sustainable management

Are your foundations in place to thrive after COVID?

Commercial Optimisation is a professional implementer of the EOS model & system….a proven way to business success. Here, Co-founder Andrew Stevens explains how to reset your business.

Think back to how your business was running at the start of 2020. Chances are you were following your business plan (3 out of 4 UK businesses use a plan), and you were growing and flourishing.

But in April, just as you thought you couldn’t do anything wrong, the world stopped. Suddenly you were facing some very different challenges – for many, the main goal became survival. Today, you’re probably trying to work out how you can find success in the post-lockdown world.

Facing up to these new challenges may require you to reset the foundations of your business. Every day, I talk to entrepreneurs about how they can get more from their business, and for me, it comes down to three areas – people, planet and profit. Let’s look at these in more detail.

People

In challenging times, it’s never been more important to have the right people in the right seats. You need people who buy into your vision and values, and they have to be capable of doing the job that you give them. This is one of the six components of the EOS Model used by Commercial Optimisation, which I help entrepreneurs to implement in their business.

You might find that some roles that you had in your company pre-COVID are no longer needed. On the other hand, there may be a whole raft of new functions you need to create. You need to take a detached, birds-eye view of your business and evaluate what you need to move forward.

Planet

Resetting your foundations gives you the opportunity to reassess your priorities. You may have a new vision for your company - one completely different from when you started out. Now is the time to bring it to life.

Many businesses are refocusing to become more sustainable, creating roles to monitor environmental impact. Also, in the wake of the pandemic, many companies are becoming more people-focused, implementing flexible working schemes and being more deliberate about diversity and inclusion. Does your business need a new vision?

Profit

If you have seen your profits plummet since the COVID crisis, with little sign of recovery, you need to make adjustments to get back on track. Start with the basics – is there a demand for what you do now? Next, look at your forecasts. Are you anywhere close to where you need to be?

The secret to moving back into profitability is having a good plan and sticking to it. In EOS, which we use at Commercial Optimisation, we talk a lot about planning. We believe any business can find success by creating a strategy around six key components. What are they? You’ll have to get in touch with me to find out.

Are you ready?

To understand what your company needs, it’s vital to take time out. That means working on your business rather than working in your business. A proven system like EOS can help you systemise your

Andrew Stevens

Co-Founder Commercial Optimisation

company, so you can switch to the new normal faster and more smoothly.

When you run a business, you face 136 challenges at the same time! Today it’s the aftermath of a pandemic, but it could easily be a recession, a new competitor or a change of regulation. What’s important is that you have a framework that everyone understands, and a plan you can stick to.

When you can control your response to any change in your business, when you and your employees can switch seamlessly from one mindset to another (growth to survival, for example), we call it business readiness.

If you don’t have business readiness, you can’t achieve it by tinkering around the edges. You need to make fundamental changes to your foundations. However, there are people who have done it before and know what to do. Let Commercial Optimisation show you the way.

The dichotomy of sustainable housing growth

Is it possible to double the number of new homes built annually while causing no environmental harm?

William Mackveley

General Manager of Wastewater Solutions & Onsite Treatment Works, Severn Trent Connect.

Severn Trent Connect work with many of the Garden Villages, large developments and mixed-use sites which include schools, care homes etc. across the country including the Sussex region. We provide solutions for developers facing problems with the wastewater utility service; namely a lack of available local capacity. We always welcome conversations to explore potential solutions for our clients.

Housebuilding targets

House prices have nearly tripled since 2000, pushing home ownership out of reach for many. The UK Government’s response is an ambitious housing growth strategy, calling for 300,000 newly built homes per year. While housing delivery rates have significantly increased over the past decade, they will need to almost double to meet the Government’s aspirations.

Biodiversity and sustainability

Biodiversity and environmental improvements don’t occur by chance at large developments; they must become the very foundation of planning and design. It should be recognised that concrete and steel solutions are often inferior and more costly than natural solutions.

My view point is from surface water and foul water management. Over the years at Severn Trent Connect we’ve seen a move away from capturing surface waters and combining them with sewage for processing at a local wastewater treatment works (WwTW) to separate collection, attenuation in underground systems and release back to the environment. More recently I’m pleased to see an increase in the number of planners and developers interested in using more natural systems such as ponds and wetlands, which not only effectively manage surface waters but also provide additional habitats for local wildlife and boosts local amenity too.

Local infrastructure solutions

Maybe surprising to many, one factor slowing down housing delivery is availability of local wastewater treatment capacity. Many large developments are thwarted by the very long lead times for a connection into the local sewerage system, in some instances by more than five years.

Perhaps there is a case for more localised treatment systems; Severn Trent Connect can design at the community level, where site-specific matters can be taken into consideration. For example, such systems might supplement flows to marginal watercourses or provide educational experiences to local schools.

We’ve seen that localised solutions can have a lower total carbon input compared with connection into distant centralised systems, further enhanced by running on renewable electricity and not relying on chemical additives in the treatment process.

Incumbent companies submit their fiveyearly business plans to Ofwat detailing how they will increase capacity for growth. Unfortunately, large additional demand occurring outside of the business planning cycle usually waits for inclusion into the next planning cycle; adding up to five years to the wait. If capacity is unavailable, an onsite Severn Trent Connect wastewater treatment plant is a solution

Doubling the number of new homes delivered each year while causing no environmental harm requires in part a new approach for surface and wastewater management. Local treatment plants such as ours which deploy the best available technology, producing effluents of the highest quality can help. In some sensitive locations, this approach could unlock previously undevelopable land.

The call to arms

Our call to arms is two factored. Firstly, developers, engineers and local authorities should strongly consider planning their developments around blue/green infrastructure as this has the real potential to improve biodiversity, amenity and may lower total costs. Secondly, planning authorities should give priority to those developments where sustainability has been put at the heart of the design.