Inside 4 business matters 10 how to adapt 12 ask the expert 14 business support 25 inspirational leaders 26 sussex business heroes 38 finance focus 42 training and events 43 member to member 44 new members 46 covid-19 survey the magazine for sussex chamber of commerce members
june/july 2020
How we adapt Managing Covid-19 #sccbusinessheroes
Sussex Chamber of Commerce
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contents
june/july 2019 2020business businessedge edge
Sussex Chamber of Commerce
Welcome to our Business Edge magazine! People in Business
Sussex Chamber of Commerce currently represents over 1,000 member businesses. Membership of Sussex Chamber of Commerce offers access to invaluable business advice, money saving benefits, networking opportunities and provides a voice for businesses at a local, regional and national level. Business Edge is delivered free of charge to all Sussex Chamber of Commerce members as well as key business decision makers across the county. It has a circulation of 4,000 copies per issue. Business Edge is a Sussex Chamber of Commerce publication. If you have any stories you would like to tell us about or any comments please drop us an email at enquiries@
sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
SUSSEX CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Unit 4, Victoria Business Centre, 43 Victoria Road, Burgess Hill RH15 9LR
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FEATURE EDITOR Helen Compson helen.compson@distinctivegroup.co.uk
The last few months have been the most challenging for us all - physically, financially and mentally. As Government delivers its plan for the phased easing of restrictions and further information on financial support schemes, we will start to see companies returning to work and implementing risk assessments and social distancing measures. Business leaders demanded clear guidance and “practical questions answered” to help the UK begin emerging from its coronavirus lockdown in response to the Government’s 50-page plan to exit the lockdown. The national Chamber network has continued to call on Government for a detailed road map to help businesses plan their futures with certainty and see more people return safely to work. A phased and careful return to work is the only way to protect jobs and livelihoods. Firms will also need to know that Government support schemes and financial support will continue for as long as needed so they can plan ahead with confidence. Financial support will need to evolve for sectors moving at different speeds – some remaining in hibernation, while others get ready to open safely. Over the last few months, we started a search to find companies and individuals who had gone the extra mile to help support people, places, products and of course frontline key workers during the Coronavirus crisis. We therefore launched a search for Sussex Business Heroes after hearing so many incredible stories from businesses across our region. The campaign was to help highlight some of the tremendous work efforts of people and companies in the area, giving recognition to their hard work, tenacity and kindness. This issue of the magazine will feature
Ana Christie
Chief Executive Sussex Chamber of Commerce
the companies and individuals, who have gone above and beyond to help out during the crisis, the companies pivoting their production lines to help manufacture critical parts, helping local NHS hospitals and care services or lending a hand to support the more vulnerable in their neighbourhoods. A key role of Chambers is to bring businesses together, to learn from and support one another, to exchange tips and ideas and of course to do business. In normal times, our Chamber networking events and training courses are central to this. We continue to serve this purpose even as social distancing continues. We are holding webinars and virtual training courses, showcasing member to member offers to enable businesses to support one another and continue to do business where possible - a function which is vital to the region’s economic recovery from the coronavirus. Enjoy reading our magazine which is packed full of amazing member stories. For further information please contact the Sussex Chamber on 01444 259 259.
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DISCLAIMER Distinctive Publishing or Business Edge cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies that may occur, individual products or services advertised or late entries. No part of this publication may be reproduced or scanned without prior written permission of the publishers and Business Edge.
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sussex business heroes business support
26-28
business matters
4-6
business matters
8
how we adapt
33-34
how we adapt
10-11
how we adapt
36-37
ask the expert
12
finance focus
38-39
how we adapt
13
events and training
42 43
business support
14-17
member to member offers
health and wellbeing
18-19
new members
inspirational leaders
25
covid-19 survey
AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED
30
44-45 46
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business matters
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Brighton Business Expo Mike Monk
MD Monk Marketing
contact me or visit the Brighton Expo website. “To help exhibitors choose the best spot for their stand, we have also published this year’s floor plan.”
The Brighton Business Expo is now in its fifth year taking place at Brighton Racecourse on Thursday October 22nd 2020. Organiser Mike Monk says businesses who took part in last year’s hugely successful event wanted to book again at the earliest opportunity – hence the online stand booking form going live. A positive response to the Start Up Village, introduced last year, means the feature will be retained. Adding a new twist to the networking event will be free one-to-one business clinics, run by experts in their field. Slots will be available to book in advance during the runup to the expo. “We have produced a new information pack for 2020, which outlines a raft of new features for the 2020 Brighton Expo,” said Mike. “Anyone who would like a copy should
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Mike anticipates this year’s expo will have more than 100 stands and attract up to 800 visitors.
Multiple sector appeal He says, previously, those attending the one-day event have come from the travel, banking, finance, construction, advertising, and marketing sectors. Accountants, solicitors and those in the hospitality industries have also prominently featured. “From past pre-registrations, we have been able to calculate that 10 per cent of visitors represent businesses with a turnover of £1m plus or employ more than 50 people,” said Mike. “This is important information, particularly for growing brands that want to extend their reach to bigger companies. “Stands have already been booked and I would advise anyone thinking of exhibiting to view the floor plan now to avoid disappointment.”
Free with stand bookings While stand upgrades are available for this year’s expo, all stand bookings will automatically attract an expo stand package that includes a professional shell scheme
www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
stand, basic stand furniture, including a 2ft x 2ft display table, personalised company name boards, and free exhibitor name badges . Unlimited tea, coffee and biscuits will also be provided, along with support and preevent updates. All exhibitors receive a free listing in the printed show guide and a basic listing on the expo’s website. A free media pack and resources are supplied to help exhibitors promote their stand. Mike says: “Exhibitors benefit from their association with the business expo as well as PR opportunities. “It really is a great way of putting yourself out there and making the connections you need to generate leads and grow your business.” As usual, the day will start with a networking breakfast. The expo will once again boast keynote speakers, seminars and much more. The main show will run from 10am to 3pm. A picture gallery featuring scenes from this year’s event is available to view on the Brighton Expo website. Picture Book Films created a widely seen video of the day’s events and featured testimonials from those who took part. Take a look at the video https://vimeo.com/365763340
tel: 01444 259 259
business matters
june/july december/january 2019 business 2020 business 2018edge edge business edge
A serendipitous moment Neither of us were looking for a business partner, we were doing well as freelancers and both finalists in the micro business category. But one night ten years ago, Meg Fenn and I were seated at the same awards ceremony table and learned that we had a lot in common. Meg grew up in various states of the US and I was soon to live in the suburbs of Houston short-term. Both of us had also been made redundant whilst pregnant and set up as freelancers because of it. Our marketing, design, web development and PR skills collided beautifully and so did our ambitions. Collaborations began and five years later, we officially united and launched a stand-out new company brand Shake It Up Creative. Skip forward to 2020 and our creative company is award-winning with a diverse portfolio of clients. Both of us are also regular event speakers. Known for being highly responsive and collaborative Shake It Up has both established and been a part of some impactful initiatives which are setting the company apart. #ShakeItHUB - the first free drop-in marketing and design help session in Sussex, held every few weeks – has provided help to over 300 businesses and went virtual during Covid-19
Our 2020 hack day brought local talent together to vastly improve the Sussex Cancer Fund’s website in just a few hours.
#ShakeToCreate - our annual business competition - the 2020 prize is an active creative consultation.
The latest collaboration is raising money for Rockinghorse Children’s Charity via the #NHSRainbowTee campaign.
The main point here is that collaboration is how we began and is now part of our company’s DNA, alongside purpose, truly helping it grow. Seeing past the face value of opportunities that present themselves, partnering with others whilst simultaneously having a reason for being, is enabling us to shake things up for clients.
What a time to be alive! Andy Stevens
Director Windrush Holidays
Some may say that is not true, take a look at the world in lockdown! As a businessman and entrepreneur along with my wife Margaret we run Windrush; holiday letting and sales along with tourist maps and mailboxes (PO Box). Most of which is shutdown except the mailboxes; people need their post. I am talking to risk takers and opportunity makers of the business world. Can’t you see the world will be new in thought action and deed! Well does that not prompt the pioneering spirit in us or have we taken on the fear that has tried to grip the world! We need to wake up to new beginnings; nothing need be the
same. That’s a challenge to most people; no one likes change. In the world of business you cannot succeed unless you embrace change (not loose change); real change this time. Stop fighting to get back to what was; think about what you can achieve in the brave new world. Lay down the old season; this is reset time. Embrace the new season with confidence that things will come through with brand new shoots, a new spring; one we have not seen before. Are we really pioneers and entrepreneurs? Or is it all hype and talk? Are we fighters or flighters? Are we going to be morose and downbeat, or upbeat and excited? Yes, we may have many challenges at present but we must remember that we in business have fought and won many a beating. It reminds me when we were just starting to get back on our feet after the financial crash when in 2012 our Windrush office was flooded out and later that year we were told we could not let chalets at a holiday park any more. This was a double blow as we were the pioneers that opened the door to letting on that site.
Bracklesham Bay Well we could have given up, especially as we had to hand our business over to our competitors! One property owner was in tears over it. We kept going; we persevered, yes, we had to lay off our colleague of 5 years; not nice. Yes, my brother died that year but my daughter got married. Come on business world, let’s show how it should be done; forget past mistakes. The person that does not make a mistake does not make anything. Let us see this thing through to a better world full of integrity, honesty and love for fellow man and thank God we are still able to fight!
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business matters
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Fantastic community spirit lifts tea company The Covid-19 Pandemic Lockdown back to back with the Brexit hammering has tested the best of us in business. For us micro businesses trying to get off the ground, it has been a struggle and a half and often scary! But don’t give up is what I keep telling myself – specially when the going gets tough, the tough get going- is the message I want to share with you all. A bit of our background: seeing the fast growing market trend in personal natural health and beauty we established Pavilion Healthcare in 1997, and built a niche market in Indian Ayurveda herbs. We received enormous training and support from Sussex Chamber of Commerce back then. As medics, learning how to start a business was daunting, and the business support was just tremendous! We rebranded in 2016, the new Pavilion brand has now been firmly established as an international brand supplying high end speciality organic teas, turmeric lattes and a range of natural wellness products, which we are exporting to the Netherlands, Denmark and France. We are also now negotiating with the UAE and other European countries. We are a husband and wife team, and I am a GP with a special interest in natural medicine. My wife and I have been pioneers in introducing Indian herbal medicine to the UK since 1987. We now have customers across eight countries in Europe, developed with our distributor and resellers in the Netherlands and France. They’re all drinking our highend certified organic herb teas and turmeric lattes and have been for the last two years.
However, our hearts started sinking last year when our orders from Europe dropped due to Brexit. Nevertheless we can still rely on a strong home market, especially among our Yoga customers, loyal now for over 20 years, so hail Great Britain! Recently, with covid-19 there has been a complete shutdown of European orders but due to the lockdown our online sales have actually gone up – Thank you dear Britons! The most exciting aspect of doing business in the UK is the fantastic business community, the entrepreneurial spirit of people, and above all the huge support from Government agencies like the Department of International Trade. The free training workshops are just so essential, and the Business Advisors from the Department of International Trade – our personal advisors Lev Denker-Senior Export Business Advisor and Valerie Pondaven, Europe Enterprise Network Consultant are just amazing – arranging face to face meetings with buyers from the EU and UAE and representing us at major trade shows with DIT advisors from Europe.
What would we do without the Sussex Chamber of Commerce? They are our huge support system for advice ranging from finance applications, recruitment, legal issues, to export documentation. Three years ago, when we had an opportunity to export to Iran we didn’t know where to start with the documentation – and the Chamber did all our export documentation papers for us at a very low fee. Political issues halted the trade but it was a great learning. People are now tending towards spending more on their own wellbeing so we are very optimistic of our online sales growing fast. As the Lockdown lifts we have had two small orders from French resellers, an enquiry from Poland, and a procurement lead from UAE via our DIT advisors! The Corona Virus is here to stay but we will learn how to live and work safely with it, so let us all be positive and move forward without fear! We send our good wishes to ALL OUR BUSINESS COLLEAGUES to Stay Safe, and let us know if we can help with your wellbeing in mind body and spirit during this Lockdown and beyond! Good Luck.
Honey Barrett Chartered Accountants Managing Director who originally started as a trainee in the predecessor firm in 1978.
Paul Knight with Abi Newbury With effect from 1st May 2020, the role of Managing Director at Honey Barrett Chartered Accountants will pass to Abi Newbury. Abi joined the firm in 2002 and has worked closely alongside the Directors throughout her tenure. For the past 20 years, Honey Barrett has been successfully led by Paul Knight,
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Honey Barrett is made up of three separate offices: Eastbourne, Bexhill and Wadhurst. Each has a local office Director who leads their team within a framework set by the board, which in turn is led by the MD. With Paul’s strong and dependable leadership Honey Barrett has gone from strength to strength, being the accountants of choice for many clients in Sussex, Kent and beyond. Paul will remain as a Director in the Eastbourne office, continuing to focus his efforts on looking after his clients, but taking a step back from the leadership of the firm. Having joined as a junior manger, Abi helped grow the client base and team in Bexhill substantially, and now heads up
www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
the Medical Department there, she will also be retaining her role as Marketing Director for the firm. Abi remarked, “I am relishing the chance to lead the Honey Barrett team from the top, doing so with a great management team to support me. I’m incredibly honoured to have been given this opportunity.” The transition started internally last year to ensure a smooth handover for both clients and staff. Paul notes: “Clearly the next year is going to be a huge challenge for us all. We’ll have to wait and see when the lockdown restrictions are eased and how quickly things return to normal, however Honey Barrett is as well placed as it can be to help clients, and to in turn not only survive, but in the longer term thrive. I am proud to have led Honey Barrett in its current corporate format over the last 13 years, and wish Abi every success in her new role”.
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business advertorial matters
june/july december/january 2019 business 2020 business 2018edge edge business edge
Intelligencia Training engage with GVC Group Specialist intelligence, counter-fraud and risk management apprenticeship training provider Intelligencia Training, have been commissioned by GVC Group to deliver intelligence training to delegates within a number of departments within their business. GVC Group operates in the betting and gaming sector. In the UK, their brands include Ladbrokes, Coral and Gala Bingo. The innovative intelligence analyst apprenticeship standard was developed in conjunction with a consortium of high profile public and private sector organisations to deliver formalised and standardised working practices relating to the way in which organisations gather, utilise and make decisions based upon intelligence and data. Delivering parity in skills with other sectors and organisations that Intelligencia Training engage with including Government agencies, Police forces, local authorities, the banking and insurance sectors, utilities providers as well as other gaming and gambling businesses the programme is utilised to within departments including intelligence, counterfraud, risk, security, loss prevention, antimoney laundering and many others reliant upon intelligence and data. The programme will deliver a number of structured analytical techniques that allow analysts to become more effective, efficient and empowered within their various specialised roles. Working closely with GVC Group’s Apprenticeship Leads, Omari Harry, Stephanie Emmanuelle and a wide range of departmental managers a cohort of delegates was identified who work across various multiple facets within the business.
These ranged from anti-money laundering, responsible betting, security investigators and other analysts who will all be given the opportunity to work closely together during this apprenticeship learning programme. Intelligencia Training’s mixed cohort approach has been delivering strong results within many sectors promoting interorganisation, interdepartmental and interrole sharing of intelligence and analytical processes. Intelligencia Training’s Commercial Director, Nick Atkinson, commented “The opportunity to work with another high profile organisation such as GVC Group is obviously fantastic for us. We have been working with other organisations within this sector as well as those that regulate the industry therefore the ability to share best practice should deliver strong results. From the onset, the support shown from senior management and line managers has been outstanding, they clearly understand the benefits that the intelligence analyst apprenticeship programme can deliver as well as the commitment and support required. It has been a pleasure working with Ladbrokes for a number of months to get us to the point where we have now commenced their learning journey”
GVC Group’s Apprenticeship Lead, Omari Harry, commented “I am excited to be engaged with Intelligencia and Nick Atkinson on what should prove to be an exemplary opportunity to invest in our people. Furthermore, to invest using our apprenticeship levy with ‘meaning and with long lasting effect’ which is an ongoing theme in our wider Talent and Development Department. Looking at the experience and impressive client list Intelligencia holds; moreover, the attitudes of Nick and his team toward excellence in delivery and ‘the detail’ I am filled with confidence that we will see positive change from this. As a company, being able at a minimum, to contribute to an example of great practice in developing people within our sector is always a win for GVC” You can read more about Intelligencia Training and the programmes they deliver at www.intelligenciatraining.com.
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business matters
august/september june/july 2020 2019 business edge
You are not alone At the time I am writing this we are taking the first baby steps out of lockdown but the likelihood for many is a continuing and potentially permanent change to the way we work, rest and play. Business life and home life have for most of us never been more challenging and stressful. For many business owners and leaders, trying to manage working from home, communicating with staff and stakeholders, staying positive, making balanced financial decisions and all in a very uncertain world is an enormous task. And there are no reference points – we’ve never done this before.
LoveLocalJobs Foundation C.I.C launches digital series to inspire next generation Not wanting the inability to visit schools stop them from inspiring the next generation, the LoveLocalJobs Foundation C.I.C has launched the first in a series of videos to help our local community stay positive during these uncertain and challenging times. Originally made with young people in mind, the #LLJLockdown series is beneficial to anyone looking for a few minutes of positivity and reflection. The videos feature local radio personality Jack the Lad. Jack talks about gratitude, teamwork, comfort zone, resilience and mindset, all of which are topics included in Dare to Dream, the new inspirational programme launched by the Foundation in September. The programme has reached over 8,000 local students this year thanks to sponsors KSD Group, Fireco, Golden Lion Group, TSS Facilities and Rivervale. The #LLJLockdown series explores how attributes such as a positive mindset and resilience can not only help the next generation through some of the difficulties we currently face, but also help them fulfil their potential both in life and the world of work.
Getting back to ‘normal’ will be just as challenging with enhanced HSE requirements, a workforce with differing levels of personal anxiety, increased risk of workplace tension between the anxious and the cavalier, possibly higher levels of business debt and future cash demands from deferred taxes, rents, capital holidays on loans and a CBILS or BBLS added on top. Staying strong, leaning into the headwinds and keeping going will test us all. Through lockdown there has undoubtedly been an increase in feelings of anxiety and loneliness. Recent studies have suggested that up to a quarter of adults have felt loneliness and being the boss is lonely at the best of times. That’s why I’m so proud of what the British Chambers of Commerce has been doing nationally and what we have been doing locally. Promoting the needs and interests of business, looking after our members and doing everything we can to show you are not alone.
The first episode, Gratitude, is live and can be found on the LoveLocalJobs.com YouTube channel. In this video, Jack talks about reflecting and taking stock of all the little things we have in our lives that we should all show more appreciation for.
Rob Clare
Chairman Sussex Chamber of Commerce
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www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
tel: 01444 259 259
business advertorial matters
june/july december/january 2019 business 2020 business 2018edge edge business edge
A guide to remote leadership during the Coronavirus outbreak In recent weeks, many people will have begun working from home for the very first time due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In this time of change and uncertainty, good leadership has never been more important. For leaders used to a vibrant, buzzing office atmosphere, many are finding out that the sudden requirement to direct, inspire and reassure a remote team is not easily done, even more so when anxieties in that team surrounding the Coronavirus outbreak and future job security is thrown into the mix. Everyone seems to be on hand with reams of (mostly contradictory!) pieces of advice, so in an effort to help these leaders manage their newfound remote teams, we spoke to MaST, leadership development experts, who shared 4 of their crucial tips for effective remote leadership.
No 1 - Communicate regularly The top complaint from remote workers is most commonly a lack of effective communication. Communication is a fundamental part of any business and without it, organisations quickly develop disengaged employees, reduced collaboration, task misunderstanding, unclear goals and much more. A low-level of communication can also have a significant impact on employee wellbeing and mental health. General conversation is
an overlooked part of morale in workplace, but in unprecedented isolation, ensuring good communication may well be at the core of team wellbeing and engagement.
No 2 - Be transparent A sense of trust is central to high functioning teams but is undermined by fear and a sense of threat. The economic uncertainty surrounding the Coronavirus outbreak can be fearful for us all, so being as transparent as possible about how the situation is being managed by the business is essential. Regular updates and discussions about concerns and what is being done to keep jobs secure can help to put employee minds at ease and optimise performance.
No 3 - Counter fear of change It isn’t change itself that is feared, rather the threat to the individual from that change. When looking at neuroscience, change activates a threat circuitry and can quickly expose worries of failure, rejection and criticism in employees.
of remote working can help to counter fear. Collaborative working can significantly counter negative thinking and increase a feeling of value in the individual’s place in the team.
No 4 - Remember, one size doesn’t fit all There is likely to be a significant work-life conflict amongst employees, which will have a direct impact on time management and productivity. Understanding how best to deploy the individual resources in your team will mean you develop a smooth running, truly collaborative way of working and you’ll find yourself managing a highly effective team. For further information on remote leadership and MaST’s remote learning programmes, contact peoplesolutions@mast.co.uk +44 (0)1628 784062.
Helping employees to recognise these emotions and promoting the many benefits
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how we adapt
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Save Our Services Chestnut Tree House
Local hospice launches crisis appeal as they lose 70% of fundraising income Chestnut Tree House has launched a Crisis Appeal, asking the local community for support to ensure they can continue providing hospice care to children and families – now and in the future. For the last 17 years, Chestnut Tree House has been there for local children with lifeshortening conditions and their families, both at the hospice near Arundel and in their own homes across Sussex. No one is ever charged for the care they receive from Chestnut Tree House, but less than 6% of their funding comes from the government. The children’s hospice relies heavily on the support of the local community, through donations and fundraising. But the coronavirus crisis is having a devastating impact on fundraising, with charity shops closed and events postponed or cancelled. This is threatening the future of the children’s hospice and the care and support they provide for local children and families. Rosemarie Finley, CEO Chestnut Tree House said: “Now, more than ever, the hospice and the people who depend on it, need your help. Community support is vital. We appreciate that this is a difficult time for everyone, but if you can afford to, we’d be very grateful for any help you can offer – to keep our services running and bring some desperately needed support to children and families facing some very dark times.” “As I’m sure you can imagine, coronavirus has hit our teams and the people we work with hard,” continues Rosemarie. “Because we care for some of the most vulnerable people in our community, we need to be
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The maths is simple… It costs £400,000 a month to run Chestnut Tree House, most of which comes from fundraising. Right now, the hospice is losing 70% of their monthly fundraising income. It is only a matter of time before they run out of money.
especially careful about how we work. And because our staff are hugely skilled, we have – of course – also been doing all we can to support the wider work of the NHS. We have had to adapt elements of our services as the situation has developed but caring for children and families who need us remains our top priority.
Your support will help children like Lilly Seven-year-old Lilly is profoundly deaf, cannot walk and has very complex needs. Now her family are in lockdown and finding life a huge challenge, as Lilly’s mum Paula said on the phone: “I am just waiting for the phone call from Chestnut to let me know when someone can visit. That couple of hours will be lovely, it will just mean that I don’t have to worry about her for a little while. I can relax knowing someone else is with her to give her everything she needs.” Confined to her home, Lilly and her family are struggling to cope. Your gift could fund a visit from one of the Chestnut Tree House team and give them a few hours of relief and joy.
“We have had to close Chestnut Tree House for respite breaks and day care but we are still providing care for exceptional circumstances, end-of-life care and bereavement support. And our community team are still visiting children and families who depend on us. “Like you, I want to make sure Lilly and her family, get the support they need while Chestnut Tree House is closed for respite breaks. And I need to make sure that there is a hospice here for them to come back to when this is all over. “Please help us so that we can be there for those who need us – now and in the weeks and months to come. Thank you.” To help save Chestnut Tree House visit www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk/sos
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tel: 01444 259 259
business how we matters adapt
june/july december/january 2019 business 2020 business 2018edge edge business edge
First deliveries of Ricardo-assembled PPE reach care homes and the NHS As a part of its effort to support local care homes and NHS trusts, Ricardo has made deliveries of the first 2,000 of its purpose-designed protective face shields – an important part of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required by those working on the front line of the national effort to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The deliveries of the first 2000 protective face shields is a major milestone in Ricardo’s effort to provide PPE to front line workers in care homes and the NHS. The shields are made to a bespoke Ricardo design and benefit from the company’s experience of high value, rapid response assembly and supply chain management. Local NHS doctors assisted the Ricardo design team by testing the new face shield for enhanced comfort and wearability over extended periods. The face shield frames were manufactured by longstanding supply chain partner Stephens Plastic Mouldings, using tooling co-funded jointly with Ricardo. To ensure that the face shields reach care home and NHS staff as quickly as possible, facilities at Ricardo’s Technical Centres at Shoreham by Sea in West Sussex and Leamington Spa have been repurposed as assembly lines and logistics centres for this much-needed PPE. Although the requirement for the face shields was urgent, Ricardo followed the usual industry standards and best practice for testing. Ricardo worked with the industry-leading test provider SATRA to secure fast-tracked testing of its protective
face shield to EN166. Crucially, this testing enables the PPE to be NHS approved for Covid-19 emergency use. Recipients of the first 2,000 face shields donated by Ricardo included Richmond Manor, Bedfordshire, of the Hamberley Care Homes group, Shelley Care Home in West Sussex, and the city and county councils for Brighton & Hove, Avon & Wiltshire and Warwickshire who are distributing PPE to care homes in their respective areas. In addition, supplies were also delivered to NHS teams including at the Avon and Witshire Mental Health Partnership, the Charter Medical Centre in Hove, and the Burgess Hill Covid Clinical Assessment Service. “We are delighted to have received a donation of 250 visors from Ricardo and would like to thank them for their kind donation,” said Paul Hill, CEO of Hamberley Care Homes and Inspire Neurocare. “The safety and wellbeing of our residents and staff is our highest priority and I’d like to take this opportunity say a huge thank you to our care teams for their continued dedication and commitment during this challenging time.”
“We are very proud to be able to help to protect those in the front line at care homes and in the NHS, and it has been humbling for us to receive very positive feedback on our efforts to provide PPE to staff in these absolutely crucial roles.”
“We firmly believe that the correct and comprehensive PPE is absolutely key to delivering a robust service for patients, as we don’t want to shy away from clinical need, whilst keeping our staff safe,” commented Dr Esther Bird of the Burgess Hill Covid Clinical Assessment Service. “Ricardo’s assistance and foresight is very much appreciated.” “The entire Ricardo team is committed to supporting our local communities in the fight against Covid-19,” added Ricardo Automotive & Industrial MD Stephen Dyke. “We are very proud to be able to help to protect those in the front line at care homes and in the NHS, and it has been humbling for us to receive very positive feedback on our efforts to provide PPE to staff in these absolutely crucial roles.” In addition to the supply of face shields to care homes and the NHS, Ricardo announced earlier in the week that it is assisting healthcare technology company Isansys, which is facing an unprecedented demand for its advanced patient monitoring systems amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Ricardo is providing expert consultancy in supply chain development and manufacturing operations, with a view to enabling a rapid scaling up of production of these much-needed systems. In further efforts to support the fight against Covid-19, Ricardo has also offered its services to government and to healthcare providers on the rapid design or conversion of vehicles for use as ambulances and as other support vehicles, and has offered the use of some facilities for testing or as logistic centres.
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ask the expert
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Propelled into the 21st Century Claire Thompson, Director of DeScribe Language Services, explains how the translation and interpreting industry has gained agility during lockdown and how this benefits clients. Claire Thompson
Director of DeScribe Language Services
The “Stay at Home” message has brought most of us in closer proximity to Zoom and other technologies and the translation and interpreting sector is no exception. We are delighted to now have access to technology sophisticated enough to further both professions.
Embracing ‘AI’ Common Sense Advisory suggested that 2 billion professional translators would be needed to meet true global language services requirements in an industry currently growing at a rate of 6–7% per year. Google alone machine translates approx. 140,000,000,000 words daily. So how has additional, time-critical work generated by the Covid-19 epidemic been handled? In some multilingual countries, governments have used machine translation (MT) to get Covid-19 messages out to the public in several languages in real time. This sentence would have sent waves of horror through linguists a few years ago, but the new generation of MT, neural machine translation, can generate useful content. Trained to process language in context, it produces fewer errors and professional translators can, in the right circumstances, let MT undertake the initial ‘hard graft’, leaving them to edit the translation to a professional standard or to the standard requested by their client.
When can I use MT? Text Type
Examples
MT or no MT?
High volume text for brief information purposes
Social media posts
MT, edited or unedited.
Informative documents
User guides, automated responses, nonfiction books
MT post-edited by a professional translator.
Texts which need a (re) action from another person
Advertising copy, user interfaces, poems, plays
No MT. Choose a human translator when your document entails language creativity or local cultural knowledge.
A quick clarification is needed here that language services providers will only use MT software that is secure for business purposes. The translation sector is now embracing this technology judiciously. Language service partners can advise where MT may complement existing electronic translation tools and provide clients with their translations more quickly, greater capacity and accessible cost.
RSI, OPI, TCI, VRI… Pardon? An even more pronounced shift has been seen in interpreting with the rollout of quality Remote Simultaneous Interpretation (RSI)
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software, allowing interpreters to interpret an event from a different location — useful during lockdown! It uses a professional interface simulating the controls an interpreter would normally have in their interpreting booth, so key health appointments and business meetings have been able to continue and, although it will not be appropriate in every scenario, the interpreting sector may overcome physical distancing for the foreseeable future. Technology for RSI platforms now provides high audio and video quality and reliability, far superior to previous Teleconference Interpreting, Video Remote Interpreting and Over the Phone Interpreting systems. Added benefits to clients and linguists include that interpreters may have greater work capacity due to reduced travel time and expenses and, in terms of CSR, the service leaves a smaller carbon footprint. A recent, complex assignment for one of our clients involved a team of 8 interpreters on site using a total of 6 languages between them for delegates from 23 countries. If venue space is tight and the structure of the event allows, interpreters could work all or part of the assignment from a remote hub, releasing pressure on client budgets. Logistics, interpersonal interaction and event format are considerations your language service provider will be able to discuss with you and work out the best solution for your meeting, but the interpreting sector now has a feasible, additional service option to offer where appropriate. Technology has proved itself our friend through this period and we can look forward to making our clients’ lives easier. DeScribe Language Services hopes to meet you in the Sussex Chamber website’s Business Toolkit area soon! In the meantime, stay safe, keep your friends and family close and your customers even closer.
Useful links Institute of Translation and Interpreting’s advice to buyers: www.iti. org.uk/language-services/advice-to-buyers AIIC’s (International Association of Conference Interpreters) Guidelines for Distance Interpreting: https://aiic.net/page/8734/
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business how we matters adapt
june/july december/january 2019 business 2020 business 2018edge edge business edge
Sussex cleaning company makes moves to fight Coronavirus Companies across Europe are turning to British manufacturer, Bio Productions, during the Coronavirus crisis as the pandemic continues to affect global supply and demand. In March, sales records were shattered as Covid-19 spread around the world. “Business boomed as organisations looked to us to improve their cleaning procedures. We exceeded all our monthly sales records,” says Managing Director, Angela Gill. “It was an extremely busy period for us as we dispatched products across the UK and Europe.”
explains. “We know it’s a tough time for everyone, and so we’re endeavouring to weather the storm as best we can and ensure we can still supply their essential cleaning products.” The crisis has also led to changes in the workforce. After hiring extra staff in March, Bio Productions has since divided its manufacturing teams to comply with the Government’s social distancing advice.
The business has been dealing with increased interest from existing, silent and prospective customers alike, as companies have looked further into the Bio Productions catalogue to protect their workforces with a wider range of products. “We’ve seen a change in what our customers are looking for,” Angela explains. “There has been a definitive dip in sales for biologicals, which are less effective at combatting viruses, in favour of biocides like our Sta-Kill Biocidal Cleaner and Deodoriser.” Other companies, including competitors, have also been in touch asking for help to fulfil orders for in-demand products because Bio Productions manufactures its products in Burgess Hill, West Sussex. Yet the company has faced increasing challenges since the United Kingdom entered lockdown. “Sourcing raw materials
With demand falling during lockdown, 50% of workers have recently been furloughed but the company’s machines continue to operate.
Angela Gill from Europe has been difficult,” Angela continues. “We’re getting limited deliveries that are often delayed and the price of some materials has soared from £800 per barrel to £7000 and above.” With almost half of the nation working from home and schools shutting indefinitely, the demand for cleaning chemicals has also fallen in April. At the same time, customers that are still operating face falling profits and have requested longer payment terms. “We’re doing our utmost to support our customers with those terms,” Angela
“There’s no doubt these are unprecedented times,” Angela says. “Our hearts go out to the businesses that have been brought to their knees. We’re fortunate enough to know that demand will return when lockdown lifts. We’re also incredibly proud to be British manufacturers, which will become even more important in the next few months as the global demand for cleaning chemicals surges. “Once schools, offices, pubs and restaurants re-open, customers around the world will need our cleaning products. Our message is that we’re ready to support them, just as we have supported our customers that are still operating during these tough times.”
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What can businesses take away from the recent lockdown? With so many businesses transitioning certain parts of the workforce to (and from) remote working over the last several months, there has been a lot of discussion about the best way to manage this. There has been all the talk of the logistical elements—which computer is appropriate to use, what should be in the background of video calls, and how will everyone’s internet connection hold up. And then there are security considerations— how secure is your video calling platform, how do you use VPN, and where are your team storing their files. But once we got over all the practical stuff, my team and I have spent more time reflecting on our remote working experiences. What we’ve enjoyed about working from home. What we haven’t enjoyed. And how we can bring the good bits back with us when we return back to the office.
Benefits to Remote Working Almost everyone here at OpenCRM found themselves enjoying some aspects of home working…even if it was just getting up a bit later with a shorter commute! A lot of our developers and non-phone answering people said they found it much easier to “get their heads down” on a particular task. Working from home gave them a reduction in interruptions so they could keep focused on particularly tricky tasks. Some others cited a more relaxed approach as their favourite thing about working from home. Now we don’t have a very formal uniform in the office, but apparently even jeans and t-shirts is too formal for some! So the relaxed dress code was a winner. I have to say that I quite enjoyed being able to take our dogs for a lunchtime walk. It was a really nice way to unwind from the stress of the morning and get re-focused for the afternoon Saying that, when it came to pets and kids, the team was a bit mixed in their response. We all have enjoyed getting to spend more time with our immediate families during this lockdown, but the interruptions could make things tricky from time to time.
Downsides to Remote Working In reality, those distractions at home were the thing our team most often mentioned as making remote working difficult. In some cases, it was kids or pets, in others it was the lure of the laundry basket or washing up bowl. When in the office, those tasks can be happily put to the back of your head, but when they’re in the next room…well, it’s a lot harder. I will say that everyone found a way to work through these distractions, but the transition was not easy.
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Add to that the isolation and worry for family and friends? And I would say you’ve hit the nail on the head with the biggest downside to remote working during a global pandemic lockdown: the mental health challenges. This was something we as a company (as with every other business making the same transition) had to address very quickly. Our shift to video calls instead of normal voice calling or instant messaging for scheduled meetings and impromptu chats went a long way to helping everyone feel connected. We also added a “tea and toast” session every morning before the start of the work day, just to take the place of all those little chats you have with your office mates when you first get into the building. I won’t say that fixed everyone’s worries, but it did help to make us all feel like we were part of the same team. That we were all ‘in this together’.
Transitioning back to the office On balance, there were positives and negatives to having our team all working from home. We did what we could to address the downsides, putting a variety of mechanisms in place to keep people feeling connected and on task. But what about all those positives? How do you make sure to bring the benefits of remote working back as we all transition into a shared office once again?
business going forward. For those job roles that CAN work from home and found a benefit from it, should it be something they do a couple of times a week? Or even just a few days a month? If you have people who are more productive when they aren’t in the office, then you certainly don’t want to lose that! What about all those people who most enjoyed wearing loungewear while working? Well, you probably aren’t going to change your dress code to allow bunny slippers, but are there other things you can do to make your staff more comfortable? You could institute casual Fridays, for example. Or relax the dress code for those people who are never customer facing? The important thing to consider when returning to the office after lockdown is ask yourself (and your team) what elements of home working they’d like to bring back with them to the office? I am sure that an open and frank conversation about the pros and cons will tell you everything you need to know about what your team most values.
Graham Anderson, is the CEO and founder of OpenCRM, one of the UK’s leading customer relationship management systems.
The first question is whether remote working could be made a part of your
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business support
june/july 2020 2019 business businessedge edge
Lessons to be learnt from lockdown Today is 6th April 2020. It’s a beautiful Spring Day and the country is in lockdown. I’m writing this article from a laptop on my dining table. If you’d asked me at the start of the year what 2020 would bring I’d never have predicted this. This article will be published in a few months’ time and it’s difficult to predict where we’ll all be then. Even as I write, in these first few weeks of lockdown, business lessons are being learnt for the future, including:
Nicola Holton
Flexibility: Childcare is a concern for many - yes it’s a juggle and no it’s not ideal. However with greater flexibility the work place suddenly becomes an option for the thousands of overqualified parents who are either unable to find work or forced to take jobs they’re overqualified for because of the need to make the 3pm school pick up.
Cash is king: Consider what funds your business needs to survive if for whatever reasons they are unable to trade for a period of time. Collect your debts: Chase your debts early and effectively to ensure the continued collection of cash. T&C’s: Consider how you engage with key suppliers, customers and banks. In one sense these are the more negative sides of the lockdown and its ability to expose a business’s weakness, but what about the positives? One significant positive that has come out of the lockdown is that businesses have been challenged to work in different ways. These are some of the less obvious lessons I have seen from the lockdown:
gyms forced to close are renting their equipment to customers and offering virtual workouts online.
Home working: Employees can work from home and the job still gets done. Technology: We don’t need to insist on everyone being physically present at the department meeting at head office. Virtual parties, pub quizzes and cocktail hour could become the new way of networking. Innovation: Business have adapted to survive, and some of those adaptations are here to stay. For example, cafés unable to trade are using their supplier contacts to operate as food shops and
So, after this period of social distancing, what will your lockdown legacy be? Rather than focussing on the negatives, why not focus on the positives and use the lesson lockdown has created to make positive, and future proofing, changes to your business. Nicola Holton, Legal Director, Restructuring & Insolvency at EMW Please visit www.emwllp.com or email enquiries@emwllp.com, we’d be delighted to hear from you.
It’s been a challenging few months,
but we’re here to help. Discover our apprenticeship and training opportunities for your business at ccgtraining.co.uk
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Will Covid-19 transform business? Could Covid-19 fundamentally change the way businesses operate – prompting a permanent shift to more virtual working? There is no doubt the lockdown has caused a significant drop in movement across major cities. New Yorkers were going to the grocery store 32 per cent less often at the start of the nightmare. And according to Google, London’s lockdown initially caused an 80 per cent drop in trips to transit stations. The Automobile Association (AA) predicts a permanent reduction in the demand for travel because people will have learned during the crisis to use home-working technology. President of the AA, Edmund King, says we should invest more in broadband as a result of the reduction because the current crisis already shows the majority of companies can continue working from home and it can be more efficient.
Permanent change Professor Greg Marsden, from Leeds University’s Transport Studies Unit, says the UK government’s projections of traffic growth underpinning the roads programme was previously one per cent a year – which would have meant an increase of 35 per cent by 2055. But, after this pandemic, there could be an actual fall in traffic, and the UK’s road expansion programme should focus instead on rebuilding public transport and switching more vehicles to zero emissions.
Even before the crisis, a global survey of more than 2,000 commuters in ten major cities by the infrastructure architects Weston Williamson & Partners indicated a trend towards more remote working. It suggested there was already a reduction of travel to work between two and five per cent. If more employees work from home permanently, maintaining productivity and ensuring security isn’t compromised are serious considerations uppermost in many company directors’ minds.
IMAGINE HAVING ACCESS TO ALL THE BEST IT SERVICES.
Gary Jowett, from Computer & Network Consultants in Brighton, says: “There are many solutions available for safe and effective remote working and virtual collaboration. There may still have been some resistance to rolling these out because many employers like to see people in the office. But that is no longer necessary for many jobs. Getting to a desk in central London represents attendance, not performance. Technology now enables accurate productivity measures to show whether or not someone is contributing sufficiently to your business.”
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We would love to talk to you and offer a Complimentary systems & security check-up with no obligations to use our services.
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business support
june/july 2020 2019 business businessedge edge
Practical Compliance: Succession Planning Succession planning is a process for identifying and developing new leaders who can, potentially at short notice, succeed the existing leadership in either a planned or unplanned situation. Eight thoughts for succession planning Here are eight ideas to consider when thinking about your own business. 1: Start early A common problem is people not giving succession planning the time it deserves unless forced to by an employee resigning or approaching retirement. 2: Be honest For those approaching what used to be considered retirement age, start the conversation about what they really want for themselves. Are they looking to leave as soon as possible, or would they like to carry on working, when would they like to retire? 3: Harness internal expertise Think about how experienced staff can pass on their skills and expertise so you do not lose the corporate knowledge. 4: Develop your deputies Deputies can sometimes be more used to working with their leader and have not had
enough opportunity to be challenged in the leadership role before stepping up to the position permanently.
question if the next generation is interested enough in the business to take it on and move it forward.
5: Let generations learn from each other In addition to mentoring their younger colleagues, more experienced staff relish learning about using technology and new ideas from them. This builds cross generational trust and respect which can be harnessed to identify tomorrow’s potential leadership from staff early in their career.
8: Learn to let go Possibly the hardest one of all particularly if you have started and developed the business from scratch. Working with your successor over a period can build the trust required to allow you to let go.
6: Explore all options Keep an open mind, it may not be a case of appointing an individual successor. It might be a good opportunity to consider how the organisation has developed over time, then redefining the role and maybe splitting it between two people.
Compliance Matters UK Limited offers cost effective and practical guidance. Contact us on 07768 422 213 or email ian@compliancematters.co.uk to discuss any needs you may have.
How can we help
7: Keeping it in the family might not be easy The owners of a family business might consider a straight handover to the next generation to be the ideal succession. It may be that is not the right solution, competence and capability enter the equation as is the
How to retain liquidity and protect you business in uncertain times.
Most businesses will not be immune to a downturn in economic activity or indeed a crisis economy. It is essential that for businesses to protect cash flow and stay as flexible as possible during the period of uncertainty. Assess how the change in market conditions could affect your business and amend your forecasts accordingly. Pay specific attention to your Debtors. Many businesses will be in the same cycle and whilst it is a good idea to extend your terms of payment with your supplier's, your customers may attempt to do the same. Amending your forecasts are key. The earlier you can identify a possible problem with your future cash flow and devise a strategy to solve it, the easier it is to rectify
PROTECT YOUR CUSTOMER BASE Your customer base is in many businesses a key pillar for success and is not generated quickly. Consider the implications of any changes you are considering irrespective of whether they are short or medium/long term on this asset. Customers are easy to lose to the competition and not so easy to win back. w�w.spb-bs.cam
07974202730
"If you have a secure business that has been
PROTECT YOUR CASH FLOW
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PROTECT YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN
established with a sound strategy, provided you retain the key pillars in your business and can manage cash flow through the economic downturn, you will be in a position to take advantage of the upturn after the crisis subsides."
A downturn in the economy will have an affect on your supply chain. Any interruption could have an effect on your ability to supply. Where you perceive weakness in the chain find alternatives as a back up. Communicate with your suppliers and work on retaining goodwill even if you need to extend payment terms. Your main suppliers are also key pillars in your business and relationships should be retained if possible.
CONSIDER SCALING BACK ON YOUR GROWTH PLAN
Whilst it is important to have targets for your business you may need to consider scaling back asset purchases and reducing stock levels in view of reduced business activity. Both these decisions will protect cash flow. If your targets and growth plan were created from sound principles and you protect the key pillars of your business you will be in good shape to move forward once there is a return to normal business activity.
RETAINING KEY STAFF
Your staff are another key pillar of your business. It is a natural reaction to look at reducing your cost base in a crisis economy, but try to protect key staff that would take considerable time to replace once normal trading resumes.
We are a team of highly skilled freelance Finance Directors who can • • • share our knowledge on a part time basis to support your business.
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how we adapt
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Local firm supply Nightingale hospitals Hastings based manufacturer of cable management systems, Marshall-Tufflex was recently approached to supply its antimicrobial cable trunking for the new emergency NHS Nightingale Hospitals, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Business Edge spoke to Jon Chamberlain, Group Sales Director at Marshall-Tufflex, about the company’s role in the project. Marshall-Tufflex was established in 1942 and manufactures a range of cable management systems including dadomounted PVC-U perimeter trunking to route and contain cables. This trunking can also be manufactured using an antimicrobial ‘Bio’ ingredient to help prevent the spread of infection. How did the contract come about? Marshall-Tufflex was contacted on Sunday 29th March from Edmundson Electrical Doncaster with a requirement for Bio dado trunking. Recognising the need for a rapid response, we completely changed our production schedules to manufacture the order as soon as possible. The first batch left our plant the next morning, on Monday 30th March. Since the first order, we have been awarded further contracts to supply additional Nightingale locations nationwide and to date, we have supplied our cable management products to the Manchester, Harrogate, Exeter, NEC Birmingham and Jersey, NHS Nightingale Hospitals, plus orders for the new Covid-19 emergency hospitals in Glasgow, Cardiff and Ireland. What products have you supplied? We have supplied a wide range of PVC-U cable management trunking systems of which, the majority of the specifications are for trunking with antimicrobial Bio properties. This is because at any hospital site, the cable management solution will constantly come into contact with a multitude of people, which means it has the potential to become a breeding ground for bacteria if not addressed. The manufacturing process for our Bio trunking uses a silver ion solution throughout the product, which disrupts the key cell functions of bacteria and prevents them from reproducing. This means it will deliver ongoing antimicrobial protection, ensuring that 99.9% of harmful bacteria, including MRSA, will not survive on the surface. Marshall-Tufflex has many years of experience in this area. We have two systems as part of our standard range that contain the Bio technology - Odyssey
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and Sterling Curve Profile 1 - that have been supplied to the Nightingale sites. What challenges has the business had to overcome to meet demand? We have never before dealt with such volumes and at such a pace. What we are seeing is unprecedented levels of demand for Bio trunking. To put this in perspective, our average use of the Bio ingredient in our manufacturing is around three tonnes every year. In the past three weeks alone, we have used over 40 tonnes. Some requests required delivery on the same day and one delivery was handed over at 2.00am in the morning, following the order just 12 hours earlier. To meet the huge volumes and urgency, we have had to completely change our manufacturing and distribution operation. Our factory has been running 24/7 and our brilliant team have worked extra hours, including weekends and the Easter bank holiday to deliver the quantities required. Our logistics team have
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transformed their procedures, often with multiple drops required to the same site per day and opening branches during the weekend and out of hours. We are very proud to have accomplished so much in a short space of time and play a part in this extraordinary national response. We couldn’t have done this without the support of key suppliers within our supply chain - it has been a real team effort and we are honoured to have assisted in the construction of these exceptional hospitals. About Marshall-Tufflex A British, family owned company with its Head Office and manufacturing facility in Hastings, Marshall-Tufflex also has distribution depots in Watford and Manchester. For more than 75 years, Marshall-Tufflex has been pioneering plastic extrusion in the UK and leading the way in areas of product research, development and innovation, especially when it comes to using recycled material.
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business how we matters adapt
june/july december/january 2019 business 2020 business 2018edge edge business edge
Think, rethink, revitalise.
I read an article once. Virtual working, what a breeze. Combine home with work, make your own schedule, it’s all about the individual choice. Right? If only it were that simple. Why? Because we’re social animals. We speak, listen, observe, touch, as we work. We hand things over, receive things, share things, together. We lean over shoulders, huddle around desks, we touch, observe, listen, speak. This is life. We are formed, identified by these routines. Dr Robert Cole
Chief Executive Officer, Roffey Park Institute
The impact of Covid-19 has shattered everything. Where do I stand? Where do I sit? How does this stuff work? And, when it’s all over, where will I fit? Will I fit? Our people are stressed to hell, and many are fearful of where this all leads. What is ‘new normal’ anyway? How do we navigate to wherever this leads? We’re talking to many organisations, across civil administration, public sector, professions and commerce. There are variations in their blend of experiences, but there are similarities. Many organisations see an in-group developing, those for whom this virtual phase is a dynamic opportunity. Conversely, there are those for whom this is a kind of horror show. The issue isn’t necessarily generational, in fact it is unlikely to be this, once we get past the clichés. It is more likely to be an issue of whether what we do is relevant to the virtual work priorities. If your people are at the margins of what is now key to survival, then it is no
wonder that they fear being peripheral to the future. For me, the biggest change facing us is to do with our understanding of competence. What virtual working clearly demonstrates is the critical value of social connection, of sharing, listening and generating know-how. I wrote to my own staff recently that the myth, the dangerous myth, of individual competence is going to be, if we think this through well, the biggest victim of the lockdown. And, not before time! Why? Ask your IT people to calculate how much time is being spent by your workforce in Zoom or Teams (other platforms are available). It will be massive. And growing. Because when we achieve, we do so with and through each other, combining, integrating, exploring. We might measure by individual, but we perform socially, in groups, teams, communities, families. The individual competent is dead. Long live generative teams! We’ve taken a walk through the fractured landscape that is the world of work that our colleagues now occupy. Perhaps we should now look forward to some of the opportunities that we could take advantage of. Biggest among them is the notion of key workers. We pay most of our key workers
appallingly low salaries. We pay people who invent financial instruments to rip people off a fortune. It is time to re-evaluate how and why we reward people. It is time to put human social value at the heart of reward. We have the opportunity to think about work environments and how we encourage innovation, dialogue and generation. Many people in our organisations will have found new, inclusive and clever ways of being and working together. Let’s collate this and turn our organisations into a collage of collaboration and cohesion. We can revitalise the meaning of what we do. We have the opportunity to align purpose to human health, social sustainability and environmental respect. And by respect I mean we should question every input in order to eliminate every single thing that is unnecessary in what we do. We have the opportunity to create resilient organisations, generating leadership as its people work, enhancing and holding each other as we go through our day. In this collective economic pause we have a unique opportunity to think, rethink and revitalise. So, let’s do it.
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june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Getting on the right track The benefits of a hosted platform telecommunications system are huge, as Track Eleven founder Martin Woolley knows from long experience. Hailing from a background in selling CISCO networks, the biggest networking manufacturer in the world, Martin established Track Eleven – with its own, unique hosted platform – because “that was the way the world was going”. The adaptability and flexibility has certainly come into its own this year. For Track Eleven’s clients, the telecommunications side of things has continued to operate smoothly and efficiently – a lifeline in these uncertain times. Martin said: “The business has changed quite a bit since my CISCO days, mainly due to the advent of hosted telecoms. “Back then, companies had to buy their own hardware and manage their communications system themselves. Now, there is little benefit in doing so. “For one thing, if you had one of those older style technologies, it was quite a complex matter making it possible for people to work from home.” Today, Track Eleven installs a network tailored to the specific needs of the individual client and then hosts the communications platform on its behalf. “We can provide any type of solution, from a single telephone line into an office to a whole system designed to help your business grow,” he said. “We provide innovative networking solutions and outsourced services to help unify and simplify your communications.” With apps installed on computers and mobile phones, people could be connected to their office from absolutely anywhere. “It’s that flexible,” he said, “and with capabilities that previously would only have been open to large companies with big budgets and in-house resources.” A major advantage of a hosted platform is the ability to scale the service up or down as needed, while retaining access to the full range of features and functions.
Martin Woolley Indeed, Track Eleven works with businesses of all shapes and sizes, from the one-man band to companies with hundreds of users. “Even the one-man band gets the features and benefits of a comprehensive telecoms system, while only paying a relatively small monthly amount,” he said. “Our telecoms run over the internet and we can provide the connectivity required too, so we really do provide all-round solutions, no matter the size of the business.” Yet another advantage is that companies can have, or appear to have, sites in multiple locations, but all the telecoms come back to one location. When considering having a new system installed, Martin’s best advice is to keep one eye firmly on the future – and plan for it!
“We can provide any type of solution, from a single telephone line into an office to a whole system designed to help your business grow. We provide innovative networking solutions and outsourced services to help unify and simplify your communications.”
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He said: “No matter what stage your business is at, start-up or expansion, always keep your options open. You need to forecast what you are going to need before you actually need it. “In the past, that meant paying to install the whole caboodle, but, again, the benefit of this system is that you can scale it up and down as required, as long as you’ve got the capacity in the first place.” Security was key too, of course, and high on Track Eleven’s agenda. Documents, meeting recordings, you name it, they are stored safely. While Track Eleven is based in Haywards Heath and the core of its customers are in London and the South East, it works with businesses all over the country. It can cater for anybody anywhere in the UK, said Martin. Who needs to be in the same room anymore? “No matter the size of your business or location, at Track Eleven our number one goal is the same - to find the solutions that are right for you. “We will take care of all your communication and IT needs, enabling you to focus on what you do best: the business itself.” t: 01444 226 099 www.trackeleven.com
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mental health & wellbeing
june/july 2020 business edge
Mental health training for your workplace Did you know that from June you will be able to train Mental Health First Aiders for your workplace via the new virtual course developed by MHFA England. Mental Health First Aid teaches people how to recognise signs of mental distress, giving them the skills and confidence to respond appropriately, whilst taking care of their own mental health and wellbeing. The new version of the training follows a blended learning approach. This consists of online tutorials and self-directed study, using a variety of materials including comprehensive manuals supplied as part of the course.
delivered online, including managing mental health for line managers. Discounts are available for Sussex Chamber of Commerce members and those who have been exceptionally hard hit by the Covid-19 crisis. For more details please contact me at alex@mentalhealthandsafety.com www.mentalhealthandsafety.com
I’m Alex Langridge and I have been delivering high quality training to support mental health in the workplace since 2010. In addition to Mental Health First Aid training, I offer a consultancy service and a range of courses which can be
Alex Langridge
Health & Wellbeing in the Workplace Having work that is fulfilling and meaningful is known to have a positive impact on our health and wellbeing. The role employers can play in influencing their employee’s health and wellbeing can’t be underestimated, employers have a duty of care to ensure their employee’s health, both physical and mental, is not negatively impacted by the work they do. The financial impact of poor health and wellbeing at work is significant, according to the Centre of Mental Health in 2017/18 the cost to the UK economy of poor mental health was £35 billion, this equates to approximately £1,300 per employee. The HSE reports that 1.4 million workers were suffering from work-related ill health (new or longstanding) in 2017/18. Whether you employ 10 people or 1,000 people there will be a cost to your business if you ignore the health and wellbeing of your employee’s. Those costs are likely to include increased sickness absence, loss in performance and productivity, higher staff turnover, the associated costs of recruitment and the loss of talent from a business.
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A strategy that is integral to your business is key, one which recognises and understands both the physical and mental health risks and issues that employee’s may face. This is where an Occupational Health service can be of great value, by helping to identify those health risks and issues, advising and guiding the business in implementing a programme that will minimise risks and contribute positively in building and maintaining a healthy workforce. It can be useful to prioritise what your business needs and wants from a workplace health and wellbeing perspective, this may include reducing sickness absence levels and associated costs. You may have noticed that there are more people struggling with mental health issues but you are unsure how to support this. A good starting point is to improve awareness around a particular health topic, such as mental health, beginning with Managers and Supervisors who often are the best people who will know their staff and notice changes that could be associated
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with a mental health issue. Following on from raising awareness more and more businesses are recognising the benefit of having people trained as Mental Health First Aiders, who learn how to approach, respond, assess, and give support to someone who may be struggling with their mental health. Mental Health First Aiders can also play a key part in raising awareness of mental health within your workplace, helping to illuminate stigma’s that are often associated with mental health and can be a barrier for someone who may want and need help but feels unable to ask for help. The overall benefits of managing and improving workplace health and wellbeing will also include better staff engagement and retention by contributing to your corporate reputation, with more people looking beyond their salary and job role when it comes to determining whether you are a good employer. Whatever you do, it can start small and should always evolve just as your business evolves and grows.
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mental health & wellbeing
june/july 2020 business edge
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure Mental health and wellbeing at work continues to be one of the most challenging issues that employers face. The financial cost to organisations of poor mental health is estimated to be £42bn a year; rising to nearer £100bn if you include the cost to the NHS.
Now more than ever, employers need to ensure they promote healthy workplaces where people feel comfortable speaking to someone if they are struggling. One of the ways this can be done is through a Wellness Action Plan which provides a useful framework for discussing stress and anxiety at work; management skills training and having qualified Mental Health First Aiders. Other factors to consider are: Mental Health Policy - is this accessible to staff and managers? Does it clearly signpost people to internal and external resources available? Culture of Openness - how often are people asked how they are feeling, not just an update on what they are doing? Regular breaks - are employees encouraged and allowed to take regular breaks during the day to restore their mental energies?
Recent webinar feedback:
Many thanks, your webinar was the best one I have attended in a long time. It was a great session, so enjoyable, thank you! Another excellent presentation. Wonderful session once again. Thank you! What is your stress signature?
How are you feeling?
In addition to being aware of what causes you stress, it is important to recognise what are the signs and symptoms that indicate that pressure and stress are building up. There are various signs to look out for so that you can act on them:
Studies of 5,000 UK employees found that 76% wanted increased contact with their managers to discuss their health and wellbeing, performance and workload.
Email policy - are people expected to be on call 24/7? Sports people value their rest days as much as training days, we need to recharge our minds too. Banter - is this effective and appropriate in building enjoyable workplaces or exclude/offend people (and become a source of stress)? Clear objectives & guidance - when people know what’s expected of them, they can better perform to their full potential and use constructive feedback for future success. Coaching/mentoring - reflecting on progress and sharing insights pays huge dividends.
What causes stress? There are many things that cause stress, and what is stressful for one person could be exciting to someone else. It is important to notice what are your stress triggers which will probably fit into one of these categories: 1. Protecting things that are important to you (e.g. family, loved ones, house, car, finances) 2. Negative evaluation - fear of being assessed or judged negatively (for some people speaking up, interviews, tests are stressful for fear of judgement) 3. Lack of control (having no say in decisions that relate to you, or factors outside of your control (e.g. train cancellations).
Anna Golawski
Supporting remote workers? At the moment it may be difficult to pick up on the signs of remote workers who may be struggling. Here are some of the changes in behaviour to look out for on calls/webinars:
Images © Pete Jones Photography
What should organisations consider?
The poll found less than 24% of managers regularly check in with their employees to talk about mental health and wellbeing. And a further 43% of employees said their manager makes no effort at all to check in with them during the current lockdown, despite the duty of care employers have for the wellbeing of their workforce. Asking someone at work how they are feeling may feel slightly uncomfortable so another way to ask about people’s wellbeing is to ask them how they are doing on a scale of 1 - 10. This can feel slightly less intrusive, it gives the person the opportunity to personally reflect on how they are and if you ask the question regularly you will be able to pick up quickly if someone is struggling. To have a further conversation about wellbeing, the LEARN model is a useful framework:
Increased worrying / Language - what words are they using Headaches, or other unexplained aches and pains Negativity / Are they being more pessimistic? Loss of confidence Apathy / Tone of voice - flat or monotone, sighing Quality of work declining / Deadlines being missed Lack of participation on calls/webinars (or avoiding them altogether) Change in appearance - not making an effort with presentation or lack of self care
During the lockdown, Anna Golawski is providing a series of free webinars to on the topic of mental health, stress and resilience and can provide top tips sheets and a template of a Wellness Action Plan. Please contact anna@stratuscoaching.co.uk for further information.
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how we adapt
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Sussex Chamber of Commerce is pleased to introduce AXA PPP healthcare for their business healthcare cover Our Health at Hand team is on hand to support you and your team. Whether it’s a question to do with your own health or your child’s health, our team of nurses, counsellors, midwives and pharmacists are here to help put your mind at ease. Some of the ways we can help: If you have a question about medication that you’ve been prescribed, our team of pharmacists is on hand to help If someone in your team is struggling to cope with the pressures of work or home life, they can speak to a counsellor about how they’re feeling If you have a question or a worry about your health, you can discuss the symptoms with a nurse
Day or night, we’re here to help put your mind at ease When you or one of your employees has a health worry playing on your mind, it can make it difficult to focus on anything else. That’s why at AXA PPP healthcare, regardless of whether you have healthcare cover with us or not, we give Chambers of Commerce members free access to our 24/7* health information telephone helpline, Health at Hand.
To find out more and to activate your free access to Health at Hand, visit axappphealthcare.co.uk/Chambers or call us on 0800 389 7413**
*Health at Hand nurses and counsellors are available 24/7. Pharmacists and midwives are available 8am-8pm Monday to Friday, 8am-4pm Saturdays and 8am-12pm Sundays. The Health at Hand service does not diagnose or replace your own GP. All calls to Health at Hand are confidential. **Phone lines are open 8:30am-5:30pm Monday to Friday. We may record and/or monitor calls for quality assurance, training and as a record of our conversation.
How to select the right electronic (or digital) signature for your business The days of chasing people for signatures in person are over. Legally binding electronic and digital signatures are the new norm. But are you using the correct one for your business? Did you know that you could be at risk by using the wrong type? A Digital Signature is a type of Electronic Signature, but not every Electronic Signature is a Digital Signature. Let’s break that down… An Electronic Signature (or simple electronic signature) is the equivalent of your handwritten signature digitised. You can, in a couple of clicks, without any concrete process of identity verification or consent, have a document signed that is legally binding. However, there is no way of guaranteeing that the document has not been modified since signing or of establishing the true identity of the person who signed. So, while electronic signatures may be legally binding, proving that the person signed the document is a whole other issue A Digital Signature (or an Advanced Electronic Signature), on the other hand, uses digital certificates and PKI (or Public Key Infrastructure) for authentication and encryption/hashing for security and its audit trail.
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Digital Signatures must: Be uniquely linked to the signatory; Be capable of identifying the signatory; Be created using electronic signature creation data that the signatory can, with a high level of confidence, use under his sole control; and Be linked to the data signed in such a way that any subsequent change in the data is detectable. Without digital signatures, your documentbased transactions may not be legally binding, putting you and your business at risk in the event of a compliance or legal case.
How Can We Help? SigniFlow® can help make your workplace more efficient and secure by using our digital signature technology to protect and tamper-proof your documents. Our platform allows for a streamlined process,
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and is web and mobile-based, allowing you to send out contracts, agreements, images, and more in a digital format so customers and employees no longer need to print, sign, scan and email ever again.
tel: 01444 259 259
inspirational leaders
june/july 2020 2019 business businessedge edge
Is digital marketing for you? Last week Mike Knivett turned away two prospective clients which, especially in these uncertain economic times, might seem unusual. However, Mike’s business, Artemis Marketing, prides itself on being completely open and honest; if they genuinely don’t think they can help a client, they’ll tell them up front rather than just take their money. This one-time accredited financial adviser pulls no punches, whoever he’s speaking to. “It’s sadly the case that many agencies have performance-incentivised sales people with targets to hit – they will say almost anything to land a new client,” he said. “But the two businesses I turned away were just not going to work online – they were not going to get a positive return on their investment through SEO or paid search.” In almost any industry, it took many months and a significant level of investment to achieve national or regional coverage and the coveted top results on an organic Google search. “Our job is to work with our clients to plan and execute a successful and realistic online campaign that will produce amazing return on investment,” he said, “but one that is set out with a timeline that works in the A.I. led environment that Google operates in in 2020.” Mike and his business partner Justin Aldridge, a former technical engineer with F1 team British American Racing, established Artemis Marketing in 2004. Today it has 122 retained clients, many of whom have worked with the company for five to 10 years, plus an annual turnover just under £2m. Much in the way the performance of a Formula One car is continuously improved, in small, incremental steps, clients’ websites and their content marketing are continually refined to turn them into authority sites within search engines and a great user experience, all of which leads to increased traffic, conversions and revenue. “Most agencies think ‘how did the client do last month? OK, do a bit more of that then’,” said Mike. “In contrast, we strategically plan and record everything we do in great detail every
Mike Knivett Managing Director, Artemis Marketing
month, so all clients know exactly what activities are being worked on for them.” Back in February this year, a few weeks before the pandemic broke, Mike and telecommunications expert Richard Scott launched Artemis Telecoms. Its aim: to help clients take advantage of both the cost savings and increased efficiencies cloud-based communications systems offer businesses. They have taken on extra members of staff already. “It’s proving very successful, even in this challenging environment,” said Mike, “but I’m delighted to say we acquired another new client yesterday.” High speed fibre and lease lines, teleconferencing, video calls, collaboration software that enables efficient remote
“Our job is to work with our clients to plan and execute a successful and realistic online campaign that will produce amazing return on investment, but one that is set out with a timeline that works in the A.I. led environment that Google operates in in 2020.”
working and video conferencing, especially of interest in the new world of lockdown for many SME’s – the whole gamut of digital telecoms technology in other words – that is what Artemis Telecoms are offering. “Although Coronavirus is utterly awful, it’s really making businesses take decisions they have been putting off,” he said. “The new normal is not going to be offices crammed with staff, so new, sustainable, intelligent communications systems are a must.” Root and branch reform was often called for, particularly for those still “paying through the nose” for legacy systems – the old fashioned landlines – that cost a fortune compared to modern, digital systems. He said: “I have functionality in my business that many years ago I could only dream of, but I’m paying 40% less than 10 years ago for our communication systems, because the cost of calls and the technology itself has come down so much.” Back on the marketing side, Artemis spends around £250,000 a year on research and development, analysing changes in Google’s algorithms and running tests on internal sites to assess their potential impact on clients’ search engine rankings. The results speak for themselves and over 80% of Artemis new clients have been referred by existing clients.
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sussex business heroes
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Sussex Business Heroes Earlier during the lockdown we asked Sussex businesses how they were helping during the crisis. We are delighted to highlight some of the many stories across the county where Sussex businesses have repurposed their facilities or tasked their staff to help in all manner of ways. #sccbusinessheroes
Creative Pod As a thank you to frontline staff, we gave away luxury Easter eggs to nominated keyworkers. Originally the prize was going to be a luxury branded egg. However, after a chance meeting with a chocolatier in Brighton, we reflected and decided to practice what we preach and support local business. So, we changed the prize to the chocolatier’s eggs!
Spellman High Voltage Electronics PPE Frontline Visor: Utilizing our Ultimaker 3D printers to print PPE for frontline workers. We responded to a call from 3DCrowd UK, organisers of a nationwide effort to produce thousands of visors for frontline workers using a single, printable design. Harry has worked hard to refine our printing process and is using his own Prusia I3MK3 3D printer to greatly increase output. We shipped our first batch of 65 visors on the 15th April. Multipurpose claw: Designed by Jon Bleasby. Designed to reduce the risk of virus transfer, small 3D printable gadget for opening doors and operating office equipment without the need to touch them directly.
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Ear saver We are also printing “ear-saver” headbands for mask wearers to reduce the amount of rubbing behind the ears when worn for an extensive period. These are making their way to local hospitals along with our stock of protective glasses for employee spouses and colleagues working within the NHS. All these efforts have been supported by Harry Mason (Trainee Engineering Technician), Jonathan Bleasby (Electro Mechanical Design Engineer) Dave Mason (Test Development Manager), Aaron Walsh (Engineering Services Manager) and Dennis Bay (Managing Director)
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Bolney Wine Estate At Bolney we’re rooted and proud to be in Sussex. In response to the current crisis, we’ve launched new initiatives online and in our shop to continue to support our community, particularly the vulnerable, and say thank you to NHS staff. We’re offering 10% off produce boxes (excl. box 1) and 25% off Bolney meals, wines and food produce for NHS workers. We have free delivery on orders over £15.
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sussexbusiness businessmatters heroes
june/july december/january 2019 business 2020 business 2018edge edge business edge
Caremark (Mid Sussex and Crawley) Caremark (Mid Sussex & Crawley) have a whole team of frontline care workers whose mission is to go ‘above and beyond’ on a daily basis. Always going the extra mile before and during the current pandemic, they provide the highest standards of care and support to vulnerable people living in their own homes, throughout Mid Sussex and Crawley.
PVL At PVL, we manufacture specialist reflective markings for emergency service vehicle fleets. When the Covid-19 lockdown started, we kept a team working to support these critical service fleets but realised that we had spare cutting capacity on our manufacturing equipment. The shortage of PPE was hard to miss, it was everywhere on the news; so our CEO, Nick Broom, set about contacting his network to see if anyone could utilise our capacity to help. Response to a post on LinkedIn included someone connected to a social enterprise group in Brockham, Surrey. They had set up
a group to fundraise and produce the 3D printed headbands but were struggling to get visors. After a few phone calls and with data exchanged, we got into fullscale production and PVL delivered over 5000 visors within the first few days, continuing with over 2000 a day, providing the material and labour totally free of charge. The completed visors are being donated to NHS hospitals first; Royal Surrey, East Surrey, Great Ormond Street, St George’s and Royal London to name a few. 5000 have gone to Sussex hospitals so far and next steps will be to offer them to care homes and surgeries.
Piglets Pantry Piglets Pantry are well known locally as a supplier of pies and baked goods to Sports Stadia across the country. So what happens when the order book dries up overnight? Like many other businesses, this was the dilemma we faced recently going from full scale production to nothing in a matter of a press briefing. So what did we do? We took the bull by the horns and launched ‘Piglets by Post’. Teams were re-deployed and reorganized and the orders began rolling in. We immediately offered a 50% discount to all NHS staff to thank them for their dedication and have been delighted with the uptake on this. We are proud to be supporting our staff, key workers and clients across the UK.
Care workers also regularly put themselves at risk by conducting supermarket and medication trips for their clients.
Tilgate Bakery At the start of the economic lockdown, Tilgate Bakery made the decision to launch their contactless Home Delivery Service. At the start of the lockdown, loaves of bread were hard to get hold of, but as Tilgate Bakery had the resources to provide fresh bread daily, people could order bread for delivery to their door, along with food, such as sandwiches, rolls, hot food, cakes, cold drinks, hot drinks and so much more from the bakery.
Secure Care UK We are front line staff. Our patients are the number one priority and we take this priority very seriously. Our goal is to offer the safest and most secure transport for mental health patients in the country, whilst ensuring at all times our patients are treated with dignity and respect Our crews are highly experienced in transferring acute and forensic mental health patients as well as patients with learning difficulties, dementia, autistic spectrum, challenging behavior and older adult care. Our clients range from individuals to private hospitals, prisons, police custody suites and
we also work in partnerships with NHS Trusts. The Coronavirus and lockdown has impacted on physical health and caused increase in mental health issues. Recently our crews have been asked to assist on the patient wards in mental health hospitals. The first point to note was that until 4 weeks ago, we had done nothing like this type of work before. While working in a crisis suite may seem similar, the patients’ presentations are significantly different and therefore our crews had to adopt a very different mindset.
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sussex business heroes
The Pentagon Plastics Group The Pentagon Plastics Group, in Horsham, West Sussex has seen a sharp rise in the production demand for existing customer product lines in ventilation and other medical components, in response to the fight against COVID-19. Pentagon provide both Mould Tooling and Plastic Injection Moulding for customer bespoke products all from one site of UK Manufacture. The team has seen some staff self-isolate on medical grounds but continue to adapt their working structure to be able to meet this increase in demand. Altering staff shift patterns to facilitate employees who have young children, creating isolated workstations for staff that feel vulnerable and following strict social distancing guidelines have enabled the business to facilitate the huge 500% increase in demand seen for some products for the medical sector.
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Wave Leisure Trust
Team East Sussex
Step aside Joe Wicks and meet Vicki Garbutt, Group Exercise Coordinator at Wave Leisure Trust.
Graham Peters is Chair of Team East Sussex (TES), the county’s local federated board for the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP Ltd), tasked with driving forward economic growth and prosperity in East Sussex. Since 2014 Graham has overseen more than £600m of investment into the county through a variety of projects investing in people, places and businesses.
When Wave had to close the doors to its seventeen leisure facilities, there was one question that needed answering. How do we keep our communities active when they’re at home? Vicki jumped at the chance to share live workouts on Facebook for the Trust’s 9,000 members. The Facebook group ‘Live Life with Wave’ was set up and within days and had members working out in their living rooms and encouraging other members of the group to stay healthy.
In recent weeks Graham has redoubled his efforts to support our county, taking the lead in gathering local intelligence with partners to understand the support programmes on offer, as well as the gaps in provision, through his various roles on Team East Sussex, South East LEP, Skills East Sussex, East Sussex Rural Partnership, Newhaven Enterprise Zone Board, Hastings Opportunity Area Board, plus involvement in the Rural Rother Trust, Woodland Enterprises and Sussex Heritage Trust.
The group is now open to all key workers who can access the timetable of live and filmed classes for free and it’s proving wonders not just for members’ activity levels, but also their mental health during a time in which we could all struggle.
The engineering team within the business are also expediating customers new tooling projects to assist with the supply of new ventilator components into the NHS.
Graham has used his TES Chair position to directly influence plans at LEP and Government level, not only in terms of the support being made available through the current crisis, but also in coordinating a Recovery Plan for East Sussex so that local businesses and residents can ‘survive and thrive’, to ensure that East Sussex not only recovers but is strengthened as an economy.
The 44 strong team at Pentagon are pulling together to deliver vital support to the UK supply chain in the production of vital hospital equipment. Lead by Managing Director Paul Edwards, the group are proud to be able to support our frontline workers in the fight against COVID-19.
WeThrive WeThrive is a Sussex business that uncovers how staff truly feel, revealing the subconscious factors at the root of workplace issues. It’s not just another employee engagement survey system; it automatically produces coaching plans, supporting resources and post-survey action tracking to make sure useful change results. When the lockdown started we thought for a few moments our team might be in for an enforced holiday.
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Then we had a call from a customer, asking us to adapt our system to run a working-from-home survey – they had closed the office and urgently wanted to find out how to help their newly-agile staff feel settled and capable in their roles.
So now any business can healthcheck their home-working arrangements - and we are also offering free use of the main WeThrive system, with its adaptive questionnaire that digs into what needs improving at work.
By lunchtime we had a custom survey designed and tested – and then it struck us that if one client needed it, surely others would – and in a national emergency we felt should offer it to everyone, customer or not.
We’re not heroes like the people making scrubs in our garden sheds but we’re doing what we can, trying to help businesses stay healthy through a traumatic period.
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tel: 01444 259 259
june/july 2020 2019 business businessedge edge
Are you facing an Employment Tribunal or need advice? QUEST COVER can help!
business support
Would a complimentary one2one review help you?
A valuable benefit for all members. There has been a sharp increase in the number of employment tribunal claims submitted over the past few years.
Travel bans, lockdown and social distancing have had a dramatic effect on UK businesses, sadly mostly in a negative way. 70% of companies report that they have furloughed staff and according to the news media we are rushing headlong into an economic crisis that will be worse than the financial crash of 2008. It’s easy to be depressed!
After tribunal fees were abolished in July 2017 the financial year of 2017/2018 saw a total of 27,916 claims and the year of 2018/2019 received a total of 35,429. This shows a 27% increase in the number of single claims.
However, it will come to an end and the business community will find a way to navigate through these stormy waters. NOW is actually the time to plan ahead and formulate the vision of what your business will look like in the future.
Here at Quest Cover, we have noticed that the number of calls we have received regarding Employment Tribunals have risen significantly over the past few years. Costs associated with an employment tribunal for employers can run into hundreds of thousands of pounds, sometimes even more. There is no limit!
Our Employment Tribunal Service We understand that dealing with employment disputes can be difficult, so our experts can help you each step of the way. We can offer the following services to put your mind at ease:
There are many things to consider: How can you manage returning furloughed workers? Are you ready to take them all back? Will you need to restructure and reorganise? Do you have the right policies and procedures in place to enable you to do this? Is your business compliant with HR and health & safety?
ACAS early conciliation service to help negotiate a solution
We are offering businesses a complimentary One2One Review meeting (via video conference) to discuss the above and any other issues that concern you. We can help to ensure you are correctly set up to grow and ride the wave of recovery when it comes, whilst also being fully compliant with HR and health & safety regulations.
In-house legal support to prepare for an employment tribunal, including drafting responses
Simply email hello@questcover.com and we will get back to you to arrange a suitable time
Legal expenses insurance to cover the cost of preparation, defence and award. (Not available at Bronze level)
HELPING MEMBERS IN THESE EXTRAORDINARY TIMES
Unlimited advice from our experienced employment advisors Full access to our comprehensive HR & Legal document library Settlement agreements to prevent any progress to tribunals
call our employers advice line on 0333 240 7208
Quest is part of the Vantage Group of companies based in Leicester. We are the exclusive recommended supplier of the British Chambers of Commerce, helping most UK Chambers to support their members. We are also an official partner of The Trade Association Forum, supporting a rapidly increasing number of trade associations across the UK. Over 80,000 UK businesses have access to our services.
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how we adapt
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Keeping ventilation on the front line Ventilation is a key weapon in the fight against Covid-19, helping to reduce transmission of the virus indoors. During the Pandemic Vent-Axia has therefore been helping support a wide-range of essential projects with ventilation, including the conversion of existing hospital wards and the creation of field hospitals across the country. Now as we look ahead to coming out of the lockdown and how people can safely return to work, good ventilation will prove vital once again and we are here to help. Jenny Smith, Head of Marketing at Vent-Axia explains more. At Vent-Axia we’re delighted to have been helping with the national response against Covid-19. We’ve supplied fans to a number of Covid-19 hospital wards and field hospitals to provide good levels of ventilation, essential in such environments. Sites include the NHS Nightingale hospital in London, Kent & Canterbury NHS Trust’s Covid-19 wards, and the Rainbow field hospitals at Bangor University and Deeside Leisure Centre. We’re extremely proud to be part of the hard-working team that is making it possible to get these essential field hospitals up and running in an unprecedented time scale. In these difficult times the electrical and construction industry has been pulling together to help supply essential products and services to our hospitals as quickly as possible. For example, for the Nightingale Hospital we worked with the team at the Croydon branch of electrical distributor Rexel and ensured the fans were delivered directly to the London Nightingale site within just three hours of the order, an extraordinary delivery time. We also delivered fans to site the same day for both the Kent and Canterbury wards and the Deeside field hospital. Vent-Axia has been able to meet these tight deadlines as we have remained open for business. We’ve continued manufacturing during this time to help
“There is a definite truism across all of the science literature, that ventilation is a most critical part of reducing transmission from respiratory viruses.”
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supply these vital projects in the fight against Covid-19. Ventilation has been an essential service throughout the lockdown forming part of the critical supply chain, from manufacturers to contractors, that makes such projects possible. And with already 70% of construction workers back on site by the beginning of May, we will continue to supply the industry with their ventilation needs. As Vent-Axia is committed to improving indoor air quality and public health we welcomed the Government’s Covid-19 press briefing on 29 April 2020 which cited ventilation as being critical in the fight against the virus. The briefing added further weight to a raft of global scientific evidence which indicates aerosol transmission of Covid-19, thus making it riskier to be inside than outside a building. The reason for this increased risk is a lack of airflow. It’s therefore vital to dilute the virus in the air inside through effective ventilation and increased airflow both in homes and buildings. At the briefing Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy
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Chief Medical Officer, said “There is a definite truism across all of the science literature, that ventilation is a most critical part of reducing transmission from respiratory viruses.” To lower the risk of Covid-19 transmission inside a home or building it is vital to increase airflow and ventilate effectively. Now is the time to check ventilation in homes and buildings to ensure there is enough airflow to dilute the virus in the air and improve indoor air quality. Ventilating for longer and opting for ventilation with higher airflow volumes will help reduce the risk. With lockdown restrictions set to ease, businesses should now consider their ventilation strategies and consider making improvements to ventilation and airflow to help keep workers safe and lower the risk of transmission. There are a wide range of ventilation options, from installing new systems to upgrading existing ones to help make the environment safer for staff.
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business advertorial matters
june/july december/january 2019 business 2020 business 2018edge edge business edge
COVID-19: How home working is increasing cyber vulnerability The overnight move to a virtual workplace has resulted in a cyber crime surge, with unprepared businesses at increased risk of being exploited, Intqual-pro has warned. Following advice and restrictions to help slow the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, businesses worldwide have closed their doors and sent staff to work from home for an unknown duration. With many unprepared and unaware of the cyber security risks involved with remote working, online fraudsters have begun to capitalise on vulnerability. Figures from the National Economic Crime Centre in early April reveal that more that 500 Coronavirus-related scams and over 2,000 phishing emails had been reported to investigators in the UK. Losses among those targeted totalled £1.6 million, with this figure expected to rise.
opportunity for cyber criminals. It is crucial that businesses encourage increased awareness and personal responsibility for cyber security amongst all employees.” One key threat comes from a lack of face-to-face communication, making it difficult to verify identities. This vulnerability allows fraudsters to target businesses through impersonation. In recent incidents, Coronavirus-related spear phishing through impersonation has included senior executives requesting fund transfers, suppliers changing bank details to divert payments and landlords agreeing to a rent deferral in return for a down payment.
Consumers are being continuously warned by regulators of schemes including bank payment frauds and data phishing attempts, but businesses too must remain vigilant.
Amid the pandemic and global cyber crime surge, Intqual-pro have launched the latest phase of the Cyber Stars Initiative, Cyber Stars 365, to help business gain true insight into employee cyber security awareness.
A representative at Intqual-pro said: “The cyber threat of a home/remote working environment shouldn’t be unexpected by businesses, but the current pandemic has created an increased exploitative
Intqual-pro’s representative added: “We believe the launch of Cyber Stars 365 has came at an important time. Many businesses will be looking to educate their staff on cyber security as a result of
increased risk, but it is vital to gain insight into cyber awareness understanding for training to effective. Cyber Stars 365 has been developed to provide a cost effective, efficient and sustainable solution to ongoing cyber awareness training and metrics.” The Cyber Stars 365 platform allows an organisation to provide a snapshot of understanding and risk at any given time, identifying those with legitimate training needs, without providing additional unnecessary training to those that already can demonstrate an effective level of competence. To arrange a Cyber Stars 365 trial or to find out more information, contact enquiries@intqual-pro.com 01234 381158
INTQUAL PRO
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advertorial
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Occupational and Organizational Psychology MSc If you’re interested in how people think and behave at work – and in helping them optimise their wellbeing and performance – this is the course for you. Learn how you can play a key role in influencing best practice and policy in the workplace. Taught by the School of Psychology and the University of Sussex Business School, you’ll gain valuable skills and knowledge in: • • • • •
psychological assessment at work learning, training and development leadership, engagement and motivation wellbeing and work organisational design, change and development.
The course covers issues relevant to the future of work, bringing you the latest thinking on a range of topics such as digital connectivity, relational attachment at work, class and masculinity, attitudes to diversity, consumer psychology and modern leadership.
Choose to study full time or part time. As a part-time student, you’ll be taught mainly on one weekday across the year, with approximately two weeks of intensive taught modules across the summer term of Year 1 to fit around your work commitments. During the course, you’re invited to meet psychologists from different industries and to attend real-world assessment days. There may also be opportunities to secure internships. On graduation, you’ll be well prepared for professional practice as an occupational or organisational/business psychologist.
ACCR ED ITAT I O N AND PAR T NER SHIPS This course is seeking accreditation against the requirements for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the British Psychological Society (BPS). Taking a BPSaccredited course is necessary if you wish to pursue a career as an Occupational Psychologist, and work towards chartered status. Our professional networks include Roffey Park Institute and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) who provide specialist sessions, professional mentoring and other ad-hoc opportunities.
F IND O UT MO R E For more information or to apply, visit www.sussex.ac.uk/business-school/op-msc
Is getting palletised freight to your customers in a cost-effective, timely and reliable way critical to your business? If it is, think RT Page. We’ll ensure your goods are always where they need to be when they need to be there. • Here at RT Page and Sons Ltd we are proud to be working in partnership with THE Pallet Network (TPN) to provide a sector leading palletised goods collection and delivery service. • Our stellar customer service, unrivalled postcode coverage, competitive rates and real-time tracking technology means that you can rest assured knowing that your goods are in the safest possible hands at every stage of their journey. Call us now on 01903 736300 to speak to Naomi, our Pallet Network Manager, and find out how we can service your pallet transport needs – however challenging they might be. Alternatively email naomihorne@rtpage.co.uk for expert advice or further information.
RT Page and Sons Ltd – Modern delivery with traditional values.
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www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
tel: 01444 259 259
business how we matters adapt
june/july december/january 2019 business 2020 business 2018edge edge business edge
Working from Home (WFH) is here to stay
The world is different. Almost overnight, society and business changed forever. The problem with rapid change is where is the new point of reference. The first thing to remember is even if your business has changed, the law hasn’t. Rob Little
Founder MyTeamSafe
Effective Home Working is now part of a long-term successful future. Be it one day a week or full time, if managed properly, working from home can have significant benefits both in terms of wellbeing, productivity and costs for employer and employee. The key word to focus on is “Working” from home. Too often the emphasis is on “home”, out of site out of mind. To ensure success you need to do things differently. Situations that used to be naturally resolved by “being there” now need to be coordinated.
Legal - Although the HSE has said, during this pandemic, temporary home workers do not need workstation assessments you do need to ensure you meet all ongoing legal obligations. Assessing for risks, mitigating where possible and putting in place safe systems of working. This includes Workstation, Display Screen Equipment and Lone Working policies. Ensure that a suitable work environment can be created not just the workspace. Consider the whole environment, such as distractions not just correct equipment & technologies. Don’t forget when someone is working, even when remotely, you have a legal duty of care to ensure they are safe. You must have a lone working policy and a robust system in place, to ensure you know they are OK.
Simply break it all down into sections; Legal, Wellbeing and Efficiency.
Wellbeing - Your approach to wellbeing needs to be different with remote workers. Develop a policy that is clear and simple, with buy in from all, not just the remote worker. Think about what measurement or monitoring may be needed. Communication is not about checking up and cold task reviews but building trust and being more personal. You need to ensure those that do work from home don’t become isolated and those that can’t, don’t get resentful.
Combined they can create a new, highly productive, work-life-balance.
Encourage structure and routine; work hours, breaks, to-do lists, even suitable work
It is simple but you need a structured approach, a policy, to ensure your business strengthens not dilutes with remote working.
attire. Promote a range of communication channels, between all team members, including that dreaded word, Video conference. Efficiency - How are you going to maintain productivity across the whole business, including remote workers? Often the simple things can have the biggest impact. Video calls can be great making things interactive and to see body signals. Make sure there is an agenda and clear outcomes, ensure that all attendees feel included. Utilise screen sharing and collaboration tools. Think about email etiquette, when you have a disparate work force it is not always easy to pick up on the mood or levels of importance. Insist on clear Subject lines, correct use of To and CC, restrict the use of “Reply All” and flagging emails as Urgent! These are just a few examples of how to successfully embed remote working into the culture of your business. Rob Little, is the founder of MyTeamSafe®. The leading automated system specifically designed to meet the needs of lower risk remote workers and home workers. Simple, flexible and cost effective. You remain in control not impersonal Call Centres (ARCs) that don’t know your staff or your business.
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how we adapt
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Train and retain: cost-effective business solutions for staff development What’s your learning and development strategy? How important is training to you in your role? When was the last time you undertook training? What are your business plans for staff development now and in the future? We’ve pulled together a few stats all businesses should be taking notice of: In 2017, only 26% of employees in the UK said they had taken part in in-work training or education in the previous three months (ONS, Characteristics and benefits of training at work, UK: 2017) 74% felt that they weren’t achieving their full potential at work due to lack of development opportunities (Middlesex University for Work Based Learning) Workers in the South of England are less likely than average (28% vs 29%) to say their job offers good prospects for career advancement (CIPD, UK Working Lives, 2019)
Why is training so undervalued? Businesses cite lack of budget, lack of time, or that training and development isn’t a priority. How effectively is your business operating with only a quarter of employees undertaking in-work training, and nearly three-quarters stating they weren’t achieving their full potential due to lack of training? Businesses are all about people, and last year LinkedIn produced a Workplace Learning Report which resulted in 94% of employees saying they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning and development.
Benefits of Training Learning and development at work results in increased motivation, employees are more
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effective in their role so there is increased productivity – which results in increased profits. It also creates a learning culture, where staff are encouraged to work together and share ideas and offers the opportunity for career advancement within an organisation, retaining knowledge in-house that is costly to replace. When employees training and development needs are at the forefront, staff turnover will be reduced. Replacing a member of staff costs around £30,000 according to analysis from Oxford Economics. This might seem high, and it will depend on the industry and the recruitment process. It’s a no-brainer that it’s cheaper to upskill your current staff – and retain them.
Apprenticeships – Employer-led Training Solutions Investing in your organisational needs through prioritising areas for staff development will see a return on investment. “Apprenticeships are employerled: employers set the standards and create the demand for apprentices to meet their skills needs” (Institute for Apprenticeships). Apprenticeship Standards are formed by ‘trailblazers’ (employer groups) meaning they’re relevant and needs-based. As part of Ixion’s apprenticeship service we undertake an organisational needs analysis to identify areas for staff training now, and in the future – this can be anyone from customer service staff to managers within any sector. Apprenticeships benefit both employers and individuals – boosting your workforce skills improves productivity and motivation.
Cost-Effective Solutions There are lots of training solutions out there, such as Ixion’s fully-funded Skills Support for the Workforce accredited courses specifically for SMEs looking to upskill their staff. Another great way to upskill your current staff is through apprenticeships. These are cost-effective, bespoke to your business and are a great way to improve the skills base of employees to ensure they’re fully competent in their chosen occupation. Large employers should utilise their apprenticeship levy funds to invest in their staff, small and medium sized employers only need to pay a small contribution for the cost of apprenticeship training.
www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
Impact of Covid-19 During the current pandemic more options than ever are available for staff to upskill; learning has moved online across the world with courses being offered for free. But how valuable are they to real staff development - are they accredited, are they nationally recognised and how relevant are they really to your business needs? As a training provider, Ixion’s courses and qualifications are relevant to your needs because we work with you to take the time to identify what these really are. If staff have been furloughed, they can still undertake training and even start an apprenticeship.
tel: 01444 259 259
Construction Refurbishment Building Maintenance Facilities Management
Mountjoy provides professional and high-quality construction, refurbishment, building maintenance and facilities management services across southern England, delivered through and supported by our team of 300+ employees with assistance from local, approved supply chain members. Our clients include local authorities, housing associations, schools, colleges, universities, healthcare providers and commercial organisations.
New local office in Southwater, Horsham Contact us today to discuss how we can help your organisation: t: 01403 627 597 e: enquiries@mountjoy.co.uk w: www.mountjoy.co.uk
how we adapt
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Free R&D tax relief claims support to Sussex companies innovating to combat Covid-19 ABGI has announced it is offering free advice and support on R&D tax relief claims to companies who have investigated, or are still currently investigating, ways of combatting the coronavirus to meet the nation’s current healthcare needs. ABGI, the UK’s leading innovation funding specialists, has announced it is now offering free advice and support on R&D tax relief claims to companies who have investigated, or are still currently investigating, ways of combatting the coronavirus to meet the nation’s current healthcare needs. The move comes after the UK Government had called on manufacturers to look into switching their production capabilities to produce much-needed ventilators for UK hospitals, personal protective equipment for NHS workers, virus testing kits and hand sanitisers to meet the unprecedented demand.
For some manufacturers, adapting production processes would have required some initial R&D expenditure. To help support this activity, ABGI will offer its services completely free of charge to ensure those who made this investment to help tackle the pandemic can also secure maximum qualifying tax relief from the process. This includes providing free consultancy on incentives available to make the switch, reviewing a manufacturer’s activity plan to ensure it will qualify for R&D tax relief, and developing and submitting their claim to HMRC. Chris Barker, Innovation Funding Specialist at ABGI UK, commented: “As
a number of manufacturing businesses have shown, companies are prepared to step forward as Covid-19 outbreak grips the UK. As an advisory business, we also have expertise and experience which can help in this battle by making adaptation easier and more cost effective for those manufacturers. We are keen to offer our expertise completely free of charge and without obligation to these companies. This includes helping them identify the available R&D incentives to assist with production transition, assessing their eligibility, and handling their claim to ensure they secure all the tax relief they are entitled to.”
Answering the most burning questions During March 2020 our lives have been turned upside down, both personally as well as professionally. On 1st March most of us were still going about our normal lives and it was almost ‘business as usual’. But as the days have gone by, everything as we’ve known it has changed in front of our eyes. The Coronavirus, a worldwide pandemic, then arrived in full force. Since it’s arrival, an influx of questions have arisen, such as ‘how many loo rolls do people really need?’, ‘do they really eat that much pasta?’ and ‘how many times do I need to sing happy birthday whilst washing my hands?’. But at ACUMEN BUSINESS LAW, a specialist business law firm, the main question asked by so many of its clients was ‘can we survive this?’. “Every single business I have spoken to in the last week is asking themselves that question”, says Penina Shepherd, Founder & CEO of ACUMEN. “These are unprecedented and incredibly challenging times for all of us and our businesses.” To help its business community, the team at Acumen have set up a complimentary
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helpline answering what seems to be the most burning questions to most businesses, such as: How can I keep some/all of our people but pay them less until we get through this? Can I stop paying my commercial rent or break my lease? How can I get out of my service contracts with my suppliers? Is the corona situation a force majeure event I can rely on? “This is just our little bit to help the community during this depressing time,” explained Andrew Hiesley, Acumen’s MD. To give businesses ongoing help and support, Acumen have also implemented a Corona Crisis Pay As you Go Scheme (PAYG). Acumen is subsidising this scheme so the business community benefit from up to 50% discounted off their normal fees.
www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
This scheme will provide you will legal help ‘on the go’ wherever you need quick and on the spot answers to any legal query you may have. Keep safe and here is to our businesses getting to ‘the other side’!
tel: 01444 259 259
business how we matters adapt
june/july december/january 2019 business 2020 business 2018edge edge business edge
Managing to maintain our business during crisis Nordell is one of the UK’s leading independent Plastics Manufacturing and Design refinement companies based in Worthing, West Sussex and offering a comprehensive range of Dedicated Services to complement our core Plastic Injection moulding and Extrusion manufacturing business. Nordell are proud and active members of both Adur and Worthing Chamber and Sussex Chamber of Commerce. Paul Mason
Nordell Managing Director
The current Covid-19 situation has certainly produced several challenges for Paul Mason, Nordell Managing Director and his 80 strong team; “Never in our lifetime have we experienced such a challenge to human health and the economy” Nordell has remained fully operational as an essential business manufacturing parts for vital sectors such as medical and pharmaceutical, however with a significant change to our working practices. We reacted very quickly and implemented new working controls ahead of the UK Governments advice; this included temperature checking employees on arrival (giving a huge sense of security to the team), ensuring sufficient distancing in the work space and rest spaces, reorganising the working week and more than doubling access to hand sanitisation to name but a few. Where we have team working at home, we are maintaining a high level of communication through twice daily check-in’s on Microsoft Teams; a valuable an interesting technology especially for the nosey ones who have enjoyed checking out small snippets of their colleagues homes! We received more than a dozen letters from our customers advising Nordell of the
“essential” nature of the parts we produce. Nordell has a diverse customer base, however most of the parts we manufacture, and supply are used in the production of Healthcare, medical, pharmaceutical and Food processing equipment; some directly going into critical ventilator systems. When the UK Government raised their concern over the shortfall of ventilators required in the fight against Covid-19, we engaged with some of our local manufacturing counterparts in the Adur and Worthing Chamber to put a proposal together for the manufacture of ventilators using our combined skills. This never progressed following the UK Governments award of contracts to several very capable and significant UK manufactures. The exercise was very useful though, as it proved how local businesses could collaborate in times of crisis. As for Nordell’s business, we must count ourselves lucky that we have managed to maintain our business and in fact are still managing to grow despite the challenges. It’s true that we have seen huge growth in accounts where our parts are used in the Covid-19, whilst other accounts have seen a significant decline as they are directly linked to the retail sectors. We have been able to keep the whole team working; however, a significant amount of time has been spent reviewing the various Government support options and reviewing our risk exposure. Our heartfelt thoughts go out to all the Adur & Worthing & Global businesses who have been impacted through no fault of
their own. I am sure somewhere there are some learnings to come from the current situation and we must all remain positive about the future. Our membership of Adur and Worthing Chamber is very worthwhile. The Chamber are fantastic representatives for local businesses and can represent local business on a national level. We were able to join a Webinar in March with Tim Loughton; Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, organised by Adur and Worthing Chamber. When the UK Government initially announced the Lockdown of non-essential business, there was no mention of manufacturing being included on the essential or key workers list. The subject was raised with the Chamber, seeking clarification which was raised with Tim Loughton and then answered on the Webinar. Not long afterwards the Government clarified the position of UK manufacturing as “essential”. Despite all the significant challenges and the slightly quieter office, we have been able to use the time to review and focus on what matters most to all our stakeholders, by reviewing our structure and processes; getting back to basics to ensure we are LEAN and productive and not wasteful. Returning to full normality seems a long way off, however, hopefully we will all be able to return to some sort of normality soon, albeit with significant additional controls. We will all learn from this experience and come out stronger for it.
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finance focus
june/july 2020 business edge
Are you still innovating in lockdown Britain?
Just because we are in lockdown, doesn’t mean you can’t be innovating. It just means you’ve been having to do things a little bit differently, a bit like the Government. You can’t fault them for the Innovative ways they are finding to support British Business, whether it’s allowing the furloughing of staff, the development of a portal to report details of those staff that have been furloughed, the creation of 4 new funding streams to get cash to Britain’s Limited companies, developing a new portal for the selfemployed to access funding, the ramping up of new testing facilities for COVID swabs or the development of a contact tracing app to warn you of people you’ve been in contact with who may have been infected. All of these are innovations, and some of them, if they had been developed by or in the private sector might have been eligible for Research and Development Tax Credits. We’ve been working on a journey to automate a lot of our back end procedures to try and streamline the work and make the customer journey more consistent. We’ve starting using Practice Ignition for our contracting and Xero for our accounting and the two can integrate with one another. Practice Ignition also integrates with our CRM system Really Simple Systems, so we should begin to see some tangible benefits in the not too distant future.
It’s not quite the same for our clients. Based on the conversations we’ve had with them there’s a very broad spectrum of how they have been coping. Those involved in Software and Tech Development have managed to retain a strong semblance of business as normal, albeit with desktop collaboration replaced by collaboration through Zoom or Microsoft Teams collaboration. I know from my
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experience, that it’s good, but it’s not quite the same but it has been a very useful resource in the short to medium term, but they can’t wait to get back together to get the creative juices flowing even more strongly. That contrasts very strongly with those businesses involved in Manufacturing or Engineering. Although many of them have been able to maintain social distancing, and could continue to operate, many have found that they have been unable to continue to work anywhere close to capacity, either because their supply chains have dried up or their customers have closed down and are no longer accepting any Goods In. As a result, many have either mothballed the site or maintained a skeleton workforce to continue to service those jobs for businesses that have managed to stay open. Which brings us on to a final sector, the food and beverage sector, with the great British public going on a buying spree in late March and early April to stock up the cupboards and the freezers, those business baking, or processing meat have never been busier and have had to shelve/ delay their plans for R&D Tax Relief claims to focus on ramping up production whilst maintaining social-distancing, which in some circumstances has led to 24 hour production with an over night shift.
development have seen their work shrink significantly as businesses cut back on their external costs to focus on survival. Whereas one helping companies to develop new recipes or to look at reducing the costs of their end products by considering alternative ingredients, have stayed fairly busy.
What next? We’ll have to wait and see what shape this recovery is, I know I am hoping it’s going to be a tick shaped recovery, but Boris has just announced his first measures to try and take us out of lockdown, and I think many people will be having to find ways to try and implement them. What we do know from past recessions is that those companies that manage to continue with their marketing efforts and their innovation efforts, will be the ones that come out on the other side the strongest. Not all of these “innovations” will qualify for R&D Tax Credits, but many will. If you’d like to know whether what you’ve done in your last two financial years, what you’re doing now, or what you’re planning for the future might qualify for a claim, then please get in contact for a free 15 minute chat, you can book an appointment at www.calendly.com/simon-bulteel. In the meantime, keep innovating and stay alert.
We’ve also been speaking to a number of innovation agencies that we network with, these are generally business that support SME product development, depending on their market, they have broadly reflected the situation their customers have found themselves in. One agency who supports customers with tangible new product
www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
tel: 01444 259 259
finance focus
june/july 2020 2019 business businessedge edge
Improving work-life balance for business leaders 76% of UK small business owners admitted to working during their holidays, making them liable to a burnout. This approach is decreasing productivity and also business performance. Ways that business leaders could re-establish a healthier work-life balance will help them take back control of their working day. Carrying on from the last edition of Business Edge, below are some further tips to improve work-life balance. processes, they can give them a clearer headspace to add value and improve business performance.
Martin Atkins
Business Advisory Partner Menzies
Leaders should outsource For leaders to better appreciate the value of their time, they should outsource support in specialist areas, such as financial management and HR. As small businesses often operate on limited budgets, the initial costs with setting up these areas could be off-putting at first. But, it’s important to balance this expenditure with the long-term value it will deliver to the business. Not only do the outsourced solutions help companies to become aware of efficiencies by streamlining their
Outsourced services can provide the flexibility to make it a cost-effective solution. For instance, levels of support can be flexed to take account of levels of expertise and internal resources. When selecting an outsourcing services partner, it’s a good idea to look for a provider that has experience working in the same sector. The provider should demonstrate a progressive use of technologies to provide support to a variety of business functions and improve efficiencies. Prior to determining which services to outsource, the business owner should think about where the companies main pressure points lie, and where there is greatest potential to realise time and cost savings.
Notwithstanding the rise in focus on promoting health and wellbeing in the business world, some SME leaders still won’t admit when they are having difficulties coping with heavy workloads. It’s likely that this has an impact on productivity and therefore limits business performance. By outsourcing key areas of the business and investing in the development of strategic members of staff, owner managers can build a more successful and sustainable business, while also improving their work-life balance. Martin Atkins - Business Advisory Partner matkins@menzies.co.uk
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how we adapt
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
Golden google is business owners’ holy grail Coronavirus and the lockdown have had a huge impact on the world’s health and economy, but also attitudes have changed on how businesses market themselves online, according to a new survey. New Chamber member Advance Online in Surrey surveyed clients based primarily across the South East and found that, due to the pandemic, they were looking to make changes to their business operations in their respective industries. Post-COVID-19, their clients knew they needed to communicate those changes to existing and potential customers more effectively than they were pre-lockdown, to make sure they gave their business the best chance of surviving – and the most efficient way to communicate these changes would predominantly be through their website and social media. Wanting to know more about how the pandemic was affecting other businesses, director Malcolm Porter created a survey to delve into what the post-COVID-19 landscape looked like for business owners in terms of digital marketing and online presence. He discovered that the focus for businesses was to update or improve their websites with the aim of ranking on the first page of Google. He also discovered that whilst many had some budget to do it, the majority would appreciate a “buy now pay later” offer or no deposit/ lump sum to get them re-launched and back to trading. He said: “The data revealed that now more than before, businesses were aware of the importance of having a website. It was really pleasing to see that seven out of ten businesses had been able to keep trading and although three out of ten had temporarily ceased trading, none had closed permanently. The data was encouraging in that many had the budget and a keen interest to use their websites and digital marketing to push their businesses through to survive the pandemic.” The survey also revealed that whilst more than 80% had been negatively affected by the pandemic, 70% were still able to trade and 40% were definitely going to be making changes to services and operations in response to the current situation. For further information visit: https://advanceonline.co.uk/survey/
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www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
tel: 01444 259 259
advertorial
june/july 2020 2019 business businessedge edge
Let us take care of everything for you Advance Online has recently joined you all at the Sussex Chamber of Commerce, and we’re looking forward to getting to know all of you more. At Advance Online we pride ourselves on creating fully-optimised, Google-ranking websites for businesses across the UK. As you will see on the opposite page, we’ve recently conducted a survey to find out how the pandemic has affected business owners, and how they see the future of their business. The data revealed that now more than ever, businesses were aware of the importance of having a website. As a result of this survey data, we decided to create a new offer to help businesses tackle their new marketing focus right now. We’ve combined our excellent customer service with great looking websites and our SEO expertise to bring you an exclusive package that guarantees you’ll be on the first page of Google. It’s a tough climate right now, which is why we’re looking to help all business owners. Not only can you defer the payment until September 2020, but our packages start from £40 and include a full build, copywriting, complete with thorough SEO optimisation across the entire website. If that wasn’t enough we don’t just build your website and walk away, we continue to ensure your website stays on the first page of Google for as long as you work with us. This includes managing all Google’s algorithm changes on your behalf and tracking your rankings so you don’t have to worry about the sometimes complicated data. The way your customers interact with your website is important to us, so we also ensure your website is built to be mobile (and tablet) responsive, a feature that’s highly favoured by Google and an increasing number of website visitors. Advance Online takes
WEB SEO
PPC ECOM
care of everything for you, freeing up your time and allowing you to focus on the important things, like running your business without distraction. Get in touch with us today at https://advanceonline.co.uk or 0845 6250225
Get a new fully optimised Google ranking website and pay nothing until September
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As a brand new member ourselves we wanted to offer all Sussex Chamber of Commerce members an additional 15% discount off all of our plans. 0845 6250 225
advanceonline.co.uk
help@advanceonline.co.uk
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events and training
june/july june/july2020 2019 business edge
During the lockdown Sussex Chamber events and training have gone virtual Training With reportedly a third of the country starting to use video calls for the first time, how does this change the way we need to communicate and behave in these unusual times? Join our virtual courses looking at developing your team’s communication skills. We’re also running a range of virtual courses covering international trade. See our website for full details.
www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
Events We are currently hosting a virtual event every week and on our website you’ll find details of these, updated weekly. During the pandemic we are vowing to be a source of pragmatic, practical and valuable guidance so our business community is able to fight the fight. Our series of interactive weekly webinars support your business and employees as we navigate the coronavirus crisis. We will be joined by an expert from within our membership to provide key insights into topical subjects and ensure your business questions are addressed.
Book early to avoid disappointment.
Jackson Rowe - professional construction experts dealing with the realities of COVID 19 affecting the construction industry With COVID-19 sweeping the country, the construction industry has been one of the few sectors left facing the dilemma of whether to continue working and stay on site, whilst adopting Public Health England’s guidance relating to social distancing, or, to remove its workforce from site. The dilemma is, that many construction contracts do not provide for such a scenario. HM Government has indicated that essential construction work can continue. At Jackson Rowe, we have already provided contractual advice to several construction companies (and Employers) about the consequences of either of these actions, whilst ensuring that these businesses are protecting both their own company interests (from events such as termination of contracts and potential damages claims) and their people (by ensuring sufficient and appropriate PPE, Antibacterial handwash stations and revised method statements
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are provided) and by taking account of recommended social distancing measures. At Jackson Rowe, our professional construction experts provide specialised services at all stages of your construction projects and commissions, from contract formation, throughout the life cycle of a project, through to completion. Our independent development management advisors work alongside your team, from inception and throughout the lifecycle of a project to completion, to create a positive experience while improving solutions. Our dispute team assist you to manage and resolve any disputes that may arise, ensuring that you are well represented throughout the process and that you are best informed to defend a claim or recover funds due. Our experts are also able to provide independent expert advice and testimony to assist in achieving fair and reasonable outcomes.
www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
tel: 01444 259 259
Daniel Rowe
member to business member matters offers
february/march june/july 2020 business 2019 business edge edge
Spotlight on Member to Member offers Being a chamber member can save your business money in many unexpected ways. Many of our members offer great benefits for fellow members of the chamber. If you are a member and you haven’t yet made a Member to Member offer why not login to our website portal and create your own! You can find the current list of Member to Member offers on our website at: www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk/membership/member-to-member-offers Here’s a highlighted selection of these offers:
Wyndham Solutions
Coast SUA
MCL
Wyndham Solutions are offering a free of charge, no obligation, introductory call/meeting to discuss your company transactions with the EU and what we can do to help you prepare your company in time for a whole new post Brexit trading world in January 2021.
Coast SUA are pleased to offer fellow Sussex Chamber members a discount of 15% on all our services: aerial photography/video, surveys, inspections and terrain mapping using our DJI Enterprise drones.
Get ready for a return to business using MCL’s sustainability management software, ClearChain. We’re adapting it for companies to gauge their readiness to return to operations, enabling you to conduct non-financial audits of your operational readiness, your markets, your supply chain and more and comes with ready-to-use audit templates for each purpose. We are offering members a 25% reduction in the software license fee.
Call Paul on 0771 3340641 to set up a meeting.
Call or email Phil on: 07855 944640, phil@coastsua.co.uk
Contact Andrew Lambert, 01444 892093, andrewl@marshallcl.com
Associate Planet
East Sussex Credit Union
PVL
With the ‘Lock-Down’ situation in full swing, it is even more important to know there are people out there willing to help and support you, with your technology, computers, smart devices as you use them even more to work from home. All aspects of tech support is here, at the end of a telephone or email. During this period, we’ll do our best to help you free of charge.
Setting up a Chorus Workplace Savings Scheme is FREE to Sussex Chamber members. At this time of financial pressure on workers, you could improve your staff’s financial wellbeing by offering a scheme to save with the local credit union straight from their wages - plus lots of other benefits -without it costing you a penny! To talk to us about launching a Chorus scheme (www. savewithchorus.org.uk) please email emma.brown@eastsussexcu.org.uk
Prepare for your re-opening with our social distancing floor signs. Whether they are standard designs or bespoke to your brand, our floor signs will help people adhere to the social distancing rules and reassure them you are taking appropriate measures. These self-adhesive vinyls are easy to apply, have a non-slip R9 slip rating and are hardwearing.
Element Coaching and Wellbeing
The Jonathan Lea Network
Richard on 07831 196534 or email at richard.long@associate-planet.com
Catandra We are in confusing times and business owners know they should be taking action but are not sure what that is. As business coaches and consultants we help provide some clarity and guidance to get you back on track. During this time every we should be supporting each other, as such we are offering any Chamber member a free 1 hour coaching session (phone or video only). Follow the link to get in touch and arrange this: www.catandra.co.uk/contact
Now more than ever we need to look after our physical and mental wellbeing. The highest quality fitness training, mental skills coaching and stress management services are being offered to chamber members at 50% discount now until August! Introductory coaching sessions for individuals or groups are FREE! Visit www.elementcoach.co.uk or email direct at info@elementcoach.co.uk for more details.
Order via our online shop bit. ly/3dhJFAH and enter code SC10 for 10% discount or contact us on 01444 258 980 / Sales@pvluk.com
During this unprecedented time our Wills and Probate specialist solicitor Chris Lawn is available for free initial consultations via Zoom for anyone who may like a will arranged. We are offering Sussex Chamber of Commerce members a special discount (use the code Sussex Chamber JLN), whereby we can advise on and produce basic wills for £250 + VAT and basic mirror wills for £450 + VAT. Please reach out to Alice@jonathanlea.net to arrange a free consultation with Chris via Zoom.
AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED
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business new members matters
august/september december/january june/july june/july2020 2019 2018 business edge
Welcome to Sussex Chamber of Commerce Membership of Sussex Chamber of Commerce can help you increase profits, get the best from your people and find new clients. Also, it saves you money, gets your voice heard and puts you in contact with even more businesses.
Advance Online
Beth Cook Design
Coast S.U.A.
Unit 10, Fairlawn Enterprise Park, Bonehurst Road, Salfords, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 5GH
The Studio, Brickyard Cottages, Gillridge Lane, Crowborough, East Sussex, TN6 1UP
3 Winterbourne Mews, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1HG
www.advanceonline.co.uk
www.bethcookdesign.com
www.coastsua.co.uk
07721 985147
07530 580079
07855 944640
Advance Online specialise in designing and creating fully responsive, optimised websites and getting our clients found on the first page of Google for what they do in the areas they cover … and we keep them there. Check out our ‘Peace of Mind’ Guarantee.
Beth Cook is a graphic designer specialising in insightful and intelligent brand identity and design for print. With over 16 years’ experience as a creative professional, Beth gets to know her clients, understand their market and support their business with communications that reflect their vision.
Coast S.U.A. Ltd delivers high resolution aerial photography and video, using drones (Small Unmanned Aircraft).
DeScribe Language Services Ltd
DG Solutions
Elizabeth Ockford Ltd
#weputyourbusinessfirst
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Accredited by the CAA, Constructionline Gold and fully insured, we provide a range of photographic services including terrain mapping, orthomosaics, 3D modelling, aerial surveying, 4K video and architectural photography.
Worthing, West Sussex
130 Old Street, London, EC1V 9BD
www.describelanguageservices.com
www.dangerous-goods.co.uk
Units C3-C5, Horsted Keynes Business Park, Cinder Hill Lane, Horsted Keynes, West Sussex, RH17 7BA
01903 680810
01273 569048
www.elizabethockford.com
DeScribe Language Services has one objective: to remove all language barriers so that the world is your oyster. Global collaboration, world impact, international trade and global mobility. We will work with you as your trusted translation partner. Across languages and between cultures, your organisation can ‘Tell the World’!
DG Solutions are a national training and consultancy organisation for Dangerous Goods. DG Solutions offer Dangerous Goods Shipper Training for Air (IATA), Road (ADR) and Sea (IMDG), as well as appointed Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser (DGSA) and 24/7 Support Services. We are your partner for Dangerous Goods.
01342 810357
www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
Established in the autumn of 2019, we are a small team of wallpaper designers who create collections under the Elizabeth Ockford Ltd brand. We sell through retail stores and online, as well as offering a bespoke colour, design, and print service to the trade.
tel: 01444 259 259
business new members matters
june/july august/september december/january 2019 business 2020 business 2018 2018edge business edge business edge edge
Energy & Carbon Management
Ixion Holdings Ltd
Mint Design Studio
3C York Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9AD
Halford House, 2nd Floor, Coval Lane, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1TD
14 The Plantation, Worthing, West Sussex, BN13 2AJ
www.ecm.co.uk
www.ixionholdings.com
www.mintdesign.studio
0330 166 4444
01245 505630
01903 695400
Energy & Carbon Management are a leading independent UK consultancy, working with businesses to control and reduce energy costs through effective procurement and efficiency strategies. We also help ensure compliance with obligatory regulations such as the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme and the most recent legislation Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting
We’re a national, not-for-profit, ‘Grade 1’ Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ training provider, transforming lives through skills, employment, enterprise and innovation.
Mint are a small yet perfectly formed team of professionals who care about what they do and have a winning formula that combines creative graphic design, solid technical know-how and great service. Essentially we design, develop, coordinate and improve branding, website, promotional materials and media strategy.
Moore Law
Mortgage Advice Bureau
Sussex Innovation Centre, University of Sussex Campus, Science Park Square, Brighton, East Sussex
7 Crane Street, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1LH
BN1 9SB www.moore-law.co.uk/about_us.php 01273 704789
We work with employers to upskill current and new staff, delivering bespoke training solutions for the now and for the future. This includes trainees to fill skills shortages, apprentices to develop a talented workforce and fully-funded training to upskill.
01243 5551100 Mortgage Advice Bureau is the UK’s leading mortgage intermediary brand, winning over 150 national awards for the quality of its advice and service.
Pavilion Healthcare International Ltd 18 Mallory Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 6TD www.pavilionhealth.co.uk 01273 298286 Caring for Your Natural Wellbeing since 1987, Pavilion Health is a Premium Brand Brighton based Company celebrating 30yrs specialising in Organic High-End Speciality Herbal Teas with health benefits, a range of Authentic Indian Natural Health supplements massage oils and supplements, based on Indo-European herbal medicineexporting to Europe & Online & Wholesale trade.
Moore Law is a niche commercial and IP law firm recognised by the Legal 500 amongst the best in the UK for technology, digital media and sports work. We pride ourselves on delivering an expert service focused on practical legal solutions to clients throughout Sussex and beyond.
With over 1,400 advisers across the UK, we offer expert mortgage advice on a local and national level to UK consumers, both faceto-face and over the phone.
Ruiter
Serve Legal
SigniFlow UK
96 Thelton Avenue, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 3LT
4 Regent Terrace, Rita Road, London, SW8 1AW
The Courtyard, 30 Worthing Rd, Horsham, West Sussex
www.ruiter.co
www.servelegal.co.uk
RH12 1SL
01403 265530
07500 010461
www.signiflow.co.uk
Ruiter is a website builder and platform for recruiters and companies to promote their online recruitment efforts.
Serve Legal is the market-leading provider of ID and compliance testing services in the UK & Ireland. We provide extensive, independent audit services to national retailers, leisure operators and sports broadcasters. Our highly accurate site test audits help clients protect revenues, improve operational standards and support responsible retailing.
020 8611 2681
Our platform enables you to setup and customise a website for your recruitment effort, no designers or developers required. A job-board, application process and more tools are included right out the box.
SigniFlow® is web-based document management software that includes a cryptographic digital signature engine that works both on its own, and fully integrated into existing business systems. SigniFlow® uses the most advanced and trusted digital signature technology, enabling powerful workflow functionality and ease of document distribution to automate any business process.
AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED
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business survey covid-19 matters
august/september december/january june/july june/july2020 2019 2018 business edge
Impact of Covid-19 on businesses across Sussex Sussex Chamber of Commerce, working in partnership with Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, Surrey Chambers of Commerce, Surrey County Council, Enterprise M3 and Coast2capital have conducted this business survey tracking economic conditions of businesses based in Sussex, Hampshire, and Surrey. In this first tranche of data collection (31 March - 6 April 2020) close to 200 businesses in Sussex responded. 89% of the respondents were SMEs, 20% were manufacturers and 40% had their entire business home-working whilst 13% told us they have closed for the duration of lockdown.
Furloughing Staff
Chamber Comment
66%
53%
Of respondents intend to use the Government’s announced Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
Of respondents have furloughed some of their staff and 15% have furloughed all of their staff
The findings from our first survey in Sussex speak for themselves. This survey highlighted there were still too many barriers for businesses to obtain the support needed to help them through this crisis. Whilst the government has responded quickly, unfortunately there are still many businesses who remain unsupported. Along with Chamber partners in this survey and the British Chamber network, we are working together to find solutions to fill these gaps. It is important we continue to understand the challenges businesses are facing so we can continue to lobby government. Ana Christie, CEO of Sussex Chamber of Commerce
% of Business Response Across Sussex
Key Requests of the Chamber Lobby government for more support for self-employed, sole trader and director owners Lobby government / Banks to simplify application process and to release funds under CBILS quickly Keep businesses informed of the support, guidance and available funding Provide details on a Disaster Recovery Plan Highlight businesses that “fall through the cracks” and are therefore not eligible for government support
To understand the continued impact of Coronavirus on business, Sussex Chamber conducted a further survey in May. The results of this survey will be published on the website: www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
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www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk
The survey results show that uptake on the government support measures have not been seized upon by businesses, with exception to the Job Retention Scheme. The comments from respondents have shown that there are still too many barriers for businesses to obtain support through most of the schemes. This survey also idenitified the types of businesses that are ‘falling through the gaps’ for the essential financial support they require, which we are looking to support going forward.
For useful guidance and business support during coronavirus, visit our ‘Trading Through Coronavirus page: sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk/campaigns-forchange/coronavirus
tel: 01444 259 259
Find your digital voice! Engaging your brand with audiences that matter.
www.be-everywhere.co.uk | E: info@be-everywhere.co.uk | T: 0191 580 5990
Thinkers Challengers Innovators Leaders DISCOVER THE SUS SE X MBA FIND OUT MORE
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