real estate, healthcare, leisure, acquisition finance and franchise.

We are currently providing £100 million loans a day to UK SMEs, at a rate of 5,000 businesses a week. Customers are at the heart of the RBS proposition, along with the promise to make banking simple and enable customers to concentrate on what they do best - the running of their business.

For more information please contact: Tony Eden BA (Hons) Director, Surrey & Sussex Royal Bank of Scotland Phone: 07780 595857 Email: tony.eden@rbs.co.uk Security may be required. Product fees may apply.

Over 18s only.

ANY PROPERTY USED AS SECURITY, WHICH MAY INCLUDE YOUR HOME, MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON A MORTGAGE OR OTHER DEBT SECURED ON IT

Q.What are my prospects of success?

The first thing is to check that the debt is due. There is no point chasing someone if your contract provides a specific time for payment that this has not yet passed. Furthermore, if you know that the debtor was not happy with the goods or services that you provided and they complained from the outset, your chances of recovery might be reduced. Also, if your debtor is a limited company and you have heard that they are in administration then you are unlikely to recover the debt in full. These factors will influence your decision on what action to take. However, if your debtor has not disputed the debt and they are just delaying payment to improve their cash flow then there is merit in taking further action to recover the money due.

It is important to undertake this analysis when reviewing the debts due to your business in order to ensure that you are taking the best possible course of action. You should also regularly reassess the situation as circumstances change.

Herrington & Carmichael’s Dispute Resolution Team offer a free cost benefit analysis for businesses that have a dispute and want some advice as to whether there is merit in pursing the matter. If you want further information this analysis or their debt recovery service which starts from just £20 plus VAT, please contact Jill Robinson on 01276 686222 or drteam@herringtoncarmichael.com.

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LEGAL & FINANCIAL

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Full maternity leave for fathers

Thousands of businesses to get records checked by HMRC

Employment lawyer, Sophie Pelham, outlines the recent radical shake up of family leave legislation.

HMRC re-launches its programme of business record checks by writing to SMEs regarding record keeping for VAT, PAYE, NIC, corporation tax and other taxes.

Currently fathers are able to take up to 2 weeks ordinary paternity leave when the baby is born and then additional paternity leave of up to 26 weeks provided the mother has returned to work from maternity leave. If eligible, the father will also receive statutory paternity pay for these periods.

Last year, the Government announced a new system that will be introduced in 2015 and which provided for a new 34 week period of shared parental leave, subject to an initial 18 week period that could only be taken by the mother.

It has been confirmed that the two week compulsory period of leave would be reserved for the mother but that the remainder of the parental leave can be shared. The parents will be able to stop and start the leave between them as they wish. Parents can take a total of up to 12 months, with 9 months of guaranteed statutory maternity/paternity pay. The new system of shared parental leave on a child’s birth will come into place in 2015.

Realistically the jury is still out on whether these changes will contribute significantly to creating a level playing field for men and women at work; men already have the right to take paternity leave to care for their new baby but very few do so.

This is an area of law in which lawyers receive many queries as the rules are complex. If you would like further information on how these changes will impact on your business please contact email sophie.pelham@morrlaw.com or call Sophie on 01737 854 500.

HMRC has stated that the re-launch will initially involve them writing to SMEs who they believe may be at risk of keeping inadequate records, advising them that they will be calling them to discuss their business records.

HMRC will be seeking confirmation that businesses are maintaining ‘accurate and adequate’ business records covering the full range of taxes. The SME’s response to this conversation will then enable HMRC to assess whether no further action is required, or the SME could benefit from tailored educational support, or if a visit is required to check their records.

“Inspectors will be looking at records relating to the current year.

In practical terms, HMRC will expect to see that a business is keeping full and accurate records of its invoices, receipts, petty cash, general expenses and so on,” warned Claire Perrett, corporate tax partner at Smith & Williamson in Guildford the accountancy and investment management group.

She continued: “If there are no problems with your records the HMRC officer will tell you on the visit and then confirm it in writing.

Surrey based SME Eurofinance continue to provide alternatives to bank funding SME Eurofinance continues to provide a funding resource to businesses to flourish in difficult economic times.

Graham Moorcraft, sales director confirms “Our core products revolve around asset based lending which means that we lend against any tangible assets including equipment, vehicles, property, outstanding invoices and stock. We will fund both new and second user assets and for companies looking for a capital injection we will look to release equity tied up in unencumbered equipment.”

As an independent finance company, SME Eurofinance has had to look further afield to obtain funding to support UK business and as well as institutional and pension funding has created bonds in the Far East. However Moorcraft states that; “With our own substantial funding we are able to consider funding most transactions that we see, but in order to give maximum support to businesses we work with a number of other finance houses, packaging transactions up to the most appropriate homes so that we can provide a onestop shop for a company’s total funding requirements”.

“In a nutshell our business is about monetizing assets – you don’t pay your staff 3 to 5 years in advance and the same goes for capital equipment where 100% of the cost can be spread over its useful economic working life. As retention of liquidity in SME business is one of the key factors in the current economic climate, external debt to bank funding is becoming more relevant as business strive to remain competitive.”

Virtually any asset can be financed including vehicles, production equipment, contractors plant, IT and software, furniture, catering equipment, fitness and leisure, CCTV/security, fixtures and fittings, vending machines, scientific equipment etc.

SME Eurofinance PLC 4 Mulgrave Chambers, 26-28 Mulgrave Road, Sutton, Surrey SM2 6LE. Tel: 020 8652 7666 www.smeeuro.com

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LEGAL & FINANCIAL If your records are inadequate you may have to pay a penalty, but HMRC will give you the opportunity to bring them up to an adequate standard. HMRC will arrange a follow up visit to check that you have made the necessary improvements.

If by the time of the follow-up you have improved your record keeping so that your records are adequate, HMRC will reduce the penalty to nil.

However if HMRC finds that your records have still not improved to an adequate standard, a penalty will apply. The penalty is usually £500 for the first offence. For businesses in their first year of trading the penalty will be £250.”

Tim fears that new businesses are more likely to be targeted by the authorities. He adds: “Business owners should take these warnings very seriously. If they don’t keep good records, they may be unable to substantiate tax returns and so would have difficulty in proving their figures are correct. They could therefore end up with an extra tax demand and even a fine.”

In December 2010, HMRC estimated that some 2 million SMEs were keeping inadequate tax records.

As a basic minimum, business people need to be organised and methodical in their record keeping. Smith & Williamson’s top five tips include: • Time: keep records going back at least six years.

• What to keep: invoices, bank statements, paying in books, details of purchases, expense details and so on.

• Personal vs. business: anyone who makes a claim for the use of assets which they use personally as well as for the business - a car being a typical example - must be scrupulous in allocating personal and business usage and have the necessary supporting paperwork to back up their claim.

• Be regular: keep on top of your expenses and record keeping. This will make it easier and more accurate. Also, HMRC is more likely to believe contemporaneous records.

• Avoid estimates: if you have to estimate an amount, make sure you can.

• Cash businesses in particular will need to ensure they are keeping adequate records. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/dealingwith/bus-record-checks.htm About the author: Claire Perrett, Partner, Corporate tax at Smith & Williamson in Guildford, the accountancy and investment management group claire.perrett@smith.williamson.co.uk 01483 407134 www.smith.williamson.co.uk

Your Perfect HR Partner With employment legislation changing regularly and, despite the efforts of the Coalition Government to “reduce red tape”, an intimidating amount of “hoops” to go through; employing people can seem like a daunting proposition to businesses of all sizes.

Implementing best practice will speak volumes about your business culture, increase staff morale and productivity whilst reducing the risk of employment difficulties.

LPA (HR) Ltd is the perfect HR partner for your business, whether you are a ‘start-up’, SME or large blue chip organisation. LPA provides HR support and solutions to businesses from all sectors; the directors and associates of LPA are CIPD and legally qualified, and have many years of commercial experience, their advice is therefore practical rather than theoretical.

Company Director David Plowman says: “I like to think we offer clients ‘cradle to grave’ solutions where employing people is concerned. We can advise on the initial recruiting and interviewing process, employment contracts and related issues. We can also help with ongoing appraisals and assessments and, if necessary, advise where a contract of employment needs to be terminated, either for disciplinary or capability reasons or due to redundancy.”

LPA can also provide bespoke training sessions for clients on a range of employment-related areas and these can be developed in conjunction with the client.

The aim of LPA is to provide a “user friendly” service to companies in order that managers can concentrate on running their business with the confidence that their most valuable asset, their employees, are being treated properly.

For more information please call 01737 270539 or visit www.lpaconsultancy.co.uk

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LEGAL & FINANCIAL

Does tribunal reveal HMRC’s new approach to tax collection?

A recent tax tribunal ruling could spell bad news for company directors who have established separate partnerships to minimise the tax on employment benefits such as company cars, Simon Massey Tax Partner at Menzies LLP suggests.

In a company, employees who have a company car are taxed on the benefit-in-kind of having it available for their private use. In a partnership, where the owners are the same legal entity as the business, they already “own” the vehicle so cannot receive a benefit in kind from using it and therefore no tax charge arises. It’s not uncommon for company directors to establish a partnership to provide services to their company and to take cars from the partnership rather than the company itself. As the cars are owned by the partnership the directors use them without attracting a taxable benefit in kind.

But all that may change following a recent tax tribunal ruling.

Two company directors established a partnership to provide services to their company and were provided with cars by the partnership. HMRC argued that, because the partnership had only one client (the company) and charged higher fees than would have been expected between two independent parties, the company was complicit in the provision of cars and fuel to the individuals. The tribunal found in HMRC’s favour and the directors were taxed on the benefit in kind from receiving cars and fuel.

The main issue in this case appears to have been the degree of control the company had over the partnership. For example, the tribunal considered the fact that the partnership did not have business with anyone other than the company, and that its fees were higher than would have been expected between parties acting at arm’s length.

Companies regularly establish subsidiary organisations, which can provide tax planning opportunities. These are not aggressive tax-reduction schemes – but also, they may not be structures that would exist on an independent commercial basis. So far this is only a single ruling, on a very specific set of circumstances. With HMRC under tremendous pressure to increase its tax take, we will be following the matter to establish if this is a one-off situation or an attempt by HMRC to look beyond business structures to commercial reality, which would impact on tax planning.

If you have any concerns or would like to discuss tax planning strategies with us, please contact Simon Massey on 01483 758923 or smassey@menzies.co.uk.

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HEALTHY WORKPLACE

HFS Milbourne outperforms industry benchmark

Making the right choices about Laser Eye Surgery

HFS Milbourne has released new figures which show that the company’s Strategic Portfolio Service (SPS) which helps clients maintain and grow investments in line with their attitude to risk, is outperforming its industry benchmark by an impressive 18%.

Centre for Sight’s Medical Director Sheraz Daya, the first surgeon to perform LASIK in the UK, provides 10 tips on how to choose the best for your eyes.

SPS was launched in November 08 and now has a full three year performance history to draw on. During the period from Nov 08 to Jul 12 clients with a medium attitude to risk and funds managed under SPS (equivalent to an insurance company’s managed fund) have enjoyed a significant return of 47.66% which compares very favourably to its industry benchmark of 29.57%.

Everyone knows someone who has had laser eye surgery and have been told how it has changed their lives. The procedure is now easily accessible in shopping malls and provided by commercial chains. “The procedure, while fantastic, is not that foolproof” says Sheraz Daya, Medical Director for Centre for Sight.

When assessed against some of the UK’s leading insurance companies, HFS Milbourne’s SPS also fares extremely well. For example managed funds from Standard Life, Scottish Widows and Friends Life generated returns of 41.78%, 39.73% and 38.72% respectively.

As part of the service, HFS Milbourne selects a range of investment options best suited to the client’s needs, based on financial goals and attitude to risk. The portfolio is automatically reviewed on a quarterly basis to ensure that funds under management are performing as expected. This process of continuous assessment ensures that the mix of investments and level of risk remain appropriate for the client and allow timely changes to be made where necessary.

“Our three year performance data speaks volumes about our investment management capabilities. Lawyers can rest assured that we are a ‘safe pair of hands.” Said Iain Halket, director at HFS Milbourne.

MR DAYA’S 10 TIPS WHEN CONSIDERING LASER EYE SURGERY: 1 Choose the correct surgeon, based on their reputation and your research. Ask your optician as to who they would trust with their eyes?

2 Your Surgeon is on GMC specialist register. Preferably your surgeon should have fellowship (specialised) training in Cornea and Refractive Surgery.

3 Your initial consultation is surgeon lead and preferably the one who is going to do your procedure. It’s very important that you get to know, like and trust your surgeon.

4

5

6

The surgeon and centre offers alternative procedures including lens implants and refractive lens exchanges. All too often centres that only provide one type of procedure are likely to push boundaries and try and do the same on everyone.

Your evaluation should include corneal mapping, Wavefront evaluations and dry eye testing.

Relax and take your time to think.

Have a cooling off period of at least 24 hours after your consultation. Read the

consent form in advance in case it generates any further questions.

7 Make sure the treating centre is world class and meets international standards including ISO 9001, 14000.

Making the effort to meet standards means they care.

8 Ensure the treating centre provides 24/7 medical care. This means that a doctor is available even if they are rarely required.

9 Avoid competitions, discounts and two for one offers. This distracts from what is most important – patient care.

Be careful, you may just get what you pay for.

10 Avoid low cost e.g. £395 per eye offers. These are misleading and an inducement to “bait and switch”.

Once hooked into the system, the sales force are well trained in keeping and influencing patients to undergo surgery.

For further information free phone 0800 011 2887 or email enquiries@centreforsight.com

“Clients receive our advice electronically together with our market commentary and updated fund fact sheet, with additional performance data available to view online. This seems to satisfy our clients’ needs perfectly and they appreciate the level of control such regular feedback provides.”

HFS Milbourne has funds under management under SPS of £91m, an increase of 20% over the year. “Some of the private banks have introduced new pricing structures as a way to cull less profitable clients, especially those with assets of less than £500k. Our SPS is of great interest to this type of client as they really appreciate the close eye we keep on their funds and the personal service we are able to provide them with.” Says Iain.

According to research company Touchstone, which collates new business data from respected industry sources, HFS Milbourne ranks number one in the Guildford area for financial advice and within the top fifty in the UK overall. “The Touchstone analysis is another measure of success which is well regarded within the industry. We have held the number one slot in the Guildford area for as long as I can remember and are naturally delighted to have made the UK top fifty too.”

Concludes Iain.

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HEALTHY WORKPLACE

Managing staff wellbeing shown to increase corporate performance

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

UK businesses losing out by

Nuffield Health Guildford Hospital are launching an Affinity programme for local corporates on the back of a major study showing that organisations that have structured investment in the health of their staff will see a positive improvement in the organisation’s performance.

Nuffield Health and Ashridge Business School’s recent report of current academic research revealed that FTSE 100 companies that report on employee health and wellbeing outperform those that don’t by 10 percent. The research identified six strategic “lenses”, or imperatives, which largely drive decisions about investment in employee wellbeing and which can and do contribute to the creation of a robust wellbeing strategy and environment.

These are: • productivity and absence control • the war for talent • sustaining high performers • wellbeing culture • compliance and risk management • cost of ill-health provision “We all know there is a great deal more to a wellbeing strategy than just discounted gym membership and free fruit,” said Jayne Cassidy, Hospital Director at the Nuffield Health Guildford Hospital, “To make it real the whole environment needs to support employee health and wellbeing. For example, there is little point in HR encouraging employees to use the on-site gym at lunchtime if the individual line manager regards it as disruptive to the working day. Or trying to encourage a healthier work-life balance when part of the organisation suffer from a long-hours culture. All that can lead to is stress-related illness, depression and even burn-out and be directly counter to what a wellbeing strategy sets out to achieve.”

The study highlighted the type of organisations that do it best - those that understand the bottom-line financial link between how employers treat their people and how those employees then deal with their customers. This helps obtain top level buy-in, which is critical when establishing the culture.

“Nuffield Health is a big advocate of healthy lifestyles and health prevention strategies, offered via through the different healthcare and lifestyle businesses we run. Here at the Hospital in Guildford we have focussed on creating a package of benefits for companies with over 50 members of staff, looking to enhance and improve the wellbeing and healthcare journey of their staff that can have a real impact on performance. We are inviting companies who provide private health insurance for their staff to take advantage of this free service on behalf of their staff, which is a bespoke offer created around the needs of each of our clients.”

For more information about Nuffield Health Guildford Hospital’s Affinity programme, please contact Virginia Cook on 01483 207274.

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trading only in English Several reports have been published emphasizing the fact that UK businesses are losing out on opportunities to grow their businesses in international markets. These reports seem to suggest a reluctance to actively trade in different foreign language markets and/or to appropriately customize and localize products to the languages and cultures of international markets due to an insistence on trading only in English.

In a survey of 1000 UK exporting SMEs conducted by the British Chambers of Commerce, it was found that three-quarters of exporters believed they had missed or lost export sales or revenue due to language deficiencies.

The same report concluded that there was a significant correlation between linguistic ability and export success.

In another report commissioned by the EU and conducted by CILT, the National Centre for languages, 2000 exporting SMEs were surveyed across 29 European states. Respondent businesses were asked whether they had employed external translators or interpreters for foreign trade. Exporters from the UK and Ireland represented the lowest percentages of firms which had utilised these services at 15 per cent, and 4 per cent respectively. This compared markedly with Austria’s 80 per cent, Belgium’s 57 per cent, France’s 24 per cent, Germany’s 74 per cent and Spain’s 52 per cent.

The respondents were also asked whether they had adapted their websites for foreign markets. Only 5 per cent of firms from Ireland and the UK had done so. The difference to other European countries was also stark. 75 per cent of businesses in Austria, 77 per cent of those in Belgium, 49 per cent in France, 74 per cent in Germany and 66 per cent in Spain had done so. The report concluded and quantified the average loss per European SME business over a three year period due to a lack of language competence as €325,000. It found that companies which made the effort to adapt their product communications to the language and culture of their target markets achieved on average 45 per cent more sales.

EVENTS

Spotlight on events These are the key events coming up in Surrey Chambers’ calendar in the next few months January:

February:

Chamber Connections – Epsom Breakfast Date: Tues 15 Jan Venue: The Royal box, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom, KT18 5LQ Price: Members £15.00 Non Members £30.00 Members Networking Evening Date: Tues 22 Jan Venue: The Holiday Inn, Portsmouth Road, KT6 5QQ Price: Members FREE Non Members £30.00 Business Women in Surrey – Networking at Pennyhill Park Date: Wed 23 Jan Venue: Pennyhill Park Hotel & Spa, London Road, Bagshot, GU19 5EU Price: Members £22.00 Non Members £40.00

Chamber Connections – Guildford Breakfast Date: Tues 5 Feb Venue: The Mandolay, London Road, Guildford, GU1 2AE Price: Members £15.00 Non Members £30.00 Meet the Media Date: Wed 6 Feb Venue: Fetcham Park House, Lower Road, Leatherhead, KT22 9HD Price: Members £20.00 Non Members £30.00 Chamber Connections – Elmbridge Breakfast Date: Thurs 7 Feb Venue: The Hilton, Seven Hills Road South, Cobham, KT11 1EW

Surrey Creative Media & IT Forum Date: Thurs 24 Jan Venue: University of Creative Arts, Faulkner Road, Farnham, GU9 7DS Price: Members £20.00 Non Members £30.00

Price: Members £15.00 Non Members £30.00 Surrey Construction & Property Forum Date: Fri 8 Feb Venue: The Holiday Inn, Victoria Way, Woking, GU21 8EW

It has been argued that the status of English is such that it has been adopted as the world’s lingua franca for communication in Olympic Sport, international trade, international politics and air traffic control. It has also been argued that unlike any other language past or present, English has spread to all five continents and has become a truly global language. Still, the reality is that only 6 per cent of the world’s population speak English as a first language and 75 per cent of the world’s population speak NO English.

Research conducted by Common Sense Advisory found that customers prefer for example to buy from websites in their own language even if the price is higher and similar research by IDC concluded that a website visitor is four times more likely to purchase a product or a service if it is presented in his/her native language.

The evidence is compelling and while this thesis will largely be supported by academic opinion on the subject and bespoke research conducted, it makes practical sense. As far as Willy Brandt, a former German Chancellor, is concerned, it’s really simple: “If I’m selling to you, I speak your language.

If I’m buying, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen.”

By Dr Nicholas Jones, Head of Sales and Marketing of STAR Group UK, a leading global translation service provider with their UK office based in Woking, Surrey.

Open 18 Hole Stableford Golf Competition Date: Wed 30 Jan Venue: Hankley Common Golf Club, Tilford, Farnham, GU10 2DD Price: Members £76.00 Non Members £85.00

Price: Members £22.00 Non Members £35.00 Open 18 Hole Stableford Competition followed by Lunch and Prizes Date: Wed 27 Feb

Chamber Connections – Betchworth Breakfast Date: Wed 30 Jan Venue: Hartsfield Manor, Sandy Lane, Betchworth, RH3 7AA Price: Members £15.00 Non Members £30.00 Chamber Connections – Working for Woking Breakfast Date: Thurs 31 Jan Venue: The Holiday Inn, Victoria Way, Woking, GU21 8EW Price: FREE for both members and non members

Venue: St George’s Hill Golf Club, Weybridge, KT13 0NL Price: Members £80.00 Non Members £90.00 Chamber Connections - Redhill Breakfast Date: Thurs 28 Feb Venue: Donyngs Leisure Centre, Linkfield Lane, Redhill, RH1 1DP Price: Members £15.00 Non Members £30.00

All prices are EXCLUSIVE of VAT. For all events visit www.surrey-chambers.co.uk

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