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Success for BRITE innovation programme as Brighton tech startup pilots hyper-accurate GPS
Naurt’s satellite technology is 150 times more precise than current GPS capabilities, measuring within 10 centimetres
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Innovation programme BRITE has announced Brighton tech startup Naurt is trialling its new hyper-accurate satellite location technology on the roof of the Plus X Innovation Hub. The pilot will gather data for a new form of GPS which could see the fledgling company achieve a world-first. Naurt is one of the high-growth Sussex businesses supported by the BRITE programme – a one-stop shop to support business leaders wishing to be part of an innovative, collaborative community.
Local entrepreneurs Jack Maddalena and Nicolas Slack, both in their twenties, founded Naurt in April 2020. Since then it has grown to a team of eight people, secured £500k in funding.
Naurt’s technology is 150 times more accurate than current GPS tracking. It can provide an exact location within 10 centimetres anywhere in the world, either indoors or outside. It’s supported by five key innovations in the tracking space, including sensor fusion, all delivered in a simplistic ‘plug-and-play’ web application.
The satellite aerial now installed on top of the Plus X building, measuring just 30 cm in height, is gathering 25 lines of constellation data a day at 14 times the speed of sound. The sheer volume of information made possible by the installation will help refine the Naurt product while allowing the company to rapidly expand its customer base.
The duo are currently working with travel company TUI to enable travellers to follow their journey in real-time from door to airport, airport to taxi, taxi to hotel room. Other clients include Sofology and The Roads and Transport Authority.
Naurt’s CEO and co-founder Jack Maddalena says: “We asked companies what their primary pain point was and the responses we received were almost unanimous: matching customers up at different points on their journeys, like drivers and passengers at an airport”. Further potential applications include enabling the safe use of aerial drones for doorstep deliveries, and far greater accuracy in the energy and telecoms sectors to locate underground pipes and wires.
“People that have had their smartphone lost or stolen might have used the ‘Find My Phone’ feature. With Naurt’s precision, we could distinguish what pocket it’s in!” adds Nicolas, Naurt’s co-founder and chief technology officer. “Gathering all of the data using the equipment installed at Plus X is a big step on our road to making that a possibility”.
The team has been supported by the BRITE innovation programme – a £10.5million initiative part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund that’s led by Plus X in partnership with the University of Brighton. The programme is helping ambitious Sussex businesses like Naurt to scale. BRITE’s Programme Manager, Samantha Harland, commented: “We welcomed Naurt into the Plus X building and BRITE cohort in summer 2020. Naurt had strong ambitions to scale their business and create jobs for locals including graduates from the local Universities. By accessing expertise and support from the BRITE team, Naurt has been able to scale at a rapid pace”.
Jack adds: “Being a part of BRITE has been a key factor in our success so far. Taking advantage of the experts in the programme, academics at the University of Brighton, the fully funded workshops – even simply feeding off the ideas of the other businesses in the Plus X building – has been and will continue to be a real gift for our business. I grew up a stone’s throw away on the hill in Fiveways, so it’s been amazing to make this all happen so close to home”.
Samatha concludes: “Historically, Brighton and the surrounding area has lost a lot of local talent to nearby London as people search for jobs for scaling innovative companies. Our aim with the BRITE project over the next 2 years is to help more local businesses scale their vision and in turn that will provide more opportunities for local talent. We’d love to see more businesses stepping forward to access this support”.
The Green Financial System
Transition to a green financial system and mobilising investment in clean and resilient growth has been a priority for the UK government since July 2019 and is directed by the Green Finance Strategy as a significant consideration for the economy for next 10- 20 years
The Strategy is an ambitious package, bringing together work from across the government, regulators and the private sector. It has 3 core elements:
greening finance: ensuring current and future financial risks and opportunities from climate and environmental factors are integrated into mainstream financial decision making, and that markets for green financial products are robust in nature
financing green: accelerating finance to support the delivery of the UK’s carbon targets and clean growth, resilience and environmental ambitions, as well as international objectives
capturing the opportunity: ensuring UK financial services capture the domestic and international commercial opportunities arising from the ‘greening of finance’, such as climate related data and analytics, and from ‘financing green’, such as new green financial products and services.
for more information https://www.gov.uk/
guidance/green-finance
Current interpretation is a lender will not lend for commercial premise development unless the project is sustainable and meets a specific Green Lending Criteria. This strategy will generate an even bigger demand for the existing and future, sustainable and energy efficient solutions that GCL Building Technologies supply and install.
With the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), a term used for the growing number of devices which use the internet to communicate with each other, the following are simple, cost effective ways to reduce your energy and operating costs and help you meet your environmental obligations.
Smart lighting systems use sensor technology and data analytics which deliver solutions for energy savings, space utilisation analysis and optimisation, asset and employee/visitor locating, lighting control to increase employee productivity, and more. Third-party applications such as conference room management, hot desking reservation, and heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) systems are all made intelligent with real time data and status of spaces capture.
A building energy management
system (BEMS) is a computer-based approach to measuring, monitoring and managing the performance of building services, such as heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, lighting and security. BEMS coordinate the operation of various systems, enable complete control over the building environment, closely monitor building energy efficiency, reduce energy consumption and can be integrated with smart lighting systems.
Smart lighting and building energy management systems reduce your energy and operating costs and help you meet your environmental obligations. Call GCL to see how you can conserve energy and the environment today.
t: 020 3906 6070
e: hello@gcl.uk.com w: https://gcl.uk.com/
Between a Rock and Hard Place: How to manage the impact of COVID-19 and Brexit
As I write this, it’s almost exactly a year to the day our business changed overnight. From a lively and often noisy office to a string of quiet kitchens and home offices, linked by a series of video calls.
It’s been a challenging 12 months, that’s for sure. And that’s for a business that doesn’t directly import or export anything. For those companies who have had their dayto-day operations impacted by Brexit, it’s been far worse.
When you face challenges like those we’ve faced over the last year, you have to take a hard look around you and ask yourself: can my business survive?
Sometimes, that answer will be no. And trust me, I know how painful that can be.
Other times, the answer will be a resounding yes.
But more often than not, the answer will be “yes, if…”– and that “if” can sometimes be doing a lot of work. Yes, if nothing else goes wrong. Yes, if that grant comes through. Yes, if I can just get through this next month.
When you face a “yes, if…” situation, there are three things that every business will need to get:
1. a second opinion
2. the help you need
3. organised
Get a Second Opinion (and some Real Advice)
Every business owner and manager needs to have people they trust to tell them the truth. This is doubly important when you’re facing a difficult situation.
Asking someone else to “check your maths” can be hard, after all, no one likes to admit when things are tough.
But it is vital that you get a second opinion on your current situation. And ask for honest opinions on both your assessment of the situation and ability to get through it.
If someone with no stake in the game agrees with you, then you can feel a bit more confident in your assessment. But if they don’t agree with you (and if their reasons are sound), it might be worth taking another hard look at whether you’re seeing the world as you want it to be, rather than how it is.
Get the Experts in—Even if You Have to Pay Them
And that’s a Yorkshireman saying that!
So, on a slightly less depressing note, once you have identified which areas of your business need attention, you have to make sure you have the right people lined up to do the work. Ideally, the people doing the hard graft are already on your payroll. But if you need to get some extra hands in or pay someone with more experience to advise you or even manage the work, then you’ve just got to bite the bullet.
Having the resource to do this work and get this advice should be part of the previous step. After all, just seeing the way out isn’t enough. You’ve got to do the work as well.
When it comes to Coronavirus, this meant purchasing some extra webcams for our team. The expense wasn’t huge, but the payoff was – we all got to feel so much more connected and that went a long way towards keeping everyone working towards a common goal.
For managing new import/export rules under Brexit, some businesses will be faced with paying custom agents and/or hiring new full-time staff to manage the paperwork.
Keep Detailed Records – of everything
I have two reasons for this: one practical, the other more emotional.
Emotional first. When you’re digging yourself out of a hole, you need to be able to see progress to stay motivated. And that goes for your whole team.
Being able to point to a report that shows the increase in your ROI or customer numbers, that’s what will make it all feel worth the effort. Practical now. When things are bad, you need to keep your records immaculate. This is both for your accountability to your stakeholders, to your team, and to yourself. You need to be able to see where every penny has been spent and which accounts were won and lost (on which days and for what reason).
These records are essential for tracking your progress (and loss), but also for identifying where you need to tighten up your processes.
As we move forward in this new world of managing infection rates and custom regulations, there will be a lot of businesses that struggle. Some will go under. Others will thrive. And still more will just manage to keep their heads above water.
We all want to be the one that thrives…it won’t be easy, but getting the right advice, hiring the right people, and documenting your progress are all steps you can take towards that goal.
Graham Anderson, is the CEO and founder of OpenCRM, one of the UK’s leading customer relationship management systems.
Reset your business for growth
As a business owner, you are keen to get your business firing on all cylinders again. You’ve weathered the storm, brought your people back from furlough and ring-fenced cash for deferred tax and loan repayments.
Paul Samrah
Partner, Moore Kingston Smith
Now you’re thinking: “How do I get my business back in the fast lane?” And you are determined to steer your business away from the many that, sadly, founder in the recovery period.
At Moore Kingston Smith, our turnaround and restructuring service integrates all the strands of business consultancy. We not only understand entrepreneurial businesses but also deploy a full toolkit of corporate finance, tax, HR, insolvency, management and strategy expertise.
Plotting your business’s course to success
Your focus is getting your income back. You need an action plan to reset your business for growth. It must be flexible to allow room for change, and you need to monitor it frequently, so it remains fit for purpose.
To reset your business for growth, we guide you through a detailed five-step process:
1. A thorough review of where you are now
Recapping your business objectives, trading situation, people, assets and liabilities.
2. Financial modelling of scenarios
Scrutinising your profitability, cash flow and staffing structures to highlight gaps between forecast inflows and outflows that threaten your liquidity.
3. Scoping your priorities
Drawing out the essential elements of the modelling that you have identified as vital to your individual business. This determines what to prioritise and by when.
4. Implementing the changes
The areas you’re most likely to focus on are:
cutting costs and working with zerobased budgeting
capitalising on all tax breaks available
retaining key staff cost effectively
implementing a formal flexible working structure.
5. Regular monitoring
Monitoring your progress to make sure your business stays on track. We check in with you regularly to help with updates and modifications to your action plan.
Help from the experts
We offer a free consultation which is completely confidential and where you are under no obligation. You get to ask us all those burning questions and see how we can help you reset your business for growth.
Moore Kingston Smith is top 20 accountancy and business advisory firm, helping businesses, private individuals and not for profit organisations thrive. We are a member of the Moore Global Network, which is made up of over 30,000 people across more than 100 countries.
Email: psamrah@mks.co.uk
Video call fatigue hits home
Videoconferencing, using tools such as Zoom, Skype or Teams, is causing many remote workers to suffer serious fatigue.
As so many people resort to virtual meetings due to the COVID 19 pandemic, various research studies are highlighting the downsides of technology which has proved such a lifeline for many businesses.
In a report by Microsoft Research which examined why people found online meetings more tiring than face-to-face, Stanford University professor Jeremy Bailenson was “flabbergasted” by how intense and exhausting using only videoconferencing was. Brainwave patterns associated with stress and overwork were much higher than traditional working.
Another Microsoft study confirms that high levels of sustained concentration required for video calls causes fatigue after about 30 to 40 minutes and unhealthy stress is measurable only two hours into the working day.
The study highlights various reasons. Humans are good at visual processing but seeing people on screen is unnatural. Our brains have to process differing backgrounds from person to person and deal with different-sized heads depending on the cameras being used and depending on participants’ distance from the screen. The delay in feedback to each other, even though measured in milliseconds, disrupts long-learned face-to-face social interactions because we are deprived of many subtle facial and body language reactions.
Taxing
Audio issues are even more disruptive. When there are large differences in volume levels between attendees, the process becomes taxing and uncomfortable.
So many people have reported being tired by videoconferencing that it has earned its own slang name: ‘Zoom fatigue’. But the same exhaustion applies to users of Google Hangouts, Skype, FaceTime, or any other such technology.
Gary Jowett, from Computer & Network Consultants (CNC) in Brighton, said: “Video conferencing has proved highly effective during such difficult times. And it’s likely to remain an important part of the typical communication tool-box as companies evolve their working culture in the future. Many of us have increased our use of the technology out of necessity, without establishing some protocols to avoid such fatigue. You might consider building in more breaks between calls and perhaps having smaller groups on each call. Also, set some ground rules. For example, everyone who isn’t invited by the chair to speak should mute their microphones. And avoid multitasking during a call. It’s easy to think that you can use the opportunity to do more in less time but trying to do multiple things deteriorates our overall performance.”
IMAGINE HAVING ACCESS TO ALL THE BEST IT SERVICES.
CNC provide the most comprehensive range of IT services in the South East including:
We would love to talk to you and offer a Complimentary systems & security check-up with no obligations to use our services.
– IT Support & Outsourcing – Internet Connectivity – Installation & Infrastructure – IT Hardware & Software – Cloud e-Mail Archiving – Mobile & Remote Access – Off-Site Data Backup – Hosted Phones & Mobiles – Security Services – Cloud & Hosting – Disaster Recovery – Apple Support – Virtualisation – Office 365 & Azure ISO 9001:2015 & ISO 27001:2013 Certified
— 01273 386 333 — sales@cnc-ltd.co.uk — www.cnc-ltd.co.uk
24
Celebrating 25 Years in business
1996—2021
Time to tone up your marketing policy
The way we do business has certainly changed and, as sure as night follows day, the way we go about businessto-business marketing has got to be recalibrated too.
In short, is your marketing policy fighting fit – is it up to the challenges that lie ahead?
We’re working from home, if not all the time, then probably most of the time. Our meetings are on Zoom or Teams or some such. Our conversations are on WhatsApp or Messenger.
And our marketing … well, where is that happening? How and where should it be happening as we emerge tentatively into our new, post-pandemic world?
Start at ground zero
This is the time to re-evaluate your marketing strategy, from root to branch to anticipated fruits. How effective was it before Covid-19 and lockdown? Did it produce the results you wanted? If not, why not?
Moving on, into 2021, can you define what effect the changes of the past year have had on your business, and are likely to have going forward? Has the way you communicate and interact with clients changed, and have you had to modify the way in which you deliver services?
These answers are key to producing a crystal clear and, importantly, realistic marketing strategy that will support the latest evolution of your business – a marketing plan that your staff can both sign up to and deliver.
Recognise the value of digitisation
If it wasn’t true before Covid, it certainly is now: the fully digitised business is king!
B2B marketing is increasingly about the creative content strategy at its heart and the means by which it will draw in and engage with customers, old and new. The greater the digital weaponry at an entrepreneur’s disposal, the greater the rewards they will reap.
But it is also the case that the way in which the collective power of websites, social media, digital adverts, emails and virtual presentations – in short, all forms of digital advertising – is wielded requires a heightened degree of sophistication nowadays.
Be human
Yes, we work in a digital world, but at the end of the day we’re not promoting and selling our wares to robots. There are real people at the other end of that datalink!
Key to a successful strategy are the empathetic and personable overtones that make would-be customers feel like you are talking directly to them. That is the starting point for a long-term relationship born of customer loyalty and trust. Nurturing existing clientele has emerged as a priority in B2B marketing – a grateful response, perhaps, to those who have stuck with us through thick and thin.
Social media is the perfect platform, of course, through which to not only stay in touch, but to personalise the contact and nurture the loyalty. Post articles or snippets of information that educate customers about your latest product, notify them of new appointments and achievements, and provide a user-friendly means of taking questions ‘from the floor’.
Be relevant, be friendly, use humour when appropriate, put up interesting pictures. In short, give customers every reason to keep in touch. You are pushing at an open door.
Crunch that data
It can be hard to get the true measure of the effectiveness of your advertising when it’s happening across more than one digital platform. This is where all-in-one social media management and analytics solutions or customer relationship management (CRM) software come into their own.
Designed to help you collate and publish automated campaigns across multiple digital platforms at once, they also gather the relevant data afterwards – who’s read
your advert, when and where? And most importantly of all, did that convert into a sale?
Coming Out of Lockdown: Is Your Business Ready?
Even with the end of formal lockdown approaching, uncertainties remain about the economic and health risks faced by the country.
Chris Guiton
Copywriter Wealden Wordsmith
But business confidence is returning. And companies expect sales to grow over the coming months.
This begs the question: are you ready?
Responding to a new trading environment
The pandemic has accelerated the shift to digital.
It forced many B2B buyers and sellers to move online. And there is growing recognition that digital is here to stay given the opportunity to lower costs, drive efficiency and seek competitive advantage.
Online shopping has added to the pressures faced by high street retailers and town centres.
In parallel, a lot of people have discovered the joys of shopping local. Getting to know their local traders and supporting their local community.
The uncertainty generated by Covid-19 means that consumers are looking for reassurance when making purchase decisions. Many now consider brand trustworthiness and good customer service as the main reasons for recommending a company to a friend or relative.
Consumers are also more likely to recommend ethical businesses which demonstrate concern for the impact of their actions, products and services on people and the environment.
What do your customers want?
So, this may be a good time to review your marketing activities to ensure they’re aligned with your business goals and are meeting your target audience needs and wants. The questions you might consider include:
Is your website design visually appealing and free of clutter? Does it have a clear brand message? Does it provide easy and intuitive navigation?
Is the main content up to scratch, providing the expertly written copy that will provide you with a distinctive voice? Is it written with your target audience in mind? Do you need to update material, introduce new calls to action, or add images and videos?
Is the content optimised for search engines to improve your page rankings?
Are you using long-form content to complement your main website copy, supply additional detail and engage with your users more effectively (eg blog posts, newsletters and white papers)?
Do you use ‘social proof’ to increase your website conversion rates (eg via reviews, testimonials and case studies)?
Do you need to revamp your social media presence to engage better with your target audience?
You never step in the same river twice
It’s a common observation but, as the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus noted, ‘The only constant in life is change’.
This may be the time to review key assumptions you’ve made about your business and how you market it. Think about what your customers really value about your products or services. And what might have changed as a result of the pandemic. Returning to the status quo may not be an option.
Consider what elements of your marketing work well. What elements work less well. And how you might need to adapt or change your messaging to meet your customer needs more effectively.
Remember. Customers are in the driving seat. Engagement remains essential. And those businesses that focus on customer satisfaction are significantly more likely to improve rates of repeat purchases, build brand loyalty and develop long-term relationships with their clients.
Words matter. Whether you’re looking to refresh your website, start a blog or have other copywriting needs, I can supply the professional content that will help you stand out from the crowd.
www.wealdenwordsmith.co.uk
chris@wealdenwordsmith.co.uk
Charlotte Driscoll, founder of Small Made Mighty, specialises in building successful marketing strategies for small, micro and new businesses to optimise their owned assets and achieve their goals. Charlotte has 15 years industry experience working across SEO, PPC, Programmatic display, Email & ECRM, Social Media, Experiential, Direct Mail and Internal Comms.
She has run multi-language and multi-cultural global campaigns for brands including British Airways, L’Oreal, Sky, Coca-Cola, EE and Seagate.
Having hopped off the corporate wagon, she's now building successful marketing strategies for small, micro and new businesses to optimise their owned assets and achieve their goals.
"This is where my real job satisfaction lies - being able to take a small business - one that really matters to people's lives - and making it fly.
Setting up a new business can be costly, which is why my fixed, one-off consultation fee is beautifully simple. I'll listen to what you and your business need, build your plan, and ensure you have the resources to run it successfully.
For small businesses going for gold, I also have support package options to underpin, advise and help execute your ongoing strategic and tactical marketing as your business grows."
Book your complimentary call today. www.smallmademighty.com
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Engaging your brand with audiences that matter
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The Goodwood Estate – Roaring back to business!
A huge contributor to the Sussex economy, Goodwood is looking forward to a Glorious summer of activities and events.
Andrew Coggings
Managing Director of Entertaining and Hospitality at Goodwood
The estate is one of the largest employers in the area after the NHS. Can you explain more about the importance of the Goodwood estate on the local economy?
Goodwood provides long term employment and development to hundreds of people in the local area in a diverse number of roles; not just in hospitality but marketing, digital, finance, sales, forestry, farming and sport. We also provide short term employment for many more at our big flagship events. We have employees from different generations of the same families and many married couples in relationships.
A recent study by the London School of Economics revealed that Goodwood makes an estimated annual contribution of £414 million into the local economy (£560 million including national contribution). These contributions reflect expenditure made by visitors, exhibitors, suppliers and others that would not have occurred in the absence of Goodwood. The total estimated taxes generated through direct, indirect and induced contribution annually by Goodwood locally is £100 million. In addition to creating jobs Goodwood also provides apprenticeships, carries out charitable work and education. Goodwood contributes nearly £500,000 to charities annually.
One of my key roles within Entertainment and Hospitality is to use the diverse businesses we have to offer long term career progression to our team members which results in so many long serving staff across the whole estate. We have created Goodwood’s Culinary Academy; a two-year live-in programme that equips trainees with in-depth on the job training and provides industry-recognised qualifications and professional kitchen experience. Goodwood also offers a wide range of other apprenticeships across the whole business.
The Entertaining and Hospitality business provides employment at Goodwood House, the hotel, the Kennels a private members’ club, Hound Lodge a sporting lodge, meetings and events, three wedding venues, corporate experiences, organic farm, golf courses, event catering alongside the motorsport and horse racing businesses.
Our philosophy of operating in the most sustainable way possible means that we will always try to support local suppliers and champion the fantastic produce available from Sussex and act as a showcase for local businesses to our considerable audience. For example, when we made some recent renovations to the hotel we sourced local expertise and skills to create 16 additional new bedrooms.
Now that we are returning to some normality, how have you adapted and improved your offerings?
We have seen a surge in demand at our farm shop where our organic meat and dairy products, as well as our Goodwood beer, have been in great demand. Our organic farm historically has supplied our produce to local pubs and restaurants as well as London hotels such as The Ritz but with these venues all being closed during lockdown it gave us the opportunity to instead re-establish our farm shop and the sales have surpassed all expectations and we now have an incredibly busy shop where all our organic produce is available. During the pandemic we continued to hold weddings when restrictions allowed as some couples were determined to go-ahead with the day of their dreams. This resulted in the team needing to ensure we were Covid-compliant when organising weddings so that they could proceed on a smaller scale, with a reduced number of guests, while ensuring the couple enjoyed the best possible experience.
Are you seeing a pent-up demand for the hospitality sector?
Most definitely, especially since the 17th of May when our bars and restaurants could serve people inside and the hotel could open again. Our first guest at the hotel arrived at 7.15am on the 17th and he was so thrilled just to be able to check in and relax! Looking forward, we certainly do not expect to see any let up in demand before the autumn time and so our focus over the coming months will be to be as busy as possible whilst continuing to offer the standard of service which Goodwood is renowned for.
The cancellation of Goodwood’s flagship events; the Festival of Speed, Goodwood Revival and horse racing’s Qatar Goodwood Festival in 2020 hit the estate hard but we had a boom in summer tourism during 2020 from domestic holidaymakers that helped it stay afloat. Around 60 per cent of annual visitors to Goodwood – 600,000 people – come to attend the flagship events, with 100,000 visitors coming from overseas.
