Supporting SMEs October 2017

LIFE’S A BEACH (TOWEL) How one small towel business mopped up on Dragons’ Den

GET AWAY FROM IT ALL How revamping the caravan park paid off for one investor

SEARCHING FOR THE CEOS OF THE FUTURE The next big CEO is likely just starting out.

But what’s it like to start a firm from scratch?

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SPECIAL REPORT: SMEs What the relaunch of the East India Company can teach small businesses about growing – and staying on course

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Development funds are welcome news – but will they be enough to counteract the skills shortages and tariffs Brexit may herald?

OPENING SHOTS JOANNE FREARSON

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ESPITE THE generally gloomy economic prognosis regarding Brexit, export orders have been booming recently for UK SMEs. In fact, a survey published by the CBI found that, in the three months up to July, export order growth was the highest since April 2011.

But while low exchange rates and robust global demand has certainly been a boost to British SMEs trading overseas, as the UK prepares to leave the European Union (EU) there could be uncertain times ahead.

Although the survey showed strong export order growth figures, optimism about the current business situation was broadly flat. There were concerns that possible labour shortages and access to talent could put pressure on business after Brexit.

Currently many SMEs rely on foreign workers to fill the skill gaps of the domestic workforce – and if these workers are no longer available post-Brexit, it could prove catastrophic for their business. It is also not known what kind of tariff-free

trade routes will open up for the country for exports to continue to be a success – and any tariffs imposed after Brexit may outweigh the benefit a low exchange rate is bringing.

Funding is another concern.

Institutions such as the European Investment Fund (EIF) have provided roughly around a third of investments in UK-based venture capital funds and if this relationship ends it could be another significant setback for SMEs. Although there is much uncertainty surrounding the UK as it prepares to leave the EU, there are projects being established to help stem any potential holes the loss may create, and to help UK businesses be more competitive on a global scale. The government has set up a $1billion National Investment Fund to invest in cutting-edge start-ups set to become the next unicorn (a start-up company valued at more than £770million).

There are more unicorns created in the UK than in Europe, but we are dwarfed by the US, which accounts for 54 per cent of start-up

“Many SMEs rely on foreign workers to fill the skills gaps of the domestic workforce.

If these workers are no longer available post-Brexit, it could prove catastrophic”

companies valued to at least £1billion, while China accounts for 23 per cent. Only 4 per cent are based in the UK. A consultation by the government has identified a £4billion funding gap between American firms and British firms, while figures have shown that fewer than one in 10 firms that receive seed funding in the UK go on to get fourth-round investment, compared to nearly a quarter in the US. Top US firms also tend to be younger than UK firms – again suggesting the US is more effectively growing new businesses into largescale companies. Ten of the UK’s largest 100 listed firms were created after 1975, compared with 19 in the US (and only two in Europe).

It remains to be seen to what degree the new fund will help boost small companies in the UK to their full potential. And while it is a positive step, there is still the question of skills shortages in the UK – given that unemployment remains near record lows and firms are struggling to hire and develop workers, SMEs could face some difficult times ahead.

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One small business that isn’t drying up Joanne Frearson talks to Andy Jefferies of revolutionary towel company Dock & Bay about their recent win on Dragons’ Den

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OCK & Bay, the reinvented travel towel, has won the backing of Deborah Meaden on Dragons’ Den following their pitch, which also saw Tej Lalvani and Touker Suleyman offer to invest in their business.

The company was started by best friends Andy Jefferies and Ben Muller after they decided the corporate world was not for them. They wanted to be in control of their own destiny – every Tuesday they would sit down with a bottle of vodka and a curry and have a brainstorming session.

Travel was one of their big passions, and they saw a gap in the market for fast-drying beach towels.

The pair, who met while working at a bank, say the hardest thing about setting up the company was the learning curve from leaving the world of digital banking to reinventing the traditional beach and travel towel.

Jefferies says: “Selling our reinvention of the traditional beach and travel towel, from a completely different world in a digital bank was a huge learning curve for us.

“We had zero contacts in this space and little knowledge of how retail worked.

So in many ways at the start, we didn’t even

“We’d watch webinars and YouTube videos to clue up on all the questions we had about how to start a business” – Andy Jefferies, Dock & Bay

know who was the right person to turn to for support!”

Initially the pair found their biggest support came via family and friends. One friend provided them with free warehousi ng, wh ic h t hey st i l l use today.

Jefferies’s parents lent them £5,000 to kick the business off, while Muller took out a £26,000 bank loan to invest in the business.

Another learning resource was the internet. Says Jefferies: “We would watch webinars and YouTube videos, do online courses, tutorials and guides – you name it – in order to clue up on all the questions we had swirling around our head about to how start a business.

“We’ve found that almost all the questions we had someone had asked before online – and someone had also answered it. The internet and the power of tools like Google and Amazon are amazing and have allowed us to become a global business from the side of our desks.”

Meaden has also been a great support since they won Dragons’ Den, offering them a 10 per cent stake in the brand. He says: “It is still early days, but we came out of our meeting with lots of things that Deborah would look to help us overcome. From

Deborah Meaden Having built a multi-million pound family holiday business, Deborah Meaden joined the panel of investors for series three of the BBC2 programme Dragons’ Den. Since joining the show, she has agreed 33 investments totalling £2million of startups, with Dock & Bay being the latest addition to her portfolio.

Other investments range from plasterboard fixings, fashion brands, handcrafted ice creams and sorbet makers, children’s bath and hair companies, a cereal firm and a dance company which offers lessons in swing and blues to people in London and Brighton.

Meaden’s rise to fame came after she sold Weststar, her holiday business, to Phoenix Equity Partners in 2005 in a deal worth £33million.

She retained a 23 per cent stake which she sold when Weststar Holidays was sold on to Parkdean Holidays for £83million.

She lives in Somerset with her husband Paul and a cat named Friday, as well as

helping to prepare our manufacturing in China for scaling up, to providing new contacts in the world of PR and design and the future potential of opening doors into new retail stores as we grow.

“Her knowledge from investing in so many different businesses spans far and wide and working with someone that has experienced the highs and lows of business growth, will stand us in good stead to take the business to the next level.”

She says she invested in the pair because she was “interested in the people behind the business and loved Andy and Ben’s energy. The fact that they took a leap,

three dogs, five horses, 11 chickens, four ducks and three geese, which are apparently very angry.

She also actively supports a number of environmental charities and initiatives including the annual Observer Ethical Awards, which she has judged since 2008. She is also is a fellow of the WWF and acts as a trustee for Tusk Trust.

quitting their corporate jobs to start running a worldwide business from other sides of the globe, in a generation where many have begun to look for ways to run their own lives and be in control is brilliant.”

The reinvented towel brand’s long-term ambition is to become a large global player and be the brand people turn to when they want a beach towel. Their mission is to slowly become the “Havaianas [the iconic Brazilian flip-flop manufacturer] of towels”, but they are taking one day at a time. As Jefferies points out “we’ve got big plans but we’re not going to rush anything. We’ve still got a lot to learn.”

OCTOBER 2017 Publisher Bradley Scheffer | Editor Joanne Frearson | Production editor Dan Geary | Project manager Michael Roughan | Client manager Maida Goodman | Contact us info@lyonsdown.co.uk / 020 8349 6492

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Cloud will only reach the tipping point if SMEs become ‘confident adopters’

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MALL BUSINESS appetite for cloud technology is growing, but we are far from reaching the tipping point in adoption. Jon Wrennall, chief technology Officer (CTO) at British software and services company Advanced, believes Cloud providers need to do more to boost confidence and knowledge among SMEs that are reluctant to move to the cloud.

“We are all familiar with the concept of the cloud, but we are led to believe that businesses are well on their way in cloud adoption,” Wrennall says. “This is far from the truth. Our latest research shows that just 33 per cent of organisations admit to being experienced in the cloud and 37 per cent have only recently launched cloudcomputing projects for the first time.

“Every business owner will have their own pain points, but most would agree it’s difficult to get a handle on production, sales and finance while keeping pace with growth.

The cloud can help by giving owners a complete view of the business, but there are still SMEs that find it difficult to see how it works and recognise the tangible benefits available to them. So there is still a job to be done in proving the cloud’s worth and that responsibility should fall on the cloud providers. Until we help SMEs become confident adopters, we won’t reach the tipping point in cloud adoption.”

Advanced sees the cloud’s potential to impact every small business and, for this reason, has launched a cloud-first strategy to deliver a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that is accessible and adaptable for all. In July, the company acquired Hudman, developer of an award-winning cloud-based SaaS enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Three months on, it has unveiled Advanced Business Cloud Essentials as the new name for the Hudman SaaS solution and signed up several small businesses during the process.

James Gourmet Coffee, J S Bailey, Aspire Furniture and Aspire Manufacturing are examples of SMEs that have invested in the solution, which covers the entire business process from accounts and payroll through to operations, stock, customers and the supply chain.

The founder of Aspire Furniture, a fastgrowing online mail-order furniture business, says the cloud ERP solution has been an incredible tool for supporting its growth over the last three years, and that he would never turn back from the cloud.

Kit Burgoyne, co-owner and founder of the business, explains: “From day one, I had a clear vision of what I needed from an ERP

Just 33 per cent of organisations admit to being experienced in the cloud

John Wrennal, CTO, Advanced

solution, a tool that would automate and manage the full logistical process from sales orders to create invoices and purchase orders, through to sending out the orders.

The team worked with us to ensure the solution was right. Since then, we’ve grown from ten orders a day to 500 a day in only three years and the solution has proved reliable and scalable. We achieved £2.2million in revenue in 2016 and anticipate doubling that in 2017, and we see the solution scaling to support us easily. As a wholesaler, being able to upload orders directly from the retailers’ system has saved us three hours a day, freeing up at least two people from manually inputting orders to much more valuable work.

“I’d never go back from using the cloud.

I can get a complete view of the business accessing the solution wherever I am – working from home, out and about or even while on holiday. That access has been so valuable. One of the keys to our success is that the sales team simply focus on sales, confident that the back-office logistics will run smoothly.”

James Gourmet Coffee, a successful family-run independent coffee-roasting business with a track record of 20 years in the industry, says the cloud ERP solution replaced a poorly performing accounting solution that made creating simple reports too time-consuming. Peter James, owner and founder, added: “It’s become an

invaluable visual tool that I trust to help me make important business decisions. It provides an overview of what’s going on in the business, from trends and tracking of consumption, and covers our key business operations including HR and payroll.

The team quickly built up our confidence in the solution and we believe the cloud is the way forward in transforming our processes online.”

JS Bailey, a leading cheese wholesaler with a turnover of £30million, believes Advanced will help it reduce paperwork across the organisation by as much as 80 per cent.

“Admittedly, our ways of working were becoming outdated and in several areas were struggling to keep pace with rapid growth of the company” said Anne German, system manager at JS Bailey. “A number of our business processes were not fully integrated with each other, requiring the support of manual procedures, making it more difficult for us to monitor and report on production, sales and finance in the timely manner that a growing business requires.

“We recognised a change was needed if we were to succeed in the ‘new’ digital era, but we knew little about which technologies could help us reimagine our business.

Advanced Business Cloud was recommended to us and, when seeing it in action, we were impressed by the features as well as the affordability and customer service that came with them. Moving to the cloud needn’t have been so daunting after all, and we are confident it will give us a fully integrated system fit for the future.”

Wrennal adds: “The latest customer wins are sure signs that cloud adoption is accelerating in the SME sector and that breadth of businesses that can use the cloud to gain a competitive advantage. The ERP element of cloud technology has many uses too. For example, we are already seeing a strong interest from online businesses to use it from a sales management and order processes perspective, and from manufacturers for stock control and production processes.

“Integrated ERP is very compelling – the ability to manage all your business processes from one source and have real-time information at your fingertips has been desired for a long time.”

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Getting away from it all Moving into the caravan park sector might seem like a bold move for an investor – but ten years on, Anthony Esse’s Darwin Escapes holiday parks are a huge success

“That was a big challenge – a lot of people dismissed it straight away. What surprised me was that some of these were very credible investment managers.”

– Anthony Esse

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FTER STUMBLING across a rundown holiday park during a cycle ride in an idyllic location, Anthony Esse, CEO and founder of luxury holiday-park firm Darwin Escapes, decided he could do better.

Esse had been out on his bike looking for a country pub while his son was training at the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) development squad at Graf ham Water when he came across the park. Although the location was idyllic, litter had been strewn all over the place and a squashed dead rat was at reception.

“I kid you not – the first thing I thought was, I could do better than this,” he tells me. “I asked myself the question, if a business like this can be profitable, what would it be like if it was half decent?”

“I spent two years researching the market and finding out who the players were and quickly established that this was a hugely fragmented industry populated by a lot of ‘mom-and-pop’ businesses. They probably had a shortage of capital and therefore t hese park s k ind of lacked investment.”

At this time the credit crunch was in full swing and asset prices had been collapsing, yet Esse found these businesses were still generating cash. He felt such holiday parks could realistically have long-term periods of sustained cash flow.

Having worked in the investment management profession for more than 25 years, he decided to set up Darwin Escapes through a unit trust called the Darwin Leisure Property Fund. Institutional investors, pension funds and private investors invest in the fund and the money is used to purchase and operate holiday parks in the UK. “When we set up the fund one of the things that was of key importance was thinking about the investor first,” he says. “By having the operator in-house means that the investor – in this case, pension funds – is going to benefit from the fact that it is in-house and there is no cash leakage out of the fund.”

“We say to all our employees that if they do a really good job it will please our holidaymakers, which in turn provides returns

Darwin Escapes CEO Anthony Esse (below) decided that the holiday park concept could do with a refurbishment

to our investors – these could be firefighters in Merseyside, for instance, or your British Telecom engineer.”

But it wasn’t all that easy for Esse when he first decided to set up Darwin Escapes. Being the first of its kind to both own and operate holiday parks, the fund made many investors wary.

“That was a big challenge – a lot of people dismissed it straight away,” he says. “What surprised me was that some of these were very credible investment managers.” Some managers were put off, says Esse, because the fund was an unknown quantity – it lacked a well-known star fund manager running it and didn’t have a Triple-A rating from an investment research house.

The other big initial challenge for Darwin Escapes, Esse explains, was that no one really knew who the company was as it did not have a track record in owning parks. “It was a real struggle – over a period of six to nine months it was on a knife edge – was this going to go or not? But that seems to be ancient history now,” he says.

But not everyone was sceptical – others had more belief in the fund and invested. Eventually they were able to start Darwin Escapes with a seed of £5million 10 years ago, and the company has grown significantly.

Darwin Escapes now has 23 UK holiday parks in its portfolio, including beach huts in Devon, a luxurious retreat just outside Bath, and even treehouses in the Isle of Wight. The value of the fund now stands at £525million – it is now closed to new investment, and has achieved a 15.14 per cent return for investors per annum, annualised over five years.

One of the first investors in the fund, Mark Dampier – research director at Hargreaves Lansdown and a well known investment commentator – has since said he considered his investment in the Darwin Leisure Property Fund as one of his best ever. The team has launched a second fund for further park development.

Does Esse have any advice for other budding entrepreneurs?

“If you believe in yourself just keep going,” he says. “Someone, somewhere will say yes, we will back this. But being an entrepreneur you have to be able to cope with the massive highs and lows, as well as being prepared to say, well I am going to run with this and it may cost me an awful lot.”

“If you have a mortgage or school fees to pay […] in my view, by definition you will struggle to be entrepreneurial.”

His advice for those trying to grow a business is to do your

research and properly understand the market you are in. “Don’t worry too much about competitors, because if you’ve got it and you can sell – and sell something you really, genuinely believe in – then you will be successful,” Esse says.

“Too many people have a great idea, but if you can’t take it to market – that is code for being able to sel l – t hen it w i l l flounder.”

It is also important to challenge your business ideas, Esse says. He tests ideas with his business partner, James Penney, to look for all the potential things that could go wrong. “Build a good team around you, not of like-minded people, but someone who is going to really challenge you,” he says. “That is the other key to it really.”

For the future of Dar win Escapes, Esse sees a tremendous upside. A golf course has already been purchased using the second fund, and Esse has plans to install putting lodges around the edge of the course.

The mission statement for the Darwin Escapes holiday parks is to create “a lifetime of memories and experiences” for their guests.

“As our managing director for Darwin Escapes says, if we can carve those memories for life, then great, that is what we are there to do,” says Esse.

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Searching for the CEOs of the future The next big CEO is probably just starting their journey in the world of business. But what is it like to start a new firm from scratch?

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HE LEADERS OF start-ups are the CEOs of the future. They are also the companies that are disrupting industries, embracing new technologies and changing the way businesses operate.

Hayley Freedman, co-founder and CEO of wireless charging start-up CHARGit, tells me that there are some advantages of being a small firm compared to a big one – the main one being that there is less red tape.

In a big company, she says, “there are 20 or 30 people at the top all arguing with each other, which department is this and who takes responsibility for that. As a start-up, you can change direction in a second. You can become lean, you can pivot. You can change and think about it, you can think from outside the box.

“If you come against something that is an objection you have the power to change your direction yourself without having to ask permission from people to do so.”

Freedman started her company because she found it difficult to get through to her kids when their phone batteries kept running out and there was nowhere to charge up their phones when they were out.

She says: “We have enough Wi-Fi in our phones these days, yet I can’t walk

into a venue and plug in because they will not let me. It was the case of looking around and seeing a big gap in the market for making venues wireless-charging friendly. People don’t need to remember their cable or battery packs – they can walk into a venue, put their phone down and charge it.

“That was fundamentally the reason, and the fact that we all have these amazing apps to order a cab or find a train – but they all become useless if your phone is dead.”

Freedman’s technology is a completely new product disrupting the charging industry, so much so that her main start-up challenge is trying to find the right person to speak to within another company, because the relevant department does not exist yet.

“Who do you speak to [when you’re] calling a company?” she asks. “Who deals with your accounts?”

For the future CEO trying to start up a firm, she explains that there can be many struggles. She says: “It can also be difficult as a one-person organisation, trying to cover a million and one different things. Trying to fit in the time to do branding, to do marketing opportunities and then trying to find the time to actually go and sell it. It is not an easy thing for one person, let alone two people or even three, to be doing.”

Despite these concerns, she does see

CHARGit CEO Hayley Freedman

opportunities for CEOs of the future, with Brexit being one of them.

She says: “Brexit is more about confidence and the government needs to breed that confidence. London is open – we have not closed for business. Let’s take all of this as an opportunity. If we are talking about a start-up now with Brexit you don’t know any differently. The government is doing everything it can to promote British companies.”

Freedman also hopes to see a lot more women as CEOs in the future – being a woman in business for the past 30 years, she tells me she has experienced sexism in its rawest form.

She says: “There are seven female bosses in the FTSE 100. Why is that? Is that because parents are holding children back? Is it schools, still telling girls to do girly things? Why is it that women are still seen to be doing the girly stuff?

“I have been a breadwinner my whole life. My mum was the breadwinner and most of our grandmothers were breadwinners [because of World War Two]. Where does this start? How is it allowed?”

Despite this, Freedman does think attitudes are changing. She says: “This is the first time companies are being looked at and being questioned. Just because a woman can have a child does not mean to say they don’t want a career and they don’t wa nt to go bac k to work afterwards.”

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Why SMEs aren’t always plane sailing Business Reporter talks to aviation entrepreneur Colin Baker about how small businesses need to learn to walk before they can fly…

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SUCCESSFUL START-UP business is composed of many different ingredients, but the most important of those is patient planning, believes Colin Baker, chairman of p r i v ate j e t c omp a ny 36 5 Aviation.

Baker has been involved in a lot of start-ups spanning from hospitality through to healthcare. After growing disillusioned with a career in finance he decided to do something in the real world rather than move numbers around, and so set up 365 Aviation with his brother-in-law.

“I have seen too many people get a good business idea and think that is a good plan, that is going to work and then rush into it, without enough planning,” Baker says. Too many start-ups are hopelessly optimistic when it comes to anticipating revenue, believes Baker, and many fall at the first hurdle by not planning budgets thoroughly enough and assuming nothing will go wrong with costs.

They also, he adds, don’t listen to the opinions of more experienced people. “It is terrible when you see a good business idea fail because it runs out of money,” he says. “Don’t sit there and think that you know it all. You may know everything about your business, but listen to everyone’s view – surround yourself with people with experience in different disciplines.

“Planning does not cost anything. Do a business plan and bounce it off half a dozen people, taking all that feedback into consideration. Collate it and do a budget, then redo the budget.

It is surprising how quickly costs can eat through your capital.”

Baker is certainly speaking from first-hand experience – he’s watched more than one company with a great business plan that he invested in implode because the founders at the top wouldn’t listen to people around them.

“It literally brings the company down, by not divesting any responsibility to people,” he says.

“I have been at the sharp end of that one as an investor. You have to find good people and trust good people because you can’t build a business alone – otherwise by definition it cannot grow.”

Baker’s approach at his private jet business is very different. At the moment he is reviewing his CRM customer relationship system and is seeking advice from his entire staff to help establish what works well and what does not. He is also looking at employing a consultant with experience in understanding s ystems i n t he pr ivate jet business.

Baker’s aim is for his company to develop a strong cultural identity – he looks for people who share the values of the firm and are self-motivated. For Baker, this means finding staff that pay attention to detail. He presently employs five full-time staff and has plans to employ more.

“We make sure all our brokers know our private aircraft,” says

“It’s terrible when a good business idea fails because of a lack of money. Don’t sit there and think that you know it all” – Colin Baker

Colin Baker

Baker. “They have been out to our fields, they have looked around the aircraft and they understand what is good about them, what the limitations are.

When they are speaking about them they are really talking in the first person. It is not like reading a brochure.”

It’s this personal touch and attention to detail Baker believes differentiates 365 Aviation from other private jet firms. The person who gives you the quote holds the customer’s hand all the way through the process, he says, rather than being passed through to different people.

Another problem Baker believes SMEs commonly face is funding and the burden of regulation.

“Nowadays, [as] an entrepreneur it is incredibly hard to raise money,” he says. “The banks are clearly quite dysfunctional still.

They are happy to lend to very large corporations, but if you are a small business owner banks don’t want your business. A lot of this also comes back to regulation.” Thankfully, Baker believes, technology has made it easier for SMEs to bypass the banks and raise funds using alternative investment such as crowdfunding platforms.

Having invested in a few companies Baker has plenty of advice for entrepreneurs when things go wrong. “Be prepared for major changes,” he warns.

“Be prepared to admit that you are wrong on things and take

early action. Do not wait until you have no money in the bank – look at your forecast budget regularly and adjust it every s i n g le mont h . I f y ou a r e tracking under for two or three months why assume you are suddenly going to jump up onto this imaginary line you had at the beginning of the business. Don’t kid yourself that it will be okay.

“Look at the data you have, use that data, extrapolate that data that is telling you the reality of the situation. If you are over budget sometimes you are going to have to make hard decisions – it may be trimming staff or parts of the business. Be honest – especially if you have external investors.”

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Sanjiv Mehta aims to bring the luxury and sense of the exotic of the East India Company brand into the 21st century

Harnessing the power of the consumer with a 418-year-old brand Joanne Frearson talks to Sanjiv Mehta, CEO of the relaunched East India Company, about how consumers are in the driving seat – and how firms can take advantage THE BIG INTERVIEW JOANNE FREARSON

At its height the EIC’s standing army was 250,000strong, twice as large as that of Britain herself

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HE EAST India Company was once responsible for half of the world’s trade – transporting silk, tea, exotic spices and textiles from East to West, at its height it employed 25 per cent of the British population.

Although it stopped trading in 1874, its history is entwined with that of Britain, particularly with its colonial exploits in India and its empire in the east – and its cultural influence is still felt too, having been depicted in films and TV shows from Pirates Of The Caribbean to Taboo and Indian Summers. And now, after more than 150 years, the East India Company has been relaunched by Indian-born businessman Sanjiv Mehta.

“In a funny way, to own a company which once owned India at a personal level [gives me] a sense of comfort, which is difficult to rationalise and difficult to price,” says Mehta when we meet him at the company’s headquarters in Mayfair. He bought the rights to the venerable brand after being inspired by its heritage. “There are about two billion people in this world that have some instant recognition with the East India Company,” he says. “Somewhere in their life they have read about it.”

“The East India Company was the Google of its time,” he explains. “It connected the world in its day as no other company had. It has certain values embedded in the brand. It is quintessentially associated with the Empire, the monarch – from Queen Elizabeth I right through to Queen Victoria.

“It connected the world [then] and the way we live [today]. The way we think, the way we engage in commerce.

In the world today, the East India Company sits in the subconsciousness of civilisation. The East looks at it as the regal West and the West looks at it as the exotic East. We believe that it brought the world together.”

Despite the East India Company being remembered as a conglomerate

of its day, Mehta explains this was not always the case. “It started as a humble business, a group of merchants in London in 1599,” he explains. “The first voyage was started in 1601 in a ship called the Red Dragon, with nutmeg and cinnamon. [It started] with a very small journey – it was also, once upon a time, an SME, but it became the world’s largest trading enterprise.”

Mehta is now trying to follow the journey of the original company with his relaunch. To do this successfully, he explains, involves breaking down the big tasks and dreams step-by-step, with each step having a strategic plan.

“You start putting down some small targets or milestones,” he says. “Then break them down into very small events and activities and make them happen step-by-step in a meticulous way. Slowly the picture emerges and the jigsaw is complete. Every large

“The East India Company was the Google of its time.

It connected the world in its day as no other company had” – Sanjiv Mehta

company is born as an SME and every SME has an ambition to become a large corporation.”

The company he owns is already a widely remembered and recognised brand, so Mehta’s plan is to slowly build up the structures it needs from the ground up and grow back into its vast reputation. “It has already been in textile trading, leather trading, jewellery trading, spice trading, the hospitality business, the bullion business,” he says. “It sits like a castle in the air – what I am actually doing is putting pillars underneath. It is in the mind of people, it is already a large transnational organisation and not an SME.” However, he does not see the journey as a particularly easy one, and expects many challenges along the way, comparing the company to a small ship in the middle of the sea.

“You never know where the wind is

The enduring legacy of the East India Company In 1600, English merchants were granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth that enabled them to establish the East India Company.

At its peak, the jointstock company was responsible for 50 per cent of world trade and employed 25 per cent of Britain’s population.

Its influence in the Indian subcontinent and the world at large was unsurpassed – at its height in the early 19th century, its private army was twice the size of Britain’s. Focus soon shifted from trade to territory, and the company eventually came to rule vast swathes of

and introduced many spices, textiles, curios, silks and porcelain to the West, as well as minting its own currency.

India and functioned more or less as a state in its own right. In the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion in 1857, however, the British government finally

assumed control of the East India Company, and the British Raj was born from its ashes.

Although many of its activities remain controversial, the world would not be the same today if the East India Company had not existed. It brought tea from India and China, was a patron of the arts

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The EIC has been prominently featured in popular culture, including films such as the Pirates Of The Caribbean series, where Tom Hollander played Lord Cutler Beckett, chairman of the East India Trading Company and representative of King George II of Great Britain, and the recent BBC series Taboo, starring Tom Hardy.

Today’s rebooted version of the company is positioning itself as a luxury brand for the modern commercial world.

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Fabrics, spices and dyes were just some of the goods the old EIC transported to the west

going to blow from and you need to keep your eyes open as you always do if you are master of the ship,” he says.

“It is that kind of journey.”

One of the biggest shifts he sees in the retail industry is the idea of consumers becoming curators. Customers increasingly expect retailers to produce bespoke products which take into consideration their own personal likes and dislikes. He points out that this has already started happening in some instances – for example, with people self-publishing stories over the internet or making their own music or movies and uploading them to YouTube. “First it happened with words, then it happened with sound, then it happened with video – now slowly it is happening with products,” he says.

His vision for the brand is not replicating an 18th century trading company of course, but rather to sell luxury items inspired by the past it inhabited – he is slowly working on building the brand to become one which also reflects what today’s consumers want, developing luxury products influenced by the values of his customers. “Customers gravitate towards companies aligned with their values and those which can offer them bespoke products which are personal to them,” he says. “Consumers are getting more power. Power is moving from brand owners to consumers.

They are seeking more choice.”

When consumers buy a product these days, he explains, they’re more likely to want to know what is behind the brand – its social outlook and its environmental and sustainability records for example. Customers have

“Customers want retail to connect to their own sense of purpose or of life, their morality, their own sets of dos and don’ts” – Sanjiv Mehta

become more informed about products and companies over the years, and as a result more discerning, Mehta believes. “They want [retail] to connect with their own sense of purpose or of life, their morality, their own sets of dos and don’ts,” he says. “That power has shifted from the seller to the buyer.

“Rather than designers saying, this is a bag that I will design, go buy it, consumers are saying, I want a bespoke option. I want a purple handle, I want blue buckles, I want white leather, I want these kinds of stitches and I want this shape,” he says. “Brands call it personalisation. It is consumers telling them, I want this. When Henry Ford invented the automobile he made every car black because it was cheap.

Today you can pick this colour, this interior, this leather seat. It is constantly evolving.”

As The East India Company has evolved as an SME, Mehta has seen processes change – he cites the example of the company offering a single hamper for £55 at the outset.

It now offers a choice of five hamper styles and 500 products to fill them with.

But Mehta’s vision for the brand, he points out, is bigger than what he thinks he can achieve in a lifetime.

“What was created more than 275 years ago is not going to be done in two years, or five or ten years. We are trying to be inspired from the past.

We are trying to guard the good and take it forward. We want to retain the binary spirit of the company and reengage with the world as it stands in a very contemporary way.”

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How SMEs can improve their bottom line through procurement Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can leverage procurement to drive cost savings and efficiencies, and gain a competitive edge in these uncertain times

T

HE CURRENT levels of political and economic uncertainty are far greater than they have been for many years.

Tensions over North Korea and the threat of nuclear war have been mounting, while the UK appears no closer to striking a deal with the EU in Brexit negotiations.

Toby Munyard, vice president at Efficio, says: “Organisations may not be able to control the outcome of political elections, shifting policy or currency fluctuations, but they can ensure their supply base is set at the right cost, delivering to the right quality and offering value for money. They also need to understand their links to critical markets and know where the risks lie.”

SMEs without adequate control systems in place to deal with the fallout of political and economic events can be a major problem for large companies due to the knock-on effect this can have for the supply chain.

For example, almost immediately after the Brexit vote the value of the pound fell sharply. As Tim von der Decken, vicepresident at Efficio, explains: “A weaker pound means upward pressure on costs for importers or businesses that purchase goods with a high proportion of imported components. Goods imported from the EU account for just over 50 per cent of the total value of the UK’s imports. While we don’t yet know the tariffs the UK will apply, we do know the EU currently applies an average tariff of 4.8 per cent to its non-EU trading partners. An increase of this scale would be difficult for any business to absorb.”

According to von der Decken, large companies examining their supply chains are asking questions such as: where are my suppliers importing their goods and services from? Could there be a potential issue because of trade tariffs? How well are my suppliers placed to cope should a major political or economic event occur?

The value of procurement While large companies have been using procurement to improve efficiencies, mitigate risks and reduce costs for a little while now, many SMEs have still to explore these value levers, having focused on their core competencies instead.

“When the economy was booming, SMEs concentrated on optimising production and sales procedures, while procurement was

“SMEs are now waking up to the value that procurement can deliver to their business” – Toby Munyard, Efficio

largely overlooked,” says von der Decken.

“Today’s uncertain world is likely to be a new experience for many SMEs that went international over the last ten years. They are used to long, stable supply chains, but chief procurement officers need to be more nimble, ready to switch to new suppliers or adapt their procedures to the changing environment. So where does this leave SMEs?” Munyard says: “SMEs are now waking up to the value that procurement can deliver to their business. If they are trying to grow their profits then there are multiple ways in which they can do this. One option is to try to sell more goods or services, although most of the time if this were possible businesses would be doing it already. Another is to try to change pricing models, but this can be difficult to achieve in a competitive market. The third is to review the cost base and leverage procurement, bearing in mind that every pound saved in the cost base flows directly through to the bottom line.”

With procurement processes, SMEs can increase efficiencies, minimise costs, reduce capital requirements and, in turn, increase the return on capital. They can also review the dependencies of their supply chain and

explore access to alternative suppliers in the event of market disruption – satisfying the risk requirements of large clients.

Where to begin For SMEs wanting to use procurement to reduce costs, Munyard explains that the logical starting point is to look closely at the goods and services they are receiving from suppliers.

Munyard says: “Businesses need to examine who they are spending money with and what they are getting for that money, and regularly test whether it’s the best value for that service.

“They also need to make sure that what they are buying today or what they bought yesterday is still relevant and the right thing to buy for the future. Are they just buying what they’ve always bought or are they really challenging all of their different categories and areas of spend to understand how they can buy the right thing at the right price from the right suppliers?”

their money on and how they might be able to reduce costs while maintaining product and service quality.

For example, Efficio’s integrated technology application eFlow gives real-time visibility on expenditure, continuously monitoring what is spent with suppliers. It gives SMEs a mechanism for tracking and monitoring their supply chain, identifying and mitigating risk factors, and pinpointing areas for cost reduction.

As von der Decken points out: “In difficult times it’s crucial that SMEs focus on the strategic growth of the business. Using this type of technology enables them to reduce costs and improve the bottom line.

Importantly, it also allows business owners the time to focus on their core strengths in key products and market areas, and develop talent to continue to drive the business forward – all of which are essential for survival and growth in this uncertain environment.”

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Leveraging technology By using specific technologies, SMEs can gain visibility over what they are spending

toby.munyard@efficioconsulting.com tim.vonderdecken@efficioconsulting.com www.efficioconsulting.com

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Inspector The Inspector likes to take it easy sometimes and relax in front of the TV with of his favourite shows (Gogglebox) and a good takeaway (prawn jalfrezi with a chapati). And naturally, as an avid fan of tech gadgets, he has been using an autonomous robot delivery service to convey his din-dins.

Started by the two men behind Skype, Janus Friis and Ahti Heinla, Starship Technologies is revolutionising delivery services by using robots to be personal couriers.

Winning the Golden Computer award for Startup of the Year and raising over $17.2million of investment in January, Starship promises to deliver food securely while not harming the environment in the process through using green technology.

The robot is also tracked and the storage compartment can only be opened by the person who has ordered the food, reducing the chance of someone walking away with your Thai green curry.

Raising funds as a small business is never an easy task.

Perceived as riskier to investors, small business owners yearn for a way to secure the investment they need while investors seek ways to reduce risk.

So it’s probably a good thing that the government has taken steps to offset the risks somewhat. Its new EIS tax

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BY CIARA LONG, ONLINE REPORTER

Dogberry

Startup Donut

www.startupdonut.co.uk

Drone-delivered pizza could soon be a reality… scheme helps small businesses grow by offering tax relief to individual investors who buy new shares in a company.

Tax relief of 30 per cent can be claimed on investments (up to £1,000,000 in one tax year), giving a maximum tax reduction in any one year of £300,000.

The scheme also has a “Carry Back” facility which allows all or part of the cost of shares acquired in one tax year to be treated as though those shares had been acquired in the preceding one. Relief is then given against the Income.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning about Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) as a way of raising funds from the public.

These cryptocurrencies work by the ICO issuers accepting a digital currency, such as Bitcoin or Ether, in exchange for a proprietary coin or token related to a specific firm or project.

The digital token issued may represent a share in a firm, a prepayment voucher for future services or in some cases offer no discernible value at all. Often ICO projects are in a very early stage of development.

The FCA has issued the warning because ICOs are very high-risk, speculative investments. Currently ICOs operate in an unregulated space and have no investor protection.

In a statement the FCA said: “You should be conscious of the risks involved and fully research the specific project if you are

thinking about buying digital tokens. You should only invest in an ICO project if you are an experienced investor, confident in the quality of the ICO project itself (eg, business plan, technology, people involved) and prepared to lose your entire stake.”

China has just banned all investment involving ICOs.

A hub of useful links for entrepreneurs, Start Up Donut covers tech, law, marketing and business planning as well as providing guidance on accounting and bookkeeping, tax and National Insurance through a range of articles giving great practical advice to aspiring businesspeople.

Paul Graham

www.paulgraham.com

Paul Graham is an Englishborn computer scientist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author and blogger,

best known for establishing Viaweb, which he later sold to Yahoo for $49.6million. He is the pioneer of Silicon Valley tech culture. His series of autobiographical essays are a great read for any aspiring entrepreneur.

Prowess

www.prowess.org.uk

Prowess is an organisation dedicated to supporting women in business. From offering support and advice to hosting events, this femalefriendly blog is ideal for the modern businesswoman.

Browse through the tabs and learn more about their upcoming networking events.

Smarta

www.smarta.com

Polymail (iOS) This efficient email application

allows you to share mail with your team and track when emails have been delivered and opened by clients. An Android version is in the works.

TeamViewer (iOS, Android) This remote

desktop sharing app that gives team members access to each other’s computers – perfect for working from home.

Smarta is a hub for budding entrepreneurs. The blog offers information webinars and live events to its members.

Smarta’s articles are hot on the heels of current affairs and social issues and will keep you up-to-date with all the changes in the business world.

SMEs: could you save £1,000? £4bn The total value of unfair deals that SMEs have suffered from over the last three years Source: Federation of Small Businesses

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T BRISTOL ENERGY we know that large energy bills can break small businesses. So what can you do to make sure you’re not losing out? Here are a few suggestions…

Check your contract An out-of-contract or deemed rate can be as much as 80 per cent higher than negotiated rates (Ofgem). So it pays to do your research. And it pays to switch. For a small business, the average negotiated price of energy is around £1,821 a year. If you’re out of contract, it could be more like £3,000*.

Even if an energy price cap is extended to microbusinesses, to potentially limit these deemed rates, it will still be beneficial to seek out a fixed deal.

Don’t get stung by unfair contracts More than half of the UK’s SMEs have been stung by unfair deals, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (August 2016). This has cost small businesses nearly £4billion in the last three years. This could include suppliers tying businesses into lengthy notice periods, failing to make auto-rollover clauses clear up front or charging high early termination fees.

Shop around Shopping around for your energy is one of the easiest ways to save your business money. Bristol Energy was set up to offer people a fairer deal for their homes and businesses. And we will reinvest our profits back into the community. By keeping our

prices competitive and offering fixed contracts, we can protect our smaller business customers from the vulnerabilities in the energy market.

Switching your business energy supply has never been simpler. At Bristol Energy you can get a quote online in just a few minutes at www.bristol-energy.co.uk/ your-business.

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0808 168 3888 www.bristol-energy.co.uk * We used an estimated annual consumption (EAC) of 15,000 kWh pa and the latest Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Quarterly Energy Prices for “Small” businesses (published 28 September 2017) of 12.14p per kWh.

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Business Zone

Four pages of analysis and expert comment

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Turning the tide – fending off today’s cyber threats 45 C %

Increase in business email compromise attacks against enterprises in the last quarter of 2016 Source: Proofpoint

“Email remains the primary threat vector because it is so easy to impersonate someone using this inherently unsecure channel”

YBER-CRIMINALS HAVE always focused on exploiting weaknesses within businesses to carry out attacks. In the past, they would look for vulnerabilities within software packages or rely on system weaknesses to infiltrate networks, and while this continues to take place, a new opportunity has been identified: targeting people.

Today, cyber-criminals are exploiting the human vulnerability to deploy damaging and costly attacks across email, mobile and social channels, leveraging personalisation and social engineering tactics, with disastrous consequences for businesses.

Using identity deception to target unsuspecting employees, they might target accounts payable for wire transfer fraud, engineering to steal intellectual property, and human resources to get confidential tax and identity information. Such attacks (known as business email compromise) rose by a worrying 45 per cent in just the last quarter of 2016. At the same time, ransomware exploded on the scene and targeted attacks grew to include new vectors used in tandem with email, such as over SMS or social networks.

So how can businesses protect themselves, their customers and employees against today’s evolving threat landscape?

First, by getting real-time visibility into their attack surface to determine risk exposure. This means investing in solutions that offer a vantage point into your entire threat landscape so you can understand how you are being targeted, through which channels, and what systems and critical data can be compromised. Armed with actionable intelligence, you can then formulate a strategy and manage your security posture.

Second, by prioritising investments. If we consider that more than 90 per cent of targeted attacks start with email, it is critical for

organisations’ information security teams to deploy protection that works within the flow of email to reduce this attack vector.

With the right software, IT teams can detect criminal threats and stop them before they have a chance to reach their targets.

Third, by implementing a multi-layered defence strategy.

When it comes to cyber-threats, it is critical that organisations consider people, processes and technology. While recent headlines have helped raise the public’s awareness of cybercrime, organisations should still consider offering regular employee training on

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cyber-risks. They should work with departments deemed at risk, such as finance, and review internal processes when it comes to invoice approvals and wire transfers. Finally, they should consider all technology solutions that can reduce the risk factor, such as email authentication to stop inbound fraudulent messages reaching their employees and data loss prevention (DLP) capabilities, to stop sensitive information from leaving the enterprise.

By exploiting the human factor, cyber-criminals are using the path of least resistance to meet their ends.

Email remains the primary threat vector against enterprises because it is so easy to impersonate someone using this inherently unsecure channel.

One way to mitigate risk is to implement technology solutions that stop email-borne attacks before they reach their intended victims: the earlier the threats are detected, the easier it is to block, contain, and remediate them. Failure to prevent threats upstream will leave the door open for cybercriminals to make you their next target.

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Robert Holmes is VP of products at Proofpoint Twitter: @Proofpoint www.proofpoint.com/uk

A third of SMEs asked to reveal cyber-credentials, says survey JOANNE FREARSON

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ROUND ONE in three SMEs have had their cyber-security precautions questioned as part of winning contracts in the last year, according to cyber-security e-learning platform CybSafe.

The study also found that 50 per cent of SMEs had cyber-security conditions included in new contracts in the last five years, while 44 per cent said they had been required by the companies to have a recognised cyber-security standard such as the ISO 27001.

Another one in seven SMEs had no cyber-security protocols in place at all, while only two in five organisations had

cyber-insurance to protect against data breaches. Less than half of organisations surveyed had begun taking data protection steps ahead of GDPR implementation and around two in five of respondents would inform all customers immediately following a data breach.

Oz Alashe, CEO and founder of CybSafe, said: “High-profile data breaches such as [that of] Target, where hackers gained access to the retailer through its air conditioning supplier, have brought supply chain cyber-security to the forefront, and this has clearly struck a chord with enterprise leaders.

“Organisations are realising that it’s no longer enough to ensure their own network is secure, but they must now

also pay closer attention to securing the supply chain. This is a trend we will see increase in the coming years.

“No business is an island, and so large organisations will only work with trusted vendors in the future. The SMEs that adapt their information security practices

to the new landscape and demonstrate their cyber-credentials will be the most successful in the future.

“The more enterprise sees cybersecurity as a value-add, the more SMEs will change online practices to become that trusted vendor.”

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It’s time to rethink company spending – here’s how

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OUR WORKFORCE is changing – over the past decade there has been a sizeable shift in the way we work, where we work and with whom we work. Global travel, international partnerships, a mobile workforce, virtual workers and the advent of portfolio careers have given rise to a challenge that all SMEs will recognise.

In the midst of all this change, how can we easily keep track of and manage company spending?

Until your business reaches a certain level, you’ll likely attend to your financial housekeeping in an ad hoc manner.

However, as soon as you start to grow, the issue will undoubtedly become more complex.

We recently commissioned YouGov to undertake a survey of 1,200 UK SMEs and discovered that £8.72billion is used to manage company and employee spending every single year. And the modern-day working environment has made the process of spend management increasingly difficult. You may have employees located in different branches, different countries, working virtually or on the road, each with varying spending requirements from an individual basis to company level – from hotel rooms and transport to

“The complex reality of our modern-day working environment has made company spending increasingly difficult to manage”

office stationery and online advertising budgets.

Then there are external contractors and departmental spending requirements. Managing the spending cycle is a headache for the finance team and employees alike, particularly as the payment process itself has been left in the Dark Ages.

Imagine if the spending part of the process so simple and streamlined that it made the rest of the accounting system a breeze, whatever accounting or expense management packages you then used.

We knew companies needed a way of enabling their workforce to spend autonomously on the company’s behalf, but at the same time give the finance team a simple way to control, monitor and account for that spending. How better to achieve this than by providing each person or department that needs it with their own intelligent prepaid card, connected to a single account?

With Soldo, you can delegate, control and track departmental and employee spending in real time with electronic wallets and plastic or virtual prepaid Mastercard cards. No more last-minute bank runs, confusion about the whereabouts of physical cash, or relying on staff to pay up front. You can set bespoke

limits, budgets and rules for everyone’s individual spending and move money around for free, in an instant. Everything is shown in real time, all the time, so you’ll always know exactly what everyone’s balances and latest transactions are.

You can also allocate cards for different uses – for example, one for office supplies, one for online ads, and one for software, making bookkeeping a breeze. The Soldo app also lets your staff add transaction information and photos of receipts – with unlimited storage. With a click, this data can then be exported to all major accounting and expense management tools, in a variety of formats. It takes seconds to generate detailed and targeted reports, filtered by cost centre, tag, category or employee, giving you a crystal-clear understanding of your company’s spending.

For peace of mind, Soldo also enables you to instantly switch cards on and off, prevent or enable cash withdrawals and overseas or online transactions. You can even receive instant spending notifications, allowing you to monitor balances and transaction data in real time. By leveraging Soldo’s smart technology, you can cut admin time (and stress) by a phenomenal amount. And the best bit is

that Soldo’s developers are constantly refining the software in response to user feedback, adding life-changing new features all the time. You won’t have to scour the technological horizon for new developments, because if the tech is good, you’ll find it built into your Soldo account almost as soon as it has become available.

According to our recent YouGov survey, employees spend an average of four hours a week tending to their financial housekeeping. Imagine how quickly your team’s productivity levels would soar if employees were free of the need to labour over spend management themselves. And how happy your CFO would be with all the tools at hand to optimise those admin activities that, while easily forgotten, can be a huge burden when they build up over time.

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If you want to see how simple it can be to streamline company and employee spending, we’re offering an exclusive free trial of Soldo for two months. Just visit www.soldo.com and use the promotional code telegraph17 to start saving time and money today. www.soldo.com

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Facebook Live Chat will transform how you communicate with website visitors

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S A small business owner, hopefully you’ll have already recognised the importance of having a company Facebook page.

Not only does it increase your online presence and give you huge reach globally, it is also the biggest and most reliable social media platform. So, are you taking full advantage of the new and improved Messenger service?

Facebook Messenger is the way forward when it comes to communicating with customers in real time, attracting more traffic to your website and creating a long-lasting, personal relationship with your target audience.

Used by approximately 800 million people monthly, Messenger is convenient, free and easy to use and install on your website. The service allows you to send customised messages, videos, pictures, business cards, locations and even money. It is faster and slicker than ever before.

Make life easier by creating template messages, instant replies or by using chatbots to automatically respond to simple queries. Set response times, so customers know when you will get back to them, creating trust and enhancing their experience.

You can even personalise messages and flag their importance level. Also, take advantage of the fact you can find out more about the person messaging you – how long they’ve “liked” your page for, for example, or their location.

Facebook Messenger has a multitude of features to make communications easier and more effective. It’s always being updated and refined, so it’s time to get on board.

INDUSTRY VIEW

Shaz Memon (right) is creative director of Digimax. Read more at www.shazmemon.com

Storage solutions, sorted For companies big or small, one organisation has storage packed up…

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F YOU require a storage solution, whether that be shelving, racking, storage components or packing products, you will be sure to find what you are looking for with BiGDUG. Operating from its bases in Gloucester and Mitcheldean, the forward-thinking company forms part of the global business equipment group, TAKKT. Founded in 2004, BiGDUG aims to offer any business not only products but solutions, expertise and the first-class customer service they need. BiGDUG promises that, if you find any of its products cheaper anywhere else, BiGDUG will match the price.

Our extensive array of storage products covers everything from shelving, racking, workshops and benches to lockers, cabinets and

cupboards. Every item is manufactured with precision and attention to detail to ensure the highest-quality finish. Products have been designed with purpose to be as durable as possible, built to withstand considerable loads and function in different environments.

The massive range of products available is just one major reason why BiGDUG has become an indispensable partner of so many SMEs throughout south-west England by helping SMEs of all sizes cut costs and drive efficiency.

BiGDUG representatives will be travelling to London to exhibit at the Business Show 2017, taking place at Kensington Olympia on 16 and 17 November, where they will put themselves in front of a potential audience of 25,000 organisations of all sizes, but principally SMEs.

Now in its 18th year, the show is the fastest-growing business exhibition in Europe, and it will make a fitting stage for BiGDUG to showcase its new catalogue, crammed with storage solutions for SMEs. Visitors can get their free tickets at www.thebusinessshow.com and visit BiGDUG on stand 841.

So when you’re looking to get your business’s storage solutions sorted, you should turn to BiGDUG. Get hold of a copy of the new BiGDUG catalogue by filling in the form at www.bigdug.co.uk, or just giving us a call on 0800 161 56 56 INDUSTRY VIEW

0800 161 56 56 www.bigdug.co.uk

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Automated learning is all well and good, but the human factor is key to quality education 96% Pass rate of students using Acacia Learning in 2016-17

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T IS undeniable that technology has made education more accessible, removing geographic barriers, making it more flexible and affordable. Despite these developments, at Acacia Learning we believe that online education has not yet been able to emulate face-to-face education when it comes to the intrinsic issues of the human being and human connections.

The human being is a social one who needs human interactions to develop.

The learning process is not exempt from this reality, and that is the fundamental value that sustains face-to-face education. When interacting in a learning environment such as the classroom, knowledge is not only acquired from the teacher. There are other factors within this environment that make the knowledge gained more profound and lasting.

In face-to-face education,

knowledge is acquired from the teacher but also the interaction and debate that is generated in the classroom, from the knowledge and experiences students share with their tutors and colleagues. Ideas are debated spontaneously, serving to not only increase understanding, but to give added

value to the relationships and networking between the student and his/her peers and their tutor.

Our experience at Acacia Learning is that face-to-face learning is based on physical interactions. Encouraging the student to express their ideas in front of a group of people,

reaffirming the knowledge gained in the classroom and developing basic soft skills for them to take back into their organisations. Today, organisations require professionals to have the knowledge needed to perform their respective roles but also people capable of leading processes, creating new

ways of doing things, visionaries who can influence and lead others. Qualities difficult to develop when your studies are conducted in front of a computer.

Face-to-face education is an education based on emotions, in constant support and mentoring between students and the tutor, creating long-lasting networks and relationships that extend beyond the classroom and the life of the course. While the popularity and benefits of online learning are undeniable, Acacia Learning will continue to offer a face-to-face education, encouraging these human connections and all our students to grow with us.

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Bruno Trisotti (far left) is senior manager at Acacia Learning 020 8239 1323 acacialearning.co.uk

At the heart of our economy but left out of the financial system: how can financial planners help entrepreneurs to help themselves?

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ENEATH THE cough, the phoney p45 and the rumours of sabotage, prime minister Theresa May’s speech at the Conservative Party conference this week did contain some substance. She positioned her party as the friends of business, encouraging them to “celebrate the wealth creators, the risk takers, the innovators and the entrepreneurs.”

This group has always played a huge role in sustaining the economy, but this has become magnified since the financial crisis. Since 2008 a million more people have entered self-employment.

Total employment in SMEs is 15.7 million, well over half (60 per cent) of all private-sector employment in the UK. And the combined annual turnover of SMEs was £1.8trillion, around half of all private sector turnover in the UK. The figures show that small business owners are crucial to our economic prosperity, but they are often not fully served by the wealth preservation and financial planning sector. Research commissioned by Old Mutual Wealth from a leading policy think tank shows that among the self-employed population, just 12 per cent are actively contributing to a retirement fund.

“Wealth creators tend to value autonomy.

But there are good reasons as a business owner to take a step back and reflect on your personal financial circumstances”

There is often good reason for that.

Many will be investing in their business and aiming for it to generate sufficient financial return to meet their retirement costs and more.

And putting money in a pension can be seen as inflexible, since it restricts access. Business owners may prefer to retain access to liquid capital, particularly in the early stages when start-up incomes are volatile. Wealth creators also tend to value autonomy. Many feel uncomfortable handing control of their financial management to someone else.

But there are good reasons as a business owner to take a step back and reflect on your own personal financial circumstances. Business owners will understand the value of diversification – don’t become overly reliant on a single product, client or business line – yet at the same time often leave their own finances dependent on the fate of their company. And by their nature, wealth creators tend to be highly self reliant.

This is often crucial to the success of the company, but can leave them blinkered to the value an expert in personal finance can offer.

They may be missing out as a result.

A financial planner can to help you make

solid, long-term plans for both your business and your family. Key man insurance and business cover can increase financial security if a business partner is unable to continue to be involved, for example. And establishing a pension can even help to protect your premises in the event of financial difficulty, thanks to the flexibility of a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) or a Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS), both popular with small business owners.

Old Mutual Wealth Private Client Advisers has offices across the UK and our team of expert financial planners has years of experience working with entrepreneurs, small business owners and self-employed individuals. To find out how they can help you, see below.

INDUSTRY VIEW

Rick Eling is head of investments at Old Mutual Wealth Private Client Advisers +44 (0)1244 893 871 advice@omwealthpca.co.uk