12 minute read
business matters
Chris Peer
Managing Director, Maritime House
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The Reality of Global Trade Disruption
I was already in the export trade when Harold Macmillan said that exporting is fun, an early experience of the disconnect between reality and the statements of politicians, but I have never previously experienced anything approaching the present difficulties in moving goods around the world.
We are an international trading company, so shipping is central to our business and the impact of the pandemic has been dramatic.
First, several parties are involved in moving our goods from factory to destination, not only the shipping lines but also freight forwarders, Customs authorities, port operators, stevedoring companies, railways, and trucking companies. Ships call at many ports en route to our destinations so delays at any point can hold up the delivery of our goods to our customers. Covid-19 has kept ships’ crews at sea for months on end without a break and temporarily closed ports in China have caused containers to be in the wrong places and disrupted the activities of the other parties. Hundreds of container ships are waiting to dock at major ports worldwide.
Second, freight rates have been depressed for years, which has led to much reduced competition in the shipping industry as lines have merged and reduced capacity. Consequently, when worldwide demand responded to the financial stimulus provided by several countries, in particular the USA, to speed up recovery from the economic impact of the pandemic, there was a shortage of capacity to meet the spike in demand, so freight rates have rocketed. The rates we pay have increased 200-300% since April and rates from China have increased by 500-1000%.
Third, some customers who have got used to reliable deliveries and keeping low stocks to reduce working capital have been caught unawares and sometimes run out of stocks because they did not heed our warnings of the likely delays in delivery. This, combined with the large, frequent and unpredictable increases in freight rates which are imposed at very short notice, is testing the long-term relationships we have built up over the years.
We expect rates to remain high and unpredictable at least until the end of this year. Thereafter, they are likely to stabilise as trading patterns become more regular but certainly at significantly higher levels than pre-pandemic. Meanwhile, the shipping lines are the current masters of the universe, and their profits reflect that; Hapag-Lloyd have just reported half-year profits which exceeded their cumulative profit over the previous 10 years!
Net Zero
“This is the decisive decade.” That is the clear message from COP26 President Alok Sharma and he called for “every country and every part of society to embrace their responsibility” if the world is to achieve the target of being carbon neutral – or net zero – by 2050.
There is no doubt in my mind that the debate about climate change has moved on significantly since COP25 but turning debate and targets into meaningful action across the globe still remains a huge challenge.
For business, implementing change also has to make commercial sense. In a challenging trading environment social conscience is of itself probably not enough to drive real and rapid change. This is particularly so for the many SMEs that don’t access capital markets or come under the scrutiny of regulators.
Some SMEs are taking the lead because “it’s the right thing to do” and they are to be applauded for that, but many have other fires to fight, perhaps don’t know where to start or feel that small changes won’t make a difference.
Sussex Chamber of Commerce is committed to helping businesses play their role through a wide range of initiatives. Our Green Sustainability hub Green Sustainability | Sussex Chamber of Commerce has been created to give more insight, support and best practice help, allowing businesses to understand how they can make their contribution to the challenge we all share.
Rob Clare
Chairman Sussex Chamber of Commerce
Over £1.8 billion spent across the south on improvements with passengers returning to the railway more than 18 months after the first lockdown, Network Rail’s Sussex route says “welcome back”
Network Rail Sussex route, which maintains and operates tracks from London Victoria and London Bridge to commuter towns of south London, parts of Surrey, Croydon and Brighton, spent more than £643m maintaining and upgrading the railway during lockdown, so passengers came back to a better railway.
Enhancements worth over £150m included the continued work to upgrade Gatwick and Crawley stations
Network Rail’s Sussex route has invested over £643m in the railway to support the country in its mission to ‘build back better’ so passengers can feel confident and safe when they return to travelling by train.
John Halsall, Network Rail Southern region managing director, said: “We’re really excited to welcome more passengers back to the railway now that the coronavirus restrictions have been lifted. “I want to pay tribute to the thousands of Network Rail and train operator colleagues who have worked tirelessly over the past 18 months to keep the country moving during this incredibly challenging time.
“Our passengers deserve to travel with confidence, so we’ve been working hard to keep you safe with enhanced cleaning and new one-way systems to avoid crowding, and we’re asking passengers to continue to wear face coverings in crowded spaces out of respect to others.” Even at the height of the pandemic, Network Rail was working to keep trains running for critical workers, such as NHS staff, as well as making sure thousands of tonnes of vital goods, like food, fuel and medical supplies, were transported by freight trains every day.
Work to maintain and improve the railway continued, including the Gatwick station upgrade, access improvements at Crawley, a £22m investment in the Arun Valley Line and a £160m programme to upgrade the signalling between London Victoria, Clapham and Balham.
Chris Fowler, Customer Services Director for Southern, said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming customers back on board. Over the past year, our colleagues have worked hard to keep services running to support key workers and essential travel.
“In addition, we’ve also continued to carry out our multi-million-pound, network-wide station improvement programme. Involving more than 1,000 projects and 250 stations – we’re confident that returning customers will enjoy a better station experience.”
Workplace Mental Health: Managing Risk & Staying Compliant
Workplace mental health should increasingly be viewed from a perspective of risk management and compliance, say workplace consultancy, Mente.
Many businesses have begun to pay greater levels of attention to employee wellbeing, as the benefits of a happy and healthy workforce have become clearer. Despite this, many businesses implement solutions that are uncoordinated and non-strategic, ultimately reducing their effectiveness.
Mente say that businesses can benefit from implementing comprehensive mental health strategies, which aim to reduce specific psychological risks. Collecting data from an employee survey is a key first step in this. This would allow an organisation to find pain points, and to devise realistic actions that will make a difference.
Businesses must also ensure that they are fully aware of, and compliant with, the legislation surrounding mental health and stress at work. For example, employers currently have a legal duty to protect employees from stress at work by completing a stress risk assessment and acting on it. Ensuring compliance with such laws is an excellent starting point for businesses who want to improve workplace mental health and safety.
Mel Joseph, founder and director of Mente, commented “Many businesses genuinely want to make a difference to employee wellbeing, and that’s excellent to see. Despite this, few are viewing workplace mental health from a perspective of risk management and compliance. The issue with this is that psychological hazards can remain, ultimately taking a toll on worker health. This also leaves the business at risk of high operational costs of ill-health, as well as potential litigation. By focusing on risk management and compliance, businesses can support workers effectively, while minimising risk to the business.”
Mente help businesses to address mental health through their digital platform and mental health consultancy service. To find out more information, visit
www.mentehealth.com
Mel Joseph
Founder & Managing Director, Mente
Connectivity, Accessibility and Flexibility
Speedcom is the biggest franchise for O2 and has taken the leap into Virgin Media O2 Business in a new way, to ensure that during the current times that all businesses are fully connected, have complete access to their accounts and have the flexibility to move with the needs of each unique business.
Virgin Media O2 wants to make sure that all businesses are connected, whatever the industry requires and so O2 has rolled out 5G to 75 Towns and Cities across the UK with more by the end of 2021 making flexible working paramount in times like these. With remote working still a big part of everyday life it only makes sense to be
able to use all of the software you would at work at home, with office 365 and a dedicated help line, your business will continue to flourish.
To keep the businesses connected without being able to travel, O2 have included EU calls and texts to the majority of their business tariffs. Having access to your account is very important to ensure any issues are dealt with as soon as possible, O2 has made sure that all businesses have full access to their account through My O2 Online and through Speedcom, a personal account manager, taking any worries around staying connected out of the equation. Accessibility is not the only reason O2 is one of the best networks for businesses but they also focus on flexibility, with tailored deals to suit every individual business. Through these difficult times Speedcom wants to continue to support all businesses big or small to help them expand and grow.
Samantha Copland
Business Manager, Speedcom Telecommunications Limited
Small Changes to Your Website That Can Increase Conversions
A strong online presence is essential to any business, but the experience a user has with your website is what marks the difference between a site that merely blends into the digital ether and one that’s optimised for greater levels of traffic, enquiries and sales.
Mike Knivett
Managing Director, Artemis Marketing
Intentional UX has the power to increase conversions and engagement, and small tweaks to your site can lead to a considerable boost to your bottom line.
What is UX?
UX stands for User Experience, and it encapsulates everything relating to how your visitors and customers navigate and interact with your site. From the content a user engages with to how quickly they find what they’re looking for, and the ease with which they can make a purchase or get in contact with you, UX captures the entire customer journey from the moment someone visits your site to the moment they leave.
Google recently announced that Page Experience will be rolled out globally this year as a ranking factor. Now is the time to start paying attention to how your users interact with your site and the experience they have when doing so, to get more enquiries, turn site visitors into customers and increase revenue.
Optimise for Speed and Mobile Responsiveness
Speed and responsiveness are critical to providing a positive user experience – 39% of users will stop using a site if it has image loading issues (source: UXCam), and 53% of mobile sites are abandoned (source: Google). A slow website can drastically impact on how many enquiries you get through your site and the chance of users making a purchase.
In order to improve the speed of your site, work with your developer to remove any unnecessary plug-ins and compress highresolution images. It’s also worth utilising Google’s Page Speed Insights to see where you can make additional improvements to help users take action faster.
Use Well-Written CTAs
Calls to action (CTAs) are essential for creating a compelling value proposition – each page needs to have a clear purpose and goal. CTAs need to be action-focused and time-sensitive to inspire users to click and take action, such as changing ‘Contact’ to ‘Call Today’. But where you place CTAs is just as important as what they say.
If a CTA is hard to see, read or click on, it’s going to negatively impact the overall UX of the page. A study by the Nielsen Norman Group found that 84% more people are likely to view your content if it’s placed in the top section of the page. Colour psychology also plays a role, enhancing contrast and sparking subconscious impulses in users. Green and orange are popular CTA colours to motivate customers to click.
Remove Navigation Friction
If a user lands on your site and can’t find what they’re looking for, they’ll be frustrated. The patience of that user decreases rapidly and they’re more likely to leave the page having not completed the desired action, whether that’s contacting you or making a purchase.
To remove navigational friction, keep the layout of your pages consistent and categorise menus in an intuitive way for the user. Keeping your web design in line with best practices and conventions, both for desktop and mobile, will ensure that the site is easy to use.
Demonstrate your authority
Answer frequently asked questions and demonstrate your depth of knowledge with helpful information, as well as build credibility by showcasing awards and accreditations. Most importantly, ensure you have clear reviews. Reviews are one of the most influential factors to buying decisions, so don’t hide your testimonials – celebrate them in a prominent location close to your essential calls to action.
In Summary
UX sits at the core of your revenue opportunities, customer engagement and site ranking. If you prioritise UX, extra enquiries and sales will follow and you’ll be maximising the potential of your existing traffic. User experience is also a key metric in Googles algorithm which determines a website’s ranking position, so along with the quick wins of more enquiries and sales, it will also help your site rank higher organically which in turn will lead to even more people finding your business online.
