11 minute read
Business News
If you’ve recently started a business, you may be interested to learn that, according to a government report in 2019, the number of small businesses in the UK has increased every year since the year 2000 and is expected to do the same throughout this decade, too. However, the same report also finds that fewer than half of UK start-up businesses make it beyond the five-year mark. Ouch! That’s not great news, is it? Here’s what you can do to beat the odds… It’s simple, get a business coach or mentor! According to The National Mentoring Day website, a mentor is defined as: Someone who provides support and helps the mentee to review their situation through a process of reflection, questions, signposting, challenge, advice and feedback. Research shows that there is a strong link between businesses that survive and those that get mentorship and/or coaching support. 93% of small business owners say that mentoring helps them to succeed. (Source Sage.com) 67% of businesses report an increase in productivity due to mentoring. (Source mentorsme.org)
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RECOVERY OF COMMERCIAL RENT ARREARS
Commercial landlords and tenants should note significant changes in the enforcement of commercial rent arrears. As of 25 March, the blanket moratorium on enforcement or recovery methods such as forfeiture, Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR) and winding up petitions, was replaced by the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill. This legislation carves out a ‘ringfenced period’ of rent debt which, if applicable, will continue to carry significant exemption from enforcement methods. Commercial tenants with arrears falling outside of this period will no longer enjoy statutory protection. For those rents which fall within the ringfenced period, a binding arbitration process has been introduced, allowing landlords and tenants to fully conclude the impasse on any outstanding rent arrears. Both landlords and tenants should consider obtaining advice on the changes to ensure that they understand the implications. For more information, readers can email Sam Pedley at mfg Solicitors through, samuel.pedley@mfgsolicitors.com, or by calling 01562 820181.
70% of businesses that receive mentoring support survive for five years or more. (Source FSB) Double the rate of those without mentors. Richard Branson is quoted as saying, “If you ask any successful businessperson, they will always have had a great mentor at some point along the road.” And it’s true! From Steve Jobs advising Mark Zuckerberg on the launch of Facebook, to Warren Buffett advising Bill Gates on growing Microsoft; the history of the business world is jam-packed with stories of successful mentoring partnerships. A recent survey by the UK’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, found that 94% of small businesses using external support (like mentors and coaches) have seen great benefits, particularly as these organisations are now more ambitious and have higher turnovers compared with those without mentors. The National Mentoring Day website identifies other advantages of using a mentor such as; access to resources, contacts, support, feedback and being given a fresh and/or a different perspective, as well as a newfound ability to resolve challenges. Mentees find that goals can often be achieved more quickly because an experienced mentor can help to identify new skills, inspire, motivate, and increase self-confidence, whilst providing accountability for the business owner. Running a business can be an isolating experience and we are here to help you. At RWC our coaches can wear mentor hats and vice versa. We are here to help businesses to grow, lead and adapt. Here are 7 ways in which we do this… At RWC we: communicate clearly and listen attentively. For both coaching and mentoring, it is important to set expectations and provide feedback. demonstrate respect and trust. Coaches and mentors should encourage individuals to think freely. We believe that it is important to show that we trust you to be successful, so that you feel confident to take action and make progress. make room for flexibility. Goals are important for both coaching and mentoring sessions. The coach or mentor and you, the business owner, will agree on a plan. People often worry that changing course is a sign of weakness. It is the opposite, as it demonstrates both maturity and confidence. are skilled in asking great questions. This will help you explore your options and help you to get a clearer way forward, simply by talking things through. offer you the opportunity to grow and develop yourself. There’s a fine line between business and personal coaching or mentoring and it’s almost impossible to grow your business without growing yourself. are trained in problem-solving. We are there to help you to work out what you really want and then help you create a clear roadmap to get there. We offer an impartial and encouraging ear to support you. We are completely nonbiased and totally impartial. are not there to set goals for you. We are not there to do the actions for you, and we are not there to tell you what to do. We will often draw on our own experiences to point you towards tools, frameworks and best practices which could help you. We can advise you, based on things that we recognise, from what we have seen work well with other businesses, too. A good business coach and mentor is about unlocking what you want and helping you to find a clear way of getting there. If this is of interest, do get in touch and we can have a chat about how we can work together; we’d love you to double your chances of business success.
KEEPING THE SKILLS ALIVE
Chamber Member You Do Better are looking to the future when it comes to attracting and retaining their talented associates. Ruby Edwards, Owner, works with associates rather than employees, enabling her to manage peaks and projects as well as tap into specialist talent when needed. Ruby says: “Our associates are people who often work in larger PR Agencies and want to earn a little more as a side hustle. They add to their pockets and skills in addition to their main job and we attract and retain the experience and knowledge we need to support our clients. I work with the associates to undertake projects in which they excel, where I’m less capable and they shine.” The associates’ skills include project management, awards/nominations forms and tenders, paid for social media advertising and website amends and additions. The You Do Better PR Futures Programme aims to support the team’s talent bank to convert their ideas into reality. New and existing associates within the team’s talent bank will be encouraged to gain their dream client by using their creative skills to formulate a campaign. Then, together, they’ll pitch it to the business. Ruby continues, “Whether we gain the work or not, we win. Not only do we gain time working together but also learn new skills, gain knowledge and experience of the creative and pitching process plus feedback from a dream client.” More about being part of the You Do Better Talent Bank of Associates and a chance to join the Futures Programme can be found on their website: www.youdobetter.co.uk
Stephanie Turner
Managing Director
Liz Gait
Business Owner
ZEBRA LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
“Jump; you might just fly!”
My Dad said these words to me nearly five years ago and they’ve stuck with me ever since. I’d reached a point in my career where something had to change, so I seized an opportunity to set up my own Landscape Institute Registered practice. Zebra Landscape Architects was born in 2017 from a desire to control my destiny and ultimately create a business that would be built on individual strengths and be diverse, equitable and inclusive. Females now hold more leadership roles in landscape architecture than ever before, but few have positions at the highest level. I take pride in being one of these women. I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t been a learning curve; juggling the enjoyable side of the job with the more serious day to day running of a business presents its own challenges but, with the right mindset, anything is possible. In 2020, I launched Zebra Ecology and Zebra Trees to provide the ultimate environmental consultancy. We now offer the full suite of services conducive to successful development for our residential, commercial and leisure clients. We take pride in working with our clients to make sure their development is the best it can be. The forthcoming Environment Act 2021 will present pressures like no other for developers as it strives to make provision about targets, plans and policies for improving the natural environment. It’s an exciting chapter for us which brings landscape, ecology and trees to the forefront of projects. I have an amazing team and without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Find out more about us:
www.zebralandscapes.co.uk www.zebraecology.co.uk www.zebratrees.co.uk
EG PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT
Mark Twain famously said “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” It was at the point I defined my ‘why’ when I took the leap from the corporate training world to establish EG People Development – it was a liberating and inspirational moment. Since then, I’ve simply loved everyday – enabling people to be the best version of themselves.
Working with individuals through to Executive teams, either through training or coaching, the purpose is to inspire and enable opportunities for growth and learning – all whilst having fun in the process!
My favourite leadership programmes where I see the greatest increase in people’s confidence are in self awareness, performance enablement courses, coaching skills and how to positively lead people through change. The key to these programmes is getting a good balance between achieving the results and inspiring and motivating people to achieve those results. Getting the balance right often starts with self awareness and this is where Insights Discovery comes in. This fun and colourful personal profiling tool is an essential first step in effectively leading and inspiring others. We cannot hope to do this well unless we first understand ourselves.
If you’re a bit stuck, need some inspiration or simply want to realise your own potential or that of people you work with, please do check out my website –
www.egpeopledevelopment.co.uk
or drop me a message via the website – I don’t charge for a chat either!
Penny Lowe
Accountant
Michelle O’Hara
Managing Director
WELLINGTON CONSULTING
Finance or Frustration
Do you prefer to work in your business rather than doing the paperwork that is needed to ensure it is profitable? Perhaps you love numbers and spend hours analysing costs to make sure you earn the most and pay the least tax you legally can? At Wellington Consulting, we have clients with a wide range of attitudes to accounts and tax with turnover from £10,000 to £10 million, although most are at the lower end.
Penny Lowe set up her independent accountancy practice, Wellington Consulting Ltd, in 2003 and kept it small to individually know her clients, their circumstances and future intentions. This enables her to give the best tax advice and also tailor her teams’ level of involvement. Non-computer clients send in their papers and books for us to load onto a system, for others, the clients themselves use QuickBooks (our favoured software), Xero, FreeAgent or Sage. We oversee everything and help out making sure they stay on the straight and narrow for their VAT, payroll, accounts and tax submissions whether individuals, sole traders, partnerships or companies. We also offer company secretarial services (for limited companies). Penny moved to St Owens Cross, Herefordshire, nearly seven years ago as she loves the countryside, spending time with her husband, horses and the Women’s Institute. She also has a holiday let and buy to lets so is familiar with the joys and challenges of small businesses.
Visit www.wcon.co.uk for more details, book a free call on 01989 730713 or email: admin@wcon.co.uk.
THURSFIELDS SOLICITORS
In the middle of a pandemic Michelle O’Hara became Thursfields’ first female managing director. Thursfields is a heavyweight regional law firm with offices across the West Midlands.
What do you enjoy most about running a law firm?
Leadership is a mindset not a job title or a position. I learn something new every week in my role and hope this makes me a better leader. I have particularly enjoyed being able to identify and nurture talent and create a strong leadership team to drive the business forward.
In 2021, Thursfields won the National Law Society’s Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award. Why does that matter?
We were delighted to win such a prestigious national award but for us this journey has only just begun. The legal profession, like many other industries, has a long way to go to become genuinely diverse and inclusive. We are currently leading a “Commitment to Change” Initiative which invites employers in professional services to join forces and collaborate on D&I. Fairness in pay is an important foundation for building inclusive culture. Thursfields is not legally required to conduct gender pay reporting due to our headcount. We have chosen to do this in line with our Values. A Gender Pay Gap is the difference between the average hourly earnings that female and male staff receive. The UK average pay gap is 15% between men and women. Our recent pay reporting showed less than a 1% pay difference but we are not complacent and will continue to keep this under review. We will also now focus on ethnicity pay reporting. Law firms sell their services through the expertise of their people. Our goal is to create an inclusive workplace culture where colleagues can feel valued and be themselves, therefore able to bring their best to our clients.
www.thursfields.co.uk Tel: 0345 20 73 72 8
