THE WORLD OF ZOOM CAME TO LIVERPOOL NETWORKING

Sarah-Louise McCartney Chairperson BITA Liverpool – Owner of SLMC-Consulting

As the world changed in March and we were not able to do our regular monthly networking in The Restaurant Bar and Grill, we decided to put on our first social networking on zoom. Who knew that 13 weeks later we would still be running them? Every Thursday at 11am our ever expanding group of existing and new members, along with some new faces, have been coming together to catch up and chat about business and personal experiences of the week; how we are feeling and how we can support each other. We’ve had guest speakers imparting learnings of lockdown, financial tips to make sense of the support available, health and safety guidance to name but a few. As you would expect from a BITA event, we have learnt, shared and laughed; one week we even ended with a sing a long! We’ve been described as a lovely welcoming group of people and as we come to the end of lockdown, this regular networking event is planned to continue, a fact which myself and the Liverpool board are really proud of. We really are people that know people that help people, and being able to reach connections, support and provide a platform for people to come together is truly at the heart of what we do.

Pam Moore of APT Consultancy Limited – R and D Tax Experts and our Executive Board

Pam has worked tirelessly throughout lockdown as businesses came to understand that lockdown was providing time to sort through information but also that in this time of increased financial uncertainty applying for an R & D claim was a great way to bring some much needed cash in to the business. Throughout the weekly calls we have heard from Pam about the values some people have gained by processing the claims and the speed at which cash was being generated – some within 4 weeks... We have also come up with a new tagline for Pam as she also works to support people to improve their health & nutrition and also lose weight through her work with the brand Isagenix and so each week we understand more about how we can ‘Gain Pounds and Loose Pounds’ with Pam.

BITA LIVERPOOL MEMBERS CONTINUE TO THRIVE

LCS Health and Safety Solutions Ltd

One of the guest speakers at our weekly event was Alexandra Warner of LCS Health and Safety Solutions Ltd, a new member to BITA that also went on to do one of our online sessions, part of the extended support BITA has given to members throughout lockdown.

Alex says, “What a scary, unknowing rollercoaster ride we have been on. On the first day of lockdown I will admit I cried, not for me, but for our clients, their people, business owners and all the people in our business network…

“As we knew from the initial trauma Covid-19 presented, additional new safety demands would further leave many businesses on the backfoot, asking can we ever recover?

“What has been truly wonderful is seeing people help each other, not just in business recovery, but on a personal level which has deepened relationships. I would like to thank the BITA community for the support I have received, which has helped me understand what options we could take internally at LCS, and given us a voice to share our expertise with others, to help them keep people safe and their businesses compliant.

Nationwide Management Services

The lockdown period saw Nationwide Management Services and James Battle, one of our newest board members for BITA Liverpool, go from strength to strength with their works in both site security and cleaning. As James says, “Covid19 has brought its challenges, but our business has provided an essential frontline keywork service to our clients in the construction industry. We have also been honoured to secure some of the nightingale emergency hospitals. Our NHS have been put to the test, so as a business we have been doing what we can to help by dropping off PPE supplies to NHS centres around Liverpool and visiting NHS sites unannounced with doughnuts and cakes for a small token of support (every little helps).

“We also have found time to add a training section to our website and hired new staff to improve the overall client journey. We have lofty goals for the back end of the year and if we take a leaf out of the NHS playbook nothing will stop us from achieving these goals in supporting our clients.”

Nettl Liverpool Waters

Whilst some have been busy throughout this period, Emma Sandison board member of BITA Liverpool and Studio Manager of Nettl Liverpool Waters, specialising in creating wonderful websites, print, signage and displays, found herself furloughed like many people. Emma, now glad to be back at work albeit from home says, “Although I have personally been away from work, the whole Nettl team have worked so hard to help our clients as much as possible. We developed essential products designed to help support businesses that continue to operate during this crisis from pdf info guides to face masks & social distancing markers and displays. We understood that this experience was one of a kind and we had to do our best to make sure we all got through it together. I am so pleased to be back in the fold and assisting my colleagues and clients as we start to open the world back up.”

Go Green Office Solutions

Shane Hanley from Go Green Office Solutions, an office furniture and fit out business based in Liverpool, has embraced the true values of both his own business and BITA. Go Green provided 100 free office chairs to workers that found themselves having to work from home, an offer particularly appreciated by those who had been working from a sofa or dining chair! Throughout lockdown they continued supporting home workers, delivering not just chairs but providing home office fit outs. They then moved on to support businesses in all sectors with their expanding range of PPE, some of which was provided for free to charities, including Marie Curie. Keeping busy throughout lockdown, the team have worked tirelessly to support other businesses whilst maintaining strict social distancing measures. In light of the enquiries for home office fitouts, and the more flexible working expected in the future, Go Green is preparing for growth, having added a new 3000 sq ft mezzanine floor, bought in new warehouse pallet racking and expanded their team.

JA Flooring

A welcome source of support and information throughout this period has been from Jim Forshaw, board member of BITA Liverpool and owner of JA Flooring. Whilst the flooring business was a little quiet, Jim drew on his broad finance background as a freelance FD and has been on hand to support members with advice and support, sorting through the information about furloughing staff, sorting business rates, grants, funds and payment holidays available to businesses and personally. A welcome voice of sense and calm is what initially was a confusing time of who, what, how and can I? As Jim says, once you’ve worked through the support available, the biggest thing to highlight was how important it was and is for all to have their finance records and information in good order. Thankfully, for some businesses Jim was able to step in and organise so that applications could be submitted, and those critical holidays and grants received.