Entrepreneur & Investor Issue 15

CREATING AND LIVING THE LIFE YOU DESIRE

Coronavirus

Rise of the Digital Nomad

Crisis Management

MARKETING & PR SKILLS KNOW HOW

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RCROWDFUNDING Expert Advice SUCCESS SECRETS Articles Inside

Enhancing Staff Wellbeing

Luxury Lifestyle The best of Cars, Pitching to Win Yachts, Travel, Dining, Spa & Luxury Lifestyle Section Gastro UK Breaks

Issue 13 | £7.95 www.entrepreneurandinvestor.com

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Cars, Travel, Dine & More

EDITOR’S LETTER DEAR READER, Welcome to the latest edition of Entrepreneur & Investor Magazine.

EDITOR IN CHIEF Lisa Curtiss

editor@ entrepreneurandinvestor.com

Where ever you are in your journey to success, you’ll find plenty of useful and inspirational articles in the pages ahead..

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This issue features everything from managing your business during these difficult times, keeping staff moral up, remote working tips, pitching for success and much, much more.

EDITORIAL TEAM Gayle Penny Gemma Jones Karen Coombs Luke Penny

Our highly popular and comprehensive luxury lifestyle section features a treasure of aspirational delights from cars and style to fine dining, spas and exotic travel.

In addition to reading our digital and print magazine, do also visit us online at www.entrepreneurandinvestor.com for daily new articles, and join us on our socials – details below.

Finally if you’ve any suggestions or great stories to tell, we’d love to hear from you. Drop me a note on editor@ entrepreneurandinvestor.com.

My very best wishes, LISA FOUNDER & EDITOR IN CHIEF Visit our website - entrepreneurandinvestor.com Find us on Issuu - issuu.com/entrepreneurinvestor Follow us on Twitter - @Entrep_Investor

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How to Accelerate Early Stage Funding

By Tom Fairey, founder of Stakester.com and host of the BackYourself podcast In 2019 I had that pivotal life moment where I started a conversation with ‘wouldn’t it be cool if…’ and before I consciously knew what I was doing, I’d founded a startup.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably in the same boat. It’s an intoxicating feeling; for maybe the first time in your life, you are in complete control of your own destiny. Inspiration fuels you like a performance-enhancing drug and you scribble down ideas faster than an actor playing a genius in a biopic. You are the hero of your own story and you are going to slay that age-old nemesis, mediocrity.

And then you do some sums and your heart breaks like a contestant on X-Factor who didn’t make the live shows. You’re going to need money, and way more than you’d saved and that $512.54 left on your credit card isn’t going to cut it.

So unless you’re already well connected and have a godparent who has believed in you since your first nativity performance, you’re now going to have to find other means to raise the cash, lest you forget your entrepreneurial vision and that dream of running through your open-plan hipster office high-fiving your 400 employees.

I’ve been through this, I’ve been startup-ically broke and I’ve had success raising. I’ve also interviewed some savvy investors and founders

on my show that know a lot about this topic. So here are my top tips to help you supercharge the process and hopefully win.

My assumptions — you have a good idea, you have thoroughly thought through the problem you’re solving, there’s a market for you to tap into and you are willing to work your socks off.

Raise your personal profile If there is one phrase that is consistent across all investors I’ve met, pitched or interviewed, it’s that the people are what matter most.

And it makes complete sense because, in the early stage, that’s your only asset. So you need to make this asset attractive enough to invest in.

So where do you start? Begin by putting yourself in the mind of the investor. What would you want to see? Relevant experience?

Subject matter expertise? Where would you look? LinkedIn? Google? Twitter?

Crunchbase? The answer is yes to all. So you need to make sure at the bare minimum these are tip-top and a fair reflection of what a good bet you are.

But as I said, this is the minimum. You need to stand out. If you’re an expert, talk about it on podcasts, ask to join panels at events, write on Medium.

Now the hard bit, networking. Nobody likes it, it feels awkward and rarely natural.

Unfortunately, you need to suck it up. Alex

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Dunsdon, one of the top investors in the UK says that serendipity is a true superpower, and you can improve the chances of having it by meeting more people. Go to startup events, meet other founders.

I used MeetUp and yes, some were terrible, but one gave me an investor, so it was worth it. If you can’t find a good one with a topic you care about, make one.

And after you have one investor, you can now create the most powerful investor emotion — fear of missing out. If people are investing or even just committing, make sure other investors know about it. VCs will always say that the most costly decisions are when they missed an opportunity, not the ones that went bad. There is no better validation for your opportunity than others investing and nothing will make people invest quicker.

Make the opportunity attractive

Try everything

Investors have money, and money makes them attractive to startups. And like a vet carrying a leg of ham at a kennel, they are getting lots of attention. The average VC gets over 1000 applications a year and Angels will get over 100. It’s super competitive and you need to make your opportunity stand out. The things that make it attractove are obvious; Returns, Innovation, Sector and as per point 1, the team.

Make sure you shout about these. Make sure the investor looks at your pitch and thinks ‘yeah, this is cool’.

You don’t know where your investment will come from. And anyone that tells you they do, are fibbing. So you need to try all angles. Case in point, our second investor came from a chap who overheard me pitching to someone else in a coffee shop and another was a listener to my podcast. You can’t predict this, so you need to try all angles. I recommend the following; Investment Networks — my fave is Angel Investment Network and SeedInvest, they’re halfway between traditional crowdfunding

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and a syndicate. You post your pitch and can contact angels directly if you think they’ll be interested. Conversion is low, but it’s relatively time-efficient and the audience is specific and large. Here’s ours if it’s helpful to look at a live example.

Direct contact — find angels on LinkedIn and VCs on Google and contact them directly. Keep your email concise (team, problem, solution, market) and tailored with a ‘why them’ for each email and you will get better results.

Referral — ask funded founders for a referral to an investor. They will know lots because they’ve been through it and referrals have the best conversion rate.

Podcasts — go on lots and talk about your company. Spotaguest.com is great for finding shows that need guests.

Word of mouth — talk about your company to EVERYONE. We did it and in a rather cliché moment, we were offered investment on a golf course. Which if you’d seen any of us play golf, you’d know was quite remarkable.

Expect rejection Rejection sucks and often hurts like being hit by a truck. And you are going to get rejected. A lot. I wish I had been told this before I started so I could prepare myself. It was after the ninth straight ‘no’ I started to doubt if we’d ever get funded and whether I had what it takes. Maybe I just wasn’t investment material, maybe I should have done an MBA instead of Theology, maybe I should hand the reins over to my colleagues and get a regular job. But then a wizard of the startup world (Warwick Hill) told me, ‘there are ten thousand reasons someone might not invest, and you may only be 1%.

Don’t take it personally’. It’s the same logic as dating if someone says they don’t want to see you after the first date, it’s not because you’re a loser, you’re just not right for them.

Rinse and repeat.

Fundraising doesn’t happen overnight. Building

a profile, finding investors, speaking to investors, answering their questions, updating your deck, re-engaging with ones that have gone quiet, all take a ton of time. It’s slow, it’s frustrating, it’s repetitive and eye-wateringly hard. But you have to play the long game. Treat it as a specific part of your job and allocate structured time to it with specific goals.

It took us nine-ish months to complete our first raise and all we had was an idea. It was brutal and the whole team went through consistent uncertainty and heartache. The hardest thing isn’t rejection, it’s the pace.

You are expected to move mountains within seconds and yet your investors move pebbles in months. But you have to expect this, learn to handle it and preserve. If you stay focused, maintain diligence, keep outreach activity high, take feedback often and refine your pitch accordingly, you will win. And that dream that started with ‘wouldn’t it be cool if…’ will evolve into ‘wasn’t it cool when…’

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Coronavirus Support: How to run an effective virtual workplace

With all of the organisations we support, whatever their model of working, we constantly encourage them the stay focused on daily, weekly and monthly conversations driven by the following essential questions: 1.

What success are we trying to achieve?

‘How’ are we going to do this and ‘what’ will we need to achieve this?

2.

What are the conditions that we’re trying to achieve our targeted success in?

3.

What performance ingredients are we already blessed with that we can use to maximise our chances of delivering the success in these conditions?

4.

What performance ingredients do we need to enhance or add to give us the best possible chance of achieving the success we’re aiming for?

Asking these four questions will help run an effective workplace, whether it’s surrounded by bricks and mortar, or is in a virtual world.

It’s probably most important to focus on the first two questions when it comes to adjusting to a work-from-home requirement.

And here’s why...

First, question 1 of “What success are we trying to achieve?” means that you very quickly ensure that everyone is focused onto defining what good looks like when you’re going to have to change your game plan and work differently.

Rather than keeping your targets the same, even though the context has changed, you make sure that there’s a picture of success that feels relevant and realistic for everyone. You’ll

get a motivational win straight away here by showing your readiness to adapt and update targets and give everyone a challenge that feels worth pursuing.

Second, with question 2 of “What are the conditions that we’re trying to achieve our targeted success in?” it’s essential to focus on a couple of things when answering this. We challenge people to get a really clear picture of “what’s staying the same for us that is a source of confidence and consistency?”, and “what’s changing that we need to recognise and have a plan for?”. By answering these two questions, you’ll get a pretty clear picture of the ratio between ‘same’ and ‘different’, which is important to stay focused on. Our experience shows that if you don’t do this, people simply focus on everything that is changing and they get a skewed picture which typically isn’t helpful for seeking to learn from the conditions and use the change as a stimulus to learn and grow. We also challenge teams we work with to identify what’s either helpful or unhelpful about the stuff that’s the same, as well as changing. The language of this has to be spot on… HELPFUL and UNHELPFUL (never use good or bad). When you’ve had some conversations about these two concepts, you’ll again be in a position to take on the conditions with a clear mindset of ‘exploit the helpful’ and ‘mitigate against the unhelpful’. Being great at both these sides of the equation is important, and again helps everyone maximise Control, Confidence and Connectedness - the three vital C’s that underpin motivation.

The most important factor is creating a united, collaborative approach. Having regular

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conversations - whether virtual or not - will help teams feel motivated.

The three C’s that underpin motivation: 1. Connectedness: Keep teams focused on the collective vision and goal by regular conversations. Check in for a community call at the beginning and end of the day, and stay connected through Slack, Microsoft Teams, VOIP. Being able to hear each other, see each other is important for helping create a sense of togetherness. It will enable a sense of personal autonomy and control, enhancing confidence and motivation.

2. Confidence: Share advice, tips and tactics for remote working. Share ideas and advice on working from home so people feel as confident as possible. Make sure everyone is regularly checking in with existing strengths, achievements and successes from the day this will boost morale and enforce confidence levels. Not to mention increasing motivation levels.

3. Control: Answering all of the questions

collaboratively ensures that the sense of togetherness is maximised, but it’s also equally important for each person to remember how important they are individually to the overall success of the business. This mutual accountability along with individual responsibility does a huge amount toward keeping a sense of connectedness throughout the business, and leaders can do a huge amount to enable their staff to take control of their environments, their workload, their goals so they feel a sense of responsibility and motivation.

If you keep Confidence, Connectedness and Control at the centre of your business and remind everyone of the overriding business mission, you’ll be in a very good place to adapt to any number of changes, maintaining motivation, productivity and maximum performance.

By PlanetK2 Founder, Chris Shambrook, Psychology Consultant and Expert in Human Performance

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How can you make your business greener?

The issue of ‘why’ small businesses should be more environmentally-friendly is well-trodden ground – perhaps less so is ‘how’. There are, of course, a number of practical things that businesses can do to go greener. Here are my top tips for tackling the climate issue head on: 1. Maximise your energy efficiency Investigate support available in your local area.

Free energy audits and generous grants are generally available towards the cost of energy efficiency measures including LED lighting, control systems, improved heating and hotwater systems, and wall and roof insulation.

These deliver both reduced energy costs and increased comfort for occupants. If you lease your business premises you may need the agreement of your landlord to install some of these measures. Some more enlightened property owners might be willing to contribute though.

2. Gear up for onsite renewable energy Solar photovoltaics are the obvious choice for many businesses: simple to fit and a very scalable way to generate electricity. Systems can be sized to maximise the use of the energy on site and energy storage via batteries can be added to increase flexibility, enabling the capture of energy generation on non-working days and the usage of energy outside of daylight hours. Giltbrook Workwear recently installed solar photovoltaics as part of their work with us. Adopting electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles can further increase utilisation of solar energy and energy storage over weekends.

3. Adopt a low-carbon mentality Now is the time to review your fleet vehicles and company cars. Support is available towards the costs of electric vehicles and charge points. Do you have a regular delivery route in a city that may be planning to introduce tighter vehicle emission standards in the future? Biomethane and hydrogen-powered vehicles are now available for specific applications. WEGO Couriers is a great example of a company accessing our support to switch to an electric fleet. Also think about how you might reduce your plastics usage and ask your suppliers what their plans are. Biodegradable films can cover magazines and protective packaging is now available in a range of biodegradable materials.

Your customers want this. Your financial director needs to know the business case. And you need to get on with it.

4. Prioritise a healthier workplace environment Help your employees to be more productive and work in a healthier environment by improving indoor air quality. A simple sensor or weather station can tell you about temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels in your workplace and warn you when you need to ventilate by opening the windows or boosting the ventilation rate on controlled systems. Additionally, if you were roasting hot over the summer then consider how to shade areas of south and west facing glazing in particular. External shading is the most effective, blocking the sun’s rays before they enter a building, often in the form of external blinds, louvres or deciduous planting. Internal

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blinds can also help to reduce direct sunlight.

Gauze blinds allow you retain views whilst still reducing direct sunlight and glare. Look at your corporate grounds too. Re-wild your premises with wildflower planting to increase biodiversity and add some colour. Create a simple outside seating area with some recycled wooden furniture, give your employees some sunlight at lunchtimes, and they can soak up some vitamin D. 5. And don’t forget to innovate Finally, look at innovation. Perhaps you have been sitting on an idea for months, but not done anything with it? Support is available

from universities to help people take the initial steps towards developing a new energysaving product or idea, via support from expert academic staff, technical testing or student placement projects. Better to fail fast, than not to try at all. There are many ways to make your business greener and some require more commitment than others. But remember the triple bottom line: people, planet and profit is increasingly important for our customers and the supply chain.

Tim Saunders is Business Development Officer in the University of Nottingham’s Energy Innovation and Collaboration team.

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“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it” What to do if a personal crisis hits Warren Beatty said that it takes five minutes to ruin a hard-earned reputation and that has never been truer of today. The internet, social media and the 24-hour news cycle has made being in the public eye a less forgiving place.

It is now much more likely that a personal misdemeanour will be commentated on or shared across social media.

We all think it won’t happen to us, but a personal reputation crisis can happen for any number of reasons and at any time. If you’re a high-net worth individual or your business worth is tied to your reputation, then it is always best to have a plan in place, but often, it is not something that is thought about, until it’s too late.

If a personal crisis hits there are steps that can be taken to minimise the impact that it would have on long-term reputation. Roz Sheldon, Managing Partner and Head of Client Services at Igniyte, a reputation management company offers her top tips on how to manage if a personal crisis hits.

Your hard-earned reputation matters to you and at some point, we all deal with a stressful life event or personal crisis that can impact our ability to focus on work. But what happens if it’s something that makes its way into the public arena. A personal crisis can be any number of things, a violation of company policy, perhaps there has been an accusation of defamation or libel, or you’ve been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could stem from disgruntled former employees, investors or reporters who have taken to the internet to express their feelings and post negative

comments. When a personal crisis hits it can be unfair and devastating.

Stories have the potential to go viral given the right time and place, or if a related story is currently in the news. A personal crisis can impact what your investors, employees, friends and family think about you. It’s important to plan for a crisis and put steps in place to minimise the impact on your professional life.

If you’re affected personally it is easy to make a snap decision and take action without fully assessing the situation.

You need a short-term plan to deal with the immediate problem: which may include doing nothing and a long-term strategy to start rebuilding your reputation. So, how do you go about dealing with a personal crisis:

• Accept the situation and acknowledge the problem. By being truthful and transparent in all communications it shows respect and dignity. Separate the emotions (even though it will be hard) – separate feelings from facts.

• Assess the damage. How visible is any negative comment or content and who has seen it? Conduct a thorough reputation audit and assess the digital impact. The first page of Google is the most important as it counts for 95% of your website traffic and 90% of people admit to only looking at the first page before they form an impression. Set up alerts for key search terms so you’re notified as soon as anything appears. Check social media and other platforms, such as reviews, forums etc.

Think about the impact this has had on your

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business and reputation. This evaluation will give you a base line to start from.

• Be proactive in developing a crisis management strategy. Step back from the situation and think about the different aspects that are damaging your reputation. Think about each one in turn and devise a strategy to minimise that damage and protect your personal and business brand.

• Plan your media strategy. Not every situation needs a proactive media statement, but you should have a strategy in place for possible crisis scenarios. This should also detail who is best placed to deliver any statement or further information consistently and via which channel. In some cases, it might be best to withdraw completely from online activity and not respond to media enquiries in the first instance. Any strategy needs to be communicated internally to minimise risk and incorrect or confused communication.

• Act fast! Take control of the narrative as fast as possible, and before anyone else can.

Own the problem and show how your taking active steps to resolve the matter. Always be truthful, but don’t respond with emotions. Just facts. Google makes things stick around for a long time.

• Set realistic goals and expectations.

Understand the reality of what you can achieve by yourself. Your personal brand might need a relook, or a complete rebuild. Think about what you can do and whether you need outside help.

Reputation management companies can offer guidance and expertise. They are also neutral when assessing any potential damage which can be reassuring. They will be able to remain impartial and offer the best way to look at the bigger picture.

A personal reputation crisis can leave you feeling powerless and the shame can be devastating but a smart reputation management strategy will give you the long-term building blocks to counter any issue. By addressing it directly, the damage can be minimised. Ensure any moves made are honest as they could have the potential to reverse any negative press. Think about the future, and how building a good solid reputation management is cornerstone to countering any negative publicity in the future.

Roz Sheldon is Managing Partner and Head of Client Services at Igniyte, a reputation management company

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Covid 19: Seven tips to stay creative and productive with teams working from home

By Carsten Wierwille, CEO of ustwo Studios Coronavirus is disrupting the way we live and work by introducing fear and anxiety and forcing more and more businesses to close down their offices. Even those who are reluctant to go down the remote working route may find they have little choice if childcare/schools are impacted. We may all find ourselves working at the kitchen table in the blink of an eye. Then what? ustwo has a studio-first culture: we believe in the power of direct human interaction and collaboration, so, naturally, having whole teams working remotely is an emergency measure to protect the safety and wellbeing of our people.

However, we do have a lot of experience working with distributed teams internally and with our clients that we can draw from in this situation. Here are seven ways that have made remote collaboration a success for us: 1) Lights, camera, action!

We use video conferencing by default. People process visual information far faster and more effectively than text or audio. Video calls increase engagement, minimise temptation to multitask and build connections. We also make a habit of starting each meeting by “checking in” – essentially finding out how each person is doing both in the context of work and their personal lives. Taking a moment to “hard connect” sets the tone for a collaborative, productive meeting.

2) Level the playing field If several people are together for a stand-up or meeting, anyone dialling in can be overlooked.

Sometimes, when one person is remote, we have everyone dial into the hangout individually to prevent the people in the room dominating the conversation.

3) Excuse the interruption Interrupting or talking over one another is a lot more disruptive on remote conversations because of the split-second delay, so some of our teams have started to use hand signals to indicate a desire to speak.

4) AV quality matters It’s incredibly frustrating to be on a video call with an inconsistent connection and garbled audio. Optimizing the internet speed and hardware for remote collaboration is a worthwhile investment. Another trick to improving the AV quality is to shut down other applications that hog bandwidth, like Slack.

5) Software can help Ideation, workshops, sketching – these activities are difficult to do in a distributed setting, so we’ve experimented with Mural or Miro as tools for distributed ideation and collaboration.

6) Use “Pop-up Video” to bridge time zones and language barriers

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With one of our clients, we’re using annotated video to collect feedback. The output from a sprint is recorded as a video showing a set of user interactions, then the client provides consolidated and often funny feedback through speech bubbles and animated characters within the video. This type of collaboration is particularly effective when dealing with language barriers and significant time zone differences.

7) Look to the future All of us hope that the coronavirus crisis will be over soon. However, the question of remote working and collaboration is here to stay, with employees increasingly asking for remote and flexible working arrangement. If you don’t

already, will remote or flexible working be something you can offer if people respond well to it? What can we learn from this experience?

We’re doing all the above, while hoping it’s bracing us for a worst-case scenario that doesn’t materialise. As a bare minimum, let’s maintain and encourage meticulous hygiene standards in the workplace and prepare to roll with the punches.

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Coronavirus Crisis: How entrepreneurs can prepare their staff for job cuts As the coronavirus emergency shows no signs of slowing, the long-term impact on the economy, especially small businesses and startups, is beginning to take shape. For some, it could mean trimming their workforce. Here are some expert tips on the appropriate measures to handle this unfortunate eventuality.

By Caroline Gleeson, CEO and Director of operations, Occupop The COVID-19 outbreak is threatening to severely impact businesses across the UK. For entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs, the effects could be disastrous. As schools, universities and businesses across the world close in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus, the threat of job cuts is becoming a realistic fear.

There could be a severe economic impact, as illustrated by the latest report by the OECD warning that the COVID-19 outbreak could cut global economic growth from 2.9% in 2019 to 2.4%.

Even in a healthy economy, entrepreneurs operate under tight margins. In light of this new economic pressure, as well as the practical impact of the crisis (workplace closures, event cancellations and more), these small and medium businesses may be forced to commit to letting staff go in order to stay afloat.

However, improper management of these types of decisions can cost a business their reputation. In trying times like these, it is imperative that entrepreneurs follow certain steps to avoid reputational damage.

1. Communication Open and transparent internal communication is the starting point. Should an employee read online gossip or rumours relating to job cuts, a sense of resentment and being left in the dark is likely to set in. Even if they are not being affected by the cut, keeping major business developments like these a secret shows a lack of respect towards employees. Business leaders should be holding general meetings and announcement meetings outlining the likelihood of job losses, and the projected next steps.

2.

Clear timelines on cuts

Line managers should be having one-on-one conversations with staff, whether they are at risk of being affected by the job cuts or not. These meetings should clearly indicate timelines for these job cuts, should they go ahead, and what preparations are being made.

Employers must be considerate of those who will be seeking new positions elsewhere, and how job cuts might affect them personally as well as professionally. An employee, given the tools to aid their own personal development, is less likely to leave an organisation harbouring negative feelings, even in the event they have been let go.

3. Transparency When job cuts are looming, uncertainty and financial worry are generally the top concerns

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among employees. Entrepreneurs should work with their business leaders and financial advisers, and be upfront with staff from the start. This will provide a sense of security and help them plan accordingly. Leaving employees high and dry is a sure way to detrimentally affect a company’s reputation, and could spell disaster for recruitment in the future.

outlined. Doing this from the outset will avoid any future legal issues with employees who felt their legal rights weren’t met.

4.

There are certain steps an entrepreneur can take in order to future proof their business so they can avoid job cuts.

Exit interviews

Exit interviews are an essential but often overlooked area of HR management. These interviews provide insight into how a brand is perceived, and gives employees the platform to communicate openly on their role and the company. In a time of extensive job cuts, an employee being heard can go a long way towards positive association with the brand.

Further to this, should an employee have ill feelings, this gives employers an opportunity to act and rectify any issues within a team or company. These are all opportunities to strengthen the brand moving forward, and ensure that the next generation of employees have a positive experience.

Meanwhile, for entrepreneurs who are not forced to make drastic cuts, the COVID-19 outbreak could represent an opportunity for reflection.

1.

Hire for soft skills

Consider the adaptability of employees and how they can grow within the company, should a digital transformation take place.

When recruiting, think about the future now.

Look at plans for the next year through to the next decade, and look at the potential digital disruption and transformation that may be required, along with the potential automation of some roles. Create recruitment plans and hiring requirements with this in mind, ensuring a future-forward workforce

5. References

2.

A good reference process can greatly help employees transition into a new role and leave them with a more positive feeling towards their previous company, even if they were made redundant. In this case, employers should clearly outline the company’s reference process from the first meeting, to avoid any confusion or back and forth down the line.

Former employees getting in touch seeking a reference weeks or months after they have left is a time-consuming and avoidable burden.

Don’t underestimate current staff. Of course, some redundancies are unavoidable due to finances, but consider that although someone might be working in sales, they may have a technical degree which they may be interested in pursuing. Carry out data research on current staff and hold career progression planning meetings, encouraging staff to outline future plans and potential opportunities.

6.

Know the legal side

Whether employers have in-house counsel, an employment law adviser or the services of the workplace commission, it is vital to be up to date on all policies and legalities around redundancy.

Depending on the years of service, staff will be due differing redundancy payment. All relevant legal documents should be available from the first meeting, with the legal implications clearly

Recruit sideways

About Occupop: Occupop is an advanced hiring tool which utilises AI technology to help HR and Hiring Managers narrow down their candidate search and identify the best potential employees. The company was founded by former recruiters Caroline Gleeson and David Banaghan in 2016.

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Crisis Management An Essential Guide

By Tim Jotischky.

represent you in the media

It can take a lifetime to build your company’s reputation, but it can be destroyed in the blink of an eye. Finding yourself in the eye of a media storm is an experience like no other – you feel lonely and isolated.

How Can I Get Help?

The thing to remember is that, for journalists it’s almost never personal, it’s business. That’s why you need to treat it the same way and take a business-like approach to crisis management.

What Are The Rules?

The first rule is that if you only react when a crisis has hit it’s already too late. Though you often can’t anticipate how, why or when a media storm will engulf your business you can have a plan in place.

Your company needs a crisis protocol, which must include at least four key elements: An escalation policy to differentiate between a little local difficulty and a serious threat to your reputation A designated crisis team, with clearly defined roles for each member Simple procedures for gathering information as quickly as possible and an agreed mechanism for keeping internal and external stakeholders informed Designated spokespeople to respond and

You will not find all the answers in a crisis manual. Every crisis is different and throws up a unique set of issues, which can’t be run entirely by the playbook. Sound judgement and cool heads are crucial so having the right people around you matters.

However, a bunker mentality can quickly set in; when you feel you are being attacked unfairly it is easy to become defensive. External advisors can provide a fresh perspective as well as the necessary expertise. I couldn’t tell you how to run your business, but after spending 25 years on national newspapers I could tell you everything you need you know about dealing with journalists.

Some companies have arrangements in place with specialist agencies – in effect, an insurance policy. It allows you to list their contact details on your website so any media inquiries will go to them initially. If it is a routine matter, you can pick it up directly, but if it is an issue that could damage your reputation they will step in and handle it. You agree a fee in advance, depending on the severity of the situation, and the resources required to manage it.

Media and crisis training Crises are unpredictable but one thing is certain: any business needs to have a public face to represent it. Yet too many companies

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fail to prepare for this eventuality.

Former BP chief executive Tony Hayward did not like doing media work and one of his first live TV interviews came in the aftermath of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in which 11 of his employees lost their lives. “There’s no one who wants this over more than I do, I’d like my life back,” he said. Hayward’s reputation never recovered from that disastrous slip of the tongue.

Media training teaches you two essential skills: How to communicate your core messages clearly and succinctly – a live interview is not a time for spontaneity, you need to have prepared your messages

How to deal with difficult questions without avoiding them – politicians are ridiculed for answering the question they would liketo have been asked, not the one they were asked Crisis training helps you apply these skills in a pressurised environment whilst a realistic scenario plays out in real time. The key to communicating effectively is to make a personal connection with the audience, speak human, don’t resort to corporate speak – and that’s never important than in a crisis.

Tim Jotischky is Head of Consultancy at the PHA Group, specializing in crisis communications, and former Business Editor of The Telegraph

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Weathering the Tough Times

Top ten tips to ensure your business stays afloat

By Anthony Main, The Distance.

It was only signing a key client right at the last minute that saved my digital agency, just two years ago. I had been forced to let six staff go and it was down to just me and one other. I have since built the company up from two staff and no income to 20 staff and an almost seven figure turnover.

So, what advice can I offer, based on what I learnt along the way? Here are my top ten tips to help you ensure your business stays afloat in tough times: Don’t let your marketing slip. We became too comfortable with the quality of our inbound leads. We had previously (Google) ranked well, and complacency set in as a result. We didn’t monitor the rankings as closely as we needed to, and so we simply slipped off the face of the web without realising.

TIP: Keep marketing, even when times are bad – you can’t build a business if no one is finding it and the leads aren’t coming in.

Monitor competitors. Our early impact made us naively confident in our market share and we hadn’t realised how many competitors had grown to the same degree. No longer did we have first pick of the inbound leads; we had to work harder to reap the rewards.

TIP: Always keep an eye on the competition and ensure you’re staying ahead, not slipping behind.

Learn from the mistakes (and successes) of your competitors. It’s SO important to know what the competition is doing, from their inbound process, to their offering and the quality of the documentation in between.

TIP: Create a dummy project and subtly go through the ropes of testing them out. Find out what they do well (integrate it into your process) and discover where they are weak (ensure you don’t do the same). Learn from mistakes without making them yourself.

Market pricing. Another important aspect of your competitor analysis is to understand both their pricing and how customers will perceive yours. Make sure you align with your market, even if you expect your quote to be larger than your neighbour’s.

TIP: Get clear on your own pricing and that of your competitors.

Vital Data. Track as much as you can about the operational side of your business. Ideally, create a data dashboard and update it at least monthly, so you can compare to previous months or years, looking for any trends which might raise a flag.

TIP: By understanding the numbers in your own business you can spot problems early and develop solutions.

Develop your niche. Before our turnaround we had an ambiguous company, offering both eCommerce and mobile apps, with no crossover customers. This didn’t work, so we divided the business to individually focus our marketing on clear customer propositions.

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TIP: Find your niche and stick to it. Make sure all your marketing communicates your expertise in that niche, and don’t be tempted to try to be all things to all people.

Cash is King. All industries go through waves, often unexpectedly, and you need to be able to brace against them as best as possible.

This often simply means supporting drops in revenue with a cache of finance for rainy days.

Aim for at least three months break-even in the bank for comfort.

TIP: Don’t spend all your profit – keep some back to help you ride and survive the rough times.

Watch the economy. While the UK’s decision to Brexit had a huge impact on us, it was going to be a 50:50 decision either way, which meant we should have been better prepared.

TIP: Keep up-to-date. Don’t be ignorant to wider scale events that might have a future impact, such as a change in governments, price of raw materials, etc.

Team trust. Take your time to employ; we did and it has really helped us flourish, but equally learnt from similar poor judgements. Surround yourself with trustworthy staff and give them as much autonomy as possible.

TIP: Build a great team around you by waiting to employ the right people – taking on the wrong people can be time-consuming and costly, whereas the right team will help ensure the business thrives.

Create your culture. As a creative agency, we are stereotyped with a certain culture and we embrace it. Flexible working; monthly company catch ups (in the pub); bi-weekly retrospectives; internal Slack comms. All of this adds to the reasons why our staff are so committed to supporting each other to deliver great projects for customers.

TIP: Develop a company culture that suits your business and your team. Work is not just about productivity – it’s also about enjoying what you do.

Many businesses start and fail – often as fast – and it’s important to look for signs that things aren’t as they should be. Don’t be as naive as I was; having confidence in your product and service can only protect you against so many things, some you simply have no control over, so be prepared!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anthony Main is Managing Director of The Distance, an app development company.

Anthony has been developing apps since the first iPhone, and with his UK based team of digital natives, The Distance delivers intuitive mobile solutions for clients on both iOS and Android. From disruptive start-ups to global enterprises, including NHS, Bentley Motors, Virgin Trains, PGA Golf, Slimming World, and Astra Zeneca, The Distance supports solutions developed to meet all app based-challenges.

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WOMEN IN FUNDING HOW TO EXCEL Award-winning entrepreneur, Melissa Snover, has just closed the largest seed round raised in the UK by a female founder. Melissa raised over £2 million of investment for her tech startup Rem3dy Health, which launched in May 2019, and is pioneering personalised health solutions using propriety, patented 3D printing technologies.

However, being a woman in a male-dominated industry hasn’t always been straightforward.

Founder and CEO of Nourished, Melissa Snover, shares her career tips and extensive experience as a record-breaking, female entrepreneur.

KNOW YOUR MARKET With a keen interest in nutrition and a consumer of supplements, when Melissa came up with the idea for her business, she realised she was her own target audience.

Melissa says: “It was whilst travelling internationally back in 2018 that I first came up with the idea for Nourished. I used to carry a container of personally selected vitamins, supplements and active ingredients with me when travelling and, on this occasion, I accidentally spilt them all over the floor at airport security. Crawling around in my suit and heels picking them up, I thought there must be a better solution. Working in the tech industry, I was inspired to develop my own 3D printing technology which could combine multiple active ingredients into one personalised product without compromising their efficacy.”

Nourished was subsequently launched exclusively into the UK market in October 2019 and offers its customers the benefit of taking

all their preferred vitamins and supplements in one edible stack with less hassle, less waste and lower cost than buying and taking them all individually.

EMBRACE INNOVATION The foundations for Nourished were set in motion by Melissa’s first 3D printing food tech company, Katjes Fassin UK Ltd (aka Katjes Magic Candy Factory).

She says: “In 2015, I partnered with the German Katjes family corporation and immersed myself in the world of food technology and 3D printing. Katjes Magic Candy Factory is an innovative, pioneering concept that allows the consumer to 3D print delicious vegan gummy candy in anything from Sweet Selfies and logos, to 3D messages and shapes in just 5 minutes.

It was so new then to the consumer market but getting involved in 3D technology has changed my life.”

With their first product entry to market, Nourished, Melissa and her team have utilised their patented 3D printing technology and innovative vegan encapsulation formula to create the world’s first truly personalised nutrition product.

DON’T LIMIT YOURSELF At 23, Melissa co-founded the financial company Burton Mortgage Services, which she managed to guide to treble-figure growth in its first three years. It’s this background that led her to excel in the consumer market, as well as running a successful business. She

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says: “Securing funding is no mean feat, but it’s a necessity for any entrepreneur or business owner looking to bring a brand or product to market.”

In 2009, Melissa sold her interest in Burton Mortgage Services and redirected her creativity and skills to the confectionery industry, but securing her £2 million funding for Rem3dy Health was boosted significantly by her previous experience in finance.

SEEK NEW OPPORTUNITIES When Melissa isn’t working directly on her own businesses, she is often invited for speaking engagements around the world, including The United Nations, The Houses of Parliament and UK First Women Conference, as well as interviews with BBC World News and Sky News. Each opportunity has not only led to more business and a network of contacts, but has increased brand awareness too.

Melissa says: “Every time I talk about my brand and put myself out there, I’m reaching new audiences and sharing my story. It can seem scary having to speak on live television or stand up in front of thousands of people at an event, but it always leads to bigger things.”

HEALTH IS WEALTH For entrepreneurs, schedules can quickly get hectic and it can feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day but taking care of yourself is the best thing you can do for your business.

Melissa believes self-care is important for anyone starting out.

Melissa says: “Working in the health industry means taking care of yourself is a known priority, but it’s not always easy when you’re starting your own business! Free time is a rare commodity these days, but I manage to go for a run most days and, when time allows, and of course always take my Nourished stacks!”

MAKE WAVES FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS Melissa’s seed investment round is notable not only for the amount raised, but also because it has been achieved by a female in the tech industry. According to ‘Female Entrepreneurs’ research by Beauhurst, just 7% of tech companies are fully female founded, in comparison to 12% which are founded by a mixed team of male and females and 81% which are fully male founded.

Melissa says: “It can be very difficult to navigate the VC and funding ecosystem for anyone, but when you consider the findings of this research, it’s clear that there are still some additional challenges to overcome to give equal opportunities across the board.

“I do, however, feel that we are starting to see a shift in attitudes towards investment in female-first businesses within the investment community and hope that the seed round raised by Rem3dy Group demonstrates that and acts as an inspiration for others.”

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Clever Apps

to help your business save money As an entrepreneur, many will assume your sole focus is making money. However, it is equally important to achieve things on a budget, particularly if you are just starting out, so saving money is also important.

Perhaps you want to entertain potential clients but without breaking the bank, or make sure you’re not paying over the odds for essential utilities.

The following apps and services are great for entrepreneurs, whether you’re planning the next team outing or feeling the burn of the bills. Reach for your phone to help your money stretch further.

1. LoyalFree If you’re starting local and looking for something personalised to your area then the LoyalFree app can help you ‘save money when you shop local’ in 14 towns and cities across England. Boasting thousands of deals, the app also supports many independent businesses as well as the larger names.

Whether you want to find a great spot for after work networking, save some money while holding a meeting, or stock up on some business supplies - this app can help you do all of those things. Handily, you can find a wide variety of services on the LoyalFree app, meaning savings are available at local cafes, accountants, stationery suppliers etc.

The app is also great to share with business associates who may not know the local area as

they can explore their surroundings through the interactive trails on the app, such as enjoying a ‘Cocktail Trail’ or a ‘Vegan Eats’ tour of the area.

2. uSwitch This app will let you compare energy, broadband and mobile deals so you can see if you are getting the best tariff for your business and your team. Switching tariffs is done in the app and only takes a matter of minutes to complete.

The app has handy functionality which will remind you to switch each year so you never miss out on the latest and best deals. uSwitch is also a Feefo 2018 Gold Trusted Service award winner and boasts many top app store ratings and reviews.

3. Yroo This price comparison app tracks prices over time. In order to help you know the best time to buy it sends you an alert when a price drops.

The app can search over 5,000 stores to show you the most competitive price on products, particularly handy when you’re looking for new office furniture or the latest tech gadgets.

The app also has scanning functionality allowing users to check price comparisons instantly onthe-go so you know if you’re getting the best deal. Free to use and regularly updated this app is a great tool for any business owner.

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4. Honey Honey is a Chrome browser extension which will automatically find and apply discounts codes to checkouts for you. Not an app, but perfect for business owners, this tool won’t take any extra time for you to make use of.

With over 10 million members, Honey is completely free to use and takes minimal time to set up. You can enjoy discounts at lots of large brands when buying office supplies at sites such as Amazon, Target and Best Buy.

5. Vouchercodes It’s easy to get lost in a world of discount apps on your phone; from Wowcher to Groupon to VoucherCodes – all of them offer a variety of discounts. My personal favourite is VoucherCodes as it gives you wider options for shopping, plus it includes food and travel deals.

So, it’s handy when you are booking your next team outing, or buying a reward voucher for an employee.

Although checking through an App before you make a purchase may seem like extra work, it can really pay off as there are some great savings to be had. Whichever of these apps you choose to use we are sure your business will see the benefits.

About the Author Sophie Hainsworth is co-founder of LoyalFree, a multi-award winning innovative mobile phone app which helps connect people to special offers in their area. The app combines this with local digital loyalty schemes, tourism information, tours & trails and events. Users benefit by using one app across the UK – so they can tap into the local area wherever they are.

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Thinking of investing in a watch collection?

Here’s how to get started The idea of building a watch collection as an investment is an exciting proposition with the range of models, brands, prices and finance options available in the market today. There are, of course, the ‘household’ big name and hundreds of interesting independent watch brands. No matter what you decide to collect, one thing’s for sure, you are going to discover lots of nice watches.

But if you are thinking of starting your watch collection, where should you start?

What type of watch do you want?

There are four main types of watches in terms of the mechanics: automatic (or self-winding); manual winding; quartz; and smart watches.

Smart watches don’t tend to hold their value like other watches as they are out-of-date very quickly. They aren’t built to last and there isn’t much of a second-hand market. However, if tech is your thing, then there are some interesting watches to collect.

Quartz watches are battery powered and tick. They’re easily recognizable, are generally cheaper than automatic or manual winding watches but, in my view, are not designed with the intention to last a lifetime. The main advantage with a Quartz watch is that you never need to wind it, but many collectors avoid them as they aren’t considered to be high-end or luxury and so don’t hold their value as well.

The holy grail of watches is automatic and manual-winding watches that can be passed on from generation to generation. Both types of watch can be manually wound and automatic

watches benefit from continuously winding themselves as you wear them. Both types of watches will also have a power reserve.

When starting a collection, I would recommend buying a Swiss-made automatic watch, which will potentially last a lifetime – making a great watch with which to start your collection.

World-made watches Many argue that Swiss-made watches are the gold standard and they are of course excellent, like almost anything Swiss-made. But, they do come at a higher price.

That said, Swiss made watches are a good place to start when building a collection because of the variety of brands, quality, prices and functionality. Other countries to look at include Germany and Japan, which both have some lovely, high quality brands. There are cheaper fashion watches that are often made in China.

These can look great, and certainly won’t cost as much, but they don’t tend to last as long or hold their value as well.

Define your style It’s important to consider your style when building a collection of watches. I’m generally smartly dressed and like to wear an elegant dress watch on a leather strap. Therefore, I prefer to have more watches in this style in my collection. More casual people might prefer larger and more rugged watches like a diving watch or chronograph. Choose watches to suit your lifestyle and wardrobe.

Connect your watches to your passions

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Also, if you have particular interests, start looking for watches that match what you love.

For example, if you love diving, look for diving watches that are water resistant to a certain depth and can be used for scuba diving. Having a connection to a watch is important when building a collection because you’ll not only take pleasure in looking at it, but it will remind you of your passion.

Discovery Time A great place to start looking at watches is online and social media. Some brands are only available online, so you’ll get a much wider choice by looking there. Also, it’s great to browse watch shops and attend watch events like Baselworld.

The great thing about events and shops is that you can generally try on the watch and see it on your wrist – how does it make you feel when you look wear it, what does it look like on you, how comfortable is it? All of these are important questions.

Follow your instinct with online purchases knowing that you can generally return the watch if you are not happy with it. Check the company’s returns policy first - before purchasing.

Digging deeper As you progress in your watch collecting journey, you’ll probably want to dig deeper and get to know more about watches, the inspiration behind them, the story of the brand and its founder. To really connect with a brand, you may also want to know about their vision, and chat with the founder.

Watch events like Baselworld in Switzerland, Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair, Miami Watch and Wonders, and Dubai Watch Week are a great way to do this. There are also smaller local events you can search for online. You can meet the people behind the brand, get to know them, and understand the vision for their future collections.

Summary So, think about what you are passionate about and your general style. Then, browse watches online, attend events and check out some shops. Follow your instincts and spend what you can afford. Set the trend, by leading not following. Enjoy the journey and happy collecting.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR CuleM Watches is an independent watchmaker founded by watch collector and traveller Matthew Cule. CuleM ‘s World GMT collection of Swiss made dual time automatic watches celebrates the beauty of our amazing world and are designed for people who love to travel and collectors of exquisite timepieces.

CuleM believes there is no experience more meaningful and amazing than travel - and no object more beautiful and meaningful than a watch, so each watch is a time capsule of memories of the places you have been and an inspiration for the destinations you wish to discover. Available from Goldsmiths and luxury retailers.

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How entrepreneurs can appreciate, reward and improve mental wellbeing at work For entrepreneurs with startups it important to recognise the cultural shift that is happening in business as leaders are recognising the need to implement wellbeing initiatives.

Rewarding your staff is a sure way to improve employee motivation, create an appreciative working culture and an atmosphere which improves overall company productivity and employee wellbeing. This is something to build into your business culture from the very beginning.

Our Prime Minister has pledged to offer businesses a Tax Relief for companies which have wellbeing initiatives, which is indicative of the cultural shift.

Employee wellbeing is not just mindfulness and health, it is also reward and recognition. Let’s review a sample of approaches that you can use in your startup or growth business:

Appreciating Personal Wins Don’t just appreciate employees for what they do for you – appreciate them beyond their work as well. If they’ve achieved a milestone in their lives outside the office, celebrate with them in the office. Decorate their cubicle with balloons and cards when they achieve a personal win, like completing a marathon, winning a tournament, losing weight (if they’ve been public with their diet), having a baby, buying a new home or graduating from a class.

Having a Fun Trophy Fun, laughter and recognition. Get a big trophy and give it to the employee you are recognizing for the month. At the end of the month, they must return the trophy - but they need to add one thing to it. (You would be shocked how many things can stick to a trophy.) Then next month give it to the next winner. At the end of the year, you’ll have a trophy with 52 things stuck to it. It looks hysterical and has lots of memories. Retire the trophy and put it in your reception area. Start a new trophy and do it every year.

Personal Thank You Notes Saying thanks for something specific may be the ultimate reward. If you do it selectively yet authentically, not on an email, a thank you note may be pinned above your employee’s desk for years. They won’t forget it and will tell others, creating a rewarding and appreciative working culture that pushes others to receive a personal note.

Duvet-days etc A few extra days off at either Christmas or New Year to enable them to extend their holidays.

Or give them their birthday off or a duvet-day – these are effective ways to reward your best employees. The gift of time, which can be spent with family, or enjoying a mini break without encroaching on annual leave is a welcome gesture to most people. As the employer is most likely taking a bit of time off, it’s nice to let some employees have the same luxury.

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Corporate Away Days A corporate away day for individuals across the business instils trust, improves connections and communication, and brings individuals together – something every startup needs.

Mixing different departments is great, or you can reward a specific team if you prefer.

If the away day is exciting, engaging, inspiring and fun the collective experience and memories created will create a new buzz in the office which will spread.

Other employees will want to meet their work targets to be included on the next one. Video’s and pictures from the day, shown in the office, create great discussions other than ‘work in progress’.

Flexible Hours and Flexible Working If it is feasible why not build in flexible working from the start of your startup? The flexibility can be worth a lot more than cash. Maybe staff members won’t need day care services for their child, for example, if they can make their own schedule. Perhaps reducing the commute into the office can pay for better productivity i.e. time not spent travelling and less stress on the employee.

Financial Reward Money is the number one satisfier, but appreciation is the number one motivator.

A financial bonus might be given to reward hard work, or for completing a project on time, within budget, and to a high standard, or it may be for a sustained period of great work during your fundraising period or in the first year of your business.. Whatever the reason, cash bonuses are great, they offer a quick and easy way to reward your staff giving them the freedom to splurge on whatever they like.

The downside is that the reward is usually short lived. Once negotiated and is expected/ received, in the mind of the employee it becomes already spent and loses the value.

When we feel appreciated, we feel better, and our mental health is generally improved. This is why it is so important to find ways to reward your staff and show your appreciation for their work. If you can build this into the culture of your startup it will pay dividends. Your staff will welcome the support and your business will gain the benefits.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Craig Bulow is the founder of Corporate Away Days, a corporate wellbeing events company delivering engaging, inspiring and exciting events focussed on Mindfulness / Wellbeing and Reward / Recognition activities. Corporate Away Days also creates, designs and builds corporate wellbeing policies and provides leading experts for interactive workshops, seminars and talks on improving mental health and overall wellbeing.

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How UK entrepreneurs are providing world-class healthcare across Africa Unfortunately, the disease burden that Africa faces is unmatched globally. 25% of the world’s disease cases occurring in the continent As someone who grew up in Nigeria, I’ve seen the serious implications of the health crisis.

Patients usually travel long distances and wait several days for what often turns out to be mediocre healthcare. This can cost a family’s entire budget. My mother had a ten-year battle with accessing care and still suffers from the effects of misdiagnosed conditions and poorly administered procedures.

Sadly, stories of this kind are common in Nigeria and other African countries.

Low government spending on health has led to familiar tales of poor infrastructure and medical facilities, delayed treatments, misdiagnosed conditions and mismanagement, leading to a growing number of preventable deaths.

However, UK companies are helping to improve several different healthcare sectors in Africa, which is leading to a reduction in rates of morbidity and mortality. The World Bank is urging the private sector to improve services and help save lives by introducing firstclass healthcare. This is giving UK, and other international businesses a huge opportunity to scale internationally and bolster African healthcare.

Let’s look at how entrepreneurs using their energy and drive to make a difference to healthcare in Africa: Pharmaceutical Industry

Africa’s pharmaceutical industry is one of the fastest growing in the world, increasing from US$4.7 billion in 2003 to US$20.8 billion in 2013.

The demand for over-the-counter medicines, medical devices and prescription medications is projected to grow between 6% and 11% over the next five years.

In spite of the growth forecast, the industry faces several challenges that will stifle its growth.

Counterfeit medication A recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that 1-in-10 (10%) medications in circulation in Africa is substandard. This means people are being treated with medications that fail to treat or prevent a disease. This is causing serious illness and even death. It is estimated that fake anti-malarials, for example, contribute to 116,000 additional deaths a year from malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa alone.

Shortage of specialists There is lack of experts to conduct clinical research and develop novel medicines to tackle the growing disease burden on the continent. A contributory factor is the enormous brain drain of specialists to developed economies, leaving behind an industry overloaded with newly qualified professionals with little or no clinical research experience.

Regulation The regulation of Africa’s pharmaceutical marketplace and development of new medicines is far from standardised. This means the industry’s fragmented supply chain is rife with substandard drugs.

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UK pharmaceutical companies are expanding their operations to Africa, to help deal with some of the aforementioned problems and also combat a range of infectious and noncommunicable diseases plaguing the continent.

One of such is Morningside Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Morningside Pharmaceuticals Ltd is an awardwinning innovator and manufacturer of highquality generic and branded medicines, as well as healthcare products, to the UK and international export markets.

It has set-up local manufacturing facilities in Africa to ensure the supply of cost-effective quality medicines is improved and maintained to hospitals and pharmacies.

Diagnostics Sector Diagnostics services, either through in laboratories, or imaging like ultrasound and radiology, play a in spotting health problems and medical interventions.

pathology scanning, vital role informing

Early diagnosis can increase the chances of a positive outcome, helping to improve the lives of patients and save costs of further treatment.

Diagnostics also play a vital role in patients’ ongoing care programs. Unfortunately access to reliable diagnostic testing is severely limited in the continent, and misdiagnosis is common.

To take two examples: in Nigeria, the accuracy of clinical diagnoses of typhoid fever, when compared with laboratory culture confirmation, was around 50%, and the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis was overlooked in 24% of Kenyan children when a clinical syndromic approach was applied alone.

A UK business blazing the trail in diagnostics is Randox.

A global leader within the in-vitro diagnostics industry, Randox Laboratories develops diagnostic solutions for hospitals, clinical, research and molecular labs, food testing, forensic toxicology, veterinary labs and life sciences. They have a laboratory in Africa and help doctors get accurate diagnoses for their patients.

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Primary Healthcare Access to quality healthcare in Africa is a major problem; a recent study by Gallop concluded that 57% of the population have poor or no access to patient-first, quality care.

People in sub-Saharan Africa have the worst health, on average, in the world. With less than 1% of global health expenditure and only 3% of the world’s health workers.

Africa accounts for almost half the world’s deaths of children under five, has the highest maternal mortality rate, and bears a heavy toll from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

The outbound African medical tourism market is experiencing exponential growth with over 650,00 patients going abroad for treatment in 2015; generating a market value of $3.8bn.

A UK company that aims to make a difference in the primary health care delivery system is Medics2You. Medics2You gives patients control of their health by providing immediate access to worldclass doctors and specialist, via a smart device, anytime, anywhere, to deliver quality patientcentred care with measurable outcomes.

They are pioneering the delivery of a hybrid telehealth care service by setting up local tech-enabled hubs; an extension of their mobile platform, to provide consultations, investigations and pharmacy services.

African countries need better healthcare – and UK companies, with their entrepreneurial outlook, are in a good position to provide it.

Using their expertise and advanced technology they are finding innovative solution for the continents the health crisis.

Undoubtedly it is a massive challenge. However, entrepreneurs, wanting to make a difference in the world, can play a very significant role in bringing world-class healthcare to countries in Africa.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Henry Etukumoh is the founder of Medics2You, a ‘tech for good’ business that aims to transform the way African patients access cutting-edge primary care, save lives, and improve the life expectancy of millions.

Having grown-up in Nigeria, Etukumoh has personally witnesses the serious implications of inadequate healthcare.

Medics2You uses a hybrid telehealth platform to connect patients in Africa with world class doctors and specialists, deliver medication to patient’s doors, and provide referrals to local and international accredited specialists and hospitals.

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How Entrepreneurs Can Improve Their Hiring Process With 250 applicants for a job but only 5 being asked for to attend an interview something isn’t right. It is unfortunately the case that 72% of businesses say they struggle to find skilled candidates for their open positions. This is an issue that entrepreneurs need to address.

for entrepreneurs to assess actual skill levels.

CVs don’t show, for example, if an applicant had a lot of support in their previous role or whether they’ve allowed their technical skills to go rusty. It’s all drawn out by inference rather than verifiable data.

It is a good idea to set up the best recruitment process you can for your business. If you get the wrong person in a key tech role in a startup, for example, it can cause significant problems.

Current solutions to tech recruitment challenges

There are clearly issues with the recruitment process so you need to work closely with recruitment agencies. Many job boards and recruitment agencies use automated keyword filtering to quickly narrow down relevant CVs. Those using a lot of industry keywords have around a 30% better chance of being hired. Be very clear what you startup needs to increase your percentage chance of seeing the CVs of the people who most closely meet your needs.

Even doing this the process is almost definitely going to filter out some highly-suitable, yet keyword sparse, CVs. This is particularly problematic for entrepreneurs who need to get a well-qualified tech candidate onboard as quickly as possible.

The Challenges Are CVs really a good measure of technical skills? In my experience…no.

Even when the CV is written well and lists suitable skills and experience, it’s still hard to

Aware of some of these issues, you may find tech recruiters adding technical interviews or even technical challenges for applicants to complete. These help to pin down applicants’ actual skill levels in the specific tech stack they will be working with.

Technical interviews are relatively resourcelight to conduct, yet they still require a technologist (which as startup may not have) to design and deliver the interview, taking time away from the project delivery.

Technical challenges are a more accurate test of skills but are also more expensive and timeconsuming to design and run.

And while these technical additions to the recruitment process help accurately assess applicants’ skills, they still rely on the CVs sent on by recruitment agencies and therefore still suffer from automated filtering and agency bias.

Improving tech recruitment by ditching CVs The tech recruitment process would be greatly

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improved if we could ditch the CV altogether and focused on accurately assessing the crucial technical skills.

The ideal skills test would be conducted by a third-party, reducing the expense and inhouse resource drain, and be customised to the employer’s tech stack and project requirements.

If your startup or growth business needs someone well-versed in the MEAN stack, you should test them on a combination of MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js challenges. Yet, another web application may require someone experienced using the LAMP stack. Simply inviting someone for interview based on their “web application development experience” won’t distinguish between these very different skill sets and may lead to hiring the wrong person. This can have a major negative impact in a small startup team.

Besides assessing based on skills rather than CVs, these tech challenges can also be run at the very top of the recruitment funnel, quickly and accurately filtering applicants down based on their skills. If your startup allows remote working, this can also help attract top talent from around the world.

Improving the process for applicants Having a clear expectation of the requirements your startup has is also useful for candidates.

No one wants to spend time going for an interview, particularly for a new company, only to find out that the job didn’t match their expectations. And no one wants to feel out of their depth in a technical role.

Including technical challenges right at the start of the application process make obvious what the job will entail and what skills are required, leading applicants to self-filter based on their skills. This will avoid entrepreneurs wasting precious time on interviews that won’t deliver the right candidate.

The interview itself will be more useful if both entrepreneurs and candidates know what

technologies projects will involve. Rather than questions to assess skills, interviews can focus on assessing the candidate’s ‘fit’ into the company culture and their ‘soft skills’, already knowing that interviewees have the required blend of skills.

Despite the difficulty of hiring staff, I’m fully convince that technology bring us a brighter future. I hope that entrepreneurs with startups will set up their job application processes up to use the new technical assessments. That way they will give all candidates the best chance and hire well-qualified people who’ll contribute to taking the business forward.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gurvinder Singh is the co-founder of TechRank.

TechRank sources, expertly tests and objectively ranks tech talent helping companies hire the best, and most capable person for the job. By testing candidates for the level of skill the position requires, businesses can make an objective decision about the person they hire to fill a vacant tech role.

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Steps music venue entrepreneurs can take to increase revenues and avoid closure The UK has a proud tradition of giving the world many of the best live bands. Music is a vital part of UK culture, particularly live performances, so it’s worrying that gig venues have been put at risk.

It’s not exactly news that iconic music venues are closing across the country. We’ve already seen the loss of the London Astoria, the Manchester Roadhouse, the Harley in Sheffield, Bristol’s Bierkeller, Edinburgh’s Picture House and The Arches in Glasgow, among many more.

Such closures have a variety of reasons.

Increases in local rents and business rates make it difficult for music venue entrepreneurs to make ends meet and poor economic conditions mean that music fans have less money to spend. Noise complaints are another huge problem.

Despite these difficulties, live music is the fastest growing sector in the £4.5bn music industry. PRS For Music found that venues are three times more likely to go bust without live shows, and gig-goers spend 70 per cent more at the bar than other customers.

How can venues bring in more music lovers, and increase their revenue?

Venue Branding Entrepreneurial venues often become iconic and famous beyond their own cities by having a unique vibe. Sometimes this is defined by a specific music genre, like punk, metal or blues.

Those able to own a persona, such as being known as the blues club of that area, for instance, have a huge advantage. Consistency is key. A punk venue should get rid of the tables when a band’s playing, spray graffiti, or have staff dress in denim and leather.

Other venues find their strength with variety: blues on a Tuesday, rock on a Wednesday, pop on a Thursday etc. This way, they’re able to attract diverse music fans.

Social Media 88 per cent of people are influenced by reviews and online comments, so a strong digital strategy is important. Promoters still use flyers and posters, but social media is the way most important for finding out who’s playing, and where.

Make sure your venue regularly posts about your nights and helps to promote the bands playing, as well as any promotions. Use social programming tools like Hootsuite to schedule posts across all networks so you’ve constantly got posts going out.

It pays to make sure the gigs you’re hosting appear on as many sites as possible: Bands in Town, Gigs and Tours, The List, etc. Do your research to find out who the most influential bloggers, promoters and social influencers in your area and connect with them. They may well be your greatest allies.

Venue Programming Venue Programming services can help you build

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consistency in the gigs you’re offering, ensure a good turnout, and plan well in advance, giving you time to properly promote shows.

It’s also worth compiling compilation CDs featuring local bands that frequent your venue, with their permission, of course!

For example, Gigride – a marketplace for musicians, DJs, venues, and promoters – acts like an Airbnb for gigs. It also helps venues find bands, promote gigs and shows how many people a band is likely to attract.

There were more than 480,000 independent gig performances last year alone in the UK, held in 130,000 venues, all of which brought 9.5m visits. So, there’s still a huge market for live music.

Other services like Nextbigsound, Chartmetric and Soundchart can help you analyse the online engagement generated by a band or performer.

Despite the hits that music venues have taken in the last few years, I believe that live music can save them from closure with some creativity from entrepreneurs. Use the ideas above and help keep providing live music for the fans to enjoy!

By using technology, venues can more easily gauge how many fans a band is likely to attract, and online hype they’re able to generate, which will help them maximise ticket and drink sales.

Get Creative It’s not all about technology. Combining entrepreneurial drive with some old tried and tested methods, venues can get creative by including promotions such as a free drink with each ticket (co-promotions with drinks brands can assist). You can offer free entry to shows for bloggers and music fans able to bring in a crowd or offer commission to local bands that can fill up a guest list.

You can sell or give away your own merch, e.g. t-shirts, tote bags, and badges to regulars to help get your name out. Membership is another option that could offer regulars free or discounted entry, a free drink or another rewards for loyalty.

About the Author Marco Santesso is co-founder and CEO of Gigride – the Airbnb of gigs – which he set up after years of struggling to book tours for his band. Gigride is a marketplace which brings musicians, DJs, venues, and promoters together to organise gigs. It also allows promoters and venues to find out how many fans a band is likely to attract to their gigs.

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UK Entrepreneurs Making a Difference in Africa As an entrepreneur with a startup you have a unique opportunity: to choose the business model you will adopt and the company culture you want to go with it.

in the evening. Vitae has recently launched its new Elmington Range on Kickstarter so you can help an African child and own a beautiful watch ahead of everyone else and with over 50% off.

A business model that is increasingly being adopted by entrepreneurs incorporates social impact at the heart of the business.

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Let’s look at five entrepreneurial UK businesses and the impact that they are having in a number of African countries.

Dapaah Chocolates Keeping up with family traditions, this sibling trio noticed that despite producing as much as 20% of the world’s global supply of cocoa, Ghana does not have a single chocolate brand that is internationally recognised. With profits from their sales they are aiming to build a sustainable chocolate factory in rural Ghana.

This will help add value to Ghana’s cocoa economy, create new jobs, opportunities, and better wages for local cocoa farming communities.

Vitae London Established in 2016 and endorsed by Richard Branson, Vitae is Latin for life and they’re the watch brand changing lives. With every watch Vitae London donates a solar lamp to a child in Sub-Saharan Africa meaning they don’t have to travel for hours or burn harmful fuels to study

This brand makes reusable water bottles - with a difference. Every bottle sold provides clean drinking water, for five years, to someone living in Africa. For every bottle sold, they donate directly to their NGO partners in Africa to install pumps in rural communities.

Kaleidoscope Beauty The jewellery brand with philanthropy at its heart. Their unique pieces are hand-made by Kenyan artisans determined to turn their lives around. From young mothers, to reformed criminals and street boys, Kaleidoscope gives them the right tools, training and an opportunity for a career, and a sustainable source of income.

Sunmo Snacks Having recently landed a contract with Selfridges, this start-up creates plantainbased hand-cooked snacks that are absolutely delicious, 100% natural, and suitable for all; whether you’re vegan, living gluten free, or just ravenous. Every pack of Sunmo you buy provides a meal for an orphaned child in

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Nigeria - the country that inspired their plantain obsession.

As your startup grows you have the opportunity to make an increasing social impact. Think about what inspires you. You can combine your passion for your business with making a difference in the world. In addition, your customers will be delighted that by buying your products or using your services they can make a genuine, useful contribution.

I hope the examples here will give you food for through as you decide on your business model and how your business can be used to positively impact the lives of others.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Will Adoasi is a social entrepreneur and founder of Vitae London, an ethical watch brand that offers fashionable, quality watches at affordable prices. Within the company’s DNA is the desire to advance social justice.

Vitae London works within several Sub-Saharan African provinces to help give children access to education. For example, with every watch sold from the new Elmington collection a child is gifted a Solar Lamp from local charity Pen to Paper Ghana. This means the children don’t have to travel for hours or burn harmful fuels in order to study in the evenings.

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How UK entrepreneurs are helping to save threatened coastlines around the world We are now facing the reality of climate change. To help combat changes such as the increase in extreme weather events, and also to tackle other environmental threats such as plastic pollution, governments around the world have made a string of commitments to reduce carbon output, increase recycling and to find alternatives to single-use plastics. These commitments, however, are rarely kept.

Despite committing to cut greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, the UK is still set to miss our carbon reduction targets in 2025 and 2030. Climate sceptics, like Trump and Bolsenaro, are actively undoing some of the gains made over the past decade, with the rollback of environmental protection policies and a ramping up of intensive agricultural processes.

They instead offer “hopes and prayers”, a useless commodity in a world on fire.

16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg has told adults that the situation is such that she wants us to panic.

Amongst the panic, anxiety and fear, there is cause for hope. Success stories are abundant if you know where to look: Campaign groups have effectively lobbied for legislation, already reducing single-use plastics, new technologies are making energy cleaner and companies including startups are using their resources to help protect our coastlines.

What are UK entrepreneurs and UK companies doing to save global coastlines and sea life?

Here are some examples to inspire you: Halting Coastal Erosion Rising sea levels and increasingly severe

weather events, such as Hurricane Dorian, threaten to submerge millions of kilometres of coastline around the world. There are island communities that may be lost forever within the next 30 years, and the UK will not fare well against these changing conditions.

Fortunately, there are quick, simple and cheap solutions. For example, Huesker’s SoilTain coastal protection tubes. These are long tubes, made from a semi-permeable fabric, that are positioned along the coast and filled with a sand-water slurry mix. The water drains back into the sea, leaving only the sand behind.

Acting like a wall of sandbags, a common flood preparation, these tubes provide immediate but short-term protection from erosion by waves. They can also be placed further from the shore where they act as a breakwater to incoming waves and storms. Here some marine flora and fauna can begin to grow on the tube structures, allowing them to achieve balance with the environment they are introduced to.

Another UK company working to protect global coastlines is CCell. They grow artificial reefs over a number of years, on which corals can proliferate. By passing a safe, low-voltage current through the seawater, minerals (mostly calcium carbonate) are drawn in and create a “natural concrete” around a steel structure, while helping coral to grow 2-3x times faster.

In nature, coral reefs protect vast swathes of coastline and provide a habitat for 25% of marine life. CCell’s approach uses renewable wave energy for power, with a focus on boosting the local economy around beachfront businesses through eco-tourism, coral restoration, and local manufacturing. All of this

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while providing near-nature coastal protection.

Getting Hotels Involved Beachfront businesses are acutely aware of the risk of coastal damage and pollution. Not only does pollution put people off visiting their beach but coastal erosion may literally cut the ground from under their feet.

Fortunately, some hotels and other businesses are taking action. The Watergate Bay Hotel in Cornwall, one area most reliant on coastal tourism, has made some dramatic changes to its operations. They now use 100% renewable energy and filter their pool water with UV to minimise chlorine use and also organise beach clean-ups to remove plastic and other pollution from the beach.

On a larger scale the Marriott and Intercontinental Hotel chains to reduce their use of single-use plastic bottles for their toiletry products. By switching to bulk dispensers, they have already prevented 170 tonnes of plastic from going to landfill and eventually ending up in our oceans.

Recycling Ocean Plastic As well as coastal erosion and sea levels rising, the other indisputable issue affecting marine life is plastic. From the more apparent giant garbage patches in the Pacific Ocean to the discovery of microplastics, this form of pollution is everywhere we look.

A number of UK companies are helping to remove plastic by making it financially beneficial.

For example, Finisterre uses plastic recovered from the ocean and elsewhere to make their swimwear, using proceeds to support the charity Surfers Against Sewage, and raising awareness of microplastics through their fashion range. Another UK company, GANT, use only recycled ocean plastic in their clothing.

Both provide a financial incentive to support ocean clean-up, help raise awareness, and allow customers to make ethical purchasing

decisions.

Supporting charities/pressure groups It is becoming increasingly easy, as a customer, to make environmentally conscious decisions.

The improved availability of ocean-friendly options is due in part to consumers voting with their wallets, funding products and initiatives they genuinely believe in. However, on the other side of the coin, existing and startup businesses are wondering what they can do to help.

There are many ways to support environmental protection and raise awareness. Ecotricity not only delivery renewable energy and gas to their customers, but they have also partnered with Sea Shepherd, the largest marine protection charity in the world. When a customer switches to Ecotricity, the company donates up to ÂŁ60 to Sea Shepherd to help protect marine life and clean up plastic from the ocean.

Entrepreneurs should start by considering the marine protection charities or pressure groups they could support. Ideally, ones that share their values and ethos, as well as ones that makes a demonstrable difference.

On a business-wide scale, there are other ways to make an impact. Looking into how a startup can reduce, reuse and recycle is something to build into your culture as your business develops. Is it possible to cut back on energy use and/or switch to a renewable supplier? Can the reuse of materials be encouraged, such as offering customers discounts when they return packaging? Perhaps investigate sourcing recycled ocean plastic for some products?

There are ways that every business from startup to international conglomerate can contribute to saving our global coastlines, reducing plastic pollution and protecting the environment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Magda Nawrocka-Weekes is from CCell. She holds a degree in Biochemistry from Edinburgh and is passionate about sustainability and the power of the internet to effect change.

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Technologies that will reduce the environmental impact of your business premises Environmental concerns are at an all-time high and entrepreneurs will want to ensure that their businesses do what they can to reduce their environmental impact.

Entrepreneurs can lobby through industry groups etc. for greater action at a national level, but what else can be done by a startup or growth business as they set up or expand their offices or other commercial premises?

To paraphrase Anne Marie Bonneau, “We don’t need a handful of people [reducing their environmental impact] perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” Here are some of the most promising solutions to help reduce your environmental impact of your business premises: Energy Use When people think of environmental impact, they often think of energy use. There has been a big push towards finding renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar, and I would encourage switching to a renewable energy supplier.Having a business policy of swapping out light bulbs for energy-efficient LED bulbs, for example is a useful thing to do. The cost of solar panels has fallen, and efficiency improved.

If your business does not have them yet you might want to look into your options.

passes through, generating free, renewable energy for your business. While the transparent nature of solar windows reduces the efficiency of solar windows, teams are working to improve the efficiency to 15%. This may not sound like a lot, but with billions of square meters of glass windows in the UK alone, even 15% could generate all the energy we need as a nation!

Smart Switches As well as generating more renewable energy, there are also new innovative ways to reduce our energy consumption in the first place.

One area where we are particularly wasteful is in lighting ‒ leaving lights on accidentally or when we are out of the office. Smart switches help combat unnecessary energy usage from lighting, switching them off when unneeded.

They use a combination of automation tools, such as motion sensing and programmable times, to automatically turn lights off when they’re not being used. Not only will this help save energy, but it will also cut down on your energy bills!

Solar Glass

Heat Loss While we tend to think of electricity use when we think of environmentalism, heat loss is another huge contributing factor. Heat is still energy and heat loss both wastes energy and warms the environment. Of course, using modern insulating materials and doubleglazed windows are essential in any business premise. However, there are also some new ways of recapturing heat energy, reducing environmental impact.

With solar glass, it will be possible to turn windows into solar panels. While still transparent, they trap the sun’s energy as it

Shower Heat Many businesses have shower facilities for people who, for example, cycle or run to work.

And there is another exciting technology raising the question: what if every window in your commercial building could generate energy?

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With smart meters, you’ll be very aware that electric showers take a large amount of energy to quickly heat the water. Fortunately, Zypho has been working on a clever device that recaptures the heat from your shower water.

Zypho devices can be retro-fitted into existing showers both in the home and commercial buildings. They exchange heat between the water disappearing down the drain and the water heating up to the heating unit, reducing energy use by up to 67%. That means for every three showers, two are free!

Water Efficiency The amount of fresh drinking water available is rapidly declining. As such, water efficiency should be considered just as important as energy and heat. If your startup happens to have high water usage you’ll want to look at your manufacturing processes to see where this can be reduced. To stick with the shower example, and to demonstrate what is possible, there are a number of companies developing solutions that reduce the amount of water used in a shower by up to 65%.

One is Nebia, creators of a new showerhead that uses up to 65% less water than a traditional shower. It does this by atomising the water for a more efficient shower without sacrificing on the quality of the shower. Another low-cost option is the Niagara low-flow showerhead that simply reduced the amount of water sprayed out by the shower while ensuring a consistent pressure.

If there is laundry to do…

For startups who want to include an ecofriendly ethos in their culture one fun way to do this is to do any business laundry in the office.

How? You could use the Laundry Pod. This has been developed to drastically cut the energy and water used to clean laundry. Functioning much like a standard washing machine, complete with wastewater disposal, the Laundry Pod is a manual washing device that doubles as an exercise machine. So, not only will you save the vast amounts of water used by a traditional washing machines that you would use otherwise, you’ll use zero electricity and you and your team can get some exercise as well!

Yes, the planet may be heating up at an unprecedented rate and action is needed by governments and international bodies.

However, as entrepreneurs we can still make a huge impact by being more careful with our energy, heat and water use and taking steps to reduce them. For example, your business could reduce your non-renewable energy usage to zero. By taking on board the types of technologies discussed here your startup or growth business can commit to a reduced environmental impact and keep your costs down at the same time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: André Fonseca is the CEO of Zypho, a company developing internationally-patented showerdrain heat recovery solutions for domestic and commercial showers.

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How to Launch a New Platform

By Emma Sayle, Founder and CEO Killing Kittens, Safedate and Sistr .

The very essence of our online lives – from social media to personal banking- has been built on successful tech platforms, yet so many platforms struggle to deliver on their investment, with an estimated 50% of all UK start-ups failing. As women still only represent a significant minority of these start-ups – not to mention only a third of all entrepreneurs in the UK – launching a new tech platform as a woman can be an even greater challenge.

Researching, planning and timing are the cornerstones of a successful launch. First, you need to push aside assumptions and perceptions about what you think your users want and find out exactly what the need is, who is going to use it and why users would want to engage with it. Take a step back and make sure you have allowed for enough time to research and understand your target audience. It is all too easy to trip up on preconceived ideas that have been badly tested, if at all. Consider that you will feasibly have more than one audience for any given function, and not all users will access the platform in the same way. Ensure that you have considered how your platform will appeal to different user groups.

One of the biggest failures people make when launching tech platforms is not giving enough time to this crucial research stage, as they are often caught up in the pressure and excitement to get the platform up and running. When we decided to build our Sistr networking platform for women to connect to other women in business, we already knew we had a loyal

customer base of clients who recognised that we were 100% committed to female empowerment. However, we still invested in an initial soft-launch to check our proposition with a smaller group of users. By choosing a niche area like this – in our case it was a group of loyal customers – you can retain a much stronger sense of control instead of trying to launch too broadly in an effort to capture every type of audience. This is where thinking smaller can really pay off in the first stages of going to launch; you have to be absolutely clear about who you want to attract to the site.

Businesses are only going to know what their audience really wants if they have invested time talking to them in the first place. Allow plenty of time to really engage in some serious networking to find out what it is that interests them and where that gap between wanting it and having it lies. We spent over six months talking to our audience but it was worth every minute of the investment because we had 700 members signed up within two weeks of the soft launch.

The importance of this open communication is just as vital after the launch as it is beforehand.

Customer feedback will be the DNA of your platform as you move forward, helping to keep it as user-friendly as possible and with relevant content and easy functionality. We have now surveyed our initial members to find out what they think of the Sistr site and the type of content and services they would like to see in the future.

It is this feedback loop that will ensure the continued relevance of the site to our users. The

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reciprocal nature of our networking platform meant we not only had to attract women to the site who wanted mentoring and support, we also had to ensure that women offering advice and mentoring ( all for free) saw the value in giving up their time to others. Getting this balance right between user and provider is another critical success factor for a platform’s longevity.

Not everyone competing in the tech industry is from a traditional tech background and women more than men have long been unrepresented in this area. My own background was very much off-line, having originally developed Killing Kittens as an events business, so launching into the highly competitive sex-tech industry was a huge learning curve for me. But for every woman who is out there trying to do it, there is a woman somewhere who has already stepped in those shoes and knows exactly what you are going through.

Much more still needs to be done to attract and encourage more women in enterprise whether it is setting up their own businesses or having the confidence to launch a platform. Things are slowly starting to move in the right direction, thanks in large part to the wealth of knowledge and experience that female networking groups can offer their peers, something which I am extremely passionate about as an integral part in helping women achieve greater representation in business.

This type of supportive infrastructure means greater access than ever before to experts who can help support women with all elements of their business proposition; from helping them develop and perfect their business pitch to putting them in touch with a variety of investors and different funding options. Evidence has shown that a supportive network and peer support have been proven to positively influence the success of new businesses; hopefully as we move forward with greater representation in the tech sector, many of those businesses will start to be female-led.

About Sistr On Sistr, women gain access to a network of qualified female experts covering a whole range of industries and skills, to help them grow. Sistrs can chat with other Sistrs via the platform on a variety of business and lifestyle topics, attend carefully curated events and choose to work together beyond the platform, building their tribe, creating their own advisory boards or building out a team of female talent to move their businesses and goals forward.

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The Importance of a Positive Company Culture

By Anne de Kerckhove, CEO, Freespee.

Recent research has confirmed what many business leaders already suspected to be true: company culture really does matter. The Culture Economy, a survey commissioned by breatheHR, reveals that a third of British employees have left jobs due to them not fitting the workplace culture, and that a company’s culture directly influences its productivity.

Meanwhile, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has pointed out that the effects of adverse working cultures go far beyond the obvious costs of frequent recruitment and sick pay. It has identified a pressing needto overhaul the traditional British workplace culture if the nation is to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Of course, it is all very well to talk about making a company’s culture more inclusive, balanced and positive, but quite another thing to quantify it and specify what changes are required. The research tells us that greater trust in leaders, transparency and support for employees at all levels are ‘must haves’ — but how can business leaders achieve this?

What does a positive workplace culture look like?

There are many versions of a positive workplace culture, because in each case the concept will be shaped by the nature of the work, environment and individuals involved. For example, while the option to dress casually or work flexibly from home is viable in many office-bound jobs, in retail it’s a little trickier (although not always impossible). Another example is social events;

bringing staff together for social activities may be difficult in an automotive plant, where many staff members work shifts, but much more achievable in a dealership or small business.

In general, a culture that fosters happiness, collaboration, flexibility, diversity and creativity is deemed healthy, and likely to promote the best interests of staff and enterprise alike.

A recent survey of 2,200 employeesby McKinsey & Company concluded that greater gender diversity in European workplaces could add as much as $2 trillion to the GDP by 2025,while another study by the same company found that not only did diversity of both gender and ethnicity correlate with profitability and value creation, but that these findings were also replicatedin countries around the world.

So, if diversity is a commercial advantage, what must employers do to attract a wide range of talent and persuade them to stay? A dynamic workplace culture is important in this respect, because it helps employers secure the best from the talent pool availablefor long-term employee retention, according to a study an article by Harvard Business Review. It also stands to reason that happy employees are likely to be more engaged with their work (and thus, it might reasonably be assumed, more productive) but they are also generally more engaged with their colleagues, which fosters collaboration and in turn drives up quality and productivity.

Proactivity is key Employers are aware that employees can easily lose trust in management, that the traditional

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means of shaping and enforcing workplace culture are no longer effective and that, after a tough few years, the overall employment market is becoming more buoyant and competitive. Businesses simply cannot afford to pay lip service to workplace culture anymore; they must change – which will not only benefit their employees, but in turn boost productivity and thus performance.

There is a great deal that companies of all sizes can do to enhance workplace culture and nurture a sense of engagement, inclusion and enthusiasm. Defining the firm’s cultural priorities, flexibility and values in a clear manner, and then cascading these down through the organisation, helps to ensure that they become widely acknowledged foundations of the business.

Surveying staff — not merely to assess their happiness, but also to ask them for feedback and suggestions —and localising/customising initiatives so that they are of practical use are all positive steps towards embedding a genuinely healthy workplace culture.

People expect the messages their employer sends them to be timely, accessible and tailored. They also, expect to see evidence of a response to the ideas or suggestions they contribute to feel recognised and valued.

For example, at Freespee we have recently relaunched our website and before going public we invited all employees to provide feedback.

Over 50% of the company’s employees sent their feedback within a week and they’ve all been reviewed and acted.

None of this is rocket science; it is based on the concept of a reciprocal relationship and mutual respect.

Lessons learned Defining a ‘good workplace culture’ is not easy and there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to building a great environment. There are clearly lessons to be learned from companies that are already getting it right – often SMEs. Many smaller businesses are working hard to instil

the right company culture from the top down – often a task lower down the priority list at bigger firms – and thriving from this approach.

In order to compete in a changing and evolving business landscape, UK companies must not only have well-trained and well-educated workers; it must also give all employees the support, confidence and opportunities they need to thrive and to drive them forward.

At the moment, research shows there is a chronic lack of quality engagement between management and workers, and that this is not only compromising quality and productivity at the moment but also, perhaps even more alarmingly, threatening to stifle the development of talent that is crucial for this country’s future.

British workplaces need more diversity, transparency and equality, according to the CMI. The organisation calls for employers and the government to improve productivity through people. It is very difficult to see how that can be achieved without a wholehearted and practical decision by businesses to create workplace cultures that not only foster these ideals, but positively enact them.

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4 Alternatives to Expensive Consulting Firms One of the biggest issues for startups and other new businesses is access to a range of expertise and talent. There is a ‘startup mentality’ hire people with a range of skills and get them to plug holes as and when they appear.

Depending on your hires, this approach can work well. Everyone pulls in the same direction and naturally flows into areas they are needed, with little regard for a strict job description.

But what happens when entrepreneurs face a serious problem? This is where many businesses get stuck and may even fail. This is because they have the breadth of skills needed to keep everything running on a day-to-day basis, but they don’t have the depth of skills needed to overcome major hurdles. And they can’t afford to hire a specialist full-time.

When faced with such hurdles, many entrepreneurs turn to professional services and consultants. This has led to a thriving consultancy market. Today, there are over 700,000 consulting firms around the world generating $250 billion in annual revenue by providing services across virtually all aspects of business, from strategy to finance to technology. In the UK, SMEs spend a total of £60 billion a year on professional services.

Unfortunately, much of the spend is wasted.

While the advantage that consulting firms seen the issue before, or the complexity of

for entrepreneurs is will be likely to have the level of experience advice given is often

disproportionate to the needs of an SME and the cost too high.

Entrepreneurs may only need the answers to a few questions, yet are forced to pay a minimum fee/contract length for advice that they may not have the expertise to implement. For example, SMEs in London paid management consultants an average of £12,600 for 10 days work, according to research. That is half the average UK annual salary.

Additionally, consultancy firms often dispatch their junior team members, using senior resources to manage and control their teams.

You may find yourself paying top-dollar fees and receiving junior expertise in return.

For these reasons, nearly half of SMEs avoid using external consultants because of overinflated costs, with 36% citing scepticism about their level of expertise as a barrier.

So, what can entrepreneurs do to ensure they get the right level of advice, for the right price, at the right time, avoid failure and keep building their business?

1. Can your existing team help?

One of the quickest, cheapest and most effective sources of advice may be your own team. Over the course of their careers, people will often have held a variety of roles in a number of variously-sized businesses in different markets. Just because you hired them

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as a marketing person doesn’t mean they won’t know how to fix an IT issue.

Start by bringing your entire team together for a brainstorming session. This way, staff with fragmented skills and experience can support one another in coming up with a solution that is both practical and effective.

PROS: Staff already know your business from the inside-out, so there’s no need to bring them up-to-speed. Besides, asking your staff costs nothing, so it’s always a good place to start.

CONS: Existing staff will be personally invested in projects and work completed to develop their department. As such, they may be too close to the business to recognise the problems. If you’ll pardon the cliché, they can’t see the wood for the trees!

2. Ask your personal network Everyone has a network whether you’ve deliberately nurtured it or not. People from school or university, friends and family, as well as business contacts. Any one of them may have a solution to your challenge.

Start by going through your LinkedIn connections and sending a few messages. The professional focus of LinkedIn makes it an ideal platform for reaching out about business challenges.

PROS: You know these people and their background and can view their skills and experience. People are much more willing to help someone they know than someone they don’t, making it potentially much cheaper than a consulting firm. They may also know someone within their own network that can help.

CONS: Relying on people you know to do you a favour gives you little leverage to make demands. They may not have a lot of time to help, making them slow to reply and little time to focus on the solution. As such, they are pretty unreliable for quick solutions to immediate problems, causing more uncertainty than they solve.

3. Ask an expert network If you’ve tried your personal networks to no avail, you could always try an expert network.

These are companies that connect businesses with relevant experts from around the world.

You send your challenge to the expert network company, they find a suitable expert in their books, and then connect you. Think of it as tapping into someone else’s LinkedIn and getting a guaranteed response.

PROS: As there is a strong financial incentive to help, expert networks are very reliable in terms of putting you in contact with someone.

You’ll receive a fairly rapid response and can quickly jump on a call to discuss the challenge.

Calls may total several hours, but it’s still a lot cheaper than hiring a consultant for two full weeks.

CONS: These calls don’t come cheap. Businesses can sometimes pay expert networks up to $1,300 per hour for advice and they have no idea how long it will take to find a solution.

There is also no way to personally vet the expert you are connected with you simply have to trust the network company to connect you to the right person making it a bit of a blind call.

Expert networks have also come under increased scrutiny, particularly in the US, after several cases of insider trading were discovered and prosecuted by the SEC in 2012.

In total, more than 36 individuals and firms were charged with a variety of financial and corporate crimes, causing a swath of regulation aimed at clamping down on unscrupulous practices.

4. Employ a consultant In reaction to the declining popularity of expert networks and in response to the need for quick, cost-effective consultancy, a number of disruptive services have now become available.

For example, Consulthon, allows businesses to post their challenge to a network of experienced consultants for free. The consultants then pitch a brief overview of their solution, which the business owner can then discuss or try out without committing to anything. If the business

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then wants a deep-dive into the solution, they can book a call with the consultant

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PROS: Reviewing responses before committing to a consultant means you can find someone who speaks your language. You can assess which of the consultants has the relevant level of experience and offers a solution that you understand, so there is no risk of overcomplicating the solution. You can even test the solutions in principle before the call, giving you live data to feed back to the consultant.

Additionally, since the network is for expert consultants from a variety of fields, you have a one-stop-shop for all your challenges or a multi-faceted challenge requiring more than one consultant.

Marieta Bencheva is co-founder of Consulthon, a UK Management Consulting Expert Network.

Businesses can raise a Business Challenge and the network’s experts will brainstorm solutions.

After selecting the answer they like the most, the business can book a paid one-hour advisory call and deep-dive session with that consultant.

All the consultants are vetted by Consulthon and the platform offers businesses access to a wide range of skills, in a variety of sectors and countries.

CONS: Calls can be expensive (e.g. £250/hr) but you do only pay for the amount of work you need, avoiding the cost associated with minimum contracts. Consultants may also have full-time jobs and therefore be unable to visit your premises or commence work immediately, restricting them to calls only.

With any consultancy option, whether in house, a member of your network or an external consultant, it’s still on you to assess the solution and accept the risk. If it doesn’t work then you’ve wasted time and money with no recourse.

It’s also on your team to implement the solution. A consultant may be able to help onsite but they’ll only be responsible for their area of expertise. As you’ll know, it takes a team to make any business successful. A consultant can only help navigate specific hurdles to help you achieve success.

As an entrepreneur you are ready to take on risks and deal with them. However, you will face challenges where you need good quality, timely advice. The alternatives presented could mean that you can get that advice without incurring a large debt.

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Tools to Help Entrepreneurs Recruit the Perfect Tech Candidate As an entrepreneur you are called on to undertake many different tasks. One of the most important is hiring the right people for your growing team. Having spent many years recruiting tech candidates, I’ve pulled together a number of helpful tools to give you the edge right from the start of the recruitment process.

These will help you to hire the right tech person for your startup or growth business.

Creating the Perfect Job Description and Advertisement

your grammar is spot on, Grammarly will ensure your writing is up to standard. https://www.grammarly.com/ Posting on Job Aggregators Job aggregation sites gather together jobs from across multiple job boards, careers sites and vacancies pages to provide candidates with a huge range of vacancies that they will find interesting and be suitable for.

Finding that perfect candidate starts with an accurate job description and a great advert.

They are the first points of contact you have with any candidate and if you want to get the best people excited, you have to have a great job description and an enticing ad.

Posting your vacancy onto a site, such as Indeed. co.uk will significantly improve your chances of your role being found by great candidates who are looking for their next challenge.

1. Hemingway App Designed to help you write clear and concise content. It will help you cut out needless words and highlight overly complex sentences that can be shortened or simplified.

The perfect candidate to fill your startup’s tech role may not be actively looking for a new role right now. With over 575 million profiles, LinkedIn offers you an almost infinite supply of people to pick from. Of these profiles 260 million are active at least once a month and 40% of those use LinkedIn at least weekly.

http://www.hemingwayapp.com/ 2. Visuwords A thesaurus that automatically offers you alternatives and will keep you from using the same words repeatedly in sentences or paragraphs. https://visuwords.com/ 3. Grammarly When you need to spellcheck and to ensure

Using LinkedIn

LinkedIn provides you with the opportunity both to advertise job vacancies and to proactively search for people with suitable skills and attributes. The advertising function will put your advert in front of the people their algorithms identify as suitable, with increased frequency if they are deemed to be actively searching (i.e. they have clicked on job adverts recently).

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The proactive search opportunity is going to be time-consuming for a busy entrepreneur.

Putting “tech” into the search bar and then filtering to the three tech-related industry sectors listed still lists over 1.99 million people who may be suitable. Luckily other filters, such as Country, Current Employer and by using Boolean search criteria, you can cut that number dramatically. If you pay for membership, the number of search filters increases to further reduce the list to manageable numbers.

, Breezy HR and Spark Hire allow you to book interview times, record the video (for playback later and to meet legislative demands) and even check references. All of which cuts costs, removes delays and makes everyone’s life just a little easier.

The its over to you to use your entrepreneurial, persuasive skills and approach the candidates you would like to apply…

Candidate Assessment Tools

Keeping Track With a list of candidates, how do you ensure you keep tabs on all the information you have about them, so you can make the right decision for your startup?

An applicant tracking systems, such as Bullhorn , will help. https://www.bullhorn.com/products/applicanttracking-system/ Think of applicant tracking systems as your recruitment CRM. Recruitment isn’t as simple as it may have been in the past. Legislation designed to protect both the candidates, and the company, has to be adhered to and you have to be able to justify decisions around this.

Simple things like interview times and notes from those conversations can all be recorded into an ATS. Applicant tracking systems will speed up the process and ensure you never miss a candidate or conversation with them. Some, including Bullhorn, integrate with LinkedIn to help with the activity we described above.

Making use of Video Interviewing Candidates are usually in another job, so it is difficult for them to come for face-to-face during working hours. Particularly for startups, you’ll want your candidate onboard as soon as possible. You don’t want delays.

Video interviewing tools mean you take away much of that delay. Products such as VidCruiter

Imagine these as Skype with benefits. https://breezy.hr/ https://www.sparkhire.com/ https://vidcruiter.com/

When recruiting to fill a technical vacancy, it’s vital that the candidates have the core set of skills you are looking for. However, more and more organisations are looking at the “softer” skills and traits to help them choose the perfect person. Personality, judgement aptitude and cultural fit are all important. Just having the right technical skills does not guarantee they will be the right person for you. That’s where tools such as Saberr , Berke and Athena Assessment will help.

You may be better off finding someone who is the right fit and then training them to fill any gaps in their technical knowledge – as long as you know, in advance, where those technical gaps are. https://www.saberr.com/base https://www.berkeassessment.com/features http://www.athenaq.com/ Candidate Testing Tools How can you assess their technical skills and identify any gaps? This is where candidate testing tools come in.

There are many variations available. Some are straightforward skills testers: do the candidates have the exact skills you need. Others take a slightly different approach, looking at the candidates’ abilities to think logically and laterally. Scenario testing, so to speak.

Having an accurate assessment of the skills your candidates really possess, as opposed to what they claim to be able to do, is key to making the right choice. Of course, there are

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also people who struggle to sell themselves (particularly tech staff) but have a really strong set of skills. Knowing this will stop them being disqualified from your application process.

Check out tools like TechRank if you want to know what tech skills your candidate has – this will also help you see through a poor interview performance to the skill-set the candidate has.

Recruiting the right people is hugely important for startups and growth businesses. Luckily there are plenty of tools available to entrepreneurs that will help you make sure that you hire the right person or people.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gurvinder Singh is the co-founder of TechRank.

TechRank sources, expertly tests and objectively ranks tech talent helping companies hire the best, and most capable person for the job. By testing candidates for the level of skill the position requires, businesses can make an objective decision about the person they hire to fill a vacant tech role.

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How Entrepreneurs Can Defeat The Enemies of Efficiency Efficiency is vital for all businesses whether they are startups or established companies, If left to continue unchecked inefficient processes lead to wasted time, effort and money which ultimately impacts profitability and growth potential. Inefficient processes affect morale, frustrating employees with pointless tasks or steps.

Ultimately, they can prevent a startup from moving forward and run an established business into the ground. Clients don’t feel they are getting good value, the business struggles to make a profit, and frustrated employees move elsewhere.

To combat inefficiency, entrepreneurs need to examine each of their processes. This will help you to discover whether there are any unnecessary steps, whether anything is being missed in the process, and where things need to be made more rigid or more flexible to accommodate a more efficient process.

avoid getting into bad habits.

The first enemy: Rigidity In our fast-moving, tech-driven, globalised world, entrepreneurs and their businesses need to be flexible and adaptable. One reason there are so many ‘disruptive’ businesses is that older, traditional sectors were slow and rigid when confronted with new technology.

Rather than adapting to meet new customer expectations, they defiantly stuck with what they knew and were quickly usurped.

The same goes for employees. Those who adapt to the needs of the business help make processes quicker and smoother while those who rigidly stick to what they know are likely to cause bottlenecks.

People within a rigid process may end up waiting for everyone else to make their contributions before making their own, for example. What’s more, they may not get on with anything else until they receive those contributions.

Entrepreneurs usually work through this process with the help of an experienced consultant. While more costly than completing this work in-house, a consultant will have the skills and experience to spot inefficiencies, the knowledge about what works to solve the problem, as well as both the methodology and objectivity to complete the process quickly and...efficiently.

If these employees are allowed more flexibility, however, then they know they can get on with other things while they wait for information.

You may discover technology that allows different teams to work on a document at the same time or a process that removes the need for multiple checks. Changing this process would lead to greater efficiency, faster output, and happier clients and staff.

If you are keen to get going, however, you can start by identifying the three enemies of efficiency: rigidity, variability and waste. This will help startups get their processes well setup early on and ensure that growth businesses

It should be noted, however, that flexibility doesn’t mean unstructured or seat of your pants. Employees need to feel confident and clear on how to manage their time/workload rather than being left to their own devices and

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simply reacting to things as they come in.

The second enemy: Variability Combatting overly rigid processes is the first step in managing resources for your startup or growth business. Doing this will allow staff to better utilise their time. Expecting 100% utilisation, however, is unrealistic and impractical. ‘Stuff’ happens and your teams need to deal with it quickly or risk it turning into a bottleneck.

Even in factories, where there is very little variability, manufacturing managers may only plan their machines to operate at around 8085% load. The remaining 75 minutes of the day are left unallocated to allow time to deal with the unexpected.

When it comes to the modern office, teams can be pushed to work at near 100% load.

This means there is no flexibility to deal with unexpected variability. By viewing workload across entire teams, however, you can introduce flexibility and improve your capacity planning.

Say, for example, that your design team currently needs to make any and all changes to graphics within a document. This then takes them away from whatever task they were doing and could cause a bottleneck or backlog.

Training others within the business on how to make minor changes to graphics will alleviate this bottleneck and allow for greater variability.

The third enemy: Wastes Waste can be divided into eight branches all of which entrepreneurs needs to consider: transport, inventory, motion, waiting, overproducing, over-processing, defects, and skills.

You’ll notice that these wastes spell out TIM WOODS ‒ a handy acronym for remembering them. Let’s look at each in turn...

Transport ‒ This can apply to the movement of anything from goods, to people, to documents.

Even a small amount of transport waste can build up over time. Looking for ways to

decrease movement, shorten the distance or reduce the item size can all help to minimise transport waste.

Inventory ‒ Anything you buy or produce in bulk can be suddenly made redundant. For example, you may print 50 new customer forms in case you need them, but then the forms change.

Those 50 forms are then a waste. Try to be as lean as possible with what you buy or produce, getting only as many as you realistically need.

That way you can minimise inventory waste.

Motion ‒ People need to move around to do their jobs, whether within an office, between floors or meeting people in other venues.

This physical movement of people also takes time, money and effort which can quickly lead to waste. Try to rationalise the placement of people to help minimise motion.

Waiting ‒ This is connected to the point about rigidity above. If people are waiting to proceed on a particular task until someone else has made their contribution, you create waste.

When different teams have different priorities, you can end up with some very long delays.

Introduce more flexibility into your processes to minimise the time wasted waiting around.

Overproducing ‒ If you produce more than you need, stock turns into inventory (see above) and is at risk of redundancy. Try and be as accurate as possible when assessing the needs of your customers and anticipating future orders.

Improving this may require new technology or processes but will help to avoid overproducing and paying to hold stock.

Overprocessing ‒ You want the document you produced to be incredible, but does it really require checking three or four times before it goes to the client? Is it really about improving work or about including people in the process?

By providing clear briefs you will help to minimise the checking needed, the number of mistakes made and the number of people included in the process.

Defects ‒ Mistakes devalue your output, take time to correct, and are demoralising for staff.

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Some mistakes will always happen, but unclear briefs or communication, a lack of information, and poorly defined processes will dramatically increase defects. People need to know clearly what’s needed, what the intended outcome is, what’s important, and how to go about it.

Otherwise, they will experiment with novel processes to achieve an unclear objective, introducing many mistakes and inefficiencies along the way.

Skills ‒ People need the relevant skills for the task at hand. Sounds obvious, I know, but managers so often end up misusing the skills within a team. For example, I’ve seen experienced copywriters being used for timeconsuming admin tasks and I’ve seen interns being thrown onto sales calls. Misuse of skills is not only an inefficient use of personnel, but it also leads to mistakes.

By working through each of these potential areas for inefficiency, entrepreneurs will gain a good overview of the processes used by their business and a fair idea on how to improve them. However, thinking back to point number one, rigidity, it’s important to be flexible in your approach. In a startup, for example, it may not be possible to establish clear processes as people are managing multiple roles.

As the business expands, eliminating inefficiencies becomes increasingly important to growth. Upskilling employees can be crucial to keeping them motivated in the long-term, for example, and it will help manage workload should someone go off ill.

Keep these points in mind as you grow and use them as red flags to be resolved when the business has the capacity. At that point, you can use a consultant to analyse your inefficiencies and suggest improvements in order to rapidly grow your SME. For example, you can post a question on Consulthon and ask for responses from a range of experts, and then book an hour call with the one you feel best suits your business. This is a good way to keep your consultancy costs down, and ‘try before you buy’

For entrepreneurs, keeping inefficiencies to a minimum is essential for successful business growth and increasing profits. It’s a good idea, especially for startups where budgets are tight, to do as much as you can in-house initially.

As your business expands you can consider bringing in outside experts to help you develop further and defeat the three enemies.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Marieta Bencheva is co-founder of Consulthon, a UK Management Consulting Expert Network.

Businesses can raise a Business Challenge and the network’s experts will brainstorm solutions.

After selecting the answer they like the most, the business can book a paid one-hour advisory call and deep-dive session with that consultant.

All the consultants are vetted by Consulthon and the platform offers businesses access to a wide range of skills, in a variety of sectors and countries.

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Four things Entrepreneurs need to know about leadership – before becoming a leader When you start a business are likely to be very involved with your product or service, gaining investment and setting up your business structure. But how much thought are you giving to your leadership role and how you will handle becoming a leader?

Leading a new business gives you the opportunity to shape and influence it and, perhaps more nobly, to turn a vision and a dream into reality. Nevertheless, leadership is hard, and people often harbour unrealistic expectations about what is involved.

Let me share four things that entrepreneurs should consider before becoming immersed in leading a new organisation: 1) Leadership will stretch and test you Nobody comes to leadership completely unprepared. We all bring some skills and knowledge to the table – most of which will be useful in some shape or form. For example, if you’re good with numbers, this will help you make certain decision; if you’re good with people, it will help bond with your peers and your team; if you’re good at communication, your ideas will gain traction faster than would otherwise be the case.

However, you may not have all the skills that your role in your startup requires. In some situations you’ll have the opportunity to leverage your strengths into super strengths which, in turn, will mitigate your weaknesses.

Despite this, it’s likely that at some point you’ll need to step-up and embrace new tasks and

learn new skills.

It’s also likely that, as part of your entrepreneurial and leadership journey, you’ll learn a few home truths. For me, the biggest discovery was that I perhaps wasn’t as organised or structured as I thought I was. Structure and organisation matter a lot in leadership, especially when it comes to execution and I’ll touch upon this later in this article.

2) Your attitude will matter more than your aptitude As an entrepreneur you might be great at communicating with others, generating new ideas, or developing detailed strategies by analysing information – but you’ll judged more on your attitude towards your role than on your skills.

Particularly in a startup you’ll be juggling your leadership roles with other areas of our life and time is often at a premium. Attitude is about the way you tackle the challenges and constraints; it’s about how you approach your role and take on its responsibilities.

For example, if you’re somebody that likes to take things easy and finds it hard to be very responsive when communicating, you’ll rapidly need to become more proactive in everything you do. The impact of not responding to a message, missing a deadline or delaying making a decision can have a huge impact on whether you startup succeeds or not. But worse than that, it can impact on people’s belief

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and trust in you as a leader. If your behaviour demonstrates a poor attitude towards your role, then disillusion and disengagement will follow. It’s surprising how quickly people notice that something hasn’t been done, when it should have been, or that a request went unanswered.

Jumping both feet forward into your startup will definitely help you, regardless of your abilities. Nowadays, mountains of information on any subject are readily available, use these resources to plug any knowledge gap and find out more about your role and your many tasks. Waiting a few months and saying “I am just getting started” will not make a great impression and may impact the quality of your leadership. If you chose to lead, make some commitments to yourself and accept the weight of expectations placed upon you.

3)

Leadership is all about detail

The visible parts of leadership in a startup as well as other businesses are the grand visions, the speeches, meetings with colleagues, inspiring and motivating your team, seeing your vision realised – but behind this lies hundreds, if not thousands, of hours work, often spend discussing tiny details that may not seem important to a casual observer.

In my corporate strategy days, I often spent a lot of time looking for first-hand sources of information and double checking it afterwards.

What’s more a colleague would check my own work once I was done and edits and reworks almost always followed. The process took time and wasn’t always rewarding. However, it was worth it as the result was fantastic documents that our senior leadership team used to drive the business forward.

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Number-crunching and information gathering is a big part of strategic leadership. Small details, like how something is worded, can be of great importance, for example, in your policies and protocols . But remember, there is a line between too much detail and not focusing on detail at all.

4) Leading can be costly - physically and emotionally One of the things I enjoy the most as a leader, is travelling to meet other people across the UK. These visits are a unique opportunity to soak up knowledge while inspiring others and passing on key messages. But the travelling, being away from home, constantly jumping from train to hotel to train again – and burning the midnight oil to prepare for the follow day’s presentation - can be exhausting.

For entrepreneurs it is important to remember that while the physical cost of leadership can be mitigated with strong personal discipline and good time management, the emotional costs are more difficult to predict. Unintended conflicts, being let down, having to take on extra work to support a business partner – these can all take their toll. Decision-making fatigue is another key problem – sometimes even having to decide what to have for dinner can seem like a decision too far! So, make a commitment to look after yourself – if you allow yourself to get burnt out, you won’t be much use as a leader in your startup.

Human relations can be the hardest part of leadership; from disappointing friends to giving difficult feedback. Strong people skills and high emotional intelligence will help, but even this can only do so much. So be prepared for the strains that leadership will inevitably bring.

In conclusion It very likely that you’ll find that your leadership journey is an eventful one. However, if you take some time to understand leadership in the context of your startup or growth business and act accordingly, it will help you power ahead with your entrepreneurial goals and dreams.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Florian Bay is District 91 Director of Toastmasters International, a not-for-profit organisation that has provided communication and leadership skills since 1924 through a worldwide network of clubs. There are more than 400 clubs and 10,000 members in the UK and Ireland. Members follow a structured educational programme to gain skills and confidence in public and impromptu speaking, chairing meetings and time management

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What entrepreneurs can do this year to reduce their company and personal tax bills If you own a startup or growth business you’ll want to manage all your expenses including the amount you will pay in tax for the current year. Let’s look at 10 ways that entrepreneurs can reduce their bills for their company tax and personal tax this year.

1. Have a Tax Plan Unless you plan to save tax it’s unlikely to happen and you’re likely to pay more tax than necessary. Avoid retrospective tax planning and aggressive tax schemes - go through this article to see if there are areas you or your accountant have neglected. Despite what you may have heard, there are still plenty of legitimate ways to save tax and sleep well at night. Also, avoid leaving all your taxes till the last minute.

2. Save £3,000 off your payroll tax If you employ staff, do not forget to claim the £3,000 cash off your payroll tax bill. This is not an automatic allowance and must be claimed.

There have been cases where small businesses have missed claiming this allowance for a period of 4 years. That’s a lot of money to waste.

3. Claim this generous corporate tax relief Normally when you incur a legitimate business expenses wholly and exclusively for the purpose of your trade, you get to claim 100% of these expenses against your business income to reduce your tax bill. But what if the tax rules allow you to claim a lot more than 100%? Say you get to claim £230 even though you’ve only physically spent £100?

Well that’s exactly what the Research and Development (R&D) tax relief allows you to do. So if you have a company in the creative, engineering, software or any innovative industry where you’re solving difficult problems for customers and raising the bar in your industry, please speak to your accountant or a specialist tax adviser about R&D tax relief before 31 March.

Many companies miss out of this valuable relief due to lack of awareness as well as the misconception that R&D is only available to big Laboratories and pharmaceutical industries.

4. Get your business structure right With a startup up you have choices for your business setup. Structuring your business for tax optimisation goes well beyond choosing between a limited company or a sole trader.

You need to get this basic area right; have you thought of an LLP (limited liability partnership) or a group structure? There are many tax benefits with these two structures, and they are not just for professional firms or big corporates. Speak to a tax adviser or your accountant about these.

5. Use £78,000 tax allowances first At the heart of every sensible tax planning is the use and leverage of the tax-free allowances HMRC give us. Make the most of these allowances first as they get wasted if not used.

And don’t forget about the allowances of your spouse and children. Did you know that if you add up the income tax allowance, capital gains

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tax allowance, savings allowance and dividends allowance, you get a whopping £26,000 plus allowances in the year? That’s just for starters.

And if you have a spouse or a child who are not using their allowances, then that’s a potential tax-free income of £78,000 (26,000 x 3).

6. Intelligently claim expenses holidays and school fees

including

If your startup or growth business is a limited company, did you know that you can claim things like school fees, golf lessons and holidays though your company and save money?

Yes you can and HMRC allows you to do this through the benefit in kind system.

7. Engage specialist tax advisers Most entrepreneurs naturally turn to their accountants for all things tax. Accountancy and tax are two different professions, although there are many similarities.

However savvy entrepreneurs normally have both an accountant and a tax adviser. Because they know that accountants are like your GP, who is good and knows all the general rules, but tax advisers are like your surgeons, who are specialists in their field and know the exceptions to the rules. So whilst an accountant will rightly tell you that entertainment is not tax deductible, a tax adviser will usually lift the rocks and find you some exceptions to the general rule that allows you to claim the entertainment.

8. Embrace tax efficient pensions Do think long term and make use of tax efficient retirement planning. So instead of merely contributing to a pension scheme (which you get tax relief for, by the way) and leaving the funds in there, why not consider vehicles like SSAS or SIPPS to help you leverage the funds and get a second bite of the tax cherry. These pension schemes, subject to certain rules, are then used to buy, say, a commercial property and the rental income gets additional tax benefits.

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9. Reward staff tax efficiently When it comes to rewarding staff, consider approved share schemes and staff suggestion awards to encourage your staff to get involved and to reward them tax efficiently.

There are two kinds of staff awards: • encouragement awards - for good suggestions, or to reward your employees for special effort • financial benefit awards - for suggestions that will save or make your business money Encouragement awards are tax free up to £25.

But financial benefit awards are exempt up to £5,000. That’s right £5,000.

But before you go ahead and pay your staff tax free income, please note that as with all tax reliefs and tax exemptions, there are conditions to meet. Speak to your tax adviser first.

The other tax efficient reward schemes are the various share option schemes including EMI (Enterprise Management Incentive). Why is this tax efficient? Because when staff sell their shares, they pay 10% tax instead of 20, 30 or 40% if they meet the strict conditions. But again, please beware that these rules come with strings attached and always seek advice.

10. Using a Property Company If you’re a landlord with a portfolio of properties in your name, you’re likely to be paying more tax via the self-assessment system because of the recent changes in property tax and, notably, the mortgage interest restriction. Companies are not affected by the mortgage interest restriction and they do pay lower rates of tax.

However please do seek specialist tax advice because there are some tax traps to beware of before of proceed.

Conclusion These 10 points could help you and your startup or growth business save tax this year. Please note that as with all tax matters you should always speak to a tax adviser to discuss these and other ways you may be able to reduce your

tax bills. Your cash balance could look healthier as a result.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jonathan Amponsah CTA FCCA is an award winning chartered tax adviser and accountant who advises business owners on entrepreneurial tax reliefs. Jonathan is the founder and CEO of The Tax Guys.

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Steps for Entrepreneurs to Establish an Effective Wellbeing Plan I recently read an interesting piece from Suki Thompson in the Sunday Times. She wrote: “Successful businesses are fundamentally shifting from a time when process, tech and growth/EBIT at any cost were king, to, a culture with purpose, resilience and wellbeing at its heart, where people have become the drivers of sustainable growth and commercial outcomes.” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ why-wellbeing-needs-balance-sheet-sukithompson/ How can entrepreneurs put wellbeing at the heart of their startups or growth businesses, and drive that policy forward? One important way is to establish a clear employee wellbeing policy. A wellbeing policy can help to improve a company’s culture, environment and long-term productivity by improving the wellbeing of the staff.

Let’s look at the steps to follow to achieve this.

1) Find your wellbeing team a) Wellbeing working group: Encourage volunteers to join a working group to design, publicise and monitor wellbeing activities. b) Wellbeing champions: Encourage employees with enthusiasm, or a particular skill or sporting talent, to volunteer to organise and deliver parts of the wellbeing programme and sell the ideas to other staff. Drawing champions from different parts of the organisation is likely to maximise participation.

c) Wellbeing coordinator: Appoint a wellbeing coordinator from the group of wellbeing champions. The wellbeing coordinator is often the individual who has the initial idea and drive for a particular programme. He or she would be responsible for driving the wellbeing strategy and would chair the wellbeing working group.

2) Your brand and vision As an entrepreneur you’ll have worked hard on your brand and vision and your wellbeing policy should fit in with them. Set out what you, as a company, are prepared to offer your employees that shows you are looking after their wellbeing.

It might be healthy office snacks, a lunchtime massage, onsite yoga class, corporate gym membership, collaboration spaces where individuals can share ideas and discuss faceto-face encouraging connection, a mindfulness training day, an inspirational quote on the intranet each day, arranging a group talk from a wellbeing or mental health professional for the senior team, or founders to act as agents for change.

3) Take a collaborative approach Wellbeing is unlikely to improve if employees feel that wellbeing activities are condescending, or if they are suspicious about the entrepreneur’s motives for launching wellbeing activities. So, ensure you take a collaborative approach when developing the wellbeing programme.

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Get people involved from the start in the development of policies. This could be as members of a policy-development working group, or through email questionnaires, or brainstorming sessions.

is achievable.

Every Wellbeing Policy should include:

4) Consider your demographic

a) A short introduction about why caring for wellbeing in the workplace is important and why the business is championing this

When designing a policy think about the people in your startup or growth business – there is no ‘one size fits all’ policy that will work everywhere.

b) Clear advice on the three key elements to a healthy sustained lifestyle are Sleep, Diet and Exercise – so ensure these are covered in the policy document

For example, some jobs require a lot of manual labour and heavy lifting and virtually no office work, whereas others are almost entirely desk based. Some businesses have a much younger workforce while others tend to attract older employees. So look at your staff demographic and design a policy that meets their needs and addresses their challenges.

Describe clearly what the company offers to help care for employee wellbeing. For example, do you have free gym membership, or a person who comes in once a week to give chair massages, or a quiet space for relaxation?

Are you committing to offering a number of Away Days per year to help with employee wellbeing? Effective Away Days are about connecting people face-to-face, encouraging communication on a shared interest, out of the office, in a new environment.

5) What to include There is a distinct difference in a Wellbeing Policy to an Occupational Health Policy.

A Wellbeing Policy aims to set out calls to actions for initiatives, activities and events that have a wellbeing focus to engage individuals (only 15% of the world workforce is engaged) enhance connections and communication (73% of individuals in an open plan office fail to speak to one another), improve our mental health (£Billions are being lost each year through absenteeism and presenteeism) Gather all the ideas and suggestions from your wellbeing team and use them to develop the wellbeing policy document. The aim is a clear, concise document, so you’ll need to filter through the suggestions and, as a group, work out what stays in and what is left out.

At this stage you may need external help – someone who understands workplace wellbeing and can help navigate the way through all the ideas and ensure that a coherent policy is created that is balanced, caters to all the people in the organisation, and

When developing a Wellbeing Policy that includes Away Days, the fun starts in the office; everyone gets together and suggest events that appeal to them. How your business selects, creates excitement and builds up to the Away Day can, in itself, be used as a motivator, creating suspense, anticipation and something to look forward to. c) Show how you are going to create a fun, creative, collaborative and social atmosphere at work. We already know that 73% of people in an open planned office fail to speak to one another, this is such a toxic environment having a negative effect on morale, wellbeing and productivity.

It is really important to create a fun environment and it can be as simple as just talking to one another to begin with.

Conversation starters include: internal competitions, trophy for the week, a positive quote for the day, treats on a Friday, a coffee / tea chat, healthy snacks in the office, layout

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of desks that encourage connections i.e. no dividers, arranging your next away day is!

6) Sanity check It’s always good to get an independent set of eyes to look over the document and offer advice on any changes or missing elements and to ensure you are within the law.

7) Keep communicating!

Distribute the wellbeing policy to ALL staff.

But don’t stop there. The organisation should use the full range of in-house communication media to keep wellbeing messages alive, including employee newsletters, payslips, its intranet and video screens in common areas.

Personalised communication can encourage employees to participate in creating the plan and then getting involved in the wellbeing activities that are offered.

8) Hold an annual review Once a year gather your wellbeing team together and take a look at the policy. Did it work over the last 12 months? Who took advantage of the opportunities on offer? Did it cater to all staff needs? Were some people left out? What could be improved? How could you expand it over the next 12 months?

Although wellbeing is very difficult to measure and some benefits are intangible, an effectively delivered wellbeing policy can improve many areas of the business, so keep a log of the improvements; some will be measurable, some anecdotal. But success is a motivator for everyone – so find the successes and celebrate them.

We know that looking after the wellbeing of your team will help to engage and motivate them, which in turn will increase productivity.

In addition, it will help them feel appreciated – and when a person is appreciated, they always do more than is expected of them.

9) Reporting on wellbeing

Include information about your Wellbeing Policy in your public-reporting, e.g. your annual reports and accounts and also in your promotional documents. This demonstrates to employees, potential employees, investors and other stakeholders that you are observing good practice and that this is having a positive effect on the organisation.

Customers are also looking for companies with genuine corporate social responsibility. A policy that shows you put wellbeing at the heart of the business can help attract customers too.

10) Employment contracts The Wellbeing policy can be an addition to the employment contract. If it is good enough, it can be used to attract and retain the best talent in your business - saving on expensive recruitment costs. More and more candidates are looking at the working environment, company culture, and actions around employee initiatives. It would be prudent not to ignore the shift in what attracts candidates today.

By putting wellbeing at the heart of their businesses right from the start entrepreneurs can reap the benefits. It will help attract the key people you need to start your business and keep them with you, healthy and happy as you grow.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Craig Bulow is the founder of Corporate Away Days, a corporate wellbeing events company delivering engaging, inspiring and exciting events focussed on Wellbeing and Reward activities. Corporate Away Days also creates, designs and builds corporate wellbeing policies and provides leading experts for interactive workshops, seminars and talks on improving mental health and overall wellbeing.

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How to give excellent presentations and make the most of your slides Whether you are pitching to investors or giving presentations to potential customers the ability to use slides well is an asset for any entrepreneur. Slides can be a great way to make a presentation come alive – if they are used properly. If you are the founder of a startup it is particularly important to hone your speaking skills and design your slides to present you and your new brand in the best light.

But, as many of us will have experienced, used badly slides can irritate or bore an audience.

Let me share some key steps for getting comfortable with presenting and creating slides with impact.

Getting comfortable with Slides 1. Keep rehearsing You do rehearse your business presentations, don’t you? Of course you do! And it’s even more important to rehearse when using slides. Put the presentation on your laptop and rehearse the presentation moving through the slides so that it becomes second nature. When presenting with slides you’ve got one more layer of complexity to cope with, which is why I stress how important it is to rehearse fully before you stand up in front of your audience.

Make sure you have a remote clicker (more technically known as a wireless presentation remote) and rehearse with it. They’re simple to use and allow you to control your presentation with the click of a button.

And what about the projector you’ll be using?

If there is an AV team at the event – great; they will probably be able to sort it out for you.

However, it may be your responsibility to set up and operate the projector, so get to know it before you start your presentation.

2. Don’t make slides too complex With a startup you’ll have a lot of pressure so don’t add more by making the slides too complex. If you’re inexperienced at presenting with slides, then keep it simple. Stick to what works and what will enhance your message without making you break out into a sweat.

3. Arrive very early I’ve witnessed the situation, many times, where a speaker turns up with the presentation on a memory stick just 15 minutes before the meeting starts and then expects someone else to step up to the plate to get their presentation set up on a PC and working on the projector.

Don’t inflict that kind of situation on yourself. If you need someone’s help to get everything set up then try to arrange for them and you to get to the venue an hour before the meeting starts so that everything can be set up and you even have time to do a quick final rehearsal before everyone else turns up.

4. Check the slides on the device you’ll be using If you can, use your own PC. You’ll be familiar with it and you’ll know that your presentation runs on it with no problem (because you’ve fully rehearsed, haven’t you?)

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But if you can’t, then make sure that the presentation works as it should on the PC you are using. Again, getting there early is essential.

Also make sure that you embed the fonts in your presentation, particularly where your font is part of your branding. This will ensure that the fonts will display correctly on the other device.

5. Take your own equipment At the bare minimum you’ll need to have your laptop and remote clicker. But what else can you take that will ensure that you feel more comfortable at the meeting?

I would suggest taking along the connection cables such as an HDMI cable and a VGA cable as well as any connection adaptors that may be required.

When I’m presenting, I often take my own projector, stand and screen but that may be going a bit too far! It depends on where you are presenting.

6. Don’t rely on the internet You may well have your own videos embedded in your presentation but If you’ve added YouTube videos, then you’ll need to be absolutely sure that you’ve got a robust internet connection at the venue. Again, it’s always best to test this before the meeting and, if you can’t get it to work, drop it from the slide deck.

7. And during the talk I’ve seen many entrepreneurs use their PowerPoint presentation as a prompt, which is why they often fill their slides with text. Avoid this at all costs! Instead, put your PowerPoint presentation into Presenter mode. This means you’ll be able to see the next slide that’s going to appear on the screen and any notes that you might have attached to the current slide.

And if you’ve set your laptop up like this and placed it where you can see it (but not in the way of your interaction with the audience) then you don’t have to look around at the screen and you can keep your attention focussed on your audience.

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Making your slides effective 1. Too much stuff Despite the temptation to share everything about your startup, don’t fill your slides with text or read from the slides. One of my mantras is – aim towards zero bullet points.

2. Be congruent Make sure your slides are congruent with you, your startup, and what you are saying; they should complement - not clash. This goes hand in hand with not reading from the slide. The audience will suffer cognitive exhaustion as they try to read what you’ve written and listen to you at the same time.

3. Try some RICE A useful acronym for all entrepreneurs to remember for their presentation slide is RICE: Reinforce Illustrate Clarify Explain Use your slides to do one or more of these things; to reinforce, illustrate, clarify or explain a point you’re making in your presentation.

And if you get to a point in the talk where a slide isn’t needed, just go blank – the screen that is, not you!

4. Your slides are not your handouts And if you only remember one thing, remember this… If your slides work as handouts, then they don’t work as slides.

Your slides are ephemeral – they are just there to serve the audience for the time you are speaking. If you’ve ever been tempted to utter the phrase “I’ve made all my slides available as a handout” then there’s something wrong with your slides. If you send your PowerPoint to someone after the meeting and they can understand your talk from the slides, then they will not have served you as slides while you were talking.

Keep your handouts separate from your slides – they each have a different job to do.

Conclusion Every startup founder and entrepreneur needs to be comfortable speaking and have excellent slides to represent them and their business.

PowerPoint provides a blank canvas so you can use your creativity to make slides that will add impact to your message as you speak.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR David Henson is a member of Toastmasters International, a not-for-profit organisation that has provided communication and leadership skills since 1924 through a worldwide network of clubs. There are more than 400 clubs and 10,000 members in the UK and Ireland.

Members follow a structured educational programme to gain skills and confidence in public and impromptu speaking, chairing meetings and time management. To find your nearest club, visit www.toastmasters.org

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8 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Engage Their Staff Employee engagement is more than just a buzzword. In today’s economy, it’s an economic necessity. Data from Gallup shows that companies with engaged employees outperform others by 202%. An important consideration for all entrepreneurs!

training keeps them engaged in their chosen career path and therefore more committed to your company. Training and development also encourages’ communication and connection between colleagues who will share knowledge and experience.

To put it another way employee engagement and workplace productivity are inextricably linked. It is repeatedly shown that employees who are absorbed in and enthusiastic about their work perform better and create more value for their organisation. (Source: Gallup)

2. Encourage social connections 88% of employees rate connection with their colleagues important to their job satisfaction.

However, 73% of employees working in an open planned office fail to talk to one another.

(Source: Peoplemanagement.co.uk)

So, how do you engage your employees in your startup or growth business? Here are eight tried-and-tested ways:

One way to tackle this issue would be to remove individuals from the office and put them in a neutral, social environment. This can be done with an engaging and fun away day, perhaps one that the team has collectively chosen for itself.

1. Include wellbeing training and learning Businesses with a strong learning culture enjoy employee engagement and retention rates – between 30% - 50% higher than businesses that don’t. Offering career and development training that includes wellbeing topics would keep 86% of millennials from leaving their jobs.

(Source: Glintinc) Wellbeing training should cover evolutionary practices, the three main ones being: Sleep, Diet and Exercise. In addition, at work training on how to look out for signs of stress and burnout in our colleagues is helpful. (A recent 2019 ‘Simply Health Survey’ monitored by CIPD found that those organisations who had wellbeing activities improved morale and engagement by 44% and lowered sickness by 31%.)

Investing in your employees with ongoing job

Team bonding days have their place – but they are all about work! You are more likely to engage individuals with fun experiences and activities that they would choose for themselves. Imagine offering them a day out they would really love? The sort of thing that they’d happily pay for and organise at the weekends or on a day off in their own time?

Clearly not everyone will have the same interest for every event / activity that is chosen. Perfect!

This gives entrepreneurs an opportunity to engage individuals from across the business who share the same interests, creating a common ground that’s ripe for breaking the ice.

Engaging your staff socially out of the office on inspiring and engaging events centred around

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wellbeing is a sure way to improve morale and in turn productivity for the company. A company away day with a wellbeing theme can generate up to 800% ROI. 3. Lead by Example Belief in senior leadership is the No.1 factor in creating positive employee engagement. 58% of employees say they would start a job with a lower salary if they worked for a great boss.

85% of employees say they would stay longer in a company with an employer who shows a high level of social responsibility. (Source: Glintinc) The best way for entrepreneurs to do this is by example. Don’t tell them about your great leadership - show them through your own actions. If you make a mistake; take responsibility. If you say you will do something; make sure you do it. If you set a deadline; meet it.

4. Offer flexible working conditions 75% of employees say they experience greater productivity when they are working from home. This also reduces commuting time, cost of travel, less daily stress and a comfortable environment. (Source: Glintinc) The downside to this is isolation; employees risk losing even more connection with their colleagues / peers, especially if they are spending the majority of the week working from home with no human contact.

However, arranging social engagements can help to mitigate this by building relationships and ensuring that the people you are dealing with remotely on a day-to-day basis are not just faceless emails, but real people whose personalities you know. It’s much easier to build a relationship and trust when you share a common interest in an event or activity.

5. Show Empathy We all like to feel valued for who we are rather than how much money we make. Employees are no different. In fact research shows 83% of engaged staff say “my supervisor cares about me as a person” compared to just 3% of disengaged workers. (Source: Glintinc)

It’s clear getting to know people is worth it. So, if you want staff who care about their work you must first show you care about them as people. In your startup get to know your team members. Find out what matters to each of them professionally and personally. Who’s their favourite superhero? Who broke a world record? What are their career goals? Ask and listen!

6. Empower Employees Knowing someone and trusting them are two quite different things! So, as well as getting to know your team, have faith in their abilities.

Engage employees by empowering them to take responsibility for their work and new challenges.

Give people the autonomy to get the job done in their own unique way. All this ‘trying and doing’ it for themselves develops employees’ skills through experiential learning. Remember that empowering employees means steering clear of micromanaging.

Warning: Other people’s way of doing things may be different to yours (but it just may be better!).

7. Avoid Role Ambiguity Role ambiguity is often cited as a common cause of workplace stress. It can also lead to duplication of tasks and wasted resources.

It’s bad news for both employee engagement and your business success. To avoid employee burnout and keep team members engaged, you need to set clear expectations.

By setting clear employee SMART goals, KPIs and expectations from day one staff can better plan and measure their progress. Give each employee the right tools, information, feedback and training to excel in their role. Ensure each employee knows what to do, how to do it and how their work contributes to the company’s wider goals.

8. Recognise and Celebrate Success ‘Good job!’ is something we all like to hear.

Research suggests employees value recognition

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more than money. So, make sure you praise your team for a job well done., however, large or small the success may be. In your startup encourage everyone to celebrate each other’s successes. By celebrating company-wide achievements entrepreneurs will encourage a supportive work environment and motivate staff.

Recognition is a powerful way to engage employees, with research showing 76% of people find peer praise extremely or very motivating. So, however you choose to spread the praise – be it with a day out, a trip to a special event, in one-to-one sessions, or an old school round of applause – celebrate success!

Conclusion: In the early stages of your startup, think about how you will keep your staff engaged and put activities in place. People don’t work well in isolation. They want to know their colleagues and feel that work is a nice place to be with friendly, supportive people they trust. They also like to feel they are developing within their career, and they need to know they are appreciated. A day out somewhere nice, doing something they enjoy can help you tick all these boxes, so perhaps it’s time to plan an away-day into your company’s 2020 calendar.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Craig Bulow is the founder of Corporate Away Days, a corporate wellbeing events company delivering engaging, inspiring and exciting events focussed on Wellbeing and Reward activities. Corporate Away Days also creates, designs and builds corporate wellbeing policies and provides leading experts for interactive workshops, seminars and talks on improving mental health and overall wellbeing.

Every Corporate Away Days event and activity is chosen with wellbeing as its focus, helping to encourage employee engagement, foster connections and build relationships within the business.

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Investing in Antique Silver Since the beginning of civilization silver has played an important and enduring role in society, a valuable commodity, which, through the ages, has been and still is revered and judiciously used by man on so many levels.

Quite aside from its important role as a means of currency, silver has also been transformed by skilled craftsmen into religious reliquaries to help with worship, or on a far more practical level into the production of decorative items and household wares. Whatever its purpose, silver is invariably associated with wealth, standing and importance. Hence the meaning behind the old phrase “born with a silver spoon in their mouth”, an expression which directly links silver to affluence.

Little was to change over successive centuries, although with the introduction of silver plate in the mid-1800s, silver did begin to lose some of its exclusive allure. The social upheavals and the decline of many large aristocratic houses which followed on from the World War I, combined with the economic hardships of the 1920s and early 30s, all contributed to a fundamental shift in collecting taste. For a number of years and for a variety of reasons, both social and economic, European society started to fall out of love with silver.

Gone were the days of stately homes such as Downton Abbey, with their armies of staff on hand to clean the family silver. We were entering a modern age of convenience – formal dining was increasingly to become a thing of the past. In post-World War II Europe, the

wonderful antique silver masterpieces, which had graced the homes of previous generations were frequently regarded as too old-school and frankly too hard to maintain, hence either laid aside or even sold.

As a result through much of the 1950s and 60s silver was commonly sold and purchased at a price dependent on its weight, with little or no account for maker, provenance nor the quality of design and workmanship. It took the emergent new-wealthy Americans to start to reappreciate the artistry of antique silver. Taking advantage of the deflated prices, they started buying silver from the royal and aristocratic families of Europe. In particular their focus of attention centered on great silversmiths of the mid-18th to early 19th century with prize works by masters such as Paul de Lamerie , Benjamin Smith and Paul Storr being assiduously sought out.

Amongst the many collectors who helped to revive the appreciation of traditional silver, two names immediately come to mind for the depth of their knowledge and the passion of their eye: Morrie Moss of Memphis with his predilection for the work of Paul Storr, and Arthur Gilbert the Anglophile -American whose considerable collection was recently bequeathed to London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.

At the same time a number of important American museums began to focus their buying power on European silver, resulting

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in major collections for the public to admire, notably to be found in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Portland Museum of Art, Philadelphia.

Not surprisingly America continues to be an important market for the antique silver trade.

taste and appreciation. They understand the importance of maker, provenance, quality of design and workmanship and are prepared to pay for it. Collectors are simply not impressed with mediocrity – they will only buy the best and will also pay a premium for a blue-chip provenance.”

Today one of the leading dealers in antique silver is Koopman Rare Art. Founded by brothers Jacques and Eddy Koopman in 1952, Koopman Rare Art has traded from its luxurious premises above the Silver Vaults in the City of London since 1969.

So where are these buyers and collectors based? “In terms of location, the silver market is becoming ever more global, with serious buyers from China and the Middle East entering into the collecting arena” says Lewis.

“This interest is driven by a rapidly increasing appreciation for European art and antiques and silver helps to complete the refined and sophisticated look. One also has to take into account that most countries in the Far and Middle East have a strong metalwork tradition so there tends to be an ingrained appreciation for works in silver. Silver-gilt pieces for example are particularly sough-after in China where gold is highly regarded.”

Now recognized as the pre-eminent dealers in antique silver, over the years they have helped form some of the most celebrated collections of silver in the world. These include those of His Excellency Mahdi Mohammed Altajir, the Whiteley Trust and the Australian Kerry Packer, in addition they have sold important silver to major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Lewis Smith, who together with Timo Koopman, the grandson of Eddie is joint director of Koopman Rare Art, explains: “In terms of quality, workmanship, art historical context and often highly distinguished provenances, the antique silver market today is definitely underappreciated compared with other collecting fields.”

This opinion has also recently been confirmed

by Barnebys the world’s largest art and antique search engine. Pontus Silfvertoolpe, co-founder of Barnebys is reported as saying “Antique silver is a bargain at current prices”.

Lewis Smith continued: “It’s been slow in coming, but we are starting to see a long-over due re-appreciation of these superlative art works. What is clear, however is the fact that today’s silver collectors are highly sophisticated connoisseurs. Not only are they extremely well informed, they are constantly refining their

One of the many appeals of antique silver is it caters for all tastes and is also an obvious area for cross-collecting. People who buy silver tend to collect in other fields as well be it paintings, furniture and even contemporary art. Classic silver pieces work well in sleek, minimalist, modern interiors and, as we all know, mixing old and new invariably adds a new dimension and creates an element of dynamism.

And of course with the reassessment of the mid20th century, which is now much in evidence in contemporary interiors, there is an increasing demand for signed pieces of designer silver, by the likes of more contemporary silversmiths such Stuart Devlin and Gerald Benney, to name but two.

Another huge advantage of silver is much of it is practical. It wasn’t all about ostentation. Silver was designed to be used and enjoyed, and by its very nature is pretty robust and durable.

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The majority of the silver we deal in is elegant and usable,” explains Lewis. “We have stunning trays, candlesticks and candelabra, dinner services, tea and coffee-services and important canteens of cutlery. I am pleased to say most of our clients use the silver they buy – whether it’s in their main home, chalet, beach-house or even on their super-yacht or private jet. Encouragingly formal home dining with stunning silver on the table is once again becoming a feature of 21st century elegant living. Even informal kitchen suppers can be improved upon with the addition of a stunning pair of silver candlesticks.

For example we have one of the earliest silver coffee percolators, made by English silversmiths Emes and Barnard in 1809, the design is elegant, practical and almost modern.

On top of which it makes delicious coffee, far better than any machine. The asking price is a mere £7,500 and it will clearly last for a couple more hundred years. What could be better value? That’s another great thing about silver – the entry level is accessible compared with other collecting areas. For example you can buy a small piece by a distinguished silversmith such as Paul Storr from as little as £2,000.”

What makes exceptional silver stand out, however, is quality and design, all of which reflect the style, fashion and tastes of a particular era. It is the exquisite, naturalistic observed modelling, the attention to detail and the breathtaking skill of the silversmith, which takes the trays, soup tureens, candelabra, tea and coffee services, the cutlery excetera out of the realms of the ordinary and mundane and turns them into masterpieces steeped in history.

“Although there is a limited supply of really top quality silver treasures, there are still thrilling new pieces coming onto the market. All these factors help maintain value, interest and excitement. While the majority of collectors buy for pleasure and enjoyment, often the intrinsic value of top quality silver and its investment

potential gives an additional feeling of security.

It’s quite simple, buy the best antique silver you can afford and you really can’t go wrong,” concludes Lewis.

Barnebys offer the same advice: “It is now time for new generations to start using silver again, to understand and appreciate the value of quality and durability and the intrinsic beauty of this ancient and much valued precious metal.

“There are bargains to be had out there that are both stunningly beautiful works of art and also quite often very functional as dinner services or as decorative objects with intriguing histories.

Given that silver prices will doubtless rise again its investment value is another reason to buy silver.”

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A Guide to Investing In Art Many of us consider investing in art - but are not quite sure how to go about it. This article provides some important first steps.

Do your research Understand the basic background of contemporary art, the history of how the movement has progressed to the present day, and what art is prevalent right now.

Given how quickly the contemporary art world has expanded and evolved over the past fifty years it is important to familiarise yourself with a brief background on what has happened.

You will also find it fascinating and informative from an investment aspect to keep up to date on what is happening in the contemporary art world now, as things are changing day by day.

One of the most important factors that distinguishes contemporary art from other movements is that contemporary art responds to or triggers issues in our world today. It is very relevant culturally, politically, and socially, and this affects is desirability and consequently its value.

Visiting the latest exhibitions at museums and galleries will give you a sense of what issues are hot commodities in the contemporary art world, and in addition joining gallery mailing lists to keep up to date on the newest exhibition openings will help keep your finger on the trend pulse, as well as getting you invited to previews. Attend art fairs, and subscribe to art magazines to find out who the established

names are as well as what is happening in the auction market.

Focus on emerging talent When looking to purchase art for profit it’s clear that getting a piece of art at a good price but that also has the capability of rising in value over time is imperative. In this regard emerging artists have mre upside potential tahn established names. Of course it is good to own a work by an established artist as its price is less likely to fall, but the investment potential for such artists has usualy already been defined. Spotting emerging artists before their market explodes can reap huge profits.

Buy from the right sources Buy art from fine art galleries. And if you want to invest in art for profit, I would suggest that you buy works from galleries that have a programme for new and emerging artists.

Galleries are constantly on the lookout for contemporary artists who have undiscovered talent and upside potential, and, essentially, in most cases have done all the research and hard work for you. Gallerists filter through artists every day, and when a gallery decides to represent a new artist it means that they believe in the artist’s talent, and think he or she will be a critical and commercial success.

Buying from a gallery will help you build a relationship with the gallery, and also understand the artist and his or her creative

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philosophies (in many instances you will meet the artist or be invited to his or her studio).

The best galleries are always happy to give catalogues and offer any kind of assistance to help their collectors understand the art they are collecting. Some galleries, such as Hua Gallery, will also offer a professional consulting service to help you build a collection that you love, and that has investment upside.

Love your collection Be sure to purchase art that says something to you. Being able to respond to and connect with the work you buy is one of the best indicators that a piece of art has value, both to you and the market.

I think buying a work of art often requires a degree of self-reflection and self-knowledge.

Art appreciation is subjective, and when collecting a work of art it is important that you to respond to the work on some personal level. You may respond to a work because it is poetic and beautiful, or you may respond to it because the messages are powerful, haunting, or disturbing. You will have to dig deep in some cases, where the creative concept may be difficult to digest at first sight, but in every case, it is important to make a connection, be it emotional or spiritual, with the work you collect.

Treat your investment‌ As an investment Remember to consider any purchase as a long term investment, rather than a speedy buy and sell for a quick profit. Whilst the future value of an artwork is never guaranteed, it is often the case that a work of art will hold or increase in value over time. www.hua-gallery.com

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Investing in Wine How to Start This is the first in a series of articles on fine wine as an investment from experts The Wine Investment Fund. Future features will look in more depth at particular aspects of this fascinating market.

Introduction There is nothing new about fine wine as an investment. Ever since wine was first bottled under the ‘brand’ of the château that produced it (Haut Brion in the 1660s, referred to by King Charles II as ‘Hobriono’ and Samuel Pepys as “Ho Bryan”), connoisseurs have sought out the finest names and been prepared to pay escalating prices for them.

The following 350 years saw slowly increasing sophistication. The first wine auction took place at Christie’s in 1766. However, it is only in the last ten years that the market has reached a level of maturity which has made it a genuine ‘asset class’. Today, the fine wine landscape includes properly constituted investment funds, a 24/7 online stock exchange and a wealth of data and analysis.

Unique characteristics of Fine Wine The truly unique characteristic of a specific fine wine as an asset is that its supply tends naturally to diminish over time as the wine is drunk, thereby pushing up the price. However, fine wine also has several other features which make it attractive as an investment: While supply tends to fall, demand tends to rise, for two reasons. First, growing global wealth: in recent decades consumers from the USA,

Japan, Russia, China and other economies have all entered the market for fine wine. Second, as a fine wine matures it improves in quality and therefore becomes more sought-after.

It is a physical asset. Like gold, it acts as a hedge against uncertainty and its value cannot be eroded by inflation. This is particularly interesting when global markets are insecure: for example, in the financial crisis of 2008 and, more recently, following the UK’s vote to leave the EU (discussed further below).

It has lower volatility (i.e. lower risk) than equities, gold and oil.

In most market conditions, fine wine has a low correlation with the returns from other asset classes, meaning that a holding within an investment portfolio provides diversification, reducing overall risk. The correlation between the longest reliable wine index, the Liv-ex Investables, and the FTSE 100 is just 4% – and this data goes back to 1988.

Despite this low volatility and low correlation, fine wine has shown relatively strong returns.

The annualised return of the Liv-ex Investables, is 10.5% since inception in 1988. Over the same period the comparable figure for the FTSE 100 is 4.6% and for gold 3.8%.

How to access the market While the above features suggest that fine wine can be an attractive asset, it can be intimidating to access. It has sometimes hit the headlines for the wrong reasons, with not all market participants being reputable. Therefore, any entity, fund or merchant, to whom you

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entrust your investment must be thoroughly researched. It should have a physical (not virtual or serviced) office; above all, avoid cold callers or unsolicited mail. It should take physical possession of all wines purchased in a UK Government authorised bonded warehouse, fully insured at replacement value. All costs, including the buying and selling of wine, and of redeeming and managing the holdings, should be clear and transparent at the beginning of the process and you should receive regular, independent valuations.

Even using reputable dealers, the unwary investor can often face very high transaction costs. Many merchants will take a commission of at least 15% (and sometimes more) on any sale, while auctions will take an even higher cut.

There is, then, a risk that an investor does not benefit fully from any market uplift and suffers disproportionately from a downturn. This can be mitigated by ensuring that the interests of the fund manager or investment advisor are aligned with those of the investor: for example, via a transparent fee structure which has lower entry, management and exit costs but compensates with an element of performancerelated reward.

The market today Where is the market today, and what we might expect for the future? There are, of course, no crystal balls, and market timing is not as critical to fine wine returns as it is in some markets.

However, the current position is intriguing.

Following the bull market of 2009-2011 (caused largely by the emergence of China as a major fine wine consuming nation), the next four years saw a long and deep correction. However, prices stabilised in 2015, and the first half of 2016 has seen the beginnings of an upturn: the Liv-ex Investables index was up 9% in the first six months of the year. However, as the graph below shows, prices are still well below their long-term trend level.

Moreover wine has reacted well to the result of the UK’s vote to leave the EU. Fine wine is

predominantly a sterling-denominated market, and the fall in sterling of 10%+ against all major currencies has made it substantially cheaper for buyers based overseas. That, and its defensive nature as a physical asset in times of uncertainty, caused a surge in demand. As a result, prices have risen some 8% since the referendum.

A legitimate asset class for investors Fine wine has matured into a legitimate asset class. Though it remains an ‘alternative’, wine has many of the features of a mainstream asset including a well-developed exchange and investors of all sizes from large institutions to private individuals.

Wine has a number of promising characteristics as an asset, and the historical data shows that these have borne fruit in reality: returns have been high relative to, for example, equities, gold and oil, with minimal correlation, while volatility has been lower than for these assets. Put together with the current attractive valuations, there appear to be strong arguments for adding a small proportion of fine wine to an investment portfolio.

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Property Investing The Right Way

By Andy Phillips, commercial director at Knight Knox – a Manchester-based property investment consultancy

whether you’re a veteran landlord or just starting out, it’s equally important to check off a few things to maximise your return and minimise risks.

With Brexit and Article 50 officially triggered, we can look back on the predictions of economic disaster forecast during the UK’s EU Referendum last year. Despite these predictions, the UK is yet to experience the drastic changes to our economy and to the property market that were anticipated. Instead, we’ve experienced labour market growth, unemployment rate improvements and household income acceleration – along with house price increases and a continued rise in rents.

Test yourself

Although the rental market faced a mass of changes during 2016, from stamp duty surges to Wear and Tear Allowance changes, residential property in the UK remains resilient and continues to hold its position as a sound investment, whatever the financial climate.

How much do you know about the market?

Do your research and familiarise yourself with an understanding of buy-to-let and the UK rental market. You’ll need to know the current status of the market before investing in order to weigh up the return. Also it’s advisable to conduct due diligence on the responsibilities of being a landlord and what this entails. For example, if you don’t have time to fully manage your investment property, be sure to have a professional ARLA-accredited lettings and management company in place to operate on your behalf. However, be sure to factor in the fees involved, which can range between 8 and 10 per cent of the property’s rental returns.

Location

With a growing population, tenant numbers climbing and an evident shift towards a PRScentric landscape, the UK is set to experience a surge in demand for rental properties over the next few years, so it’s little wonder that investors are looking towards buy-to-let to strengthen their portfolio.

Location is key, so find a property that is in a reputable location with high tenant demand and high-performing yields. Be sure to look at the performance of the local housing market in the last few years, as well as assessing future development in the area, as this could often be indicative of future growth.

Buy-to-let is a highly attractive investment, particularly when compared to low savings rates and stock market volatility, offering a stable income and long-term returns, but

Ideal tenant Find out what kind of tenant you want to attract and use this as a starting point. It could

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be students, young professionals or families.

Put yourself in their shoes and consider their different needs, and ensure your property fulfils their expectations. For example, if you’re targeting families, a big garden and being close to schools is desirable, while students and young professionals benefit from close proximity to major transport links.

Calculate Do rough calculations of how much it will cost to buy and manage the property you are considering. Much like knowing your responsibilities as a landlord, it’s important to consider the financial risks associated with buyto-let from potential void periods, for example.

If you are unfamiliar with the market or unsure of any of these elements, be sure to speak to an industry professional like an estate agent or a buy-to-let specialist for expert help and advice.

Here is an outline of the dos and don’ts for landlords and aspiring property investors.

Do: Seek specialist advice from estate agents or property professionals on local market demands. You may have done your research on the market in the UK as a whole, but don’t assume that all areas follow the same rule.

Ensure you have a sound financial plan in place, not just for the purchase but also for a contingency fund. It is advisable to save two to three months’ rental income for maintenance work, so include this in any preliminary calculations.

Furnish and decorate the property to a high standard, but keep it neutral in order to attract the best quality tenants quickly.

Use an ARLA-accredited lettings agent that has necessary insurance like Client Money Protection and Professional Indemnity Insurance. ARLA trains agencies to have high standards, keeping them up to date with the

latest legal and regulatory requirements.

Don’t: Treat the property like it’s your home – personal tastes shouldn’t cloud your judgement, so ensure that your property meets market requirements.

Purchase a property that may require a lot of maintenance and upkeep. Maintenance work is a necessary evil for any landlord, but choosing property wisely can help to reduce the workload, save you time and avoid eating into your profits.

Subcontract any due maintenance work in your property to friends and family. Tenants expect and require a full management service by someone who knows what they are doing, so make sure you have a trustworthy property manager on hand.

Leave all documentation to the last minute – ensure you have all the appropriate paperwork checked over by a professional and signed by both yourself and your tenant.

Try to cut corners by furnishing your property cheaply – all furniture in rental accommodation has to comply with the Furniture and Furnishings Regulations.

Whether you are an ‘accidental landlord’ or a professional buy-to-let investor, investing in property requires careful consideration to ensure you are making the right move at the right time.

The potential returns in the buy-to-let market are evident but – as with any investment, be it stocks and shares, government bonds or crowdfunding – having a clear and carefully thought-out strategy is essential in order to achieve the desired yields and capital gains from your asset.

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Knight Knox is a specialist property investment consultancy, providing buy-to-let developments to the private investor market.

They are specialists in sourcing investment opportunities in both new-build residences and high-end refurbishment projects, Knight Knox boasts an impressive portfolio of both completed and future stock. The team works in partnership with four highly experienced developers – X1, Fortis Developments, Forshaw Land & Property Group and Crossbow Investments.

Nurturing relationships with these developers has allowed Knight Knox to build a track record of over 75 successful buy-to-let developments, including prime new-build residential buyto-let apartments and high-yielding boutique student accommodation projects in major cities throughout the UK.

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E&I Luxury Lifestyle Section

Photo credit: Asad Photo Maldives Pexels.com

Credit: Asad Photo Maldives

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E&I Luxury Lifestyle Section

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Luxury Travel Inspiration 2020 Best New Openings Kagi Maldives Spa Island

Five-star Kagi Maldives Spa Island is set to launch in the Maldives’ North Male Atoll in September 2020. The boutique 50-villa property will provide couples, friends and solo travelers with a 360° wellness experience, just a 15-minute seaplane or 60-minute speedboat ride from Velana International Airport.

Kagi has partnered with esteemed architect Yuji Yamazaki on the design of the resort. At the heart of the island will sit Kagi’s 1500-squaremeter spa and wellness hub, complete with an open-air, teardrop-shaped floating yoga pavilion at its centre. Kagi will also house a state-of-the-art gym, two restaurants, three bars, a dive centre and a house reef. Guests can choose from three room types, a Beach Pool Villa, a Lagoon Pool Villa or an Ocean Pool Villa, all of which will be distinguished by their unique locations and will house a private pool, a sun deck and an expansive indoor-outdoor bathroom.

Kagi’s Baani Spa will offer a personalized, outcome-focused wellness programme that will take guests on a journey to Release, Restore and Regain. Alternative therapies including crystal and sound healing, lifestyle and health coaching and nutrition lessons will complement a comprehensive range of beauty and massage treatments. The more adventurous will also have a chance to sample a variety of watersports including day-andnight snorkeling, scuba diving, catamaran and sailing boat trips, and much more.

The resort’s fusion cuisine will take inspiration from the geographical ‘ring of fire’ that surrounds the Maldives, from the highly spiced and fragranced cuisine of East Asia to the bold, fiery flavours of South America and Oceania.

For more information on Kagi Maldives Spa Island, visit www.kagimaldives.com

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The world’s first ‘energy-positive’ hotel

Svart, Norway

The world’s first ‘energy-positive’ hotel, Svart, will open in Norway’s Arctic Circle in 2022. The property will have a 360-degree view of the Svartisen glacier and the sensational Northern Lights. A low-impact, ground-breaking design will allow the project to produce more energy than it uses, consuming approximately 85% less energy than the traditional hotel.

The 99-room property will house four restaurants, a 1,000-square-metre spa, two electric boats, a sustainable farm, an education centre and a design laboratory on-site. Svart will be open to overnight guests, the local community and day-visitors alike.

Located deep within the arctic wilderness of Norway’s Meløy municipality, Svart will perch atop the crystal-clear waters of the Holandsfjorden fjord, at the base of the glacier itself. A glass-fronted, circular design will provide a panoramic view of the fjord, glacier and in the winter months, the spectacular Northern Lights, all without compromising on guests’ privacy.

For more information on Svart, visit www.svart.no/en/

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Luxury Travel Inspiration Dive into Underwater Photograpy

Soufrière sister resorts Jade Mountain and Anse Chastanet has launched an exciting series of week-long underwater photography courses for budding marine photographers, running from 25th April – 1st May and 29th August – 5th September 2020 at the resorts’ PADI Five Star dive centre Scuba St Lucia.

Aspiring photographers will learn all the basics of underwater photography, including composition, ambient light use and animal portraits, before snapping their own aquatic photos.

Each day will begin with two morning dives around Jade Mountain and Anse Chastanet’s incredible house reef, home to more than 150 different species of fish and suitable for divers of all abilities. Guests will have the opportunity to spot turtles, sea horses, octopus, lobster, parrot fish and more and snap some truly spectacular underwater photos.

After a morning of diving, guests will head back to the resort for seminars led by the resorts’ award-winning resident photographer, Bernd Rac, who will review each photographer’s work from the morning, guide guests through editing their photos and discuss the next day’s underwater challenge. Guests will also have the chance to submit their best work to Scuba St Lucia’s Photography Week Photo Competition throughout the week.

The Underwater Photography week special package at Anse Chastane includes: the underwater photography course and seven nights of house accommodation, airport transfers, breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, all tax and service, welcome drink and culinary amenity on arrival, twelve beach or boat dives inclusive of tank, weights, belt, mask, snorkel and fins. www.ansechastanet.com www.jademountain.com.

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Luxury Travel Eco Initiatives

Lepogo Lodges’ Noka Camp, one of Africa’s few entirely not-for-profit safari lodges, has added to its stellar eco-credentials by working with local and global charity organisations to offset their guests’ carbon footprint, calculating the carbon emissions resulting from each guest’s journey from the time they leave their home to the moment they return.

The figure is converted into a monetary value which is then donated by Lepogo Lodges into one of three conservation projects, chosen by the guest. The projects include: Community Stove Project – A Community Outreach Programme: In collaboration with the neighbouring Lapalala Wilderness School, the Community Stove Project donates high efficiency stoves to the local community to improve both environmental and health. The new stoves reduce the wood used in each household by an estimated 2.5 tonnes per year, saving 30 trees and 12 tonnes of CO2, increasing time efficiency when cooking and positively impacting the health of families.

South Africa Forest Trust – A Biodiversity Enhancement Programme: The South African Reforestation Trust, a not-for-profit organisation and platform, brings landowners,

institutions, companies and individuals together to plant and extend indigenous forest ecosystems.

Stand for Trees – A Global Programme: Stand for Trees and its 16 conservation projects aim to protect the world’s most spectacular forest landscapes, surrounding communities and inhabiting wildlife. The projects span across Northern Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Peru, Brazil and more, offering guests a range of sites to choose from.

In addition to the carbon offset programme, Lepogo Lodges is committed to supporting local communities by helping them start businesses which supply products for the lodge and onsite curio shop. Passionate about wildlife conservation, Lepogo Lodges are funding research and working with Lapalala to establish the reserve as a centre of excellence for the release of wild cheetah, and are in discussion to become a pangolin rehabilitation sanctuary.

For more information visit www.lepogolodges.com

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UK Getaways Inspiration Ruby Lucy, London Ruby Hotels, the Munich-based hotel brand and pioneer of the ‘Lean Luxury’ philosophy, has launched its first UK property in London’s Southbank. The new 76-room hotel, Ruby Lucy, forms part of an ambitious expansion plan for Ruby Hotels to unveil a total of eleven new hotels – including a second London property – by 2022.

Enjoying a prime position on the Southbank’s Lower Marsh, Ruby Lucy’s interior design is inspired by the area’s bustling fairs and markets, entertainment and theatre scene, with a carnival theme running throughout the hotel. Rich, dark tones meet bright brass accents and subtle stripes, accented with playful props including circus drums and juggling pins.

All guest rooms showcase Ruby Hotels’ sleep-scientist-approved formula, including full soundproofing and blackout curtains, and enjoy quirky touches and cutting-edge technology, such as a Marshall guitar amp and a personal tablet PC pre-loaded with a carefully-curated London city guide. www.ruby-hotels.com.

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Monkey Island Estate The Shepherd’s Hideaway

YTL Hotels has introduced Monkey Island Estate’s Shepherd’s Hideaway, a new romantic offering and experience for couples visiting the island in Bray. The team at Monkey Island have transformed one of the estate’s handcrafted Shepherd’s Huts into a gorgeous retreat, ideal for couples looking to spend quality time together, to celebrate a special anniversary or birthday or even for those looking for the perfect backdrop for a proposal with a difference. The Shepherd’s

Hideaway is also the ideal retreat for newlyweds who tie the knot at Monkey Island and want to take time out of celebrations, for just a few moments of calm to take in their big day. The Shepherd’s Hideaway is nestled in the estate’s beautiful country gardens and has stunning views over the Thames. www.monkeyislandestate.co.uk

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Luxury Travel News New Lake Activities at Beau-Rivage, Geneva

peaceful escape from urban life, sessions take energy and inspiration from beautiful lake and mountain views. After the session, relax with herbal teas and healthy snacks at Geneva’s Tropical Corner

the five-star Beau-Rivage Genève, located on the leafy Quai du Mont Blanc promenade, is taking advantage of its position on the lake’s edge with a new curated list of alfresco active pursuits that can be arranged for guests.

Urban swimming at new Eaux-Vives beach: Geneva’s hottest new spring destination is its new, sustainable sandy beach with an iconic view of the Jet d’Eau, for swimming in the crystal-clear lake in between enjoying icecream and Swiss snacks brought on electronic tricycles – with a ‘0% waste’ concept in order to protect the spot’s natural beauty. This spring will welcome a brand-new beach restaurant with stunning views over the lake

New stand-up paddleboard yoga sessions: in partnership with local Yoga Shop Genève, between May and September, guests of all abilities can take to the lake as the morning sun rises for a paddleboard yoga session with a local instructor. The ultimate challenge of balance and flexibility on water and a

For further information visit : beau-rivage.ch/en

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New Private Sea Plane for Joali, Maldives

Joali, the Maldives’ first immersive art resort, has just unveiled a new, exclusive luxury private branded seaplane, seating up to eight people, for guests to make the 45-minute journey to and from Male in ultimate comfort and style.

Reducing longer wait times and allowing more flexibility for operating schedules, the Joali private seaplane is operated by Trans Maldivian Airways, flying directly to and from the unspoiled Raa Atoll in the northern region of the Maldives.

The luxury seaplane is fitted in Joali’s signature style, with cream leather seats with woodgrain trim and high-quality, noise-cancelling BOSE headsets in rose gold.

Joali has announced the new seaplane as another layer to its impeccable transfer experience from Male Airport, which includes a beautiful, design-focussed private lounge

reserved exclusively for guests to relax with complimentary drinks, snacks and signature Joali service whilst waiting for onward flights, as well as to freshen up in spacious bathrooms. www.joali.com

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Atmosphere Kanufushi New Overwater Villas

Atmosphere Kanifushi Maldives has unveiled 40 brand-new stunning overwater villas.

Positioned over a stunning turquoise lagoon, the new overwater villas offer an elegant retreat and a unique experience. Guests can spot marine wildlife including reef sharks passing by from the privacy of their villa decks, and enjoy uninterrupted views of the ocean.

The interior design of the new villas has been carefully selected to complement the island surroundings, with accents of blue and tropical colours, along with Maldivian style soft furnishings and intricate wall art. The large bathroom is a spacious haven and glass-panes built into the floor allow guests to gaze upon the ocean below without leaving their villa.

Villas are equipped with all mod-cons and direct access to the water means guests can take a dip into the lagoon from their own private wooden sundeck. 24-hour butler

service ensures guests’ needs are always met – from making restaurant reservations, to arranging snorkelling excursions and booking spa treatments.

Located in the Lhaviyani Atoll, five-star Atmosphere Kanifushi is 2km long and surrounded by a turquoise lagoon, reached by a 30-minute seaplane transfer from Malé International Airport.

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St Pete & Clearwater Florida New for 2020

St. Pete/Clearwater is home to some of America’s very best beaches, but that’s not all this thriving destination has to offer in 2020.

With three new hotels and a brand new $80m St. Pete Pier, travellers seeking an allencompassing holiday experience combining great food, leisure and entertainment, will be in for a treat.

From the end of May this year, Downtown St. Pete will be home to the Southeast’s largest waterfront playground, with over 26 acres of waterfront space creating the brand-new $80m St. Pete Pier.

Surrounded by the warm Tampa Bay waters, the new Pier will bring entertainment, dining, shopping, and even an urban beach to the already vibrant downtown St. Pete area, and an educational and exciting Discovery Centre.

Exciting new hotels are popping up across the destination, specifically in Clearwater, St. Pete, Treasure Island and Pass-A-Grille. With over 3,000 accommodation options in the area, there really is something for everyone.

The boutique Karol Hotel in Clearwater features 123 luxury guest rooms and suites, a lobby bar & restaurant, a rooftop bar overlooking Tampa Bay, plus a large resort-style pool and fitness centre. The vibe is refined meets relaxed, perfectly catering for the discerning traveller seeking luxury and class, with a fun Florida finesse.

Fusion Resort in Treasure Island offers a unique guest experience. Designed with modern Floridian flair in mind, the hotel provides a wide variety of sporting and leisure facilities, including a large pool, 71 boat jetties, paddleboats, kayaks and bikes.

The Berkeley Beach Club offers six luxury apartments with idyllic views of historic 8th Avenue, Boca Ciega Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

The dog-friendly AirBnB property offers guests access to an on-site beach bar and grill, The Dewey, which encompasses all-day dining, and The Rooftop Bar, with stunning sunset views of the Gulf.

St. Pete/Clearwater is easily accessible for with daily flights from London to Tampa. Tampa International Airport is just a 30-minute drive from downtown St. Pete. For more information - www.visitstpeteclearwater.com.

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Little Emperors

Luxury Hotel Private Members Club

Little Emperors is a private members luxury hotel club. Founded in 2009 by Rebecca Masri MBE, it now has 35,000 members and works with 4,000 of the very best luxury hotels around the world.

requirements and personal preferences. With an easy to use app, members are only 4 clicks away from completing a booking and can gain access to live availability and detailed hotel and room descriptions at any time.

With a membership model in place and through collective purchase power, Little Emperors in-house team of travel experts and luxury advisors are able to offer excellent preferred rates and guaranteed benefits at luxury hotels across the world with special insider booking offerings for members. The company has an impressive portfolio of properties available, from 5-star luxury hotels to design city boutiques, and prides itself on full transparency with no add-ons.

Little Emperors has a referral system which offers members the chance to receive a free membership after referring 10 people.

Additionally, if a new member is referred by an existing member or if an existing member refers a friend, both will receive 10% off their membership fee.

The company’s advanced technology helps members find bespoke hotel trips and experiences perfectly suited to their

Little Emperors won the Four Seasons Hotels of the World best new preferred partner award an incredible accomplishment. The company is also the largest preferred partner of Leading Hotels of the World amongst others. Annual membership fees starts from ÂŁ250. Email: info@littleemperors.com.

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Luxury Travel Inspiration Wonderful Wellness Breaks

The Greek Villas Launch Wellness Concierge and Bespoke Wellness Retreats The Greek Villas has launched wellness at home, with a selection of fitness and pampering offerings available at guest’s front door. Enjoy a bespoke wellness retreat, complete with 360-degree wellness, from water to land, restore to re-form, guests can curate the perfect retreat to suit their holiday needs. Start the day with sunrise aerial yoga to align the chakras, followed by high energy fitness training to get the blood pumping. After indulging in a relaxing gourmet lunch arranged by The Greek Villas very own local private chef, settle into a soothing oil massage by the pool and end the day with aqua fitness to cool off before evening sunset cocktails.

Boasting over 40 carefully selected villas across 26 Greek Islands, The Greek Villas offers guests an incredible variety of villas, oozing true luxury, perfectly suited to an unforgettable week of wellness wonder. www.thegreekvillas.com

Haritha Villas + Spa, Sri Lanka Contemporary Sri Lankan hospitality has reached unprecedented heights with the opening of Haritha Villas + Spa; an all-villa, adults-only Ayurvedic haven of bend-overbackwards bespoke luxury in southern Sri Lanka.

Located on a forested hilltop estate minutes from Hikkaduwa beach, Haritha Villas + Spa is a holistic union of nature, design and personalised service. Each of the nine exquisite villas is attended by one of the handpicked team of Villa Masters, uniquely attuned to delivering the finest tailor-made guest experience.

Off-menu, farm-to-table dining can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere; while the two-storey Jungle Spa serves up polished pampering, serious wellness programmes crafted by two resident Ayurvedic doctors, and unlimited daily scheduled yoga, meditation and fitness classes. www.harithavillas.com

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Huvafen Fushi, Maldives – Launches NightTime SpaQuarium Original Maldives icon, Huvafen Fushi, invites guests to discover the underwater world at night from the world’s first and only underwater SpaQuarium. As the sun

The Nautilus Maldives – Unveils Full Moon Crystal Singing Bowl Meditation Later this year guests at The Nautilus Maldives will be able to embark on a moonlit spiritual journey of healing and sensual awakening as the luxury hideaway launches its new bi-monthly Full Moon Crystal Singing Bowl mediation

begins to set on the day, guests are invited to venture to the underwater spa to meet the resort’s marine biologists, who will take them on an unparalleled night-time viewing experience of the extraordinary marine life in the Indian Ocean, along with a refreshing glass of Champagne. www.huvafenfushi.com

sessions. Performed at the overwater Yoga sala during each full moon phase, the immersive night-time session combine guided Pranayama yoga techniques and Crystal Singing Bowl meditation to realign and balance chakras and help set intentions for the next lunar cycle. www.thenautilusmaldives.com

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Wellness Retreats As most of the UK are now working from home, Longevity Wellness Worldwide has introduced a new work from home playlist to help people to de-stress and relax. A leader in spa, health and integrative wellness services, Longevity Wellness Worldwide is dedicated to providing unique wellness and holiday experiences in the heart of Portugal’s Algarve region. Longevity Wellness Worldwide emphasises that it is essential to focus on looking after the immune system, and a major aspect of implementing this is through restorative sleep and relaxation.

The new Longevity Wellness Worldwide work from home wellness playlist incorporates the very best of Longevity Wellness Worldwide,

bringing the holiday and wellness atmosphere of its three wellness hotels in the Algarve into people’s homes. Longevity Wellness Worldwide’s playlist includes a range of music from relaxing summer songs that recreate the Portuguese holiday experience; to spa relaxation music; and to Portuguese artists, including Bernardo Sassetti, Salvaor Sobral and Luisa Sobral. Longevity Health & Wellness Hotel www.longevityalvor.com/en/

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As millions of us now sit at home, sequestering ourselves to help stop the spread of coronavirus, we need now more than ever an easy, quick fix, for keeping fit. If you’re looking to run away from your desktop disasters or children tantrums you can release tension with Quinta do Lago’s brand new virtual classes.

Now live streaming, you can experience the same high-performance facilities as top athletes Rio Ferdinand and the entire Irish rugby team who have used The Campus. So jump up, put your indoor trainers on, turn up the heat and imagine you’re training at the heart of Portugal.

The Campus is a state of the art sports facility with beginners’ clinics, private professional coaching and sunshine all year round, it is the ideal destination to master a chosen sport.

They offer fitness classes and activities which can be done by the whole family. The Campus offers a wide array of fitness classes from Barre Fitness to Express Boxfit and Yogalates.

Quinta do Lago - Magnolia Hotel www.themagnoliahotelqdl.com/,

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Gastrofiles Learn to Cook Tuscan Style Learn to cook some cosy Tuscan comfort food and bring a taste of Italy to the table.

The special series will be available through Tuscany Now & More Instagram account @ tuscanynowandmore.

Enjoy the magic of Tuscany from afar and be inspired at home to try your hand and some classic Italian recipes #italycomestoyou.

Chef Francesco Maruccelli is Resident Chef at The Estate of Petroio and will be showcasing the best of Tuscan comfort food from the heart of Italy. A list of ingredients are now available on the Tuscany Now & More Instagram account.

Tuscany Now & More will run throughout the Spring and Summer.

classes

All classes will be available also in the Tuscany Now & More Instagram stories, for anyone that cannot tune in live. www.tuscanynowandmore. com.

Exclusive Wine Event with Saints Hill Winery Gourmet hideaway and Small Luxury Hotels of the World member Boutique Hotel Alhambra & Villa Augusta, located on the Croatian island gem of Lošinj, has announced an exclusive gastronomic celebration to mark the decade-long partnership between renowned Dalmatian winery, Saints Hills, and worldleading oenologist Michel Rolland.

Taking place at the hotel’s Restaurant Alfred Keller on 20 June 2020, and hosted by Rolland himself, the gala evening will showcase some of Saints Hills’ finest large- format bottles via a wine masterclass and pairing dinner.

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Homemade and Homegrown from Amilla Fushi

Pioneering Maldivian luxury resort, Amilla Fushi, has just appointed its first dedicated Sustainability Manager to oversee a wideranging an innovative new approach to “conscious luxury”. The first phase of Amilla’s sustainability plan is focused on two main pillars: Homemade and Homegrown.

The first of these, Homemade, comprises a number of initiatives which all help to reduce packaging and shipping while creating an interactive and informative experience for guests. As of December, Amilla began rolling out production of a number of natural, organic foods and drinks. Food items include Kimchi, nut butters, Ricotta and vegan cheese; while drinks include ginger beer, Kombucha, Tepache (the one made from waste pineapple skins!), tonic water and Screwpine soda, as well as bitters. As well as enlightening guests on simple home-production processes like fermentation, these products will become mainstays of the resort’s restaurant and bar menus – including a Living Cocktail menu incorporating homemade probiotic beverages.

Homegrown produce will also become a centerpiece of Amilla’s F&B offering. The

resort is establishing a substantial kitchen and spa garden, and installing an organic hydroponic garden, and has started growing numerous herbs, salads, microgreens, fruit and vegetables, medicinal herbs, edible flowers, superfoods such as Moringa, purslane and Abelmoschus Manihot, as well as local Maldivian greens. Plans are also in place to build a chicken coop and mushroom house.

Amilla has installed a cold press to begin production of high quality coconut oil from the island’s hundreds of coconut trees. The resulting coconut oil will be used to make soaps and candles, as well as being used in spa treatments and retailed. www.amilla.mv

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Luxury Travel Inspiration A trip around the world Suite-Style The Paragon Suite at Paragon 700 Boutique Hotel & Spa Paragon 700 Boutique Hotel & Spa, an elegantly restored red palace in the heart of Puglia’s White City, Ostuni, is set to open this April. The unique Paragon Suite features 7m high cathedral ceilings, a sunken bathtub and a grand open fireplace with two doors leading to a large terrace with garden. In contrast to the whitewashed buildings of Ostuni, Paragon 700’s red brick façade cocoons a lush garden and swimming pool, a rare green space in the heart of the city, offering a tranquil and exclusive oasis just five-minutes from Ostuni’s main square. www.paragon700.com

The Eugène Collain Suite at Château de Montcaud Named after Eugène Collain, “father” of Château de Montcaud, this Junior Suite on the ground floor has a silk theme to honor its origin as a silk trader’s mansion. The suite, which is made up of a single large room with ceilings nearly five meters in height, is not simply a place to stay and sleep - thanks to the free-standing tub with a view of the park, it is also the perfect place se relaxer. www.chateaudemontcaud.com

The Presidential Suite at Tivoli Palácio de Seteais, Portugal The Tivoli Palácio de Seteais, with its unparalleled and privileged views of Sintra, has 30 individually personalised rooms which are all exquisitely decorated. The 47sqm Presidential Suite with its grand double bed, XVIII and XIX century decor and Dona Maria style furniture is home to a large living area, an open-space office, relaxation spot plus a balcony offering an outstanding view of the swimming pool. www. tivolihotels.com/en/tivoli-palacio-de-seteais

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The Wedgewood Suite at Monkey Island Estate, Bray The grade one listed Wedgewood Suite at Monkey Island provides the most picturesque views of the estate and the River Thames accessed via mooring or footbridge only and comprising a separate seating area, dressing room and en-suite bathroom. www. monkeyislandestate.co.uk Mofarrej Presidential Suite Mofarrej São Paulo Hotel

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Tivoli

The largest suite in Latin America, the Mofarrej Presidential Suite, is located on the 22nd floor of the Tivoli Mofarrej São Paulo Hotel and is the epitome of sophistication and exclusivity with one of the best views in the city thanks to its floor-to-ceiling windows. The suite has three private bedrooms and a fourth master room with a bath, spacious Jacuzzi, double rainfall showerheads and sauna. www. tivolihotels.com/en/tivoli-mofarrej-sao-paulo The Pavarotti Suite at Pangkor Laut Resort Named after the world-renowned tenor who fell in love with Pangkor Laut, this is an elegant two-bedroom suite set high on the hill in the rainforest. It has a luxurious lounge area, an extensive balcony with breathtaking views of the sea and tropical rainforest as well as an enormous open-roofed bathroom. www. pangkorlautresort.com Two-Bedroom Suite at Ritz Carlton Koh Samui Situated on Thailand’s second-largest island, the hotel introduces a new sanctuary of luxury amongst white sand beaches and the emerald waters of the Gulf of Thailand. Resting beneath the shade of swaying coconut trees is the huge two-bedroom suite accommodating up to four adults and echoing local architectural aesthetics, welcoming the island environment inside and providing 24-hour in-room dining. www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/koh-samui.

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Wine Time

Cune Rosado 2018 Fresh floral aromas with notes of peach, apricot, strawberry and citrus. Delicious, balanced with a long, fruit-driven finish.

Co-op

Louis Jadot Coteaux Bourguignons Rosé 2017 100% Gamay Rosé from hand-harvested grapes.

These were gently pressed, using ‘saignée’ method, in order to deliver this vibrant, juicy wine full of fresh raspberry notes. Taylor’s Fine Wine

Robert Oatley Hancock & Hancock Grenache Rosé 2016 With a mouthwatering scent of rose and cherry , and flavours of ripe red currants and raspberries tempered with just a hint of spice. Fenwick

Joseph Mellot Sancerre Le Rabault 2017.

Bright salmon colour, characteristic of pinot noir rosés. Floral notes of rose and peony followed by raspberry. with a lovely finale. www.Matthewclark. co.uk

Villa Maria Private Bin Rosé 2018 A pretty peach colour rosé with floral notes of rose and peony, followed by fresh berry flavours. www.nzhouseofwine. co.uk

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Wine Time Spring is in the air, the days warmer, and what better way to enjoy life than with a delicious Rosé wine Taittinger Brut Prestige Rosé NV A vibrant rosé with a vivid aroma of red summer fruit, enticing wild strawberry and raspberry. www. champagnedirect.co.uk

Moet Chandon Rose Imperial Zesty, supple and lively with a lingering finish, with hints of with soft strawberry and a fresh almost lemony aroma. www. drinksupermarket.com

Bollinger Rosé Non Vintage Crisp, toasty rosé with subtle berry fruits and a long finish.

The first new Bollinger release in 30 years. www.waitrosecellar.com

Jenkyn Place, Rosé Brut 2014.

Multi-award winning English wine with fresh, elegant, notes of berry fruits, vibrant florals and citrus. Perfect for Spring time celebrations. www.jenkynplace.com

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Fresh Faced

Aesthetic ‘Tweakments’ with no downtime Non Surgical Rhinoplasty A particular treatment taking the aesthetics’ world by storm at present is the non-surgical nose job. Thanks to the huge difference it can make to a person’s appearance in less than half an hour. There is one particular clinician people are travelling to see – Dr Yusra Al-Mukhtar.

Performing over 5,000 non-surgical rhinoplasty treatments each year, Dr Yusra has clients jetting in daily from as far afield as even the USA and Australia, all wanting to improve the appearance of their noses – fixing humps, bumps, asymmetries and drooping tips, without the trauma and down time of a surgical procedure under general anesthetic.

A non-surgical rhinoplasty treatment is a corrective procedure to straighten the nose using injectables, rather than surgery. Longlasting dermal filler is injected at strategic points in the nose to straighten it and correct deformities, irregularities or bumps; lifting the tip of the nose to better define it. This treatment is particularly good for addressing bumps on the bridge of the nose or downward drooping tips - it’s a great alternative to costly surgery and has no to minimal downtime. The procedure take just a matter of minutes to complete; with instant life changing results. We caught up with Dr Yusra to discover more..

“The Non-surgical rhinoplasty treatments we perform are unique & innovative. We inject naturally occurring hyaluronic acid into strategic points in the nose to completely mask any humps or bumps & straighten it - from a side profile perspective or face-on. This creates

a long-lasting contour to the nose and can also lead to improvements in breathing.”

“This treatment is non-surgical - there’s no downtime involved and patients can go back to their usual daily activities straight away. It’s a great alternative for those who don’t want to go under the knife; due to how costly this can be or the risks involved. It’s also something people do before having surgery; to envisage how their nose could look before committing to it permanently. It’s a very long-lasting solution.

Unlike in the lips or cheeks, the nose is a nonmobile area; meaning that filler injected here lasts for a longer amount of time.”

“Non-surgical rhinoplasties are the treatments that elicit the most tears and emotional impact.

This is because the nose is the only feature on the face that sticks out - and if people have bumps or humps here, these are noticeable to them and others.... meaning that they’ve often had to go through things like bullying.

There’s a lot of research to show that there’s a significant link between having a large nose or dorsal hump deformity and depression / social anxiety.”

“We find that the biggest change in patients after their treatment isn’t the physical one we’ve just performed - it’s the improvement in their mental health. To their emotional health & psycho-social wellbeing. Whereas before our patients might hold back when it comes to going for promotions, on dates or to new job interviews; following their treatment,

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they’re free to live their lives fully. Before, these patients would cover their faces when they smiled - or not smile at all because their nose would dip down, now they are free to express joy. Dr Yusra practices at the Dr Yusra Clinic, Harley Street. www.dryusra.com About Dr Yusra Dr Yusra Al-Mukhtar BDS BSc MFDS MJDF RCS is a dental surgeon and anti-ageing expert.

She’s an advanced, experienced facial aesthetic practitioner; with several years’ experience in head & neck surgery. She qualified with Honours & Distinction from King’s College London, after obtaining several prizes for clinical excellence - as well as obtaining a First Class Honours in Medical Science & Management from Imperial College London.

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The Art of Facial Sculpting Many of us have had a spot or two of filler these days - to boost cheekbones mainly, but the best practitioners will view a person’s whole face and take a more holistic aesthetic approach.

Dr Nina Bal is one of these – who, guided by the Golden Ratio of Beauty, the mathematical symmetry algorithm that underlies our perception of attractiveness, can transform a face aesthetically within minutes.

A vision in fresh-faced natural beauty, Dr Nina is warm, friendly and takes time and care to sit and learn from you what it is about your face you have concerns over and what you might like to achieve. In my case, it was the appearance of jowls and my lack of definition around my jaw area which made me feel selfconscious and more and more selfie-adverse in recent years. I assumed filler around the jawline would be the answer.

After my makeup was removed and hair tied back, she sat me on the couch and looked closely and intently at my face front and profile on, and felt around my bone structure for some time. Then she actually suggested filler on the cheekbones and chin would achieve the best results, because this, she explained, would reverse the triangle - from bottom heavy/jowly, to a much more pleasing wide/ high cheekbones look narrowing to a pert and defined chin – far more aligned with the Golden Ratio of Beauty.

The actual treatment was pretty painless and surprisingly quick. Whilst I was sitting upright Dr Nina had already marked up my face to show exactly where filler should be added for best effect, and once reclined on the couch, after surgically disinfecting around the areas to be injected, all I felt was a few quick and light pin pricks to each cheek and on my chin and the treatment was complete. For those who are nervous they might experience a little

discomfort, numbing gel can be applied before.

Looking into the mirror she provided, I was so delighted with the results. It’s actually quite incredible what a transformation can be made with just some subtle injection of filler into strategic places. By treating my cheekbones, my face was visibly lifted and the troublesome jowl area had almost disappeared.

The injection of filler onto my chin had given a much more pleasing and balanced profile too.

In just a few minutes I felt I looked honestly 10 years younger.

And importantly to me, the effect looked totally natural – nothing like the skin stretched, overly plumped visage you see on so many reality stars these days.

I had thought I needed Botox to complete my facial freshen up, but actually Dr Nina’s clever application of filler had smoothed out most of my lines anyway – and this was a bonus to me as I’d experienced temporary slightly drooping eyelids from Botox before and was worried about experiencing this again.

A couple of days on, there is absolutely no discomfort and only a tiny spot of bruising on my chin which is already fading and will be gone by tomorrow. I can honestly say, whether you are new to filler, or have regular treatments, I cannot recommend Dr Nina enough and will certainly be heading back for a top up after the 6 months or so the filler will last.

To book visit www.facialsculpting.co.uk, and follow her on Instagram @Drninafacialsculpting .

About Dr Nina Dr Nina Bal is a Cosmetic Dental Surgeon and Facial Aesthetics Doctor who, in 2008, graduated at the top of her year with distinction (BDS magna cum laude), and gained a highly

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respected diploma after completing a oneyear Postgraduate in Cosmetic Dentistry and Aesthetic Restorative Dentistry in London. A member of the General Dental Council, she is also a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and SaveFace (the National Register of Accredited Practitioners who provide non-surgical cosmetic treatments).

Dr Nina and her work have been featured many times in Forbes, Evening Standard, Harvard, Tatler, The Times, The Sun, Sunday Mirror, Thrive Global and Adweek just to name a few.

Dr Nina is the Aesthetic Dentistry Awards 2018 WINNER in the Facial Aesthetics category – Full Facial Treatment and won Finalist in the Facial Aesthetics- Dermal Fillers category in 2019. In 2017 she was shortlisted as one of the best young dentists in the UK by the highly prestigious Dental Awards.

Dr Nina is passionate about enhancing a patient’s innate beauty. Her philosophy is ‘less is more’ and she loves to make subtle aesthetic tweaks that lead to excellent, yet natural, results.

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Cars: Range Rover Velar

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Elegant, expensive looking and modern, the Range Rover Velar has been stealing the SUV scene since its launch and it’s clear to see why.

From copious kerb appeal to its multifaceted capability, the Velar has set the bar high in demonstrating to all competitor brands exactly how a great SUV should be.

A masterclass in sleek lines and minimum fuss, the distinctive design of the Range Rover Velar features perfectly optimised proportions and a stunning silhouette. Its super-slim Matrix Laser-LED headlights, flush deployable door handles and sleek Touch Pro Duo infotainment are all hallmarks of Range Rover’s reductionist design philosophy. Viewed in the metal it looks purposeful, sporting and expensive.

Neatly filling the space between the also

excellent Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport, the Velar delivers all the practicality, connectivity and capability expected from the Range Rover family.

Brimming with the latest technology, and with the inclusion of more sustainable materials throughout, it really is a car of our time.

Out on and off the road, it’s a deeply engaging drive, thanks to its acclaimed powertrain and performance and handling technology and a sophisticated four-corner suspension system. Engines range from the clean and responsive 180PS 2.0-litre Ingenium diesel to the potent 380PS supercharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine.

With safety considered paramount, there are a host of driver assistant systems including Adaptive Cruise Control with Steering Assist, and Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop & Go.

ENTREPRENEUR The Velar’s radar-based High-Speed Emergency Braking enables enhanced forward collision detection.

The system works between 6-99 mph and is able to detect an imminent collision, alerting the driver and applying the brakes if the driver fails to respond. And, now fitted as standard, all owners will benefit from a Rear Camera, Front and Rear Parking Aids, Driver Condition Monitor, Emergency Braking and Lane Keep Assist.

Adaptive Dynamics is now optionally available on a number of models throughout the range. By monitoring wheel movement 500 times per second, and body movements 100 times per second, the

ENTREPRENEUR system continuously varies the damping forces at all four corners of vehicle. This ensures that suspension stiffness is optimised for the driving conditions, improving ride comfort and handling – there’s even a specific calibration for off-road driving.

The Velar is a text-book example of a modern, elegant, versatile and capable SUV perfect for urban and countryside life.

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Cars: Volvo XC60

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With ample kerb appeal, top quality build and all- round capability, Volvo’s excellent XC60 is a masterclass in just how attractive and versatile a premium SUV can be. The latest model also brings new levels of sophistication, connectivity, efficiency and safety to the class.

An eye-catching car, the XC60’s striking exterior shows the continuing development of Volvo’s new design language founded on the basic principles of clean, simple lines, classic proportions and striking details.

With Volvo, it’s never style over substance and practicality though, and the thoughtful attention to this is just one of the many factors why so many people stay loyal to the brand for a lifetime.

An example of one such thoughtful feature we certainly appreciated on test was the XC60’s clever ‘under-wrap’ doors. By extending all the way down to the lowest part of the car’s body and overlapping the sills, they meant getting in and out of the car was easier and any mud, dirt and dust was kept out because the door sills are always clean. Other exterior features designed to make your life easier include power-folding and auto-dimming door mirrors, power operated tailgate, full-LED headlights with daytime running lights, an excellent crystal clear rear parking and 360° surround-view cameras and a panoramic sunroof.

Slip inside to experience an interior which really sets the benchmark for SUVs in the XC60’s premium mid-sized class. Luxurious and modern, it takes the best of contemporary Scandinavian design and combines it with natural materials such as wood and leather to create a sophisticated and relaxing environment. This clean, elegant design is possible thanks to an innovative Sensus touchscreen control system, which allows the interior to be largely free of fiddly and distracting buttons and switches.

Absolute attention to detail and craftsmanship are visible throughout - from the handfinished Driftwood interior inlays of Inscription versions to the diamond-cut rotary control knobs in the middle of the air vents and the little Swedish flag emblem in the dashboard. The XC60 really does showcase the best of Scandi-Cool luxury.

Cabin space and comfort-wise, being long and wide, there’s plenty of space for five and the generous glass area – especially in models fitted with the optional panoramic sunroof – ensures the cabin is full of natural light, while the high seating positions give everyone a great view of their surroundings. We tested it with family on some long journeys and all occupants found it a super comfortable and pleasant place to be.

In line with the ample cabin space, the boot is large too – and able to hold 483 litres with the standard split-folding rear seats up, and an impressive 1,410 litres with them down. Again – practicality is key – and the car’s designers paid particular attention to making the boot

ENTREPRENEUR a practical shape that’s easy to load. The power-operated tailgate mentioned earlier is a bonus too – and we really liked the handsfree version which enables you to open and close by simply putting your foot beneath the rear bumper – such a handy feature when you’ve got your hands full or when loading bulky, heavy objects in the boot. Cabin equipment wise, all Volvos including the XC60 comes with an excellent array as standard. Highlights for this XC60 include a voice-activated control system, heated Nappa soft leather upholstery – with massage function on Inscription pro spec, Sensus nine-inch touch screen, four-zone climate control and the option of Premium Sound by Bowers & Wilkins with 15 speakers and 1,100 Watts – which is fantastic!

Out on the road the XC60 is a dynamic and comfortable drive – agile, stable and super-smooth. We found our car to be equally excellent on long motorway hikes, on forest off road trails and through tight and twisty countryside lanes. There’s great visabiity for the driver, it’s easy to achieve a comfortable seating position, all controls are intuitive to use and ergonomically placed and minimal road, wind and engine noise makes each journey a pleasant one. The XC60 is actually the first Volvo fitted with Steering Support, a technologically advanced safety aid that can automatically apply the steering or provide additional steering input in an emergency to help avoid a potential collision.

All XC60’s come with an automatic gearbox and the engines are all Volvo’s own Drive-E units, which offer exceptional power and efficiency. The range comprises three diesels, three petrols and two petrol-electric plug-in hybrids. Power ranges from 190 to 405hp, with CO2 emissions from as little as 47g/km. Our T5 petrol 2.0ltr turbocharged AWD car felt amply powered, with barely perceptible gear changes and precise steering. The ride is just right too what ever the terrain. The XC60, like all Volvo’s mid-size 60 series models, is built on the company’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform which is designed to incorporate next-generation electrification, connectivity and safety technologies as they become available. Suspension-wise, at the front it uses a double wishbone front axle with coil springs. For the rear, the car has an integral-link rear axle with a composite transverse leaf spring – a combination which provides increased grip, limited body roll, excellent directional stability and comfort. For an even greater breadth of dynamic abilities, the

ENTREPRENEUR XC60 can also be fitted with electronically controlled air suspension. A truly versatile vehicle, each XC60 comes with the reassurance of all-wheel drive (AWD), and is fitted with Drive Mode settings, which allow you to alter certain dynamic functions and convenience features of the car to suit the conditions or your personal preference.

As you’d expect from any Volvo, there’s an abundance of advanced driver aids and world’ leading safety features. Highlights include the ground-breaking Volvo on Call facility which will help you in an emergency. If an airbag is deployed or a seatbelt pre-tensioner is activated in a crash, an operator will contact the car and can even send the emergency services to your precise location using the car’s inbuilt GPS system. You can also use Volvo On Call to summon roadside assistance – for example, if your car has a puncture – and the GPS can be used to track your car if it is stolen. Steering Support automatically provides steering input in an emergency to help avoid potential collisions and Volvo’s City Safety and Oncoming Lane Mitigation. This continued focus on safety innovation is all part of Volvo’s Vision 2020 – that no one will be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car by 2020.

Here at E&I we are unashamed Volvo fans. Having lived with and tested many models from the brand for years, they have proved nothing but reliable, safe, comfortable, tough and great to travel in and drive.

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Cars: Land Rover Discovery Sport

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ENTREPRENEUR Perfectly suited for family or even farm use, Land Rover’s Discovery and Discovery Sport models have more than proved their mettle over the years since launch. The latest Sport continues this tradition and brings the added bonus of more compelling eco creds, space and tech too.

With even more cabin and storage room and a host of upgrades and state-ofthe-art technology, the new model’s set fair to snatch even more awards than its predecessor of which almost 100,000 models were sold in the UK alone.

As Rawdon Glover, JLR MD says: “The new model combines everything the Discovery family of vehicles embodies with a greater focus on modern life – whether through the new electrified 48-volt MHEV or PHEV powertrains, the latest technologies that keep you connected at all times, or the durable materials used throughout the cabin. The result is a compact seven-seat SUV that caters for every family, in every eventuality.”

Viewed on arrival, there’s no doubting the Discovery has presence and is pleasingly proportioned. A compact yet spacious SUV with room for 7, it is tall, wide and imposing, and frankly looks like it means business. Little can trounce the Discovery off road – possibly only the hard core just launched new Land Rover Defender - and the clues to this capability are there – high stance affording plenty of ground clearance, ‘command’ driving position to give the best views ahead for safety, and rock-solid construction. New exterior enhancements include new signature LED headlamps at the front and rear, alongside an updated front grille and bumpers.

Slip inside and it’s immediately evident the cabin has been given a more luxury look and feel than ever before. The spacious, more comfortable and quiet interior has been transformed with a completely new infotainment interface and latest connectivity, plus a more flexible seating arrangement with up to 24 combinations.

Trim wise, the new Discovery Sport is available in Discovery Sport, S, SE and HSE versions, in addition to the R-Dynamic variants that mark themselves out with unique bumpers, Shadow Atlas script on the bonnet and tailgate, and use of body colour on the side sills and wheel arches. Inside, branded treadplates further differentiate it from the core model.

Out on the road, for a vehicle of its dimensions, it rides remarkably lightly. The new body is 13% stiffer than before and this, together with rigidly-mounted subframes that reduce noise and vibration intrusion into the cabin, ensures maximum safety in the event of a collision.

Agile, smooth, sure-footed and engaging, the new Discovery Sport is a pleasing and dynamic drive whatever the terrain. Available across the range of fourcylinder Ingenium petrol and diesel engines, the mild hybrid delivers CO2 emissions from as low as 144g/km CO2 (NEDC equivalent) and fuel economy up to 40.9mpg (6.9l/100km) (based on WLTP test procedure). An even more efficient plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) variant has also now joined the range.

Safety wise, Land Rover has fitted this new model with tech treats such as ‘smart rear view mirror’ that transforms into a video screen at the flick of a switch to display what is behind the vehicle in crisp high definition. There’s also a system which helps drivers navigate high city centre kerbs or tackle rough terrain by projecting camera imagery that offers a virtual 180-degree

ENTREPRENEUR view beneath the vehicle onto the touchscreen – we appreciated this feature on test when traversing huge pot hole compromised forest tracks.

The new model boasts a wading depth of 600mm, All-Wheel Drive and a secondgeneration Active Driveline system (engine output dependent). Terrain Response 2 automatically detects the surface and adjusts the torque delivery to best suit the conditions, while Advanced Tow Assist makes reversing with a trailer (up to 2,500kg) more intuitive and safer than ever.

There is a reversing camera as standard on all models, alongside a suite of available advanced driver assistance systems. This includes optional Adaptive Cruise Control with Steering Assist, which centres the vehicle in the lane based on road markings as well as maintaining a safe distance from the vehicle in front. Standard safety features include Lane Keep Assist, Autonomous Emergency Braking and

Driver Condition Monitor.

Others highlights particularly appreciated include the wireless charging pad, enabling you to just place your iPhone on the area for its battery to be quickly boosted. And the handy 4G WiFi hotspot and USB and 12-volt connectivity points on every row, ensure your passengers also remain charged and connected.

For regular drivers of the new Discovery Sport, Smart Settings uses artificial intelligence algorithms to learn driver preferences, adjusting massage and seat positions, music and climate settings and steering column positioning to suit each driver.

This new Discover Sport ticks so many boxes – it’s hard to imagine another model coming close. The perfect vehicle for busy families – safe, spacious, tough, capable and great to drive.

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Cars: Toyota GR Supra Conceived as a sports car in its purest form, Toyota’s GR Supra is a true driving enthusiast’s dream.

With its exhilarating blend of power, agility, pin sharp handling and eye-catching good looks it’s little wonder this, the first global GR model for Toyoto Gazoo Racing, is on the wish list of many.

This fifth generation of the highly respected Supra is a sight to behold viewed in the metal. Low sweeping lines marry with muscular curves to more than hint to its solid performance prowess. You get the feeling gazing at this distinctive and rather beautiful vehicle that its Chief Designer Nobuo Nakamura conceptualised a car of their aesthetic dreams.

The design is functional as well as stylish though – and Nakumara set out to achieve a design which would create the best drag and lift characteristics and an ideal front/rear weight balance. This includes the distinctive double-bubble roof - it’s not simply a heritage- inspired or ‘arty’ feature, but

plays an important part in reducing drag by reducing the car’s frontal area, without sacrificing headroom in the cabin.

Slip inside the cockpit and the visual delights continue. The design neatly combines sports car elements with ultra-modern functionality and is designed to help the driver focus entirely on the business of driving. You can clearly see it is directly influenced by the layout of single-seater race cars. The low, slim horizontal dashboard maximises the forward view through the windscreen, helping the driver place the car with precision in high-speed driving, while the principal controls are tightly grouped for quick and easy operation. The instrument panel, centre console and door

ENTREPRENEUR trim are combined in a seamless design that gives the cockpit a strong, unified feel.

The line of the cockpit flows down into soft, supportive knee pads in the door trim and on the side of the centre console, their shape defined with the benefit of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s circuit racing experience.

passenger side of the cabin. Knee pads are provided for the passenger, too. The air conditioning control panel sits proud of the console with memory-touch switches for easy operation; an 8.8-inch central multimedia display is mounted above the console, operated using a touchscreen or a rotary controller.

The head-up display, meters and paddle shifts all sit directly in front of the driver, with additional switches located on the three-spoke steering wheel. The wheel itself is contoured for excellent grip and is wrapped in leather. The 8.8-inch highdefinition driver’s instrument display is clearly visible through the steering wheel, with the 3D-effect tachometer and shift indicator positioned in the centre; a digital speed read-out to the left; and infotainment and navigation information to the right.

The new Toyota GR Supra’s seats have a racing-influenced design that ensures comfort at all times and excellent support, in particular if the car is being used ontrack. Body-holding side bolsters are featured on the cushion and high back, and there is an integrated head restraint.

We found these super comfortable and supporting even during long motorway journeys.

An asymmetric centre console marks a clear division between the enveloping driver’s cockpit and the more open

The boot space is surprisingly large and roomy enough for two people’s luggage for a weekend away and can be extended with a removable panel, creating space to accommodate a golf bag or all the personal kit needed for a track day.

Gorgeous looks aside, for most of those who will buy it, it’s really all about the guarantee of a spine-tingling drive. The combination of a short wheelbase, wide track, low centre of gravity, rigid body and low weight coupled with a straight-six inline turbocharged 3.0-litre engine with slick 8-speed box delivers 335bhp and a hefty 500Nm of torque and an impressive 0-62mph sprint of just 4.3secs. Aiding the ride and performance, the Supra’s chassis is designed for optimum balance and performance and the sportscar has active differential, adaptive variable suspension and a sports braking system. The car is all about putting the driver in control and you can select normal and sports mode which will alter the vehicle’s dynamic set up. A Launch Control function enables powerful acceleration from standstill with maximum traction. Engine sound and response, shift pattern, damping, steering and active differential performance are adjusted when the driver selects Sport mode. The Vehicle Stability Control has a special, selectable “track” setting that

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reduces the level of system intervention, giving the driver greater control of the vehicle’s dynamic performance.

The Supra GR is tech rich too in terms of the latest safety aids. The Supra Safety+ package, provides a comprehensive range of active safety features including a Pre-Collision System, Lane Departure Alert with steering assist; Adaptive Cruise Control, Automatic High Beam; Adaptive Front-light System and Road Sign Assist. In addition, the car is also equipped with a Blind Spot Monitor with Lane Change Departure Alert, Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, Rear-end Collision Alert, and Intelligent parking sensors with automatic braking and more...

Out on the road this is a car to play in, appreciating its kart like ride and handling and powerful

ENTREPRENEUR acceleration and large amounts of torque that’s available at all speeds. Toyota Gazoo Racing was instrumental in honing the car’s performance, working extensively on the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife and surrounding roads in Germany to achieve the most agile, stable and rewarding handling possible, along with further extensive testing was carried out on roads around the world. On test it was tempting to take the Supra out for a thrilling drive at the slightest excuse, always returning with a great big smile on my face. You usually have to pay out a lot more than its £54,000 OTR price to experience this heightened kind of driving pleasure. Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada appreciated the Supra has a huge global following and he went to great lengths to ensure this latest edition more than delight and met the high expectations of even the most hardcore fans. He insisted on visiting enthusiasts’ clubs around the world to talk to owners of previous models – and what he created was based on their requests and what they valued most – and standing his ground to, in his words ‘deliver a pure sports car offering the ultimate driving pleasure.’ A gorgeous looking car which is great fun to drive – and just about practical enough to live with and use for daily life too.

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Cars: LexusNX

Bold, handsome looks, dynamic performance and all-wheel capability – the Lexus NX is a classy premium crossover choice. This combination of eyecatching charm and versatility is enticing car buyers worldwide - including those wanting a vehicle with genuine eco credentials too.

Slip inside the NX and the attention to aesthetics continues, but what’s particularly appealing is how cleverly the cabin has been designed to please the eye but be supremely practical too. There’s nothing superfluous, everything makes sense and is in the ergonomically right place. The seats are buttersoft and come in a choice of cream and ochre or the favourite white, black and dark rose scheme. The dash curves and has a soft, premium touch, and there’s absolutely no doubting this is a quality car.

The NX comes with a 4.2-inch TFT LCD full-colour multi-information display, centrally positioned in the instrument cluster, with ambient illumination

linked to the Drive Mode Select switch, changing colour for each mode. If you opt for the Sport and Takumi model NXs, you’ll even enjoy a welcoming light sequence,

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ENTREPRENEUR which is all part of the brand’s great attention to detail. When you approach the car, carrying the key, the door handles are automatically illuminated, along with the Remote Touch Interface inside the car.

As you’d expect from Lexus, the NX is tech-rich. We particularly appreciated the wireless charging tray to enable our IPhones to be topped up, and the excellent 360-degree Panoramic View Monitor which gave a crystal-clear view of everything around the car – so handy for manouevering in tight and awkwardly angled spaces on and off-road. The highest spec models come with a head-up-display too.

The cabin is spacious front and rear – and with more head room than you’d anticipate given its sporty lines, and there’s more knee room than in many large SUV models on the market. Visibility is good too. On even a pretty long trip from London to the countryside it proved a super-comfortable ride and engaging drive. There’s very little road, wind or engine noise too. The boot is large and practical – able to stow a generous 475 litres – wide enough for even golf bags to be carried sideways, and comes with a power tailgate for ease of loading.

ENTREPRENEUR For the safety conscious, Lexus has packed the NX with a veritable arsenal of parking, anticollision and other driving safety features – as standard throughout the range too. In what it calls the Lexus Safety System+ there are a Pre-Collision System, Adaptive Cruise Control, Automatic High Beam/Adaptive High-beam System, Lane Keep Assist with Sway Warning and Traffic Sign Recognition. Intelligent Parking Sensors are also available.

Out on the road, the car drives as dynamically as it looks. High body rigidity, Adaptive Variable Suspension and Drive Mode Select deliver smooth, stable and agile performance.

The NX 300h uses a proven Lexus Hybrid Drive system featuring a 2.5-litre Atkinson cycle petrol engine, a generator, electric motor and hybrid battery with a sophisticated HV control unit developed specifically for the model. Total system output is 195bhp/145kW; combined cycle fuel consumption is from 35.7 to 37.6mpg; and CO2 emissions are from 137g/km. The Lexus NX is without doubt one of the most stylish, high quality and great to drive SUVs around.

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Spring Time Beauty Treats

S5 Skin Care This range of advanced organic skin care is the ideal solution for all kinds of conditions including hyperpigmentation and blemishes, and has been specifically designed to counteract skin issues caused by the effects of modern living such as pollution, chronic stress and immune dysfunction. The products harnesses the power of plants that thrive in the most extreme ecosystems to deliver real results. www.s5skincare.com Kevyn Aucoin Excellent range of make up. Pigment rich, long lasting and easy to apply, the Unforgettable lipsticks and lip liners come in a host of flattering shades and feel weightless when on.

They contain Vitamins E and C, Hyalauronic Acid and Magnolia Bark Extract to hydrate and soften lips. The lip liners have a brush on one end for perfect application and handily come with their own sharpener. A favourite from the range is the silk soft Foundation Balm. This comes in 20 shades and is a full coverage buildable foundation for all skin types in 20 different shades. Available from www. kevynaucoinbeauty.com Ingenious Beauty These products boast revolutionary patents which enhance skin, hair and nails, as well as strengthening joints and increasing feelings of vitality.

The Ultimate Collagen product has a patented capsule which is hailed as a major breakthrough in collagen absorption, contains Marine Collagen Peptide, Hyalauronic Acid Complex, Astaxanthin and is claimed to increase skin elasticity by an astonishing 61% and reduce fine lines by 55%. They are free from parabens, fillers, sweeteners etc too.

Available from: www.feelingenious.com

Solo Skin London Solo Skin London; a modern premium beauty oil crafting natural and organic products for your skin and beauty.

Natural needn’t be tedious with this range of high performing, eco-friendly, cruelty-free skincare which is ideal for dry, sensitive or combination skin.

These face oils work wonders as a primer. The formula’s are innovative and have high performance blends. www.soloskinlondon.co.uk

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Fragrances for Him Mandarina Corsica, L’Artisan Parfumeur Vibrant sweet citrus, sun-kissed heady herbs and rich, velvety tonka bean. Memorable and delicious.

Arabian Desert, Alfred Dunhill Signature Collection A sophisticated oriental floral fragrance with notes of amber, bergamot, pink pepper, jasmine and rose.

No 1. Most Expensive Cologne Ever: Clive Christian ‘No 1’ Heady, rich and decadent, a distinctive and memorable cologne.

Beau De Jour. Tom Ford Old school lavender, rosemary and basil meet patchouli and lasting ambers. Fresh and aromatic with a maverick twist.

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Springtime Scents Springtime Scents

Rose Pompon, Goutal Paris A sparkling rose scent with hints of pink pepper and raspberry – the perfect fragrance for spring time weddings.

Blossom Special Edition , Jimmy Choo.

A lovely day-to-evening versatile fragrance rich with frangipani, sandalwood and tropical fruits freshened with soft, fresh floral notes.

Flower by Kenzo Poppy Bouquet Another pretty rose-centred fragrance, this features notes of heady gardenia, almond wood, Japanese nashi pear and unforgettably Bulgarian rose.

Rose Petal, Jo Loves Sultry, totally feminine, classic freshly picked rose blossom fragrance that lasts.

Rose & Roses, Miss Dior Fresh, vibrant, vivacious - a truly modern rose for every day and romantic night.

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Luxury Luggage We may be on lock down at the present time, but it’s the perfect time to start thinking of planning your trips for later this year- and that means choosing some fabulous, stylish and versatile luggate too... Here are some of the best we’ve discovered and tested.

Briggs & Riley Torq Collection Designed for the rigors of world travel, Torq is expertly engineered to withstand it all: from cargo holds to overhead bins and everything in between, all while maintaining its rugged resilience. www.briggs-riley.com

Torq features include: 70/30 lid opening packs like a traditional suitcase on a luggage rack or bed. Built-in suiter keeps suits and garments wrinklefree (select styles).Hinged front pocket offers supreme protection and easy access to laptop, chargers, and more (carry-on only).TSA-Friendly combo lock protects contents and easily locks both compartments.

Leather nameplate customizes your Torq bag by embossing your initials.

USB port charges your phone or device from outside your carry-on.

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RIMOWA Original Trunk

Rimowa x Dior

Hermes Orion Suicase

FPM Milano Bank Trunk On Wheels

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