Platinum Business Magazine - Issue 84

platinum ISSUE ISSUE 84 84 APRIL APRIL 2021 2021

THE LARGEST CIRCULATION REGIONAL BUSINESS PUBLICATION IN THE UK

THE APPRENTICE What Debra did next MOTORING Volvo’s Brightest Spark MDHUB Leadership Survey

SPECIAL FEATURE FOCUS ON MANOR ROYAL

TRAVEL Marvellous Maldives

ANNE BODEN STARLING BANK FOUNDER

To feed the most vulnerable we needed great service from our bank Joshua Owens-Baigler Director, Angelina Restaurant

At NatWest, we approved a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan for Angelina Restaurant in Dalston. This not only enabled them to keep their staff on, but to provide around 500 meals a day to local vulnerable people.

Search NatWest Business

Here to support you Security may be required. Over 18s only. Subject to status. Business use only. Any property or asset used as a security may be repossessed or forfeited if you do not keep up repayments on any debt secured on it.

CONT ENT S 74 ECONOMY

A P R I L 2021

12 NatWest South East PMI®

FINANCE

14 A year in lockdown for M&A: Reflections on the local economy 24 A new super deduction 26 Continued Covid support measures from the Budget 30 Spring clean your systems

BUSINESS PROFILE

EVENTS

22 BAHBAs – Entry closing soon

28 Trading to excess

LEADERSHIP SURVEY

34 MDHUB leadership survey

LEGAL

38 What can a commercial landlord do (and not do)

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BIG STORY

16 Anne Boden

EVENTS

63 Sabrina Cohen-Hatton announced as Brighton Base Camp keynote speaker

MOTORING

78 VOLVO XC40 Recharge

TECHNOLOGY

60 Cloud Security: Doing cloud the right way

ACCELERATOR

SPECIAL FOCUS ON MANOR ROYAL

44 48 50 52

Manor Royal: In space & time Connecting the UK to the world Signs of the times Simply perfect three with Volvo Crawley 54 Harwoods Volvo Crawley 56 Fastsigns manor royal move 58 Gatwick Diamond: A land of property opportunity

PLATINUM MEDIA GROUP

64 Accelerating collaboration

PRODUCTIVITY

66 Cultivating winning cultures A leader’s guide

INNOVATION

68 Reboot your marketing with a fully funded insights report

TRAVEL

74 The marvellous Maldives!

All rights reserved. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher.

The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions relating to advertising or editorial.

The publisher reserves the right to change or amend any competitions or prizes offered.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent from the publisher.

No responsibility is taken for unsolicited materials or the return of these materials whilst in transit.

Platinum Business Magazine is owned and published by Platinum Media Group.

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WELCOME Welcome to the April issue of the largest circulation business magazine in the UK. As we see the end of lockdown (house arrest), we also see increasing activity as all businesses prepare for the pent-up rush of trade, and the awards scene is no different.

The Brighton & Hove Business Awards are seeing entries flooding in and the Sussex Business Awards and the Surrey Business Awards launch in this issue. How impressive to win an award for trading in 2020/2021!!

We also take a look at the all-important Manor Royal area which has survived the pandemic intact and is roaring towards the new normal.

Our feature story if that of Anne Boden, the most unlikely bank CEO you will find but as a challenger bank, they are doing great things.

DMH look at a year of Mergers & Acquisitions; Mayo Wynne Baxter talks about commercial leases and MDHUB present their fascinating Leadership Survey.

The Travel section entices us with the marvellous Maldives and Motoring gets behind the wheel of a brilliant new electric vehicle.

Enjoy this issue, enjoy leaving the house and let us all start to enjoy, and appreciate, life.

The Platinum Team CONTACTS PUBLISHER: maarten@platinummediagroup.co.uk COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR: lesley@platinummediagroup.co.uk EVENTS DIRECTOR: fiona@platinummediagroup.co.uk TRAVEL EDITOR: tess@platinummediagroup.co.uk HEAD OF DESIGN: design@platinummediagroup.co.uk

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NEWS ICONIC LANDMARK The developers of the former US embassy “fortress” in Mayfair have released the first images of the building’s future incarnation as one of London’s most luxurious hotels.

The pictures show what was once one of London’s most heavily guarded buildings transformed into a glamorous destination for visitors, to be known as the ‘Chancery Rosewood’, The Grade II-listed landmark was designed

by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen. It was also the first purpose-built embassy in London when it was completed in 1960.

NEWS BULLETIN FACEBOOK CAVE IN Facebook has agreed to pay Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for its journalism content in Australia, a month after the social media platform temporarily blocked news links inside the country over legislation pressing digital giants to compensate publishers.

The multiyear deal, announced recently, includes news content from major Murdoch conservative media outlets like The Australian, a national newspaper, and the news site news.com.au, as well as other metropolitan, regional and community publications. The amount of the deal has not been released.

❛❛ When the outlook is

bright, bring it before their eyes; but tell them nothing when the situation is gloomy ❜❜

Sun Tzu, The Art of War (Business)

ELECTRIC FLIGHT The world’s shortest commercial air route could soon be operated by an electric plane, under plans for a zero-carbon aviation region in Scotland’s highlands and islands.

The two-mile link between the Orkney isles of Westray and Papa Westray is scheduled to take two minutes, though on a good day the trip takes 90 seconds.

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NEWS

❛❛ One mark of a great soldier is that he fights on his own terms or fights not at all ❜❜ Sun Tzu, The Art of War (Business)

BREXIT WOES UK exports to the European Union plunged by nearly 41% in January as the Brexit transition period kicked in, official figures showed. Exports to the bloc fell £5.6 billion in the month, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The Brexit effect was stark, as Britain’s non-EU exports were broadly flat.

Imports from the EU also fell, by nearly 29%, compared with the global imports decline of 21.6%.

THE SAGE OF OMAHA Warren Buffett has finally joined the exclusive $100bn (£72bn) club that includes Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.

The 90-year-old is the of investment firm Hathaway, which has shares rise to a record year.

On both the import and export measures, these were the sharpest falls since records began in January 1997.

chairman Berkshire seen its level this

His net worth edged above $100bn for the first time in March.

Regarded as the world’s most successful investor, Mr Buffett has given away more than $32bn of his wealth to charity.

ON THE UP Business optimism has climbed to its highest level since June 2015, boosted by the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, according to a survey.

The Accenture/IHS Markit business outlook showed 68% of firms expect an increase in business activity this year compared to 11% forecasting a reduction, giving a net balance of +57%. That was up sharply from +34% in October and ahead of survey readings in the US, Japan and Europe.

❛❛ When you surround

an army, leave an outlet free.

Do not press a desperate foe too hard ❜❜ Sun Tzu, The Art of War (Business)

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NEWS SEA LANES The future of plans for a new seafront swimming pool have been decided with planning permission granted for The Sea Lanes development to build a 50-metre pool in Madeira Drive, Brighton. The original application for a 25-metre pool on the site, next to the existing Yellow Wave volleyball courts, was granted five-year temporary planning permission in 2019.

LOCAL NEWS

TABLE TALK FOUNDATION LAUNCHES IN SUSSEX With a childhood obesity crisis in the UK and the hospitality sector still suffering the effects of the pandemic, a new charity has been set up in Sussex to tackle these issues.

Table Talk Foundation will work with well-established industry charities Adopt a School and Hospitality Action, to promote food education to children whilst supporting members of the hospitality sector.

Table Talk Foundation has been set up with two main purposes: 1. Promote food education to children in Sussex.

2. To support members of the hospitality sector who have fallen upon hard times.

To help them achieve these goals, they have teamed up with industry heavyweights in the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts (and their charity Adopt a School) and Hospitality Action.

WINE WITHOUT THE FAFF Camino del Vino is an online wine business based in Lewes that offers a highly personalised service. Selecting a range of no more than 30 interesting wines that they refresh and look to improve regularly through communication with their customers, Camino del Vino want their customers to love and enjoy wine. The people behind Camino del Vino believe that wine is inherently personal.

A good wine is a wine you like, which is why their raison d’etre is to find as many of those as possible. Camino del Vino wants to create happiness – through their wines, through their communication, and through their work in the community. www.caminodelvino.co.uk

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With one in three children leaving primary school overweight or obese, Table Talk Foundation will provide the funding for primary schools in Sussex to run the Adopt a School training programme which helps children to develop healthy eating habits and encourage an enthusiasm and interest in food.

They will also provide grants to Hospitality Action to help support members of the hospitality sector in the South-East.

With over 660,000 losing their jobs because of Covid19, and the well-publicised issues with mental health and addiction issues, this is vital to the success not only of the sector but the wider economy.

Table Talk Foundation will be supported by nine trustees including celebrity chef and restaurateur, Mark Sargeant and Ridgeview Wine CEO, Tamara Roberts.

For more information, contact Co-Founder, Daniel Wade. info@tabletalk-foundation.com T:07795033060

NEWS GATWICK GLOOM MORE than 40% of Gatwick Airport staff were made redundant in 2020 as passenger numbers fell by a staggering 78%.

FLYING HIGH Sovereign Capital Partners, a UK private equity Buy & Build specialist, has backed Skerritts, a successful Independent Financial Advisory (IFA) and Wealth Management business, in a deal worth £55 million. Sovereign is partnering the management team led by founder Richard Skerritt, to develop the business through a strategy of organic and acquisitive growth.

Founded in 1990, Skerritts provides financial planning and investment management services, and currently looks after around 4,000 private clients as well as corporates.

Headquartered in Hove, and with an office in the City of London, the business has a team of 40 staff.

Alex Hay, Partner at Sovereign, says: “Skerritts is a multi-award-winning business which has deservedly earned a first-class reputation in the industry. Richard and his team have consistently grown the company and made a number of acquisitions to further consolidate the firm’s position in the South East. We look forward to partnering Richard and the expanded team to develop Skerritts’ offering and geographic footprint through strategic acquisition.”

The devastating impact of the pandemic on the site has been revealed in the airport’s annual results, which were recently released. As a result of the plummeting passenger numbers caused by travel bans and lockdown restrictions, Gatwick reported a loss of £465,000 in 2020.

However, bosses say there is “renewed optimism” at the UK’s second largest airport after the release of the government’s “roadmap” to lifting lockdown restrictions. Gatwick Airport chief executive Stewart Wingate said that the airport’s “swift action” to cut costs meant it remained a “resilient and robust” business.

91% OF SOUTH EAST LAW FIRMS HAVE MADE A PROFIT SINCE THE FIRST LOCKDOWN Nine in ten South East law firms have seen a recovery in income and a return to profit since the end of the first lockdown, according to a survey from MHA Carpenter Box. The report highlights that in December last year almost 50% of legal firms reported either ‘no’ or a ‘minor’ impact on their fee income as a result of the pandemic - in May 2020 this was just 14% of firms. By December, only 9% of law firms said the pandemic was still having a major impact on fees, down from 38% in May 2020.

Charlie Eve, Head of Professional Practices at MHA Carpenter Box, said: “These results demonstrate that legal firms across the UK have been able to adapt their commercial operations in the second half of 2020, and overcome the challenges brought by COVID-19.

Working practices across the sector have also changed since the first lockdown, with 77% of firms now expecting their employees to spend either three days or fewer in the office. Remote working did not negatively impact on working hours, with 63% of businesses seeing an increase in productivity.

SUPERPUB A supermodel turned landlord is calling on the government to cut beer duty to save Britain’s struggling pubs.

Jodie Kidd, who owns The Half Moon pub in Kirdford, near Billingshurst, said pubs were the “backbone of local communities up and down the country” and urged ministers to act now to save sites from being lost for good.

The pandemic has forced pubs to shut for months at a time as the UK was plunged into three national lockdowns.

And, when they could reopen, they could operate at only a fraction of their usual capacity due to social distancing restrictions.

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THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS EVENT IN SURREY IS COMING SOON “Today our team of 800 volunteers help bring our motorsport story alive for 190,000 visitors a year and it means so much to all of them to have their enthusiasm and dedication recognised through this award”

“To receive this external recognition is a great achievement and reward for our staff who put so much time and energy into making our business what it is” BDH STERLING Professional Services Award

BROOKLANDS MUSEUM Tourist Attraction of the Year

Winning a coveted trophy can boost your company’s recognition like nothing else FREE ENTRY Event date: November 4th 2021

ENTRIES OPEN: MAY 4TH 2021 Limited sponsorship opportunities available contact maarten@platinummediagroup.co.uk for more information

www.surreybusinessawards.com

“It really is a testament to the fantastic team we have and our wonderful customers, four legged and two, who make it all possible...”

BRUCE’S DOGGY DAY CARE SME Business of the Year

“I was absolutely delighted and incredibly proud to have won this award, particularly with so many fantastic businesspeople in Surrey...”

GILES THOMAS, THE MANOR COLLECTION Businessperson of the Year

THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS EVENT IN SUSSEX IS COMING SOON “Winning this award was wonderful recognition of our hard-working team for their passion in going above and beyond in every aspect of our exciting business”

“We invest heavily in our team and the external recognition of winning this prestigious award was hugely motivational” RAYNER International Business of the Year

TAMARA ROBERTS Ridgeview Wine Estate Businessperson of the Year

There is nothing like being an award winner to greatly enhance your company’s profile FREE ENTRY Event date: November 25th 2021

ENTRIES OPEN: MAY 10TH 2021 Limited sponsorship opportunities available contact maarten@platinummediagroup.co.uk for more information

www.sbawards.org.uk

“Whilst our ambitions are global – our mission is to unlock business potential by connecting cultures – we are a proud Brighton business, so recognition by the Sussex Business Awards meant a great deal to us...”

OBAN INTERNATIONAL Professional Services Award

“We think our sustainability agenda is fundamentally important and this sought-after accolade helps us showcase it...”

DEPOT CINEMA CSR Excellence Award

ECONOMY Private sector output contracts marginally in February

NATWEST

SOUTH ® EAST PMI Latest UK regional PMI ® data from NatWest indicated a second consecutive contraction in the South East’s private sector activity. The headline NatWest South East Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – rose from 41.5 in January, to 48.9 in February. The latest figure was indicative of a softer decline in business activity, with new orders and employment also falling only marginally during the month.

February data signalled a second consecutive fall in new business received by private sector firms in the South East. Respondents associated the reduction to ongoing lockdown restrictions which extended business closures. That said, the rate of decline

eased considerably from that in January, with firms that registered growth sometimes mentioning contract renewals.

Sector data highlighted a divergence.

Manufacturers registered an expansion in new orders, while service providers noted a decline.

Private sector firms in the South East remained confident that activity would increase over the next 12 months.

Moreover, the degree of positive sentiment was the strongest since the index began in July 2012. Panellists overwhelmingly linked positive expectations to the ending of COVID-19 restrictions, with vaccination rollouts fuelling hopes of a return to normality.

The level of positive sentiment in the South East exceeded that recorded at the UK level in February.

SOUTH E AST BUSINES S ACTIVIT Y INDE X

sa, >50=growth since previous month 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

2011

2013

2015

2017

2019

Sources: Natwest, IHS Markit

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› K E Y F I N DI NG S n Business activity declines for the second consecutive month n Softer fall recorded in new orders n Sentiment improves to the strongest in the series

Job shedding persisted at private sector firms in the South East, which extended the current period of decline to 13 months. That said, the latest fall eased to the softest in the aforementioned sequence and was only marginal.

Companies often attributed staff redundancies to the COVID-19 pandemic and having sufficient resources for current workloads.

ECONOMY › C OM M E N T STUART JOHNSTONE

Managing Director, London & South East, Corporate & Commercial Banking “Latest PMI data signalled another downturn in business activity at the South East with demand conditions relatively subdued in February. Ongoing lockdown restrictions extended business closures, and firms continued to develop spare capacity. Price pressures also intensified during the month with transportation bottlenecks adding to a robust rate of input price inflation.

“That said, there were real signs of improvement with much softer falls in new orders, activity and employment recorded. Positive vaccination news and hopes that the virus will pass also supported optimism which reached a series high in February.

Meanwhile, the government’s ‘roadmap out of lockdown’ will be welcomed by firms, with restrictions set to ease, and the demand environment expected to improve over the coming months.”

Sector level data highlighted a rise in workforce numbers at manufacturing firms while service providers noted a decline.

Private sector firms in the South East recorded another reduction in the level of incomplete work in February.

Panellists often reported that the weak demand environment allowed firms to

complete incoming new orders and work through outstanding business.

The rate of depletion was solid overall and quickened to the fastest since last August.

Outstanding business also fell across the UK as a whole, with the decline at the national level sharper than that seen in the region.

February data indicated another rise in cost burdens faced by private sector firms in the South East, which extended the period of inflation to nine consecutive months. Anecdotal evidence linked Brexit and higher freight costs to the uptick. The rate of inflation quickened to the sharpest since September 2018 and posted much higher than the long-run series average.

Both goods producers and service providers recorded inflation, although the former registered a much sharper uptick.

In line with higher cost burdens, average selling prices charged by firms in the South East rose for the fifth month in a row. Panel members reportedly passed on higher freight costs. Overall, the latest increase was marked, and the sharpest since December 2017.

Selling prices also rose across the UK in February, although the rate of charge inflation was sharper in the South East.

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FINANCE Jonathan Grant looks back at the last year to see what impact it has had on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) business in Sussex and Surrey, and trends in the local business community

A YEAR IN LOCKDOWN FOR M&A: Reflections on the local economy The first stage of lockdown did have a significant impact on deal flow, but this corrected much faster than expected as we adjusted to remote meetings and completions thanks to an assortment of digital platforms.

From our own perspective, the period from July 2020 to date has been much busier for the DMH Stallard regional M&A team than the same period a year ago, which is perhaps a surprise: growth has been consistent since last summer, but seven deals completing in the first week of March 2021 ahead of the budget was particularly noteworthy.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Financial services and insurance broking were fast to respond after the lockdown, and this sector has continued strongly since. Larger businesses have implemented “buy and build” plans, while private equity (PE) has become more active, particularly approaching the budget. The insurance sector continued to perform well (a necessary service for all businesses), and growth in personal investment activity has been solid.

BUILDING SERVICES

Perhaps surprisingly, building services/ building supply businesses have proved to be robust, consolidating to support continued commercial construction and domestic demand. The sector is seemingly protected from Brexit, with much of the activity UK based.

PE INVESTMENT

PE INVESTMENT

We’ve seen financial services leading the way, with technology, digital, building and construction and logistics businesses all active. Parts of the leisure market have also seen growth, where demand has spiked in lockdown.

Private equity investment by Sovereign Capital Partners Private equity investment by Cairngorm Capital Partners FINANCIAL SERVICES

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MANUFACTURING

FINANCE SALE SALE ACROSS THE REGION

Share sale to private equity backed Sovos Sale of HFS Milbourne to Tilnet Smith & Williamson BUSINESS SERVICES

FINANCIAL SERVICES PROPERTY AND LOGISTICS

Whilst the commercial property market may be under a unique threat, we have seen continued acquisitions in facilities and premises management; trade acquirers have been taking the opportunity to grow using surplus cash.

Logistics is understandably buoyant given the massive demand for moving goods around the UK and the globe, with goods travelling further and faster thanks to online business.

TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL

A sector in which you’d expect to see growth doesn’t disappoint as businesses continue to invest to facilitate remote working, and adjust marketing activity from events and physical meetings to digital sales and on line. Some infrastructure projects, such as high speed broadband suppliers have grown fast and are attracting PE investment.

TRADE BUYERS AND PRIVATE EQUITY

Both buyers have been active over the last year; cash rich trade buyers continue to seek growth to increase profits over the medium term, whilst interest rates remain low and organic growth slow. Private equity has become more active as the year’s gone on, spiking with a high number of high value deals in the Autumn and early in 2021.

❛❛ Brighton was

seriously impacted by the slowdown in hotel and leisure sectors, but has positive stories in other sectors. ❜❜

LOOKING AHEAD

I see no sign that the market is slowing dramatically, and the fact that CGT/ Entrepreneurs’ Relief was not hit by the Budget as expected definitely helped. CGT will certainly be increased at some point in the near future; March 2022 is the obvious target, likely to be signalled in the Autumn Statement.

In the meantime, I see trade buyers and private equity remaining active through 2021.

Online/web based retail is emerging in 2021; locally based businesses with strong platforms and good management have seen extraordinary growth over the last year and are looking for the next stage of growth, through investment or sale.

Brighton / Sussex Brighton was seriously impacted by the slowdown in hotel and leisure sectors, but has positive stories in other sectors.

Professional and financial advisory services have been particularly active.

In July 2020 we completed the sale of European VAT specialists, Accordance, to PE-backed software supplier Sovos, to put the business onto a more international growth path. In March 2021, high profile financial advisory business Skerritts took on investment from Sovereign PE to create a platform for future growth. And on the digital side, we helped Best At Digital complete a management buyout from US-based Cornerstone on Demand.

As a part of the pre-budget push, we completed PE investment by Cairngorm into Whyte Bikes, which specialises in supplying commuters, the youth market and electric bikes and which is now poised for the next stage of growth.

Guildford / Surrey Our growing corporate team in Guildford has seen financial services, builders merchants and construction related businesses performing well. Insurance consolidation has also been active, with independent broking businesses being acquired by larger well funded groups.

In March 2021 we complete the sale of f inancial advisor y business HFS Milbourne to Tilney Smith and Williamson.

Two high quality Surrey businesses sold to (unconnected) Singaporean buyers last year. Just ahead of lockdown we sold Monty’s Bakehouse, a food supply business to the airline market, to SATS Investment PTE, and in the autumn we sold environmental design consultancy Atelier Ten to Surbana Jurong Group.

Both are now strengthened as part of growing international businesses.

Jonathan Grant is Head of Corporate at DMH Stallard. He can be contacted on 01293 558506 or by email at jonathan.grant@dmhstallard.com dmhstallard.com

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BIG STORY

THE STARLING Listening to Anne Boden speak, you realise she is miles away from the stereotype banking CEO but then l guess that’s the point – as far away as her Starling bank is from traditional banking. By Maarten Hoffmann She’s well aware she doesn’t conform to any banking stereotype as she explained to Anne Moore of the Guardian; “I’m a woman. I’m 5ft tall. I’m Welsh. I’m middleaged. I’m from a very ordinary background and I’m the sort of person who’ll chat to somebody in the ladies!” she says. “Fintech start-ups are all young white guys with goatees – usually with rich parents. People did think I was crazy, that no-one ‘starts a bank’, especially people who looked like me, but I’d reached the stage where I was prepared to fail. I was 54 and confident enough not to care if somebody said I was stupid.”

Back then, it wasn’t something she discussed in depth – though financial journalists always asked her about it.

Now, though, she has written the whole gory story in a “business tell-all”, a banking blockbuster – however unlikely

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that sounds. It’s the tale of a 50-something woman who wants to create a new kind of bank, but needs millions of pounds just to get started. It takes her over two years, but in 2017 she gets there. Her bank, Starling, has won Best British Bank at the British Bank Awards for the past three years. It was the only challenger bank to get through 2020 bigger and stronger than it had been at the start – and it’s on course to become profitable by December. This year, Boden was invited on to the UK Finance Board and the Government’s Board of Trade. She’s a shot in the arm for superchatty, middle-aged women everywhere.

BIG STORY

BIG STORY “Then you’ve got technology,” she continues, “and there are hardly any women in tech either. Those that are tend to be in marketing roles. When you put that together with entrepreneurship, there are very, very few women fintech entrepreneurs.” In the UK, just 1% of venture capital goes to all -fe male-founded teams. “I understood how it worked, but there was nothing I could do to change me. I just had to pretend it wasn’t the case.”

Boden grew up in Swansea, the only child of older-than-average, devoted parents who supported her in whatever she did and gave her an unlimited budget to spend at the bookstore. It all went on nonfiction as Boden was fascinated by science, biographies and how the world worked.

“My father worked for British Steel, my mother in the local department store,” says Boden. “I didn’t know anyone who worked in an office, but I did well in school, studied computer science at Swansea and ended up in London working for Lloyds.” This launched a career that culminated with a move to Dublin in 2012 to join Allied Irish Bank as group chief operating officer.

Here, she began to reimagine banking.

The 2008 credit crunch had devastated Ireland, banks had been seen as largely to blame but, four years on, both there and back home they had returned to business as usual, largely unchanged.

stringent and the big banks take care of 85% of the nation’s bank accounts.

What’s more, Boden knew her face didn’t fit. “Fintech is first about finance and there are hardly any women in that,” she says. “In a boardroom of 20 people, there might be two women, often from another country.” (Boden has a theory that the surprising number of foreign female executives on FTSE boards is down to company bosses feeling more comfortable with women who don’t sound like their wife or mother.)

❛❛ I must admit, if there’s a disco in the

office or music somewhere, I’m always first on the dance floor! Everyone else is looking around, saying, ‘She’s dancing? ❜❜

“Technology had transformed how we shop, how we holiday, how we live, but banking was stuck in the past, pretending it hadn’t happened.” Boden began to picture her new kind of bank. “I knew a lot less about industry disruptors than I know now, but I understood that they worked by putting power back in the hands of the consumer,” she says. She wanted a bank without the bureaucracy, where opening an account took minutes not weeks, which delivered instant spending notifications and insights (so customers can see how much goes on rent or coffees or late-night Ubers) and helps them set and reach saving goals.

With Boden’s bank, cheques could be deposited with just a photo, there would be a handy card-lock facility for the moments customers mislaid their cards, there’d be 24-hour support – but no branches.

Is there any harder start-up than a bank?

The sums required are astronomical, the regulation and red tape incredibly

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Armed with decades of experience and a huge volume of research, Boden left her job in 2014 and returned to the UK. With no office and no business card, Boden chased meeting upon meeting, trying to sell her vision. “I’d start each morning in a coffee shop sending emails, “I’m Anne, I’m starting a bank. Will you help me?’”

The pressure was “unbelievable”, deep down, she felt like she was “begging”. She amassed hundreds of rejections. How did she cope? “By sending more emails, creating more opportunities,” she says, “and also reading biographies of successful entrepreneurs, especially ones who had almost failed.” After about eight months of solid effort, she succeeded in persuading some top firms to undertake a huge amount of work – legal, regulatory, branding – on a contingency fee arrangement, stacking up more than £1m in debt.

BIG STORY

For eight months, everyone worked for nothing, then at the end of 2015, she was summoned to the Bahamas to meet billionaire Harald McPike, who was interested in investing in the challenger banking market.

For three days – some of it on his yacht – he fired questions at her (“The most intelligent questions I’d ever been asked about Starling.”). By the time Boden flew home, she had £48m in backing. In July 2016, Starling got its banking licence.

Starling now has 1.8m customer accounts and a staff of more than 1,000, with women filling 40% of the senior roles. Boden happily admits it takes up her whole life. “People talk about ‘work-life balance’,” she says. “I only have work – and I enjoy every minute of it.” She doesn’t cook (“I have no interest whatsoever”) and hasn’t married (“one of these days, I’ll write a book about men and dating!”). She has no children. “I never decided not to have children; as with many people, it just didn’t happen,” she says. “I think it’s important to focus on what you have rather than what you don’t. I’ve had a great career. I’ve done lots of stuff. I’m proud of what we’ve built. I wish I could help more women understand that you don’t have to conform to the stereotype to be happy, to be successful. But I’ve been extremely lucky. I had a childhood that was loving and supportive, but with no pressure to be anyone different.”

straight year, with $3.5bn invested across 46 deals in 2019, according to last month’s KPMG Pulse of Fintech bi-annual report.

“I think Big Tech will want to distribute banking services, says Boden. “I don’t think they will want to get involved in the financial plumbing of moving money around. Or obtaining a license, that will mean more regulation, and they already face calls for more regulation as it is.”

However, Starling competes against UK rivals who have more customers, such as Revolut, which claims 10 million accounts and Monzo, which notched up four million accounts earlier this month.

Starling makes its cash from a mixture of charging fees on the cards it issues, its marketplace where it charges other financial service firms to sell products on its platform, as well as using its deposits to lend. “The thing to remember is that our cost base is so small the cash we raise here is meaningful,” adds Boden.

The elephant in the room for all neo-banks is Big Tech firms such as Amazon or PayPal. These firms have deep pockets, large customer bases, and unlike high street banks, are platform companies themselves and so are comfortable with the business model.

The number of fintech deals by global tech giants – including Alibaba Group, Alphabet, Apple, Baidu, IBM, Microsoft and Tencent – increased for the fifth

Boden often refers back to her parents to explain her rock-solid self-belief – and one childhood memory seems to be especially telling. Whenever the adverts came on TV in her family home, her parents would both jump to their feet, grab each other and gyrate round the room – Boden would often join in. When the ads finished, everyone plopped back down again laughing. For years, Boden assumed this happened in all households and was disappointed to see when visiting friends that everyone else stayed slumped and still during commercial breaks.

I ask if she still dances to the ads. “Yes!” she laughs, “I must admit, if there’s a disco in the office or music somewhere, I’m always first on the dance floor!

www.platinummediagroup.co.uk

19

BIG STORY What do you think will be the real impact of regulation on the UK banking scene in the next 2-3 years?

Brexit. Over the last half century, the UK has benefited hugely from being part of the regulatory changes and innovations coming from Europe. This is particularly evident when looking at the relationship between PSD2 and the UK’s Open Banking initiative.

Going forward, whether we’ll follow what happens in the EU (maintaining compatibility with the single market) or USA (following the reformation of the DoddFrank Act, which aims to reduce the regulatory burden there) or carve our own path remains to be seen.

What will incumbent banks look like in 10 years?

Banks will be invisible. That’s what PSD2 and Open Banking are really leading up to – and in this future, there’s no reason why the front end of people’s financial lives couldn’t come from Facebook or Google, while the backend belongs to a bank like Starling.

Is there a need for cryptocurrency exchanges? If yes, then when do you think that will happen?

Regulating cryptocurrencies and the frameworks they exist in could create a step-change in how they work and how they achieve greater rates of adoption.

Right now Bitcoin and Ethereum are often treated as private money – because there’s no real consensus on whether they’re commodities or currencies – so while it’s easy to buy crypto, it’s actually quite tricky to get back out.

Moreover, because of the huge risk anonymous trading poses, several banks have distanced themselves from it entirely (recent fines and associations with criminal funding on the dark web have not helped either). Regulation, however, could change that as it would stabilise the landscape so there could be more innovation and more education around the subject.

Cryptocurrency exchanges would make it easier to regulate and therefore should be encouraged as the sector grows over the next few years.

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What will it take for true financial inclusion to become a reality in the next decade?

Banks expand around the world using banking licences. But what’s becoming increasingly apparent is that banks don’t just get licences from regulators but from the people they’re trying to encourage to use them.

❛❛ The elephant

This is how financial inclusion goes from theory to reality – they have to do more to earn their customers. And they can start by doing more good, by stopping talk of ‘profitable’ and ‘unprofitable’ customers and understanding that everyone in the world deserves the opportunity for a healthy financial life.

the power of banks with the innovation and accessibility of mobile phones and apps, fintech can address supply and demand in a completely new way, as we’ve seen with M-Pesa, for example.

This is what we’re aiming to do at Starling, because we believe fintech has a huge chance to be part of creating a financially inclusive world. Combining

in the room for all neo-banks is Big Tech firms such as Amazon or PayPal ❜❜

However, it does mean that technology has to be affordable, internet access available, and communications understandable.

Will fintech improve the security of financial services or make them more vulnerable?

There seems to be a misconception that traditional banks and financial services are more secure than new fintechs.

There is that idea of a grandiose building with large Roman columns, and the image itself is very secure and solid.

Traditional banks are built on core systems that were coded in the 1980s and ’90s, and a huge fear of overhauling these systems has to do with the fear of losing security.

BIG STORY What do you think will be the areas of greatest innovation for the financial sector in the near future?

T h e d eve lo p m e nt of b rand e d Marketplace platforms will completely upend the financial sector. It will see a whole new level of collaboration between financial services and drive banking (particularly payments) towards invisibility.

Innovation in the development of these platforms – the business models and the technology – will be the most significant over the next few years.

Do you feel some financial-sector professionals are in denial about the change taking place in the industry?

If yes, what do you think some of the most common misconceptions are among the naysayers?

When a new product penetrates the market, or a new market emerges, there are visible and unique adoption curves.

With fintech, we have seen a substantial number of early adopters, both from consumers and sector professionals.

Our stack is built on AWS and there is some hesitation when it comes to cloud computing. Is the cloud safe? Where is it?

How do you know that someone can’t just retrieve vast quantities of data if there isn’t a physical place to guard?

But luckily, cloud computing is also highly securitised. There are a lot of companies that work specifically on cloud security such as F5, not to mention that Cisco and Microsoft also provide their own cloud security services. More than anything, I think it’s a problem of perception. What appears more secure? Plus, it doesn’t hurt that fintechs (such as Starling) offer consumer security like our most recent update with the card controls.

There are people who walk around thinking fraudsters are scamming their card details using contactless readers so they keep their cards in tin foil. Why not provide a function to turn that off when you don’t need contactless, which is what we’re doing?

Over time, helping the customer understand that giving them more control over their data can only benefit them, rather than their data being sold off to the highest bidder.

That being said, some financial-sector professionals have been less eager to adopt this readapted approach to finance, but this was to be expected. The financial sector has a well-established yet rigid legacy, and the ‘fintech revolution’ has been disruptive for more traditional financiers.

Having said this, we are optimistic that as the fintech community expands, and the information gap surrounding its

purpose diminishes, we will see more professionals from the traditional school of finance espouse fintech.

What is your personal focus for the next 12-18 months? What change do you hope to implement in the industry?

Our aim is to provide everyone in the world with a healthy financial life. And therefore we have three key focuses for the next year: our current account and marketplace, our expansion, and also encouraging further industry disruption through Starling Payment Services.

By listening to and implementing the ideas contributed by our customers via our community board, our aim is to continue developing our current account to deliver as seamless and user-friendly product as possible in the coming period.

While the development of our current account will be of primary focus, there will be considerable efforts towards launching our highly anticipated Marketplace feature, as well as navigating our expansion into the European market.

The launch of Marketplace will allow our customers to tailor their financial life through in-app integrations with other financial-service apps. Our primary concern is ensuring that our customers have healthy, viable relationships with their money. We are so excited about the implementation of Marketplace because it will give our customers better control over their everyday money and the way they live their lives.

Banking On It: How I Disrupted an Industry, by Anne Boden, is published by Penguin Business at £20.

Buy it for £17.40 at guardian bookshop.com

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21

ENTRY CLOSIN Winning this award was wonderful recognition of our hard-working team for their passion in going above and beyond in every aspect of our exciting business Ridgeview

We invest heavily in our team and the external recognition of winning this prestigious award was hugely motivational Rayner

To receive this external recognition is a great achievement and reward for our staff who put so much time and energy into making our business what it is BDH Sterling

FREE TO ENTER ♦ ENTRY DEADLINE: APRIL 28TH 2021 ♦ S P ONS ORED BY

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Whilst our ambitions are global – our mission is to unlock business potential by connecting cultures – we are a proud Brighton business, so recognition by the Sussex Business Awards meant a great deal to us Oban International

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M E D I A G RO U P

FINANCE

Sam Jones, Corporate Tax Senior Manager, Kreston Reeves

A NEW SUPER DEDUCTION There were a few surprises in last month’s Budget, one of which was the announcement of a new super deduction! The relief is designed to stimulate business investment in plant and machinery and will be available for qualifying expenditure incurred from April 1st 2021 up to and including March 31st 2023.

HOW WILL IT WORK? At present relief for capital investment in plant and machinery is obtained via capital allowances. Capital allowances allow the cost of capital assets to be written down against a business taxable profits. They are available in place of accounting depreciation provided for in financial accounts. The majority of businesses enjoy 100% tax relief in the year of spend via the 100% Annual Investment Allowance which is available for the first £1million of qualifying expenditure (which remains at this level up to December 31st 2021).

The super deduction ❛❛ will provide 130%

allowances on most new plant and machinery acquired by businesses ❜❜

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The super deduction will provide 130% allowances on most new plant and machinery acquired by businesses, which would ordinarily obtain relief at the 18% main rate writing down allowances on a reducing balance basis. The aspect that makes the relief ‘super’ is that the relief obtained is more that the expenditure originally incurred.

The Chancellor used the example of a business spending £10million on qualifying plant and machinery, which will be able to obtain a tax deduction of £13million, which is a tax saving of £2.47million in the year of spend. The same expenditure currently would only qualify for the £1million Annual Investment Allowance and a 18% writing down allowance in that year, a tax saving of just under £500,000.

A First Year Allowance of 50% is also available for those plant and machinery assets that qualify for the 6% special rate writing down allowances. This allowance isn’t as advantageous as the super deduction but will still be valuable for those investing in updating their premises, specifically on those assets qualifying as integral features.

FINANCE

THERE ARE SOME RESTRICTIONS. This relief is only available to companies within the charge to Corporation Tax and not all businesses.

Where the accounting period spans April 1st 2023, the rate will be apportioned based on the days prior to this date over the number of days in the period. If we use a December 31st 2023 year end as an example, the super deduction will be 107.4%.

The asset must be new and unused and is not available for contracts entered into before Budget day. The other restrictions follow the existing First Year Allowances exclusions, which means that the relief cannot be claimed in the

Anti-avoidance provisions apply ❛❛ to counteract any transactions lacking a genuine commercial purpose or those trying to abuse the relief ❜❜

year of cessation of trade, and excludes certain assets, mainly cars, long life assets and certain leased assets.

Anti-avoidance provisions apply to counteract any transactions lacking a genuine commercial purpose or those trying to abuse the relief.

IS THERE A CLAWBACK ON DISPOSAL OF THESE ASSETS? Any proceeds received on sale of an asset which qualified for the super deduction, will not be taken to the capital allowances pools but will instead be a taxable receipt, which is then multiplied by a factor 1.3. This potential clawback of the relief should not pose too much of a problem to companies as most assets will have significantly fallen in value by the time the asset is sold.

The above treatment of proceeds will not apply to the assets claiming the 50% First Year Allowance.

If you are planning on capital investment, then timing will be key to ensure you can benefit from the super deduction and first year allowances available.

Our team will be delighted to help you to navigate this and all of the announcements from this year’s Budget.

Visit www.krestonreeves.com or call 0330 124 1399.

Sam Jones is a Corporate Tax Senior Manager at Kreston Reeves E: sam.jones@krestonreeves.com

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FINANCE

David Crowter, Tax Partner at MHA Carpenter Box, covers some of the latest measures from the Chancellor designed to help mitigate the ongoing impact of Coronavirus.

CONTINUED COVID SUPPORT MEASURES FROM THE BUDGET £2,500 per month. This means, for periods between July and September, you will need to fund the difference between this and the CJRS grants yourself. You can also top up wages above the 80% if you wish, but you are not required to do so.

The Chancellor had a difficult task in this Spring Budget: to indicate how he might balance the Government’s books in the future, while still having to pay out huge sums to support the economy.

He said that he would continue to provide ‘whatever it takes’ to protect businesses and jobs during the present crisis, while being honest about the need to ‘fix the public finances’ and setting out his plans to build the future economy.

EXTENSION TO THE CORONAVIRUS JOB RETENTION SCHEME (CJRS)

For periods from May 1st 2021 onwards, you will be able to claim for eligible employees who were on your PAYE payroll on March 2nd 2021. This means you must have made a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission between March 20th 2020 and March 2nd 2021, notifying HMRC of earnings for that employee.

The government will continue to pay 80% of employees’ usual wages for the hours not worked, up to a cap of £2,500 per month, up to the end of June 2021.

For periods in July, CJRS grants will cover 70% of employees’ usual wages for the hours not worked, up to a cap of

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You must continue to pay Employer National Insurance contributions and pension contributions on subsidised furlough pay from your own funds.

SELF-EMPLOYED

£2,187.50. In August and September, this will then reduce to 60% of employees’ usual wages up to a cap of £1,875.

You will need to continue to pay your furloughed employees at least 80% of their usual wages for the hours they do not work during this time, up to a cap of

Self-employed people with profits up to £50,000 have been able to claim grants under the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS). There have so far been three grants under the SEISS, each covering three months; two amounted to 80% and one amounted to 70% of average monthly profits up to limits of £2,500 and £2,187.50 respectively per month.

❛❛ The Chancellor had a difficult task in

this Spring Budget: to indicate how he might balance the Government’s books in the future, while still having to pay out huge sums to support the economy ❜❜

FINANCE

Fourth grant A fourth grant, covering February to April 2021, will be claimable from late April at 80% of three months’ average profits capped at £7,500 in total.

Claimants must have filed a 2019/20 tax return to be eligible for this grant.

The Budget confirms that SEISS grants will be treated as taxable income of the business in the tax year in which they are received.

People who began self-employment in 2019/20, who did not have a record of earnings, could not claim the first three grants, but may be able to claim the fourth grant if they have filed a 2019/20 return by midnight on March 2nd 2021.

The VAT deferral new payment scheme is open for all businesses who deferred VAT due between March 20th and June 30th 2020 and still have payments to make, or who are unable to pay in full by March 31st 2021.

This includes those on Payment on Account and Annual Accounting schemes.

Fifth grant A fifth grant, covering the period from May to September 2021, can be claimed from late July. This will be targeted at those who need it most as the economy reopens.

Those whose turnover has fallen by 30% or more will be eligible for the full grant, which will be 80% of three months’ average profits capped at £7,500. The fact that the grant covers a five-month period appears to allow for the likelihood that the business will be reopening in that time. Those whose turnover has fallen by less than 30% will receive a 30% grant, capped at £2,850. Further details will be published in due course.

VAT DEFERRAL – APPLY NOW TO SPREAD YOUR PAYMENTS

You can join the scheme online without the need to call HMRC. To find out more information, including the things you need to do before joining, go to GOV.UK and search ‘VAT deferral’.

LOANS AND GRANTS

Apply now to spread these payments over a number of months – the later you join the fewer instalments are available to you. Join from March 19th 2021 to benefit from the maximum number of 11 instalments.

There have been several Governmentbacked loan schemes to support businesses through the pandemic. Some of these are coming to an end on March 31st 2021. However, the Chancellor announced a new ‘Recovery Loan Scheme’.

This will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on eligible loans between £25,000 and £10 million to give them confidence in continuing to provide finance to UK businesses. This will be open to all businesses from April 6th 2021. This includes those who have already received support under the existing COVID-19 loan schemes.

For further advice on helping you make the most of the support available, please get in touch with a member of our friendly team of tax and business advisers.

Please visit www.carpenterbox.com or call David on 01903 234094.

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BUSINESS PROFILE Platinum sat down with The Apprentice star, Debra Barr to find out what she did following the programme with her company Xcess Trading, and how they have fared over the tumultuous last year

TRADING TO EXCESS After finishing university in 2006 I started working in digital media. It was during this time that I applied for the BBC business programme The Apprentice. Out of 31,000 applicants for series five, I secured my place in Lord Sugar’s final 15 candidates fighting for the £100,000 a year job.

The process of The Apprentice was one of the toughest experiences of my life, but also the most enlightening. I was just 24 years old when I took part and it was like speed dating in the deep end for all different types of businesses and the operational challenges that go along with that.

We were waking up at 5am and getting told “right you are off to build a fitness brand, manufacturer the product and pitch it in a two-day time frame”. It’s the pressure that environment created that I enjoyed, I think you sink or swim in those situations. I honestly don’t think I would have set up my own business at 26 years old without that experience.

It makes you realise your own strengths and weaknesses.

After taking part in The Apprentice I was introduced to the world of reverse logistics and asset disposal. Prior to this I didn’t have any experience or background in the consumer electronics or retail world. I set up Xcess Trading in September 2011 with a £5,000 loan from my Mum and I started working from my kitchen table.

In 2020 post-Covid kitchen tables are all the rage, but in 2011 they were a means to an end for me as a start-up.

I still love hearing about other people who started their companies this way, it’s a truly organic way when you start something from nothing. It also allows you to understand all areas of your company, which I think is super important once you hire staff. I’m a massive believer in leading from the front. I respect business owners and executives who like to get their hands dirty and work on the shop floor so to speak.

❛❛I set up Xcess Trading in

September 2011 with a £5,000 loan from my Mum and I started working from my kitchen table ❜❜

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BUSINESS PROFILE

Xcess was set up to work with retailers, brands and distributors who have surplus stock. This could be excess stock to forecast, products that are becoming end of line or are part of a range change, right the way through to a customer change-of-mind return.

For the first five years, I predominantly focused on brand new stock, but as the business evolved, we started looking at computing and smartphone returns, as these products have a high secondary market value as Grade A refurbished devices. From 2011 our turnover was just under £1m in the first six months, then £2m, £3m, £5m in the years that followed.

In the autumn of 2015, I started buying a lot of laptop and computing devices which were 28-day customer returns and these needed to be securely data wiped so that all customer data was removed. We started using a refurbishment partner to process, data wipe, test and grade the computing stock we were buying. It was profitable but also niche as you had to be an approved data erasure partner to purchase the assets.

By 2016 / 2017 we were flying, and we needed capital to buy more stock and also give our customers trade credit terms. That’s when we met with Natwest and discussed the various options available. It was a runaway success from day one and we went from £5.1m to £9.2m in less than a year!

This growth was followed by us wanting to own more of the refurbishment and testing process. I realised that if I owned a refurbishment business, it would allow us to control the quality of the stock we were processing and also gave us a distribution centre and an engineering team. From this point onwards we have consecutively hit well over the £1m gross profit for four years running.

Lockdown happened one week prior to our year end on March 31st 2020. We didn’t know what the impact Covid would be. After such a great year, where we finished on £1.4m GP, none of us knew what to expect. However, the irony of everyone having to work from home led to the biggest year in laptop sales the world has seen in decades.

From parents trying to teach their kids at home, to the daily office Zoom calls, everyone and anyone needed a laptop.

I’m proud to say that our refurbishment and e-fulfilment centres stayed open throughout all three lockdowns and we haven’t had to furlough any of our staff nor take any government grants.

Our senior relationship manager at NatWest Andrew Kettle, has kept in touch throughout the lockdown and explained the different options available to us if needed. We have less than a few weeks until our year end and I feel grateful. I think 2020 and Covid has changed the priorities for everyone.

Health and happiness have become the key barometers of success.

Our future plans for the business are to merge, or be acquired by, with a bigger business as the technology we have created since buying the refurbishment business is second to none. With the exponential growth in online sales, the need for retailers and distributors to process customer returns quickly and securely has never been more important.

We are ten years old in August and we are launching an industry leading trade platform which will take an offline industry online and allow us to grow our buyer and supplier base.

Debra Barr Debra.barr@xcesstrading.co.uk 07760 669144 www.xcesstrading.co.uk Andrew Kettle, Relationship Director, Commercial Banking Tel: +44 01293 643096 Andrew.Kettle@natwest.com 2nd Floor, Turnpike House, 123 High Street, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 1DQ

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FINANCE

SPRING CLEAN YOUR SYSTEMS 8

By Matthew Farrant, Haines Watts Godalming As we move through the first half of 2021 many of us will be feeling the need to spring clean or revamp, may it be our homes, gardens or lifestyle. But the spring cleaning notion can also extend to our working systems.

This is also emphasised by our move towards what has seemed so very far away, the potential relaxation of lockdown restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spring is the ideal opportunity to revaluate and reflect on what your company or your personal systems achieve, the aim should be to maximise the automation of day-to-day processes and minimise the risk of loss of data.

WE’VE LISTED BELOW SOME KEY POINTS TO GET THE BALL IN MOTION, THINK OF THIS AS YOUR CHECKLIST FOR SPRING:

1

Clear out the clutter Remove and reduce your stored cache and cookies.

2

Update your passwords The rise in cyber fraud and hacking means now more than ever a strong, unique password is vital.

Regular meetings Whilst you may be ahead of the game or moving in the right direction it’s important to assess whether your staff/ team share the same understanding.

Regular and concise meetings on the above topics help to get everyone on the same boat, rowing in the same direction.

4

9

5

10

Two Stage Authentication You may have already been asked to apply this on secure platforms or banks, but two stage authentication can be applied to much more.

Drive for digitalisation Reduce your paper trail and lessen the worry of loss, damage or misplacement of paper records.

6

Make automation your right hand assistant Speed up processes and reduce your administrative demand. There are many ways to help automate systems such as the invoice and expenses capturing apps, online invoicing and credit control.

7

Basic back-ups This should be done frequently. In the same breath it’s also important to archive old information, free up working space and focus on the current detail.

Prioritise and diarise the important deadlines ahead Setting reminders for key submission dates, tax payments or filing requirements means you can plan the run-up rather than the rush at the end.

Step back and breathe An important reminder for everyone is to allow yourself time away from your business. Not only does this help to reflect and refresh but our mental health directly impacts on our business structure. If you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed its likely your systems do to.

Simple tasks that we often take for granted can have a significant impact on the way our business functions, whilst you may be focused on the bigger picture these smaller jobs ultimately help to achieve our end goal in a more efficient and secure way.

A key phrase to reflect on is S.O.S. (Systems, Operations, Staff) Don’t drown in all the admin, dust off the business basics and remember as we move through the year it’s important we keep moving forward.

3

Be alert to fraud!

Review your emailing whitelist, avoid unknown or suspicious links.

For more information: T: 01483 425 724 E: mfarrant@hwca.com www.hwca.com/ accountants-godalming

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Our thinking starts with you “They are excellent in every respect and I am absolutely delighted with the service we receive. Everything has been done in a first-class manner.

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Standing still is not an option In today’s environment you need an accountant that does more than just numbers. You need a trusted adviser that helps your business thrive.

With our relationship led service, we look to understand the opportunities and challenges faced by you and your business. Our focus is always on client service, with open and honest relationships.

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That Are Just Right

LEADERSHIP SURVEY Q When will economic activity return to the level it was before the pandemic?

Q How did your turnover in the period Sept 20 to Dec 20 compare to the same period in 2019

n 2021 n 2020

n 2019 n 2020 53% 41%

24%

The same

16% 0%

3%

QTR 1 2021

3%

0%

QTR 3 2021

7%

3%

3%

0%

0%

QTR 1 2022

QTR 2 2021

QTR 4 2022

7% 0%

QTR 1 2023

3%

0%

Up

QTR 1 Longer No idea 2024

n 2021 n 2020 41% 30%

17% 13%

14% 7%

Up

The same

3%

Down less than 10%

7%

21% 3%

3%

Down 10-20%

Down 20-40%

49% 13% 3% 28% 48%

❛❛ The support from

Q How does your forward pipeline look today compared to this time last year?

33%

59%

Down

37%

Down more than 40%

the MDHub has been excellent and they moved rapidly to change the way they deliver their services to better suit the changing working environment ❜❜

MDHUB LEADERSHIP SURVEY

Q Have you made or are you planning any redundancies?

Q Have you furloughed any employees in response to the crisis?

No 17% 2020

34

Yes 83%

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No 30%

2021

Yes 70%

2020

2021

Hiring 14%

Hiring 10%

No 51%

No 52%

Yes 35%

Yes 38%

LEADERSHIP SURVEY Q As a percentage how many people in your company have you made or are you planning to make redundant? n 2021 n 2020

20% 27%

5-10%

30% 18%

10-25% More than 25%

2020 Accelerate 66%

27%

Less than 5%

Q What effect do you think this crisis will have on the pace of technological transformation within your company?

50% 27%

Slow 3%

2021 Accelerate 28%

Slow 17%



No significant effect 31%

No significant effect 55%

0%

Q As a percentage how many people in your company have been furloughed?

Q Have you been forced to introduce pay cuts since March and September?

2020 since March

n 2021 n 2020 More than 25%

2021 since Sept 2020

63% 47%

£

17%

10-25%

24%

£

No 76%

No 93%

8%

5-10%

10% 12%

Less than 5%

19%

Q In January 2021, how do you expect your company’s total employment levels would compare to January 2020? n 2021 n 2020

0%

3%

21%

35% 41%

7%

25%

11%

50%

Q Have you received any Government assistance? n 2021 n 2020

Furloughed payments

85%

Grant funding

48%

Slightly less

Roughly the same

Slightly more

Much more

54%

31% 54%

CBIL

31% 54%

Bounce back loan

27%

46%

Q Have you learnt a new skill outside of work during the pandemic that you could not have dreamed of doing before this time?

Q What is your likely strategic response to the crisis? n 2021 n 2020

89%

Tax deferment

7% Significantly less

63% 63%

67% 55%

No 78%

23% 21% 14% 0% 0%

3%

3%

Yes 22%

7% 7% 0%

I am likely I am I am happy I need I am I have to lose my considering with my to make considering started business an strategy significant selling my a new acquisition changes business business

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LEADERSHIP SURVEY Q Over the past six months, how productive have you been?

Much less Noticeably less productive 3% productive 14% Much more A little less productive 10% productive Noticeably 10% more productive 28% About the same 32% A little more productive 3%

Q Has Brexit impacted your business?

No 45%

Q When do you plan to have at least 90% of your workforce returned to their usual workplace location?

Feb 21

17%

Mar 21

7%

Apr 21

7%

May 21

13%

Jul 21

3%

Sep 21

10%

Oct 21

3%

Already Don’t know/ depends No change

10%

Never

3%

17% 10%

Q Have you taken a recruit who, as result of joining you, is having a complete career change as a result of the pandemic?

Yes 55%

Yes 67%

No 33%

If you are interested in finding out more about the MDHUB, please visit www.mdhub.co.uk copyright@mdhub2021

Q Are you anticipating taking on any apprentices or kick-starters in the next six months?

Q In terms of peer learning going forward what environment would you like to see?

No

A mixture of online and face-to-face groups 88%

59%

Yes

41%

For those who said yes: They would take on 2.6 apprentices on average

Face-to-face workshops only 12%

Q When restrictions are lifted – where will you take your first holiday in either the UK or abroad?

UK

43%

Abroad/ anywhere warm

29%

France

11%

Spain

7%

God knows if and when Outer space

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7% 4%

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Q Which public figure has inspired you most during the pandemic and why?

James O’Brien NHS/Keyworkers

Chris Whitty

Jacinda Ardern Joe Biden Boris Johnson

Sir David Attenborough Sir Tom Moore

Marcus Rashford

Trump *not really

Celebrating 200 years of history This year we are celebrating 200 years of our history. We’re using this as an opportunity to celebrate what all our people collectively do for our clients, colleagues and communities.

Our people make Kreston Reeves, they are our greatest asset.

Visit our website to find out more www.krestonreeves.com/200

LEGAL

By Paul Rooke, Solicitor Mayo Wynne Baxter

WHAT CAN A COMMERCIAL LANDLORD DO (AND NOT DO) The pandemic has had a noticeable and substantial effect on businesses, many of whom have suffered a drastic cut in their income. Many businesses are tenants of commercial property, so their ability to pay rent has also been affected. In an effort to protect commercial tenants, the Coronavirus Act 2020 was passed to restrict the actions a landlord is able to take against their tenant.

❛❛ Section 82 of The

Coronavirus Act 2020 provides protection to business tenants by preventing landlords from exercising their rights of re-entry or forfeiture ❜❜

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CURRENT RESTRICTIONS FOR A COMMERCIAL LANDLORD

n Forfeit for non-payment of commercial rent Section 82 of The Coronavirus Act 2020 provides protection to business tenants by preventing landlords from exercising their rights of re-entry or forfeiture for non-payment of rent or any sums due under the tenancy until at least 30th June 2021. It is important to note that no conduct by a landlord or on their behalf will be regarded as waiving a right of re-entry or forfeiture for non-payment of rent unless the landlord

has given an express waiver in writing.

Despite this, caution is recommended should a landlord wish to reserve the right to forfeit at a future date. n Taking control of goods The Taking Control of Goods and Certification of Enforcement Agents (Amendment) (C o ro nav ir us) Regulations 2020 prevent a landlord from using Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery unless the amount of rent due is 457 days and will increase to 554 days on 24th June 2021. These restrictions will remain in place until at least 30th June 2021. n Winding-up petition A further restriction in place is that there is a general prohibition on the presentation of a winding-up petition based on an unsatisfied statutory demand served between 1st March 2020 and 31st March 2021. Such a restriction is likely to be extended.

LEGAL

OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO A COMMERCIAL LANDLORD

Despite the restrictions that are in place, a commercial landlord still has several options open to them when dealing with a tenant. n Commercial rent due A tenant is still liable for rent in accordance with the tenancy unless there has been a prior agreement. Where rent remains unpaid, a landlord may be able to claim interest on this sum together with the costs of seeking to recover any sums owing. n Drawdown of rent deposits A landlord is able to draw down from a rent deposit if the terms of the deed allow. However, the government’s code of practice suggests that such a drawdown is on the understanding that a tenant will not be required to top-up the deposit before it is realistic to do so.

❛❛ The Coronavirus

Act 2020 was passed to restrict the actions a landlord is able to take against their tenant ❜❜ n Debt proceedings for rent arrears A landlord is not restricted from issuing claims seeking recover y of rent arrears from a tenant. Where there is no right to set off, it will be very difficult for a tenant to defend a claim for rent arrears and as such a landlord may seek summary judgment.

n Forfeiture of a commercial lease Although a landlord cannot forfeit a commercial lease for non-payment of rent until at least June 30th 2021, the landlord is not prevented from enforcing a right of re - entr y for breach of other covenant. That being said, a landlord would be wise to take into account a tenant’s ability to remedy a breach and the reasonable period of time for remedying such a breach during the pandemic.

If you would like advice on a commercial lease or tenant issue, then please call us on 0800 8494101 and speak to a member of our Property Litigation Team.

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BUSINESS THE UPS AND DOWNS OF LOVE Gaëlle Engel, who is sexually attracted to objects, says after she ‘met’ the Sky Scream rollercoaster at a German theme park, she finally understood what love really meant. Gaëlle from France, says she also shares ‘kids’ with the theme park attraction.

Ms Engel said she has been sexually attracted to objects since her teens, and as an adult she became fascinated with rollercoasters.

When she was 38, the artist found herself developing a strong romantic bond with a German ride. She became fixated on the Sky Scream rollercoaster at Holiday Park in Hassloch, Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in the country’s southwest.

Her attraction to the Sky Scream rollercoaster in Germany is so strong that Gaëlle believes it’s true love. “You could say that I’m sexually drawn to rollercoasters but since I met the Sky Scream rollercoaster, I understood what love was,” Gaëlle said.

BIZARRE NEWS YOU COULDN’T MAKE IT UP (anything to make us smile)

LOST IT Elon Musk has dropped his chief executive job title and crowned himself “Technoking of Tesla”.

Tesla’s chief financial officer, Zach Kirkhorn, has the new title of Master of Coin. After naming his latest child X Æ A-12 Musk, is this the sign that he has finally left Planet Earth?

DNA SURPRISE A TikTok user named Andy Nabil has shared his incredible Ancestry DNA journey which has resulted in him discovering that he isn’t an only child – he actually has 30 brothers and sisters. Andy explains how his results showed he had a number of siblings, but most surprisingly that his dad wasn’t actually his biological father.

He continues: “After a quick search I found that my Dad was a sperm donor and 15 of my siblings that I didn’t know. “I woke up two days ago thinking I was an only child, and now I find out that I’m the second oldest of 31”.

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BIZARRE NEWS

BONDING TIP Two elderly ladies were dining out when they struck up a conversation with their waitress, Tanya.They told Tanya they were both widows who didn’t cook for themselves very often anymore. Tanya could relate to them, because she lost her husband in the same year. The women said ‘You know, it’s Restaurant Week and we’re going to take care of you.’ The women, whose bill totalled $100.21, left Tanya a $2,021 tip.

NO GO HENRY Officials in a Maldon, England took to social media to make light of a newly-painted road that features a small spelling error in very large letters: NO ENRY. The road outside of a parking garage in the city centre of town, was supposed to be painted to read “NO ENTRY,” but residents quickly realised the message was missing the letter “T.” I guess the workers had popped out for Tea.

PORKY FIRE A fire on a farm in northern England was accidentally set ... by one of the pigs. The firebug (firehog?) had swallowed a pedometer worn by one of its fellow pigs to demonstrate that the animals were free range. But after the pig excreted the pedometer, copper in its battery sparked a flame in the pig dung and dried hay bedding. The fire spread to cover about 807 square feet of the farmyard before it was contained and stopped crackling.

DING DONG Video doorbells can be incredibly useful for a number of reasons.

You can check who’s at the door without having to get up, talk to visitors even if you’re not at home, or in this case catch a ‘cheating’ boyfriend.

A woman was left shocked when she discovered her boyfriend had been unfaithful through a Ring doorbell recording.

Sharing the video on TikTok, the woman said: “When you find out your boyfriend’s been cheating through a Ring doorbell!”

In the clip that’s been viewed almost 900,000 times, the man in question can be seen standing in the doorway of a woman’s house – but the woman in the video is not his girlfriend.

INHALE Having asthma is not great but this might make you think twice before you use your inhaler. A teenage girl was horrified to discover a venomous snake hiding inside her asthma inhaler. The teen was bringing in her washing yesterday at her home in Bli Bli, Queensland, Australia, when she spotted the red-bellied black snake slither out of the clothes she had just brought inside.

She wasn’t sure exactly where it had ended up, until she noticed it curled up inside the open top of her blue inhaler. Fortunately the girl called a team of snake catchers, who managed to safely capture the reptile and re-home it.

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SPECIAL FOCUS ON

MANOR ROYAL The vision for Manor Royal was born in 1946 and opened its doors, following its official opening by HRH Princess Elizabeth, in 1950.

The original plan was employment for 8,500 local people but, such was its success, it rapidly became home to 500 businesses employing upwards of 30,000 people. Today Manor Royal is one of the biggest and best performing business areas in the South East, a place where you can think it, make it, store it and move it. Whatever your business, you can probably do it in Manor Royal.

❛❛ Home to an industrial area

superior to any in the country ❜❜

Anthony Minoprio Original New Town Masterplan Architect (1948)

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When we last caught up with Manor Royal BID Executive Director, Steve Sawyer, the world was a very different place.

It was pre-COVID and the prospects for growth in Manor Royal looked very positive. A year on we thought this would be a good time to catch up and see how things have changed

MANOR ROYAL:

IN SPACE & TIME

How has the last 12 months been for Manor Royal?

There is no avoiding the dramatic impact COVID and the associated lockdowns have had. The exposure to the airport, although not as much as it used to be on Manor Royal, has still been significant and combined with the restrictions on non-essential retail and leisure means that Crawley has been particularly hard hit.

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However, there have been some bright spots and some businesses performed well in spite of the challenges. Even during the worst of the crisis 30% of businesses reported being as busy and some even busier than before. The notable changes in the way we shop with a move to more online transactions creates a bit of a bounce effect for places like Manor Royal as the demand for warehouses, distribution

and last mile logistics grows. The medical companies have also been fairly robust.

In a recent survey 84% of companies predicted a recovery in two years and 47% were predicting growth in the next 12 months. Although this must be tempered by slightly dampened feelings of confidence overall.

MANOR ROYAL BUSINESS The Manor Royal line up has changed somewhat. Not everyone who was here before the COVID crisis will be here to be part of the recovery, which is sad.

For the first time in a long while some bigger sites have become available and quickly been snapped up. I do not think it will be too long before you start to see some major building work going on throughout the business district with new companies sure to follow.

Does that mean Manor Royal is changing?

Throughout its 70-plus year history that has been one of the defining features of Manor Royal – its ability to adapt to change. Supported by fairly flexible and supportive planning policies, Manor Royal has been able to respond to changing circumstances.

From its earliest beginnings as a factory estate, it has evolved into one of the UK’s largest mixed use business parks accommodating a diverse and varied tenant profile. The ten years prior to COVID saw Manor Royal grow, new buildings built and more businesses move in. From a building point of view we saw a significant increase in office floorspace.

❛❛ In a recent survey 84% of

companies predicted a recovery in two years and 47% were predicting growth in the next 12 months ❜❜ What’s happening now is a strong demand for industrial space (warehouses, distribution and manufacturing type buildings). There have been approximately 30 acres of land come forward and all are planned to move towards an industrial use, reversing somewhat the trend from the previous ten years and reverting more to type as a business location.

That said, there is still very definitely a future for offices in Manor Royal and I think we will start to see people and businesses returning to the office in the years ahead. The speculation about the office being dead while we all chose to work from home is somewhat overstated.

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MANOR ROYAL BUSINESS Can we expect to see different companies move in?

Absolutely. Encouragingly, we have already seen some interesting companies move in. We are delighted to see the Fastsigns team move to bigger premises and the Real Pizza Company taking up a unit just along from them in Lloyds Court.

ILG (International Logistics Group) have moved into Space Gatwick, which is now fully let, and Bramble Energy – who are involved in green energy solutions, particularly hydrogen technology – have made their new home here too. Permasense are enjoying a phase of expansion and have doubled their footprint by taking a second floor and now completely occupy all of Alexandra House on the corner of Manor Royal and Newton Road.

Harwoods have also invested in an impressive new Volvo service centre on Gatwick Road.

There are others too and I think more will follow as the economy picks up and the new buildings in Manor Royal take shape. What’s interesting is the diversity of these businesses. From signs, to food, to car, to logistics, to energy, to clever sensor technology ensuring that Manor Royal remains a home to a hugely interesting and varied set of businesses providing equally varied and interesting job opportunities.

Artist’s Image of the expanded Manor Royal

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What has life been like from a BID perspective?

There’s no denying it, it’s been challenging and we’ve been busy in ways we didn’t expect. Helping businesses access grants, signposting to available advice, setting up new advice pages, taking events online, developing new services like the free to access Manor Royal MicroLearn online learning platform and maintaining our security (Business Ranger) and maintenance service throughout lockdown.

We’ve also been focussed on the future and I’m delighted that, working with Crawley Borough Council, we have managed to secure £565,000 to develop the first four micropark areas that will improve the facilities and public realm in the business district. Eventually, no employee from any business will be more than a five minute walk away from decent outdoor space and somewhere to sit down to have a meeting, a sandwich or a chat with friends.

On top of which this year will see the start of the transport infrastructure improvements to be delivered as part of the multi-million-pound Crawley Growth

Programme, plans for a new “Fusion” innovation centre and – hopefully – it won’t be too long before we hear about the Crawley Town Deal that will deliver up to £25m of new investment for the town with Manor Royal very much a beneficiary.

All that before we contemplate developing a new business plan and securing a positive vote from businesses so we can carry on for another five year term from 2023-2028.

❛❛ I’m delighted that, working with Crawley

Borough Council, we have managed to secure £565,000 to develop the first four micropark areas that will improve the facilities and public realm in the business district ❜❜

MANOR ROYAL BUSINESS

How confident are you about the future?

The future is always hard to predict, so I’m not going to try. Pushed into a corner, I would throw my hat into the ring with the 84% who predict recovery within two years. It might take a bit longer for the airport to return to pre-COVID levels, but the underlying fundamentals of our economy are good.

This downturn is different to the previous financial crisis. Once the vaccine is rolled out and confidence starts to return so will the appetite to spend. Aspects of the economy will be different, for example retail, but prior to the crisis, before businesses were forced to close their doors, things were looking positive. That creates pent up demand and once businesses are allowed to trade again, they will.

Added to which with the prospect of new buildings to move into, and literally millions of pounds of new investment, including from the Manor Royal BID, suggests we have good reason for optimism in the medium to long term.

In fact now is a pretty good time to be looking at Manor Royal.

For more information about Manor Royal visit manorroyal.org

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MANOR ROYAL BUSINESS

CONNECTING THE UK TO THE WORLD While the last 12 months have posed their own unique challenges to many UK industries, the express freight distribution sector has had to navigate a number of Covid-19 and Brexit trials.

“After an initial sharp slump in volumes at the start of the first lockdown, the sector has quickly recovered and we’ve been handling 40% more freight than last year,” explained DNA managing director Tony Bunn.

However, Gatwick-based transport and distribution specialist DNA has seen freight volumes soar as part of a network which has helped producers and manufacturers recover from the impact of the pandemic.

“Our model helps connect local businesses around the South East by providing a quality platform to distribute their goods with an excellent next-day, express service. From one pallet to a full truck load, we can connect them to domestic and international customers with a cost-effective and dependable service.

DNA is part of Palletforce, the UK’s leading express freight distribution network. With more than 100 national members, it delivers consignments of all sizes to every UK postcode every day. It also offers direct European and Asian ser vices, providing a cost- effective platform for SME businesses to connect to domestic and international markets.

“This provides SMEs with the opportunity to benefit from the same rates as larger businesses, providing all the added-value services such as live tracking, real-time delivery notifications, contactless delivery and now visual images of their goods passing through the system to deliver unrivalled visibility.

“It also offers maximum flexibility, with customers under no obligation to commit to minimum volumes. With many manufacturers and producers experiencing fluctuating volumes and smaller consignments, our network

❛❛ After an initial sharp slump in volumes at

the start of the first lockdown, the sector has quickly recovered and we’ve been handling 40% more freight than last year ❜❜ model has delivered an extremely cost-effective solution to help power the UK’s economic recovery.”

Last December the family business announced it was following a growth strategy and gearing up for continued expansion in 2021. It aims to further increase its 70-strong workforce in the coming months to meet the demand from UK manufacturers for more flexible and cost-effective freight transport and storage, and cites its close proximity to Gatwick and Heathrow airports and the southern sea-ports as an opportunity for expansion.

“Our location means we are perfectly placed to offer other distribution, consolidation and warehousing services.

We are ideally situated in the vicinity of

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MANOR ROYAL BUSINESS individual customer’s exact needs is what Tony believes has helped drive the business forward.

“DNA has a strong reputation for going the extra mile to ensure we deliver the highest quality service,” he says.

“Customer service is a crucial element of running a business, consumers have many choices and we aim to help and support our customers by ensuring the distribution services we provide are of the highest quality and completely meet their expectations.”

international airports and sea-ports and we’re seeing increased enquiries for consolidation and cross-docking of freight coming into and leaving the UK post-Brexit.

courier service and we’ve also enhanced our range of flexible warehousing and storage solutions in response to demand from Brexit and also changing consumer buying habits.”

“The world of freight and distribution has changed rapidly over the last 12 months and luckily we’ve adapted with it. The huge increase in online retail has allowed us to develop our same-day

But it is a continued and unwavering focus on providing a bespoke quality service which sets DNA apart from many other logistics providers. The family ethos of focusing on each

DNA’s continuing expansion shows that it has risen to the challenges of the past year and is now perfectly placed to continue to deliver a range of quality transport and distribution services for its customers throughout 2021.

Iain Stewart Centre City Place Gatwick, RH6 0PB T: +44 (0) 333 335 8585

Helping you reach domestic & international markets Same-day express courier services Next-day UK freight distribution Flexible warehousing solutions

www.dna2b.com

Direct European & Asian services Customs clearance & Brexit support Live freight tracking & real-time updates

info@dna2b.com

03333 358 585

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MANOR ROYAL BUSINESS

Dan Jackman and Gareth Marelli

We recently spoke to Dan Jackman of Blue Lizard Signs to find out how the last year has been for them

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

How have the events of the past year affected your business?

Since being on Manor Royal we have increased our turnover, profits and the size of our team year on year. Last year, 2020, was due to be no exception and we were looking to have the best year yet, but the events of the year hit us, like many others like a ton of bricks. Even two or three weeks before the first lockdown, clients were cancelling or postponing jobs left, right and centre due to the chaos and worry of what was looming.

When Boris eventually gave us the news that we had to shut down it was a very scary and nerve-racking time. It felt like the business that I had spent the last 20 years building was teetering on the edge of a cliff. Many of our clients had shut down, the work had stopped, I had staff wondering if they would be paid and if they had jobs, I had invoices outstanding and I had bills and rent to pay. The only thing that was slightly consoling was that everyone was in the same boat.

What were the biggest challenges that you had to overcome?

Our biggest challenge was finance and cash flow. You can plan for anything if you know what’s around the corner, but no one knew. How long was the lockdown going to be? During the lockdown, are our clients still going to pay outstanding bills? Is the bank balance going to get hammered? Are we going to be able to pay our bills, can we pay the rent and rates, can we pay the wages?

Will our clients still be there and is the work going to come back in once the lockdown is over? It was all very overwhelming, so we took advantage of the furlough scheme which took away

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some of the anxiety for our employees and we took out a bounce back loan to use as a financial cushion which worked a treat. Although we could have deferred VAT and tax payments, I was concerned that this would make cash flow worse in the long run so managed to keep on top of these.

What do you have on your agenda to help you navigate current uncertainty?

I’m always the optimist so I am sure that once business is allowed to get going again, we’ll be as busy as ever. I agree with the Bank of England and feel the economy is like a coiled spring ready to bounce back strongly. The start to this year has already been very encouraging, and we’ve already broken our own records so have no doubt 2021 will be a booming year for everyone. We all just need some consistent positivity, to stop listening to the morbid national media and shadow cabinet who just want to talk about recession and downturn. In my opinion, the work is out there. As long as we keep offering a great service and top-quality product at a reasonable cost, the business is there for the taking.

How important are your links with the Manor Royal BID? The majority of our business comes from Crawley and the surrounding areas so that’s why we made it our permanent home five years ago when we moved to our 3000 sqft unit in the Gatwick International Distribution Centre. Being in the hub of Manor Royal really works well for us with so many of our clients being local. The Manor Royal BID team have been very helpful over the years with advice when we’ve needed it. Steve Sawyer in particular has always gone out of his way to help us with various queries and was even instrumental in arranging super fast broadband for us. I think Manor Royal residents are lucky to have the MRBID team to support them.

How important is technology to your business?

Very important, we strive to keep on top of new innovations. We’re all computerised, from the cloud-based management, accounts and storage systems, VOIP telecoms, Superfast broadband and cloud CCTV to the very best design software, top end computers, vinyl plotters and wide format digital printers. We wouldn’t be able to do much without technology... I haven’t touched a signwriting paint brush in over thirty years!

MANOR ROYAL BUSINESS

❛❛ I’m always the

optimist so I am sure that once business is allowed to get going again, we’ll be as busy as ever ❜❜

Where do you see future growth coming from?

I’m confident that the Airport and all its supporting industries in the area will be bouncing back with a vengeance once all the restrictions have been lifted so the growth of all businesses will organically increase. As the main part of our business is vehicle branding I think all the new electric vehicles appearing on the market will be a specific growth area for us. I always think that our industry is a good barometer on how business is in general. Signs and graphics aren’t at the top of the list to run a business so it’s usually one of the first things people stop spending on when the economy slows down. But conversely we can tell when the economy is picking up. Businesses

start promoting, changing run down vehicles, move to larger premises etc and we are there to make those promotional banners, turn vehicles into mobile billboards and make new signs for their shiny new offices. So, from what we’ve seen appearing on our order books... growth is back.

Why do your customers choose you?

I’d like to think it’s because we look after our customers giving them peace of mind and they walk away happy with a well designed, well installed quality product.

We are well established, I started Blue Lizard 21 years ago. And because we’ve never had a sales team as such, no one’s pressured into a sale, there’s never a hard sell. The guys that the client speaks to about their requirements when they come in or call are the same guys that design and manufacture, so they really know their stuff.

Our products are well designed, we have several fantastic experienced designers and feel that Blue Lizard has a certain style which makes me confident that our designs are always a step ahead of the competition.

Our products are well installed because the vehicle graphics and wrapping installations team are so experienced, have very high standards and have all been fully trained by world leading vinyl companies in the correct way to install.

Signs, graphics and vehicle livery are your 24 hour, 7 days a week visible

advertisement. No other type of marketing offers you such continuity so that’s why it’s so important to get it right first time”.

What would your advice be to someone starting out in business today?

I love entrepreneurial spirit. There are many great things about being your own boss and If you have a service or a product you can offer, why not?.

Be prepared, don’t risk anything you’re not willing to lose, look after your clients, don’t burn bridges and respect the competition. Never be under the impression you’ll make money from the day you start and think that you know it all, take advice when offered (from the right people). I’ve been doing it for over twenty years and I’m still learning. However hard you think you have worked in the past, I assure you, you’ll be working even harder when starting your own business.

Oh, and very importantly, make sure you market yourself well and can be seen....

Come see Blue Lizard Signs for that bit!

Business is there for the taking... just go

Dan Jackman: T: 01293 553333 dan@bluelizardsigns.com www.bluelizardsigns.com

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MANOR ROYAL BUSINESS

SIMPLY PERFECT THREE WITH VOLVO CRAWLEY At the time of writing, Harwoods Volvo Crawley has been fulfilling customers’ needs for three months. The family-owned dealership, conveniently located in Manor Royal, Crawley, was opened to much anticipation but of course during an incredibly challenging time. However, we should not feel pity over the timing. Instead, we share the inspired way in which during these three months the combined Harwoods Volvo values, built on safety, innovation, and care, have already enabled many customers to safely continue their everyday adventures. Additionally, for us all, including yourself, the number three has more importance than we may realise.

Few people have saved as many lives as Nils Bohlin.

Of course, at some point you will have

either driven or been a passenger in a car. And in doing so you and your friends and family will have been protected by the number three which is so meaningful to us at Volvo; the threepoint safety belt. Invented in 1959 by the Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin, this universally adopted safety feature remains the most effective protection in the event of an accident. The solution was the very definition of simple perfection.

Today, at Volvo Crawley we embrace simple perfection to provide customers with the Volvo experience they desire; whether immersing in the Scandinavian showroom experience or utilising our state-of-the-art servicing facilities.

With digital solutions, including online car reservation, contactless appointments and click & collect, there is no better time to refresh your car ownership experience.

❛❛ For customers looking to experience their new car today, we have Volvo’s future of driving available right now with responsible car technology across the award-winning range ❜❜

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NEW SEASON, TIME FOR CHANGE

Greg Hewlet t, Volvo Af tersales Manager at Harwoods Group is keen to advise, “Whilst the sought-after Volvo safety features are clear to be seen, with the change of season and especially recent driving habits, we encourage Volvo owners to accept our offer of a Free Spring Health Check.

This is an oppor tunity for your car to be checked by our Personal Service Technicians, to ensure your Volvo remains in optimum running condition.

Our Free Health Checks are just another reason why customers place their trust in us; they appreciate that we genuinely care from a personal level”.

Oliver Horswill, Sales Manager adds, “And of course this is an exciting time

for customers to consider their new electric or hybrid Volvo. With the three main reasons to purchase being zero emissions, the electric/hybrid driving experience, and reduced running costs, the Volvo range provides the simple yet perfect solution”.

quality ‘Selekt’ used Volvos ready to reserve online, now is the time to make the change with Crawley Volvo. Connect with us to receive the latest offers, and to experience the inspiring combination of three; Harwoods, Volvo and you.

Volvo Crawley would like to welcome customers to discover the reassuring benefits of a Free Spring Health Check.

And whether you require a fuss-free MOT, a trusted vehicle service, or simply some maintenance advice, our Volvo traine d te c hnicians and customer care team are ready.

For customers looking to experience their new car today, we have Volvo’s future of driving available right now with responsible car technology across the award-winning range.

With our handpicked collection of

Email our Service Team: CRVservice@harwoods.uk.com Email our Sales Team: crawleyvolvo@harwoods.uk.com 01293 308 158 www.harwoods.uk.com/volvo

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MANOR ROYAL BUSINESS Following the grand opening of the new Harwoods Volvo dealership on Manor Royal, Maarten Hoffmann sat down with their Head of Business, Lewi Fasulo to chat about his background and the new showroom

HARWOODS VOLVO CRAWLEY

Many thanks for giving us your time Lewi and it would be great to know a little more about you?

What induced Harwoods to launch a new showroom in the middle of a pandemic?

I have been in the industry for over 20 years with the last 15 of those with a major PLC offering the BMW range and having received quite a few offers to leave over the years, Volvo is one of the only brands l would have left BMW for. Not only is it a superb brand but so many BMW drivers are now leaving the brand for Volvo.

This site was always a motor dealer and with Volvo sharing so many of the core principles of Harwoods, such as safety, sustainability and always putting customers front and centre, it was an obvious fit. We have taken quite a run down property and totally transformed it into a cutting edge Volvo showroom. We are proud of the fact

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that we are a VRE business, that is a Volvo Retail Experience business, and that places us at the top of the Volvo dealerships offering the total immersive package, from the moment the customer walks in the door and for as long at that customer drives a Volvo.

The pandemic has given us the opportunity to get the showroom built and up to standard ready for the surge in new car sales, and we are certainly starting to see that surge. It is a very Scandi-

MANOR ROYAL BUSINESS

❛❛ We are proud of the fact that we

are a Volvo Retail Experience business, and that places us at the very top of the Volvo dealerships ❜❜ style showroom with lots of reclaimed wood, clean lines, no brochures, no windows stickers – Volvo have a very defined style and we echo that throughout.

Historically, Volvo have always had the image of extreme safety but not very exciting cars and you have opened at a time when that is absolutely old news as the range now, and l have reviewed the entire range over the past year, is superb.

I couldn’t agree more. The range now is world-class and with a safety record second to none. The electric trend is also front and centre with at least 50% of all new cars by 2025 being electric, with a massive emission reduction in all other models. Sustainability really is at the heart of everything Volvo do. The new XC40 Recharge is world-leading and represents over 40% of all Volvo sales – and you’ve had it for a week, what did you think?

Our readers will have to turn to the motoring section to find out but in short, l was stunned by its build quality, the battery efficiency and the dynamic drive – l would say that it’s the leading EV car on sale today.

It is winning accolades and awards across the board and is the company’s best seller. Of course, EV models are more expense to buy but over time with the cost of fuel, servicing, no road tax

and, of course, you cannot put a price on saving the planet therefore over its life-time it is actually less expensive than a fossil fuelled car. We have twelve fast chargers right here on site which is really well covered by our WiFi network meaning that whilst customers, are here, their car will automatically receive updates without even walking in the door. We also have every single model in the range right here on site, superb servicing facilities and a team who cannot do enough for our customers so we believe we really have it all for the Crawley area.

With the majority of car purchases now being lease deals, do you have that facility in-house?

We certainly do. We have an in-house brokerage that can offer really competitive rates across the range and of course, we benefit from the stellar reputation of Harwoods – customers really want to deal with Harwoods as we have a long reputation for excellent products and excellent service.

In my experience, people who drive an EV model are immediately convinced, will you be offering 48 hours test drives and the like?

Absolutely. Customers need to touch and feel the product and to live with it for a day or two – it really is a very convincing proposition once they insert an EV into their everyday lives. There are some false perceptions about EVs but we just ask customers to come into the showroom and allow us to expel the myths and show them what this extraordinary technology can do. It is a game-changer. And if an EV is not for them, then we have a great range of hybrid models too – there really is something for everyone in the Volvo range.

As soon as regulations allow, we would like to invite every one in the area to the site as we cannot wait to show off the showroom and the products. This is a very exciting time and we cannot wait to share it.

Many thanks Lewi.

}} THE FULL REVIEW OF THE XC40 RECHARGE CAN BE FOUND ON PAGE 78

Lewi Fasulo Head of Business Crawley Volvo 1 Gatwick Road, Crawley RH10 9DE 01293 308158 www.crawleyvolvo.co.uk

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MANOR ROYAL BUSINESS

FASTSIGNS MANOR ROYAL MOVE Crawley based signage company, FASTSIGNS have kicked off 2021 with a move to new premises. Owner Melanie Martinez tells us about their plans for the future and why it was so important for them to stay on Manor Royal

We have been trading in Crawley for 26 years this May, the last 15 of which have been in Manor Royal. Having outgrown our old unit we knew we needed larger premises in order to expand but desperately wanted to find one that not only ticked all the boxes on our wish list but was still on Manor Royal. The relationships we have built over the years through being part of the Manor Royal BID and GDB definitely played a huge part in our decision as to where we wanted to relocate. I have always found there to be a great sense of community amongst businesses in the Gatwick Diamond area.

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Jose Martinez, Melanie Martinez and Alan White

When we first started looking there was absolutely nothing out there that suited our requirements. All the units were either just too big or too small and when we envisaged our new premises, we had an extremely clear picture in our minds as to what would work for us.

Everything would be on one level and would include a show room, print room, new offices and a production area that had a roller shutter so we could bring vehicles inside to sign write.

We could not believe our luck when a month or so into our quest to find the perfect new home for our busines, Unit 15 Lloyds Court came up and literally ticked every box. It was a nice big empty space that we could truly make our own and with my partners Jose, Alan and I having over 75 year’s combined experience in the sign industry between us we knew exactly what we wanted to do with it.

January and February were spent having building work done whilst still manufacturing behind closed doors.

Due to the nature of our business this was challenging but nevertheless we did it and in early March we finally started working in our newly finished offices and workshop. We could not be more pleased with the space we have created. The showroom enables us to beautifully display the innovative products we can offer, and the new larger offices also give us the opportunity to showc ase even more of what FASTSIGNS can do as there is always something new and exciting to explore within the sign industry. Having more production space to make up our signage is already proving invaluable and gives us more scope to keep larger projects in house and manufactured locally.

❛❛ The year has

begun with some great projects for us which include the Stem facility at Crawley College which was a fantastic new building to work on ❜❜

The year has begun with some great projects for us which include the Stem facility at Crawley College which was a fantastic new building to work on as well as rebranding Worthing Library’s signage. As things hopefully begin returning to normal, we are looking forward to people being able to visit us at our new premises. I am also really excited about getting out and about networking again. We have never underestimated the value of networking locally not only from a business point of view but most importantly for the friendships we have made and relationships we have built over the years. We consider ourselves extremely lucky to have clients dating back the full 25 years we have been trading which is something we are extremely proud of.

We are excited about the year ahead and what it has in store for us after what has been such an uncertain time for everyone. Working in a space with the potential to fulfil our vision for FASTSIGNS Crawley’s future is a fantastic feeling.

Alan, Jose and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers, families, Steve Sawyer and the Manor Royal BID team along with Mandi, Sally, Jeff and the GDB team for their tireless support over the years, especially this last year, it is truly appreciated and we wish all of our fellow Platinum readers a healthy, happy 2021.

As well as core signage such as facias, banners, exhibition graphics, illuminated signs and vehicle graphics FASTSIGNS can provide many more products. These include digital signage, bespoke items, wall graphics, monoliths, stationery and much more.

FASTSIGNS International Inc. provides custom sign and graphics products across the globe and is at the forefront of the sign industry. There are currently over 700 store locations worldwide.

The Sussex centre benefits from the support network, resources and economies of the scale offered by multinational group, as well as the local knowledge of the Crawley owners.

For anyone wishing to know a little bit more about what FASTSIGNS can offer please pop in to see us at Unit 15, Lloyd Court, Manor Royal, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 9QX, or call us on 01293 520776 or visit www.fastsigns.com/854

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MANOR ROYAL BUSINESS

GATWICK DIAMOND: A LAND OF PROPERTY OPPORTUNITY In a time of such positive transformation, reliable property advice is more important than ever.

By Steve Berrett, Partner Vail Williams LLP The past 12 months have accelerated a dramatic change in the commercial and residential property sectors, as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit began to make themselves felt.

Office needs have transformed amid more flexible working, calling for a more hybrid working environment made up of a variety of spaces for businesses and their people.

Requirements for more modern industrial warehouse units across a range of sizes and specifications have gone through the roof, leading land values to do much the same, and residential demand remains high. It is safe to say that this is a golden opportunity for the Gatwick Diamond property market.

Steve Berrett, recently appointed partner and head of business space (Gatwick) at property consultancy, Vail Williams LLP, comments: “It is an exciting time to be working in such a dynamic market, where we have seen multiple site sales over the past 12 months within the Manor Royal District, and where land values have reached record highs.

“This is a time of recovery for the region, and we are seeing this translate into a number of enquiries from the south coast right up to south London.

With significant commercial commitments from the likes of Amazon, Valor and CAE, together with ongoing investment in wider infrastructure, the property outlook here is a compelling one.”

Danny George, Vail Williams’ Gatwick regional managing partner, explains: “As businesses plan for a return to the office and demand for industrial premises increases across the region, we are here to help ensure that your business’ strategic property needs and space requirements are met.

“Whether you are a business seeking to acquire new office or industrial space, a landlord wishing to redevelop your property investment to meet changing occupier needs, or you are an investor or developer seeking to deliver a scheme to respond to market demand, we can help.”

Based in the Gatwick Diamond region for over 25 years, Vail Williams specialises in property advice throughout the property lifecycle, to support occupiers, landlords and investors and developers.

The firm, which last year was crowned Professional Services Firm of the Year at the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards, has played a leading role in many of the region’s key commercial and residential developments, counting the likes of Glenbeigh Developments, Elekta and Harwoods, amongst its clients.

For more information on how Vail Williams can support your property needs, whether you are an occupier, landlord, investor or developer, get in touch.

Vail Williams LLP. M: 07780 324996 sberrett@vailwilliams.com vailwilliams.com

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Expert advice throughout the property lifecycle...

Land acquisition Freehold disposal / sale

Development consultancy

Property due diligence

Planning

Strategic occupier advice

Building consultancy

Lease advisory

Project delivery

Renting or letting of commercial property

Acquisition of business premises

Property asset management

Property investment

…whether you are an occupier, landlord, investor or developer.

Offices in: Birmingham – Bournemouth – Crawley – Heathrow – Leeds – London – Portsmouth – Reading – Southampton – Woking

vailwilliams.com

BUSINESS

By Scott Nursten, CEO, ITHQ

CLOUD SECURITY DOING CLOUD THE RIGHT WAY On-demand availability, scalability, measured services, accessibility from anywhere … the benefits of cloud infrastructure are many. However, this does not mean cloud is a magic bullet guaranteeing success. And, contrary to popular belief, cloud does not automatically take care of cyber security either.

WHY DOES YOUR BUSINESS NEED THE CLOUD?

I hear organisations state three reasons for cloud adoption, and they’re not the best. One: to save money. Two: to remove the hassle of running and maintaining their own servers. Three: because everyone is doing it.

❛❛ It is a huge mistake to assume your cloud provider takes responsibility for your cyber and data security ❜❜

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Better reasons could be to drive resilience, provide services in different geographies or to new clients. Specific service requirements are another good reason. As an example, if a key service depends on a web application, it makes sense to be in the cloud, instead of trying to create global, resilient web architectures yourself.

Even with a clear reason to migrate, it still doesn’t mean that your entire business belongs in the cloud yet. Using a cloud adoption framework and ensuring your ‘why’ is aligned with your security strategy should come first.

TECHNOLOGY

❛❛ When you can fire up machines all

over the world in a few clicks, the danger of Shadow IT increases rapidly ❜❜ HOW RESPONSIBILITY FOR SECURITY IS SHARED BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR CLOUD PROVIDER

It is a huge mistake to assume your cloud provider takes responsibility for your cyber and data security.

All major providers - AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, DigitalOcean, Linode, Rackspace - specify their own terms and conditions regarding which areas of security they manage.

Most commonly, the provider takes responsibility for physically securing their data centres to an extremely high standard: SOC2/3 or ISO 27001/27018 for example, or multiple of these.

They secure their own management, virtualisation and storage platforms. In addition, some level of distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection is usually included. So, if someone tries to take out their cloud through mass traffic attacks, they’ll be stopped upstream before they reach your network.

YOUR SECURITY RESPONSIBILITIES

Securing your infrastructure, whether on-premise or cloud, remains your responsibility. If you run cloud services, there is no security provided out of the box.

If you open Remote Desktop Services on Windows for example, there is nothing preventing that from being attacked. But before you consider tactics, the most important aspect to consider is your overarching security strategy – which, unfortunately, most organisations we engage with, simply don’t have.

}}NEXT MONTH’S TOPIC THE LATEST FBI IC3 REPORT ON CYBERCRIME

Every organisation should have a threeyear security roadmap in place as an imperative. Your cloud strategy should support this security plan. Again, start with questions: Can we maintain our levels of security? Can we plug recognised gaps effectively? Can we justify the costs? Does the business case still stack up, if we move this to cloud?

“What if I don’t have a security strategy?”

I hear you ask. Simple answer – time to get one.

USE A CLOUD ADOPTION FRAMEWORK

The six Rs ensure best practice with your migration: Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, Retire, Replace and Retain.

Considering each of your workloads and use cases in turn, the six Rs allow you to assess and plot each potential migration, ensuring they’re managed in the most cost-effective and business-appropriate way.

The first step, Rehost, for instance, is often called ‘Lift and Shift’. This fast, simple route to the cloud is favoured when a hard deadline looms, such as a data centre closure. However, it lifts and shifts everything including legacy issues. Whichever applications are not suitable for Rehost are then assessed under Replatform, and so on.

OVERCOMING CLOUD CHALLENGES

While the essential tools and techniques are the same in the cloud, they are deployed differently.

The easiest solution to this is to select a cloud-native provider whose platform

has been created in the cloud or with the cloud in mind, rather than using a partner who has adapted their technology to fit cloud requirements.

Many cloud challenges are the flip side to a benefit. For example, you can spin up machines almost anywhere fast, creating high availability, improving resilience and putting servers much closer to customers. This also increases your attack surface massively.

Another challenge is visibility of how traffic flows through a virtual network.

In a data centre you can physically plot cables or use different racks to denote private and public zones, whereas the virtual world is theoretical. Despite virtualisation being around for years, visualising a virtualised world is still a unique skill.

SHADOW IT

When you can fire up machines all over the world in a few clicks, the danger of Shadow IT increases rapidly. We recently heard from an organisation who receive a research grant from a big UK manufacturer. When there is a research project with a tight deadline, they purposefully go around IT, engaging a cloud provider to get things moving.

Shadow IT has increased exponentially, because it’s so easy to fire up a whole new IT infrastructure in the cloud. In bigger organisations, this is a growing problem and becoming very serious.

How do you secure assets you don’t know about?

QUESTIONS FOR IT

n Did we implement our cloud platform using a framework? n How are we doing asset management, monitoring and ensuring controls are consistent between our on-premise environments and the cloud? n Do we have a cloud strategy aligned to our security strategy? n Can you present it to the board?

For more information, feel free to get in touch with me at transform@ithq.pro www.ithq.pro

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Does your business need help?

During these unprecedented times, many businesses are struggling so we would like to help.

We are offering free general guidance on: • Unpaid invoices & contract disputes • Commercial landlord & tenant issues • Professional Negligence • Commercial insurance claims

• Trading Standards & consumer complaints • Shareholder & Partnership disputes • Employment claims & settlement agreements • Franchise disputes

Call us on 01273 223290 or visit www.mayowynnebaxter.co.uk/here-to-help

www.mayowynnebaxter.co.uk

EVENTS

SABRINA COHEN-HATTON ANNOUNCED AS BRIGHTON BASE CAMP KEYNOTE SPEAKER While climbing the ranks, she did a degree in psychology at the Open University, eventually completing a PhD in the behavioural neuroscience lab at Cardiff University. Her ground-breaking research has now influenced global policy across all emergency services.

Sabrina Cohen-Hatton

Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton certainly knows a thing or two about how to survive and thrive when the heat is on.

Her story is a powerful reminder that it’s your determination, brains and empathy – rather than your circumstances – which dictate how successful you become.

As one of the most senior firefighters in the UK, Sabrina took charge of the service’s response to terror attacks in Finsbury Park and Westminster in London in 2017. She decides which of her colleagues rush into a burning building and how they confront the blaze.

She makes the call to evacuate if the situation has escalated beyond hope.

She is also a prize-winning academic and author of a book on life-and-death decision making.

Sabrina’s list of achievements is all the more astonishing because she spent her teenage years sleeping rough. Aged 15, she was homeless and selling The Big Issue whilst taking her GSCEs. Through grit and determination she turned her life around and at 18 joined the fire service in Wales.

As a guest speaker at Brighton Base Camp, Sabrina will tell us what she has learnt about how we respond in our most extreme moments and how we can apply this to critical decision making.

She’ll immerse us in the extraordinary world of firefighting; from scenes of devastation and crisis to triumphs of bravery. Most importantly, she’ll tell us a story of succeeding against the odds, overcoming huge obstacles and turning setbacks into opportunities.

About Brighton Base Camp : En Route As well as inspiring speakers, there will be expert-led workshops and plenty of time for energising discussions at the structured networking sessions.

Who is Brighton Base Camp for?

It is for everyone in and around Brighton who wants to evolve and grow their business whether a big business CEO, a not-for-profit, an entrepreneur, or an

FIND OUT MORE

employee.

What to expect? Brighton Base Camp, hosted by Brighton Chamber, celebrates the spirit of our open-minded, quirky city which makes it such a dynamic region to live, work and do business in. The Brighton Base Camp event is held virtually but with plenty of opportunity for interaction at the breakout networking sessions, the interactive workshops and Q & As at the keynote sessions.

What will I get? Fresh perspectives and new approaches. And quality conversations with the bunch of brilliant like-minded contacts that you’ll meet at Base Camp. It’s an event for building connections and entertaining new ideas.

DATE: Friday April 30th 2021 TIME: Great copy by Hello Genius Brilliant Branding by Visual Function and Sandra Staufer Thanks to our excellent Media Partners Platinum Business Magazine and Chimera Communications

Get tickets see here brightonchamber.co.uk/event/ brighton-base-camp-en-route PLATINUM BUSINESS READERS CAN GRAB A DISCOUNT USING THE PROMOTIONAL USING THE DISCOUNT CODE FRIENDS5

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ACCELERATOR

ACCELERATING COLLABORATION Take your mind back to a time when we were in the office... this is where it all started for Ben, Lindsey and Tony.

When Tony first joined the NatWest Accelerator, he had barely spoken to Lindsey or Ben. However, when

Tony was looking for support to bring his product to market, he stumbled across Ben’s LinkedIn profile and was delighted to discover that he was a mentor and alumni of the Brighton Accelerator.

After connecting, Tony brought Ben on as an external consultant. With the input from the Psydro team, Ben designed the business growth strategy, as well as built comprehensive forecasting and financial models that would allow Psydro to scale. However, they discovered that one of Psydro’s biggest needs was attracting and acquiring customers and then preventing them from becoming dormant.

Due to working with Lindsey previously on the Accelerator, Ben was quick to recommend Bright Dials. Lindsey’s business specialises in helping businesses spend less time on manual tasks, focus their sales and marketing activity, and run a fully integrated operation.

Lindsey and Ben helped Tony to build a completely bespoke automated communications programme from the ground up. Initially, designing and building a new CRM system with sophisticated workflows that encouraged leads to engage and sign up, as well as upsell from the different packages that Psydro has to offer. After 6-8 months of working together, Psydro has undergone a massive transition towards becoming a fully self-serving SAAS platform.

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ACCELERATOR

Ben: Ben is the founder and Managing Partner of Second Voice, a boutique business consultancy in Brighton.

Second Voice enables tech and service-led founders to fast-track business growth utilising decades of experience growing sales teams and start-ups first-hand. Focusing on strategy, team structure and people development, Second Voice clients and partners have seen accelerated growth, even during the events of 2020.

Tony: Tony is the co-founder of Psydro, the world’s first social review platform.

Unlike other review platforms, Psydro is a trusted, transparent and validated community that helps consumers spend wisely through authentic and verified reviews, which also drives Psydro’s partners business.

❛❛ Lindsey and Ben helped Tony to build

a completely bespoke automated communications programme from the ground up ❜❜

What were your biggest wins from collaborating together?

Tony: Within 10 months I have built a product that I can sell as well as forming a talented team focused on growing the business.

What tips on collaboration would you give to entrepreneurs on the Accelerator?

Tony: Constantly ask questions, always be keen to learn and understand from other people so that you can give your best.

Ben: My favourite part was seeing how quickly Tony and the team adapted to using the new growth strategy and financial tools. It’s fantastic to see founders collaborate and drive the change with us. The Psydro project has been hard work, but a huge learning curve, and ultimately a success story and a lot of fun for all involved.

Ben: Make it clear from the start who is doing what. Know what you are going to deliver each week and what is going to be implemented to help business growth. Also, make sure you are using the right tools and maintain regular communication to manage expectations.

Lindsey: I have hired a great project manager who has been instrumental in getting projects over the line. I was also effectively able to replace myself on the project with a fantastic CRM specialist too. It’s been a great learning curve which has allowed me to embed processes in my business to deliver bigger projects in the future.

Lindsey: Use the right form of communication at the right time. We always use the tools our clients prefer but I’m a big believer in picking up the phone when you need to. In this project we were fortunate that both Tony and I work in a similar way by making quick decisions over the phone.

Lindsey: Lindsey is the founder of Bright Dials. Bright Dials is an independent agency that specialises in helping businesses get the most out of their CRM and automations. Taking your current data sources as a starting point they identify where responsive, data-generated processes attract the hottest leads to your business and accelerate the sales cycle.

What’s next?

Tony: My ultimate moon shot is for Psydro to become a direct household shopping destination as well as the successful delivery of my second business, Wild Hire.

Ben: Being able to support service or tech founders is something I’ve always enjoyed doing. I aim to continue doing this and make Second Voice a go-to partner in the start-up growth space.

Lindsey: The project has provided me with an opportunity to hire more people, giving me more time to focus on growing my business and achieve my goal of Bright Dials being the best CRM and automation agency in the UK.

Psydro Limited T: 07710 429868 E: aw@psydro.com www.business.psydro.com For more about Natwest Entrepreneur Accelerator click here

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PRODUCTIVITY

By Desiree Anderson of Crest Coaching & HR

CULTIVATING WINNING CULTURES

A LEADER’S GUIDE

Organisational Culture is a set of behaviours and practices that become the norm. By repetition of these “habits”, our experiences, activities and values become ingrained. Distinctive patterns help us differentiate between organisations.

According to international research from Mckinsey and Fortune 100 Best Places to Work - the way employees feel about how they are treated in organisations is closely linked to employees’ engagement i.e. emotional commitment. Furthermore, organisations with cultures that have successful change adaptation have strong alignment with high performance.

The worldwide pandemic has changed our mind-sets. Work is no longer central,

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but must take its place alongside other priorities e.g. child/elderly care, hobbies and exercise. We can work from anywhere (often remotely) and lifelong employment is rare. Consequently, the purpose, values and vision of employees (gig, contract, remote, permanent) now has a greater influence on company culture.

In the evolving world of work, creating great cultures is not about our employees fitting into the organisation but how organisations fit into employees’ lives.

As Culture Cultivators, leaders need to infuse great work practices to create crops of winning teams who love their work, enjoy collaboration and produce innovative results.

ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS WILL HELP LEADERS GROW SUCCESSFUL COMPANY CULTURES:

1

THE EMPLOYEE LIFECYCLE n E nsure your employment process helps employees understand the organisation’s strategic, environmental and societal aims/values. n During interviews, allow prospective employees to articulate values, interests and needs. n R eflect individual preferences in employee contracts and reward packages to attract and retain talent in a competitive landscape; allow flexible work patterns and work-life balance. n Get gig or temporary workers up and running quickly, giving them essential information and access to peer/ senior management support. n U nderstand what unique benefits new members will bring to the team and, once employed, articulate these benefits to their colleagues. n S how appreciation of different cultures and diversity by adapting talent strategy practices including psychometric tests, remote interviews, communication and development. n W hen employees exit, demonstrate that we have valued their input where applicable and give them an opportunity to suggest any improvements. n Use technology, video, AI, or other immersive experiences together with face-to-face formal/ informal interactions to involve employees, enabling establishment of rituals.

PRODUCTIVITY

3

2

BELONGING AND COMMITMENT n Allow all team members to contribute to meetings; rotate assignments and groups fairly; give recognition to diverse talents; encourage employees to voice opinions verbally, in writing or in creative ways to improve collaboration e.g. brainstorming. n Ensure employees understand how their roles link to key strategic objectives; give employees regular updates on performance against KPIs/ objectives and what value they’ve added. n Find ways of forming diverse teams with differing skills/talents/perspectives. n Reward and celebrate achievements of all team members in small and large ways, matching incentives to values and lifestyle. n Provide access to training and development using online, face-to-face, written and remote learning, coaching, buddies and mentoring; ask and listen to employees’ development needs to evolve career goals which may be upward or sideways in the career web. n Educate yourself on diversity, neurodiversity e.g. books, seminars, best practice. n A sk employees what practices will help them feel included.

n Decide how frequent and what form your communication will take dependant on your team’s needs e.g. telephone calls, texts, zoom, face-toface; provide a balance between formal and informal communication. n E xamine terminology and scope of your employee policies, procedures and communication, respecting diversity, equity, inclusion and disability; audit their application regularly, getting input from diverse groups. n Involve contractors, remote, parttime workers. Give them swift access to key stakeholders; put them in small groups to get to know fellow team members.

❛❛ In the evolving

world of work, creating great cultures is not about our employees fitting into the organisation but how organisations fit into employees’ lives ❜❜

AWARENESS OF BEHAVIOUR n Develop plans to improve awareness of your own leadership impact: What are your triggers? How will you mitigate your own bias? Do you favour those who are similar? How do you deal with your development areas/ blind-spots? n Encourage feedback from employees about the company, leadership and colleagues in one-to-ones, pulse surveys, meetings, 360 reviews; train how to deliver and receive feedback. n Ask your team the following in one to ones and team me etings: Is there anything I/the team can do to facilitate progress on project/task?

W ho/what can I connect you with (person/information/materials)? n In meetings, review examples of policies or processes that do/don’t mirror values; create actions to rectify; gather trends from community and social issues. n Involve senior management sponsors in feedback practices to influence strategy, plans and policy; discuss culture in senior meetings and role-modelling of values. n Ensure discussion with customers, suppliers and educational institutions for process, service and behaviour reflection. n Make wellbeing part of the agenda at meetings; know how to spot burnout in yourself or others; ensure that employe es have mentors/counsellors they can feel safe speaking to.

Encouraging a sense of belonging and commitment throughout the employee lifecycle, for all employees, will create culture roots into the organisation which can be nur tured through collaboration, empathy and development. The harvest is a hybrid and diverse organisational team which has an inwardly and outwardly reflective and adaptive culture.

Contact Crest Coaching & HR for help with creating winning cultures on info@crestcoachingandhr.com or 07702 298363.

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INNOVATION

REBOOT YOUR MARKETING WITH A FULLY FUNDED INSIGHTS REPORT Sussex Innovation has launched a new suite of fully funded repor ts for start-ups looking to gain a deeper understanding of their customers and markets, or refresh their social media and PR. For early-stage founders, time is at a premium, meaning that the day-to-day work of running the business can often leave little time to research new oppor tunities or reflect on your marketing channels. Even working in collaboration with an agency or taking part in one-on-one sessions with a consultant can often prove too much of a distraction.

“Our team has delivered cost-effective research, sales and marketing consultancy for our clients for many years, so

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we’re aware that everyone’s needs are different,” says Helena Jevons, Sussex Innovation’s Head of Sales and Marketing. “Customer priorities and behaviours have shifted dramatically during the pandemic – we’ve never seen such rapid changes in our 25-year history, so it’s an important time for businesses to take stock and re-evaluate their strategies.

“Some founders aren’t looking for a mentoring relationship over months and years; they want straightforward recommendations. They want to know what headline insights we can find out for them, and what actionable steps their marketing team can take to move the business forward in the short term.”

With this challenge in mind, the Sussex Innovation team has launched five new

reports that are designed to be delivered by its research and marketing advisors quickly and effi ciently, while demanding as little time as possible from business owners.

These projects can also leverage funding from the European Regional Development Fund, meaning that eligible start-ups can also get their report free of charge.

Businesses can pick any one of the five products and will receive a simple online questionnaire to help them describe their situation and requirements. The questionnaire acts as a b r ief in g d o c u m e nt fo r S us sex Innovation’s advisors, who need no further information to carry out their research and deliver the report.

INNOVATION

n PR Starter Pack: get help shaping and writing a press release about the news story you have to share, or building a press pack to pitch your spokesperson for media appearances. Includes a bespoke database of UK press contact information, and a guide to contacting media and selling your story.

THE SUITE OF INSIGHTS REPORTS INCLUDES:

n Competitor Analysis: understand the range of choices available to your potential customers, and where the opportunities lie. Who is the competition and what is their positioning? How do they package and price their offer? Who are they targeting? Using market-leading research reports from the likes of Frost & Sullivan, learn what customers currently do, why they do it, and where your brand could gain maximum traction. n Mini White Paper: part research tool, part marketing collateral, a mini white paper is designed to provide a unique insight into the trends within your industry. It can be used to inform your strategy and get a head start on your competition, or to provide a whole calendar’s worth of marketing messages that will position you as thought leaders with your fingers on the pulse.

n Social Media Audit: optimise your social media presence and content marketing strategy with a deep dive report on your current activity, along with recommendations for future tactics. Includes an audit of three of your most commonly-used social channels, analysis of successful strategies employed by other brands in your space, and inspiration for future content marketing campaigns. n General Research: do you have a burning research question not covered by any of the reports above?

Whatever market insights you’re hoping to uncover, send your brief to the Sussex Innovation team and they’ll use their full range of tools and expertise to find an answer.

❛❛ Customer priorities and behaviours have shifted dramatically during the pandemic – we’ve never seen such rapid changes in our 25-year history ❜❜

If you’re interested in receiving a fully funded insights report for your business, or would like to explore a more hands-on package of one -on-one consultancy and practical support, you can get in touch with Sussex Innovation and start your project straight away using the appropriate link below: n Competitor Analysis n Mini White Paper n PR Starter Pack n Social Media Audit n General Research.

If you’re not sure which approach is right for you, are looking for different support, or would simply prefer to talk to the consultancy team, visit https:// info.sinc.co.uk/enquiries to share the details of your business and its needs.

These support products are funded by the European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investm e nt Funds Grow th Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund.

Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations.

For more information visit www.gov.uk/ european-growth-funding

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WHAT’S YOUR CYBER SECURITY STRATEGY?

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NETWORKING IS KEY

To become well-regarded in your field, you need to make sure that your name is known first. So, I always recommend networking as much as possible to make great connections and simply get your name out there a bit more. Of course, in-person networking is quite tricky at the moment, so don’t be afraid to take things online and utilise social media (in particular LinkedIn) in order to forge new business connections and put yourself on the industry’s radar.

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SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE

What do all well-liked experts have in common? The fact that they share their copious knowledge with others! Whether you speak with people who are just starting out and want to learn more about the industry, or share the latest news with your colleagues, talking about your field at every available opportunity will certainly help to cement your name as an expert.

Look out for opportunities to give talks, mentor others, and share your opinion in discussion and debates, both online and in-person.

3

THINK ABOUT PR AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

Another great way to get your name out there and also give yourself some more credibility as an expert in your field is to seek out PR and other media opportunities. You can approach publications and submit articles or comments, or create your own opportunities by publishing a blog or social media page where you can share your opinions, news, and anything else relevant to your industry. Any true expert wholeheartedly believes in the value their opinions can bring to the industry, so why not get out there and share them whenever you can?

Any business owner dreams of becoming an expert in their chosen field. But how can you stop dreaming and make this a reality?

Gareth Johnson, a business growth consultant from Chrysalis Growth is here to share his top tips for becoming an expert, no matter what you may do.

Of course, becoming an expert in any field takes time, focus, and consistent effort. It’s not something that happens overnight! Through Chrysalis Growth, I coach other business owners to achieve growth and see the value that they can bring to their industry.

If you’re looking for something similar, I would love to hear from you! Please visit my website at www.chrysalisgrowth.com, or email me at info@chrysalisgrowth.com

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PLATINUM ME DIA GROUP

PEST CONTROL

ARE YOUR PREMISES READY FOR THE RODENT RETURN? With the country beginning to unlock, Cleankill Pest Control is reminding businesses to check they have the right measures in place to stop an infestation of rodents.

It is often said that a dog is a man’s best friend. However, for rodents, it could be said humans are their best friends.

Pre-pandemic, our social lives and working routines gave them plenty of food and harbourage.

That all changed in March 2020 as the country went into lockdown to deal with COVID-19. The British Pest Control Association (BPCA) reported a 51% spike in rodent activity in the Spring of 2020, with a further spike of 78% during the November lockdown. Cleankill, which covers the whole of the south of England, has since reported a further year-on-year increase of 27% in rodent related callouts in the first two months of 2021.

Lockdowns have had two major impacts on the rodent populations of our cities.

Firstly, without the constant presence of human activity, they have been able to breed unhindered. It’s been estimated an extra 30 million rats were born in the UK in 2020. Secondly, because places like offices, factories and food outlets have been closed the rodents have moved into new areas to find food.

With children returning to school and the Government’s roadmap underway, now is the time for businesses to make sure their pest control contracts are in place as the return of workers to offices, shops and factories may mean an increase in infestations. In some cases, the rodent problem might have already existed but gone unnoticed during lockdown. In other cases, rodents might choose to return to the places that have traditionally supplied them with food and harbourage.

Paul Bates, Managing Director of Cleankill Pest Control, explains: “It has been a tough year for everyone except, it would seem, rodents. Our figures from across the last 12 months show how well rats and mice have adapted to lockdowns. As people return to their places of work, we are predicting a big increase in pest control issues relating to rodents.

“Employers are legally required to provide their employees, customers, and other stakeholders with a safe working environment. That means making sure their preventive pest control systems are in place and working.”

Infestations can be very costly. Even if a business avoids closure or fines by the council’s Environmental Health office, treating an infestation will be more costly than employing effective preventive measures in the first place.

Paul added: “We know it has been a difficult year for businesses. Everyone is looking for a way to cut costs but, the truth is, cutting preventive pest control is a false esconomy. Over the years, we’ve seen businesses of all sizes take a gamble with their pest control and then end up with large fines and damage to their reputation, not to mention the risks to the health of staff and customers.”

Launched in 1995, Cleankill Pest Control has its head office is in Croydon, Surrey, with local offices in East Sussex, Bristol, Buckinghamshire and Hampshire.

Go to www.cleankill.co.uk or call 0800 056 5477.

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TRAVEL

At this point we are all facing the reality of restrictions in foreign travel and need to be careful of where we book our next far flung adventure to, but the Maldives is looking far better than many other fantasy destinations.

By Tess de Klerk

THE MARVELLOUS

MALDIVES! The Maldives has never been on the UK government’s red zone list therefore home self-isolation on return is sufficient. That is unlikely to change as over 40% of the island population have been vaccinated and the number is growing rapidly. Visitors are required to provide proof of a negative Covid test taken within 96 hours of arrival and that will negate any need to isolate there. In other words, freedom to enjoy the marvellous Maldives from the moment you step off the plane!

British Airways will be restarting their

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direct flights to the capital, Male, in May meaning soft, sandy beaches and crystal clear waters will be just 11 hours away (UK gov dependent). Added to that, great deals abound and a few days in paradise can be bought on any budget. Come on - be brave and book!

Maldives’ 26 dazzling atolls dot an area of 298 square kilometres of the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean and derives its name from Sanskrit, which describes the nation beautifully as ‘Garland of Islands’. Its geographic location ensures year-round sunshine and even

the rainy season offers great travel as the rain simply cools the day a bit without spoiling your fun. I love the Maldives, not only for its dazzling natural offerings but also for its people.

I have stayed in incredible super-lux resorts as well as the less pricey more rustic options which tend to be more scuba diving oriented, and I have always found the friendly staff to be genuinely kind, warm and flawlessly hospitable.

Here I sample just a few of what this exquisite archipelago has to offer...

TRAVEL BASK IN LUXURY

The Four Seasons Maldives Landaa Giraavaru, Kuda Huraa & Voavah Pampering starts from the moment you step out of Male airport as you’re whisked away on the luxurious catamaran, the Four Seasons Explorer, to either the sophisticated Four Seasons Maldives Landaa Giraavaru retreat, part of Baa Atoll UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve or the sister property, Kuda Huraa, which is a lush tropical island close to Male. The island is renowned for its exceptional surf and easy charm. The main site of Four Seasons Maldives Landaa Giraavaru is pure tropical grandeur known for luxury, innovation, wellness and conservation. The resort spreads 103 thatched bungalows and villas of contemporary Maldivian design across the island’s lush jungle wilderness. Huge outdoor spaces include private infinity pools, mezzanine-level lofts accessed by a spiral staircase with direct access to the beach or turquoise lagoon.

Four Seasons also opened an ultra-luxe private island, called Four Seasons Private Island Maldives at Voavah, a secluded haven that transcends the private island experience for a maximum of 22 guests.

Maldives’ 26 dazzling atolls ❛❛ dot an area of 298 square

kilometres of the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean and derives its name from Sanskrit ❜❜ ECO AWARE & A BIT RUSTIC

The Barefoot Eco Hotel, Haa Dhalalu Atoll See the real Maldives while staying at the Barefoot Eco Hotel - this is one of the few hotels based on an inhabited island.

Hanimadhoo, in the far north of the Maldives, has a population of more than 2,000 farmers and fishermen. The simple but chic, sustainable hotel is in the middle of a traditional village complete with school and mosque.

In the late afternoon village families go down to the beach to relax and watch the sunset. A totally different experience than the hermetic luxury of being pampered in a resort island. Be aware that alcohol is banned on the inhabited islands but a floating bar is a five minute boat ride away!

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TRAVEL

One further treat is the ❛❛ night ‘fluo’ dives – a night

dive with a special filter on your mask - a fluorescent coral experience not to miss ❜❜

DON’T MISS THE DIVING Atolls are by definition formed of coral and as such the islands offer plenty of great opportunities for snorkelling and diving enthusiasts all across the Maldives. The El Nino phenomenon of 2008 caused unprecedented coral bleaching in the area but mother nature is slowly but surely healing and is receiving a helping hand from various interesting coral rehabilitation projects, some of which welcome volunteers.

DIVERS PARADISE Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa

A long-standing favourite with serious divers, this resort in South Ari Atoll is a 25-minute seaplane trip from Male airport and has a total of 184 rooms. The dive centre is one of 11 in the Maldives, run by the extremely professional Euro Divers – guaranteeing a very high standard of instructors and guides.

There is an excellent house reef and more than 40 good sites to explore including Vilamendhoo Caves and the Khudarah Thila which explodes with vibrant soft corals. From June to October, there is a fantastic manta ray dive. Day trips are frequently scheduled to nearby Mamigili, which has been designated a whale shark national park. One further treat is the night ‘fluo’ dives - a night dive with a special filter on your mask - a fluorescent coral experience not to miss.

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TRAVEL

FUN IN THE SUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY Anantara Dhigu Maldives Resort

Conveniently located just a thirty-minute speedboat transfer from Male Airport, Anantara Dhigu Maldives Resort is one of the archipelago’s favourite family-friendly resorts. Home to lush jungle interiors, encircled by soft white sands and lapped by the warm waters of the Indian Ocean - which guests can explore by way of complimentary kayaks, paddle-boards and glass-bottom boats. The snorkelling here is also exceptional where you can expect to meet the seasonal manta rays and kaleidoscopic collections of fish, turtles and reef sharks that frequent the reef all year round.

For younger guests, the Dhoni Club (3 to 12 years) has indoor and outdoor play spaces such as treehouses, climbing walls

and dhoni boats - with an ever-changing events calendar, encouraging kids to embark on pirate adventures, cooking classes, treasure hunts and arts and crafts workshops.

Excellent overwater suites or beach and pool villas can also be booked in a variety of sizes. But what really makes this resort stand out as a favourite among families is the array of attentive touches: like the junior bathrobes and slippers for younger guests, the excellent children’s menus in all of the resort’s restaurants and the fact that children under six can eat for free during their stay.

GETTING THERE Best pp deal l found for August: Singapore Airlines from Heathrow £626. Stop in Singapore Qatar Airways from Gatwick £802. Stop in Doha Personally l would stay over in Singapore for a night or two at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and swim in one of the most amazing pools in the world.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore

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MOTORING

VOLVO XC40

RECHARGE

By Maarten Hoffmann, Senior Motoring Editor The electric car sector is exploding with just about every manufacturer lining them up and companies such as Jaguar and Ford clearly stating that from 2023, they will cease production of fossil fuels models. This is quite a shift and a race if ever l have seen one.

On my drive now is the Swedes’ first full electric model, the XC40 Recharge Pure Electric P8, to give it its full title, and l have to say it is absolutely cracking.

Volvo’s Recharge is the company’s sub-brand, one that will encompass all of its hybrid or fully electric cars. CEO Håkan Samuelsson reckons electric vehicles will account for 50% of Volvo’s sales volumes by 2025.

Outside it is a very good looking car thanks to British designer Ian Kettle, who was stolen by Tesla not long after its reveal but his job was done. The lines are smooth, the new wheels are superb and there is not much l would change about it.

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The P8 is powered by a 78kWh lithium ion battery pack mounted under the floor, that feeds two electric motors, with one on each axle to provide all-wheel drive. Power output is 402bhp, torque a stunning 487lb ft, which in turn translates to 62mph in less than five seconds. Very un-Volvo. They claim a WLTP range of 260 miles and you can charge 80% of that in around 40 minutes.

On a standard domestic 7-11kW wall point charger you’re looking at eight hours.

For those who have not driven an EV, l should point out that the acceleration is not just quick, but the smooth linear progression is stunning. With no oily cogs moving around and pistons pounding away trying to keep up you have just constant acceleration that seems never to want to stop.

It acts like a slingshot and launches you out off corners, and the blast off the line will leave the vast majority of fossil-fueled cars languishing in your wake, with a look of total shock on the driver’s face. It is a tad addictive but, of course, punishes you on the battery range if you like to bury your foot into the Wilton.

Around town it is a blast to drive and so easy as to render the current driving test obsolete. Aided by a multitude of cameras with one of the clearest resolution images l have ever seen on a car camera. Parking is a breeze too. The one thing that it takes time to get used to is the regenerative braking. When

TECH STUFF MODEL TESTED: Volvo XC40 Recharge ENGINE: 78kWh lithium-ion POWER: 402bhp SPEED: 0-62mph 4.7 seconds TOP: 112mph RANGE QUOTED: 257 mls PRICE FROM: £53,155

PL ATIN U M

you release the go pedal, the car quite dramatically starts to slow down without the need for the brake pedal.

Once you get used to it, there is very little need for the brakes at all. Foot off gas at the right time and it will roll to the lights and stop itself awaiting your next command. I would think that brake pad manufacturers are screaming into their cocoa.

The ride is pretty good too with front suspension by McPherson strut with coil springs, and there’s a multi-link set-up at the rear and it pretty much sucks up everything our shameful British roads can throw at it.

There’s also an enhanced Pilot Assist, which relies on Google Maps for speed limits and bends in the road. Volvo is probably further along the road to autonomous driving than most, but the P8 doesn’t drives you nuts with warning chimes should you stray across a white line.

Around town it is a blast to ❛❛ drive and so easy as to render the current driving test obsolete ❜❜ Inside you have the familiar quality of Volvo with a great 12.3in hi-res digital display developed with Google including maps, Play Store and Google assistant (that actually works!) and you can sign into your own Google account and personalise the lot. One little item that l found odd is the range, as this is shown as a percentage rather than how many miles you can achieve, which is not terribly helpful if you suffer from range anxiety but then Google will guide you to the nearest charger and tell you if you are going to make it. It’s just all a part of the automotive mentality adjustment that we are all going to have to deal with.

There is oodles of space inside for six-footers, front or rear, and the carrying capacity of 413 litres is good, with an extra 31 litres in the front where the engine would normally be.

I enjoyed my week with this car but you do have to consider that, at £53,000, it is nearly twice the price of the fossil version but then, in the long-term with zero petrol bills, zero road tax and greatly reduce garage bills it is likely to work out at a very good deal in the longer term – and what price saving the planet?

This is nothing less than the most dynamically capable Volvo ever.

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er charges may be payable. 2. Payable if you exercise the option to purchase the car. 3. Includes optional purchase payment, purchase activation fee and retailer deposit contribution (where applicable). *Orders/ credit approvals on selected E-Class Saloon models between 1 July and 30 September 2019, registered by 31 December excluding Mercedes-AMG models. Guarantees may be required. Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Some combinations of features/options may not be available. Subject to availability. Over 18s only. Finance is subject to status and provided by Mercedes-Benz Finance, MK15 8BA. Sandown Group is a credit broker and not a lender. Sandown Group is authorised and regulated by he Financial Conduct Authority in respect of regulated consumer credit activity. All New and Approved Used cars sold by any Sandown Mercedes-Benz Retailer is subject to a purchase fee of £129 inc VAT. Prices correct at time of going to press 07/19. Images for illustrative purposes.ww

The Sandown Group Here at Sandown, our customers are our main priority. We have over 35 years experience in the Mercedes-Benz brand, so we’re proud to call ourselves experts in the field.

Our dedicated team are here to assist with your every need. Whether you’re looking for your next new model, or need a little help maintaining your current pride and joy, we are committed to providing you with the best service possible. We are just as passionate about your vehicle as you are, so when you choose to visit a Sandown retailer, you can rest assured that your experience will be nothing short of first-class.

We have seven retailers throughout Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire located in Basingstoke, Dorchester, Farnborough, Guildford, Hindhead, Salisbury and Poole, each equipped with a friendly and knowledgeable team. So if you’re in need of a service, are searching for your latest vehicle upgrade, or are on the hunt for a fleet of business cars, we’re the people to visit.

We look forward to welcoming you with a smile at your local Sandown Mercedes-Benz retailer soon!

0330 1780038 Mercedes-Benz of Basingstoke Mercedes-Benz of Dorchester Mercedes-Benz of Farnborough Mercedes-Benz of Guildford

www.sandown-group.co.uk Mercedes-Benz of Hindhead Mercedes-Benz of Poole Mercedes-Benz of Salisbury