The Hertfordshire Business Independent November 2011 by Business Independent

Entrepreneurship UK: 2011/12 Is collaboration the key to success?

CONTRIBUTORS

CONTACTS MANAGING DIRECTOR Simon George EDITOR Jenna Gould editor@businessindependent.co.uk

CONTRIBUTORS Becky Lewis Katie Richardson Mike Chidzey Peter Groucutt Andy Cox Chris Davies Victor Savage David Share Stuart Brooks Chris Hardy Eddie Yu Jo Parker Alyssa Smith Daren Howell Patricia Wilson Andy Lopata DESIGNER Karen Birch www.velvetagency.com

EDITOR’S WELCOME Welcome to the November issue of The Hertfordshire Business Independent. With Christmas fast approaching, there are just weeks to go to get everything in place for the big day. We know that the pressure is on to make sure that business runs smoothly over the Christmas period, so this month we brought you a business continuity special! Here at HBI we hand-selected some of best expert advice out there on how you can avoid any mis-haps. We asked them what small businesses can do business continuity companies about what businesses should be thinking about when they put a continuity plan in place. We also caught up with Aggie McKenzie, AKA the Queen of Clean for a chat about her new cookery book and interviewed local entrepreneur Alyssa Smith about her success with her recent news that she was shortlisted for the Shell Women of the Future awards in the Entrepreneur of the Future catagory. We also bring you some of the best gift ideas for Christmas and expert advice on how to organise your staff party. Enjoy your fun packed issue! Best wishes : Jenna

MAYLANDS BUSINESSES THROWN A BROADBAND LIFELINE Hertfordshire County Council has coordinated a campaign lobbying BT for higher speed broadband at Maylands Business Park and now needs local businesses to get involved. Hertfordshire County Council, The Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Dacorum Borough Council have lobbied BT to review the business case for superfast broadband at Maylands. BT has been receptive to the views of partners and has indicated that it would consider installing superfast broadband at Maylands provided businesses can demonstrate David Lloyd, Executive Member for Resources and Economic Well-Being, said: “This represents a rare opportunity for businesses to group together and convince BT that the delivery of superfast broadband is a commercial imperative and viable proposition in this location. If your business is located in this area, please get in touch and let us know if you want BT to bring superfast broadband to Maylands.” BT would like businesses in the Maylands area to answer two simple questions:

ADVERTISING Terry Sullivan

1) Would your business take superfast broadband if it was made available at Maylands?

terry@businessindependent.co.uk

If 100-plus businesses are able to respond positively to this question then BT has said they are willing to reconsider the proposal for installing superfast broadband at Maylands.

Sona Shah

2) Would you be willing to pay circa £20/month for that superfast broadband service?

TEL : 0844 358 5800 www.businessindependent.co.uk

Chair of the Interim LEP Board, John Gourd, said: “Having good broadband is essential for the future well-being of Hertfordshire’s economy. Businesses in Maylands have an opportunity to fordshire LEP’s main priorities is to improve the county’s broadband connections and speeds and we will continue to work with partners to achieve this.”

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AITCHISON RAFFETY CLIMBS INTO EG’S TOP 30

sona@businessindependent.co.uk

COPYRIGHT Copyright: 2010 Business Independent Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the publishers. The views expressed in any of the Business Independent series of regional magazines are not necessarily the views of the publishers Business Independent Ltd. Whilst Business Independent Ltd has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, neither they norany contributing author can accept any legal responsibility for any consequences that may arise from errors or omissions contained in this publication or from acting on any opinions or advice given. In particular, this publication is general and not a substitute for professional advice and you should consult your own professional advisors where appropriate.

The process of pulling this demand together for BT is being coordinated by Hertfordshire County Council following discussions with senior BT representatives as part of your local county council’s wider broadband delivery work. For more information visit: www.hertsdirect.org/ your-community/broadband/

Aitchison Raffety has climbed into the top 30 commercial property agents table published by Estates cent increase in turnover from 2009 to 2010. “It is particularly pleasing to reach this milestone in Chairman. “The last few years have not been easy but with hard work from all our staff we are delighted to have been able to increase turnover by this amount. The future focus will be on maintaining growth whilst investment in people, training and technology to this effect.” Aitchison Raffety provides a full range of commercial shire including St Albans, Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamstead and Hitchin.

UH BUSINESS SCHOOL The Goldsmith Centre for Business is hosting two specialist ‘masterclasses’ this November with Hany Wells of the UH Business School. These MBA ‘tasters’ focus on effective project management - a crucial business skill that is growing in importance within the extended marketplace. Delegates will take away practical tools and techniques that could make a big difference to the way they operate on a daily basis and improve their organisation’s effectiveness. The twosession programme takes place at the GC4B in Letchworth Garden City on these dates: Wednesday 9th November: 1.00pm to 7.00pm ...The key concepts of project management ...The tools that exist to support project management ...How IT can enable business change Wednesday 30th November: 1.00 to 7.00pm ...The impact of social media and e-media ...Strategic management ...The risk management culture and its implications for business To ensure individuals gain the most from the sessions delegates which aspects are relevant to their business. Hany Wells is the Head of Information Systems and Project Management Group at the University of Hertfordshire. Her experience includes working as a Business Analyst and Project Planner in companies such as IBM, British Nuclear Fuels Plc and SDX Business Systems.

KPMG TO RELOCATE HERTFORDSHIRE OPERATIONS Street by its owners, KPMG has announced the relocation of its Watford. in the late 1980’s due to the high demand from local companies wanting good business advice on their doorstep. There are curTax and Advisory with sector specialists from the building & construction and retail and leisure industries based there. graphical area that its specialists cover, across the Home Counties and North London. Mike Coughtrey, Senior partner for KPMG in Hertfordshire said : “For over 25 years KPMG has been committed to supporting our clients with teams that are based locally who have the support fordshire and will be relocating staff currently based in St Albans very modern working environment which has excellent infrastructure to London and the rest of the country and will allow us to expand the number of people and range of services that we have to offer our clients from Hertfordshire.”

GRAHAM TEES OFF AT LUTON HOO Graham Marshall has been appointed Golf Manager at Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa, marking a new appointment Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire border. With 18 years’ experience in the golf industry, and a career working in both the UK and America, he joins Luton Hoo from a management position with Burhill Golf and Leisure Limited, one of the UK’s largest owners and operators of golf courses. Graham, 34, who lives in Harpenden, started working at a private members golf club in Surrey and then embarked on a degree in leisure management. As part of the degree course he spent one year working at a golf and country club in Connecticut. He joined American Golf, which was acquired by Crown Golf to become the largest owner operated golf course group in Europe, and worked at Pyrford Golf Club in Surrey prior to being promoted to Assistant Manager at Abbotsley Golf, Hotel & Country Club, Cambridge. He joined the Burhill group in 2006, working at the Aldwickbury Park Golf Club and Redbourn Golf Club in Hertfordshire. For the past year he has been Relief General Manager the Thornbury Golf Centre in Bristol and Shropshire Golf Centre in Telford. “I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know all the members and their guests,” said Graham. “We have a fantastic course here at Luton Hoo and I am excited to have been given the opportunity to raise the club to one of top leisure destinations in the South East.” Reinforcing the hotel’s commitment to providing top class golf facilities, Paul Keen has become the club’s resident golf pro on a permanent basis. Paul, from Dunstable, joined Luton Hoo in Set in the 1,065-acre Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa estate, the course is 7,107 yards long and par 73 off the championship tees. Sculpted amongst 250 acres of Capability Brown landscape, it of the surrounding parkland and gardens. No trees were removed to make way for the course and vast areas of wild For further information on golf days, special golf offers and membership packages at Luton Hoo call 01582 698856 or visit www.lutonhoo.co.uk.

EXEMPLAS WINS EUROPEAID CONTRACT IN SERBIA

Exemplas, in partnership with German consultancy GFA Consulting Euros. The project is to build capacity within Serbia for supporting plas. “For nearly 20 years, Exemplas has been at the leading edge in the delivery of business and enterprise support programmes, and work-based learning activities and skills development of individuals. We have been building and nurturing meaningful relationships with impact in helping developing countries to grow their capacity.” Exemplas, part of the University of Hertfordshire Group of Companies, has an extensive record of successful national and international project management covering employability, enterprise and skills development - working in partnership with private and public sector partners to deliver innovative and robust services to customers. As one of the UK’s largest providers of business support with wide experience of managing complex delivery partnerships, last year Exemplas helped create over 5,000 new businesses across its contracts and supported in excess of 27,000 individuals with skills development and employment related support.

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NEWS

GOLDSMITH CENTRE FOR BUSINESS HOSTS MBA MASTERCLASSES ON STRATEGIC PROJECT MANAGEMENT WITH HANY

NEW APPRENTICESHIP REWARD SAYS IT FIRM A recognised shortage of IT workers in the UK has prompted a North London IT business to ‘grow its own’ workforce for future expansion rather than recruit staff from overseas, thanks to a new Apprenticeship and a partnership with its local college. IT support and solutions specialist for local SMEs in and around North London and Hertfordshire, have taken advantage of funding support from the National Apprenticeship Service to employ ninerecruit on the Advanced Apprenticeship in IT. Developed by the National IT Partnership, part of the Microsoft Academy, in association with the computing trade association, CompTIA, the seven month training programme is being delivered in partnership with the College of Haringey,

are trained to strip down and repair computers, change faulty parts, troubleshoot and diagnose software and hardware faults on a PC and understand the basics of a server network. According to e-skills, the Sector Skills Council for the IT and Telecoms industries, the demand for employees with specialist computing skills unemployed than workers in other sectors. Unemployed ICT workers fell to 3.1% compared with 8.3% for the workforce as a whole. completely bespoke and organic approach, as opposed to more traditional ‘boxed in’ IT support packages. “Succession planning is crucial for any business and we see Apprenticeships as a foundation of the UK’s future economy. We want to develop home grown talent and skills over a sustained period, so we can recoup the rewards that skills investment will bring. It’s our intention to offer more opportunities to young people.” Research has shown that companies investing in training are 2.5 times more likely to survive during an economic downturn or recession. In a nation-wide poll carried out by Populus in 2009, the overwhelming majority of employers (92%) felt that apprentices made a valuable contribution to the business within six months of them completing their apprenticeship or earlier. The survey also found that businesses believed that investing in apprenticeships made them more competitive (80%), provided higher overall productivity (76%) and contributed to lower staff turnover (80%).

HERTFORDSHIRE BUSINESSES INVITED TO DEVELOP COMPETITIVE EDGE BY SHARING BEST PRACTICE ON WORKING WITH EX-OFFENDERS On Tuesday 27 September, business leaders from Hertfordshire will be meeting to discuss their role in helping to reduce re-offending in the county. Business in the Community (BITC) is calling for more organisations to join the Right Step Employer The Right Step initiative is funded by the European Social Fund and delivered by BITC in the East of England. It aims to increase: ex-offenders have. across the region and encouraging them to consider providing training, work experience or job opportunities. This will give ex-offenders a very real alternative to crime, ultimately reducing re-offending. The Hertfordshire Right Step Employer Forum has been set up to help organisations in the county to understand the issues and barriers involved within this agenda and how engaging with the Prison and Probation Service, as well as “Crime has a huge impact on our society and particularly on businesses, and reducing re-offending is one of the best ways to reduce crime levels,” says Mike Brophy, BITC’s Regional Director for the East of England. “Evidence shows that having a job is a major factor in preventing future offending because it means riers to entering the labour market even when they are committed to changing their lives.” The next Hertfordshire Employer Forum is being sponsored and hosted by BAM Construct UK. “The Right Step Employer Forum has provided us with an opportuninesses and organisations,” says Ellie Halkett, Community Engagement Manager at BAM Construct. “Being able to talk to representatives from our local Prison and Probation derstand far more clearly the role BAM Construct can play in helping to reduce re-offending in our community

HERTFORDSHIRE INDUSTRY ‘HOT’ LISTS Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design www.hkjewellery. co.uk based in Halls Green has been recognised by two leading jewellery industry magazines in their industry ‘hot’ lists. The UK’s leading bespoke jewellery design company is number 25 in Retail Jeweller’s list of top 50 Inspiring Independents and is also in Professional Jeweller’s list of the Hot 100 jewellers. Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design has also recently been awarded the UK Jewellery Award for Business Initiative of the Year and on Wednesday, 14 September, Harriwinning the Specsavers Everywoman in Retail Awards for Entrepreneur of the Year, for which she has been shortlisted. Harriet Kelsall, Managing Director, said: “Being recognised in this way by the jewellery industry is a real honour. and make all of our jewellery and we have recently revamped our studio in Cambridge. “We hope it encourages people to consider bespoke jewellery as a viable, affordable option and that it helps champion British designers and British-made products.” Retail Jeweller cites the 50 jewellers in the list as being ‘the cream of UK and Irish retailing’. The list represents true industry recognition as the most inspiring independents are voted for by the industry. The Editor of Retail Jeweller, Laura McCreddie, said: “It is amazing to see the industry getting behind this initiative. “We had a record number of votes this year and because it is peer-voted it really means a lot to those who make the list.”

BESPOKE ART AT A STROKE FROM LOCAL FLAMSTEAD BUSINESSWOMAN Harriet Kelsall, Founder and Managing Director of leading bespoke jewellery design company www.hkjewellery.co.uk has been named Woman of the Year 2011 at the Specsavers Everywoman in Retail Awards. At a glittering ceremony held last night at London’s Savoy hotel, Harriet won the top award of the evening. Harriet had been shortlisted in the Entrepreneur of the Year category but went on to triumph over all of the other nominees to clinch the highly-coveted Woman of the Year award. The judges said that “Harriet’s vision, innovative approach and success make her an outstanding role model that will inspire more women to choose a career in retail. “The Woman of the Year Award recognises the woman who is a truly inspirational and visionary individual and Harriet Kelsall is an exceptional role model for the industry”. Harriet Kelsall started the business in 1998 from her spare bedroom and in just over 10 years she now employs nearly 30 staff with an annual turnover of £1.5 million. Harriet said: “I am absolutely amazed and thrilled to receive this award, it is a huge honour and to be recognised by the retail industry for our efforts and successes is very rewarding. “I see this as an award for the whole team rather than being just about me. “They are so brilliant and we all passionately drive the business forward together”. Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design has had a fantastic year so far. In February, the company’s Cambridge studio was revamped making it the UK’s The company was also one of only 20 jewellers in the UK chosen by the Fairtrade Foundation to offer Fairtrade and Fairmined gold. As a result of its achievements in 2011, the company won Business Initiative of the Year at the UK Jewellery Awards, was one of Professional Jeweller’s Hot 100 and was placed number 25 in Retail Jeweller’s list of the top 50 Inspiring Independents. Now, the company has received an outstanding accolade from the retail industry as a whole. Harriet is passionate about inspiring designers and entrepreneurs and is embarking on a number of initiatives to help develop the next generation including working with Doug Richard on his Creative School for Start-ups and running a bespoke jewellery design competition with the University for the Creative Arts in Kent. Harriet is also gaining a celebrity following and is designing a bespoke pendant for

NEWS IN BRIEF BAKER WATKIN GOING FOR GOLD IN ‘NOT THE OLYMPICS 2012’ While athletes around the world prepare to transport the Olympic torch from Athens to London for next year’s Olympics, Stevenage-based chartered ing up for a challenge of their own a little closer to home. ympics 2012” charity campaign, to raise thousands of pounds for Alzheimer’s Society. Participating pic-style torch by imaginative forms of transportaStadium in London in time for the group’s annual conference in November. The event kicked off in Perth, Scotland, in May.

DIGITAL AGENCY CELEBRATES THEIR GROWTH WITH TREES Hertfordshire-based digital marketing agency, Distinctly Digital, today announce their support a growing number of leading UK businesses supporting Carbon Managers, the people behind the campaign, who wish to do something positive for the environment. The trees are planted on the Alladale wilderness reserve in Scotland by children from the Challenger Trust, a charity that takes children from an urban background and gives them an experience of a lifetime at Alladale. For every tree planted a donation is also made to the Trust. Tom Shurville, Director for Distinctly Digital explains is solely web-related, requiring a lot of electricity. We want to do what we can to negate the impact a really worthwhile UK cause.”

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AN INTERVIEW WITH

AGGIE MACKENZIE House? Since then she’s appeared in many different TV programmes; from reporting on The One Show and The Politics Show to cooking on Come Dine With Me. With a background in women’s consumer magazines, Aggie’s work covers a broad range. She writes a food page every month in Good Housekeeping, covers numerous subjects for other national publications, often participates in advertising campaigns and takes on public speaking engagements. She is now embarking on new projects – a cookery book and Aggie’s Probiotics. The HBI caught up with the domestic goddess to talk about her new business ventures. With your reputation as a grime buster, do you ever feel under any extra pressure to have your house spotless when guests visit? don’t let it bother me too much. I certainly wouldn’t let it stop me from having people over.

My new cook book actually has a chapter on how to keep your kitchen and freezer, blitzing your cupboards and even how to get those really stubborn burnt bits of old food out of the oven.

they can buy my products, but so that we can spread the word about making use of the good germs to help us all stay healthier and safer in the long term. I’ve created these products to make cleaning quick, easy and more effective. It’s been a very exciting project. Well, with the new book coming out this month and my new Probiotic cleaning product hitting stores a couple of months ago, I’ve been keeping very busy! I would love to have my own cookery show though. I’ve had a couple of meetings with producers and agents in the last few months. It would be a mammoth venture, but an exciting one! I’d love it.

You were a presenter on ‘How Clean is Your House?’ what were your personal highlights during your time on the show? of a depression and couldn’t really see a way out of their situation. We were able to give them a leg-up, so they could actually see it was someone genuinely so happy and knowing you played your part in making that chance is the best feeling.

You’re a patron for charity Ukuthasa which supports people in townships in South Africa. How did that come about and how is it going?

It’s a very small charity geared towards children who have been orphaned through AIDS. It allows them to have a formal education unprotected sex. With the average life expectancy there predicted to be no more than 34 in some communities by 2040, helping children to I’ve seen a little money can go a long way and I’ve seen some big the charity.

priced £20.00. The stunning, collection of mouth-watering and delicious recipes to suit every occasion will have you heading for your kitchen to get cooking. Classic recipes include chunky apple pie and seriously gooey yummy chocolate brownies. With brilliant ideas for cooking with leftovers, clever ways of bulking out a dinner for four so that it serves six, i ndulgent breakfast treats and all the bits and pieces that make life so much better, Aggie’s Family Cookbook is the one kitchen essential you won’t want to be without.

cleaning. They are available in Homebase, Sainsbury’s, Lakeland and Booths. You can choose from the multi surface cleaner, bathroom cleaner and toilet cleaner, and look out for the new washing up liquid coming soon.

how I live my life with my family. There are lots of different chapters: for when you’re on the run, when you’re throwing a dinner party, sit down Sunday Roasts, everything we eat, really. My favourite recipe in the book is the one for the special meatballs. There are also lots of pudding chapters, I love my sweets! For those who remember me winning the “F Word” Pudding Challenge, the I think I got my love of cooking from my mum. When you have a mother who can cook, you should really appreciate it! Her food is always lovely: her roast beef is the best ever. I’d like to think my book is similar to her way of cooking: wholesome, gorgeous, and unpretentious. You’ll have to judge that for yourselves!

You also have a new cleaning product out too!

I do! Aggie’s Probiotics are essentially the opposite of an anti-bacterial agent. When we bleach everything into oblivion, we are actually preventing the good germs from doing their job that helps keep the bad ones at bay. With a probiotic cleaner we are preventing the growth of nasty germs that can cause us harm, but keeping the good ones that help us, and then letting them do their job. I’m really keen that people

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INTERVIEW : AGGIE McKENZIE

You have four published books to your credit and now you’ve recently launched a new one. What’s it about and what made you want to write it?

APPRENTICES SHOW THEIR METTLE AT HEMEL HEMPSTEAD DEALERSHIP An Apprenticeship provides an excellent start to life in the motor trade and Danny and Simon have already shown they have what it takes to forge a great career for themselves, whilst making a valuable contribution to the company.

Having proven their technical skills and excelled in examinations, two Hemel Hempstead apprentices employed at Brayley Honda, on Two Waters Road, are now in charge of their own workshop ramps at the dealership. Having both gained work experience with Brayley Honda whilst still at school, before being accepted onto the three year Honda Apprenticeship Programme, eighteen year-old Danny Wishart and nineteen year-old Simon Edwards are now part of the fourstrong technician team and contributing to the company’s impressive customer satisfaction performance. Since joining Brayley Honda, the two apprentices have consistently achieved top scores in their technical studies at the Honda Institute in Colnbrook, near Slough. Simon Edwards has just completed his full apprenticeship at just 19, whilst Danny Wishart is now on his second year. Each apprentice is mentored by an experienced Honda technician in the workshop. Commented Simon Edwards: “My late grand-dad was a brilliant mechanic and I became interested in cars because of him. I hope to become as good as he was and maybe have my own garage one day. At Brayley Honda, I’m encouraged to do the best I can and am hoping to Having started his own career as a body repair apprentice,

Hempstead is keen to support the ambitions of young people wanting to enter the retail motor industry. Brayley Honda Hemel has already offered 17 work experience placements this year to Service. Hempstead, said: can for our customers as well as for their own professional development. An Apprenticeship provides an excellent start to life in the motor trade and Danny and Simon have already shown they have what it takes to forge a great career for themselves, whilst making a valuable contribution to the company.” Research has shown that companies investing in training are 2.5 times more likely to survive during an economic downturn or recession. In a nation-wide poll carried out by Populus, the overwhelming majority of employers (92%) felt that apprentices made a valuable contribution to the business within six months of them completing their apprenticeship or earlier. The survey also found that businesses believed that investing in apprenticeships made them more competitive (80%), provided higher overall productivity (76%) and contributed to lower staff turnover (80%).

MP Stephen McPartland pledges his support to young people Stephen McPartland, MP for Stevenage, has joined NHC’s Support Young People campaign and is helping young people gain the work skills needed for employment.

interesting and would look good on my CV. I’ve learnt what an MP does and I could relate some of my work at college to my experience here.”

Stevenage alongside her studies.

Stephen McPartland commented: "I am delighted to be working with NHC to offer young people the opportunity to gain vital work experience alongside their studies. Kara impressed us all with her enthusiasm and willingness to learn. I am proud of the contribution Kara has made and

Kara explained: “I applied for the position because it looked really

talent and calibre of NHC students."

Stephen is recruiting a local student each year to work Constituency Assistant. Last year NHC business student Kara Duffy worked for two full days

Stephen is currently recruiting this year’s Constituency Assistant and looking forward to continuing the successful arrangement with North Hertfordshire College.

Show your support to building our future workforce and sign the NHC Employer Pledge.

www.supportyoungpeople.nhc.ac.uk

Need motivated, competent staff with energy and enthusiasm? Apprenticeships help ensure employees have the skills and qualifications needed for business success – both now and in the future.

01462 650246 or email business@nhc.ac.uk

Over 80% of employers with Apprentices agree they make their workplace more productive. Survey by the National Apprenticeship Service

Employ an Apprentice They’re good for business www.apprenticeships.nhc.ac.uk

EDUCATION & TRAINING

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Staff at Austin’s Funeral Directors are celebrating after scooping top prize at a prestigious business awards ceremony. category at the East of England Business Champions Awards. Claire Austin, who is the tenth generation of her family to run the company, said she was thrilled the company had won. “This award is testament to the hard work and dedication of all the staff who work so hard to provide a personal, caring service to our clients. The whole Austin’s ethos is about being welcoming to all and it’s fantastic to have our efforts acknowledged,” she said. Regional Chair of the FSB and the head of the judging panel said: “I was extremely impressed by the high standard of entries and it is refreshing to see how many successful businesses the region has in what continues to be a very tough economic climate.” A number of staff joined Claire at the awards ceremony where the judges praised them for “never sitting on their laurels and always striving for perfection”. Austin’s, which also owns and operates Harwood Park Crematorium and Memorial Gardens in Stevenage, has eight branches and employs 43 full-time members of staff. Photo (L to R) Alan Coleman, Gary Ford, Claire Austin, Jackie Lawrence, Annette Bird, Brian Lawrence and Peter Hope

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SOLICITORS

DIVIDENDS Many owner managed businesses as set up in companies. In addition to the benefits of limited liability there are potential tax efficiency savings to be made when shareholders choose to take relatively small salaries and take the remainder of their income through dividends. As long as the company remains sufficiently profitable, this approach can provide substantial benefits to shareholders but what happens if profits fall?

calculcated on the basis of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accounts. An accurate interim dividends at stages through the year, based on anticipated cover it is illegal. Dividends are therefore very different to a salary. The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outgoings (e.g. HMRC, employees, suppliers, landlord, lender) must be paid before the shareholders receive dividends. Individual financial planning canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be taken into consideration when deciding whether to declare a dividend. In practice, if shareholders choose to take the majority of their income as dividends there is

in similar circumstances might expect but, as we mentioned last month, directorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; must act in the best interests of the company and the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interests rank above the interests of the shareholders involved. The important thing is to show transparent decision making - the safest way to do this is to make a clear decision when the company is set up as to how director-shareholders are going to be paid, by balancing For advice on all aspects of corporate law, please contact Gillian

their anticipated income. available, money can be clawed back from any shareholder who â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;knows or has reasonable grounds for believingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that the dividend shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have been paid. Director-shareholders should consider the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial position carefully before declaring dividends so it is likely that most director-shareholders would have reasonable grounds for believing that a dividend shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be

If shareholders choose to take the majority of their income as dividends there is a risk that there wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always be sufficient funds available to pay their anticipated income.

salaries of director-shareholders to a level which an employee

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SPARKLING SUCCESS! Congratulations! How does it feel to be shortlisted for the Women of the Future Awards?

To be shortlisted for an award of this nature feels absolutely phenomenal! I feel like the luckiest person in the world and still can’t believe it really. I have never actually put myself forward for an award before - this to get any further than just submitting my entry, so it was a complete shock for me when they sent over the shortlisted candidates and my name was on it! I naturally had to open a bottle of bubbly straight away, run around screaming a lot, and go out for dinner to celebrate!

What will you be up to while you are there? include an informal interview/chat with the judges for my category which will last about half an hour. I am going to take along some sparkly jewellery to show the judges as well though! The actual award ceremony will be held on the 16th November 2011 at the London Marriot hotel. The night will include a champagne reception, three course meal and, of course, the award announcements!

Do you know how many other people you are up against?

Yes, there are six of us all together who have been shortlisted for this award and all shortlisted candidates have completely different businesses. I am the only jeweler!

You set up Alyssa Smith jewellery on your own. What advice would you give to other young people out there that want to do the same?

My honest advice would be to never, ever give up your dream. If you are passionate about something and determined enough to sucmake yourself stand out from other businesses around you. Setting up a business is not easy and can be a very lonely path, so I would advise anyone starting up in business to surround yourself with likeminded people - whether it be friends, family, or a networking group who you can talk to on a regular basis and throw some ideas around with - but this is very important, especially to help you stay ‘sane’! Loneliness for me was a big problem at the beginning of my career... all of my friends were out having fun and travelling around the world, while I was sitting at home trying to start a business, but I am lucky now to have the right support network around me and have met some great new people who are similar to me! Hold on to your dreams and if you have a good idea, run like the wind with it and do everything you can to make it work! And lastly, here is a little thing to think abou t- if people don’t know you are there, how are you going to succeed? Tell everyone and anyone about your business! The more people who know, the better!

Is there a lot of help available for younger people that are hoping to start a business?

Yes, if you know where to look! I am ‘resident entrepreneur’ at the new ‘Peter Jones Enterprise Academy’ at North Hertfordshire College preneurs (16-19) and younger people who want to start a business! It is a really great course and they really give the students a helping hand in starting up their businesses and advising them with savvy ‘business know how’! This course is something that I would have jumped at the chance to do when I was younger, so I am thrilled to be on hand to give the students advice when they need it. Media Pioneers’ which offer all sorts of start up business advice too. You can easily access information from their websites.

What are your top tips to building a successful brand?

Be original! ...Don’t be a second rate version of someone else, be a but I think its so true!

launched her business full time just over a year ago but since then she has been made the face of Dragon’s Den star Peter Jones’ Entrepreneur Academy and has been making jewellery for the stars including Suzi Perry, Carol Vorderman and Caroline Flack! Alyssa has just recently found out that she has been shortlisted for the Shell Women of the Future awards in the Entrepreneur of the Future catagory. So we caught up with her during

Are you working on anything new at the moment? I am currently working on a new jewellery collection which will launch before diamond for its eye! I also have some larger ‘corporate’ projects in the pipeline with large UK companies who want to collaborate with me, so that is very exciting!

What are your best selling items? necklace was inspired by the social media craze, Twitter, and has been a best seller since I launched it last October. Tweeties! Some are made in 9carat gold, and some are made in a gorgeous hammered silver with gemstone eyes! My personal favourites Tweetie are the ‘Pink Ruby Tweetie’ (which just happens to be my birth stone!) and the little ‘Gold Tweetie’ necklace. The gold Tweetie is smaller and more delicate looking than the others in the collection, but is quickly becoming a best seller! I know lots of my regular customers have the new Tweeties on their Christmas wish lists!

Where does your inspiration come from? Most designers are inspired by themes such as nature and organic forms, but for me, inspiration works a little differently! I am inspired by trends like ‘social media’. In fact, I have a whole jewellery collection based around social media. It is called ‘social symbol ‘#’. This collection is a fabulous seller, and I actually had help from celebrity journalist Dawn Porter to come up with these designs! I always try to listen to what my customers want as opposed to what ‘I’ want... So I would probably say that my customers inspire me most for my new collections, as well as for my bespoke items! Do check out my website if you would like to have a look at my collectionswww.alyssasmith.co.uk and of course, follow me on Twitter if you are on there! @AlyssaJewellery

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FEATURE : ALISSA SMITH

I hand make each necklace to order, and have just launched a new range of

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RED HOT DAY Goldfish 194x138mm 13-10-11.indd Jack Camp, Chairman of the National

13/10/11 UK 11:53:12 Be a Red Hot Runner for Crohn’s and Colitis

Contractors, and his wife Carole (left) got a warm welcome at Crohn’s and Colitis UK on Friday 14th they stopped off to drop off a cheque for £3,500 raised over the past twelve months, and bumped into the charity’s Ambassador, Red Hot Day, which kicks off a month of fundraising activity by its 30,000 members, fundraising supporters and friends. Around 60 local business representatives, volunteers and supporters attended a complimentary “Red Hot Continental Breakfast” to hear Carrie talk about her own experience of living with Crohn’s Disease, and what it has meant to her to part of the charity’s active community of patients where her condition is understood, where she no longer feels alone and where she has a vital role to play in support of others. “We know of 5,000 Crohn’s or Colitis sufferers and families in Herts” says Director of Fundraising, Suzi Clark. “This year, our Welfare Fund, has been under huge pressure to make modest individual grants of tress, or a short respite care break, to those most in need. Hardship has been stretched to maintain its level of support.” From left, charity fundraiser Alex Demain with Mr Bizz Whizz, Martin Gladdish, “the business wizard” who, when he notes, was making money appear out of thin air … a trick that the charity’s fundraising team watched with great interest. “If only it was that easy,” sighed Alex.

Join U

Crohn’s and Colitis UK supports people who are affected by these bowel conditions which can have a devastating impact on everyday life. Around 240,000 people in the UK are affected, many of them children, teenagers and young people. There is no known cure.

Santa Run (Greenwich) - 4th Dec Brighton Marathon - 15th Apr Edinburgh Festival Marathon - 26&27 May London 10k - 27th May Great North Run - 16th Sept Call: 01727 734485 Email: fundraising@crohnsandcolitis.org.uk Visit: www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk Registered Charity: 1117148 (England and Wales) SC038632 (Scotland)

BUSINESS CONTINUITY SPECIAL P20 : MANAGING RISK

stand and manage risk

P21 : BUSINESS AS USUAL

Advice from Adam Continuity on most common causes of company downtime and how to rectify it

stable during the Christmas period

P23 : A BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN IN ACTION

Perry Scott Nash

P24 : BUSINESS CONTINUITY VIA THE CLOUD

Eddie Yu explains how to maximise business and keep continuity via cloud computing Project Management expert Jo Parker explains how sound project management can help keep businesses ticking over in a crisis

P26 : DISASTER RECOVER STRATEGIES

BUSINESS CONTINUITY SPECIAL

from Data Barracks

BUSINESS CONTINUITY PROFILE

MANAGING RISK WITH SUNGARD As part of our Business Continuity Special, this month we went in search of a locally based company to answer a few burning questions. services. We interviewed Daren Howell, Marketing Manager of SunGard Availability Services. Tell us a little more about SunGard SunGard Availability Services provides disaster recovery services, managed IT services, Information Availability consulting services and business continuity management software to over 9,000

What advice would you give to any small business that is looking to start out that might need a business continuity plan?

million square feet of data centre and operations space, SunGard assists IT organisations across virtually all industry and government sectors prepare for and recover from emergencies by helping them minimise their computer downtime and optimise their uptime. Through direct sales and channel partners, we help organisations ensure their people and customers have uninterrupted access to the information systems they need in order to do business.

Follow the advice in the Source for Consulting report. Keep plans simple. Make sure instructions are clear and easy to understand.

What services in terms of business continuity can you offer your clients? most critical data has led to a wealth of business continuity services over the years. SunGard provides both the consultancy and technical solutions to ensure business operations remain continuous, while tions. Its Dedicated Recover Anywhere service, meanwhile, broadens full desktop and telephony recovery to a higher percentage of an organisation’s workforce. Integrating both physical and virtual workplace environments, it allows business-critical workers to operate via secure remote access to an organisation’s existing IT and telephony in the event of a business disruption.

You are a global company but have just opened up xpansion and if so, has 2011 been a successful year for SunGard? our UK-wide recovery centre portfolio gives organisations in and nuity plans to the needs of their organisation and staff. In addition to providing 1,800 positions for local and London-based businesses and government organisations’ staff to relocate to in the event their own premises are inaccessible, Borehamwood helps them remain connected to their mission critical information in the event of a disaster as it is linked to three resilient data centres. Borehamwood’s opening also increased the total number of available workplace recovery positions that SunGard offers in the London nine strategic locations, of which six encircle outer London, and are situated along the main commuter routes. Forward thinking organisations can develop recovery solutions based on a multiple site recovery strategy allowing managers to pre-select the most appropriate site(s) for business recovery based on anticipated incidents and convenience for staff. Since introducing Borehamwood, additional solutions to help businesses keep more of their people productive in the wake of disruptive events have been made available, including our more recent sations to mitigate against a wider range of disruptions*, for, example the recent UK riots. Recover Anywhere enables workers who have a desk based PC at work to access their usual business data and telephony via secure remote access. You don’t need to lug your Mac, tablet or smartphone. This continued innovation and investment is indicative of continued demand for SunGard services during 2011.

Who are your main customers? SunGard Availability Services has over 9,000 customers worldwide including, in the UK, the likes of Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer,

and your business changes rapidly you will spend all your time playing catch up and administering the plan. BC software takes away admin pain by automating all the updates to relational data and processes. Make sure your staff are aware of the plans and you test those plans. Align your plan to the BS standard which is BS 25999. But remember, having a plan doesn’t make you resilient. Practicing it about protecting your business. The same business that you have spent years developing. If you buy BC software from a well-known source it will give your plan currency and value that your customers will recognise. It says you take their business seriously. Get a return on investment by marketing that you have a BC plan. Add it to your proposals as part of the quality management process at your business. It will differentiate you from your competitors.

companies could make improvements on their business continuity plans? who do BC very well. If you were to spread the sample out to the SME community that figure would drop to less than 50%. It’s a statistic that suggests a call for immediate action. In the current economic environment, it’s corporate suicide to have large swathes of your workforce out of action as a result of a business disruption.

What are the most common needs for businesses that call on you? ness disruption, with almost three times as many problems caused by workplace incidents such as power and communication failures than by technology failures involving hardware or other IT issues. Set against the drop in technology invocations is the substantial rise in communication failures ( i.e. disruptions relating to network or teltopped only by power outages. In 2008, less than 2% of invocations risen substantially to 25% last year.

Does SunGard offer any other services besides business continuity services? SunGard’s business is built on availability, resilience and recovery. We’ve taken these principles and extended them to our cloud (Infrastructure as a Service) offering. With SunGard’s cloud, customers gain access to our infrastructure, people and experience, whilst still scalable, on-demand performance and comes with ‘baked-in’ availability and resilience. Customers can put their own IT environronments might be, with interoperability between hosted and cloud environments: enterprise customers with their own data centres are able to interact securely with SunGard’s cloud environment. Similarly, customers’ cloud environments can interact securely with hosted SunGard environments. What’s more, with SunGard’s ‘Flex’ option, 100% of their existing allocation, allowing them to scale rapidly as their business dictates.

BUSINESS AS USUAL... ADAM CONTINUITY

It is now a simple fact that for virtually every business, data and IT systems have become an essential part of everyday life. This is probably best demonstrated by the rise in use of the smartphone, a device that often contains more data than a laptop and is even more vulnerable. Businesses rely on a huge variety of IT systems that range in size from vast complex data centres through to small local networks, but all systems have one common denominator. When they ‘go down’ a business is very quickly and very severely impacted and the time taken to restore ‘normal’ service is critical.

while steps can be taken to minimise the impact risk every business has the potential to suffer a system failure. Every business owner, bility to ensure that they have implemented a robust disaster recovery and data continuity solution.

There are many reasons why technology systems fail, the most common being simple human error, this can be attributed to many factors such as poor training, inadequate procedures and a shortage of resources.

Part of the Centerprise International group, Adam Continuity is a leading provider of Disaster Recovery and IT Continuity solutions.

capacity and of course hardware failures. There are other factors that are much harder to plan for such as natural thefts or vandalism to premises. will have a severe impact to a business and its people. This can take

Adam Continuity has recently relocated their Hemel Hempstead control, 60 work area positions, a large server recovery suite and on site car parking. Adam Continuity Ltd t: 01256 378001 e: advice@adam.co.uk w: adam.co.uk

also have much longer term implications in terms of a loss in customer A system outage can impact any business at any time and of course most have taken some steps to minimise the impact, but are these enough? Many business owners are confident that should an incident occur ‘they’ll be alright’ because they are meticulously backing up their data to tape. How many stop and think about what this really means? tape, a notoriously unreliable media and then control is passed to a third party who take it away, along with hundreds of other similar items and deposit it in a ‘secure’ location. How many of these businesses have ever tried to actually restore their data from tape? Experience shows that it is a process that that can take several days. Secondly the data needs to be made available in a useable format and again experience demonstrates that on average 40% of tape based restorations fail due to integrity issues with the tape itself. Service otherwise known as a Tapeless Backup Solution is now the most cost effective solution to remove the uncertainty and dangers associated with tape based backup solutions.

available. This is achieved without the need to recall tapes from an offsite store and should the worst happen, we are able to deliver our client’s latest data.

result of a ’live’ incident. This is far from ideal, people are often under prepared and working in a very stressful conditions and when the dust eventually settles, a post mortem is held and the outcome often At Adam we believe that rehearsal is vital and we work proactively with each of our clients to schedule regular formal rehearsals. These are carried out at a convenient time either on site or at our clients. The procedure is carefully planned and fully documented. The result being that in the event of a ‘live’ incident, everybody knows their individual role and responsibilities and down time is kept to a minimum. In the future our use and reliance of data will continue to grow and

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BUSINESS CONTINUITY SPECIAL

This solution provides backing up exclusively to disk in a live environ-

the Christmas Holidays looming so quickly upon us, it is also the time By With Richard Smith, Head of Product Development and employment law expert at Croner, the for businesses to decide how to ensure their invoices and cash flow UK’s largest provider of workplace information, software and services, part of Wolters Kluwer. remains stable during the Christmas holiday period. We spoke to two businesses who told us how they are keeping their finances in check.

KEEPING YOUR SMALL BUSINESS IN BUSINESS!

Planning and preparing for contingencies are considered business best practice but sometimes we miss the obvious and simple steps we can take to avoid additional challenges like holiday periods and planned downtime. There are some easy steps to keep control of your business during these periods, used by my clients and in my business: Try to plan early for work coming in just before a holiday period. Ask your clients and customers if they have any work that needs to be done early to avoid holiday delays. This will help you and your customers and it might even bring some additional work with it simply because you have been in touch with your customers.

stick to them.

your team Prioritising is key. Managing time is a challenge for all of us and when we don’t do it we end up overwhelmed and then tend to achieve nothing. Put key dates and milestones into the diary and planner especially relating to deadlines before ing work in earlier and scheduling who will be responsible for actions and setting realistic and negotiated deadlines with your team. Break your working time available into 45 minute in between tasks. As business owners we get bogged down in ‘doing’ the work the bigger picture. This is where the value of planning really

Use a simple system of sending statements and chasing up on late payments. This way you will reduce the time between

money and help you keep your business IN business.

ENSURE A STRESS FREE CHRISTMAS WITH A HEALTHY CASH FLOW The months leading up to Christmas are renowned for being one of the busiest times of the year with a higher volume of to ensure goods from around the world arrive in UK warehouses in good time. However, it is important business owners and managers give careful consideration to orders they place at this time as one is excess stock from over estimating Christmas demand. This and many customer invoices are left outstanding.

out promptly and correctly ahead of the Christmas period, tightening up credit management processes to help keep with suppliers or shopping around to ensure you are getting securing longer credit terms.

A PROFILE WITH PERRY SCOTT NASH As part of the HBI Business Continuity Special, we went on the hunt for a business that executed its own business continuity plan and we came across Perry Scott Nash. Here we speak to Pat Perry who is the Founder and executive Chairman.,

What do Perry Scott Nash specialise in? Perry Scott Nash Associates (PSN) specialise in helping businesses ensure that they are compliant with a wide range of laws and regulations and wherever possible, adopt best practice guidelines so as to ensure safe, hygienic and prosperous businesses. ronmental standards, disability discrimination and construction design & safety.

Talk me through your Business Risk and Crisis Management offerings Business risk and crisis management is a critical exercise that all businesses When? And what will we do if it does? We can help businesses understand the need for a Business Risk / Business Continuity review and set out with them the key stages they need

test out that it works.

Do you implement your own Crisis Management Strategy within your organisation?

“Cloud” storage would be ideal). A good Business Continuity Plan clearly shows who should be doi.e. now, ready to delegate tasks and make people accountable.

reason, if all staff fall ill at the same time, if the IT system collapses, or our phone lines go down etc.

Have you ever had to use it? Fortunately no, however as you can see from above, we would have the systems in place to deal with any eventuality should it arise.

What do others say about your service (feel free to include a testimonial here) We were involved in developing a Business Continuity Plan for a major London nightclub operator and implemented training for all employees on the plan. A few weeks after we had completed our project they had to use the plan due to a bomb explosion in the vicinity of the nightclub. We received extremely positive feed-

What basic advice do you give to SMEs looking to start implementing a business continuity plan? SME’s need to accept that a Business Continuity Plan is a good thing, no matter how small they are. Keep it simple and start small! whether they are risks caused by you or your staff or risks that you may be affected by i.e. caused by others. Have a “Plan B”. There’s lots of free advice available on the internet and good consultancies will always be able to help you implement a pragmatic plan.

Where are you based We are based in the Arlington Business Park in Stevenage.

What common business continuity features have to be in place to be successful? Common business continuity features are:

your business

A good Business Continuity / Crisis Plan is simple to understand, practical and achievable... ... and clearly shows who should be doing what

A good Business Continuity / Crisis Plan is simple to understand, practical and achievable. It must be kept where people know

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BUSINESS CONTINUITY SPECIAL

and the training they may well have had casualties.

DISASTER RECOVERY

PROTECTING YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET While it’s relatively easy to put a value on stock for insurance purposes, pricing one of your most precious assets – your company data – is far more challenging. Whereas stock can be insured and replaced, data cannot. Customer databases, supplier contacts, orders, emails - all the information needed to run a business - could be wiped out as a

companies should assess how costly downtime would be to their business.”

place.

Alternatively, an enterprise can choose to back up to a virtual environment of their business, allowing for smooth restoration and medium recovery times.

large or small, to back up their data, and most importantly to do it off site,” says Peter Groucutt, Managing Director of Databarracks

Thirdly there is the option to backup and restore physical environments. Although this will take slightly longer to get up and running, recovery times ultimately depend on the amount of data that needs to be restored.

online backup and Disaster Recovery (DR) services. take into account – a breakdown in communication with customers

24/7/365 CUSTOMER SUPPORT

It is essential when choosing a Managed Service DR provider that recovery process immediately.

IS THE DATA CENTRE RESILIENT AND SECURE?

Databarracks has compiled a list of key factors to consider when devising a DR strategy:

Companies need to make sure that their data is being stored in the most secure environment possible and on the best possible hardware, or they could still be vulnerable. Databarracks’ ultraware available and is located in a low risk area in a nuclear

REMOTE ACCESS

power supplies.

access is an essential part of an IT Disaster Recovery (DR) Plan.”

Remote access can be achieved by a Disaster Recovery portal, so providing there is an internet connection, staff can log on and start using their own accounts, allowing them access to servers,

ALTERNATIVE OFFICE PREMISES

Many business owners will have backed up their systems but after

well as any other bespoke applications to do with their business.

from.

BACKING UP AND RESTORING SYSTEMS

have to relocate in an emergency,” reveals Groucutt.

There are three main routes to backing up and restoring systems, all of which allow remote access. The solution implemented is dictated by business requirements and recovery time objectives.

on site and within hours your entire infrastructure can be uploaded. Any changes you make to your systems after the replication are then sent online.” again within minutes rather than hours,” adds Groucutt. PlateSpin and Double-Take for DR and failover,” says Groucutt.

or a hard drive, we can upload it to the data centre and provide the environment at home or elsewhere to get the company up and running again as a cloud service. on hardware and instead operate their IT infrastructure on a utility basis, paying at the end of each month.” Databarracks Limited www.databarracks.com

T HE H E RTF O RDS HIRE B U S INES S

TU ES DAY 8 TH NOVEMBER 2011

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AFTER HOURS

SHOWGUIDE

INTRO & SPEAKERS INTRO Hertfordshire Business Independent has held a number of successful events across Hertfordshire, including the Hertfordshire Business Expo in Watford. We are looking forward to them emulating that success here in Broxbourne. The event will give local businesses an opportunity to promote their brand in the area, but also to meet and network with other businesses across Hertfordshire and attend one of the many seminars and workshops that are on offer. In 2011/12, Broxbourne Borough Council has prioritised improving the economic wellbeing in the area and supporting town centres as one of it’s key objectives. This includes a strong focus on business development, whether it be helping new businesses to become established, or existing businesses to grow. The Council’s support for engaging businesses is underpinned through events such as the Hertfordshire Business Expo.

We are in the fortunate position to be welcoming the London 2012 Games to the Borough next year when the Lea Valley White Water Centre in Waltham Cross will host the canoe slalom events. In Hoddesdon town centre, the Council recently approved A WORD FROM THE ORGANISERS the redevelopment of the Tower Centre and is working with developers to expand Welcome to the Autumn 2011 Hertfordshire Business Expo Special. We're delighted to be hosting our second EXPO in Broxbourne and have been thrilled at the enthusiastic response to this exciting Broxbourne as there are such a large number of investment opportunities in the area. day for Hertfordshire business. We would like to thank our sponsors, supporters, speakers, exhibitors and the business community in general for their support. We have an action packed day planned and this show guide will help you to plan your day effectively. If you haven't registered yet, just visit www.hertsexpo.co.uk where you can also book your own personal itinerary of networking, seminars, workshops. You can also catch a video clip of our Spring event, which attracted over 700 delegates and was an inspring and motivating day for all concerned. We look forward to seeing you there... Simon George, The HBI, Katrina Sargent & Karen Birch, The Business Club : West Herts

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RUBY WAX

Ruby Wax, best known for her T.V. documentaries and interviews, involvement with the Royal Shakespeare Company and her work as script editor for various shows including Absolutely Fabulous, brings her inimitable style to The Herts EXPO. Previously Ruby studied psychology at the University of Berkeley, California and Regent’s College, London and is currently studying for an MSt in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy at Oxford University. Ruby also facilitates leadership groups to improve their communication skills as well as coaching and advising individual executives. Clients include: BAe, Orange, The Welsh Assembly, KPMG, Skype, eBay, London Business School, Women in Retail, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, GMT Communication Partners, O2.

WARREN CASS LinkedIn and twitter). You are there because you feel you ought to be, after all everyone else is, but you probably still don’t understand the opportunity, aren't achieving a return on investment and I doubt you have a strategy in place. Come and join me, Warren Cass on the 8th November at XXXXXXX where we can put this right. I will give you a framework for implementing a strategy having already businesses large and small have used social media…. The good, the bad and the ugly! I promise we will have a bit of fun in the process! Hope to see you there!

DAVID KEY

David is one of the UK’s leading behavioural strategists and has 27 years extensive business experience, delivering training programmes for sales, goal setting, motivation, leadership, management and customer services. He understands the important link between learning new ways of thinking and how improved business results, quickly. teaches, guides, coaches and installs new behavioural strategies enabling people to get the best from themselves and those around them, effortlessly. David insists that properly trained, coached and motivated employees are the key to business success, period! and has created a 16 CD and 2 DVD based Business NLP Home Study Program which is recognised internationally, as leading edge.

KIMBERLY DAVIS

less by detoxing their marketing programme and protecting them from The Flash, Fluff and Fakers. Her passion for helping SMEs led to the creation of The Marketing Masters Series which is a collection of full day events offering training, inspirational talks, and networking in critical areas of marketing such as social media, PR, advertising, branding, websites, writing & communications, customer service, and more. Kimberly’s Mentoring Club allows business owners and professionals from all across the UK to access individual advice and attention from Kimberly so that they can accelerate growth and fast track results. Kimberly is also known from The Apprentice Series 5, where she quickly gained the

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Kimberly Davis is an accomplished marketing entrepreneur, author, and business mentor. She is the owner of Sarsaparilla Ltd. where she pioneered the concept of

EXECUTIVE PROFILE

AFTER HOURS

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DAVID BAUM : DEANEM COLLECTIONS IMPROVE YOUR SETTLEMENT DAYS WITHOUT UPSETTING YOUR CLIENT It’s a fact that more business fail through lack of cash than lack of orders. Another fact is that the majority of business owners do not know how to maximise their credit control. The workshop will be conducted by David Baum the Chief Executive of Collection Awards. David can and will provide you with the tools of how to improve subject of fraud, how to recognise the 3 stages of Bankruptcy and when to divorce the client who is a liability.

MIKE WOOLNAUGH : PENINSULAR EMPLOYMENT LAW/HEALTH & SAFETY MASTERLCLASS Established in 1983, Peninsula is the UK’s largest Employment Law and Health and Safety consultancy; providing fast and practical 24 hour advice to 25,000 employers. We leave nothing to chance, providing insurance indemnity, TaxWise - a tax free management tool aimed to ease the burden on employers. We are there to inform and aid you every step of the way, giving your business a more certain future. Our aim is to take care of all your Employment Law and Health & Safety issues, meaning you can focus on growing your business. Protecting your Business is our Business.

SHIRISH CHAUHAN : TOTAL WSI HOW SMART IS YOUR MOBILE STRATEGY?

EXECUTIVE PROFILE

How Smart is Your Mobile Strategy? Background: Growth in smartphones has been rapid and continues to grow as do sales of tablet pcs. Is your business maximising the opportunities this penetration and growth provides? Content: The mobile phone landscape. Current Trends Why should you care How to improve Engagement and lead generation 5 Key Takeaways to add value to your mobile strategy.

CLIVE MULLIGAN : SIMPLY CONSULTING PLAY YOUR MARKETING CARDS RIGHT Traditional marketers talk about return on investment, but lets be honest most small businesses don’t know how to get the best return our of their marketing spend if they have any spend to spend. Most small businesses don’t know where or how to start with their marketing activity. Using a pack of playing cards as the back drop to this

GARY EVANS : ACTION COACH THE 7 DEADLIEST SMALL BUSINESS SINS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM What are the 7 deadly sins that successful companies have learned to avoid, but all too many businesses still manage to fall foul of? In this interactive and engaging session, you will learn what they are and how to avoid them. You will walk away with a different perspective on your business, the choices you’re currently exercising as well as strategies you need to make sure your business is set up for long term success Gary owns and runs a business growth and development practice founded on the turning 25 years of sales, business growth, and customer service experience with some of the world’s most innovative organisations, into practical strategies, tools and business education for small businesses, he helps business owners, who have the commitment and courage to face their challenges and take positive action, to become masters of their businesses rather than slaves to them.

www.hertsexpo.co.uk

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popular accounting software, resellers and trainers Streets ISA has been providing support and assistance to clients and non only last September. The last 12 months have been both busy established Stevenage based practice ISA Accountants. Following the merger the new practice of Streets ISA Chartered Accountants, which was based in Stevenage old town, has businesses the role and importance of the external accountant Accountants and Tax Advisers, bring a fresh approach to the Streets ISA Chartered Accountants ventures, through to larger owner managed and corporate support for established businesses, been providing support and

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Intensive support for start-up businesses My Incubator is Wentaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new business incubation service offered to pre-start clients free of charge for up to 3 months. This unique concept provides pre-start clients with a dedicated workspace and advisor support, in-house or virtual, to help fast track their business ideas. For a small early stage businesses not wanting to work from home. My Incubator facilities include: - Access to a hot desk with a PC, telephone & broadband - A professional business address - Ongoing advice & guidance from a dedicated advisor - Bespoke business planning & project fundraising advice - With brand new training courses launched to support businesses Business Centre in Watford, The Enterprise Centre in Potters Bar and the fourth, at the Bedfordshire and Luton Chamber on 0845 371 0891 or email info@myincubator.co.uk.

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Switch your business web access from slow-mo to fast-forward Struggling with slow internet access and need faster speeds to use web-based applications? Vtesse is deploying the latest EFM (Ethernet First Mile) technology in Hertfordshire to provide fast, reliable and affordable business internet access at speeds of up to 40 Mbit/s.

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Unravelling The Red Tape: Peninsula consultants, Mike and Claire Woolnough, will be on hand at The Hertfordshire Business Expo to help you through day to day issues you come across. Don’t get wrapped up in red tape. With so many changes in Employment Law some employers feel that they don’t want to take on staff. Unravel red tape with Peninsula with a 1 hour presentation. Presentation 11am – 12pm.

The employment law seminar will cover both recent and forthcoming changes to employment law and will provide practical advice and offer time to have any questions you may have answered by our experts. Comprehensive hand-outs will be distributed at the end of the event, covering all topics discussed in the seminar. The seminar will be presented by one of Peninsula’s senior legislation specialists who will go through each topic in a manner which is easy to understand and which offers easy to follow advice. The event will show you how much there really is take into consideration, however don’t get scared by it. The information you will gain from attending the seminar will show exactly how you can win back control of YOUR Business by understanding the world of Employment Law. For further information please call Mike Woolnough on 07966112083 or Claire Woolnough on 07896037029.

Established in 1983, Peninsula is the UK’s largest Employment Law and Health and Safety consultancy; providing fast and practical 24 hour advice to 25,000 employers. We leave nothing to chance, providing insurance indemnity, TaxWise - a tax free protection We are there to inform and aid you every step of the way, giving your business a more certain future. Our aim is to take care of all your Employment Law and Health & Safety issues, meaning you can focus on growing your business. Protecting your Business is our Business. 7029 or via email, Claire.Woolnough@peninsula-uk.com. Alternatively Mike Woolnough is available on 0796 611 2083 or on email; Mike.Woolnough@peninsula-uk.com

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Abbotts Wills & Probate Services will be exhibiting at the Hertfordshire Business Expo on November 8th at Broxbourne Civic Centre. Pop along and have a chat and qualify for a 10% discount.

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11:00 - 12:00 FREE calendar. This dynamic, fast-paced, business-generating event allows delegates to meet everyone in the room. It is designed to build connections, start new business relationships and is one of the fastest ways of building your contact base. The Business Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unique matrix ensures you have the chance to promote yourself and your business to ALL attendees on a tableby-table basis and make many new connections that could lead you to new business. Bring heaps of business cards, promotional literature, a big smile and lots of energy...

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ARE YOU CONFIDENT YOUR CURRENT PENSION ARRANGEMENTS WILL GIVE YOU ENOUGH MONEY TO RETIRE ON?

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THE CHAMBER COMMUNITY BUSINESS AWARDS 2011 IN RECOGNITION OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF BUSINESS TO THE COMMUNITY OF THE ST ALBANS DISTRICT

A lavish dinner/dance marked the culmination of the fourth St Albans District Chamber of Commerce Community Business Awards Harpenden Road, St Albans, at the end of September where 130 guests enjoyed a three course meal before the ceremony began. The event was hosted by two chamber Directors June Cory and Paul Rosenthal The business awards recognise outstanding contribution to the business community and are open to individuals and businesses whose business strategy encompasses policies and projects that have a positive impact on the St Albans district.

to win this prestigious award in the local community & would like to thanks all patrons of Chez Mumtaj for voting for us” Chad Rahman, Managing Director

for delighted s Ottaway m Debenha nised with og to be rec for Best the Award Social Corporate ty. bili Responsi e I know th as keenly w category with d, conteste pplications a initially 30 ived. e being rec

surprised and ‘We were very n this award, pleased to wi r saw the othe we en wh ly al in especi re nominated we o wh es at od to candid . It is always go our category gnition of your receive reco made us is award has for efforts and th and positive at be up ry ve s feel ards dinner wa aw e Th . re tu s the fu d, fun and it wa ne an pl ll we k very able to networ be to e nic ly ns real fferent St Alba with other di d discuss our businesses an portunities op concerns and for the future.’ g p Cake Clothin Jo Mathers, Cu

of ing freely n o eople giv iti p n O g D o c y n re so ma ellent effort with nd energy. It’s exc a e their tim DO.” for all at s, Chief Executive n Ian Hopki

of Commerce by receiving this award. Over the the funds raised by the thousands of participants in the Half Marathon. I accept the award on behalf of everyone who has been involved in organising what is now a major event in the St. Albans sporting calendar.” Phil Gibson, Chittenden Autos

Being nominated for the Young Person Award, was a wonderful surprise. It was also a real pleasure to meet with the judges and talk to them about my career, life and future aspirations. Being named as a organised awards ceremony, with the support of such fabulous friends and family was so exciting. I was really moved, and delighted, by the kind words that people said and wrote about me. Sitting at the back of the venue on the night, I never expected to win anything and when my name was called out I was astounded! From Katie Cairns, Cardif Pinnacle

FEATURE : COMMUNITY BUSINESS AWARDS

Green Business Aw ard this year. Lussmanns strive s to be an ethical and sustai nable restaurant, cham pioning the best British suppliers, managing our resources effectiv ely, engaging with the community and minimising our im pact on the environment. We hope that this important recog nition by the St Albans Commerce will en Chamber of courage more restaurants to do the same.” Andrei Lussmann

following selected h a thoroug rocess p selection s winning ke which ma satisfying. re all the mo gramme ro Our CSR p

CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE Not too sure what to put in the box for your secret santa this year? Whether you need inspiration for that hard to buy for member of your family or a fellow colleague, let Hbi bring the shops to you this Christmas.

h t l hea

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Both of these are great for those with sensitive skin.

the perfect gift for the long winter nights as they help to keep skin protected through the cold seasons. Lee Stafford Poker Straight Mini Box - ÂŁ10 Four Poker Straight mini must haves make the perfect Straight Hair includes Poker Straight Shampoo and Conditioner, Dry Shampoo and Poker Straight

Union Jack Business Card Holder – £9.99 Racing Car Memo Holder – Golf Club Bag Pen Pot –

World Explorer Nesting Boxes – Rose Photo Frame Desk Summer Garden Desk and Letter Organiser - £12 Crocodile Desk Jane Austin Writing

Sue Wybrow : creator of Popdance

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FEATURE : CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE

stocking

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PLANNING THE CHRISTMAS PARTY

18 STEPS TO ORGANISING THE PERFECT CELEBRATION

The thought of planning the company Christmas party is, for many, an uncertain and scary prospect. This is often due to the large amount of pressure, lack of time and the stress of wanting to organise a really good night for the people you work with. So we let the experts at Chilli Sauce (http://www.chillisauce.co.uk/) lead the way and let us into their top tips of successful oraganisation of that all-important Christmas party. Christmas is a busy period and diaries fill up fast, so get something pencilled in asap. Send potential dates around the office to find the preferred date and responses will give you an indication of numbers for the event. Usually when selecting a date, the majority rules and remember you can’t please everybody. To ensure a good turn out, send a save the date email to everybody as soon as you’ve settled on one. At this stage it doesn’t matter that you don’t know any details about the party, it’s more important to get as many people to the event as you can. The size of your budget will ultimately impact on the type of Christmas party you organise. Allocate the budget by what is most important to your group. This will depend on the type of company you work for and the expectations of the people you work with. Do you have the budget to accommodate husbands, wives and partners? These are the people who support your people so it’s good to thank them if you can afford it – but don’t compromise the quality of the party over it. The earlier you book the venue, the better – good venues go quickly! Make the most of the events team at the venue, they’ll know the space really well and will have seen plenty of events there – so fire your questions at them! Check that the venue will be willing to clear up afterwards, otherwise you may want them to hire in some extra help, rather than clear up yourself Before signing anything check back through the quote and ensure it includes everything you require and that there will be no hidden charges Formally confirm the location. Choose a theme and research thoroughly. Here are a few popular ideas: room, colours, film inspired, wild west, spy themed, Caribbean and Santa’s workshop. hiring in external caterers? This will depend on whether the venue allows external companies to cater for events and the budget available. Choose how you would like the food to be served, e.g. pre dinner nibbles placed on the tables or canapés taken round by waiting staff, a buffet or sit down three course meal with full silver service (and will this be a set menu or will guests need to choose beforehand)? Choose arrival drinks. Christmas favourites include Winter Pimms, Mulled Wine, Sparkling Wine, Christmas Cocktails or you could come up with a drink related to the theme. You’ll need to choose a serving process for drinks, either waiter service, order from the bar, drinks scattered around the venue or set up in one place so staff can just help themselves Usually dancing at the Christmas party is a must, but it depends on the type of group. Hire a DJ, musician, band or put together a Christmas playlist (have some music playing) Coordinate between the venue, DJ and band to ensure you have all the kit required, such as stage, dance floor, sound, lighting. Alternatively you may need to hire in some extra bits of kit. Choose entertainment. Here are a few popular ideas: comedian, juggler, table magician, casino tables, murder mystery, cocktail making or demonstration with flaring, caricaturist, dancers, after dinner speakers, cabaret act, stilt walkers, lookalikes, paparazzi, stunt show, circus performers, fun games (like giant scalextric, console games, air hockey, pool, jenga), impersonators, a firework show or karaoke. make all the difference. Here are some ideas:

Sometimes little changes can

Hire a photographer -so you’ll have visual reminders of the event. Good shots can be used on the company blog and website, in marketing materials and put up round the office Put together goody bags – but don’t just fill them with company collateral, things like chocolates and wine always go down well. Have a cloakroom – December is a cold month when large, heavy jackets are used, so take them off their hands when they arrive. If you’re expecting a large amount of guests, hire plenty of staff to manage when everybody arrives and leaves or suggest different arrival times (don’t have people waiting for ages in the cold). Get local taxi numbers and details on public transport for that night. Put details on one document and print copies out for when guests leave. Organise a coach (if required).

iHELICOPTER- 2011’S MUST-HAVE CHRISTMAS GADGET iHELICOPTER – THE ANDROID & IPHONE-CONTROLLED HELICOPTER

Taking the UK’s obsession with smartphone Apps to the next level, ParamountZone.com is unveiling the Lightspeed iHelicopter – the only remote-controlled helicopter on the UK market which can be piloted by iPhone or Android smartphones this Christmas. The new technological gadget launched mid October and is exclusively available from ParamountZone.com. The iHelicopter takes App Controller.

but the iHelicopter really impressed us – great packaging, a high quality concept and the innovative way it can be controlled from a smartphone. And for once, unlike other similar products on the market, this isn’t just about iPhones: this model is compatible with several Android handsets, making it a truly accessible Christmas gift. Having spent more than a decade playing with and selling helicopters of all shapes and sizes, we know our choppers and can honestly say this is also the most durable of ‘copters we’ve ever had the pleasure of crashing.” The iHelicopter is simple to use: just download the free App from the iTunes App Store or Android Market, plug in the IR transmitter (included) and away you go! The helicopter can be controlled up/down, left/right, forward/back and is easy to use, thanks to the in-built Gyro. The App itself will be frequently updated with new features, meaning users get the ‘new product’ feeling again and again without any additional expenditure – for example, budding pilots will soon be able to enjoy the Flight Recording mode, which allows them to record iPod Touch and supported Android phones including: HTC - Desire S, HTC - Desire HD, HTC - Incredible S, Samsung - 9100, Samsung - i9000,

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Christmas Parties at Mercure Letchworth Hall Hotel From 27th November through to the end of January We hold a variety of dates, menus and accommodation packages available for you to enjoy over the festive season. From party nights in November for those of you who can’t wait for Christmas to start, to Christmas lunches in the run up to and including Christmas day and of course New Years Eve.

AFTER HOURS

Please book fast as dates are limited. Prices range from £16.95 - £41.95 per person

Tel: 01462 650 501

kevans@mercureletchworth.com Mercure Letchworth Hall Hotel, Letchworth Lane Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire SG6 3NP

putting the sparkle back into business catering sandwiches finger foods cakes & fruit breakfasts

drinks

CALL TODAY TO ARRANGE A MEETING & FREE SAMPLES tel: 01707 331751 email: buffets@eatlunch.co.uk

THE ALL-NEW STYLISH FORD RANGER

Equally capable on and off-road, Ranger’s durability, power and reliability mean it’s a match for even the

trols and premium comfort options such as leather seating now deliver a more relaxing drive, on short or long journeys.

. -

VERSATILE INTERIOR The XLT has premium features, such as air conditioning, a high-quality 6-CD/MP3 audio system with aux-in connection, sophisticated Thunder offers real luxury. Behind the privacy glass there are two-tone black leather seats (front heated), footwell and rear passenger lighting, illuminated ‘Ranger’ scuff plates and a clever off-road information centre with inclinometer. For those who demand the absolute best, look no further than the Wildtrak. Its spacious interior delivers all the executive luxury and comincorporate the Wildtrak logo. There’s also a leather-wrapped steering wheel and gearshift knob, chrome inserts, switches and handles,

HANDY STOWAGE An ergonomically designed interior will make your life easier whether you are using your Ranger for business or leisure. To keep things organised, there’s a two-tier centre console with a double lid, so no matter how wet or muddy things get outside, inside things will remain clean and dry. The upper compartment is ideal for mobile phones and sunglasses, while the lower bin stores larger objects, with space can support an impressive 10 kg in weight. two, 1-litre bottle holders.

To really stand out on the street, a site, or a mountain top, Ranger sports a range of stylish alloy wheels, standard on XLT, Thunder and Wildtrak to choose from.

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ing standards.

ARE THERE CULTURES WHERE NETWORKING JUST CAN’T WORK? ANDY LOPATA

Last week I spoke at the ‘Antreprenor 2010’ Conference in Bucharest, Romania. A number of people came up to me after my talk and asked me whether there were cultural differences between the UK and Romania and, if so, whether those differences would make it harder for networking to take hold. More than once I was told that people in Romania are less willing to share ideas, contacts or advice with their competition. I was told that people are ‘closed’ to each other and it was unlikely that such interaction would be successful. While I admit to not having a tremendous grasp of Romanian culture in just three days spent there, I would be very surprised if networking didn’t take off there. The people I met were very warm and friendly and they engaged with each other positively. I didn’t see people left alone or struggling to integrate themselves into conversation as I often do in the UK. Romania is a young country in democratic and market terms. Under communist rule until twenty years ago, entrepreneurialism is still growing and many complained that small businesses are not effectively supported by the Government. It’s not that long ago that people in the UK would have made the same complaints and would have doubted the chances of networking working here. In fact, I still meet many people who write off networking as a serious business tool and see competition as ‘dog-eat-dog’, rather than providing opportunities for collaboration.

NETWORKING

I met young entrepreneurs in Romania who are very active networkers, enthusiastic about forming groups of young professionals

such as Junior Chamber of Commerce (JCI) and independent groups. BNI Chapters are growing and other networks meet successfully. As for a ‘closed people’, the journalist who interviewed me the day before my speech had the completely opposite view. “Why do we need such networks?” she asked me. “We do this naturally anyway.” I may be naïve but I don’t believe that an existing culture is a bar to networking becoming an important and accepted part of business life. It may be slower to take off in some areas than others but a generation is coming through worldwide who want to work together and support each other. that networking hasn’t been widely discussed in such terms before. I hope that last week’s event is the start of a conversation that will change people’s perceptions.

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