Niche Magazine Issue 29

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November/December 2018

#FindYourNiche

Mattioli Woods Inside the new £15m offices

Leicester Racecourse

Get festive and celebrate in style

Niche Business Awards This year’s winners revealed

ST MARTINS LODGE

LEICESTER’S NEW LUXURY ACCOMMODATION

r h C ng! i m o c si

DESIGN + PRINT

Soar Valley Press

IT’S GETTING TO THAT TIME OF YEAR A GAIN – THE CLOCKS HAVE GONE B ACK AN HOUR, THE NIGHTS ARE DRAWING IN, THE NUMBER OF SOCIAL EVENTS HAVE INCREASED, AND THE SHOPPING DOESN’T BEAR THINKING ABOUT – CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

H OW DO YOU M AK E YO U R B U SI N E S S D ISTINCTIVE AT T H IS T IM E O F Y E A R ?

At Soa r Va lley P re s s we a re al way s t r y i n g t o h e l p o ur cu s tome rs s ta n d o u t f ro m t h e c rowd . Ch ri st m a s is a p e rfe c t op p or t u n i t y t o ge t ah e ad o f yo u r com p e titi on – by s h owi n g yo u r c u s t o m e rs , p rospec t s and s up p li e rs h ow mu c h yo u a p p re c i a t e t h e m .

We d o n ot have al l t h e an s we rs , bu t h e re are a few good i d e a s to ge t yo u s t ar t e d .

Ver y few b u s i ne s s e s s e n d C H RIS T MA S C A RD S t hese days . Th e p re fe re n c e s e e m s t o be e m ai l e d c a rd s/v i d eo s, if at a ll. We a lway s l ove re c e i vi n g o n e an d ke e p t hem o n s h ow up to th e bi g day. Cre at i n g a p e rs o n a li sed corp ora te C h ris tm as c a rd i s a l way s n o t i c e d.

Bo th DESK TO P a n d WA L L C A L E N DA RS wi l l be on show all ye a r. I f you can c o m bi n e t h e c al e n d ars wi t h useful informa tion a n d key da t e s fo r yo u r t arge t a u d ienc e the n th i s a d d s va l u e an d p ro m o t e s re t e n t i o n .

So me thi ng we have fo u n d t o be a bi g wi n n e r i s a CHO C O L AT E A D VE N T C A L E N DA R. Th ey gi ve a l i t t l e

0116 259 9 95 5 INSPIRE@SOARVALLEYPRESS.CO.UK WWW.SOARVALLEYPRESS.CO.UK

pi ec e o f j oy every d ay i n D ec em ber, m a ki ng t he ru n u p t o C hri st m a s m o re bea ra bl e. Wha t bet t er way to pu t a sm i l e o n so m eo ne’s fa c e d uri ng a d vent , a ssumin g th ey d o n’t ea t a l l t he c ho c o l a t e i n o ne go !

Then t here a re so m e i d ea s t ha t a re a l i t t l e m ore o ut t here, suc h a s C HRISTM A S W RAPPIN G PAPE R , C HRISTM A S JUM PERS o r T-SHIRTS. But my person al favo uri t e wo ul d be t o rec ei ve a perso na l i sed C HRISTM A S C RAC K ER ful l o f go o d i es t o enj oy over t he C hri st m a s peri o d . It ’s novel a nd c er t a i nly so m et hi ng a l i t t l e d i fferent .

Wha t ever yo u d ec i d e t o d o i n t he run up t o Ch ristmas t he m o st i m po r t a nt t hi ng i s t o ensure yo ur bran d is rec ogni sed t i m e a nd t i m e a ga i n. The m o re people see i t a nd know who yo u a re t he m o re l i kely t hey are to c a l l o n yo ur serv i c es.

Fro m us a l l a t So a r Va l l ey Press, we wi sh yo u a j oyo us fest i ve peri o d . Prefera bly, o ne t ha t i nvolves l o t s o f m i nc e pi es!

DAVE GOODMAN Business Development Manager, Soar Valley Press

Cover:

St Martins Lodge photographed by Jerry Wesley. jerrywesley.org

LEANNE BAKER

JENNY CROSS MANAGING DIRECTOR 07815 899 574

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

jenny@crossproductions.co.uk

leanne@crossproductions.co.uk

Contributors The Miller Partnership, Glynis Wright, Leicester Racecourse, Leicester Riders, St Martins House, Soar Valley Press, RDZ PR, Ian Guyler, Fothergill Wyatt, Edward Cooper Young Chartered Surveyors

SALLY SMITH

LIAM DEACY

SALES DIRECTOR 07931 220 116

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

sally@crossproductions.co.uk

liam@crossproductions.co.uk

Photography & Video courtesy of: Adam King hello@incitevideo.co.uk

Official Media Sponsors of the Leicester Riders

KERRY SMITH

SUSAN HOLMES DESIGN EDITOR

SENIOR JOURNALIST

susan.holmes@crossproductions.co.uk

kerry@crossproductions.co.uk

JESS HEWITT

EMILY KIRTON JOURNALIST

DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER

emily.kirton@crossproductions.co.uk

jess.hewitt@crossproductions.co.uk

0116 271 2573

I

Marketing Partner of the Leicester Falcons

Also Sponsoring Robbie’s Rugby Festival Leicester Law Society Awards Hope Against Cancer Rainbows Dorothy Goodman Academy

Disclaimer – Niche Magazine and Cross Productions Ltd are fully protected by copyright; no part of this magazine may be reproduced or reprinted without the complete and expressed permission of the publisher.

The greatest care has been taken to ensure accuracy, however there can be no liability accepted by the publisher for errors and omissions. We can under no circumstance be held responsible for any materials, matter or photographical copy submitted for publication or not within the website or magazine. We cannot be held responsible or liable for any breaches of copyright from adverts, materials or photography or any other such material supplied by a third party. The views and opinions expressed within our publications are not necessarily those of the publisher or indeed Niche Magazine or any featured parties.

nichemagazine.co.uk Published by Cross Productions Ltd 17 Mandervell Road, Oadby, Leicester LE2 5LR info@crossproductions.co.uk

Distribution Media Matters Direct Mediamattersdirect.co.uk Self Select Distribution Selfselectdistribution.co.uk

A WORD FROM JENNY

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t’s been a great two months at Cross Productions.

The start of September saw the fourth annual Niche Business Awards with 450 of Leicester’s most focused, driven and ambitious business professionals under one roof to celebrate success across the city recognised through a series of categories that had been judged by a prestigious panel of judges. With nominations on the up and more entries than ever, we have set the date for next year’s Niche Business Awards 2019 – September 6 2019.

We have bought our nomination date forward to November 1 to allow more time for entries to come in. So if you want to see your business recognised get over to our website nichemagazine.co.uk and nominate now!

October saw the Cross team swap their annual charity golf day for a charity escape room challenge in aid of Hope Against Cancer; our local cancer research charity which funds research right here in our city. A massive thank you to Unity, Evolve, Fothergill and Wyatt, Premier Developments, Soar Valley Press, Nucleus HR, Gately PLC, Dalycom and Edward Cooper Young for being part of it and helping us to raise in excess of £2500!

nichemagazineuk

@magazineniche

With the Leicester Business Festival (LBF) underway the city is alive with a sense of business community. There are so many events across the 11 sectors that have been organised to educate and share knowledge. LBF is the region’s largest business festival and one that we should be so proud of.

So at the time of writing this we have just got back from the Leicester Falcons’ annual player awards that were hosted by our friend Ian Stringer over at Morningside Arena. The Leicester Falcons have had a great season finishing BAFANL division one champions with an undefeated 13-0 record! I am proud to say Cross has taken on a partnership with the club to help raise their profile as they prepare for their 2019 season.

With Christmas round the corner we approach that crazy time of year in which we have an event almost every night of the week. I hope you manage to find an hour to grab a coffee and have a read of this latest issue!

#FindYourNiche

CONTENTS

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2018

NEWS

MANUFACTURING

08 Business News 09 Sarah Harrison

50 Manufacturing Forum 52 Edward Cooper Young

BUSINESS FOCUS

LIFESTYLE

10 Eileen Richards Recruitment 12 Nucleus HR 13 Debbie Moore Coaching 14 Finance 16 Paragon Sales Solutions 18 2XL Commercial 21 Finance Lab 23 Mattioli Woods 26 Pattersons Law 29 Hollingsworths Solicitors 30 Legal Columns

58 Limelite Photobooths 79 Oadby House 66 Property columns

Featuring Glynis Wright & Co,

Hollingsworths Solicitors and Josiah Hincks

32 Legal columns

Featuring BP Legal, Pattersons Law and Paradigm Wills & Legal Services

33 34 36 38 32

BP Legal Cummins Solicitors Marketing Unity Marketing columns

Featuring Soar Valley Press, RDZ PR and Jenny Cross

45 Entrepreneurship 46 Performance 47 Sempervox 48 Sales Management 54 Leicester Castle Business School 59 Niche Business Awards

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Featuring Fothergill Wyatt, Oadby House and FLR Group,

82 84 86 88

Fothergill Wyatt FLR Group Utility Warehouse Gardening columns

Featuring Leicestershire Garden Design, and Ponds by Michael Wheat

92 Health columns Featuring Rossell Fitness, Function Jigsaw and Priti Coles

96 Betty Brown Boutique 98 Food Court 100 St Martins House

SPORTS 106 Leicester Racecourse 108 Lee Philpott 103 Sports

Featuring Oadby and Leicester Gymnastics Club

113 Outlaws

SOCIAL 116 Hanlon Hospitality 118 Tracey Miller Culture 118 Amwell Care Home

IAN GUYLER Business Consulting

Higher education, Brexit, and an apology

100 COVER STORY St Martins Lodge

23 Mattioli Woods

59 Niche Business Awards 2018

One obvious area of benefit to the UK economy is the value of overseas students paying tuition fees and spending money. The higher education sector is the fifth largest service industry (Higher Education Commission) in the UK and, as I’m sure we all know, in Leicestershire we have three world class Universities – Leicester (UOL), De Montfort (DMU), and Loughborough.

They have excellent reputations and attract large overseas student numbers. However, they are also significant in the world of research.

In the UK we are world class leaders in many research fields which the business world really could benefit from knowing more about. Anjuu Trevedi (UOL), Louise Donaghy (DMU), and Jon Walker (Loughborough) have very willingly explained the research world to me with great enthusiasm and detail.

Another little known area of great importance is that this research influences government policy. Such influence is a key driving force for universities obtaining funding.

In the specific area that I’ve been working on, the research can benefit a significant section of our population leading to a reduced burden on the NHS. On the worldwide stage, the perception is that the higher education sector benefits from foreign policy, aid and development – this helps create a positive perception of the UK in the world, helping to attract foreign students with their benefit to the local and national economy.

Moving onto Brexit, a negative effect could be the possible impact on the desirability of the UK as the choice for overseas study.

Anyway, I’m now off to the East Midlands Chamber of Conference on Brexit so you may well read more on Brexit and our approaching economic crossroads in the next issue.

Finally, before I go: a big apology to the team at Joules for my statement last issue on declined high street sales – theirs had in fact increased.

Until next time.

NICHE | 07

BUSINESS NEWS LEICESTERSHIRE

Escape for Hope

Views sought on plans for Saffron Lane Athletics Stadium

Groups of businesspeople got together in October for a harrowing Halloween team-building special raising an almighty £2,500 so far for inspirational local charity Hope Against Cancer.

Cross Productions teamed up with Nucleus HR to organise the event that took place at scare-tacular tourist attraction Escape Asylum, and the day was kindly sponsored by Soar Valley Press.

Eight teams participated in the gruesome Cirque de Slay (40 per cent success rate), and Bills Cabin (42 per cent success rate) escape rooms, and all were successful in making it out of their room freeing themselves from a frightful fate, with some escaping with less than 60 seconds to spare.

Huge congratulations went to the Soar Valley Press team who made it out in a record time of 42.03 minutes achieving October’s fastestto-escape title.

Cross Productions and Nucleus HR were incredibly grateful to Unity for putting their marketing skills to good use and topping the fundraising leader board with £655. Teams are still having donations being made meaning the final sum of money raised continues to climb.

A big thank you to participating teams: Fothergill Wyatt, Unity, Gateway PLC, Evolve, Premier Developments, ECYCS, Soar Valley Press and Niche Magazine Watch this space for the returning event in 2019!

The city council is consulting on changes it plans to make to Saffron Lane Athletics Stadium as part of an £85,000 investment into the facility.

The plan will allow the stadium to become a multi-sports site, accommodating additional sports such as football, rugby or rounders, in a site that has ample grandstand and parking facilities for spectators.

Deputy city mayor Cllr Piara Singh Clair MBE, who leads on culture, leisure and sport, said: “Many stadiums across the country have become multi-use facilities as part of

08 | NICHE

wider plans to make our sites more inclusive.

We’re investing in Saffron Lane Athletics Stadium and looking to increase its usage by broadening the range of sports it can be used for. However, athletics events and training will continue to be the main function of the stadium.”

Works for the proposed investment should take place late 2019 and will be part of a wider investment of £1.8million in city sports and leisure centres.

To have your say on the proposals visit consultations.leicester.gov.uk

Soft Touch Arts Wins National Lottery and BID Leicester Support ’60s Mods Exhibition Leicester based Soft Touch Arts has received a National Lottery grant of £69,000 and BID Leicester sponsorship of £29,899 towards the Mods: Shaping a Generation project that will take place in the city between April-June 2019 in partnership with Leicester City Council and design agency Arch Creative.

Christina Wigmore, Business Development Director at Soft Touch Arts, said: “We’ll be giving young people the opportunity to learn directly from Leicester Mods, and create their own art, music, film, and fashion for a high-profile exhibition.”

To tie in with the project, local organisations are planning a Mod festival, ‘ReVive’, from June 15-30 2019 that will include films, music and fashion, and will take place in venues and outdoor spaces across the city centre.

Colin Hyde from University of Leicester said: “While London is often the focus for writing about youth culture in the 1960s, young people in provincial towns such as Leicester and Nottingham created their own scenes. They developed their own tastes and styles and took them out into the wider world.

In some cases, they were hugely successful and influential, but their stories have barely been recorded. This project addresses that problem incredibly well.”

Simon Jenner, BID Leicester Director, said: “The festival will celebrate a unique music and fashion subculture and help to raise the profile of Leicester with the potential to attract thousands of visitors to Leicester, benefitting local businesses through increased footfall in the city centre.” facebook.com/shapingageneration

Rehoming the Falcons Currently based in Hinckley, Leicester’s American football team Falcons hopes to seal the deal on a move to Saffron Lane, which has inspired transformation across the club.

Falcons has chosen Cross Productions as its marketing partner ahead of the potential move and its 2019 season, which will begin in April. The Cross team is delighted with the honour and will be sponsoring a player too – whose name will be revealed at a later date.

The annual player ceremony was hosted on October 26, the event celebrated the players’ successes and provided the opportunity for new recruits to meet the team and get a feel for the culture of the club.

With such exciting changes and a busy schedule, the team has even stronger potential going forward with their prospective rehoming, the green light for which will hopefully be given on November 1. Follow Niche Magazine’s Facebook page for updates.

Sponsored by rdz-pr.co.uk #creatingabuzz

Join in the festive fun this

CHRISTMAS IN LEICESTER The festive season is a magical time in Leicester – lights twinkle across the city, shoppers hurry around for gifts, and there’s seasonal cheer in the air as family and friends gather to celebrate

EVENT CALENDAR Wheel of Light

Jubilee Square November 16 – January 7

Lights switch on

Humberstone Gate West and Clock Tower November 22 5pm – 8pm Lights switch on 6.20pm Late night park & ride

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his year Christmas in Leicester will be a real treat for visitors and residents with more shops to choose gifts from than ever before, old favourites and new places to enjoy something to eat or drink, and plenty of events and activities for fun with the family and friends.

The festivities kick off on Thursday, November 22 with the switch on of Leicester’s Christmas lights at Humberstone Gate West. For the first time the switch on will be broadcast live on TV, thanks to our partnership with ITV News Central. We are also delighted that ITV News Central weather presenter Des Coleman will be with us on switch on night and he will be helping to host our stage programme. X-Factor winner Sam Bailey and other stars of De Montfort Hall’s Christmas pantomime Peter Pan will be amongst the performers on the night.

In keeping with Curve’s White Christmas theme, the spectacular 14m Christmas tree at the Clock Tower will be festooned with more than 6,000 pea lights sparkling amongst snow covered branches. You can see Curve’s production of Irving Berlin’s ‘White Christmas’ from December 6 to January 13.

It’s back! And bigger and better than ever!

Last year’s ice rink proved to be a big hit with 25,000 visitors and residents taking to the ice.

This year enjoy a magical month on ice on the 40 x 17 metre real ice rink next to the Christmas Wheel of Light at Jubilee Square, a great way to

Fairground rides start the annual Christmas party! The clear roof will keep you dry whatever the weather.

There are two new attractions this year: visit Santa in his enchanting, traditional grotto in new Market Square; and Christmas in the Gardens is a unique and interactive installation brought to you by BID Leicester and St Martins House, and produced by Big Difference Company.

Marvel at LightWeight, a four metre high sphere in Cathedral Gardens, lit up with shimmering colours and live animation. A quick stop at the face-recognition camera and you can add your own face to the mix of this unique and interactive installation.

The tableau in Town Hall Square displays the fantasy world of Alice in Wonderland and you can also see the lovely Nativity scene. But if it is all the fun of fair you are looking for then head to Humberstone Gate West.

Over 16,000 Christmas lights will illuminate the city centre streets and we invite you, your friends and family to experience Christmas in Leicester. You will find so much to do this Christmas you will be spoiled for choice.

To book ice skating tickets please go to christmasinleicester.co.uk and for more information on what’s on, check out visitleicester.info or visit Leicester Information Centre, 51 Gallowtree Gate and speak to one of our friendly advisers.

Sarah Harrison, City Centre Director

Humberstone Gate West November 23 – January 6

Jubilee Square real ice rink

December 6 – January 6 11am – 9pm Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve 11am – 5pm Closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day Buy tickets at: christmasinleicester.co.uk

Santa in the Square New Market Square December 8 – 23 Monday – Friday 11am – 6pm Saturday 10am – 6pm Sunday 10am – 4pm

Christmas in the Gardens

Cathedral Gardens December 13 - 22 5pm – 10pm

Art in Christmas Leicester Market December 16

NICHE | 09

Accountancy and Finance

Construction

Customer Service & Onsite

A momentous year for

Eileen Richards Recruitment

Directors & Non-Executive

Human Resources

Office (incl EA/PA)

For ER Recruitment 2018 was a monumental year with a highlight reel many companies in their 5th year of business

Sales & Marketing

Supply Chain & Procurement

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could only dream of

he highly successful specialist recruitment firm has taken on plenty of personal and professional challenges this past year.

Its awards cabinet is positively swelling, they’ve raised thousands for local charities, provided training and support for countless individuals, and continued to evolve as a business too.

With charity at the heart of the company, it’s no surprise that the team took on a host of charitable fundraising activities in 2018. As a trustee of Hope Against Cancer, ER’s Managing Director Eileen Richards MBE supported the charity in many ways with every employee doing

their bit to help. Notable contributions included Brand and Marketing Executive Scarlett Tinsley who completed the Hope Challenge Wild (which included a rather blistering 20-mile hike on arrival) and Sarah Knight, Office Manager, who scaled and abseiled the Next Headquarters in Enderby, as one does– all in the name of a good cause of course!

The year saw a further two highly successful Hope Business lunches attended by over 50 members and hosted

by Eileen and Duncan Green. In addition, the business continues to support local charity Wooden Spoon with their popular

NICHE FEATURE

There are no words that could express how grateful I am to receive an MBE and for the support that everyone has given me St George’s Day event and Oktoberfest. Eileen told us: “I am so proud of our team and their commitment to charity work – this is where aligning business and employee values are so important, my team share my dedication to doing what they can in and around the local community.”

Moving to the awards cabinet, 2018 was the company’s most successful year yet with an awards shelf positively bulging at the seams. For a start, Eileen received perhaps the biggest accolade of them all as she was named on the Queen’s Birthday Honours listed with an MBE, yes that’s right, an MBE. In recognition for her work in support of female entrepreneurship as the CoChair of the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce’s Enterprising Women Initiative.

“I was thrilled and humbled to be named on the Queen’s Birthday Honours List,” she explains. “There are no words that could express how grateful I am to receive an MBE and for the support that everyone has given me. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this happen.”

The thank you speeches don’t stop there though with Eileen also taking home the Business Woman of the Year trophy at not only the Niche Business Awards but the Leicester Mercury Awards too! Chosen because of her strong leadership qualities and dedication to nurturing female talent within the city and county. Eileen has also played a vital role in the sponsorship and selection panels at a variety of leading ceremonies including Niche, Leicester Mercury and East Midlands Chamber of Commerce to name a few.

2018 also saw a continuous growth for the company and their commitment to their eight specialist areas as well as a focus on providing a highly specialised Director and Non-Executive sector service which is set to expand in the coming year. “We have provided this service for some time now but are seeing an increase in the demand for it, so want to be able to let our clients know that this is a key area for us in which we have a great deal of expertise.”

The launch of a new ‘Successful Recruitment’ training programme in 2018 saw the experienced team conduct regular workshops for clients, again showcasing the ways in which the company go above and beyond that of your typical ‘off the shelf’ recruitment firm.

For Eileen and her team this year has been a busy but highly rewarding one. “Phew, what a year! Through hard work and team work we have achieved so much this year and I would like to thank my team for all their dedication and loyalty. I am looking forward to so much in 2019 already. I relish the new opportunities that will come our way including working with new clients, further training, connecting the right people to fantastic businesses and of course supporting our charities, partnering at Leicester Comedy Festival and attending the odd prestigious event too – well, it would be rude not to we aren’t all work and no play!” Eileen laughs.

0116 254 9710 eileenrichardsrecruitment.co.uk NICHE | 11

NICHE BUSINESS

Forum

WORK ETHIC: BORN WITH IT? INSTILLED IN US? OR LED TO IT? TONI ROBINSON Director at Nucleus HR As employers we are constantly striving for a workforce that has a strong work ethic, which we see to be vital for achieving goals. But what is work ethic? How do we define it? Are we born with it? How do we recognise it at the interview stage? And more importantly, can we grow it in our existing teams?

The term ‘work ethic’ has had various interpretations over the years; but I consider work ethic to be a certain set of principles that guide people’s work behaviour, leading them to produce high quality work consistently and the output of that

work motivates them to stay on track.

A good work ethic fuels an individual’s needs and goals and would be considered a source of self respect, satisfaction and fulfilment.

But, are we born with our work ethics? Do our parents instil it in us? Or, can the principles be grown through positive employee engagement?

There are various responses to the last three questions, with deep and far reaching psychological analysis and research all giving conflicting answers to what are essentially complex questions. My thoughts? I think it’s a combination of all the above. Yes, I think you are born with a certain drive and determination that is unique to you and yes, I think your parents

instil a set of behaviours into you by setting the standards that they lived by and yes, I believe that employers can work with people using positive engagement strategies to awaken those principals.

Whilst 90% of Leaders understand the importance of employee engagement, fewer than 50% understand how to address this issue.

Let’s learn how we can release the drive and determination that sits within a majority of the people that turn up to work with and for you every single day…

07960 418 494 nucleushr.com

Nucleus HR are not like other HR services in the marketplace.

We take time to review your company business plan and evaluate any existing HR practices. We then set out to design a HR strategy specific to your needs that works on transforming your commercial approach to HR, resulting in us working together to achieve your objectives in a more efficient timeframe, ensuring we all succeed.

It was important to us that as an organisation we should work with a company that we could build a partnership with and ultimately put our trust in. I have always been delighted with the way Toni and Nucleus HR have supported us. Firstly protecting us from areas of risk, and then driving forward both the practical and strategic HR plans, from recruitment, training & development, performance management right through to exit management.

No area of HR is left unturned – all delivered by commercial HR professionals who take time to integrate with our business. Without a doubt this has really contributed to my business moving forward.

Marcus McGee, MD Cloudy2Clear UK Ltd

Evaluate • Transform • Succeed tel: 07960 418494

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email: info@nucleushr.com

www.nucleushr.com

NICHE FEATURE

New Year: new relationships January 6 is ‘divorce day’ the single most popular day of

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the year that couples rethink their realtionships

ver the festive season the pressure to have ‘the dream’ is real. The family unit goes through an incredible amount of strain to be the happiest version of themselves all year round. There is often a huge emphasis on ‘making this year the best yet’ to paper over any cracks.

Add to this the fact that spending a huge amount of time together can cause tension itself and you have a pressure pot of potential disappointments and a mind-set to change it all in the New Year.

Debbie Moore, the High Achievers Coach, guides people who are leaving a relationship to come out of it as unscathed as is possible whilst acknowledging the past, seeing their effect on the relationship, and finding ways to move forward in healthy ways.

She commented: “There are many

IT IS A TRANSITIONAL PROCESS AND IS VERY MUCH ABOUT THE FUTURE NOT THE PAST destructive patterns that are likely to have been happening when we look back at a relationship and how it has ended. Without addressing them as we end a relationship we will simply carry those patterns forward into a new relationship both with an ex-partner and a potential new partner. It is a transitional process and is very much about the future not the past.”

This is where conscious uncoupling

– a set of ideas by Katherine Woodward Thomas – comes in. The transformational process of ‘uncoupling’ goes through various clear steps of positive change which allows for the blame and shame that often circulates a breakup to melt away. The concept is a form of skill teaching and a way of moving forward positively.

“When couples break up, particularly if there are children involved, we need to look at positive ways of moving forward, of equipping ourselves with the skills to not only heal but to find ways to approach the new, evolved relationship we have with our ex-partners.” debbie@debbiemoorecoaching.com debbiemoorecoaching.com

Business Expo Connecting Local Businesses LEICESTER RACECOURSE 15TH MAY 2019 9AM-4PM Sponsored by

70+ EXHIBITORS 3 INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS ONE DAY OF POWERFUL NETWORKING UNLIMITED BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES To Book a stand call 0116 271 2573 or register free at crossconnectionsexpo.co.uk NICHE | 13

BUSINESS FOCUS

Your personal finance How you manage your money, income, expenses and savings quite obviously determines your future. To get your personal finances in order ready for a new year, we gathered expert advice and essential information covering retirement, business lending, and how to make a difference to business tax on a larger scale

life expectancy are creating a perfect storm that threatens to destabilise the financial wellbeing of the coming generation of retirees.

JOHN F KIELY DIP PFS Managing Director at Claremont Financial Planning

PEOPLE ALSO UNDERESTIMATE LONGEVITY AND THEREFORE HOW LONG RETIREMENT COULD LAST

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esearch from the Financial Conduct Authority reveals that around 15 million individuals are not saving anything towards their retirement and will have to rely entirely on the State Pension in their later years (Financial Conduct Authority).

Of particular concern is the group of pre-retirees aged 55–64, only half of whom have given thought to how they will manage in retirement; and only a quarter know how much they have in their pension pot (BlackRock). These people may only have a few working years left to build their nest egg.

According to BlackRock, those who were asked to calculate how much they would need for their desired retirement income of £26,000 a year estimated they would require £233,000 in savings; and yet they would need a pot of £525,000 for this income, even including the State Pension.

People also underestimate longevity and therefore how long retirement could last. Only 7% of people aged 55–64 today expect to live to 90, but research indicates that half of them can expect to live that long (Financial Conduct Authority). The obvious implication is that many retirement pots will run out too soon.

Many experts are warning that the end of finalsalary pension schemes, chronic underfunding of defined contribution pensions, and increasing

The solution is to plan

You have to ask yourself: how much will I need, and how much can I afford to put away? Then you need to factor in any other sources of retirement income and you can see the size of the gap you are trying to fill.

Middle age is a time when incomes are at or near their peak, so there are significant opportunities to catch up; and the end of the tax year presents an ideal opportunity to do so.

Subject to limitations, people in the UK can make pension contributions of up to 100% of their earnings or £40,000, whichever is lower.

While paying the maximum may seem a tall order, remember that the government rewards you for saving into a pension in the form of tax relief.

Worryingly, according to BlackRock’s research, 50% of people are unaware that the government boosts pension contributions; the research also showed that fewer than a third of people are aware of ‘pension freedoms’ changes and how these impact on their retirement prospects (Black Rock).

This is further evidence that lack of awareness remains one of the key barriers to making adequate retirement provision.

It is vital savers know and understand all their options for using their pension; but also that they make the most of the current tax breaks while building one.

The end of the tax year is often seen as a crucial time, as it provides the final opportunity for individuals and couples to take advantage of reliefs and allowances that would otherwise be lost.

Now is a good time to take advice also. You may find unclaimed allowances waiting for you.

Finance

DARREN WILLOUGHBY Managing Director at 2XLCommercial Finance Limited

F

inancing growth is an intriguing area. For a start, there are so many options available to business owners and it can all seem to be a minefield at first glance.

With each requirement being vastly different to another there is no one size fits all answer.

Add to this the fact that each is very specific to the client’s wants and needs and then consider the business and personal circumstances involved and you have quite the conundrum.

Looking at the whole of market finance, our brokers consider all areas including asset finance, invoice discounting, factoring, peer to peer lending as well as commercial mortgages, property lending and business loans. This holistic approach means that we can sit down with a client to explore these options and make sure they get the best finance package for them at the best rates.

A recent poll stated that most people take financial advice from friends or family, who often have no professional knowledge in this area. To me, you wouldn’t ask a mechanic to perform a heart operation so why would you take advice from people not operating in that arena.

My advice? Pick your adviser carefully and glean as much information from your professional team including your accountant, solicitor and finance broker as possible – thus making sure the solution presented is the best possible one for you.

If you’re reading this and going through growth in your business, then I want to say well done! The stats are stacked against you with one in three businesses said to fail in the first three years. Well done for getting this far and best of luck in your journey.

A RECENT POLL STATED THAT MOST PEOPLE TAKE FINANCIAL ADVICE FROM FRIENDS OR FAMILY, WHO OFTEN HAVE NO PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE IN THIS AREA

PETE MILLER Director at The Miller Partnership

Making tax simpler

M

any people may not be aware of the existence of the Office of Tax Simplification. The OFT is a government body, which is not part of HMRC, but which is tasked with identifying areas where the tax code could be made simpler.

But what exactly do we mean by this?

Firstly, tax law itself in some areas could be made more simple.

In other areas, how tax law is applied to commercial circumstances could be simplified even though this might mean the actual legislation in itself is a little bit more complicated.

And finally, the operation of tax law could be made easier when it comes to matters such as filing tax returns online, registering for pay as you earn when taking on your first employee and other similar issues.

In April the OTS published a ‘Business Life-Cycle Report’, about simplifying the taxation of key events in the life of a business. This concentrated on the various reliefs and exemptions that might apply to various stages of a business’s life-cycle, but it did not focus on the administration of the tax system and the costs of compliance.

The Chancellor has now asked the OTS to look at the administration of the tax system. To assist with this task, the OTS has appointed a consultative committee, of which I am honoured to be a member. While the OTS’s job might seem thankless, given the length and complexity of the UK’s tax code, the single most important thing that Government could do for business is to make the tax code simpler to operate. It remains the chief bugbear of the vast majority of people I speak to.

The first stage in this process involves carrying out a survey to determine how easy or difficult businesses and tax advisers find it to operate within the tax system. This survey is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/ots-businesslifecycle-review-call-for-evidence-and-survey and I would strongly encourage anyone with a business, or anyone who advises businesses, to spend a few minutes completing it.

One or two people have suggested that they don’t want to complete a survey that HMRC might then be able to use to target them, particularly if their answers appear to be critical of the Department.

While HMRC is represented on the consultative committee, please be assured that HMRC will not be able to see who completed the survey or which businesses they might represent or advise.

It is genuinely completely anonymous and is, in any case, run by the OTS and not by HMRC or the Treasury. So please don’t be scared to complete the survey. I think its findings are going to be of massive benefit when demonstrating to the government just how much the operation of our tax system could be simplified for all businesses NICHE | 15

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NICHE FEATURE

Telemarketing experts

join Paragon team

One of the most effective and fastest ways for a business to grow is through sales according to Rob Spence of Paragon Sales Solutions

“W

ithout sales, a business simply cannot function” Rob tells us. Whether you are a solo entrepreneur, an inventor, an importer or even a service provider, you need sales to help drive your business forward.

But what happens if you have never worked in sales before and have little understanding of how to sell? And how do you drive your sales forward if you do not have the capital to hire dedicated sales staff? These are the questions Rob Spence aimed to answer when he founded Paragon Sales Solutions in the early stages of 2018.

“Having spoken with many businesses and entrepreneurs in Leicestershire, the one thing that so many of them struggled with was sales. They could outsource their accounts, their HR, their health and safety, and yet to outsource sales was quite unheard of,” he explained.

As the months go on, Paragon’s reputation for generating solid sales results and

supporting their clients continues to rise.

“We operate in three key areas,” Rob tells us. “We can come on board as your sales consultant; audit your sales procedures and look to refine the whole sales process. We offer sales training to assist individuals or groups with good sales skills.

And our biggest asset right now is our telemarketing, telesales and appointment setting services.

“It’s said that 68 per cent of all sales occur after some form of human interaction and that is why the telephone is still vitally important when selling any product or service. But not everyone has the time, patience or skills to sell over the phone.”

Paragon has recently taken on board Abby Spurling and Emily King, both with extensive knowledge and experience in the telemarketing industry to support Paragon’s client’s telemarketing campaigns.

Abby said: “What makes us stand out is that we truly care for

WHAT MAKES US STAND OUT IS THAT WE TRULY CARE FOR OUR CLIENTS. WE WORK CLOSELY WITH THEM TO ENSURE THAT WE TARGET THE RIGHT PEOPLE

our clients. We work closely with them to ensure that we target the right people, say the right things and ultimately get the right results.”

The latest member of the Paragon Sales Solution team Emily added: “Rob is very passionate about offering an ethical and friendly approach to sales that has been passed down to both myself and Abby. We are now at a point where we can offer cost-effective, reliable and adaptable phone sales support for anyone in the country.”

When meeting with Rob, Abby and Emily it’s clear the team is working towards the same goal.

It’s refreshing to meet a team so driven and inspired by their own clients and with such a passion to see others succeed – reflected in the results that they are delivering.

0116 332 2813 paragonsalessolutions.co.uk NICHE | 17

Howzat?

The opening of The Tap & Run Cricketers Harry Gurney and Stuart Broad, along with friend Dan Cramp have opened a new pub in Upper Broughton with the help of 2XL Commercial; their second venture under The Cat & Wickets brand which the trio created in 2016

T

he Cat & Wickets invited friends, family and new customers to a successful launch on Friday, September 28 to celebrate The Tap & Run’s opening – two years after the opening of the brand’s first pub The Three Crowns in Wymesworld. They’re bucking the trend of a steady decline in the number of open pubs since the year 2000 (British Beer and Pub Association).

Harry commented: “We believe all the doom and gloom around the pub trade is down to the fact that there are, or were, too many pubs. And the majority of them were completely wet led, dirty and old fashioned. That culture is dying out now. People tend to go to pubs more to eat and see

HARRY GURNEY AND STUART BROAD WITH DARREN WILLOUGHBY

them as family environments. We hope our brand of pubs will cater for that.”

The opening of The Tap & Run was facilitated by finance company 2XL Commercial Finance. Working closely with Harry, Stuart, and Dan, 2XL MD Darren Willoughby initially consulted on various venues before moving forwards with the site at Upper Broughton.

Stuart said: “Running a business in the hospitality sector has been a challenge but also a lot of fun. We are very passionate about good food and wine and therefore feel that this sector suits us down to the ground.

“Thanks to Darren at 2XL for being so thorough in his approach and enabling us to generate the funds required to make The Tap & Run a

reality.”

Scouring the external market for finance solutions to support Harry’s purchasing of the freehold and an impressive six-week refurbishment, Darren came back to the business owners with an unbeatable deal to facilitate the purchase and works.

Harry added: “Darren’s meticulous preparation prior to submission of the lending application was superb and was intrinsic in ensuring we secured the lending required.”

Darren explained: “Having worked alongside the team for nearly 18 months it was great for the guys to secure a venue. When you’re dealing with a ‘closed venue’ in a sector that is typically high risk it was always going

It’s crucial to be creative and explore not only the traditional commercial mortgage but also other types of finance such as asset finance and alternative sources

NICHE FEATURE

After

During to be a challenge.

“It’s crucial to be creative and explore not only the traditional commercial mortgage but also other types of finance such as asset finance and alternative sources to get a client where they want to be and on the best possible terms available. This is why utilising a broker works and the rewards speak for themselves on what is a fantastic end product and one that will be a credit to the village. I am convinced that this will be a roaring success and I look forward to supporting the team in any future projects.”

Before

07736 359 413 2xlcommercial.com

NICHE | 19

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NICHE FEATURE

Pension talk

with Rajesh Modha

Is the stock market the only option for my pension?

and other more adventurous investments (nearly all of which you should run a mile from!)

Anything else?

M

any clients ask if there are alternatives to a regular pension which simply invests in the stock market and cash. The simple answer is – YES. The two most common options used are called a Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS) and a SelfInvested Personal Plan (SIPP).

Many clients would like to take more control over where their pensions are invested. Both SSASs and SIPPs help provide that flexibility, whilst maintaining the fabulous tax incentives that are available through a pension wrapper. Below, I will discuss some of the unique characteristics of both pension options.

So, what is an SSAS?

A SSAS is a pension trust set up by a limited company or a partnership. SSASs are primarily set up by private and family run limited companies (known as the sponsoring employer) for the benefit of the owner directors and senior employees. They can have up to 11 members.

Normally, pension contributions are made directly from the sponsoring employer directly into the pension scheme.

This is normally classified as a ‘business expense’ and so the company will save on corporation tax on the amount of the contribution.

What’s the difference with a SIPP?

A SIPP is a personal pension plan – so it only has one member. It is set-up by (or for) the individual.

It carries many of the investment options that a SSAS has – but not all. Generally, a SIPP is cheaper to run than a SSAS. It also allows contributions to be made directly from a company and allows for the same tax advantages of corporation tax relief.

Why use either?

The main reason either option is chosen is because both allow for the direct purchase of commercial property. This can be an ideal solution for many business owners as, essentially, they lease their business premises to their own company! The advantage is that rental income and capital growth is not taxed because it’s within the pension wrapper. So, you should as a result experience faster growth. The rental continues to be regarded as an expense to the company. Add to this that you can borrow through both pension schemes to make the purchase with a mortgage, and for many this option becomes very attractive.

In addition, both options allow you to invest in individual shares, traditional collective investments (like traditional pension schemes)

PROPERTY CAN BE HARD TO SELL, AND EVEN THOUGH IT HASN’T FOR A WHILE, PRICES CAN FALL

An additional option available via a SSAS is called a ‘Loanback’.

Quite simply, the pension fund can lend money back to the sponsoring supplier – imagine that, being able to borrow from your own pension scheme to fund expansion and growth with no need to approach the bank.

Interesting don’t you think? There are rules and regulations that need to be adhered to, but many clients of mine use this facility to great effect.

What are the risks?

Taking direct control of your investments will mean you will need to be able to emotionally detach yourself when making investment decisions, yet this is easier said than done. As much as we all like to believe we only make smart, rational business decisions the reality is often far from it.

Property can be hard to sell, and even though it hasn’t for a while, prices can fall. Especially when you need the money the most.

Your business needs to be able to maintain rental payments (or loan payments regarding Loanbacks). So, there is a great deal of pressure to maintain the business and consistently perform to meet your requirements.

Alternatively, will the property be rentable if you vacate to another business?

If you want to know more contact us.

0116 262 1414 financelab.co.uk rajesh@financelab.co.uk NICHE | 21

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“We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle” Sir Winston Churchill

Transactions in Securities: Do the tougher rules apply to your company or is HMRC’s challenge groundless?

HMRC is looking very closely at the ways in which people are taking money out of their companies. The tax man is particularly keen to check that people are paying income tax, either on earnings at rates up to 45% (+2% national insurance) or as dividends, with rates up to 38.1%. HMRC is very concerned about tax planning that enables business people to extract money from their companies and only pay capital gains tax at 20% or often at only 10%.

I am currently seeing a lot of cases where companies have had substantial share capital, perhaps because of a previous restructuring.

Under new rules introduced by the Companies Act 2006, it is now relatively easy for a company to reduce its capital and return some of that cash to shareholders. Where this is done, the amount concerned is treated as a capital gain and taxed at 10% for a trading company, or 20% in other cases.

I am working on several cases where HMRC has challenged a reduction of capital, with most of the tax man’s attention – for the moment – on transactions that occurred during 2015/16. In these cases HMRC is seeking to apply anti-avoidance measures, called the ‘Transactions in Securities rules’, which would allow it to tax the receipt at dividend tax rates, up to 38.1%, rather than at the capital gains tax rates of only 10%.

But in many of these instances, HMRC’s challenge will be unfounded, either because there was a genuine commercial reason for the company to reduce its capital or because the Transactions in Securities rules do not apply for other technical reasons.

This is a complex area, so if you feel your business’ reduction in capital is being wrongly queried by HMRC, or you would like advice on the Transactions in Securities rules more generally, get in touch.

UK tax legislation is the most complex in the world and, when you’re looking at the Taxation of Company Reorganisations, Pete literally wrote the book The Miller Partnership are experts in all aspects of corporation tax.

Our specialities include: Taxation of corporate transactions, mergers, acquisitions, disposals, demergers, reorganisations & reconstructions HMRC clearances Transactions in securities anti-avoidance legislation Taxation of corporate intangible assets & goodwill Disguised remuneration Taxation of partnerships Patent Box

T: 0116 208 1020 M: 07802 197 269 The Miller Partnership New Walk House, 108 New Walk, Leicester LE1 6UF

www.themillerpartnership.com pete.miller@themillerpartnership.com

NICHE FEATURE

Making

an example

A civic leader has heralded the wealth management’s move into the heart of Leicester as an example to other companies

PHOTOGRAPHY: KEVIN SHARPE PHOTOGRAPHY

S

ir Peter Soulsby has commented on the Mattioli Woods purposebuilt £15 million offices in New Walk saying they highlight the quality space Leicester city centre had to offer. The city mayor’s tribute came as the firm threw open its doors to media representatives for the first time following completion of its switch from Grove Park, Enderby.

Guests were taken on a tour of the new five-storey, glass-fronted building which now houses around 400 staff and features facilities such as a sky lounge and bar, prayer room, designated quiet working areas, brew hubs and spacious open-plan layout.

Guests were told by Ian Mattioli MBE, chief executive officer and co-founder, that the number of people working there was set to rise to at least 600 within two to three years.

Mr Mattioli told how the wealth management and employee benefits specialist decided to make the switch into Leicester after its former premises became ‘log jammed’ because it had reached its capacity. He said its out-of-town location also meant the company had ‘started to struggle to recruit and retain people’.

The firm now looks after £8.7 billion of assets on behalf of its 65,000 clients and continued to grow both organically and through acquisition of ‘like-minded businesses’, he revealed.

“Our clients – some of whom have been with us since Mattioli Woods was formed in 1991 – are absolutely at the core of everything we do,” he explained.

“We have not been afraid to lower our costs and continue to believe in doing the right thing by them, even though markets are much more complex and fast-moving.”

He spoke of his commitment and the company’s unshakable belief in its high-level training programmes, including bespoke graduate and apprenticeship schemes.

Mr Mattioli said the firm could save around £4-5 million a year by halting it but declared: “We want all our people to be experts in what they do. That is really important to us. If we ever stop training, something is going wrong in the business.”

Mattioli Woods’ flotation on the stock market in 2005 was ‘the best thing the company has done by far’ because it had enabled growth and development, and gave ownership to employees.

WE WANT ALL OUR PEOPLE TO BE EXPERTS IN WHAT THEY DO. THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO US

Thanks to its share incentive scheme, the staff are now the second largest stakeholder in the business, owning more than Mr Mattioli and fellow co-founder and former chairman Bob Woods who is now its special adviser.

The new office block has been created on the site of the former headquarters of Leicester City Council, which was demolished in 2015 because it was considered structurally unsafe. Sir Peter said Mattioli Woods’ move was part of the “dramatic transformation” that had taken place in the city centre in recent years. He said the city had suffered from a “collective inferiority complex”.

“It’s generally believed its best days were behind it. It didn’t think it had a present, never mind a future. We are delighted you have come back,” he told Mr Mattioli. “We will use you as an example to show we are a city that offers real quality space for people to move into. Mattioli Woods is a success story. It is a deserved success story. And it is a Leicester success story.”

0116 240 8700 mattioliwoods.com NICHE | 23

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Emily Kirton sat down for a chat with Director Rik Pancholi to discover what motivates him and why Pattersons are different from the rest

Commercial law T

he award-winning Leicester based law firm provides tailor made solutions for businesses. But, what exactly is commercial law, I ask? “When you mention commercial law, the common response is confusion!” He laughs but replies, “In a nutshell it’s to help people buy and sell businesses.”

Ok, so now that’s cleared up we move on to how he goes about it and this is what really helps the firm to stand head and shoulders above the rest.

“We like to let our clients know that we will do whatever it takes to get the job done whether it is providing creative solutions to overcome challenges or working round the clock to meet strict completion deadlines,” he explains.

There are no nine to five opening hours at Pattersons; they do what they have to do to deliver on time and meet their clients’ demands. He stresses to me that he and his team “truly enjoy what they do” so these extra hours here and there are never done begrudgingly and are always done with “a smile on our faces”.

So, why did he start the firm in the first place? A Midlands trained lawyer, Rik attended Nottingham Trent for his undergraduate degree, then Birmingham’s University of Law for his Legal Practice Course. He went on to 26 | NICHE

complete his training with a Midlands regional firm before living and working as a solicitor in Singapore dealing with international corporate and commercial transactions – which set him on the path to eventually developing his own practice here in the UK. A ‘hybrid’ of a traditional law firm with a dispersed set up, the practice is highly adaptable with solicitors working remotely for their clients or from the office at Pear Tree Business Park. “I believe the legal services

to my clients and the other parties to a transaction. Running a corporate transaction can be a very involved matter and if you can’t understand what the parties get out of it because you’re just being a ‘lawyer’ then that could pose challenges down the line.

“As a practice, we advise on everything from buying and selling businesses, commercial property transactions, employment matters, private equity investments, intellectual property matters and commercial

We like to let our clients know that we will do whatever it takes to get the job done market is evolving and therefore we as a profession need to adapt and be able to deliver accordingly. It’s a niche market and I really do find it exciting to be able to support SME’s and their needs,” Rik comments.

What strikes is Rik’s ability to speak openly, honestly and plainly about their services, it’s real service with real people behind it. “We are very much about a collaborative approach.

I like to understand what is important

contracts. It’s quite wide ranging but the aim is to provide support for small and medium enterprises with no nonsense advice.

“We know clients like certainty when it comes to things like when they are going to complete a transaction and how much it is going to cost them.

We offer fixed fees where we can and that seems to work really well because clients can budget for their legal fees.”

The team at Pattersons Commercial

NICHE FEATURE

with a difference Law are at the heart of the firm with Rik knowing exactly the setting he wanted from the start. “I want to create an environment where solicitors are able to work flexibly and get the best out of their career and the discipline they so passionately trained for. This works both ways I believe – when they are comfortable they give their clients their all. The team is growing, getting stronger and we have ambitions to build the team further over the next few years.”

Family is huge for Rik and this extension of what drives him is felt in the office too – he practices what he preaches and says: “We want to be family friendly which is why we cater for babies and children in our office! Being able to offer a family friendly working environment and understanding that looking after a family can come at any hour of the day is important to the way we build our practice.”

Heralding the local Leicestershire business network, Rik acknowledges the power of working together to support one another at an exciting time for Leicestershire’s business community. “The Leicester community is so incredibly supportive and being a part of the SME marketplace is a really exciting place to be. That’s one of the

reasons we decided to support the Leicester Business Festival – to help local businesses do more!”

He continues, “We’ve also got a strong appetite for supporting entrepreneurs which is why we decided to support Leicester College and the ‘Pitch Your Passion’ competition in conjunction with The Sir Thomas White Loan Charity. The competition was Dragons’ Den style which saw students pitch new business ideas to a panel where six teams shared winnings made up of legal advice and a monetary boost to kick start their business.

We love supporting entrepreneurs as these are people who share a real ambition but may not necessarily have the guidance they need at such an

early stage in their careers.”

With a huge year behind them which saw highlights such as raising over £2,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support, winning Best New Business at the Niche Business Awards, and being proud supporters of local charity Alex’s Wish, what, I ask him, is he most excited about in 2019? “2019 is going to be an interesting year. We are very much looking forward to expanding our services and our team as well as continuing to support local charities and promoting young enterprise. The future is looking bright!”

0116 319 1110 pattersonscommerciallaw.com NICHE | 27

The Litigation and Commercial Law Firm We help businesses, big and small, new and old. We help individuals, at home and at work.

Talk to us today to find out how we can help you.

19, New Walk, Leicester LE1 6TE

0116 204 7260 www.hlegal.co.uk mail@hlegal.co.uk

“We solve problems, from recovering a small debt to drafting complex contracts, a business break up to a restrictive covenant problem.�

Greg Hollingsworth Director

NICHE FEATURE

How to protect

your closely-guarded secrets Some businesses have a unique method or something special about what they do that sets them apart from their competition. It might not be a trade secret as good as the Coca-Cola recipe, but businesses have information that they will want to protect whether it be a process, a business method, financial information, or a customer list.

Businesses work hard to build up their confidential information and should work just as hard to protect it. We spoke to director of Hollingsworths Solicitors, Greg Hollingsworth, about safeguarding your business’ secrets to success.

How do you protect confidential information?

In a commercial arrangement between businesses, parties may enter into a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to protect the information exchanged between them. For example, if a business is considering the possibility of entering into a joint venture and it wants to share key information with the joint venture partner. The NDA will limit the use of that information and when it should be returned.

So many businesses provide important information to a third party without an NDA in place.

Who needs access to confidential information?

Some staff may only need to have access to some of the information and not all of it. So limit access.

What about employees who know their employer’s confidential information?

Employees often have access to confidential information of a business such as customer and client lists. In this modern era, a customer list can be rapidly removed by a rogue employee with a memory stick inside a minute. Businesses need to be

alive to this and ensure they have appropriate policies in place to monitor the use of computer equipment within their businesses and also have appropriate restrictions within employment contracts both during and after employment, and be ready to act if information is removed for improper purposes.

What about sub-contractors?

If a business uses a subcontractor or a consultant, similar protections should be in place within the consultancy contract expressly protecting the business’ confidential information.

What happens when employees leave?

Usually, the employment contract would prevent the use of confidential information. The contract defines what amounts to confidential information and this will usually be wider than the law protects by certain implied duties.

The contract may – and should – also include restrictive covenants about what the employee can do after leaving, including their ability to work with the business’ customer base. Unfortunately, many businesses do not think

MANY BUSINESSES DO NOT THINK ABOUT THESE CLAUSES UNTIL AFTER THE PROBLEM HAS ARISEN

about these clauses until after the problem has arisen.

Do you have any tips for your business owners? ◆ Think about what confidential information you have and be sure that appropriate security is in place to protect it. Monitor how and when it is accessed and shared.

If you are sharing it, think about whether an NDA is required. ◆ Regularly review your contractual arrangements with your employees and consultants and make sure they provide adequate protections. ◆ If information is removed or you fear it is being misused, take advice and action promptly. In most cases, the best remedy is to stop the use and disclosure of that information before it gets any further into the public domain. This can be through an application for an injunction.

0116 204 7260 hlegal.co.uk

NICHE | 29

NICHE BUSINESS

Forum

CHANGES TO CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS VICKKI RIDGWAY Personal Injury Lawyer at Josiah Hincks

CRIMINAL INJURIES It is a well-known fact nowadays that if you are injured as a result of the negligence of a third party, you are entitled to claim compensation for those injuries and any financial losses arising out of that injury. Such a claim would almost certainly be made through an insurance company.

However, what happens if you are the victim of a violent crime, such as arson, domestic violence or an assault?

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) was established to compensate victims of violent crime who have suffered either a physical or mental injury, and deals with up to 400,000 applications each year. A sad but sure sign of our times.

Compensation awards through the CICA are based upon a tariff system and are subject to certain criteria, including whether the incident was reported to the Police “as soon as is reasonably practicable”; the prior conduct of the victim; and their willingness to co-operate with the Police in their investigations.

Payments can be made in relation to the injury and financial losses, again subject to certain criteria, which are contained within a 75 page document.

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0116 255 1811 josiahhincks.co.uk 30 | NICHE

Theresa May announced at the Tory Party Conference on October 2, 2018 that – following the decision in the Supreme Court case of Steinfeld and Keidan v Secretary of State for International Development – the law will be changed to permit heterosexual couples to enter into civil partnerships.

A civil partnership creates a legal, binding relationship between partners akin to marriage but falls short of achieving the legal status of marriage.

Hitherto, civil partnerships have only been available to homosexual couples.

In that case, Ms Steinfeld and Mr Keidan argued that it was discriminatory that civil partnerships were only available to same-sex couples. They held an ideological objection to marriage and argued that marriage had “treated women as property for centuries,” yet they wanted the opportunity to acquire legal recognition for their long-term relationship. In June 2018, the Supreme Court agreed that

STEVEN ILLIDGE Associate Solicitor at Glynis Wright & Co the Civil Partnership Act 2004 was discriminatory and was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Prime Minister said: “This change in the law helps protect the interests of opposite-sex couples who want to commit... but don’t necessarily want to get married… Now, by extending civil partnerships, we are making sure that all couples...are given the same choices.”

This should bring about additional legal protection in cases of relationship breakdown or death in the family.

0116 238 5680 glyniswright.co.uk

RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS IN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS

GREG HOLLINGSWORTH Director at Hollingsworths Solicitors Restrictive Covenants in employment contracts are a subject companies and employees should consider.

When an employee leaves a company, they are often well-placed to take advantage of their relationship with the company’s customers and clients, and even make use of the company’s confidential information. Companies should review their employment contracts and include express restrictions to protect the business from unlawful competition. Similar clauses may also be appropriate for agents and

some sub-contractors.

But do these clauses really work?

The answer is firmly yes. The clauses do need to be carefully drafted and there are many traps when preparing these types of clauses that can lead to them being challenged at a later date by an ex-employee who sets up in competition with the company. This includes the length of any restriction and what customers or clients the restriction applies to.

And for those employees who are thinking of moving on? Hollingsworths can review covenants before any new business or new role starts to advise on how likely covenants will be enforceable by the courts.

For legal advice on litigation, commercial and debt recovery, contact Hollingsworths.

0116 204 7260 hlegal.co.uk

OUR SERVICES WILLS LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY ASSET PROTECTION TRUSTS INHERITANCE TAX PLANNING

Ask yourself the following questions • • • •

LIVING WILL FUNERAL PLANS

Is your will up-to-date and relevant?

Does it still say what you want it to say?

Does it protect your home from care costs?

Does it minimise your liability to inheritance tax?

If you’re unsure about any of these questions, get in touch

0800 999 7750

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE IT YOUR WAY, NOT SOMEONE ELSE’S Glynis Wright & Co Family Solicitors & Mediators has beaten off national competition to scoop one of the legal profession’s most prestigious awards

T

he company has been named Law Firm of the Year – Small at The Law Society’s Excellence awards.

The Law Society’s Excellence Awards are considered the highest accolade for law firms in England and Wales.

Judges were impressed by Glynis Wright & Co’s innovative strategy of involving school children in short films focusing on the impacts of marital breakdown. The business was also recognised for its dedication to community charities, staff development and for developing the business to offer an integrated client care package.

Head of Practice Glynis Wright said: “We launched in Leicester seven years ago and are now one of the most significant

Law Firm of the Year providers of family law in the Midlands. I think what makes us stand out is that we place a huge emphasis on dispute resolution and conflict management, recognising the need to reduce the impact on children in a family breakup wherever possible. I am extremely proud of each and every one of my team, without whom this achievement would not have been possible.”

President of The Law Society

I AM EXTREMELY PROUD OF EACH AND EVERY ONE OF MY TEAM

of England and Wales Christina Blacklaws said: “Every year law firms and solicitors from every corner of England and Wales support their clients through major life events or particularly trying times.

“This year we received a record number of nominations, which highlighted the exceptional dedication, thoughtfulness and skill solicitors bring to their job on a daily basis.”

NICHE | 31

NICHE BUSINESS

Forum

THE AFTERLIFE YOU DESIGN BHUMIKA PARMAR Director at BP Legal Solicitors

TENANT AND LANDLORD

YOUR RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES As a tenant you have certain rights and responsibilities if you’re in privately rented property. As a tenant, you have the right to live in a property that’s safe and in a good state of repair; have your deposit returned when the tenancy ends – and in some cases have it protected; challenge excessively high charges; know who your landlord is; live in the property undisturbed; see an Energy Performance Certificate for the property; be protected from unfair eviction and unfair rent; have a written agreement if you have a fixed-term tenancy of more than three years.

When you start a new assured or short assured tenancy, your landlord must give you a copy of the ‘how to rent’ guide if you live in England; EPC certificate; confirmation documents regarding your deposit; and landlords gas safety certificate.

You must give your landlord access to the property to inspect it or carry out repairs. Your landlord has to give you at least 24 hours’ notice and visit at a reasonable time of day, unless it’s an emergency and they need immediate access.

You must also take good care of the property; pay the agreed rent, even if repairs are needed or you’re in dispute with your landlord; pay other charges as agreed with the landlord; repair or pay for any damage caused by you, your family or friends. Your landlord has the right to take legal action to evict you if you don’t meet your responsibilities.

0116 253 6856 bplegal.co.uk 32 | NICHE

Stephen Hawking told his daughter that the afterlife is the ‘continuation of the work you did in your lifetime.’

I can insist you write a will over and over again explaining all the reasons why this is essential in leaving a legacy that means something to your loved ones, but it may only hit home with you hearing it from someone else.

“I did not realise the skill needed to produce a will fit for purpose. My circumstances showed that I needed an expert to produce the will needed for me.” – Jonny Nassau, Snap-on “After hearing the horror stories related to failure to plan properly for the next generation I would like to give my most sincere thanks for helping my wife and I to navigate our way through the very difficult and daunting world of wills and trusts.” – Philip Houlder, Glenfield Electrical.

“Although we thought we had straight-forward needs, Bhavin asked us a range of questions to ensure our will reflected our requirements. We

BHAVIN GANDHI Director at Paradigm Wills and Legal Services recommend Paradigm to anyone who needs to protect their assets for future generations.” – Chris Goodman, Soar Valley Press.

“We had been postponing this for some time and now we can have peace of mind that we have done our duty.” – Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan, Zinthiya Trust.

“Bhavin went to see my mum and dad and was patient with them, listened to their concerns, and advised accordingly.” – Asit Jansari, Hollingsworths.

Whatever you believe about the afterlife, make sure you leave behind a life your loved ones can continue to love.

0800 999 7750 paradigm-wills.com

FIVE THINGS TO THINK ABOUT WHEN LOOKING TO SELL YOUR BUSINESS RIK PANCHOLI Director at Pattersons Commercial Law Most professional advisers will tell you to start preparing a good year or two before you actually want to sell so you can deal with any issues that may come up later on down the line. Here are five things to think about when planning your exit.

ONE. Carry out a mini due diligence exercise to discover any potential pitfalls a buyer might discover when investigating your business. If your business relies heavily on contracts then it would be prudent to check the contracts are all in existence, can be easily located, and do not contain any change of control provisions in them.

TWO. Engage with professional advisers experienced in handling

business sales, such as transfer agents, accountants and even lawyers!

THREE. Think about the things that are important to you when it comes to selling and be prepared to negotiate some heads of terms. These set out the scope of the transaction such as the amount you’re selling for, agreed payment terms and non-compete restrictions that might be placed on you following completion.

FOUR. Don’t rush into a deal. If you start negotiating with a buyer and it just doesn’t feel right, be prepared to walk away.

FIVE. Don’t spend all your hard earned money before you’ve done the deal. It’s worth planning your future out and what you intend to do with the proceeds of completion, such as seeking advice from a wealth manager and preparing a will.

07808 765 781 pattersonscommerciallaw.com

Your local solicitors offering:

Immigration Employment Wills and Probate Conveyancing Bhumika Parmar Director BP Legal is a young and innovative local law firm based in Leicester with a great reputation for handling commercial and personal matters for a wide range of individuals and businesses.

Our principal objective is to provide

Commercial Property Matters Litigation Personal Injury We speak Gujarati, Punjabi and Hindi

specialist, honest and fair advice and representation to assist you with your legal issues. You’ll find our solicitors professional, understanding, open, direct and approachable.

Call us today to find out if we can help.

221 Belgrave Gate Leicester LE1 3HT

Tel: 0116 253 6856 Fax: 0116 253 9656

“I am amazed with the level of service provided by BP Legal Solicitors, I won my case and I can honestly say the process was quick and efficient.”

“BP Legal Solicitors were very effective with my litigation matter. Not only did I succeed with my claim but I was also awarded my legal costs from the defendant.”

email: bhumika@bplegal.co.uk web: bplegal.co.uk

Not an ordinary law firm Our range of services Disciplinary and grievance matters Strategic human resource planning Recruitment Drafting and amending contracts/handbooks Collective redundancies Unfair dismissal Unlawful deduction from wages Breach of contract Restrictive covenants TUPE Employment tribunal claims of all types Settlement Agreements

We don’t regard ourselves simply as lawyers, we’re business people.

After all, how can we help you to make successful decisions if we don’t understand business? We regard understanding your business as central to the advice we give.

We take the time to get to know you and how your business works.

That way we can work in partnership with you to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Many of our clients are employers ranging in size from small owner managed businesses to national household names.

We have particular experience in representing clients at Employment Tribunal and in providing training and place an emphasis on personally conducting advocacy at Employment Tribunal.

0116 239 1710 I cummins-solicitors.com I law@cummins-solicitors.com The Bake House, Narborough Wood Park, Desford Road, Leicester LE19 4XT

£12,432k and counting for LOROS

This is important and underlines our philosophy of working as partners with you, seeing the whole process through to a conclusion.

We have significant experience of providing training to organisations, be it to HR departments or to managers, that very from one hour to a full day in length.

All of our lawyers have worked at large national practices and have significant experience in the field of employment law.

They are all exceptional.

If you’d like more information or would like to talk about how we can help you and your business, please get in touch.

We have a true passion for what we do

We’re almost at the £12k mark in fundraising for this year alone. In six years of raising money for LOROS we’re now approaching £60k in total.

For this year’s Leicester Half and Full marathon that took place Sunday, October 14, we were tremendously grateful that 200 Cummins’ clients and friends joined us in 50 teams of four to raise money for this cause so close to our hearts.

At £25 per person we raised a whopping £5,000!

And that’s even without the extreme generosity of our sponsors being accounted for.

We’d like to give special thanks to our kind sponsors who each donated £500 – a marathon sponsorship, if you’ll pardon the pun!

GRAHAM PENNY

BUSINESS FOCUS

Proving your marketing programme’s value Marketing is such a broad term. Gone are the days where a company could take an advert in the Yellow Pages or local paper and just sit back and wait for a response. We now must consider a host of platforms in our marketing plans from company Facebook pages to networking and everything in between

KEVIN URQUHART Founder of Fraser Urquhart Media

“I

WITHOUT LOOKING AT WHERE YOU STARTED, WHERE YOU ARE NOW AND PLANNING WHERE YOU WANT TO BE, YOU WON’T EVER KNOW HOW EFFECTIVE YOUR MARKETING SPEND HAS BEEN FOR YOU

36 | NICHE

f you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there” – Alice in Wonderland.

Marketing is such a broad term. Gone are the days where a company could take an advert in the Yellow Pages or local paper and just sit back and wait for a response.

Now we are faced with online, offline, above, below, and through the line – and that’s not ever considering face to face marketing such as networking and ‘working’ your contacts. It’s a minefield, but get the mix right and it’s a goldmine.

It’s difficult, isn’t it: you’re running the business and you have a ‘to do’ marketing list as long as your arm. These action points are often full of inspired ideas; some real gems. But do they ever leave your notepad and come to reality? Not very often as you’re too busy working in the business rather than on the business. It doesn’t sound like a big sentence, but please re-read it and consider it for your business.

Experience tells me that the most successful marketing campaigns have structure. They have defined goals, objectives and timelines. They are smart. And so should you be. If you know your company/product/service has got legs but, truthfully, don’t have the time to reach that potential without a helping hand, reach out.

Every successful marketing campaign should be

multi-platform. It will be – more often than not – an educated and appropriate mix of print, digital, social, and PR to achieve stand out in the ‘chatter’. It must be engaging and it must be relevant.

All of this takes time, which you don’t always have, right? It’s an agency’s job to know about opportunities, to have ready-made connections and to take the pressure off your shoulders. A good agency will not only understand where you are, where you want to be but help you get there more quickly, effectively and with bigger impact.

Whilst we’re big advocates of planning ahead, setting up a mutually-agreed holistic plan, and block booking to get the benefit of better deals, the monitoring of your campaign should be continuous.

Plans and budgets should have sufficient wriggle-room to be able to respond to curve-ball opportunities that you cannot ever plan for. It is this agility that, sometimes, really sets you aside and gets your exposure when you were least expecting it. But these opportunities are the icing on the cake; not the cake itself.

Insist on end-of-month updates from your agency so that you can all look back on successes and challenges from the previous four weeks, but also plan ahead. Use this opportunity to revisit your objectives and priorities and don’t be afraid to reorder them. Equally, if you think they still stand, stick to your plan with conviction. But monitor. Evaluate and plan.

Without looking at where you started, where you are now and planning where you want to be, you won’t ever know how effective your marketing spend has been for you – and that’s a poor decision all round. Just ask Alice.

Marketing

A SUCCESSFUL MARKETING APPROACH WILL CONSIST OF NUMEROUS ACTIVITIES ALL ALIGNED WITHIN THE COMPANIES BRAND, DIGITAL, SOCIAL, ADVERTISING AND PR VALUES TO OUTPERFORM COMPETITION AND PROVIDE MORE CLARITY AND DIRECTION.

HELEN CAMPBELL Managing Director at The Ideal Marketing Company

T JENNY CROSS Director at Cross Productions

A

s we edge toward 2019, it is worth considering what businesses should be investing in next year to keep one step ahead of the competition.

With the average internet user currently spending six hours online each day, we have a huge opportunity to capture new sales and leads by improving our visibility online.

So, what three important expanding trends should you keep in mind for your business in 2019? Almost a third of searches performed on Google are now conducted via a voice application on personal devices such as mobile phones, and this is expected to grow to half of all searches by the end of 2020. Voice search is hugely important so ensure you understand how to correctly structure your content on your website to maximise your opportunity with this feature. It could prove vital when staying ahead of the competition!

Next up is influencer marketing. Keeping your business brand relevant is becoming increasingly difficult

as consumers get bombarded with sponsored content in their newsfeeds, product placement in TV and films and the search engines prioritising paid results. According to a recent survey, 86% of consumers suggested that brand authenticity is vital when deciding who to trust and support. Using existing brand advocates and respected influencers is a great way to cut through the advertising frenzy and allows your brand to stand out honestly.

Following on from influencer marketing, the next challenge is ensuring that your business looks authentic rather than manipulated by a brand. One route to take is to enable user-generated content to help promote your business. This can be done via reviews, case studies, experiences, engagement from social channels and the use of hashtags. There’s no reason not to reward your customers for doing so with giveaways, competitions and empowerment.

USING EXISTING BRAND ADVOCATES AND RESPECTED INFLUENCERS IS A GREAT WAY TO CUT THROUGH THE ADVERTISING FRENZY AND ALLOWS YOUR BRAND TO STAND OUT HONESTLY

he New Year is traditionally a time when people take stock: of their personal lives; their wellbeing; their career; their business.

So, it’s likely that this is a time when many businesses will be looking at their marketing and reviewing how well it’s working.

But this shouldn’t be an annual exercise. It should be an ongoing process carried out monthly, weekly – even daily (how hard is it to ask how someone heard about the organisation when receiving a new business enquiry?).

After all, how do you know if your marketing strategy is working if you aren’t monitoring whether it’s bringing in new sales and clients?

Fortunately, reviewing the impact of your marketing activity is simpler than ever before, particularly in the area of digital marketing. Here, a digital footprint can be tracked by an everexpanding range of reporting tools from Google Analytics to Cyfe; both of which we use at Ideal Marketing. Many tools generate information in a matter of minutes allowing access to a range of valuable information. For example, tracking how people reach your website and what they do when they get there.

However, these reports may be relatively simple to generate but understanding the results may not be. This is where a digital marketing expert can help by interpreting data to identify what it means for your business – and whether your marketing strategy is really working.

NICHE | 37

Your next digital A digital marketing plan shouldn’t just shape what your business does online; it should encompass a company’s offline activity too. We spoke to Pete Frost, director of marketing agency Unity with eight years’ experience in the industry, about what should be included in your digital marketing strategy and how to use this budget to maximise potential on and offline WORDS BY KERRY SMITH Why is a digital marketing plan needed?

The internet is the world’s largest high street so as a company, if you’re not embracing some kind of digital marketing or understanding that your customers now look online then you’re missing a massive opportunity. In today’s marketplace people want to have access to information instantly.

The way to bridge that gap between your customer and your business now is through having a digital marketing strategy.

Where should I start?

The easiest place to start is really getting to understand your customer.

Work out who your customer is and create consumer profiles. Work out where they shop, how they shop, what channels they use, look at the buying journey for that customer, all of the touch points they might go through when buying a product or service like yours. If it’s more of a considered purchase they’re more likely to engage

with reviews or explorative searches, websites, question searches of how to buy …when to buy etc. That might be where a more effective content strategy comes into play so it’s about putting yourself in your customers shoes.

If you can understand their shopping habits, what kinds of products and experience they’re used to, the question you need to be asking is, does your digital profile match that first class experience they get offline?

If it’s less of a considered purchase they’re least likely to touch as many channels so if our client’s customer makes more of an emergency purchase the digital footprint we give them is very short. Our job is to understand target audience and analyze their shopping journey in order to create effective marketing strategies.

What milestones should be planned for?

We recommend putting in place three to six month marketing plans that cover all the channels you’re going to

be utilizing on and offline.

Those plans should map out all the key event dates, industry and specific external dates plus any seasonal trends such as Christmas.

You should also include monthly reviews of key performance indicators (KPIs) that you can review at the end of the month to grade the performance of the campaigns.

So how do we know that this is working?

The beauty of online is everything is transparent, data is everywhere and data is key so we’ve got instant feedback from a campaign as to whether or not it’s getting the attraction that it should be.

So we’ll run through all the data from a weekly/monthly/quarterly basis and that will help shape the next three to six month strategy.

The interesting thing is that for most businesses they’ve already got access to the data – what they’re not doing is using this information to measure performance and make data driven decisions for future campaigns.

NICHE FEATURE

marketing plan Who needs to be in on the plan?

Everybody who’s engaged with the business. Everyone needs to understand the consumer’s journey. If you’ve got continuity between every single one of the employees about what that marketing message is, that then becomes more powerful. So speak to the employees tell them what your goals and objectives are, tell them what you’re trying to achieve, and what the brand message and vision is. They should be reflecting the same message to the customer.

How much budget should be allocated?

It depends on the sort of growth they want to achieve: if they want aggressive growth they’ll put in 15-20 per cent of their profits back into marketing, if it’s just maintenance then maybe 10%.

The beauty of digital marketing in this day and age is that it is incredibly cost effective. You can create budget friendly, targeted campaigns that will give you the instant feedback you need to measure the performance and deliverability.

There’s far less leakage and wastage in digital marketing than there will be in lots of other channels because of the instant access to data.

We can’t influence profitability but we

can influence the number of potential leads through phone calls, social engagement, website traffic - All of those measurable elements of a user’s behavior will help support the overall marketing strategy.

0116 366 6507 weareunity.co.uk

Your digital marketing strategy To start you off on your digital marketing plan, have a go at answering Pete’s questions below.

1

Profile

How does your customer shop? Will they be making considered or emergency purchases with you? Where does their buying journey begin?

What channels will they use to help them make their purchase?

2 Strategic

What are your reasons behind the investment you’re about to make?

List your objectives, goals, KPIs.

3 Integrated

Will your plan consider all of the marketing channels for the business on and offline? Who will need to know about your plan for it to work effectively?

4 Measurable

How will you measure the return? Are you striving for an increase in brand awareness, more messages in your Facebook business page inbox or more online sales?

Get in touch. assisted.co.uk/niche 01788 288 020

Digital Marketing Experts We are an integrated digital marketing agency, specialising in search, social and creative.

Propel your business into the digital age by driving traffic online and securing sales.

NICHE BUSINESS

Forum

THE POWER OF FAMILY CHRIS GOODMAN Managing Director at Soar Valley Press

365 DAYS OF PUBLICITY If you’re looking for a way to promote your company, here’s a subtle way for you to get in front of your customers. A 2018 desktop calendar will promote you all year round. Consider each month an advertising space to be taken advantage of and a great opportunity to increase your brand awareness. Calendars are a necessity for every business, so with your logo printed on every page, you will be low-key advertising your business all year round whilst offering a useful and unique gift to your valued clients and potential new ones.

Digital calendars may have their use as well but most employees benefit from their own personal, physical calendar they can flash their eyes at to keep on top of their day. They’ll be used for birthdays, meetings, holidays, deadlines and more, meaning your company will be in front of your audience’s personal and work life.

The one-off, cost-effective promotional tool is easy to customise with our experienced designers, so you can be sure that your calendar will compliment your branding so that your marketing flows seamlessly. Once you’ve distributed your bespoke desktop calendars, the next time your services are needed, you will be front of mind. The functional gift will be appreciated by your clients and show them you value their custom. It’s the perfect way to be seen 365 days of the year.

0116 259 9955 soarvalleypress.co.uk 42 | NICHE

Most of our clients, unsurprisingly, are fast-growing, ambitious and entrepreneurial but a large proportion are family businesses with something quite unique about their approach, which might just be the key to their success.

Those working in the ‘family firm’ do have a head start. They have been exposed to, and involved in, the activities and mechanics of the operation throughout childhood. The unparalleled support shown at critical points in the business journey such as scaling operations or expanding is also a significant factor. Self-made entrepreneurs seldom benefit from access to the same kind of expertise and network of contacts that genuinely have their best interests at heart.

Historically, ‘entrepreneurial’ was seldom used to describe family business attitude or culture. Today’s family businesses are far from that old-fashioned image and they now contribute around £460 billion to the UK’s GDP, employing over 12 million people. There are of course some large

RACHEL HARGRAVE Director at RDZ PR players within these figures but this nation’s family businesses still contribute vastly to the strength of the private sector.

The ‘handed down’ operation, where parents held the reins very tightly and reluctantly passed power to a son or daughter, is now something rarely seen. The modern model is a forwardthinking company planning for changes in structure and involvement of family members, including those with very little business experience.

Good future-proofing and the nurturing of a collaborative culture is why we expect to see them thrive for many generations to come.

01509 813 913 rdz-pr.co.uk

THREE DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS FOR 2019 NICK RINYLO Director at ASSISTED. Edging toward 2019 we consider what businesses should be investing in to keep one step ahead of the competition. With the average internet user spending six hours online each day, we have a huge opportunity to capture new sales and leads by improving our visibility online. There are three expanding trends to keep in mind for your business in 2019.

Voice search: Almost a third of Google searches are conducted via a voice application on mobile phones and this is expected to grow to half of all searches by 2020. Voice search is hugely important so ensure you understand how to correctly structure your content on your website to maximise your opportunity with this feature.

Influencer marketing: Keeping your business brand relevant is becoming increasingly difficult as consumers get bombarded with sponsored content in their newsfeeds, product placement in TV and films and search engines prioritising paid results. According to a recent survey, 86 per cent of consumers suggested that brand authenticity is vital when deciding who to trust and support.

Using existing brand advocates and respected influencers is a great way to cut through the advertising frenzy and allows your brand to stand out honestly.

Brand authenticity: The next challenge is ensuring your business looks authentic rather than manipulated by a brand. One way is to enable usergenerated content such as reviews, hashtags, and competitions to help promote your business.

01788 288 020 assisted.co.uk

Ever wished that you had your own

in-house marketing team?

Working with The Ideal Marketing Company is just like having your very own marketing department offering expertise in a range of areas including: • Marketing strategy

• Website design

• Copywriting

• PR consultancy

• SEO & content creation

• Direct mail

• Digital marketing

• Social media strategy

• Email marketing

The Ideal Marketing Company - marketing that makes a difference.

Call us on 01858 44 55 43 or email jess@idealmarketingcompany.com today to find out how we can help your business.

BUSINESS FOCUS

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship Business Dictionary defines an entrepreneur as someone who exercises initiative by organising a venture to take benefit of an opportunity. What does the word entrepreneur mean to you?

BARRY RANDALL WHEN WALT DISNEY FIRST INTRODUCED MICKEY MOUSE, WE ALL SAW A MOUSE – HE SAW DISNEYWORLD – AND THAT’S WHAT ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS

GARETH JOHN Senior Partner at Gateley Plc

T

o be an entrepreneur is to take control of your own destiny.

Entrepreneurs back themselves to start and grow ventures which can make enough money to sustain a lifestyle of choice.

They have the confidence to be self-reliant and not to depend on the security of a regular job for work and income. Entrepreneurs tend to have high levels of selfmotivation and be extremely focused with clear ambitions and vision. They possess a confidence in their own ability to make something out of their skills and energy and possess a knack of spotting opportunities which others do not see or do not have the vision or energy to exploit.

A key characteristic of

entrepreneurship is the ability to break through the many barriers that lie in the way, particularly in the early years of a business. Lack of customers, underdeveloped markets, products or ideas, little or no access to funding – not to mention the inevitable doubters and cynics – all provide reasons to fail or give up. Many do. The successful entrepreneur finds ways to overcome challenges and break down barriers often creating new rules, changing the way things are done.

It is the passion, resilience and ingenuity needed to overcome obstacles that define the essence of true entrepreneurship.

ENTREPRENEURS CREATE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES NOT ONLY FOR THEMSELVES BUT FOR OTHERS AS WELL. ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITIES MAY INFLUENCE A COUNTRY’S ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE BY BRINGING NEW PRODUCTS, METHODS, AND PRODUCTION PROCESSES TO THE MARKET AND BY BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY

Managing Director at Leicestershire Garden Design

F

irstly, entrepreneurship is subjective. So, my definition is an opinion. An assumption. For example, I see entrepreneurship as being an expression of what I live with (in my head) daily.

When sharing ideas with my teams, I’ll say to them “here’s 30 minutes of what it’s like in my head.”

And, most of the work an entrepreneur does never sees the light of day. You can spend weeks, sometimes months working on an idea that no one ever gets to see.

There are a couple of things I know to be entrepreneurial.

The first, is the ability to own and profit from lots of businesses at the same time. Having the skills to delegate operations.

The second, is the ability to see a business in an idea and piece that all together. Creating jobs and opportunity for people.

But, if I had to describe entrepreneurship in one sentence I’d say: it’s the foresight to take lessons from the past, while working in the future, and making money in the present.

It’s vision. It’s passion. It’s bravery.

When Walt Disney first introduced Mickey Mouse, we all saw a mouse – he saw Disneyworld – and that’s what entrepreneurship is.

NICHE | 45

BUSINESS FOCUS

Performance

Performance reviews: dead or alive?

LAURENCE DUNCAN

Are they important? Do they help each side of the table to become more familiar with areas needing improvement? Or are they too stressful and ineffective?

BARBARA ARMSTRONG OBE ACCL FCMI CMGR Managing Director at PThree

D

ebate about the relevance and effectiveness of performance reviews has raged for years. The consensus seems to be they don’t work.

Employees don’t like receiving them and bosses don’t like giving them: making them the most hated of management tools. So companies are either rethinking or scrapping performance reviews altogether.

Some have implemented informal ‘check-ins’ that take place throughout the year. Employees receive feedback on what they’re working on and reportedly healthier relationships are developed between the manager and their team - a win-win for everybody.

However, companies are not static and evaluation of performance can vary depending on what you are trying to measure and the needs of the business at any given time.

Using the same evaluation system year after year, even if it is less formal, is not in the solution either. Varying the approach is often helpful in uncovering issues and finding hidden strengths and weaknesses.

So my view is that reviewing employee performance is important, but holding on to out-dated, cumbersome processes isn’t, so I recommend: ◆ More frequent and timely discussions to maintain employee focus and effectiveness ◆ Testing and refining process to meet the needs of your business and employees ◆ Varying the approach as the needs of the business and the employees change 46 | NICHE

FACT: 57% OF COMPANY DIRECTORS BELIEVE THEIR EMPLOYEES ARE ‘REGULARLY RECOGNISED’ YET ONLY 9% OF EMPLOYEES AGREE MEANING 9 OUT OF 10 EMPLOYEES FEEL THEIR WORK GOES UNRECOGNISED

Business Growth Specialist at Wiserways Ltd an ActionCOACH firm

F

ifty-seven per cent of company directors believe their employees are “regularly recognised” yet only nine per cent of employees agree meaning 9 out of 10 feel their work goes unrecognised. How does this impact on moral? How often do you review performance?

Here is one technique my clients find valuable in assessing progress, recognizing success and rewarding results. Any excuse for a party!

Step 1: Define the ‘hat’ the team member is wearing or is aspiring to wear e.g. head of sales, finance manager, etc. The ‘hat’ should be defined by a positional contract with details of the roles and the responsibilities of those roles. Each responsibility should have an associated measure (KPI) to identify success and opportunities for support.

Step 2: Ask the team member to define the ‘hat’ and its roles in their eyes. Look for and discuss differences between their definition and the positional contract. Remember the team tend to know more about the role than you do as they do these things daily. Update positional contract as required. N.B. the positional contract is role specific and not persons specific.

Step 3: Ask the team member to score themselves out of 10 on each role. ‘One’ being lots to learn to deliver, ‘10’ being train the trainer.

The manager then scores the team member out of 10 too. Gaps in scoring are discussed and consensus reached on a starting score.

Step 4: Agree what action, training or support is needed to increase the scores and agree the associated uplift in score. Look to increase the scores over time in steps of two or three.

Step 5: Complete three-monthly reviews to measure increase in the team members score.

Once a score of eight-plus in all areas has been achieved, ask the team member to write a process document for the roles under this ‘hat’.

As Stephen Covey would say in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, a win-win solution.

NICHE FEATURE

A mind-set

that needs to be changed IT is not your IT department’s problem – we spoke to Mike Kapur OBE about why IT is a boardroom concern

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any SME businesses underinvest in technology and tend to review their IT processes on an ad hoc basis only, according to IT and communications company Sempervox. But it is the opinion of its MD Mike Kapur that these elements should come under a business’ whole strategic plan rather than weighing the IT experts down with what are essentially vital aspects of running an entire firm.

Utilising his experience of boardroom roles across a multitude of sectors and leadership within the SME

community and beyond, Mike can share his knowledge and advice.

He told us: “Small businesses can end up buying cheaper systems without doing their research and they end up costing more because they find they never really needed them in the first place. It is a mind-set that needs to be changed from asking about the price of a service to asking ‘what should this service be doing for my business?’

“SMEs also lack investment when it comes to training people to work new systems and products, which leads to

SMALL BUSINESSES CAN END UP BUYING CHEAPER SYSTEMS WITHOUT DOING THEIR RESEARCH AND THEY END UP COSTING MORE

difficulties delivering growth plans.”

One Sempervox client’s IT department had remained a oneman band despite the company’s significant growth, which led to contracts becoming compromised.

Mike added: “This is a boardroom problem, not an IT problem. The context of IT is that it should be part of your business strategy, not your IT strategy as there is no such thing!”

0116 252 0500 sempervox.net

Always connected Cloud

I

Internet

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IT

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Mobile

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Telephone

Our communications technology will strengthen your business connections

Happily homeworking whatever the weather ✓ ✓ ✓

Work from anywhere Stay one step ahead Stay Productive

Consort House, 15 De Montfort Place, Leicester LE1 7GZ I 0116 252 0500 I sempervox.net NICHE | 47

BUSINESS FOCUS

What makes a successful sales executive?

Every business should have a well defined sales process and a clear understanding of the opportunities in its sales funnel. However, many sales executives neglect to regularly revisit and review the sales process meaning they become sloppy. Failing to audit the sales process is a naïve and costly mistake

GREG MILLWARD Sales Manager at Dalycom

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ales, like many other business elements, are process driven. We have to retain that ‘sales is a process, not an event’. Often what is seen to happen in sales teams is that the process is not easy to follow or that a process is something that can hinder or prevent a sale and so it is bypassed. However, a good robust process actually enhances sales, helps teams close deals, and helps ensure a happy customer as well as identifying those potential opportunities that should be walked away from.

Without reviewing the way in which you carry out your sales, like any other area of your business, you can’t expect any radical improvements. The process you used in previous years may not fit your products, markets or business now. Auditing your sales process directly influences your sales in that the results from it can be used to drive businesses forward. Often this also has the added benefit of increasing efficiency in other areas of the business – not just sales – and therefore increases margins.

Get your teams involved in your audits (not just the sales team) and you will repeatedly find absolute gems that ultimately help your business grow.

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AUDITING YOUR SALES PROCESS DIRECTLY INFLUENCES YOUR SALES IN THAT THE RESULTS FROM IT CAN BE USED TO DRIVE BUSINESSES FORWARD

ROB SPENCE Director at Paragon Sales Solutions

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couple of years ago, if I went to the hairdressers and asked for the most popular haircut, I would leave with a pair of curtains looking like one half of Ant and Dec. Nowadays, I will potentially leave with a really clean fade and perhaps a stylish quiff.

The point I am trying to make is that over time, trends change, processes change; and the same thing can be said for a business’ sales process.

Sales should be regarded just like any of the other arms to your business: HR, health and safety, accounting and so on. These aspects have regular audits and reviews and so too should your sales process.

Your sales team should have a guideline as such to lead them in the right direction to obtain the best possible outcome not only for your business, but for your customer too.

The ability to audit your sales process will allow you to improve or revise potential areas of weakness, reinforce the parts that are working incredibly well, and will also allow you to plan for any impending changes in the marketplace or changes to the business itself.

Sales Management

YOUR COMPANY, TEAM AND PRODUCT OR SERVICE CHANGES OVER TIME. INSIGHT AND UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR CUSTOMER DEEPENS AND MATURED AND REGULARLY REVIEWING YOUR SALES PROCESS WILL TRANSFORM RESULTS AND IS KEY FOR BUSINESS GROWTH

MICHAEL WHEAT Director at Ponds by Michael Wheat

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ales. The centre of any company. No matter how good any company is, without the sales, the business has no oxygen to survive.

So why audit the sales process at all? Twelve months ago, our company’s sales process didn’t exist. Over the year we have now documented the process and then added to it. We have gone from a 20-30 per cent conversion to a 70-80 per cent conversion. Not only are we converting more but we’ve reduced the amount of time we spend on jobs that won’t go ahead.

This means that we now have a winter full of work booked up. That means we have more work on in our quietest period than we had in our busy period! We have had our best sales month by far, yet our leads are 60 per cent lower than our busy period. So here are my top tips when auditing your sales process; ◆ Get someone else to look at it from outside the business – this is key! Use someone more successful than you in a similar industry. ◆ Review how often do you communicate with the potential client. ◆ It might be worth upping how many different forms of communication you use. We use more than five.

The catalyst for getting us to the 60 per cent conversion mark was my coach Barry Randall. He suggested adding one additional phone call to the client from the sales person. It’s all in the process, audit today!

NO MATTER HOW GOOD ANY COMPANY IS, WITHOUT THE SALES, THE BUSINESS HAS NO OXYGEN TO SURVIVE

51% OF UK CONSUMERS PREFER TO SHOP ONLINE THAN IN-STORE

ONLINE v HIGH STREET While high street stores are reportedly struggling as consumers increasingly favour online shopping, we took a closer look at a brand that seems to be sailing the rough seas of retail rather smoothly.

Joules is a premium British lifestyle brand with a growing footprint here in the UK as well as a fast-growing international presence.

With 123 stores and counting, Joules’ bricks and mortar shops play a key role in its multichannel proposition.

They provide a means for customers to see, touch and try the products before buying, and also act as a hub for other channels, including click and collect and order-in-store fulfilment options, and instore returns and exchanges.

This approach, combined with strong performances across online, international, wholesale, catalogue and licensing, is proving successful.

In the year to May 2018, Joules’ sales increased by 18.4% year on year. In 2017, the brand won Fashion Retail Business of the Year (between £101m-£500m turnover) at the Drapers Awards and received a Mark of Excellence within The Best Fashion Retailer category at the Retail Week Awards 2018.

In its latest annual results report, Non-Executive Chairman Ian Filby said: “This momentum, in combination with improved Group Gross margin and disciplined cost management, has resulted in a 28.5 per cent increase in underlying profit before tax.

“The challenges facing the wider UK retail sector are well documented.

The shift towards online shopping in combination with sector discounting, cost and consumer spending pressures is making life incredibly challenging for some retail businesses.

“However, Joules is a distinctive brand with a strong connection with its customers and we have a flexible business model and multiple routes to market supported by a well invested infrastructure and a committed and enterprising team. I therefore believe that Joules remains very well positioned to continue to grow and flourish in the UK and internationally despite the uncertain and changing nature of the retail sector.”

EMPATHYBROKER.COM NICHE | 49

BUSINESS FOCUS

Don’t miss out on capital allowance opportunities Capital allowances are a valuable form of tax relief for qualifying capital expenditure incurred on certain buildings, fixtures and fittings. Are you aware of what’s available for your manufacturing business?

TRY AND EMBRACE THE EXERCISE, AS THE BENEFIT TO YOUR BUSINESS WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY OUTWEIGH THE TIME AND COST

MARK (left) AND MARTIN SMITH

SHELLEY HARVEY Director at SFB Group

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ave you ever considered what might be hiding on your shop floor, workshop or production facility? I’m not thinking of anything unsavoury, I’m talking about ‘hidden’ unclaimed tax reliefs. Capital allowances on embedded fixtures and fittings in commercial premises are probably the most commonly overlooked tax relief for businesses. They often go unclaimed because they aren’t always obvious, yet the reliefs available are potentially very beneficial!

When I say ‘fixtures and fittings’ what I mean are those items that cannot be picked up and moved; plant and machinery used in your business that is installed or fixed into the building and essentially becomes part of that building.

Imagine this: if you could pick your building up and turn it upside down, anything that falls is probably not a fixture, and anything that stays in its place probably is – that means it will potentially qualify for this tax relief.

Common examples of fixtures that are found in most commercial buildings are things like sanitary ware, kitchens, lifts, electrical systems and security systems.

In a manufacturing environment this might include items like processing equipment, fixed machinery, conveyor belts, storage equipment, fixed hoists, and counters.

Start thinking about the fixtures and fittings in your business now!

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Joint Managing Directors at Casepak

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asepak has been delivering recycling excellence for more than 40 years. The company has grown from a paper and cardboard recycling specialist into one of the UK’s most dynamic recycling companies collecting, sorting, and trading a wide range of recovered materials from commercial, industrial, and household collections.

It’s hard to believe that it is now seven years since we opened our £21 million purpose-built materials recycling facility (MRF) at Braunstone Frith. This exciting expansion added a new dimension to our paper and plastics recycling business based in Enderby and initially created 100 new jobs. We are proud that Casepak’s MRF meets and exceeds MRF Code of Practice requirements and produces TEEP compliant outputs, making it the ideal sorting and segregation destination for both local authority and commercial dry mixed recyclables.

The MRF investment in 2011 resulted in a capital expenditure claim for corporation tax capital allowances of over £13 million. Our accountants, SFB Group, were also able to claim almost £900k of embedded fixtures, together with £80k from our water efficient technology installations, which would otherwise have been classed as buildings and not eligible for capital allowances.

To undertake the claim for capital allowances, a detailed review of our build was required, including contract and architect’s valuations.

It was a time consuming and resource intensive exercise, with considerable time taken by SFB to negotiate agreement with HMRC. However, it was clearly worthwhile for our business.

If you are considering making a claim, our advice is to try and embrace the exercise, as the benefit to your business will almost certainly outweigh the time and cost.

Following our expansion, Casepak was recognised across the region when we were privileged and proud to be awarded the Leicester Mercury Investing in Leicestershire award and crowned Leicestershire Business of the Year in 2012, a fitting tribute to my/our father George who started the business in 1973, but sadly died in 2013. We are proud to continue his legacy and are looking forward to Casepak’s exciting future.

Manufacturing DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF PREMISES AND KIND OF BUSINESS CONDUCTED WITHIN IT, THE TAX RELIEF AVAILABLE CAN VARY SIGNIFICANTLY

AMY HOOK Tax Advisory Manager at SFB Group

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ax relief for businesses that own commercial property is few and far between, so you would expect to find businesses doing everything possible to maximise capital allowances.

Sadly, this is not the case; capital allowances are either under-claimed by firms or not claimed at all. This is mostly due to a lack of understanding of the legislation, which is where advisers like SFB can assist.

So, where do you start? Finding all of the qualifying fixtures in an existing building can be a time-consuming task. It’s rarely a case of simply lifting the ‘fixtures and fittings’ figure from your balance sheet – it really is a ‘clipboard and pencil’ kind of job. However, generally, the benefits of the tax reliefs available make the time or cost of using a specialist well worthwhile.

Depending on the type of premises and kind of business conducted within it, the tax relief available can vary significantly. You would expect a basic storage facility to be

on the lower end of the scale, perhaps 5-10% of the cost of the building, whereas a fully automated warehouse could attract relief on maybe 50-60% of the cost of the building.

The rules are structured in such a way that it is possible to claim relief for historic expenditure in the current (and sometimes previous) year provided you still own the property and fixtures, even if the actual expenditure was incurred some time ago.

It is also possible to claim relief for premises that contain embedded fixtures when you acquire them. However, this is where the biggest potential pitfalls lie. When buying and selling premises these reliefs can easily be lost forever without the correct advice and planning, and this can of course impact on the value of the property.

Between 2008 and 2014 there was a series of changes to the rules which mean that it has never been more important to ensure that embedded fixtures are at the forefront of your mind, and that of your professional advisers, when buying and selling commercial premises. Commercial property lawyers have now become integral to the process, needing to work closely with the business’s accountants and tax advisers, to ensure that tax reliefs are not inadvertently lost in the sale and purchase process.

ELEANOR RATTAY Partner at BHW Solicitors

THE ADVICE OF A COMPETENT TAX ADVISER WHO IS EXPERIENCED IN CAPITAL ALLOWANCES IS INVALUABLE AT THE DUE DILIGENCE STAGE OF A PROPERTY PURCHASE

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hen purchasing a commercial property you may closely examine the square footage, the parking, and the condition of the roof but capital allowances entitlements should not be overlooked. The legislation certainly puts the onus on the purchaser to carry out these investigations and any UK tax paying entity can claim capital allowances on capital expenditure.

Ideally, the question of capital allowances would be raised with the seller as early as possible, and included in heads of terms for the sale. The purchase price could be spilt into the amount for the land, the buildings, and the qualifying plant and machinery. Clearly, the advice of a competent tax adviser who is experienced in capital allowances is invaluable at the due diligence stage of a property purchase. It is certainly a very good idea to put your specialist accountant in touch with your

solicitor, ideally at the stage when the heads of terms are being negotiated.

Your solicitor will raise standard CPSE.1 enquiries of the seller and these include questions about capital allowances. Unfortunately, these questions are frequently answered badly, or even ignored, meaning that potential tax reliefs can be lost through a failure to pool and enter an election. Your solicitor should always push for a full and accurate response to these enquiries.

Your solicitor should review the replies to enquiries with you. If the answers don’t seem right, be sure to mention this since you will have visited the building and will have seen the possible fixtures on which a claim might be made. Often, sellers themselves don’t know what has been claimed already and it may be necessary to go back to the original sale contract when they acquired the property. A claim may already have been made in relation to only some of the available items. Since the end of March 2008, it has been possible to claim for items that were not previously deemed plant or machinery such as cold water systems, so there may be scope to claim even if expenditure for other features has already been identified and claimed.

After reviewing them with your solicitor, the answers to the CPSE.1 enquiries should be referred to your capital allowances specialist, who will be able to negotiate the level of capital allowances to be passed to you. Your solicitor will then ensure that the election notice is completed to reflect the agreement reached.

NICHE | 51

Creating wealth in land, property and construction

Local company reflects on 2018 Construction, land and property consultancy Edward Cooper Young Chartered Surveyors (ECY) has experienced a year like no other in its history – we found out what’s made 2018 so special WORDS BY KERRY SMITH

2008

2009

2011

2012

2013

The company is formed by Ashley Cooper in the shed at the bottom of his father’s garden

First blue chip client

Move to larger premises in Barrow upon Soar

First employee on the books taken on for admin support

Appointed first surveying staff member and set up satellite offices in London and Bristol

NICHE FEATURE

I’ve been blown away with the amount of awards we have been shortlisted for and have actually won

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rom the infamous ‘you’ll never make it in Leicester’ comment made by a Londoner to Ashley Cooper as he set out to create a company back in his home town all the way through to a £1.6m turnover for 2017, it’s fair to say ECY has become known as a marvel in the local business world – and perhaps even considered an iconic company representing the city as a great place to live and work.

The firm, established in 2008, fought through the recession described as the longest financial crisis since World War II, and in 2018 hit its first 10-year milestone.

During the course of the last ten years, ECY has been known as a leading provider of tailored services to its clients on over 950 projects, managing, reporting, and certifying over £3 billion of the development expenditure including £2.5 billion of construction costs.

This year has made no exception to the team living up to expectations continuing ECY’s outstanding reputation for employee development, customer satisfaction, and innovation.

On his company’s journey until now, Ashley said: “It only seems like five minutes ago when I was first setting up the office in my mum and dad’s back garden, now we have just taken the keys to our newly refurbished 7,000 sq. ft. offices in Loughborough.

“Our rise has been rapid but controlled and organic based upon our clients’ needs and requests. We

decided as a team that with the firm being 10 years old this year, we would shout about what we have done and try our luck at entering relevant business and industry awards both locally and nationally. I’ve been blown away with the amount of awards we have been shortlisted for and have actually won. Put it this way, my dinner jacket is well-worn!”

Since January, Ashley and his team have received 15 award nominations, and won 5 with titles including Small Business of the Year, SME Employer of the Year, Best Professional Services, and a Rising Star title won by an apprentice of the firm.

This year alone, the firm has supported 15 team members through courses to gain relevant qualifications enabling them to progress in their careers, has hired 12 new employees, and promoted 7 team members to positions suiting their needs and ambitions. And in total, the team has travelled tens of thousands of miles across 39 cities working on over 250 projects over the year.

“This is just the beginning of the firm’s evolution, with our new HQ office move complete, we can look to expanding both our sector involvements and service deliveries with new offering to the market – very much looking forward to the next 10 years.”

ECY in 2018 6 EVENTS HOSTED

15

AWARD NOMINATIONS

5

AWARDS

WON

12 staff hired

5 APPRENTICES

67% turnover

increase in

from 2016-2017 4 departments

1 OFFICE MOVE

Over

39 250 cities projects served

01509 416 519 ecycs.co.uk

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

HR and surveying team of five now on board and a move to 2,500 sq. ft. premises in Mountsorrel

Website launched, first apprentice employed, and 14 team members in total

Upgraded to 3,500 sq. ft. in Mountsorrel office, and 19 team members in total

ECY Land, ECY Support Team Leicestershire, ECY new London/Sheffield office, and marketing department are launched.

31 team members in total

Ashley and the team celebrate 10 years in business, 5 awards won, new 7,000 sq. ft. office in Loughborough, ECY Talent and ECY Foundation launched as well as new Building Surveying Department, and 40 team members in total

The future of st 21 century business L A business school building with a remarkable past hopes to have a positive impact on the future with executive courses for professionals – we spoke to its professor to find out more

WORDS BY KERRY SMITH

eaving the De Montfort University campus you can stumble upon the secret antiquity of the Castle View area surrounded by historical sites New Walk Museum, St Mary De Castro Church, and the Castle Gardens and Motte. Weaving your way through ancient stone archways past 18th century cottages and down a cobbled path, the Great Hall of Leicester Castle reveals itself upon an open green.

Dating back to 1150, the Great Hall evolved into a courthouse until its closure in 1992. Having an established past hosting kings, poets, parliaments and famous trials, the Great Hall lives on, continuing its significant role in Leicester’s story as a place of education, which aims to leave a lasting global footprint by teaching to ‘meet the needs of 21st century business’.

After a £4.1m restoration returning

NICHE FEATURE

THE CUSTOMISED PROGRAMME

The school’s international team of academic experts and practitioners create a fusion of applied research and practical experience to create impactful and insightful bespoke learning experiences for professionals. It has created cutting edge, dynamic learning solutions addressed to support and secure the future success of Ford, DHL, Jaguar Land Rover, Royal Mail Group, and many more.

Jack Henniker, a graduate Management Trainee at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, talks about his experience on the Human Resource Management course, tailor-made for the NHS Leadership Academy’s Graduate Management Training Scheme.

“Wanting to gain an insight into a variety of contemporary case studies and theories within the world of HR that I could then apply practically in my job role, I sought a course at LCBS. The study takes me on site at the school once every eight weeks with independent study in addition to contact hours. Both my colleagues and tutors are always there for support, no matter where I am in the country. LBCS is one of the best environments I have had the opportunity to study in. The historic building has kept its traditional roots but added a fresh and contemporary feel to it, making it a unique environment to study in. The teaching is excellent and equips you with ideas and theories which we can then test in our day-to-day jobs. You have the chance to be taught by some of the country’s leading tutors who have endless amounts of knowledge and experience to share. The course is giving me a head start with my HR career, allowing me to have a solid foundation of knowledge and experience that I can draw upon throughout my life as I progress.”

learning tools, high levels of support and mentoring.”

The American businesswoman and educator helped develop programmes and initiatives at Oxford University’s Said Business School before making her mark in Leicester. She has since influenced local communities by building relationships with Leicester businesses, councils and enterprises, and has taken her students to different parts of the world to inspire their business acumen.

As well as providing education for students starting out in their career, Leicester Castle Business School works with companies developing and

▲

it to its former glory – and maintaining many of its original features such as a vault transformed into a quiet study room, and genuine court rooms used as lecture halls – the Great Hall reopened in March 2016.

Principal Professor Dana Brown said: “I am delighted to welcome you to Leicester Castle Business School; a new kind of institution for a rapidly changing world. We understand that to be successful today students have to learn how to learn, to use information wisely, reach decisions, communicate, negotiate and work in global teambased environments. Our portfolio of courses employs the very best

CASE STUDY: JACK HENNIKER I am currently employed as a Graduate Management Trainee in the Operational HR team at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, working as a HR Advisor in the Surgery Care Group.

As part of the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme, each specialism studies a Post Graduate Dipioma in their area. Wanting to gain an insight into a variety of contemporary case studies and theories within the world of HR, that I could then apply practically in my job role, I sought a course at LCBS. The PG Dip course is for two years, however there is an option to top it up by studying for an extra year and converting it to a Masters, and the support available has been amazing. The study takes me on site at the school once every 8 weeks with independent study in addition to the contact hours. Both my colleagues and tutors are always there for support, no matter where I am in the country.

LBCS is one of the best environments I have had the opportunity to study in. The historic building has kept its traditional roots but added a fresh and contemporary feel to it, making it a unique environment to study in.

The teaching is excellent and equips you with the ideas and theories which we can then try and test in our day-to-day jobs. You have the chance to get taught by some of the country’s leading tutors who have endless amounts of knowledge and experience to share.

I enjoy learning the key theories and then having the chance to go and put them into practice. I always like to reflect on our learning at the following module too – it’s a great way to learn from one another and have healthy discussion amongst colleagues.

The course is giving me a head start with my HR career, allowing me to have a solid foundation of knowledge and experience that I can draw upon throughout my life as I progress through my career. The opportunity to discuss ideas and theories with colleagues and tutors is inspiring and encourages taking time for reflection.

NICHE | 55

upskilling their staff and leaders. Two popular courses for businesspeople to embark on are the Executive MBA and the Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Coaching. There is also the option of working with the business school to create customised and impactful solutions designed around the needs of your organisation.

Head of Business Development and Executive Education Louise Donaghy explained: “The development and investment of people is fundamental to the vision of our business school and we aim to provide an agile, innovative and knowledge-enriched environment for professionals to progress. We offer a range of courses that are contemporary, cutting edge, and fully accessible as well as the option for businesses to partner with us to create bespoke courses tailored to meet the needs of their business.”

Leicester Castle Business School says it is dedicated to equipping you with the personal and professional development skills needed to thrive in your chosen career. lcbs.ac.uk

THE EMBA

The Executive Master of Business Administration course is designed for business leaders who want to develop rich and versatile skill sets with which to manage the complex social, cultural, technical and organisational issues in contemporary business markets and environments. Through this course you will experience blended and integrated learning experiences, using an original and flexible approach, which will allow you to develop agility and flexibility in response to the challenges of the 21st century careers. The course experience will build and enhance your judgement, confidence and self-awareness. The course will be delivered by a range of inspiring and intellectual leaders, including Professor Dana Brown, Strategic Management Professor Paul Hughes, Professor Peter Stokes, Dr Amanda Berlan, Dr Regina Frank and Visiting Professor Michael Schaeffer. With their exemplary experience and expertise within the field, you can be sure you will be learning alongside leading experts.

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POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN PROFESSIONAL COACHING The coaching course introduces many different coaching approaches, tools and interventions that are used in the modern day organisational environment to enable and empower you to become better managers and leaders.

Gemma Crofts, an HR Director at Office Depot Europe talks about her experience on the Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Coaching.

“As I progress through my career, coaching has become more prominent in the roles I have undertaken and this programme is a great platform for my ongoing professional development. I chose this course because of its unique combination of an academic and commercial programme. I was immensely impressed by the building, its facilities and academics Lucy Mullins and Sonya Shellard. Lucy, the programme leader of the course, is full of enthusiasm and her passion for the programme was infectious. There has been a great level of helpful support right the way through from pre-registration, on-boarding, during-course attendance and post-course. During the course there is ample opportunity for discussions, clarification or raising any concerns.”

The development and investment of people is fundamental to the vision of our business school and we aim to provide an agile, innovative and knowledge enriched environment for professionals to progress

associate-events.com

NICHE FEATURE

Photobooth

Leicester’s leading photobooth company, Limelite Photobooths make light work of booking their memory making machine WORDS EMILY KIRTON

S

ome of us can end up attending more than just a few weddings in wedding season and making yours stand out in a memorable way is no easy task. Limelite Photobooths create the perfect opportunity to give any wedding or event the entertainment edge.

Kitted out with a wide selection of wedding-themed props for guests to get creative with, the booths allow for guests to personalise photos by adding names and the wedding date and adding it to the template that suits. Packages include photo print outs, and the hire of the booth in addition to a welcoming attendant and of course plenty of opportunity to create a wonderful, memorable way to keep memories for ever.

Limelite Photobooths even allow for the creation of a unique wedding guestbook. Guests can have a copy of their image placed in a traditional-style guestbook where they can write

58 | NICHE

a handwritten note underneath.

They can opt for a quirky style strip of photos or a single postcard-size photo each. Or, if you are more technically minded, you can take things up a notch with guests able to create a video guestbook. Recording their messages in the photobooth, the guest videos then get placed onto a USB stick for the newlyweds to keep. A unique, fun and fitting way to encapsulate memories forever.

Far more budget friendly than you might think, a Limelite Photobooth comes with an array of accessories to really bring the whole experience to life. Creating and keeping memories of the big day itself is so very important when you consider how fast the whole day just flies by.

You can book online with a detailed description of what’s included using a very clever and easy-to-use automated booking system. The highly efficient

CREATING AND KEEPING MEMORIES IS SO VERY IMPORTANT WHEN YOU CONSIDER HOW FAST THE WHOLE DAY JUST FLIES BY

process even allows users to pay off the balance in instalments so there’s no need to worry about making a dent in the wedding budget.

You can also view all of their reviews from previous clients on TrustPilot giving peace of mind when planning your big day.

07415 538840 limelitephotobooths.co.uk

THE MAGIC MIRROR

The Mirror Booth is unique and stylish and fits in well with any event. It uses the latest technology in interactive picture taking.

The full length mirror offers a sleek design and a user friendly touch screen, communicating with guests through colourful animations and entertaining voice guidance.

Guests then have the option to sign their masterpiece using the interactive touch screen.

Photos can then be printed and shared to social media.

2018 HEADLINE SPONSOR

Recognising outstanding Leicestershire businesses and business professionals

HEADLINE SPONSOR

LEICESTER’S LEADING SPECIALIST FAMILY LAW FIRM WAS PROUD TO BE HEADLINE SPONSORS OF THE NICHE BUSINESS AWARDS

0116 238 5680 OR visit: www.glyniswright.co.uk call:

Glynis Wright & Co Family Solicitors was delighted to see Leicester’s most deserving winners collect their trophies – recognised as one of the most exciting and prestigious business events of the year.

The awards night is a platform for celebrating the entrepreneurial endeavour and business excellence that Leicester has become known for. We are honoured to be part of that community and to pledge our support for this event through our sponsorship.

Glynis Wright, Founder of Glynis Wright & Co Family Solicitors 60 | NICHE

OUR JUDGES THIS YEAR’S NICHE BUSINESS AWARDS JUDGING PANEL

LEANNE BONNER-COOKE MBE

BOB JOHNSON

Managing Director at Evolve IT

Partner at Mazars LLP

N

iche Business Awards Businesswoman of the Year 2017, Leanne Bonner-Cooke, is Managing Director of Evolve-IT Consulting Ltd and launched her software solutions business back in 2007. Leanne has grown her business over the last decade into a successful, multi award-winning software solutions provider with customers worldwide including Lafarge, Breedon, Hope Construction, MSD and Bridgestone Tyres.

With more drive than a 4x4 in 5th gear, Leanne is an inspirational leader keen to embody her passion for people and technology in everything she does, including growing her business to currently employ 15 members of staff in the UK and 17 offshore developers in Ukraine and Malaga offices.

ob qualified as a chartered accountant in 1993 and is an all-round business adviser with technical roots in international audit and accounting.

The Leicester-born accountant has wide-ranging experience of providing audit and assurance services across a variety of sectors with clients ranging from SMEs to listed entities. He has led international assignments based in Minneapolis, London and other European locations, and continues to advise those with cross-border activities.

Bob has particularly strong experience in property, construction and related service sectors. As a recognised leader in advising entrepreneurs and their businesses, his passion lies in helping company owners with strategic issues, and stakeholders with maximising their wealth.

TRACEY MILLER

Partner for Gateley PLC

Partner at The Miller Partnership

hris has practiced as a dispute resolution solicitor in Leicester since qualifying in 1986, specialising in shareholder, contractual and disputes, professional negligence and contentious probate. He is a partner in Gateley PLC, which in 2015 became the first UK law firm to float on AIM. He is also a trustee of LOROS, a committee member of The Wooden Spoon Charity, a firm member of Leicestershire Cares and past area chairman of Round Table.

Living in Rothley, Chris is married to solicitor, Katrina, with two children and two labradoodles. Chris has lived in Leicestershire all his professional life, and is interested in all sports, mountaineering, military history, travel and wine. Chris won the Above & Beyond award in 2017.

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ith Leicester business roots stretching back to her grandfather’s development of the iconic Crescent on King Street, Tracey is the cofounder of taxation specialists The Miller Partnership, and the Owner and Managing Director of Fashion & Fizz; a not-for-profit organisation specialising in charitable events.

A keen and vocal member of the Blue Army, Tracey is a ‘Fox in the box’ for husband Pete’s expert solo tax practice and for a number of local children’s charities.

The Miller Partnership is a fiercely passionate advocate for Leicestershire business, charity, sport, art and culture, and is proud to have sponsored the Niche Business Awards since its inception.

CHERIE CONCANNON

STEVE ADAMS

Success Coach at Concannon Connection

Business Development Director at Cambridge & Counties Bank, East Midlands Region

fter 25 years supporting individuals and businesses in achieving success, Cherie Concannon has now established herself as the pioneering expert in her field. Many esteemed business leaders seek her advice and consider her an invaluable ally in their journey towards personal and professional growth.

With a history of successful professional relationships and an extensive list of testimonials from highly regarded business leaders, Cherie has often been described as being the ‘best at what she does’.

The success coach says she is delighted to be a part of an evening devoted to celebrating the innovation and success of our local business leaders. Cherie has stated that working with these people on a daily basis has shown her how much goes into such achievements.

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ased at the head office on Leicester’s New Walk, Steve leads the team of business development managers who work with business advisers and finance brokers to deliver property-backed lending to SMEs and investors.

The team has been a key driver in the bank’s year-on-year growth in lending which now exceeds more than £650 million.

Steve joined Cambridge & Counties in 2015 from Norwich & Peterborough Building Society where he was commercial lending manager.

He has more than 30 years of experience at Allied Irish Bank where he worked across the East Midlands.

Steve, who has lived in Leicester for 20 years, has worked in various roles including being an underwriter, branch manager, and working with the public sector and charities.

NICHE | 61

INDEPENDENT RETAIL WINNER

SPONSORED BY –

Everards

RUNNERS UP

Steamin’ Billy We provide a unique experience with excellent locally produced food and drinks in inviting and comfortable surroundings. Offering a range of real ales including our very own Billy Beers brewed in Leicestershire, as well as great wines, spirits and cocktails alongside good honest pub grub. We believe in upholding traditional values in all of our pubs to restore the customer’s belief in the great British pub. steaminbilly.co.uk

RUNNERS UP Everards Niche Business Awards Advert.qxp_Layout 1 19/07/2017 09:22 Page 1

Gelato Village At Gelato Village we are committed to crafting true Italian gelato with a unique sense of place. We use rare breed milk from a single herd of Leicestershire cows, fantastic local honey and seasonal fruit to make fresh gelato in store each day. As Slow Food movement supporters, we are passionate about making food that is good, clean and fair.

We provide a safe, welcoming environment in Leicester’s night time economy. gelatovillage.co.uk

Zeph’s Café

Proud supporters of the Niche Business Awards 2018

62 | NICHE

Zeph’s Café’s aim is to be an attractive, warm and welcoming café at the heart of the community where all ages are able to eat, rest and relax. We are heavily involved in community organisations and projects and tackling issues which affect society today. We strive to show that a successful business can do more than take from the community it serves, it can contribute to its future and wellbeing. zephscafe.co.uk

WEDDING SERVICES

2018 SPONSORED BY –

Miracle in Progress

WINNER

Winstanley House Winstanley House is a boutique hotel, luxury venue and home to the contemporary British restaurant and steakhouse Black Iron. Our hotel has 19 luxury bedrooms, including two opulent bridal suites and boasts two ballrooms, making this former stately house perfect for country house weddings, romantic breaks, meetings with colleagues, conferences and exhibitions, team away days, product launches, birthday celebrations and balls. winstanleyhouse.co.uk

RUNNERS UP Keythorpe Manor Keythorpe Manor is an exclusive wedding and conference venue located in the beautiful South Leicestershire countryside, accessed easily from the A47, Uppingham Road. Ideal for hosting a wide range of weddings and corporate gatherings, our stunning Keythorpe Manor prides itself in being able to provide a completely bespoke experience offering luxury facilities for various events. keythorpemanor.com

Experience the most magical moments in pregnancy

St Martins House

Originally built in 1877, we are a stunning Grade II listed former Grammar School that opened as a conference centre in 2011 after considerable investment ensured a major refurbishment.

Elegant mixing of period features with contemporary styling has ensured that we have not only won awards for the quality of our refurbishment, but that we also stand out from the crowd, giving event organisers something truly unique. stmartinshouse.com

take a peak at your little prince or princess Early Pregnancy Scans I Gender Scans I HD/4D Live Scans Conception to delivery, with you all the way...

01509 434 028

28 Hall Croft, Shepshed, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 9AN Opening Times: (By Appointment Only) Monday: 10.00am - 7.00pm Tuesday - Wednesday: 10.00am - 8.30pm Thursday - Saturday: 10.00am - 5.00pm

NICHE | 63

FASHION

SPONSORED BY –

Beau Aesthetica

WINNER

RUNNERS UP

Betty Brown Boutique Betty Brown Boutique is an emerging fashion house, nestled in the heart of the Leicester fashion community, with our sights set on a national and international presence.

From its chic boutique in Stoneygate, Sukhina Garcia has created an upmarket brand aimed at giving a discerning clientele something a little special and different from the high street, with the highest emphasis on quality, inventive design and personal customer service. bettybrownboutique.com

RUNNERS UP Claude & Co

Specialising in Cosmetic Dermatology and Lipo Sculpture Microdermabrasion Non Surgical Face Lift Semi-Permanent Makeup Lipo Selection by Vaser Muscle Relaxing Injections Honey I Shrunk body wraps Colon Hydrotherapy Skin Fillers / Peels COMCIT Facial Geleration Nails Lipo Massage Mole Removal H D Brows Manicure Pedicure Waxing

0116 270 9141

www.beauaesthetica.com I 17 Allandale Road, Stoneygate, Leicester LE2 2DA

64 | NICHE

The Claude & Co. unisex brand came about naturally. With a background working as a buyer for a high street retailer in the UK on gender specific roles and departments we often felt there was a big gap in what was offered.

Not knowing the gender of your baby shouldn’t mean you have to stick to monochrome outfits.

Selling our own range amongst mighty brands makes us very happy. claudeandco.co.uk

No Fuchs Given #NoFuchsGiven is more than just a brand. It is a lifestyle choice. It’s the mentality of being brave and bold. Breaking away from society’s norms and ripping up the rulebook.

A way to express yourself where there is #NoFuchsGiven. We were founded by Premier League Champion Christian Fuchs. All designs produced in England.

Stand out from the crowd, be yourself! Be casual or elegant and always look cool. nofuchsgiven.com

MOTOR

2018 SPONSORED BY –

ADT

WINNER Stretton Circuit

L E I C E S T E R

Stretton Circuit Stretton Circuit, on the outskirts of Leicester is one of the county’s hidden gems when it comes to alternative entertainment. Our floodlit 900m outdoor karting venue is considered one of the fastest circuits in the country and has played host to a wide range of events over the past 25 years.

The fast sweeping bends provide a challenge for even the most accomplished of drivers. strettoncircuit.co.uk

RUNNERS UP 360 Autoleasing We are an independent vehicle finance, contract hire and car leasing brokers specialising in sourcing the best car contract hire and van leasing offers for both businesses and individuals from a range of automotive funders and dealers. With many years of collective experience in the industry, we are committed to saving clients time and money by fulfilling all vehicle procurement, finance, contract hire and car leasing requirements.

360autoleasing.co.uk

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Epic Accessories At Epic Accessories we supply car accessories and parts and have been family run since 1969. Over the years we have taken pride in giving our customers an honest and friendly service. We take care in selecting the best products based on quality and value. In recent years we have become one of Leicester’s leading tow bar specialists. Next year, Epic Accessories will be celebrating its 50th year serving the public. epicaccessories.co.uk

DOWNLOAD OUR APP DRIVEN BY 8/1/2016

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PROUD SPONSORS OF MOTOR AT THE NICHE BUSINESS AWARDS

adt-taxis.co.uk NICHE | 65

TRADE & CONSTRUCTION

SPONSORED BY –

Michael John Flooring

WINNER

Smallman & Son We are a family run commercial building contractor that works throughout the UK on a wide range of public sector, commercial and residential projects. We specialise in refurbishments, shopfitting, commercial joinery and outbuilding conversions. With a reputation for delivering quality projects on time and within budget, we are proud of our success; something that is down to everyone who makes up team Smallman. smallmanandson.co.uk

RUNNERS UP Pochin Despite the recession impacting on investor confidence, at Pochin we rode the storm that saw so many fail. The year of 2014 would prove a monumental year for us as Pochin was taken private by a consortium led by the founder’s grandson, Jim Nicholson. Freed from the constraints of public listing, Pochin’s order book is thriving with major projects across the North West and North Wales benefitting from 80 years of local knowledge. pochin.com

Thorpes Joinery We are specialists in bespoke joinery and manufacturing servicing the high-end commercial and residential markets with 90% of our work in London. Despite a history spanning over 70 years and with two decades within our current market, our most recent successes are most indicative of our stature. We first broke the £5m turnover barrier in 2008 following the financial crisis and within seven years this was doubled to £10m. thorpes-joinery.com 66 | NICHE

CHARITY OF THE YEAR

2018 SPONSORED BY –

Leicester Racecourse

WINNER

Soft Touch Arts In the education system one size doesn’t fit all. At Soft Touch Arts we believe every young person has the potential for a positive future. Since 1986 we’ve supported 1000+ young people each year with a challenge, problem or disability which holds them back. We offer creative programmes which develop life and social skills, and support young people in need into education, volunteering, employment and meaningful involvement in their communities. soft-touch.org.uk

RUNNERS UP Bamboozle Theatre Since 1994, we at Bamboozle Theatre Company have been creating magical, memorable and multi-sensory experiences for children and young people with moderate to profound learning difficulties as well as those with emotional and behavioural difficulties. We have built a strong reputation for the quality and integrity of our work. “Bamboozle is the highlight of our year and has given us some of our most precious memories” – Parent. bamboozletheatre.co.uk

LEICESTER RACECOURSE The versatile and friendly venue info@leicester-racecourse.com

Hope Against Cancer Hope Against Cancer is Leicestershire and Rutland’s local cancer research charity, founded in 2003. We work in partnership with local universities and hospitals to fund pioneering research to ensure that Leicestershire remains a hub of expertise in cancer research and treatment. In 2012 we established a dedicated clinical trials unit at Leicester Royal Infirmary to offer patients access to new medicines and therapies. hopeagainstcancer.org.uk

Leicester Racecourse Co. Ltd, Leicester Road, Oadby, Leicester, LE2 4AL

NICHE | 67

EDUCATION

SPONSORED BY –

De Montfort University

WINNER

Learning Without Limits Academy Trust Every school in the trust has a higher than national average percentage of disadvantaged children and children who speak English as an additional language. The trust also educates large numbers of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

It is important that all children in the trust are fully included in school life, are successful in their ambitions, are well prepared for life after school and are helped to overcome barriers. lwlat.org

RUNNERS UP Beauchamp College The Lionheart Academies Trust was founded in April 2014 in order to establish a foundation for the improvement and enhancement of educational provision in Leicester and Leicestershire. The trust now consists of seven schools across Leicestershire, all with ambitious academic, personal, and social goals for all learners. We prepare all students for life after school by exploring potential in work, training, and further education. beauchamp.org.uk

Dorothy Goodman School GO BEYOND BUSINESS AS USUAL Leicester Castle Business School is here to meet the needs of 21st century business. Going Beyond Business As Usual, we offer an accessible learning environment that invites you to challenge convention while also providing you with the opportunity and tools to think, create and inspire. Located in the beautiful and historic setting of Leicester Castle, we are only an hour from London by train and benefit from excellent transport links to the rest of the country. We offer a range of contemporary courses for professionals including courses that can be customised to meet the needs of your business. This is done by adopting a client-centric approach that puts you in the driving seat to collaboratively develop a professional education programme that is most appropriate for your needs.

If you would like to know more about our products and services please get in touch at E: info@lcbs.ac.uk W: lcbs.ac.uk/executiveeducation To keep up with all our lastest news follow us on Facebook - /LeicesterCastleExecutiveEducation Twitter - @LCBSExeEd LinkedIn – Leicester Castle Executive Education

68 | NICHE

We are an outstanding all age special school serving Leicester and Leicestershire, operating over five sites in Hinckley. Our young people have a wide variety of special educational needs and disabilities including pupils with profound and multiple learning disabilities, severe learning difficulties, moderate difficulties and those with Autism. Every member of staff plays a critical role ensuring our pupils can learn in a vibrant environment. dorothygoodman.co.uk

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR

2018 SPONSORED BY –

SFB Group

WINNER

Joseph Barsby G. Seller has been serving the needs of families for over 100 years.

Today, under the leadership of third generation family member Joseph C. Barsby, we continue our tradition of a compassionate, attentive and professional funeral service. At the age of 26 Joseph is a young, entrepreneurial leader spearheading the significant development of the business in order to continue to serve local families at their time of need for generations to come. gseller.co.uk

RUNNERS UP Pete Frost Our founder Pete Frost wanted to create a company where we could work more closely with customers, providing a personal, tailored service. Pete is an entrepreneur who has set up and run his own businesses over the last five years.

He is a Trustee of Leicestershire mental health charity Norton Housing & Support Ltd and he won the Non-Executive Director of the Year Award at the East Midlands Director of the Year celebrations this year. weareunity.co.uk

Christian Fuchs Christian Fuchs became Leicester City’s first signing in the summer of 2015 on a three-year contract before making 32 appearances as the Foxes won the Premier League title 10 months later. The Austrian left-back captained his country at Euro 2016 before announcing his retirement from international football. He formed his fashion brand #NoFuchsGiven after a series of YouTube videos went viral, and runs football academies for children. nofuchsgiven.com

Chartered Accountants

Helping YOU achieve YOUR goals

Wealth Management Business Advisers Unit 8, Oak Spinney Park, Ratby Lane, Leicester Forest East, LE3 3AW 0116 233 8500 enquiries@sfb.group www.sfb.group/leicester

NICHE | 69

BEST NEW BUSINESS

SPONSORED BY –

Hollingsworths

WINNER

Pattersons Commercial Law We are a corporate and commercial law firm created for lawyers and business owners who want more from law firms. Our lawyers and our clients are ambitious, driven and believe in better results whilst maintaining strong values. We value personal relationships and believe there is a more efficient method of delivering legal services.

Our vision is to create a law firm with an environment in which outstanding lawyers can deliver exceptional service. pattersonscommerciallaw.com

RUNNERS UP MD Signs & Fabrications

0116 204 2500 www.hlegal.co.uk

The Litigation and Commercial Law Firm We help businesses, big and small, new and old.

We help individuals, at home and at work.

Talk to us today to find out how we can help you.

19, New Walk, Leicester LE1 6TE mail@hlegal.co.uk

“We solve problems, from recovering a small debt to drafting complex contracts, a business break up to a restrictive covenant problem.”

Greg Hollingsworth Director

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Our main aim is to add value and credibility to business premises via high quality signage. As we all know in business, first impressions count. The very first impression is the aesthetics of your business premises. With over 15 years’ experience in the sign industry we can cater for all of your signage needs from initial consultation through to final installation and maintenance programmes. mdsfab.com

Nucleus HR At Nucleus HR we offer a great all-round HR service, from strategy planning through to day-to-day HR management and support.

We are responsive to our clients’ needs and flexible in the different packages we can offer, meeting the needs of any business size.

We have been using the team that makes up NHR for the past four years, and we have always been able to assist. nucleushr.com

EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR

2018 SPONSORED BY –

Fothergill Wyatt

WINNER

Karen Holder Karen Holder started at Dorothy Goodman Special School in August 2006 as a Learning Support Assistant and was instantly part of our family. She now manages the annual review programme for every student in the school, along with parents and teachers. She loves making school life special for the students, and even being in the staff panto! She feels very honoured to receive this nomination for a job she loves doing. dorothygoodman.co.uk

RUNNERS UP Karen Sidden Karen Sidden joined Rushcliffe Care Group in 2011 as a Registered Mental Health Nurse working in Aarons Specialist Unit for residents with complex mental health needs.

Her passion and skills working with peers and healthcare staff became evident and she was promoted to Care Manager within four years. Her current Care Quality Commission report and her hard work towards gaining Headway Accreditation, pay testament to her leadership skills. rushcliffecare.co.uk

Krys Lakin As a friend of our company’s owners and watching Glenfield Electrical Ltd grow and develop into a business, Krys was approached last year and invited to join the team on a temporary basis to help out in the office. Despite having little knowledge of electricals she dived straight in, helping where she could, learning as she went. A year on, and Krys is still here and our company is still growing. glenfieldelectrical.co.uk

Making your property our priority • Estate agency • Survey and valuation • Investment and development • Residential lettings and management

T: 0116 270 5900 F: 0116 274 5732

info@fothergillwyatt.com www.fothergillwyatt.com

NICHE | 71

BUSINESS GROWTH

SPONSORED BY –

EHL Commercial Law

WINNER

PREMIUM BEARD & MOUSTACHE GROOMING

Mo Bro’s We are a trio of British-based entrepreneurs: Keval, Kunal and Savan Dattani. As co-founders of Mo Bro’s – specialising in beards and moustaches – we have helped over 300,000 bearded brethren in 78 countries enjoy better beards.

In three years we have excelled in e-commerce, and have achieved viral status exceeding 125 million global views. We’ve been featured in The Telegraph, Express, BBC’s Dragons’ Den, Metro, and more. mobros.co.uk

RUNNERS UP Edward Cooper Young

Although the ehl brand has been around for a long time, it has recently changed having separated out from the Edward Hands and Lewis Group and forming ehl Commercial LLP under new ownership.

WHAT SERVICES DO WE OFFER?

The firm is seeking to offer corporate specialist advice at an affordable rate.

advisory & dispute resolution

It is deliberately only offering a handful of legal disciplines in order to ensure that the best advice is provided. Its focus is on domestic and international litigation (thanks to well established links to Washington DC, New York City and Eastern Europe), Sports law, Commercial Property and Commercial & Corporate transactional work.

The team at ehl Commercial LLP is hugely experienced.

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corporate & commercial commercial property

employment law insolvency intellectual property 0330 024 9643 ehlcommercial.co.uk Charnwood Suite, The Crescent, King Street, Leicester, LE1 6RX info@ehlcommercial.co.uk

We are a leading, independent firm of construction and property consultants. During the course of the last nine years, ECYCS has been a leading provider of tailored services to its clients on over 750 projects, managing, reporting and certifying over £2.5 billion of the development expenditure including £2billion of construction costs. We pride ourselves on our ‘outside the box’ approach to construction consultancy services. ecycs.co.uk

Pheonix Leicester Phoenix, Leicester’s independent cinema and art centre, is a charity based in the city’s Cultural Quarter.

We’re here to share some of the best film and art the world has to offer, to push creative boundaries and celebrate our city. Our café bar has become a vibrant hub for many who live and work in the city.

Having doubled our audiences over the last ten years, we have exciting plans to expand by 2020. phoenix.org.uk

2018

BY – PROFESSIONAL SERVICES SPONSORED The Miller Partnership

WINNER

Edward Cooper Young We are registered with and regulated

by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and are involved in various committees providing insight into future trends and new ideas in the industry. Our bespoke service involves adopting a flexible approach to fee structures by tailoring our scope of services to the clients’ requirements and preparing a project-specific reporting format for each project. We have offices in Leicester, London and Bristol. ecycs.co.uk

RUNNERS UP R PA RT N

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An ex-HR Director, Sarah is a qualified Executive and Leadership Coach, working with leaders and teams to maximise their effectiveness and success. Our corporate coaching models maximise your performance and profit with bespoke 1-2-1 corporate/executive coaching and leadership team development. Created and led with massive positive impact, we will get the results you want for you, your leadership team and your business. corporatecoaching-sh.co.uk

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Sarah Higgins Corporate Coaching

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Mattioli Woods is here to support clients in meeting their financial aims and ambitions, providing them with an all-embracing approach to develop a clear strategy supported by sound investment initiatives and a long-term perspective. Employing almost 700 people, we are an AIM-listed company forging ahead with our plans for growth and we will always be proud of the fact our clients are the very reason we do what we do. mattioliwoods.com

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The Miller Partnership Proud Sponsors of NICHE Business Awards 2018 Professional Services The Miller Partnership - Taxation Specialists are proud and continuing sponsors of the NICHE Business Awards Professional Services prize in this, its fourth year.

Our Leicester-based business with its national scope and reputation for excellence, works in tandem with professional services, local charities and all of those who excel in their chosen fields.

From professional partners in law, accountancy and finance to our colleagues in digital and print media, Cross Productions’ NICHE Magazine and our favourite Leicestershire charities, collaboration and support are etched into The Miller Partnership’s DNA. Pete and Tracey would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the NICHE Business Awards nominees and to say well done to this evening’s finalists.

Every business associated with the Awards has contributed to Leicester’s continued growth as a centre of excellence. www.themillerpartnership.com pete.miller@themillerpartnership.com 0116 208 1020

07802197269

Pete Miller

@PeteTaxMiller

NICHE | 73

BUSINESSMAN OF THE YEAR

SPONSORED BY –

Concannon Connection

WINNER

Dr Nik Kotecha OBE

Dr Nik Kotecha OBE is an awardwinning entrepreneur, business leader, board member and philanthropist, with a passion for making quality healthcare an affordable and accessible reality.

He is the founder and owner of Morningside Pharmaceuticals Ltd which we – through innovation, corporate management and business development in UK and international market – have grown into a top 100 Leicestershire company. morningsidepharm.com

RUNNERS UP Dominic Gommersall

Cherie Concannon Your Ally

in Business

Being the current custodian to a family business brings pressure that can be great but enjoyable.

Fortunately, our relocation of the business to the High Street of Leicester has borne fruit and dividends. Not only has the business grown, but it has been recognised as one of the leading jewellers of the country with multiple national and local awards.

I relish securing the foundations of this 5th generation business for the future generations to enjoy. lumbers.co.uk

Kevin Routledge

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I could not and would not have taken this journey had it not been for the sound advice, complete honesty and direct mentoring afforded to me by Cherie. She helped me to stay focussed when I wavered and kept me believing I would succeed.

Everybody needs a Concannon Connection in their life!

- Kevin McCook, McCook Retail Ltd

www.ConcannonConnection.com

Kevin is the Chairman of Leicester Riders. His impact on our club can be seen in the way it builds on a sustainable basis, challenging outdated practices and improving processes. His future plans are to continue to develop Riders into a recognised top club across Europe, and to develop Morningside Arena as a recognised critical piece of Leicester’s sport and entertainment infrastructure. leicesterriders.co.uk

BUSINESSWOMAN OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY – Evolve

2018

WINNER

Eileen Richards MBE Our founder and owner Eileen Richards MBE is a Non-Executive Director for the East Midlands Chamber, and is a trustee for Hope Against Cancer as well as being a devoted committee member to children’s charity Wooden Spoon. Alongside her day job in our recruitment offices, she helped set up the Alternative Business Awards, has been awarded an MBE, and is a Co-Chair of Enterprising Women. eileenrichardsrecruitment.co.uk

RUNNERS UP Mehmooda Duke Moosa-Duke Solicitors was set up by myself in May 2003. As the company’s CEO I have over 25 years of experience in medical negligence claims defending the NHS and GPs. I have achieved many feats including having a seat on the Law Society’s Clinical Negligence Panel, being commissioned a Deputy Lieutenant for Leicestershire, was President of the Leicestershire Law Society (LLS), and am now its Chair. moosaduke.com

Shelley Harvey Shelley joined us in 2007 and quickly made her mark being instrumental in our expansion into Hinckley in 2009. Shelley was the driving force behind the growth of this office. Her determination to succeed is what led to her ‘Directorship’ promotion at SFB – a decision that was reinforced when her strong negotiation and leadership skills ensured the successful takeover of the MGC Hayles Leicester operation when this firm went into administration. sfb.group

Don’t let technology hold you back, your business is better than that.

(Leave it to us, we’re pretty brilliant at IT.) Evolve develop enterprise grade software, meaning we can help you stay ahead of your competition by developing custom solutions, or by integrating existing applications that make your business work smarter.

T: 0116 298 7460 | E: enquiries@evolve-consultants.co.uk | W: evolve-consultants.co.uk

NICHE | 75

SPORTS

SPONSORED BY –

Eileen Richards Recruitment

WINNER

Leicester Riders Leicester Riders are currently the most successful basketball club in the UK. We have won back-to-back trebles domestically and play in the Champions League this season.

In addition, we run award winning community programmes to develop participation in all communities and both sexes. The Morningside Arena is also a venue for a variety of events throughout the year. leicesterriders.co.uk

RUNNERS UP Anders Mankert

Well done to all of the finalists

Anders is one of only 70 Advanced Fellows of the PGA in the world.

He has earned numerous coaching awards and attracts golfers from all over the country for tuition here in Leicester. The youngest ever winner of England Golf Lifetime Achievement Award, he is passionate about making the game accessible to everyone. He opened his Leicester Golf Centre in October, which is a facility where everyone is welcomed. andersmankert.co.uk

James Golding

The Eileen Richards Recruitment Team! www.eileenrichards.co.uk 76 | NICHE

0116 254 9710 @ERRECRUITMENT1

In 2008 James was diagnosed with an 11.5cm tumour. Surviving the operation he rebuilt his body, and went on to cycle many of the world’s toughest events. He was hit by a truck in 2010 and in 2011, his cancer returned. Our One Step at a Time inspirational speaker focuses on the power of a positive mind and mental resilience to overcome adversity, deal with change and thrive in the most difficult of circumstances. fb@jamesgoldingonestepatatime

ABOVE & BEYOND SPONSORED BY – Glynis Wright & Co

2018

WINNER

Mike Kapur OBE We were delighted to bestow our Above & Beyond award to Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Mike Kapur OBE who has taken an eager and proactive approach in promoting and developing Leicestershire.

He has a long standing reputation in the business community with over 20 years of board room experience from private companies to charitable organisations and began his career in 1985 with KPMG. He was voted East Midlands Young Project Manager of the Year in 1993 and went on to become the Director of Entrepreneurial Service at Ernst & Young, in July 1997. Two years later, he moved to Parker Plant Limited, as Group Finance Director, where he devised and implemented innovative performance measures, generating cost reductions, increase in capacity and a strong positive cash flow. In 1995 he was appointed a non-executive director at Leicester Royal Infirmary and following its merger in 2000 with two other large hospitals he was retained as Deputy Chairman of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, then the third largest trust in the UK. In 2002 Mike founded Signum Corporate Communications Ltd in which he retains responsibility for ensuring that all aspects of company strategy

are implemented and performance managed. He joined the Board of Governors of De Montfort University in May 2009 and is Chair of the university’s Audit Committee.

Mike is Chairman of the National Space Centre. This has resulted in record year on year growth in visitor numbers, income, surpluses, reinvestment and job growth. His qualities as a businessman were recognised by the CBI resulting in his elevation to Chair of its Enterprise Forum in

2013. In 2014 Mike was named NonExecutive Director of the Year at the Leicestershire Business Awards.

It was in June of this year that Mike succeeded Lady Gretton and became the Queen’s Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, a position in which he escorts Royal visitors, present medals and awards on behalf of Her Majesty, participates in social activity, and liaises with local units of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army, Royal Air Force and their associated Cadet Forces.

Thank You to ourAmbassadors DESIGN + PRINT

Soar Valley Press

NICHE | 77

Creating Beautiful spaces

KITCHENS • FLOORING • FURNITURE oadbyhouse.com 91 the parade, oadby, leicester le2 5bb

NICHE FEATURE

Interior design showroom

opens in Oadby Three companies that have opened a store in Oadby explain why they joined forces WORDS BY KERRY SMITH

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ustomers have long awaited the alliance of three home and commercial interior design companies in Leicester. The day finally arrived on Saturday, October 6 when Michael John Flooring, Maison Interiors, and Sherwin Hall opened their first ever joint showroom in Oadby town centre.

Mark Lucas, who runs Michael John Flooring, said: “There’s a synergy between the three businesses. We have the same ethos, same work ethic, and we’re all independently owned.”

Michael John Flooring and Maison Interiors, which provides bespoke furniture, have already worked successfully in partnership for eight years in Oadby. Both companies have also worked closely with kitchen designers Sherwin Hall over the years, with each recommending a combination of each other’s services.

“We were always recommending Sherwin Hall to our clients and vice versa, so it

made sense to all come together under one roof. People can now get everything from one place, rather than going from showroom to showroom. Due to continued business growth, we had outgrown our previous Oadby showroom, so when the opportunity arose to acquire larger premises with a more prominent position, we jumped at it,” Mark added.

Sherwin Hall’s original showroom is located in Jarrom Street, in the city centre, which whilst being a very busy showroom, lacked a high street presence to showcase their prestigious displays.

Manager Daniella Smith told us: “Everybody knows us now.

We’ve created a real home environment here in the heart of the community, and the feedback we’ve been getting is ‘wow, you drive into Oadby and that’s what you see!’ We were always recommending Michael John and Maison Interiors but to tell clients ‘now you need to drive to here,’

WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY AROSE TO ACQUIRE LARGER PREMISES WITH A MORE PROMINENT POSITION, WE JUMPED AT IT

not all customers would make the cross over.” The Jarrom Street showroom is now being used to accommodate the commercial side of the business for the kitchen specialists.

Pyellie Harrison of Maison Interiors commented on the new showroom: “Customers can now come in and have everything they need under one roof in a better location that’s bigger, lighter, and airier, with fantastic window space, and there is also plenty of free parking.”

Customers can take a look around the Oadby House showroom today and build their dream interiors in an interactive environment, while enjoying a beer or a glass of wine.

0116 254 3924 oadbyhouse.com

91 The Parade, Oadby Opening hours: Mon-Fri 9.00-5.30 Sat 9.00-5.00 NICHE | 79

PROPERTY FOCUS

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EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT BIOPHILIC DESIGN MARK LUCAS Manager at Michael John Flooring

QUESTIONING YOUR KITCHEN? Our new all-encompassing showroom, Oadby House, opened in October housing Michael John Flooring, Maison Interiors and Sherwin Hall under the same roof allowing you to experience a first class, bespoke service when designing your interiors.

Here we give you some kitchen interior design questions to think about to get you started on your design journey.

What’s on your wish list? Does your dream kitchen encompass an island? A walk-in pantry? A quaint window seat? Fancy little handles on cupboard doors? Quirky light fittings? Have an idea of these in your head – or better yet, create a Pinterest board. It’s these finishing touches (blinds, mirrors, bar stools, etc.) that put your signature on a room.

What’s your style? If you can settle upon what kind of look you’re going for, whether that’s rustic country or modern Scandinavian, it will help you and your designers pick out the right flooring, decor, wallpaper, counter tops, and more.

What would make life easier? In many cases, customers tend to focus on style over function and end up with sometimes awkward designs that just don’t fit their lifestyle. But it is completely possible to achieve both with experienced designers who will explain the pros and cons to a variety of designs. Do you need authentic real-wood flooring? Or durable LVT? These are the kinds of questions your designer will ask and guide you through.

0116 254 3924 oadbyhouse.com 80 | NICHE

But it’s far from being a hot new trend… In fact, the term ‘biophilia’ was first coined by the American biologist Edward O Wilson in the eighties. Wilson argued that humans benefited from nature and that the move to a more urbanised world has seen a detrimental impact on our health.

On average we spend around 90 per cent of our lives indoors. So fusing design with natural elements makes perfect sense from an architectural point of view.There is a significant trend in my industry for flooring solutions that fit this concept and there are some fantastic manufacturers innovating products that are meeting the needs of architects and designers alike, such as Interface, Milliken and Desso.

The physical office space has a huge impact on employee wellbeing.

Over a third of global respondents to Interface’s Human Spaces survey said that the office environment would affect their decision whether to work

DAVID VINER Sales and Marketing Director at FLR Group somewhere or not.

Milliken’s own research states that a staggering 42 per cent of employees do not have any natural light in the workplace. So, it is not a surprise to learn that incorporating biophilic design can see an immediate increase in employee well-being and productivity.

It’s such an interesting and important area. If you’re planning an office refurbishment and want to explore how you can incorporate biophilic design then I encourage you to read up on the subject and to get in touch with the team here at FLR.

0121 443 5503 flr.co.uk

EVOLUTION OF PROPERTY MARKETING NICOL NIGHTINGALE-SPEAR Director at Fothergill Wyatt Around just 30 years ago there were very limited ways to market a property for sale or rental. As an agent you would put up a board outside the property, advertise it in your shop window, and probably feature it in your local paper.

But in the mid ’90s the internet became mainstream and a whole new world of marketing opened up for agents.

Shiny websites displaying information about their business, services, and detailed listings with numerous pictures of (hopefully) well-staged rooms and gardens enabled agents to display properties at their best.

In 2000 Rightmove; the first of the major property portals, launched and revolutionised again the way properties were marketed and searched for; followed in 2001 by Prime Location; in 2008 by Zoopla; and 2015 by

OnTheMarket. The portals act as a onestop-shop showing potential purchasers or tenants available properties within their preferred area, meeting their criteria, without having to search endless agent’s individual websites.

Now we’re in an age where social media is again revolutionising the way property is marketed. As an estate or letting agent it is imperative to move with the times and not fall into the trap of doing what you’ve always done otherwise you’ll get left behind and lose out to more responsive agents.

In a relatively short period of time we have seen a seismic change in the way properties are marketed, it’s anyone’s guess what the next decade will bring!

0116 270 5900 fothergillwyatt.co.uk

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LIFE - INFUSING - REVIVE

For your well-being SH Scent offers you a first choice range of frangrance for office and home

07748 014 456

Paeonia A delicious ambiance of forest fruits. One of many scents to choose from.

enquiries@shscent.co.uk

shscent.co.uk NICHE | 81

NICHE FEATURE

Property A year in review 2019 is fast approaching and many of us are

When it came to trends in the lettings market, new developments reigned supreme with purpose ‘build to rent’ conversions of elegant traditional buildings proving more popular than ever with potential tenants. Fothergill Wyatt’s relationship with

reflecting on the year

developers on the journey from the very start with the acquisition of the site, right

that was 2018. Here,

enabled the best results for both prospective tenants and the developer or landlord.

Niche takes a look at the property market and what stood out according to property experts Fothergill Wyatt 2018 has seen plenty of activity in a challenging market and it’s clear to see which properties stood out and why – it was those possessing plenty of character features. With many new build sites cropping up across the county, which are popular in their own right, we found numerous buyers were seeking period properties particularly in the popular suburbs of Stoneygate, Clarendon Park and South Knighton due to their stunning original features and local thriving amenities.

It wasn’t simply an attractive vintage fireplace that sealed the deal though, buyers were also looking for properties that were updated in all the right places too. A clean, modern finish within a period property was key.

Modernised and beautifully finished luxury bathrooms and open plan family kitchens were high on the list as well as fully landscaped gardens, offering al fresco living.

It wasn’t all about what was going on inside properties though with kerb appeal (how the property looks from the outside) a hugely important factor and front of house ‘facelifts’ making a big difference to the saleability of a property.

0116 270 5900 info@fothergillwyatt.com fothergillwyatt.co.uk 82 | NICHE

through the planning, construction and marketing stages of the development, Two examples of such projects Fothergill Wyatt were involved in during 2018 are:

THE LAURELS, LUBENHAM

Comprising of four luxury apartments within the former head office of Deichmann Shoes in the picturesque village of Lubenham.

This was a high specification conversion of a classic Victorian building set in beautiful private communal grounds in the heart of the charming rural South Leicestershire village of Lubenham.

This sympathetically designed development retained the architectural delights and proportions of the original Victorian building whilst being refurbished to suit modern contemporary living, with luxurious Pronorm kitchens and Villeroy & Boch bathrooms.

IMPERIAL BUILDINGS, ENDERBY

Comprising four modern, three storey townhouses and six stunning apartments Located on the former Enderby Boot and Shoe Works site between King Street and George Street in the popular village of Enderby, the newly refurbished town houses and apartments featured the large open plan living, dining and kitchen spaces that were in huge demand in 2018.

Their location, within walking distance of the village amenities such as pubs, cafes, newsagents and the library, made them extremely popular.

SOME OF THE PROPERTIES SOLD THIS YEAR

Fothergill Wyatt Estate Agents and Chartered Surveyors

Featured Property – Just come to market Evington Lane

Manor Green, Houghton on the Hill Prices from £220,000 to £550,000

Madeleine House

Holmfield

Knighton Drive

Greenhill Road

Guildford Road

Situated on the periphery of the picturesque East Leicestershire village of Houghton on the Hill is Manor Green, a new and exclusive William Davis development of luxury 2, 3, 4 and 5-bedroom homes. On an attractively landscaped site with many plots enjoying rural vistas the development offers fantastic commuter links into Leicester, Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray and Uppingham.

As a five-star builder, these William Davis homes are finished to an exceptional standard with a range of high specification fixtures and fittings. Featuring fully fitted highquality Symphony kitchens with soft close doors and integrated SMEG appliances and bathrooms with ROCA sanitary ware and Porcelanosa tiling.

Completing the builds are two high spec high efficiency condensing boilers, HIVE active heating (subject to site), smoke and heat detectors, security alarms (included in certain

properties), landscaped gardens to front and turf to rear with patio area and Tarmac or block paved driveways (subject to site).

With attractive walks, a children’s play area, a highly regarded local primary school, local shops and public houses, Houghton village has a thriving community atmosphere which is ideal for everyone. The diversity of the accommodation allows Manor Green to cater for young and old and families in an idyllic rural location.

2, 3, 4 & 5 bedroom homes Cosy village setting ◆ Elegant designs and uncompromising quality ◆ Perfectly placed for commuting to Leicester ◆ Soft furnishing package which includes flooring and window treatments to all plots. ◆ Part Exchange and Help to Buy available ◆ 5 Star Builder ◆ ◆

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Celebrating a history that inspires the future of flooring Known for its respected reputation in high quality flooring, FLR Group introduced us to one of its most prestigious brands; Axminster – we investigated the high end carpet designers with over 250 years of heritage WORDS BY KERRY SMITH

T

he intricate, bold, energetic, and traditional carpet designs of Axminster can be found in homes, boutique hotels, rugby stadiums, trains and National Trust Heritage properties across the nation.

FLR works closely with brands that share its commitment to providing superior quality flooring

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and Axminster does just that. The company describes the brand as truly authentic and steeped in heritage and reverential status but despite its history dating back to 1755, we found the carpet masters are actually an entirely modern team of high-end designers who lead the way in creating contemporary designs, as well as

those more traditional commissioned pieces.

David Viner, sales and marketing director at FLR said: “Axminster has been providing homes and businesses with a wide range of carpets for over 250 years, meaning this prestigious brand is the oldest and most respected carpet designer and manufacturer

NICHE FEATURE www.flr.co.uk

FLR GROUP this prestigious brand is the oldest and most respected carpet designer and manufacturer in Britain today

in Britain today. But its also for their innovative contemporary designs that we choose to work with the brand.”

With such an impressive amount of history and heritage, Axminster is a royal warrant holder, which means it supplies carpet to the royal households. The company’s most recently completed project was the Brighton Pavilion for which they were tasked with recreating the original 1822 carpet; a highly elaborate and energetic design featuring 20 dragons, 100 sun rays and 274 lotus leaves. But these extravagant briefs only represent a small percentage of the work they carry out.

Jonathan Young, managing director at Axminster, said: “I’m conscious that we’re not just known for our historical work but that we’re also doing more modern contemporary designs for the requirements of today.

“More recently we’re very much focused on the more boutique style hotels so rather than providing carpet for Holiday Inn or Hilton hotels, we’re more likely to be seen in one of the red carnation hotels – more bespoke more luxury.”

The five-strong in-house design team are responsible for developing products for the residential and commercial markets while working with interior designers and architects to come up with bespoke designs that complement themes throughout buildings. The length of each project vastly depends on the requirements of Axminster clients: a home project or restoration could take as little at six weeks, or a new build housing scheme can involve the company for up to five years.

And it’s not just their delivery times

that Axminster - the company known for inventing the Axminster weave thrive from, it’s their ethics that make them the go-to choice for many.

Jonathan told us: “We use a lot of British wool in our carpets and so for the home, our proposition is that it’s all about natural in this day and age as we’re very much anti-plastic ourselves.

It’s not only natural and completely sustainable, its biodegradable and enables people to have a healthy, comfortable, luxurious environment to live in. And, we’re completely reducing our waste by using excess materials to make underlay.”

David added: “The work ethic of the people at Axminster works completely in harmony with our own.”

Find more Axminster carpet designs and tips on FLR’s website.

0121 443 5503 flr.co.uk

Axminster’s trend tip-offs For the home It’s all about colour and pattern.

We’re seeing a lot more design and colour coming back into the home. If you look at the last 10-15 years there has been a lot of grey and beige plain carpets but more patterned and adventurously coloured carpets and being rolled out all over the UK. For the office Make a statement. We’ve seen more people looking for greater variety. So instead of putting the same carpet through all the areas of a building, businesses now was different choices throughout.

They may coordinate these but are looking to create different statements in each room. You’ll find this too in hotels and restaurants.

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ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

New Year, New Lifestyle A lifestyle change, for the better with Utility Warehouse

I

n the New Year of 2018 it was reported by The Independent that January 18 was officially ‘Quitters Day’, the day when a majority of those New Year resolutions get dropped. A lifestyle change with Utility Warehouse could be just the fresh start your life needs and with more staying power than the usual diet and health ‘promises’, a commitment to a positive lifestyle change that will reap plenty of rewards both personally and financially could be a new year resolution to stick to.

A Utility Warehouse distributor enjoys excellent incentives for their business partners with many distributers adopting the role in addition to other jobs, hobbies and commitments. Local distributor and mentor David Goadby says. “I am lucky enough

to enjoy a great deal of flexibility in my working life. Outside of the role I tutor mathematics: KS2, KS3, GCSE up to A Level,” David tells us. “I love making the subject more accessible and fun for my students.

I am lucky enough to get fulfilment through both of my roles thanks to the flexibility of Utility Warehouse.”

The life of a distributor means greater financial freedom, offers the opportunity to help others, top up your pension, gain more free time, meet new people, and work on your own personal development and goals.

So, you might ask, what does a distributor do? Put simply, they spread awareness of the altogether better deals households can achieve with gas, electricity, landline, broadband and mobile services all on one bill.

I AM LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET FULFILMENT THROUGH BOTH OF MY ROLES THANKS TO THE FLEXIBILITY OF UTILITY WAREHOUSE

The Light House YOUR LOCAL LIGHTING SPECIALIST

The commitment isn’t huge – a distributor can join and leave the role whenever they choose.

Training is free, partners (distributors) receive free training for life, a residual income, plus an amazing array of incentives and rewards such as cash bonuses, holidays, and much more. It could be the new year lifestyle change that you never knew you needed and what’s more it might just be one you stick to way past ‘Quitters Day’.

07736 146 400 davidgoadby@uwclub.net dream2earn.club

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LIGHTING DESIGN SERVICE AVAILABLE

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OADBY

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PROPERTY FOCUS FIRST IMPRESSIONS The phrase: ‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression’ is one that you will hear frequently in the business world; if you want your venture to succeed, it is essential that you take the time to get it right in the first instant. After all, a bad impression can seldom be remedied. A business runs on personal communication as much as it does on money, and if you want to be successful, it is vital that those who have cause to connect with you receive the very best impression from the outset.

First impressions have the ability to make or break a business, and a positive experience can create long-lasting business relationships. For this reason it is essential that you work on that first impression; for example, the way in which you present yourself and your venture in public, how you communicate with colleagues and clients, and the ways you publicise yourself.

Making a good first impression is particularly important when it comes to meeting customers, pitching to potential clients, or during interviews. These are the key points at which people will meet you and begin to form an impression of you and the services you’re offering.

When it comes to making a good first impression, you must take the time to perfect a look; be sure of the image you want to project, this will depend upon the market in which you circulate.

Competition in the world of business is fierce; making a good first impression is vital, and can be the difference between impressing clients and winning contracts or being left out in the cold. Improving upon your personal and company image is a simple way to enhance a potential employer, colleague, or client’s first opinion of you, and can reinforce your reliability and competence in your field; encourage a little faith in your business and abilities, and you will go far.

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WHY WE LOVE IVY BARRY RANDALL Ivy is usually seen clinging to buildings and trees and is one of the UK’s few native evergreen plants. Sadly, it has a bad reputation and is often accused of strangling trees. However, ivy should be celebrated and valued for the fundamental role it plays in providing wildlife with food and shelter. It is one of the best plants for your garden wildlife all year round, but especially during autumn and winter. Whereas most nectar rich plants are starting to die off, ivy’s flowers are only just beginning to blossom providing a vital, late source of food for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators before hibernation.

Ivy berries are a crucial, calorierich source of food for your feathered garden friends just when they need that extra energy hit to enable them to maintain their body temperatures.

Ivy can also be browsed by cattle and

Managing Director at Leicestershire Garden Design is sometimes used as an emergency winter feed.

Despite what its critics say, ivy does not damage trees and its presence does not indicate an unhealthy tree.

The plant uses trees and walls for support, allowing it to grow towards better levels of light. It is not a parasitic plant and has a separate root system in the soil absorbing its own nutrients and water. And, its evergreen leaves offer crucial shelter for birds and insects in winter, so the presence of ivy on trees is much more beneficial than it would be to remove it from the tree.

0116 210 0760 leicestershiregardendesign.co.uk

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT LEAH ASSIMACOPOLOS Office Manager and Junior Designer at Ponds by Michael Wheat At Ponds by Michael Wheat we pride ourselves on our customer engagement - from first ponder to final pond.

During the initial face to face meeting we co-design the ideal pond with our clients, listening to their needs and taking a dream and making it into a reality. It is not always easy to visualise the final ‘picture’, so we like to give our clients a 3D computer generated design, to help enliven their pond and start enjoying their future pond from the beginning.

Our knowledgeable designers are trained and, depending on the design and complexity, can take anywhere between a day to seven to complete.

We put a lot of care and detail to help

give our clients with every project.

If there are any changes, no matter how big or small, that need to be made Michael never hesitates to communicate it with the designers. Our main focus is to get the brief right and give our clients what they want. Once the client is happy and given the sign off on the project we get the ball rolling.

Our amazing site team get cracking with giving our client their dream pond which most often exceeds their expectations and we have a lot of smiles at the end.

0116 240 3735 pondsbymichaelwheat.co.uk

NICHE FEATURE

A vision realised This year saw Ponds by Michael Wheat take on big change and

challenges – we caught up with Managing Director Michael Wheat to discover the magic formula which saw his vision realised WORDS BY EMILY KIRTON

I

t seems there was no magic involved at all, just good oldfashioned hard work. It might be Michael’s name above the door but, according to the man himself, the success of Ponds by Michael Wheat isn’t down to him alone.

“I know everyone says this, but I honestly mean it, I couldn’t have grown anywhere near how much we have this year without my team. Each and every one of them has put in so much,” he explains. “We have an outstanding onsite team who really do create our clients’ dreams. From Tori on the phone to everyone who works onsite; the team is dedicated to customer satisfaction.

“Lindsay, our Operations Manager, has invested so much time and energy into the business, so too has Mike our Project Designer who has gone above and beyond even in a year of great personal difficulty with his health. Leah, our Client Relationship Manager has taken us from exceptionally disorganised to exceptionally organised, and not forgetting my wife Gemma and family who have continued to support me through it all.”

The turn of the year marked a

I FEEL BLESSED WITH MY TEAM, I REALLY DO, AND SHARING IN THE COMPANY’S SUCCESS IS ALWAYS ON MY AGENDA

fresh start for the company which is a leading specialist in pond design. With a rebranding to allow for greater clarity, the New Year kick started a change which was to take the company to a 70 per cent growth and a virtually spotless client feedback record.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing though in the eight years since the business inception; rough waters back in 2017 saw a quiet winter spell and, to quote the MD himself, ‘a grumpier Michael’. Now though, through a commitment to his vision and a team behind him putting processes, systems and stability in place, the company is going from strength to strength and is all set to continue if you take a glance at the bookings ahead.

Citing the invaluable advice he sought outside of the business in the shape of business coach Jacqui Elmore, who had worked with the business from 2015 to 2017, helped set the foundations. Now Barry Randall of Leicestershire Garden Design is helping coach Michael and his team to achieve greater efficiency.

“Barry is a processes man, it’s his forte and of course he has direct experience in our similar industry.

With his expert advice we were able to increase our efficiency ten-fold through developing new spreadsheets, new organisational tools and a stable system which everyone within the business could adhere to.”

Michael is looking forward to an optimistic future with nationwide specialised services and offices reaching further key locations across the country.

He’s allowed himself to enjoy his achievements this year with a new car and a family holiday on the horizon, but, true to form, he hasn’t overlooked his team in these rewards too.

“I feel blessed with my team, I really do, and sharing in the company’s success is always on my agenda. Paying them right, treating them right and providing the odd bonus here and there is all part of the enjoyment of running an ever-growing successful business for me. I am looking forward to more of the same in 2019 as we expand our team and grow further.”

0116 240 3735 pondsbymichaelwheat.co.uk NICHE | 89

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Meet our Consultant Gynaecologists.

Meet our Consultan Meet ourMeet Consultant Gynaecolog our Consultant Gyna  Hysterectomy (usually only considered if your family history is complete and your symptom are particularly extreme) ThisGynaecologists. can often be performed by keyhole surgery.

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Dr Raji Aravindan

sultant Gynaecologists. nt Gynaecologists.

Dr Andrea Akkad

Mr Ian Scu

Dr Farook Al-Azzawi Dr Farook A

Meet our Consultant Gynaecologists.

Dr Andrea Akkad

Dr Andrea Akkad

Mr Tarek Gelbay

MrFarook Tarek Al-Azzawi Gelbaya MrMr Tarek Gelbaya Dr Mr Roder Supratik Chattopadhyay MrAndrea Quinten Davies Dr Akkad Dr Farook Al-Azzawi Dr Farook Al-Azzawi Dr Asok Banerjee Dr d Andrea Akkad Tarek Gelbaya Mr Tarek Dr Farook MrGelbaya TarekMr Mr Mr Supratik Mr Roderick Dr Andrea Mr Supratik Chattopadhyay Supratik Chattopadhyay Mr Tarek GelbayaDr Raji Ara Dr Raji Aravindan Dr Farook Al-Azzawi Dr Farook Al-Azzawi Al-Azzawi Gelbaya Chattopadgyay Teo Akkad Dr Andrea Akkad

Dr Farook Al-Azzawi

Mr Ian Scudam Call us on 0300 13 11Mr 416Supratik Chattopadhyay Nuffield Heal Dr Raji Aravindan Mr Quinten Davies attopadhyay Mr Supratik ChattopadhyayDr Raji Aravindan Mr Ian Scudamore Mr Ian Scudamore Dr Raji Aravindan Or visit nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/Leicester/events Scraptoft Lan Mr Supratik Chattopadhyay Mr Ian Scudamore Dr Raji Aravindan Mr Quinten Davies padhyayDr Raji Aravindan Mr Ian Scudamore Mr Ian Scudamore Mr Quinten Davies Dr Raji Aravindan Dr Asok Banerjee Dr Asok Ba Dr Raji Mr Ian Aravindan Mr Quinten Scudamore Davies

Mr Quinten Dr Asok Davies Call us on 0300 Banerjee 13 11 416

Mr Roderick Te Dr Asok Banerjee Mr Roderick Mr Roderick Teo Mr Roderick Teo Teo Mr Quinten Davies vies Mr Quinten Davies visit nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/Leicester/events Asok Banerjee Dr Asok Banerjee Dr Asok Call us on Banerjee 0300 13 Dr 11Or 416 Call us onCall 0116 2980300 6787 us on 13or11visit 416 Health Leicester Hospital Mr Roderick Teo Nuffield Mr Roderick Teo nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/leicester Scraptoft Lane, Leicester, LE5 1HY Dr Asok Banerjee Or visit nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/Leicester/events Dr Asok Banerjee Or visit nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/Leicester/events Call us on 0300 13 11 416 Nuffield Health Le Call us on 0300 13 11 416

Nuffield Health Leicester Hospita

HEALTH FOCUS

Forum

WHY SITTING IS THE NEW SMOKING PRITI COLES Cranio Sacral Therapist

MEDITATIVE WALKS I love this time of year, the dew on the plants in the morning, the beautiful autumnal earthly colours.

The harvest is gathered, and we are reminded by nature to come back to source and start nurturing ourselves. Why not get outdoors and try a walking meditation?

Different from lying or sitting down we have the opportunity to make contact with the ground with each step. The process of walking is a controlled falling forward, it took a long time to master but we take it for granted.

You don’t have to walk a long distance, you are not going anywhere. Maybe a distance of 20 paces. Remember it is meditation and not a sightseeing tour. Keep your eyes soft and gaze out in front of you, no need to look down at your feet. Take gentle breaths.

Walk slowly back and forth for 10 minutes.

At first your pace will be quick; your aim is to slow down and feel your feet making contact with the ground. The slower you are the impulse to move quickly dissipates and your sense of connection with the whole of your body and breath increases.

When the mind wanders off (as it does in all practices) take notice of what is on your mind then bring it back to the present with your breath and step.

It’s free and you can enjoy at your own pace!

07795 361 288 priticoles.co.uk 92 | NICHE

According to a 2006 study by The University of Vanderbilt an average person on an average day is sitting for up to 12 hours of it. Add to that the fact that up to 3.2 million deaths a year are related to physical inactivity and you have got yourself a scary seating scenario.

There are many misconceptions surrounding sitting and our health.

The very idea of ‘resting’, of ‘taking the weight off our feet’ and ‘enjoying a nice sit down’, goes against the train of thought that sitting can be harmful to our health. Of course, there are merits to sitting down and ‘resting’ but there are also plenty of pitfalls to it too.

Our Fit for Industry programs talk about the effects of a sedentary

JULIE HAYTON Managing Director at Function Jigsaw lifestyle on an individual’s health both in their personal life and their professional one. We know office jobs require a lot of sitting, and we know we can’t radically change that, but we can provide ways in which improvements can be made.

Small changes which include low Intensity movements, adopting the correct posture and switching from sitting to standing every half an hour are just a few ways to do it.

0116 340 0255 functionjigsaw.co.uk

KEEP YOUR WEIGHT UNDER CONTROL THIS FESTIVE SEASON NICOLA ROSSELL Personal Trainer at Rossell Fitness ‘Tis the season to be jolly – and gain weight. I’m no Grinch, I love a mince pie and the festive chocolates as much as the next person, but when it comes to the festive over stuffing I’m not willing to roll the dice.

Striking a healthy balance is harder when there is a lot of temptation around and everyone else seems to be indulging guilt free (but, since when is that a good reason to do anything?).

How many years are going to pass whereby you don’t have control over your health, your energy, your confidence and your weight?

We can work on finding your comfortable zone where you can indulge, enjoy and join in, without going too far and experiencing the

nasty side effects of over-doing it (hard to shift weight gain, low energy, frustration, resignation to resolutions that don’t really get fulfilled).

When you have a healthy balance in your lifestyle and a healthy understanding of your body’s needs, it becomes easier to make the right choices.

Being healthy is not about sacrificing the food and drink that you love. A healthy lifestyle, to me, is one where we can enjoy ourselves, guilt and stress free, without jeopardising our health and wellbeing.

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WELL-BEING PROGRAMMES FOR BUSINESSES 0116 340 0255 functionjigsaw.co.uk 24 Long Street, Wigston, Leicester LE18 2AH

A ‘pinch me’ year for Emily Kirton talks to Sukhina Garcia of Betty Brown Boutique about fashion, its impact on the planet and success

A

s we settle down for a cup of tea and a chat in Sukhina’s Stoneygate boutique what immediately strikes is the feeling of warmth that not only comes from Sukhina but also the surroundings.

A sumptuous ‘at home’ vibe reigns supreme and it’s this comfort factor that Sukhina is known by the discerning fashionable customers who grace the boutique ahead of any special occasion, awards evening and every other opportunity in between.

This warm welcome and feeling of female support is at the heart of the boutique and aside from the gorgeous clothes, it’s what keeps people coming back. She tells me: “I build relationships with the women that shop with Betty Brown, offering additional services such as personal styling, alterations and networking events so my shoppers, who are often busy women, get to meet likeminded women.

“I offer honest advice and I do not let a woman walk out with a garment if I feel it’s not suitable for her even if that means forfeiting a sale… however, with a little guidance, she is guaranteed to walk out with the right dress. I understand women of all ages and dress size, styling them to suit their shapes and accentuate their best assets.”

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A self-taught designer with over 20 years of experience behind her – yes, 20 years! Surely, by looking at her, that maths doesn’t add up – was she designing at five years old?! Always looking to evolve her talent, 2018 was a big year for Sukhina who was a first time fashion student at the London College of Fashion. She enthused: “Not only was it super enjoyable for me to mix with designers from all over the world it also showed me just how well I

decades ago. The lure of fast fashion is understandable, and I love a trip to Zara as much as the next person, but fashion should be an investment. If you’re replacing items every one to two months after just seven to eight wears it’s not economically viable, it’s bad for the environment and it’s bad for workers in foreign countries.”

She continues: “Now, more than ever, it’s time for consumers to focus on quality over quantity. Fashion should

I build relationships with the women that shop with Betty Brown, offering additional services am doing and also where I can improve to take the business to the next level.

I left with a certificate in Fashion Trend Forecasting, so that was exciting and a real bucket list achievement for me.”

Whilst trends are a key influence on Betty Brown designs, they aren’t everything, and with her focus on creating looks which suit individual women of all shapes and sizes, ‘fast fashion’ isn’t top of the priority list for Sukhina. “The world now consumes about 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year. This is 400 per cent more than the amount we consumed just two

be seen as an investment rather than a cost. Good items should last you many years not months and whilst it might cost a bit more it will help the environmental impact, water pollution, the use of toxic chemicals, and the increase of textile waste as well as – most importantly – the workers of this industry.”

When I ask what her personal highlights were in 2018, she lights up, it clearly was a year to celebrate.

“Oh this year we’ve had so many highlights! We started off the year with an amazing fashion show launching our spring/summer ’18 collection

NICHE FEATURE held inside Leicester Cathedral. It was a totally electric experience as Leicester has never seen anything like that before.” The event, which was attended by record numbers, was part of a relationship with the boutique’s chosen charity, The Dorothy Goodman Academy, and raised an impressive £1700. Partial to the odd cocktail with friends, Sukhina also told me about an exciting event with cocktail bar 33CANKSTREET who honoured the self-confessed gin lover with the invention of ‘The Betty Brown Cocktail’.

The Betty Brown cocktail was entered in the ‘International World Gin Day Brocktail Contest’, winning over 118 entries from 12 countries, but was also put on the bar menu with a donation of £1 from each one sold going to the Dorothy Goodman Academy.

Betty Brown This year saw several exciting collaborations with many local businesses including Leicester Law Society and Butleigh’s Gin, who featured Betty Brown dresses in their campaigns. “Seeing our dresses featured in their ad campaigns gave me a massive buzz, honestly it was hard to beat, pinch me now kind of a buzz!”

This year has seen a fair few additions to the awards cabinet too with not one, not two but four awards. “Just to get to the final of these prestigious awards are a moment in themselves.

It’s very easy in business to get caught up and concentrate only on what you haven’t achieved but award recognition allows you to soak up a little bit of what our hard work has brought, that’s no bad thing. It’s a great way to build your network with like-minded people or other companies that you may find difficult to reach without these events bringing you together.”

So, what’s in store for Betty Brown in 2019? “We are so excited for 2019.

There’s lots of change for us in the pipe line, we’re currently working on a very exciting project,” she says. I ask, “What’s that then, do tell?” She laughs: “Oh I couldn’t possibly, top secret I am afraid!” I guess we will just have to watch this space…

07713 746 010 bettybrownboutique.com NICHE | 17

FOOD COURT Local sports and business people choose their favourite places to eat in Leicestershire

The best eating establishments in Leicestershire ROBERT SPENCE

FOURWARDS

Paragon Sales Solutions

Having worked in the fine food industry for over eight years there are so many restaurants I could recommend. One that really stands out for me right now is Fourwards at Ashfields.

I have followed the careers of Adam and Stacey Ward for several years now; Adam in particular cooks some fantastic dishes at other well-known Leicestershire restaurants.

Situated in Earl Shilton, Fourwards at Ashfields focuses on using fresh, quality and seasonal ingredients. The menu is full of both hearty classics and modern dishes which suit the tastes of any diner. Plus, from my own experience the portion sizes are always very generous!

The restaurant has undergone

HARRISON GAMBLE

SPICE CUBE

Leicester Riders

98 | NICHE

01455 841 556 ashfieldsrestaurant.com 4 HIGH ST, EARL SHILTON, LEICESTER LE9 7DG a fantastic refurbishment that truly underlines the feeling of quality, relaxed dining. The ‘secret garden’ is also well worth seeking out!

Having eaten there very recently I can certainly say you are given a very warm welcome. The staff have great knowledge of the food and drinks and work hard to make you feel comfortable.

It’s hard to describe but from the minute you enter the restaurant you just know you are in for a good time, and for a good dining experience.

Whether you are dining alone, celebrating, looking for a quality afternoon tea, or just want a chilled Sunday lunch, you cannot get much better than Fourwards at Ashfields.

0116 230 2395 spice-cube.com 17 LOUGHBOROUGH RD, MOUNTSORREL, LOUGHBOROUGH, LE12 7AP

Even with regular cravings for the mouth-watering Indian cuisine at Spice Cube, I still have not worked my way through the extensive menu but I do have a favourite dish so far.

I go for chicken pathia with pilau rice and a garlic and chilli naan.

Cooked in the clay oven, the chicken is always succulent drenched in the delicious tomato-based sour and spicy sauce.

The relaxed atmosphere and friendly, chatty staff make it a perfect family environment. Waiters will always take the time to explain what’s in each menu item and give their advice on what might be a good choice for you – and there truly is a perfect dish for

everyone on their menu.

Prices are incredibly reasonable too. As there’s no alcohol licence you’re very welcome to bring your own and Spice Cube will provide all glasses and cork screws.

Overall, it’s the first class dining service and tasty, traditional food that keeps me returning again and again.

You can also order from Spice Cube and enjoy such amazing foods from the comfort of your own home, but however you care to dine, you most certainly must make it you mission to try this place. Before you go however, it might be best to book a little in advance as it seems to be extremely popular.

DECLAN KIELY Claremont Financial Planning Ltd

THE FORGE INN

01858 880 058 kilworthhouse.co.uk LUTTERWORTH ROAD, NORTH KILWORTH LEICESTERSHIRE LE17 6JE Whilst we all enjoy a Nando’s, if you’re looking to dine somewhere a little fancier, a firm favourite of mine is Kilworth House.

Set within beautifully kept grounds, the stately home offers a retreat away from the hustle and bustle of work life. The grandeur of the house makes this venue perfect for celebrating special occasions.

During the summer, my family and I celebrated my sister’s graduation here.

Kilworth House’s Orangery restaurant is where I would personally choose to eat.

It has been restored to the beautiful effect of an open, light and airy space. The food is always outstanding with plenty of choice. The staff are very friendly and helpful and no request is too much trouble. I ate in The Orangery restaurant

for Valentines Day with my girlfriend and the staff were more than accommodating when we asked to move table (twice!).

The silver service and wine waitering throughout the meal make your dining experience feel much more special.

The menu boasts plenty of locally sourced fresh food which never disappoints. My usual option would be the fillet steak medallions with Stilton sauce and fondant potato – a dish that is always filled with flavor and presented to the highest standard. For the fussy eaters out there, there is something to suit everyone’s taste and so it caters for all.

If you are looking for a venue to host your special occasion, then make a booking at Kilworth House.

SUZANNE EVERITT

THE CURZON ARMS

Mattioli Woods

Sometimes you just fancy going out for uncomplicated food in a cosy pub that serves good quality, honest dishes. Nothing fussy, no theatrics, no tasting menu, a place where the food speaks for itself where the most important factor is that it must be able to do this consistently. For me, The Curzon Arms in the pretty village of Woodhouse Eaves does exactly that.

A popular pub, The Curzon Arms serves a variety of dishes with an excellent wide-ranging menu complete with daily specials. The décor is akin to dining at home; it’s perfectly casual with jaunty gingham napkins, a smattering of tartan upholstery and buckets of rustic

LIAM DEACY

CHUTNEY IVY 0116 251 1889 chutneyivy.com 41 HALFORD STREET, LEICESTER LE1 1TR

Cross Productions

01509 890 377 thecurzonarms.com 44 MAPLEWELL RD, WOODHOUSE EAVES, LOUGHBOROUGH LE12 8QZ

Leicester is truly blessed with a fantastic variety of restaurants but my favourite place to eat is Chutney Ivy. A short walk from Curve in the heart of Leicester’s cultural quarter, Chutney Ivy is regarded as one of the best Indian restaurants in Leicester. This is stellar praise given our city’s strong south Asian eateries but its reputation for outstanding cuisine is truly warranted.

The staff are always warm and welcoming, and owner Shaf Islam talks passionately about the dishes he serves and you can tell everyone at Chutney Ivy loves what they do. But like with any restaurant, the proof is in the pudding or the Murgh Tikka Makhani in this case.

This is my favourite dish; a beautiful

country charm, plus the waiting staff are polite and on-point!

If Chateaubriand is on the menu, and my dining partner is up for sharing, then the odds-on chances are I’ll be ordering it. Medium rare, served on a wooden board, perfectly rested with seasoned fine green beans on the side, a portion of gratin potatoes in an enamel dish like grandma used to have with a jug of peppercorn sauce.

The beef is from Hereford and aged for 35 days, it’s cooked beautifully and just melts in the mouth. Simplicity at its very best.

Muddy boots and paws are welcome anytime, and check out their website for some fantastic events.

chicken tikka with a smooth buttery sauce, kasoori methi and fresh cream, always served with delicious pilau rice and the classic naan bread.

The restaurant itself is spacious, bright and there is a relaxed feeling despite it being a busy and bustling environment. It is the perfect location for a pre/post theatre trip or night out with family and friends.

And, for those looking for one of the best business networking meetings out there, I wholeheartedly recommend The Chutney Ivy Curry Club, held at the restaurant on the last Thursday every month. It is the perfect opportunity to meet like-minded business people whilst enjoying a delicious lunch time meal.

NICHE | 99

grandeur

in our city centre New high-end luxury accommodation opened in the heart of Leicester on October 3 2018 and completes the Cathedral Quarter’s offerings WORDS BY EMILY KIRTON

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B

uilt by the Diocese of Leicester, St Martins Lodge stands at just a stone’s throw from the site where King Richard III’s remains were discovered in 2012, prior to being laid to rest inside the Cathedral three years ago. The accommodation is a welcome addition to the city’s Cathedral Quarter, which has included the KRIII Visitor Centre and the rejuvenation of the area with visitors attracted from far and wide.

Welcoming tourists and visitors from near and far, as well as complimenting the facilities which nearby St Martins House conference centre offers, the lodge is aesthetically in keeping with the look and feel of its surrounding buildings. With a luxurious feel to the former neo-Georgian offices

in 2-4 Peacock Lane, and the Grade II listed former 18th century town house in 16 New Street, the buildings have been respectfully transformed into an elegant £1.8m development.

Many original features have been retained including the hallway with its chandelier and stylish staircase.

Each room is individually styled sympathetically to the historic architecture and character of the original building.

With 28 opulently finished bedrooms, including a top floor executive suite, breakfast and a car park provision, the building provides the perfect balance of practicality and luxury. Overlooking the Cathedral gardens, the hotel is a peaceful spot

NICHE FEATURE

There are significant synergies which tie cultural, business and spiritual operations together in this part of the city

yet lies right in the centre of our cosmopolitan city.

St Martins Lodge is a financial investment for the Leicester Diocese Glebe Committee. Bringing in extra funds to help pay clergy stipends and pensions through surpluses generated from running St Martins Lodge, will free up other funds in the Diocese to support the church’s mission and social action work across Leicestershire. These include ongoing projects working with the homeless and vulnerably housed people including a former clergy house which is leased free-of-charge to One Roof Leicester, and the weekly SoundCafe project.

St Martins Lodge blends seamlessly within its surroundings

in this historic quarter of the city.

Its proximity to the Cathedral, the Guildhall and to St Martins House conference centre will also mean that it will be ideal for people wishing to stay close to their meeting, event or wedding venue, as well as anyone visiting other areas of the city.

Nick Quinn, Director of St Martins House, is delighted with the accommodation project and what it will mean for the area. He said: “We are delighted at the new hotel, it is truly stunning and its proximity to our conference and events centre has enabled us to provide full 24-hour conference facilities.”

The Chair of the Glebe Committee David Beeson said of the development:

“We have been eager to add prestigious accommodation to the Glebe portfolio for some time now and the ideal opportunity has been found in St Martins Lodge. There are significant synergies which tie cultural, business and spiritual operations together in this part of the city. With this building development we can support both Richard lll tourism, other users of the Cathedral and surrounding businesses.”

St Martins House has the capacity and capability to create a vast range of events in this distinct, historic area of the city.

0116 261 5200 stmartinslodge.co.uk NICHE | 101

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NICHE REVIEW

To Edinburgh this Christmas A festive getaway you will want to relive - we really mean it!

W

e’ve found Edinburgh to be a city that draws us back to it year after year as it gets closer to Christmas.

Its atmosphere is captivating and its scenery is spellbinding, much like that of our favourite hotel and show we frequent upon every Christmas visit.

The Apex Waterloo Place Hotel “Super stylish accommodation like no other city centre offering!”

A warm and friendly welcome is guaranteed from a team who are genuinely interested in your stay and ready to ensure it’s personalised to your needs.

From the comfortable and wellequipped bedrooms to the stylish restaurant and bar, the hotel goes beyond the basics of a city centre base.

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The swimming pool and gym are complimentary and treatments by PURE Spa & Beauty can be added to enhance a relaxing stay. For business, the conference and meeting rooms in the hotel provide hubs to meet, eat and relax in the city centre. apexhotels.co.uk

A JAWDROPPING, HILARIOUSLY, UNBELIEVABLE SHOW THAT YOU WILL WANT TO TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT!

La Clique Noel Part Deux November 16 – January 5 2019 Tickets from £15.50 The multi-award winning La Clique (Olivier Award Winner 2009) has toured the globe to international acclaim.

La Clique Noël - Part Deux has a reimagined line up of new dysfunctional artists plus a few firm favourites for this years seasonal edition, including the astounding fire eater Heather Holliday and mistress of mayhem, host Bernie Dieter. The show will feature a scintillating live band and the best of the best in adult, genre-bending, new variety - in a night you won’t forget! edinburghschristmas.com

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hristmas is right around the corner now and we are more excited than a five-year-old on Christmas Eve. The Christmas party or ‘work do’ plays an important role in ensuring the excitement builds suitably and Leicester Racecourse provides the perfect location to do just that.

Leicester’s very own racecourse plays host to various high-profile events throughout the year and Christmas is a time when it really comes into its own.

Located close to the city yet far enough out to feel exclusive, the venue boasts ample parking and can accommodate up to 250 party revelers.

With General Manager Rob Bracken a big fan of the festive season, the parties in the lead up allow the racecourse events team to really showcase their talents. Rob said: “Christmas is a big deal for us at the racecourse and we invest a great deal of time and effort into creating a party setting which impresses. We produce something unique each year so that guests of previous years can experience something fresh and even more impressive than before.

“Our festive parties are gaining an incredible reputation and it really is our favourite time of year to put on party nights that no one will forget!”

Putting on events which give the wow factor isn’t all about the décor and atmosphere though and for the racecourse food quality for revellers is equally as important to the event planners. The three-course festive feast for friends, family or work colleagues is a culmination of talent from the highly skilled chefs who always make innovation and highquality ingredients the priority. Guests can anticipate a traditional festive feast with added nuances to create something really rather special indeed.

Packages for tables of 10 are available and your price per head includes all high-quality entertainment, a delicious three-course meal and of course the chance to dance the night away and celebrate with friends and family.

0116 271 6515 leicester-racecourse.co.uk

NICHE FEATURE

Chef’s

Christmas Menu Celeriac velouté with truffle cream (GF)

Crayfish with curly endive, mango, capers & watercress cream

Roast breast of Turkey served with fondant potato, seasonal vegetables & thyme infused jus (Pigs in blankets, sage & apricot stuffing & cranberry sauce) (GF) Warm Beetroot & Blue cheese Tart served with fondant potato, seasonal

WINTER CALENDAR SUNDAY 2ND DECEMBER 3 course carvery meal £54.95 per person

vegetables & tomato coulis (V) THURSDAY 6TH DECEMBER

3 course chef’s christmas menu £48.95 per person Traditional Christmas pudding with brandy cream Black Forest Dark Chocolate torte with glazed morello cherries

Christmas Parties

Dancing ‘til you drop is also a requirement and it’s easy to fulfill at a racecourse ‘do.

With live music to get things moving and DJ’s spinning party tracks until the early hours, guests can be assured of a vibrant party atmosphere from start to finish. The amply stocked bar is home to beers, wines and sprits in plentiful supply too.

DATES AVAILABLE: 7th, 8th, 14th, 15th, 20th, 21st DECEMBER

Christmas Race Days

Leicester Racecourse also hosts its famous Christmas Race Days which are perfect for those that want to combine festive season fun with a light flutter on the horses too. Then there’s the course’s Festive Race Day which provides some much needed after Christmas fun too. Fun for the whole family the race day looks set to welcome Re Take to the stage this year! The world renowned Take That tribute band will be ‘back for good’ so make sure you’re ‘ready for it’. Set to play all of your favourite songs after the racing and held in a huge indoor heated marquee the weather won’t be able to put a dampener on your Christmas spirit.

WEDNESDAY 12TH DECEMBER 3 course chef’s christmas menu £48.95 per person FRIDAY 28TH DECEMBER FESTIVE RACE DAY 3 course carvery £56.95 per person Chef’s Christmas Menu in the Nelson Suite Restaurant £69 per person Standard entry £25pp, under 18s free Corporate hospitality available on all dates, contact Jemma at: hospitality@leicester-racecourse. com for more information.

Life outside of sport

Lee Philpott Playing football was all he ever wanted to do; he’s most notably known for his four years with Leicester City and playing in the Premier League, but did he play the game right when it came to football as a business? Niche investigates why Lee Philpott chose to become a football agent after retiring from his 20 year career in the sport WORDS KERRY SMITH

T

he footballer turned full time football agent now lives in Yorkshire with his wife who understands the business world of football and the need for her husband to answer midnight phone calls from club managers at the weekends.

It’s a seven day working week for Lee Philpott (48) who makes and receives 50-100 phone calls each day making deals and taking care of his players – especially during the build up to Transfer Deadline Day. It was due to his own personal experience with football that spawned the idea of LPM; the agency service he has been running for 10 years now.

His sporting career began aged 12 at Luton and by 19 he was a first team regular for Cambridge United. The left winger and midfielder explained one of the reasons he became an agent is because of the difficulties young people face getting into the sport: “Nowadays not too many 19 year olds are playing in first teams. Squads today are a lot bigger and you have to be sort of exceptional like Wayne Rooney. It’s very difficult for teenagers

108 | NICHE

these days to break into the first team.”

It was a situation that had occurred whilst playing for Cambridge United that stayed with him until the end of his 20 year career which contributed to the push Lee needed to set up his own agency.

“It stuck in my mind over the years and in the end became one of the things that prompted me to wanting to set up an agency to help players going forward,” he confessed.

Without having an agent, Lee was unaware that Leicester City had shown major interest in the player and that the club was in conversation with Cambridge discussing a transfer deal, which was being declined.

“They were trying to buy me from May until November but I wasn’t aware there were offers being spoken about because I didn’t have an agent.

We played Leicester twice in the PlayOffs, which they won,” he laughed.

“Clearly Brian Little, the manager at the time, must have thought I had a couple of good games!”

“Finally the two clubs came to

an agreement on the transfer fee of £350,000. If I’d had an agent in those days I would have known of the interest and maybe it might have happened sooner.

“To be bought by a big club like Leicester when I was 22 was what I’d worked so hard for. There were other clubs of a similar stature that had shown interest but after speaking to Brian, that’s where I wanted to go.

The club sold itself.”

Lee formed a good relationship with Brian having gone on to play for the manager at Hull City. Other clubs he played for included Blackpool and Lincoln City before retiring in 2008.

He made over 500 league and cup appearances over the span of his career.

A year before retirement, he had taken an exam to become an agent and was putting the foundations in place ready for business as well as a string of vital contacts. Ten years later LPM represents 60 players and has four agents, scouts, a lawyer, and provides various other lifestyle management services to assist with

NICHE FEATURE

To be bought by a big club like Leicester when I was 22 was what I’d worked so hard for

clients’ off-field needs.

When Lee started out, there were far less agencies to compete with: “Due to a change in regulations three years ago – when FIFA deregulated agents and renamed us ‘intermediaries’ – you now don’t need an exam to become an agent. Since the change it’s gone from around 500 agents in the UK to over 3000.”

Despite such a rise in numbers, Lee’s reputation ensures his phone remains constantly buzzing. With him, players have personal access to an

ex-player with hundreds of league games under his belt who has lived the peaks and pitfalls of the industry. Lee also spent three years as a qualified Coach Assistant Manager and so has experience training others on top of helping players develop relationships with team members and managers.

He added: “In terms of advice I’ve probably experienced everything that they’re going to go through.”

Since the age of 20 Lee has gathered a portfolio of properties having bought one in every city that

he has played for, including a house he owned in Whetstone, Leicester.

As well as involvement in the football world and property, Lee is also tied in with a sports apparel company, buysportskit.com; providing supplies and kit to football and rugby clubs.

“The path in football is never straightforward, and there are always ups and downs along the way. We want to help our clients through their best and worst times as well as providing support with the practicalities needed in life.”

NICHE | 109

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JON MUTCH Head Coach at Oadby & Leicester Gymnastics Club

NEW YEAR, NEW HOBBY The New Year is the perfect time to embark on a new hobby. A new start, a new approach to your free time and fitness combined with all the healthy lifestyle intentions.

Of course, given my job role, I would like to sing the praises of gymnastics as a hobby.

Here are just a few of the benefits of regular gymnastics practice for all ages.

Flexibility, Balance and Co-ordination The movement aspect of practiced gymnastics is responsible for a great deal of the benefits and in particular, its improvements to flexibility, balance and coordination.

Health and Fitness A big plus in joining a gymnastics class this New Year is that it is a great way to improve health and fitness in a fun way – no-one feels like it’s a chore but rather that it’s lots of fun. I needn’t list the benefits of regular exercise rather I stress the fact that gymnastics is a great form of it working the body and in doing so improving fitness levels.

Sociability Often overlooked is the way that gymnastics as a hobby provides a great deal in the sociability factor. Making new friends and combining it with the confidence that improving in a hobby can help build, gymnastics is a fantastic way to improve your social life.

Try for yourself this new year, with classes for all abilities and ages.

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Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha 1958 - 2018

Vichai Raksriaksorn (the name Srivaddhanaprabha, which means ‘light of progressive glory’, was an honour bestowed on him by the king of Thailand in 2012) acquired a 6,000 sq. ft concession in 1995 and named his company King Power in honour of the Thai monarch. When Suvarnabhumi airport opened, Vichai managed to acquire the exclusive duty-free rights and he began to build an estimated wealth of $3.3 billion.

In 2010, Vichai paid £39.3 million for Leicester City Football Club which, after a difficult few years, was languishing in the Championship. His first actions as new owner were to write off the football clubs £103million debt, and by early 2011 name himself chairman of the club with son Aiyawatt (known affectionately as Top) being named Vice Chairman.

Vichai and Top set out big plans for the club, they purchased the then Walkers Stadium, from a US pension fund in 2013, renaming the 32,000-capacity arena to the King Power Stadium.

By 2014 – under the stewardship of Nigel Pearson and assistant managers Craig Shakespeare and Steve Walsh – Leicester City returned to the Premier League and a somewhat ambitious target of European football within three years was put into place.

What happened the following season (2015/16) will go down in sporting history. After a turbulent summer, veteran manager Claudio Ranieri was installed as manager and with bookmakers offering league winning odds of 5,000-1, Leicester City went on to pull off the Premier Leagues biggest shock: winning the league title by a staggering 10 points.

This achievement made household names of Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’golo Kante and as a reward for their achievement, every player was awarded a blue BMW 18 sports car and the staff treated to a meal in London’s West End with a £1,000 gambling chip each to be used in one of London’s top casinos.

During his time as Leicester City chairman Vichai became extremely close with the Leicester City faithful, not only delivering success on the pitch but rewarding the fans loyalty with free beer, mince pies and doughnuts. On his 60th birthday he gave away 60 free season tickets and was often seen mingling with supporters at away Premier League and Champions League fixtures.

In the wider Leicester community, The Srivaddhanaprabhas donated £2million towards a new children’s building at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, £100,000 to the King Richard III reinternment fund, and donated £45,000 to help fund research into treatment for Ellis Page who has MECP2 Duplication Syndrome.

His untimely death has left a hole in the heart of our city but his legacy will live on in the names of his wife Aimon, daughters Voramas and Apichet, and sons Arunroong and Aiyawatt. He has made dreams come true for thousands and helped to put Leicester on the map.

Everyone at Cross Productions would like to send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Vichai, Nusara Suknamai, Kaveporn Punpare, Izabela Roza Lechowicz and Eric Swaffer. Our thoughts are with everyone at Leicester City Football Club and King Power at this difficult time.

NICHE | 111

NICHE FEATURE

Outlaws

expand PHOTOGRAPHY BY COLIN FIELD OF RED PANDA STUDIOS

as they continue their rise to the top

It’s turning out to be a year full of firsts and new beginnings for the outstanding Outlaws, coach Neil Jepson fills us in

F

ormerly known as The Midland Mooseheads U16, the trailblazing team’s new name emerged this summer with the team getting bigger and better than ever.

Coach Neil Jepson said of the year so far. “We are at a really exciting point for the players and the club, it has been a really transformative year and the changes have been challenging but very positive. The name change and move to the Outlaws was just the start!”

On the change in name Neil added: “Our players are geographically spread, and changes made within the Moosehead club in order for them to maintain viable has challenged the team’s continuation under the same banner. It was time for a new chapter, we are the same team, just different jerseys.”

The young men are inspiring a younger flock of team members too. And now, due to popular demand, the team has become a club in its own right as it expands with the addition of an U12s, an U14s and an U16s team. “Coach Geoff and I were approached by an increasing number of younger

age group parents asking if we would consider an U12 and an U14s team. Admittedly, I was sceptical at first, as the pressure to secure these teams and provide a club environment to include them was a big undertaking. After numerous discussions though it was clear that closing the door on these players was against our own principles of development, “Neil comments.

Investing in their own, the club’s new younger team players that came over from Mooseheads have been approached to help the U18s on occasion and the lower age group coach helps by jumping in with the seniors.

Neil added. “We are conscious that we have a club and need to source from within as part of that development rather than recruit from outside. The collaborative approach is what we want to cultivate and this expansion helps us to do exactly that.”

The club’s core values: playing and training with both integrity and honour, combined with the recent changes are further strengthening the club and their players. Neil reflects:

WE ARE AT A REALLY EXCITING POINT FOR THE PLAYERS AND THE CLUB...

THE CHANGES HAVE BEEN CHALLENGING BUT VERY POSITIVE

“We have gone through a transition. A transition which has enabled our players to prepare them to deal with things not necessarily always going the way they expected. It has taught them how to deal with those situations successfully, rather than stamping their feet. Although they are successful in their sport, I think qualities like this make them stand out in their own personal and professional lives too.”

Neil thanks the unwavering parental support around them as well as us here at Cross Productions and Niche: “Without your support, I’m not sure we would have made it through last season so successfully with such a big transition. The parents know, and the kids will come to understand the importance of what you’ve done. So, from me and ALL the Outlaws, thanks guys, you’re amazing.”

Follow the Facebook page for updates on results and upcoming games.

Fb: @MidlandOutlaws18 info@midlandoutlaws.co.uk NICHE | 113

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NICHE MOTOR

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DRIVING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS IAN HALLAM IMI Regional Sales Manager at 360 Autoleasing

We might not have winters like New York or Sweden but we have been known – to the disbelief of some – to suffer from a light dusting of snow every now and then. Yes they might carve roads out of two-metre-tall snow and ice coverings to get to work in Canada and not complain about it but the difference is that they’re equipped for it, but over here we are not, take last year for example.

So that you or your employees never miss a meeting, and make it home in time for Christmas celebrations, we recommend leasing a 4x4. You’ll have the safety of sitting higher up increasing visibility and control in hazardous conditions, and you’ll never be conquered by icy hills or slopes. Here are some tips for all drivers to get you through the winter.

Check the vehicle’s service history and make sure it’s up to date before the real cold sets in.

Ensure screen wash is always topped up. With the bad weather and road gritting visibility is likely to become impaired. Check your wiper blades are intact as icy windscreens can cause the rubber to tear.

Visit any A & E Tyre Exhaust & Service Centre for a free tyre tread check. If the outer edges of your front tyres are worn you will need your wheels realigning.

Make sure you have a blanket, shovel, power bank, torch, a coat, and warning triangles in the boot, just in case.

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www.360autoleasing-leicester.co.uk NICHE | 115

NICHE LIFESTYLE

Forum

BIGGEST EVENTS IN 2019 We list the fastest-selling events for 2019

JENNIFER HANLON Director at Hanlon Hospitality

The Brit Awards Wed, Feb 20, 8pm The O2, London, SE10 0DX The British Phonographic Industry’s annual pop music awards.

The Grand National Festival Thu, Apr 4 12pm – Apr 6, 4PM Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool, L9 5AS No other event on earth will provide such passion and excitement.

At Hanlon Hospitality we specialise in creating one-off VIP experiences and packages to some of the world’s largest and most prestigious events.

We plan and organise every little detail for you, to ensure you have an unforgettable experience, whether your passion is in the sporting world, music or the arts. Or if you want to head out to a star studded event in LA we can do that too.

Take That 30th Anniversary Tour Thu, May 2, 7pm – Wed, May 8, 11pm The O2, London, SE10 0DX Take That confirm Greatest Hits Tour for 2019 and new album.

Monaco F1 Grand Prix Tue, May 28, 7am Monaco The Monaco Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race held each year on the Circuit de Monaco.

Glastonbury VIP Wed Jun 26, – Sun Jun 30, Worthy Farm, Pilton, Shepton Mallet, BA4 4BY The largest and without doubt most famous festival in the world, with a diverse lin-up of the biggest names in music.

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Sport

Events

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NICHE FEATURE

In support of a global campaign to end Violence against women and Girls Coming up; 16 days of activism to eliminate violence against women and girls with Zinthiya Trust WORDS BY EMILY KIRTON

F

rom November 25; the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to December 10; Human Rights Day, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to galvanize action to end violence against women and girls around the world. The international campaign originated from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute coordinated by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991.

For far too long silence and stigma have allowed violence against women in its various forms to escalate to epic proportions—one in three women worldwide experience genderbased violence.

The time for change is here and now: through campaigns such as #MeToo and #TimesUp and many others, the fight to end violence against women and girls have reached new heights that cannot be silenced any more.

Joining the activism here in Leicester are The Zinthiya Trust, an organisation that supports women and girls to be free from Violence and Poverty

Zinthiya Trust is organising a series of events across the city as part of the 16-day programme with the aim of building awareness to end gender-based violence and shed light on bias in the world of work which is the theme for this years campaign.

Each talk will focus on what gender-based violence is and your rights in the workplace as well as where to get support.

The events are free and will be held at the following dates and locations: November 26 2018 11am-1pm Shama Centre December 5 2018 12pm-3pm Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre December 13 2018 St Matthews Centre There will also be activities aimed at getting local employers involved in supporting employees facing abuse.

Find out more about the 16 Day Global Campaign at unwomen.org

ONE IN THREE WOMEN WORLDWIDE EXPERIENCE GENDERBASED VIOLENCE

About the Zinthiya Trust

The Zinthiya Trust was set up

by Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan who said: “Growing up in Sri Lanka I have witnessed the violence women and girls undergo and seen abject poverty and social exclusion.

I have witnessed the impact of a prolonged conflict that led to communities being torn apart. These have taught me to value humanity, democracy and civil liberties that this country offers that we so often take for granted. I was also surprised by some of the social inequalities I saw here in the UK.” The Trust provide support to women and girls facing violence, people who homeless or living in substandard accommodation, people facing food and fuel poverty, ex-offenders and people in long term unemployment. The aim of their work is to prevent abuse and poverty enabling people to live safe and fulfilling lives.

0116 251 5168 zinthiyatrust.org Zinthiya.trust@gmail.com NICHE | 117

NICHE CULTURE

2018 State Of Play

TRACEY MILLER

A State Of The Nation Culture Review

F

rom #Oscarsowhite to BlackKklansman and the 2017 Best Motion Picture Oscar Winner Moonlight, and with films about racial tensions from Mudbound to Gook, it finally feels that the cultural narrative is being told by those best placed to tell their stories of historical and present day struggles.

This definitely feels like a huge step forward to me and, if you haven’t already, go and see Spike Lee’s BlackKklansman. Considered this fabulous director’s most accessible film to date, the darkly comedic, yet thrillingly horror-filled, astonishing true life story of the remarkable Ron Stallworth is truly ‘unbelievable’.

TV megaliths Netflix and Amazon Prime are currently financially

Director at The Miller Partnership

engaged in spearheading the type of filmmaking which is rattling the cages of the studios. Those who have relied so heavily on sequels and (albeit enjoyable) money-spinning franchises to the detriment of original ideas and

new artistic vision, will need to look to their laurels.

It’s an interesting time to be in a post-Weinstein Hollywood. Well drawn, beautifully realised new characters on our screens are always to be applauded. Art house cinema audiences have long since recognised the need for something more than traditional formulaic movie entertainment. I will say, however, as a fan of both types of film, the decision not to pursue an Oscar for ‘popular’ films in 2018 does feel like an elitist cop out.

traceyannmiller@hotmail.com

NICHE CARE

Care home workers stride out for

Alzheimer’s S Workers and residents from a Melton Mowbray care home have put their best foot forward and raised almost £1,000 for the Alzheimer’s Society

ix staff members and two residents from The Amwell, a residential, nursing, dementia and respite care home in Asfordby Road, joined around 3,000 other people in Abbey Park Leicester last weekend for the ‘Memory Walk’ fundraiser and raised £910.

Walkers, united against dementia, had a choice of a 2km stroll or 7km trek as part of the nationwide push to raise £9 million for the dementia support and research charity with more than 110,000 joining in across the country.

The Amwell’s team, which consisted of staff members Elaine Berridge, Jo Pearson, Esme Little, and Chelsea Ashmore, care home manager Tracy Heyes and residents Cedric Anthony and Sheila Whitmore were led by new activities coordinator Victoria Hurrell, all opted for the 2k stretch, to make it easier for residents.

Victoria said: “We took part in the Memory Walk 2018 for Alzheimer’s Society because we want a world without dementia. Alzheimer’s Disease is naturally something which is very close to all of our hearts at The Amwell. We have lots of lovely residents staying with us with dementia who we care for so we wanted to try and raise as much money as we could for the charity.

“It was a fantastic day with lots of atmosphere and it was so great to see so many Leicester people out walking to raise money for such a worthwhile cause.”

01664 882 525 theamwellcare.com info@theamwellcare.com 118 | NICHE

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NICHE SOCIAL

Student Celebrations Awards 2018 Beauchamp College and Cedar Academy pupils were recognised in a spectacular awards ceremony held at Leicester Racecourse in September.

Significant players in the school’s running, such as CEO of the Lionheart Academies Trust Kath Kelly and Chair of Governors Chris Swan, made inspiring speeches to kick off the evening.

Twenty categories, spanning all of Beauchamp’s academic courses, were presented to winning students for ‘Outstanding Attainment’, ‘Outstanding Progress’, and ‘Outstanding Effort’.

Each of the categories was sponsored by relevant organisations; Cross Productions’ Managing Director Jenny Cross presented the English & Media awards, Corporate Architecture sponsored the Art & Design awards, and Cummins Solicitors presented the History & Politics awards.

Music and entertainment during the break gave sponsors the chance to meet their winners and a dance performance by student Daniella Fabbricatore was a highlight of the evening. Overall, one message stood out most to pupils and teachers alike during the celebrations: “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.”

NICHE | 123

NICHE SOCIAL

EHL Commercial LLP Launch Party The official launch party of law practice EHL Commercial LLP took place Friday, September 21 in the stylish city centre venue Manhattan 34 in Rutland Street.

The event also presented a selective networking opportunity and was attended by special guest Rugby World Cup-winning, and England and Leicester Tigers legend Neil Back.

Managing partner of the firm, Stuart Southall, said: “The creation of a new and niche law firm is exciting and stressful but with the calibre of business and personnel we manage to attract I am sure that we can be a resounding success and I am relishing the forthcoming years.

“I want to thank everyone who attended. It is always great to catch up with clients and associates in a more informal and social environment but a huge thank you has to go to our Helen Norman who tirelessly organised, invited, chased, prepared and photographed everything to ensure that it was a success. Without her, it just wouldn’t have happened, or run so smoothly and efficiently. As a firm, we are only as good and strong as our team – and she is a rock!”

122 | NICHE

NICHE SOCIAL

Launch of Queen Victoria Arts Club Leicester’s first luxury members’ club, Queen Victoria Arts Club, has successfully launched with a trio of private showcase events over three consecutive nights.

Over 500 esteemed guests from the local business, political, media and creative communities flocked to these invitationonly events – created by Fraser Urquhart Media – which gave a first-glimpse opportunity ahead of the public launch on October 18. High profile guests included Narinder Kaur from Big Brother and BBC Radio, Chris Stafford of Curve Theatre and, of course, City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby who is the father of the restaurant’s owner Cassie Soulsby.

Commenting, owner Cassie Soulsby says; “Leicester feels ready for a venue such as the Queen Victoria Arts Club. With a premier league sports team and the King in the carpark, it is time the city had a Queen it can be proud of – and we hope the Queen Victoria Arts Club will fill that role.”

As well as an 80-cover restaurant and bar open to the public seven days a week, it will be the first luxury members’ club in the city offering London-style member-only services, privileges and dining areas.

NICHE | 123