Platinum Business Magazine - Issue 69

THE LARGEST CIRCULATION REGIONAL BUSINESS PUBLICATION IN THE UK

ISSUE 69. MARCH 2020

JAGUAR F-TYPE SVR An everyday supercar

Reed Hastings THE FUTURE OF NETFLIX

Gatwick Diamond Business Awards

The finalists

EMBRACING DISRUPTION The futureproofing conference

Influencers The

Forum

The Women in Business debate

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CONTENTS 7-9

NEWS A round up of commercial news across Sussex

33

11

35

PLUMPTON RACES An invitation to go horse racing in the heart of Sussex

13

IoD Believing in work to achieve your goals

14

KRESTON REEVES New IR35 tax rules for subcontractors

16

SUSSEX SUPER GROWTH Announcing the finalists – the most dynamic companies in the region

18

PEOPLEFORCE Can the UK labour market meet the demand after Brexit?

WILLOW STUDY HUB Willow Study Hub’s guide to preparing for spring exams MOVERS & SHAKERS Who’s going where... Harvey John Recruitment tells us who is moving on in the world of regional commerce

58

HEALTH & WELLBEING Wellness trends and advances in 2020 and beyond

62-65

MOTORING Maarten Hoffmann road tests a Jaguar F-Type SVR and a Mercedes GLC

36

DMH STALLARD Family fortunes: why business valuation matters

39-45

INFLUENCERS FORUM: WOMEN IN BUSINESS The first in a series of roundtable discussions on the hot talking points of the day.

68-72

TRAVEL Travel experts Go Bespoke feature the Givenchy Spa at the Metropole MonteCarlo, and offer up travel tips for businesses post-Brexit

19

EMBRACING DISRUPTION Introducing a day-long programme of events aimed at future-proofing your business

20

NATWEST The latest survey of business confidence

22

SUSSEX INNOVATION CENTRE On a mission to disrupt

26

RSM Helping businesses to achieve their full growth potential

46 48

GATWICK AIRPORT Airport of the future

NORWEGIAN Making air travel more sustainable

51/80

NEWS Further round up of commercial news across the UK and abroad

52

MHA CARPENTER BOX Are you ready for the new VAT rules on energy saving materials?

55

27

COVER STORY Ian Trevett profiles the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings

HAINES WATTS Mental health in the workplace

56

GATWICK DIAMOND BUSINESS AWARDS The finalists are announced

75

FOOTBALL Former Albion striker Justin Fashanu is still the only male professional footballer to come out as gay.

76

CHARITY NEWS Chestnut Tree House announce their Castle Night Trek

79

NATWEST ACCELERATOR Laura Way of Votch

82

CLEANKILL More than meets the eye when it comes to pest control 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 The Platinum Publishing Group.

3

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Welcome

I

n this packed issue, we bring you a wealth of news, views and information. Accountancy firm RSM looks at Growth Champions, Haines Watts examines mental health in the workplace and Gatwick features the airport of the future. In addition, Maarten has been blasting around in the Jaguar F-Type SVR and our feature story looks at Reed Hastings, the CEO of the ultimate television disruptor, Netflix.

And while you’re here...

Not only do we have the largest number of print readers on planet Earth but you can also join our 468,000 online readers. If you can’t wait for the next issue then jump onto our social media platforms and join the conversation.

On the subject of disrupters, the Sussex Innovation Centre is launching an annual conference entitled Embracing Disruption, a world of knowledge in a day, on how to survive disruption and how to become a disrupter. Tickets are on sale today.

We are also delighted to present our new series of events entitled The Influencers Forum, featuring sixbusiness leaders debating the subject of the month and this month’s topic is Women in Business. We hope you agree that it is an eye-opening debate, and there is another Forum coming each month. If you want to get involved, get in touch.

@platbusmag Platinum Publishing Group

The Platinum Team

www.platinumpublishing.co.uk

Maarten Hoffmann – Director

Lesley Alcock

Fiona Graves

Lydia Bunyard

maarten@platinumpublishing.co.uk

Commercial Director

Events Director

Events Executive

Ian Trevett – Director ian@platinumpublishing.co.uk

Kate Morton

Hanna Nicholson

Features Editor

Travel Editor

Alan Wares Head of Design

Platinum staff images courtesy of David Green, Shoot Me Now Photography shootmenow.co.uk

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Sussex Gatwick Airport to hold student STEM event

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atwick Airport will hold an action-packed event at Worthing College on March 25th 2020. Over 40 employees and partners from the airport will showcase the vast range of STEM related careers available at the airport. Students will be able to try out a range of activities from marshalling a jumbo jet, discovering the secrets behind careers with cabin crew and pilots, as well as discovering hidden items in the x-ray images guided by Gatwick Airport security officers.

Paula Aldridge, Community Engagement Manager, Gatwick Airport, commented: “This event is part of Gatwick’s wider community engagement programme and is designed to have a meaningful and lasting impact in the local area.”

news CHRISTMAS VENUES

Law firm advise global firm buyout

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MH Stallard has advised the shareholders of Cargostore Worldwide Trading on their £24m secondary management buyout by clients of Connection Capital, a specialist private client investment business. £7.5m of the private capital will support growth in offshore wind, oil and gas, international aid and defence markets. Cargostore is a global container specialist operating from

London and Abu Dhabi, with 30 strategically positioned storage facilities and depot locations around the world.

Kate Norgett, Partner at DMH Stallard, who led the team advising Cargostore, said: “This exit is the culmination of three years’ work and I am delighted to have helped Cargostore achieve it.

Most satisfying of all, the next phase of their growth plans will be underpinned by this new tranche of funding.”

The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers BUSINESS WISDOM

Making Herstory with Healys

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o celebrate International Women’s day, and on behalf of Healys Women in Business, Healys are hosting Making Herstory on Thursday March 5th. Taking place on Brighton Palace Pier, the event will highlight and celebrate the power of women, and 101 years since the Suffragettes Movement.

Partners include Investec, MHA

Carpenter Box, Brighton Gin, Cloud9 Insight, Clearline Recruitment, Gemini Print, Dynamic Magazine, My Hotel (Brighton) and award-winning comedians Funny Women. Tickets include arrival drink, fish and chips and ride tokens for the evening. For more information please visit www. making-herstory2020.eventbrite. co.uk

It’s a gold for Brighton Gin

K

icking off the decade in style, Brighton Gin is delighted to have won the Gold Medal at the inaugural Nordic Spirits Awards for its Seaside Strength Navy Gin (57% ABV). The Copenhagen-based spirits awards

Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune BUSINESS WISDOM

recognise products which illustrate quality and passion in the craft spirits sector. It celebrates independent distilleries whose spirits are free of artifi cial additives and flavours, sugar substitutes, preservatives and GMOS. The judges of the Nordic Spirits Awards “emphasise the quality of traditional production, where the spirit is made in small distilleries and is a result of the creator’s passion and not the shareholders’ expectations”.

Brighton Gin is also thrilled to announce that its Seaside Strength was honoured with the Silver medal in the Navy Strength category of the World Gin Awards in January 2020.

7

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Sussex Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time BUSINESS WISDOM

World record goes mountain high

T

he highest ever dinner party has been recorded by the Guinness World Records. The black tie sit down dinner was achieved at a height of 7,056 m (23,149 ft) by Neil Laughton, Jon Beswick, Dr Marcus Stevens, Sadie Whitelock, Paul Anderson, Ralph Fearnhead (all UK) Jane Chynoweth (Australia) and Nima Sherpa (Nepal) on the North Col, Tibet, China, last year on April 30th 2018. The team were also joined on their expedition by Andrew Elliman (UK), Pasang Sherpa and Phurba Sherpa (both Nepal). Celebrating another Guinness World Record, Neil Laughton has also achieved the fastest speed on a penny farthing bicycle with no hands at 29.603 kph (18.394 mph), at the Preston Park velodrome, Brighton, UK, on November 14th 2019.

news CHRISTMAS VENUES

IWD luncheon at Mannings Heath

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annings Heath Golf and Wine Estate, near Horsham in West Sussex, is hosting the inaugural International Women’s Day Lunch, Sussex, on Thursday 5th March. In association with the Institute of Directors, Sussex, the event at the Mannings Heath estate includes inspirational speakers who will share their business stories; how

they overcame adversity and their advice to other aspiring businesswomen.

The panel includes Charlotte Valeur, chair of the Institute of Directors, who will speak on ‘Equality, a roadmap for change’. The event includes a wine tasting and two-course lunch. For futher information visit www.manningsheath. com/new-events/womensday-lunch

AMEX host LGBTQ Summit

L/R - Panellists: Senior Leaders at American Express - Keith McDonald, Tim Ehinger and Jill Grafflin, Nick Groves Associate Director Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust with guest speakers Lord Hayward and Mark Foster

A

lmost 100 representatives from businesses, charitable organisations, Pride networks and community groups gathered in Brighton last month, for the inaugural Brighton & Hove LGBTQ+ Community Summit.

Hosted by American Express at the company’s John Street office, Brighton, the networking event provided an opportunity to discuss lo-

cal community needs, share best practice and connect with other LGBTQ+ groups. The afternoon included keynote speeches from two distinguished guests: Lord Hayward, who spoke about LGBTQ+ rights and five-time Olympian swimmer Mark Foster who talked about some of the challenges he experienced during his professional career and personal journey.

Swedish superstore given green light

T

he green light has been given for IKEA in Lancing more than a year after Adur District Council’s planning committee first approved the plans. Alongside the IKEA superstore, the New Monks Farm application includes 600 homes, a country park, pumping station and new roundabout to replace the Sussex Pad junction on the A27.

BUSINESS WISDOM

One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching BUSINESS WISDOM

9

Gather and graze at Brighton seafront’s newest all-day dining restaurant and bar

Sussex-sourced bites . Seasonal small plates Sharing platters . Sunday roast . Cocktails Find us at The Grand Brighton

www.cyanbrighton.co.uk

HORSE RACING

Spring festivals Enjoy an action-packed weekend at the races this Easter

W

e approach the time of year when the jump racing festivals are at the forefront of everyone’s minds, and the first up is Cheltenham in its familiar slot that is the second week in March.

Recognising this, we at Plumpton try to get some season-long traction where we offer a bonus series of £60k to attract festival runners for their experience and prep runs before the big day, known as our Cheltenham Bonus Series. In essence, we have five qualifying races run on different days and distances and if you win one of these you can win a further £60k if you win over fences at the festival in March. It’s only ever been won once by Voy Por Ustedes in

2006 and so we will see if Champagne Court, Highest Sun, De Plotting Shed and Lisp have a chance to make history in just a few weeks’ time (The final qualifier has not yet been run).

Champion Chase, both races worth £50k! With the remaining races on each day also very valuable, there is over £200k of prize money on offer over both days and so you and the family could be in for a treat come April 12th and 13th if you join us for our Easter Festival. With a wide array of entertainment on offer, lots of hospitality and dining options, free entry for U18’s, all matched up with quality racing for a brilliant two days’ action.

We also have some of our own quality sprinkled in April with our two biggest races of the season taking place over Easter weekend. On Easter Sunday we have the Sussex Champion Hurdle and on Easter Monday the Sussex

Plumpton hosts two fixtures in March: Anglo-Irish Raceday on Monday March 9th and Sky Sports Spring Jumps on Wednesday March 18th, with discounted advanced tickets available from just £14.

ANGLO-IRISH Raceday Monday 9th MARCH

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Last Race

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Anglo-Irish Package just £20!

Includes Admission, racecard, pie/stew and drink

Kick start The Festival Week at Plumpton…

TICKETS FROM £14 IN ADVANCE! Restaurant & Hospitality options also available.

Cheltenham Preview Panel - Hosted by Colin Brown before racing

Tel. 01273 890383 | racing@plumptonracecourse.co.uk | www.plumptonracecourse.co.uk Race times are all subject to change, please ensure you check before travelling

15244 Plumpton Racecourse Anglo-Irish Raceday 185x130 (Landscape)_1.indd 1

31/01/2020 11:08

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Great relationships Great conversations Great futures

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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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Now, for tomorrow

INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS

Believe in work

By Dean Orgill, Chair of Sussex IoD and Chairman of Mayo Wynne Baxter We continue to admire their efforts, their skill and often their self-belief.

Often we wonder if we can learn from what they have achieved and translate that lesson into what we do as we “compete” in our everyday work lives and seek out success.

L

ike a great many of you reading this column, I spend several evenings, afternoons and even the occasional breakfast time each year attending various corporate dinners, lunches and breakfasts. They do, of course perform various functions. For a great many charities that benefit from them, these are part of the lifeblood of their fundraising. For businesses, they can be a great way to keep in touch with a wide network of contacts as well as giving us a chance to meet new potential business partners in a more relaxed setting. They can also often give us a chance to be inspired by a remarkable story, or simply to hear from one of our heroes.

There is a temptation to think that whilst we may not be able to match their skill levels (though let us not forget that there will be some amongst us who have world class skills in business), we can at least achieve much more if we believe in ourselves or if we want the success strongly enough.

There are many speakers, and certainly a lot of publications and quotes, exhorting us to believe strongly enough in ourselves so that we can achieve our dreams. But as with so many things does there not have to be a balance?

I would not decry self-belief in any person. We all have skills and talents, and we should look to make the most of

them - ideally within a society that recognises that a diversity of strengths enhances everyone’s lives.

The balance comes with the application and effort required. I could dream of, and believe in, my prospects of achieving Gold and do so with an incredible conviction. But even if I had that, and the incredible talent to go with it (which I do not) the other ingredient is sheer effort, best summed up by the late (great) Sir Terry Pratchett, “If you trust in yourself .. and believe in your dreams … and follow your star ….. you’ll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren’t so lazy.”

Just a thought What dream are you working for?

www.mayowynnebaxter.co.uk www.iod.com

As a great many of us seem to have aspired to become a sporting superstar, but ultimately had to compromise on those dreams, many of the people we like to hear from are those who did not compromise, and who did go on to play for their country and/or win that Olympic medal that the rest of us only achieved in that commentary in our heads as youngsters.

It can be great to reminisce on their moments of glory, maybe taking us back to when we shared their triumph as we cheered from the side-lines or from the sofa.

Sir Terry Pratchett

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New IR35 tax rules for subcontractors What does the off-payroll working tax reform mean for businesses?

Emma Beynon, Senior Tax Manager at Kreston Reeves, explains

F

rom April 6th 2020, new tax rules for off-payroll working, often referred to as IR35, will be extended to cover both public and private sector contracts.

Overall this change, which currently remains draft legislation but is expected to become law in the next Finance Act, represents a major upheaval for sectors heavily reliant on subcontractors. Medium and large end clients face increased administration and obligations, for fee-payers a real squeeze on margins with Employer’s NIC costs and payroll running costs, and subcontractors take-home pay significantly reduced by employment taxes without the statutory protections of actual employment.

IR35 applies where an individual would have been an employee of the end client for tax purposes if it was not for the other parties in the supply chain.

HMRC introduced similar rules in April 2017 for public sector contracts including local government and NHS.

for the end client with multiple assessments for workers engaged via complex supply chains.

Currently when a subcontractor takes on a private sector contract through their own personal services company (a PSC), the decision on whether IR35 applies or not is taken by the PSC. Often main contractors and end clients insist that the subcontractor uses a PSC to reduce their own tax risk.

Each link in the supply chain passes the SDS to the next until it reaches the “fee-payer”. This is the organisation which pays the PSC. Where a contract

With the IR35 decision in the PSC’s hands, it is not surprising then that most PSC decide their contracts are outside IR35 and do not treat the payments as if they were employment income subject to PAYE and NI. The PSC typically pays the worker a salary below the NI threshold and the rest of their income is received as dividends, reducing their overall tax and NI costs.

Under the new rules, the decision of whether IR35 applies will shift from the PSC and rest with the end client.

They must review the contract, gather enough information to assess the worker’s IR35 status and take a decision. A status determination statement (SDS), showing the decision and the reasons for it, must then be provided to the worker directly and to the next organisation in the supply chain. This is a significant administrative burden

“There are penalties for organisations which do not fulfil their obligations.

Failure to pass on the SDS makes that organisation the fee-payer liable for PAYE and NIC”

14

FINANCE

is in IR35 from April 2020, the fee-payer must add the worker to their payroll and treat the amount on the PSC invoice (excluding VAT) as employment income deducting PAYE and Employee’s NIC and paying Employer’s NIC to HMRC. If the SDS says the contract is outside IR35 the fee-payer pays the PSC invoice as usual.

There are penalties for organisations which do not fulfil their obligations.

Failure to pass on the SDS makes that organisation the fee-payer liable for PAYE and NIC. There is an exemption for contracts

where the end client is small. The end client is not considered small if two of the following apply: an annual turnover of more than £10.2m, a balance sheet total of more than £5.1m, or more than 50 employees. If the exemption applies, it remains the PSC’s decision whether the contract is within IR35.

From April, the cost of operating through a company could start to outweigh the benefits for some subcontractors, but with many main contractors and end clients still preferring to contract with a company there is limited room for manoeuvre.

Emma Beynon is a Senior Tax Manager at accountants and business advisers Kreston Reeves.

She can be reached by email: emma.beynon@krestonreeves.com.

Visit www.krestonreeves.com

15

Sussex Super Growth Awards Finalists 2020

The most dynamic companies in Sussex revealed

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any Sussex-based businesses are starting the new decade in a strong position, significantly contributing to the national economy and the Sussex Super Growth Awards 2020 return to recognise this success and the top 47 from the county.

Sponsored by asb law, Lloyds Bank and Kreston Reeves with Platinum Publishing as media partner, the Sussex Super Growth Awards celebrate the fastest-growing companies across the region.

New for this year are two additional categories to recognise business growth in the region; ‘Exporters’ – Sussex businesses with the fastest international growth and nine companies join our finalists from this category.

Also, ‘Other Major Players’ – trading in Sussex but owned outside of the country and nine businesses from this category also join our finalists. They join the 29 True Sussex businesses who are privately owned and trading and led from the county, to make up our 47 finalists.

Inclusion in the Sussex Super Growth Awards is purely down to the success and growth of these businesses and we are delighted to recognise their achievement. Whether that is down to innovation, market improvement, acquisition or diversification, these finalists should all be very proud to be part of such an elite group.

Simon Fanshawe OBE

Exporters

Other major players

Adelphi (Tubes) Ltd

Cancom UK Managed Services Ltd

Cordek Ltd

Lemo (UK) Ltd

Frontier-Pitts Ltd

Mecmesin Ltd

Instrument Technology Ltd

Mediwin Ltd

Parafix Holdings Ltd

Posturite Ltd

Rhopoint Holdings Ltd

Spellman High Voltage Electronics Ltd

The Lodge Group Ltd

Tesla Engineering Ltd

The Little Group Ltd

The Luxury Travel Group Ltd

World Of Books Group Ltd

William Reed Business Media Ltd

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The sponsors have visited each of the finalists and they will be ranked in order which will be revealed at an Awards breakfast hosted by writer and broadcaster Simon Fanshawe OBE on Wednesday March 18th 2020 at The American Express Community Stadium.

Congratulations to this year’s finalists who represent the True Sussex, Exporters and Other Major Players who are leading the business community here in the region.

SUSSEX SUPER GROWTH True Sussex businesses Adelphi (Tubes) Ltd Aspen Pumps Ltd Chandlers Building Supplies Ltd Dual Energy Direct Ltd 1st Central Insurance Management Ltd Focus 4 U Ltd. Frontier-Pitts Ltd Global 4 Communications Ltd Hargreaves Property Holdings Ltd H Ripley & Co. Ltd Instrument Technology Ltd Jarvis Tech Ltd Kew (Electrical Distributors) Ltd MPI (Holdings) Ltd Neville & More Ltd Owen Contractors Holdings Ltd Parafix Holdings Ltd Park Cameras Ltd Pet Family Ltd Pilbeam Holdings Ltd Psi - Pay Ltd Rhopoint Holdings Ltd Seevent Plastics Holdings Ltd Temple Group Ltd The Lodge Group Ltd The Little Group Ltd Time 24 Ltd Westridge Construction Ltd World Of Books Group Ltd

Gavin Potter, Growth Relationship Director, at Lloyds Gatwick office, commented ‘’With the Super Growth Awards now an established fixture on the Sussex business calendar, we look forward to another successful opportunity to recognise and celebrate the achievements of our most successful fast-growth companies.’’

Nicola Billen, Partner and Head of Business Relationships at asb law comments “We all know that the last few years have been incredibly challenging for businesses. Uncertainty over what will unfold in the future has undoubtedly affected business confidence and investment and continues to do so. Yet, despite this, Sussex Super Growth 2020 is back to celebrate those that are facing these issues head on and still achieving remarkable growth. These companies deserve to be recognised and celebrated. We are delighted to be able to work with businesses to help them address their own challenges, achieve growth and deliver shareholder value.”

Paul Roe, Partner at Kreston Reeves comments: “Sussex Super Growth 2020 is the most exclusive member’s club for businesses operating in Sussex, who are contributing to the local economy and we want to recognise this growth and the achievement of their business in these challenging times.”

Analysis of the leading growth businesses in the county reveals 38% of them this year are from the manufacturing sector. This is no

surprise given during the first eight months of 2019, the manufacturing sector enjoyed a rollercoaster ride with unprecedented levels of stock piling during the first quarter ended March 31st 2019. Import activity increased by approximately 11%, output activity increased by 22% resulting in a one third increase in demand for warehousing space.

We know that this increase in activity was as a direct result of the pending departure from the EU on March 29th 2019 (delayed eventually until January 31st 2020) and was there to cater for the potential disruptions that could have arisen at our UK ports following a “no deal” Brexit. Indeed, many manufacturing companies experienced a surge in sales activity during this quarter as many customers were accelerating buying decisions for fear of the potential negative effects of a “no deal” Brexit.

Broadly across the UK manufacturing sector as a whole the first quarter gains were followed by a ‘slump’ as many manufacturers ran down surpluses previously built up. Significantly, export customer demand decreased as overseas customers sought to access alternative manufacturers in the EU rather than the UK, which was due to the increasing fear of non-supply following a “no deal” scenario which was averted at the end of October 2019.

The UK remains the centre of new product innovation and development. Corporate taxes in the UK are one of the lowest within the G7 and UK financial infrastructure makes it an attractive place for overseas business to incorporate and trade. Businesses will be relieved to now have certainty following Britain’s departure from the EU in order to plan for the future.

They will be hoping for a trade deal with the EU and a smooth transition at the end of December 2020.

17

RECRUITMENT

Can the UK labour market

meet the demand after Brexit?

By Alastair Millar and Joe Brown, co-founders of Peopleforce Recruitment Ltd It’s worrying, as a recent Open University report found that 91% of businesses were struggling to find skilled workers, even with the UK still a member of the EU. If finding talent is tough with a talent pool of around 230 million people, we dread to think how many more businesses will be struggling when the open borders are finally closed.

Joe Brown and Alastair Millar

O

ur recruitment business, Peopleforce, finds talent for companies across the aviation, medical device, pharmaceutical and engineering sectors, meaning that we are uniquely placed to see the realities of the UK labour market. Over the three years since the Brexit vote we’ve seen some significant shifts – all of which have occurred while we’re still officially an EU member.

Firstly, we saw a drop in the availability of EU workers immediately after the referendum, which has barely recovered since 2016. Our European candidates based in member states are telling us that they no longer feel welcome here, while we’ve also seen a rise in the number of EU candidates returning to their home countries from the UK. Many tell us anecdotally that they lack certainty, and shockingly, a large number we’ve spoken to have no understanding of the EU settlement scheme.

18

More positively, one trend we have seen is an increase in non-EU applicants - from the commonwealth countries and beyond. However, it’s debatable whether this labour will really be able to fill the void, especially given the current visa restrictions.

Unless things change, we can foresee many businesses struggling with the complexities of visa sponsorship, and recruiters being forced to put extra focus on compliance issues, such as a candidate’s right-to-work.

As things stand, it feels like the government’s approach to immigration is perhaps more political than evidence based. What they’re struggling to grasp is that international labour – both skilled AND unskilled – is vital to our economy, and while it won’t necessarily please all their voters, a more fluid immigration policy is crucial to the UK economy.

Based on what we’ve seen, there hasn’t been enough engagement with whole business community on the complex topic of the labour market.

With that in mind, a good start would

be for the government to further their dialogue with SMEs as well as trade bodies such as the FSB, in order to review and develop immigration and skills policies based on the needs of all British businesses, not just big multinationals.

The UK also needs to put much more focus on career education in schools, colleges and universities, so that students know what opportunities are available in the wider economy. Primarily, we need to put much more emphasis on STEM subjects, as it’s these industries that are facing a skills shortage that will damage their competitiveness.

Ultimately, a lack of competitiveness is the biggest risk if we don’t tackle our labour shortage. Our European counterparts are already taking talent that used to come to the UK, and right now we’re not doing anything near enough to address the widening skills gap. Sure, we’re ‘getting Brexit done’ – but at what cost to the UK economy?

Speak with Peopleforce to find out how your business is positioned post-Brexit.

enquiries@peopleforcerecruitment.com T: 01273 830810

EMBRACING DISRUPTIOn A FUTURE-PROOFING CONFERENCE

Attenborough Theatre UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX JUNE 5th 2020 This Conference is a new annual event bringing together some of the brightest minds across the region’s business and academic communities.

Organised by the Sussex Innovation Centre and the Platinum Publishing Group, in partnership with the University of Sussex.

We live in a time of great technological, social and economic change, from advances in AI, big data and machine learning, to increased awareness of our impact on the environment, to new movements in culture, values and wellbeing. How do we change the way we do business in response? How are the truly disruptive businesses shaping our future and how can you survive disruption within your sector?

Over a full day of fascinating keynote speakers, a cast of business leaders, scientists and creative thinkers will share emerging ideas, technologies and insights to help you see your business through a different lens.

A YEAR’S WORTH OF KNOWLEDGE IN A DAY.

Contact: info@platinumpublishing.co.uk for more information and to reserve your place

Private sector activity increases for the first time since May 2019 P

rivate sector business activity rose for the first time since May last year in January, according to the latest NatWest South East PMI® data, with the rate of increase the fastest since July 2018.

Driving the expansion was a further and quicker increase in new order book volumes, which was solid overall. Meanwhile, staff numbers rose for the first time in six months and firms’ output expectations strengthened to the highest since July 2018.

The headline NatWest South East Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors posted 53.0 in January, up from 49.4 in December to signal the fastest rise

20

in private sector output for 18 months.

Anecdotal evidence associated the solid uptick with stronger demand conditions. Furthermore, the South East registered the third-fastest upturn in output across the 12 monitored UK regions, behind only the East of England and London.

Private sector firms in the South East recorded back-to-back monthly increases in new business during January, with the rate of growth quickening from December to a solid pace overall.

Survey respondents linked the latest uptick to stronger client demand as a result of greater market confidence.

Sector data highlighted a divergence, however, with service providers recording a further increase in new busi-

Key Findings • Further and faster rise in new business • Workforce numbers increase for first time in six months • Expectations strengthen to 18-month high

ness, while manufacturers reported a sharp decline.

January data highlighted the first expansion in workforce numbers since July last year, with respondents citing an improvement in demand conditions and attempts to expand operations. The rate of job creation was only marginal, however, and below the series average.

Demand Private sector firms reported a renewed increase in new business during December, with order book volumes rising for the first time since last April. That said, the rate of growth was only mild and subdued in the context of historical data. This improved trend was also seen across the UK as a whole, where order book volumes rose for the first time in five months. By sector, service providers drove the

also increased during December, quickening slightly from November, as companies shared cost pressures with their clients.

BUSINESS SURVEY

Outlook Finally, firms remained confident that output will rise over the coming 12 months in December. The level of positive sentiment strengthened to the highest for six months.

South East Business Activity Index sa, >50 = growth since previous month

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Output growth was partially supported by the completion of unfinished orders in January, as private sector firms in the South East reported a further decline in outstanding business. The rate of backlog depletion, although still solid overall, was the softest for 11 months.

Concurrently, cost burdens facing private sector firms in the South East rose during January, as has been the case in each month since August 2012. Firms linked the sharp uptick in prices to greater costs for fuel and raw materials alongside unfavourable exchange rates.

Higher input prices were partially passed through to clients during January as selling prices continued to rise.

The increase was the quickest since June 2019 and solid overall.

Private sector firms remained confident that output will rise over the coming 12 months in January, with expectations the highest since July 2018. Panellists linked confidence to prospects for greater clarity following Brexit and an improvement in demand conditions.

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COMMENT

Stuart Johnstone, Managing Director, London & South East, Corporate & Commercial Banking “Private sector activity in the South East rose for the first time since May last year during January, with growth the quickest for 18-months.

Moreover, the South East recorded the third-fastest uptick in output across the 12 monitored UK regions. Driving the latest expansion was a second successive monthly increase in new business, which rose sharply amid reports of stronger client demand.

“On a positive note, uncertainty appears to be subsiding as we enter the new year, with private sector firms in the South East reporting the strongest output expectations since July 2018 in January. Respondents attributed optimism to prospects

of greater clarity following Brexit as well as an improvement in demand conditions.

Stuart Johnstone

METHODOLOGY The NatWest South East PMI® is compiled by IHS Markit from responses to questionnaires sent to South East companies that participate in IHS Markit’s UK manufacturing and services PMI surveys.

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On a mission

to disrupt There’s disruption happening at Sussex’s longestrunning business incubator

C

hange is afoot at Sussex Innovation. After 24 years of serving the region’s disruptive start-ups and academic innovators, the business incubator is restructuring from within to offer more intensive support for the most impactful businesses in Sussex and the South East.

Two recent promotions from within the consultancy team are driving the organisation’s new mission, with Claire Pasquill and Helena Jevons stepping into the roles of Head of Programmes and Head of Sales and Marketing respectively. The coaching team is also expanding, with a host of new associate coaches providing specialist expertise.

“My focus as Head of Programmes is to develop the services that will deliver on our new mission,” says Claire. “We are supporting driven, ambitious start-ups and scale-ups who want to have true impact. I feel determined that our new programmes will be full of actionable insight and practical tools for people who want to have serious impact, at scale.”

Claire Pasquill (left) and Helena Jevons

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“Feedback and data-driven decision making are really important to us,” continues Helena. “We’re conducting the largest ever survey of scale-ups in the region, so that we can get tangible insights into the local entrepreneurial experience.

“Our founder and associate coaches bring a new flavour to the team, from exited founders who have scaled and sold multimillion-pound businesses, to dynamic coaches with years of industry experience delivering major organisational change, strategy and efficiency projects. We can now offer access to a diverse team who have firsthand experience of the entrepreneur’s journey and can give straight-talking advice to the next generation of ambitious founders in Sussex.”

Who’s who at Sussex Innovation?

Claire Pasquill has led teams and mentored individuals for well over 20 years. As managing director of an event consultancy, she took the business from the brink of bankruptcy by

building and motivating teams to drive the income of the company to £1.8 million within a year.

Helena Jevons has over 20 years’ commercial experience in FMCG, electronics, SaaS and retail. She has held senior marketing and commercial roles for HJ Heinz, Premier Foods, and GSK amongst others, leading European factory consolidation projects and global product innovation as well as time as the Managing Director of an early stage machine learning Start Up raising £2.4m in private investment.

Helena is a commercial strategist who combines her extensive project and product management expertise with a keen interest in the dynamics of branding and positioning to help business owners develop a product-market fit and successfully follow through on their vision.

The New Associate Coaches Hilary Duggan is an MCIPD qualified organisational change and leadership specialist, with more than ten years’ experience leading projects and teams. As Head of People and Performance Development and then Organisational Design and

SUSSEX INNOVATION

“We saw that we could make the most useful interventions by offering strategic advice to fill some of the gaps that tend to emerge when organically expanding a leadership team” Development Lead at Ingeus, she worked across a group of international businesses to deliver successful organisational growth and change.

Hilary holds degrees in Psychology and Personnel Development, as well as diploma in Neuro-Linguistic Programming. She specialises in coaching and developing leaders and leadership teams to help define and deliver their change agenda, and establish the right mindsets, competencies, and practices to deliver their strategy.

Allisyn James mentors individuals to achieve their potential. She’s all about the ‘consumer at heart’; constantly fascinated by people and the way they think, feel and behave.

Allisyn specialises in growth strategy and business capability, and is passionate about organisational culture.

She has held senior VP positions from

both client and agency side, using her experiences with the likes of Safeway, GSK and Cadbury Schweppes to help shape the agenda and then deliver the future for everyone from small businesses to multinationals.

Emma Mills-Sheffield became a business consultant having spent 15 years in industry leading major pursuits, sales efficiency projects, virtual PMOs and process improvements, training delivery programmes, workshop facilitation and coaching. She’s done this with KPMG, WSP and in the creative and digital industries and has experienced working with public sector organisations, FTSE100 and Fortune500 companies.

Emma helps businesses drive efficiency and productivity by reviewing business operations and investing in their people. She gets the best out of organisations by developing happier

and more productive workforces. In January 2020 she was named as one of 100 female entrepreneurs in the UK as part of the small business campaign f:Entrepreneur.

This is a snapshot of the interdisciplinary team of coaches who are available to collaboratively consult with selected scale-up businesses as part of Sussex Innovation’s new Task Force service.

Interested in taking a step back from your business and redefining your priorities for 2020?

Find out more by visiting info.sinc. co.uk/enquiries and telling us more about your business. A limited number of Task Force briefings will be available on a fully-funded basis.

www.sinc.co.uk

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PLATINUM EVENT MANAGEMENT Platinum Event Management is one of the leading event management agencies in the South East specialising in corporate events and award ceremonies. Our company was built on the principles of excellence, passion and dedication.

As expert award ceremony organisers, we understand how important these events can be, and more importantly, how to deliver them. Whether it’s in business, consumer, private or public sector, our team has over 15 years of experience to create a winning formula for any type of business.

EVENTS

PLATINUM

www.platinumpublishing.co.uk

“Platinum Event Management is a truly professional business whose organisational skills, creativity and attention to detail is proven year after year. The events are a roaring success, and quite simply wouldn't be without their involvement. We look forward to working with them in the future..."

ALLIED IRISH BANK

2020 EVENTS

INTERESTED IN SPONSORSHIP? There aren’t many opportunities where your company can be seen as one of the major players, enabling you to get your message out to the entire region in one fell swoop.

There are a limited number of sponsorship opportunities available in 2020. For more information contact info@platinumpublishing.co.uk

BUSINESS AWARDS

Growth champions

Leading global accounting firm RSM is passionate about helping businesses to achieve their full growth potential

L

eading audit, tax and consulting firm RSM is sponsoring and judging the ‘Growth Champion of Surrey’ Award, a new category at this year’s Surrey Business Awards.

national economy. The county is home to many dynamic businesses, notably in the construction, professional services and technology sectors.

The Surrey Business Awards, back for their third year, are all about celebrating local business, large and small, and provide a great opportunity for companies to boost their profile, grow their networks and help put Surrey on the map as one of the best places to do business in the South East.

“The launch of this new award provides a great opportunity to recognise the hard work that Surrey businesses have put in to driving their growth, and we are proud to be involved.”

Despite the uncertainly since the Brexit vote and various changes in the economic growth figures over the past few years, there have been many businesses in Surrey achieving outstanding, sustainable growth. RSM wants to recognise this achievement.

These companies are vital to the UK’s economic success – they account for annual revenues of more than £43.4bn, driving rising demand, lowering unemployment and generating wealth and prosperity across the South East.

RSM partner Jon Da Costa said: “Surrey is a powerhouse, with over 144,000 active businesses delivering a significant and growing contribution to the

RSM partner Jon Da Costa

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RSM will be kicking off this exciting new category with extensive research to identify the fastest-growing businesses in the county. While the growth statistics are the basis for the research, RSM is interested in the story behind the numbers.

The firm will be contacting the Surrey-based companies that have been shortlisted from the research to invite them to participate in the awards. This will be a great opportunity to celebrate success, increase brand exposure and attract the best talent.

How you can get involved The awards criteria: • Trading and/or HQ in Surrey •L atest full accounts information filed at Companies House as of December 31st 2019 • Minimum turnover of £2m in base year • Privately owned •P rofitable growth demonstrated over a three-year period The awards will also be judged on the business strategy to achieving growth. If you feel you qualify and would like to be involved, please contact Lianne Street at lianne. street@rsmuk.com About RSM RSM is a leading audit, tax and consulting firm to the middle

market with nearly 3,800 partners and staff operating from 35 locations throughout the UK. RSM UK is a member firm of RSM International - the seventh largest network of audit, tax and consulting firms globally. The network spans more than 120 countries, 810 offices and 43,000 people, with a fee income of $5.74bn.

The Guildford office has 11 partners and more than 120 staff and offers a full-service, with teams and individual specialists covering audit, corporation tax, private client advisory, VAT planning and compliance, accounting and business advisory, payroll, systems development and restructuring services.

www.rsmuk.com

THE BIG STORY

battle for your The

remote

Netflix has revolutionised how we watch TV but its control of the airwaves is under increasing threat from powerful new players. Can Netflix CEO Reed Hastings stay ahead of the pack? By Ian Trevett

N

etflix is now so ingrained in popular culture, it is impossible to believe it only launched in the UK eight years ago. It has produced some spectacular TV including House of Cards, The Crown, Breaking Bad, and Stranger Things, with production standards you’d expect from a big-screen Hollywood blockbuster.

Programming budgets dwarf those of traditional terrestrial broadcasters like the BBC, C4 and ITV, and it is big business. In June 2018, its market capitalisation reached a value of over US$180 billion.

The trouble for Netflix is it has been too successful, and some very big

players are now looking to grab a big piece of the pie.

The UK TV market may be paltry compared to America, but it is relatively untapped and enticingly attractive compared to the saturated and fragmented American industry. Either launched or about to launch are subscriptions services from Amazon, Apple, BBC/ITV, Disney and Sky (through its NOW TV brand). American giants looking on with interest include HBO Max and NBCUniversal. If millions of British viewers will splash out a minimum of £5.99 each month for Netflix, then why wouldn’t they pay similar for Disney or Apple?

Cord-cutters and cord-nevers We are used to ‘free’ TV (funded by a compulsory licence or advertising), whereas American viewers have never had the luxury of decent free-to-air TV. Viewers accepted that paying for expensive cable TV was the only way for access to anything watchable. With many cable packages now exceeding $100, it hasn’t been difficult for internet streaming companies to undercut prices.

The cable companies have been struggling to stem the growing tide of ‘cord-cutters’, the customers who have switched to the likes of Netflix or YouTube. In the first three months of

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2019 cable and satellite suppliers lost 1.4 million subscribers [source: Wikipedia].

They are even more fearful of ‘cord-nevers’, the younger demographic who have never seen the need to pay for cable TV in the first place. Way back in 2012, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes

market – video rentals. At its peak, the US video rental company Blockbuster totally dominated the sector with over 800 outlets in the UK alone.

In 1997, along with his business partner, Marc Randolph, Hastings founded Netflix, offering flat-rate DVD rentalby-mail with online ordering.

Blockbuster served a purpose but was frustrating. California tech entrepreneur Reed Hastings, was one unhappy customer: “I had a big late fee for

Reed was already a successful businessman and tech wizard. After graduating from college, he spent two years teaching maths in Swaziland as part of the Peace Corps, before returning to complete a masters degree in Computer Science, specialising in AI. In 1991, Hastings founded Pure Software, which developed a debugging tool for engineers. A few years later, the business, now renamed Pure Atria after a merger, was acquired by Rational Software and Hastings walked away with approximately $750 million.

“Netflix had the last laugh though – within ten years, Blockbuster was bankrupt” warned that cord-nevers did not see anything worth paying for. This is the lost generation who will never pay for traditional TV suppliers, thanks to the rise of YouTube and Netflix.

Busting Blockbusters On both sides of the Atlantic, there was once another lucrative small screen

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Apollo 13. It was six weeks late and I owed the video store $40. I had misplaced the cassette and I didn’t want to tell my wife about it. Later, on my way to the gym, I realised they (the gym) had a much better business model. You could pay $30 or $40 a month and work out as little or as much as you wanted.”

Despite having the capital and an innovative idea, Netflix’s early days

THE BIG STORY Netflix CEO Reed Hastings

his former business partner testifies.

Randolph was an entrepreneur who, early on, saw the potential of selling goods via the internet. When his startup was acquired by Pure Atria, Randolph and Hastings became close, and later brainstormed ideas for a new business. Randolph disputes the popular narrative that Netflix was born out Hastings’ anger at a $40 late fee but concedes “it’s a good story”.

“At its peak, the US video rental company Blockbuster totally dominated the sector with over 800 outlets in the UK alone” Randolph felt the full force of Hastings’ brutal bluntness in 1998 as Nicole Sperling from The New York Times describes: “After a botched investor pitch with Sony that went horribly wrong, he got a big dose of Netflix’s radical honesty. Mr Hastings asked to see Mr Randolph alone and subjected him to a PowerPoint presentation detailing the reasons he was no longer fit to remain chief executive.

were rocky, and the dot-com bust in 2000 hit the business hard. The desperate solution was to approach the very company Netflix had disrupted – Blockbuster.

“By the end of the talk, Mr Randolph was bumped down to president, and Mr Hastings was the new chief executive. Mr Hastings persuaded Mr Randolph to give up some 650,000 stock shares, which reduced his Netflix stake to 15%.”

Randolph seems to bear no grudges:

“I have this tremendous respect and affection for him, as opposed to bitterness. Most people wouldn’t have had the strength to say that. But he recognised it was the right thing for the company. “…Unlike me, Reed is not only a phenomenal early-stage CEO — he’s as good (or better) as a late-stage CEO”.

Randolph left the business in 2003.

Hastings’ single-minded determination was certainly required when he made the controversial, but all-important, decision to split the DVD mailing business from the internet streaming service in 2011. Outraged customers who wished to get both the stream and the DVD faced hefty price hikes, but Hastings was spot on. He placed all his emphasis on streamed video, when the public was still hooked on DVDs, and his gamble paid off handsomely.

The next throw of the dice was in 2013 when Netflix started creating its own content such as House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black, much of which received critical and popular acclaim. By the end of that year, Netflix’s stock had tripled in value.

The Disruptor Disrupted Netflix is about to lose two of its most prized possessions in the US. Its moststreamed shows, Friends and The US Office, both are being reclaimed by Warner Media’s HBO Max and NBCUniversal’s service respectively. Netflix will suffer on both sides of the Atlantic

In a meeting in September 2000, Hastings and Randolph offered to sell 49% of Netflix to Blockbuster for $50m and to create Blockbuster’s online division. In his book, “That Will Never Work”, Randolph describes Blockbuster CEO John Antioco’s reaction: “It was tiny, involuntary, and vanished almost immediately. But as soon as I saw it, I knew what was happening: John Antioco was struggling not to laugh.”

Netflix had the last laugh though – within ten years, Blockbuster was bankrupt.

Much of Netflix’s success can be attributed to Hastings’ ruthlessness, as

Blockbuster, whom Netflix were about to sell out to, went bust in 2010

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as a result of Disney’s platform, which will block off Disney and Pixar films, and the Marvel franchise.

Karl Bode writes on vice.com that, “Every major broadcasting company will likely have its own streaming service by 2022, and most of them are likely to engage in the same behaviour.

“Superficially, it makes perfect sense for a streaming company to want to hide its own content behind an exclusive paywall, driving new subscribers to its own service.”

films and series, an 88% uptick from 2017. And, spend on original content this year (2019) is expected to reach $15 billion.

“Original content is king. The streaming giant’s two top originals, Stranger Things and Black Mirror, are subscriber magnets… Recently, Netflix boasted in a tweet that 40.7 million accounts had watched Stranger Things 3 since its debut.”

An analyst at eMarketer, Ross Benes touches on another reason why Netflix is well positioned.

“They make it so “With the BBC licensing easy for people to model under unprecedented stream.

They’ve been pioneers in pressure, the UK market may video compresbecome even more ripe for sion, making video profit over the next few years” available on every platform easily, making content downloadable and But what if everyone does that? With viewable offline, a lack of buffering, so many streaming services, all comserving personalised messages for peting for the viewers’ hard-earned recommendations and knowing when cash, who will survive? Who has the to skip credits, as well as begin the next content people want to watch? episode immediately.

Netflix has been preparing for this for “… It’s not guaranteed that upcoming years. It knows the only content it can video services are going to have that guarantee keeping is its own. ease of use immediately.”

On forbes.com, Dana Feldman assertBattleground United Kingdom ed: “Netflix has been preparing for the There is no doubt that the major playinflux of competition. The streamer ers are taking the UK market seriously. realised that eventually media conVariety’s Henry Chu reported in Sepglomerates would pull their top titles. tember that: “In July, the company This is why, in 2018, Netflix spent $12 billion building its library of original

30

announced that it was establishing a production hub at Shepperton Studios, outside London. Disney, too, has vacuumed up valuable production space, signing a long-term lease at the historic Pinewood Studios.”

The motive is in the numbers. A report in marketrealist.com by Ruchi Gupta states, “UK consumers will spend $975 million on subscription video services in 2019, according to Statista data. By 2023, UK consumers will spend more than $1.0 billion annually.

“Amid tightening competition in its domestic market, Netflix is counting on international markets such as the United Kingdom to drive its growth.

Netflix lost close to 130,000 US subscribers in the second quarter of 2019 but added 2.8 million international subscribers in the quarter.”

With the BBC licensing model under unprecedented pressure, the UK market may become even more ripe for profit over the next few years.

I think Netflix is on a secure footing for the short term at least. It simply has better original programmes than Amazon or Apple. BritBox, the BBC/ITV offering, doesn’t seem to offer much more than Dave or Gold.

The most recent top ten ratings chart for UK paid video on-demand programmes included only one re-run (The Big Bang Theory) – everything

THE BIG STORY else was new content. For now, Netflix appears to be in charge. It ended 2019 with over 148 million paying members worldwide.

The end of the golden age While Netflix may win, the ultimate losers will be the viewers facing the prospect of paying for multiple services or missing out on favourite programmes.

The Guardian’s Stuart Heritage offers a gloomy prediction: “Netflix didn’t become a monster because people wanted to watch a specific show; it became a monster because people wanted to watch everything. When its streaming platform launched, people were spending more than £15 just to watch a single season of a show on DVD. So to be able to watch every season of a show – and every season of hundreds of others of shows – for a fiver a month was revolutionary.

“That will be a memory soon.

The content creators got greedy and scared, and now they’re determined to drag things back to the bad old ways. They will force everyone to pay for everything separately… Make no mistake: we’re the ones likely to get stiffed here. The golden age of streaming is dead.”

Right: Reed Hastings addressing MCB15 Conference in Berlin Below: An reel highlighting Netflix’s ominpresence

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TUTORING

Willow Study Hub’s guide to preparing for spring exams

T

he exam period in late spring is often a very stressful one for schoolchildren and students with 11+, 13+, GCSE, A-level and degree level. If the candidate can be confident in his mastery of the material, this often translates into a calmer attitude to the coming exams. This is where preparing for exams several months in advance, by practicing past papers, filling in gaps in knowledge, and refining techniques pays off, and where Willow Study Hub have a role.

Each exam requires particular techniques and test-taking skills, as well as knowledge of the course content. The course moves from the broader discussion and class approach to the individual focused on his very solo ability to answer the specific kinds of questions in the tests. Children are too young to self-manage efficiently. It requires help to know what to focus on and when.

Individual supervision is needed to navigate the approach to each type of question and to determine the specific gaps in knowledge or technique.

More parents are making use of the many private tutors available, usually with experience in teaching in educa-

tional institutions, to provide the individual guidance to complement the school. Children respond well to concentrated individual attention, naturally following the tutor’s lead and focusing completely on the work at hand.

An hour or two per week per subject is the usual format, with English and Maths most in demand at Willow, not surprisingly as these are complex skills underlying almost all other sub-

jects - and every child is required to have good grades in these at GCSE to go further, as well as being the essential content of 11+ exams.

It is interesting to hear what parents say about private tuition in Willow Study Hub: Kate: “Willow Study Hub is a great discovery for me. My daughter loves Maths lessons with Anna. She always challenges, motivates, explains the material in a very understandable way.

The fact that the group is small gives my daughter an opportunity to spend more time with the teacher directly.”

Sophia: “Since going to Willow, my son had a big boost in his confidence and improved his academic achievements.”

Willow Study Hub

01483 724666 info@study-hub.co.uk www.study-hub.co.uk

33

Harvey John are ‘moving and shaking’ in the world of indirect tax & tax technology.

Harvey John’s tax division have collated a year’s worth of data and survey results from 1,798 indirect tax & tax technology professionals to produce the first edition of their market report. The report intends to share important stats about job growth, the nuances of indirect tax, the evolving tax technology market, and comprehensive salary guides.

For those movers and shakers of the tax world who want to set themselves apart in their industry with these valuable insights, contact Alex Mann at alex@harveyjohn.com for the full 20 page report.

Total Survey Size Alex Mann Associate Director, Indirect Tax & Tax Technology alex@harveyjohn.com +44 1273 651037

“The state of play for global tax issues marks an opportunistic time to introduce the first edition of Harvey John’s Indirect Tax & Tax Technology Report, utilising our market perspectives to bring clarity to your decisions.”

Start your search with total clarity

Supporting the tax industry in the Gatwick Diamond region, this report is crucial to professionals looking to understand how far their reach can go.

This industry is growing and any mover and shaker who’s a recent hire or a new promotion within a tax focus can take this report as a valuable guideline for career decisions, benchmarking, team growth and management, and much more.

BUSINESS SURVEY

C L A IR E CA R

SON

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HR ConsultLaw appoints firm Cognitive dynamic to law w ne cy an ing ult cit ns ex an Boutique co firm, adding er 20 years’ e ov th th to wi l on rs na ant Claire Ca a HR professio sectors. She ices. Claire is nal services the firm’s serv and professio ving imple ial ha nc t, na fi en e em th anag experience in rformance M nisations.

Pe ga or in d nt re ille fe sk dif is particularly d processes in ts to fully an en es cli tic th ac wi pr ips us sh mented vario building relation to find a bespoke and t ou ab ate ion d Claire is pass e business an related ise needs of th nge of peopleunderstand th to bring th a diverse ra wi ed al ne o de wh to s y se commercial wa ant to busines queries, ult ns oc -h Co ad a s, as ct ts proje sues. Claire ac on long term rks wo d an ills in specialist sk d capacity. and in a retaine

Movers

NI CK I CO NBOY

Extech Cloud

Extech Cloud has app ointed Nicki Conboy to the newly created role of Chief Operating Offi cer. Having been with Extech Cloud almost from its beginning in 2008, Nicki has succes sfully undertaken a number of roles. During her time at Extech Clo ud Nicki has experienced great career pro gression with an enviabl e record of personal self development and won Rising Star at the MD Hub Awards. Prior to joining Extech Cloud Nicki worked for Lloyds Bank.

Nicki said: “I’ve watche d the company blossom and seen the way technology has revolutio nised business. It’s bee n fantastic to be a par t of that and my new role will continue to imp act on that growth.”

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si

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Family fortunes: why business valuation matters Family comes first is a rule that all of us can relate to. But what about the family business when a split is on the cards? Family law expert Samantha Jago recounts a salutary tale, and offers some advice about protecting assets the business was not worth very much at all. The other side could not accept this and requested more and more paperwork to try to find what they believed to be the true value of the business. Dissatisfied with the revelations contained within the paperwork and convinced that the business was genuinely worth millions, they requested a formal business valuation by a professional who would charge a very hefty fee (to be met by my client).

E

very now and then a family lawyer will come across a case that teaches lessons to all the professionals involved. I had such a case a number of years ago that involved a family business.

My client was an entrepreneur who had a business which, at first glance, seemed quite exciting: it apparently had outlets in a number of different countries and when my client had been pitching to secure investment, he gave it a valuation of ‘millions’. This caused much excitement to the other side, who became convinced that the business was, indeed, worth millions which propelled the case from the ordinary to the extraordinary. However my client was something of a Del Boy Trotter character with the ever optimistic attitude that next year he would be a ‘millionaire’, and the paperwork I had seen simply did not support such a buoyant attitude.

We exchanged the mandatory financial disclosure, which suggested that

36

The valuation went ahead, with the report indicating that the value of the business was a mere £1k. By this point legal fees had reached a staggering amount, and so much money had been removed from the business to meet professional fees that the business was now all but insolvent.

What lessons can be learned from this? Well, quite a few actually, particularly when business ownership is involved:

1

Ahead of cohabitation or marriage, or indeed upon marriage, enter into an agreement with your partner that clearly states what will happen to the business if you were to separate.

Pre and Post Nuptial Agreements are underutilised but are essential tools that can protect assets from uncertainty on separation.

2

Get your paperwork in order. Make sure you have up to date accounts, cash flow projections, monthly management accounts and so forth. Allow access to the business’s accountant so that information can be gathered quickly and questions answered.

LEGAL

“A family business will often provide financial stability to the entire family, and it’s therefore important to tread carefully when assessing its value”

3

Businesses are notoriously difficult to value: specialists will apply different formulas that will produce as many results as there are experts offering their services.

It is therefore essential to choose an expert who has experience in valuing businesses in the sector that yours is in.

4

Consider if it is proportionate to get the business valued. As the above case highlights, someone’s personal estimate of what their business is worth can be very different in reality. It could also be the case that a business is purely an income generating vehicle, with very little capital value. If you are not sure, then it is worth employing your own expert accountant to give an initial feel for whether a valuation would be beneficial. This could save you thousands in pursing a potentially unnecessary valuation.

5

Do not resist a valuation. Courts order businesses to be valued as a matter of course and it is often essential to obtain them to ensure that negotiations to settle can progress.

8

How do you realise your interest in the business? Both parties need to be realistic about what they are trying to achieve. It may be that the business does have some value but neither party can realise that interest without destabilising the business. How else, therefore, might the business be dealt with to provide a fair result? It may be that the non-business owner is compensated out of the other assets and/ or receives a monthly income to compensate for not pursuing their interest in the business. However, is it fair that one party is left with the illiquid risk laden assets whilst the other party secures capital and income so that they can move on? All options need careful consideration.

A family business will often provide financial stability to the entire family, and it’s therefore important to tread carefully when assessing its value to ensure that it can continue to support the entire family post-separation if that’s what is required. Expert advice is essential to secure the right result.

6

Do not start moving money out of the business or doing anything to try to decrease its value. The Court will simply add back in what you have tried to remove, and it will severely undermine your credibility before the Court.

7

Are there other owners? If so this will have a bearing on what can be done with the business and how your interest will be valued.

Samantha Jago is a Partner and qualified mediator in DMH Stallard’s Family team. Contact her at samantha. jago@dmhstallard.com, or call 01483 467437. www.dmhstallard.com

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ROUND TABLE BUSINESS SURVEY

T H E

INFLUENCERS F O R U M ™

O

ver the coming months, The Platinum Group will be hosting a series of forums with some of the leading business people in the region, discussing the issues af-

fecting commerce, industry and technology today.

For the first in the 2020 series, we gathered seven of the most influential

female business people to discuss ‘Women In Business’. Platinum CEO Maarten Hoffmann took the role of chair and facilitator, and the panel comprised of the following...

ST HO

After 20 years at the BBC, MAARTEN HOFFMANN is the founder of the premier business networking forum in Sussex, The Platinum Club, which takes a totally fresh view on the networking formula and has seen tremendous growth since its inception in 2010. A journalist for many years, Maarten brings strong opinions and an acerbic wit to Platinum Business Magazine.

ANA CHRISTIE is the CEO of the Sussex Chamber of Commerce, which aims to help businesses grow, develop, discover and influence. Ana’s career began in aviation, before later entering senior management in the hotel and tourism industries. Ana joined the Chamber over five years ago and has since re-established it as the largest membership organisation in the county.

EMMA LANE is the South East Area Director for Allied Irish Bank. Her role is to lead a team of banking and finance professionals. Emma has been in Banking for 20 years, having worked for Barclays and Lloyds. She was one of the first girls to attend the previously all boys school Marlborough College, where her love of all things challenging stems from.

MELANIE RICHARDSON is Managing Partner at Swindells Accountants. Melanie qualified as a Chartered Accountant in a top 20 firm over 20 years ago and has worked both in practice and in business. She has extensive experience in running businesses and has been managing partner at Swindells LLP for the last seven years.

Recently promoted to Partner, REBECCA BURFORD is one of the youngest partners in Charles Russell Speechlys. Ranked as ‘Next Generation Partner’ in the Legal 500 2019, she is able to quickly grasp, understand and effectively communicate complex issues. Impressing clients with her comprehensive legal knowledge and experience, Rebecca was recently placed in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 list of legal market trailblazers.

Financial Advisor SAMANTHA KAYE joined Wellesley Wealth Advisory after having spent 20 years working in a pensions, legal and technical environment.

During this time she provided detailed assistance to a variety of St. James’s Place practices, helping to formulate plans for their clients. Samantha now wishes to help her own clients by focusing on pensions, investments and inheritance tax planning.

VICKY STEVENS has worked with the NatWest/RBS group for 12 years and has now specialised in business banking as Business Growth Enabler for the past eight years. Passionate about supporting female entrepreneurs, she was delighted to take the lead in a project to work alongside Coast to Capital, becoming the UK’s first Expert in Residence off the back of the Rose Review.

LESLEY ALCOCK, Commercial Director of The Platinum Group, publishers of the UK’s widest read Business Magazine and producers of the South’s largest Business Awards including, The Sussex Business Awards, The Surrey Business Awards and more. Lesley has had a varied career working at The London Evening Standard, The Observer Newspaper and as part of the creative partnerships team at Capital Radio.

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WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Does sexism still exist in the workplace?

Vicky Stevens There’s still a long way to go, but I personally haven’t experienced direct sexism.

I do know that there are people in the industry that feel it is still there.

Emma Lane The finance sector is still a man’s world. I am quite used to walking into a room of 50-100 people and being the only woman there.

At the leadership meetings, I’m quite used to being only one of two or three women. Things are changing but we need to continue to push through the barriers.

Samantha Kaye When I started my corporate career, some 20 years ago, there was a lower expectation for the female university leavers.

We were almost expected to walk into the typing pool. If you had any expectations of grandeur in a career it was almost laughed at.

Ana Christie Sexism is more prominent in certain sectors such as finance, law, construction and manufacturing. I experienced sexism in a previous role and heard things being said that you wouldn’t normally expect to hear, but that was over 20 years ago.

Rebecca Burford I work in a male dominated sector and I’m used to being often the only female at a meeting or a networking event.

I have definitely witnessed sexist behaviour, sometimes it’s almost subconscious behaviour.

However, when I have challenged someone they have accepted it was not right and now think a bit more carefully.

Melanie Richardson I’ve been to meetings and people have assumed I was a secretary and asked me to make a cup of coffee. That wasn’t that long ago. When I first started we weren’t allowed to wear trousers in the office, because we were female. There are still occasional examples of unconscious bias. One of my elderly clients recently asked me why I was the Managing Partner as I was a girl. But that’s the older generation. The younger generations don’t care if you’re male or female, gay or straight.

Lesley Alcock It’s something I did experience at the beginning of my career in Fleet Street.

Things have evolved and we’ve come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go.

Emma Not long ago, I organised a dinner with the help of two other very senior women (one a retired CFO, the other a CEO of an engineering company). A chap walked in and looked at the three of us and said, “Are you the secretaries?”

We saw the funny side and I have never let him forget it!

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BUSINESS ROUNDSURVEY TABLE What can be done about the cost of childcare? Should large companies be legally required to supply an on-site creche or nursery? Should the government fund nurseries?

Ana My brother and my sister-inlaw suffer from this. They both do shift work at the airport. They’ve had no alternative but to have private childcare, which wipes out one of their salaries.

Emma I don’t think it’s a responsibility of government to fix this problem.

As a society we do have to come up with our own solutions. One size doesn’t fit all. Some people are happy to go back to work for six months, but others aren’t. We try to help with flexible working, but it isn’t appropriate for every role. I need somebody available from eight till six which is not necessarily appropriate for nursery costs. A child minder can be a bit more flexible because they tend to look after children in their own environment.

Melanie It would be difficult for Swindells to provide anything like that in any way shape or form. We have 40 people working for us. I can’t think how we would be able to provide an on-site service and we certainly couldn’t compete with the larger businesses that would then attract the highly skilled people. I think it would be a backward step for us and similar-sized businesses. We already face a massive skills shortage.

There could be other ways around it. We’ve got childcare vouchers and various schemes in place. Of course, smaller businesses need to

smaller employers in the similar way that the apprenticeship programme was rolled out. It would be a cost, but the overall benefit of attracting women back into the economy could outweigh any expenditure.

be more flexible but I do think on-site nurseries at larger companies could be anti-competitive.

also have a much longer period of maternity leave but actually it seems that they get the balance right.

Ana If you look at the makeup of business in the UK, over 85% are SMEs so it would be a huge challenge for the majority of businesses.

Melanie They have amazing free health care in Scandinavian countries.

The general population have a greater expectation of standards of living and aspirations. They have a lot of people who go to university and they have very different social structures to this country.

Emma It would be a very expensive policy. The cake is only so big and you have to decide where money will be spent. It would be a big challenge to fund free nurseries.

Rebecca The Scandinavian countries seem to be quite successful at providing such services. They

The nursery that my children went to was amazing. It was set in three acres with animals and was a loving environment. I was fortunate that I was able to afford it. The same applies to private school fees.

Rebecca We have a head office in London with 700 staff, which could be a great pilot for an in-house nursery. I think it could work.

Emma I’m assuming it would need to be profitable. It shouldn’t just be a perk of working for a firm, because this adds to the cost of doing business. There’s also the danger of this being anti-competitive and disadvantaging smaller businesses.

A small business simply could not offer a creche and could struggle to attract mums returning to work.

Samantha It would just push the problem back to government to expand the childcare scheme, so that there’s greater benefits available for

“They have amazing free health care in Scandinavian countries. The general population have a greater expectation of standards of living and aspirations.”

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WOMEN IN BUSINESS

“There’s a huge appetite for women to go back into business.

The Mums in Business Network on Facebook has over 100,000 members...”

How important is it to have a mentor or role model?

Vicky I am so passionate about role models. It is so important for young females in schools to have somebody to look up to. It is especially important in very male dominated industries like construction and technology. Talking to a female who’s done significantly well is really powerful. It’s just really important to have somebody you can relate to.

Melanie I have usually had male mentors. One would make me go away and read the broadsheet newspapers and then quiz me every lunchtime to make sure that I got a broad range of

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BUSINESS ROUNDSURVEY TABLE According to the Rose Review, many women found it so difficult to get back into work that the only option they had was to start their own business. Do you agree?

Vicky There is a skill gap issue. Women might feel they are ready to return, but things move on quickly and they often discover their knowledge and skill base is not up to speed. If you add to this worries about flexibility, then many think that starting a business can work better to fit in with the family. Also there is a lack of access to finance, often because women are more reluctant to take on debt as they worry about keeping the family secure. It tends to be a vicious circle.

The NatWest ‘Back Her Business’ campaign was launched off the back of the Rose Review because we identified this gap. Women want to take their business forward but are typically uncomfortable taking on a large debt.

The ‘Back Her Business’ programme is part grant funding and part crowdfunding. It comes with support and access to mentors. Women are more risk adverse so we want to offer encouragement.

Samantha There’s a huge appetite for women to go back into business. The Mums in Business Network on Facebook has over 100,000 members - it is effectively a networking group where women offer their services to each other and help each other progress. When a woman has put her heart and soul into generating her own individual business, she takes comfort from talking to another fellow mum or another fellow woman who has been through similar experiences.

There are so many women who are desperate to be entrepreneurs and work around their children’s pickups.

But what I see my day to day job is they don’t know to grow the business when it starts to take off. It’s about taking a little leap of faith into making a go of it, rather worrying about the risk of failing.

Women starting businesses often need help with their financial affairs as often they have never had to to do it.

Emma Our customers tend to be more established businesses, and there isn’t an issue about the gender of the management team or the CEO. But we are understanding of our clients’ needs. For instant we recognise that arranging a meeting at 9am is not convenient for some people but 10.30 is fine.

develop must be one of the most satisfying things you can do.

views and knowledge that I could talk to clients about. In every key job I’ve had, there’s been somebody who’s mentored me – it’s been a massive influence on my career.

Vicky It doesn’t need to be someone of the same gender or race, just somebody that you can relate to.

But if you are in a male dominated

industry, you might find that you relate more to a successful female.

Rebecca I have had several mentors over my career, all men who wanted to see me succeed and got nothing out of that relationship, other than the satisfaction of helping.

Melanie To help someone grow and

Rebecca Absolutely. My great aunts, who are now aged between 75 and 90, were all fantastic role models and I didn’t even realise that until recently.

One of them was a civil engineer.

To be a black, female civil engineer in that generation must have been amazing. Another great aunt was head of training for IBM in America.

These women were pioneering.

They became role models without even realising. I think they were just determined.

Emma In North America, you often see women working on the roads, under lifts or fixing the escalators.

I noticed it as for me it seemed unusual, but it was just normal there.

We think we’re a fairly equal country but you just don’t see it. When do you ever see women mending pot holes?

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WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Should every company with more than 500 employees, by law, have a female board member?

Emma We benefit from having women on the board. Women tend to approach things slightly differently. We tend to be more collaborative, more collegial, and we want to have a discussion. It makes the board much more rounded and more appropriate to society.

Vicky Coast to capital encourages more females to come forward and be part of the board. Julie Kapsalis does a fantastic job encouraging diversity - it just gives that different perspective Melanie Making it a legal requirement brings in that ‘shortlist’ thinking. It has to be a case of actively seeking to find people who will fit on the board who just happened to be female, as opposed to looking for a female and putting them on the board just for the sake of it.

Lesley It’s the recognition of talent.

It’s about looking at the people you’ve got and rather than overlooking the women, they should be considered equally for those board positions.

That’s something that perhaps hasn’t happened historically.

“We see many women starting businesses when they return to work, but what is worrying is the lack of young business women coming through.”

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ROUND TABLE BUSINESS SURVEY “We benefit from having women on the board. Women tend to approach things slightly differently. We tend to be more collaborative, more collegial, and we want to have a discussion...”

Are successful men regarded as confident, while female colleagues are called bossy?

Emma Successful men and women are certainly treated differently. I wonder how many senior women have been accused of being bossy in their career?

Melanie Bossy is such a negative word. No one would ever use that to describe a man. He would be assertive.

Rebecca Or we get labelled as aggressive. I’ve been compared to a dog with a bone, because I will champion something.

Samantha As part of a Chartered Insurance Institute programme, we go into schools to talk to young people about money, including the risks of using credit cards and payday loans.

We find many girls are very confident and loud, more so than the boys. I don’t know what happens between them leaving school and starting work.

Ana We see many women starting businesses when they return to work, but what is worrying is the lack of young business women coming through. I am on a judging panel for

a Dragon’s Den style event for 16-21 year-olds, and it’s usually only 10-20% female. Schools and colleges need to do more to encourage more females to start their own businesses.

Vicky Education is so important.

The bank is looking to roll out a programme where we go into schools and speak to those children or younger adults about having an entrepreneurial mindset.

Melanie It’s interesting to see if there’s a definite change in people under 30. There seems to be a real positive change. When I’m recruiting, the young people that we are training all view each other as equals. It’s such a nice thing to see and I really hope it carries on.

Rebecca My niece is going to be a leader. She has this incredible personality and she’s so young. We are very careful about the language we use around her, being very careful not to call her bossy. She’s determined and she’s strong. We have to educate girls that it’s alright to ask and be confident.

T H E

INFLUENCERS F O R U M™

p o dcast

LISTEN IN FULL

You can hear more of the discussion by streaming the exclusive podcast at www.buzzsprout.com/887299. You can also download it via the usual podcast apps. Search for ‘The Influencers Forum’.

45 45

The airport of the future

Tech start-ups from around the globe visit Gatwick to supercharge airport innovation

Sixteen start-up companies from around the world pitched their products to event attendees. Five ‘reverse-pitches’ were also given by airport users – including pilots, airfield staff and others who work at the airport - to highlight challenges that they face so that the start-ups could take these away and work up possible future solutions.

Parking robots at Gatwick

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atwick has been a leading airport innovator for many years and the airport’s ongoing relationship with Plug & Play, a Silicon Valley accelerator, is one way the transport hub stays ahead of the curve and manages to maintain its crown of being the world’s most efficient single runway airport.

Going forward, new technology and innovation will also help the airport to grow by allowing the airport to make better use of its existing main runway and also by helping it to bring its standby runway into regular use.

Plug & Play introduces new tech startups and entrepreneurs from around

46

the globe to established businesses, with a view to fast tracking their innovations and driving forward improvements at scale across a particular sector, in this case airports.

Through this relationship, Plug & Play recently hosted an event at Gatwick Airport that brought tech start-ups from the UK, USA, India, Israel, Austria and Denmark together with airports, airlines and universities to help drive airport innovation forward.

Local universities also attended, including the University of Sussex and the University of Chichester, as did business groups including the Chambers of Commerce from both Horley and Crawley.

Start-ups present included: • London and Copenhagen-based platforms that connect travellers with hotels and shops where they can store bags – without searching for a specialist luggage facility.

• Paris-based start-up that helps airlines improve fuel efficiency – saving money and emissions.

• A New York-based firm that uses machine learning predict flight disruption and automatically rebook passengers on alternative flights.

• A London-based start-up that aims to make air travel ‘baggage-less’ by checking-in luggage at home and delivering it to the passenger’s final destination.

TRAVEL

Machine learning to prioritise flights most at risk of delay Abhi Chacko discusses some recent innovations at Gatwick: “We obviously want our flights to depart on time but by conventional methods are only able to predict the departure times accurately in advance about 50% of the time.

“We are however now using machine learning to predict the departure time. The machine considers a range of multiple factors – passenger numbers, bags, destination, airfield condition, flight and service history, and will predict when the flight is going to depart. We are now getting it right around 70% of the time and we use the new technology to prioritise the flights that are at most risk of delay and deploy additional resources to help our airline partners get their aircraft away on time.”

ing agent, bag handler and turn lead – can collaborate and communicate in real time. The users will mark the start/stop of their tasks on the tool and we get a full history of the turns and can use it to fine tune the process over time.

“We can also now detect turn events automatically using computer vision with cameras pointing down to the stands that can detect the jet bridge connecting, cargo doors opening and power connecting.”

Digital management of the aircraft turn “One of the most critical, but fragmented processes in the airport is the management of the aircraft turn around. It's currently all done using radio and paper.

Managing aircraft line maintenance digitally “Another paper and radio process is aircraft line maintenance, which we are streamlining and creating a digital solution for called ‘LineMate’. This will simplify the interactions among captain, aircraft engineer and the control room, and make it more efficient. Solutions like this would be particularly relevant given the Boeing maintenance hanger which will soon be operational at Gatwick.”

“We are building an integrated digital platform called “AirTurn” where all stakeholders - captain, crew, board-

Chatbot and Alexa skill “We have already enabled flight enquiry on Alexa and we have now in-

Presenting at the event was Abhi Chacko, Head of Innovation at Gatwick Airport, who gave an overview of recent innovations at the airport, including a passenger chatbot and the use of computer vision to measure the amount of hand luggage due to go on an aircraft.

He said: “This event kick-started numerous discussions that may not otherwise have happened and we hope it will supercharge airport innovation at Gatwick and other airports across the UK and further afield.

troduced a Chatbot for passengers on Facebook Messenger to answer typical questions from passengers on flight times, airport facilities etc.

Once this has bedded in we will roll it out on Apple iMessage and Whatsapp.”

Abhi Chacko, Head of Innovation at Gatwick Airport

“We are building an integrated digital platform called ‘AirTurn’ where all stakeholders can collaborate and communicate in real time” “By deploying the latest innovations, Gatwick has been able to deliver some best in class passenger services. Technology moves fast however and events like this help Gatwick and VINCI Airports to stay ahead of the curve so we can become early adopters of

appropriate advances that will improve the service we offer passengers.”

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N

orwegian was voted the world’s most fuel-efficient airline on transatlantic routes in 2015 and 2018 by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) and since 2008, the airline has reduced its emissions by 33% per passenger kilometre thanks to new, fuel-efficient aircraft. Contributing to a sustainable future for the aviation industry is at the heart of the Norwegian ethos and it is something that the airline is taking action on today, Norwegian calls it ‘flying smart’.

As part of ‘flying smart’, the company only operates the newest and most fuel-efficient aircraft across its global network. The airline’s Head of Sustainability, Anders Fagernaes, clearly sees a direct correlation between the low-cost business model and reducing emissions. “Flying brings people together and is of great value to society. But flying also comes at a cost to our environment. At Norwegian we fly smart, with one of the newest fleets in the industry. Our low-cost business model reduces fuel and resource con-

sumption – cutting both ticket prices and carbon emissions at the same time.”

Sustainability does not have to come at a premium for either the industry or passengers. Norwegian customers only pay for what they consume, and direct flights use less fuel, reducing net emissions. The low-cost business model is based on low fares which, in turn, means a higher load factor on every flight and therefore lower emissions per passenger. Norwegian does not have flat beds on long-haul, nor does it have drop-down flat screens on short-haul, further cutting weight, fuel consumption and reducing both net carbon emissions, and emissions per seat. Norwegian firmly believes the low-cost business model is the sustainability model of the future.

The development of low-carbon solutions, such as electric airplanes and alternative fuels, has a long way to go before they are scalable to the extent that they become commercially viable throughout the aviation industry. How-

ever, Norwegian aims to become the most carbon and resource-efficient airline in the world by adopting new technology when that time comes.

In addition to being technically highly-trained, Norwegian pilots are great energy managers, always trying to find ways to fly even smarter. Advances in technology such as using aircraft sensors, advanced weather data and big data analysis to inform pilots on how to reduce fuel consumption before and during the flight have had a signifi cant positive impact on fuel consumption and emission levels. After each flight, pilots receive feedback on their performance which is sent straight to a specially-tailored phone application, advising them on how to fly even smarter. By flying smarter, Norwegian pilots can save up to 2% of Norwegian’s entire fleet’s fuel consumption, equivalent to 140,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year and the

Flying

smart

A sustainable future is at the heart of Norwegian’s ethos. Here’s how the airline adopts an eco-conscious business model

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BUSINESS SURVEY TRAVEL

Norwegian has also partnered with climate company CHOOOSE to make it easy for passengers to offset their carbon footprint when buying a ticket with the airline. The initiative has been welcomed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Fagernaes is clear that there is consumer appetite to offset carbon emissions. “Carbon offsetting is an important tool in managing today's emissions, and we know that many of our customers would like to compensate for emissions associated with their journey.”

how its flight’s emissions compares to industry average. The CO2 emissions calculation is based on the official methodology of the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the International Council of Clean Transportation (ICCT) and Norwegian’s own flight emissions data.

For passengers that opt in, offsetting is then performed through carefully selected CO2-reducing clean energy projects in regions Norwegian flies to.

The projects are certified by the United Nations and the Gold Standard, which sets the standard for climate and development interventions to quantify, certify and maximise their impact.

The Gold Standard also includes contributions to other UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Norwegian developed the feature to be as informative, simple, and trustworthy as possible. When first selecting a flight, Norwegian informs customers

Even if commercial aviation technology continues to develop and Norwegian keeps reducing its environmental impact, emission-free flying is not possible today, but ‘flying smarter’ is a reality that has a tangible and immediate positive impact on sustainability.

use of advanced weather data can cut 30,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

“Flying brings people together and is of great value to society.

But flying also comes at a cost to our environment” Anders Fagernaes, Norwegian’s Head of Sustainability To find out more visit: www. norwegian.com/uk/about/ experience-us/responsible-travel

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national

news BUSINESS SURVEY

RBS cleared over developer’s claim of ‘duress’

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property developer who struggled to repay a £75m loan from RBS after spending part of it on a yacht, a jet and fast cars has lost a lawsuit against the lender. Oliver Morley had claimed RBS’s controversial Global Restructuring Group (GRG) placed him under ‘economic duress’, which led to some of his

properties being seized by the bank and sold for a profit. But in a High Court judgment, the claim was dismissed. Mr Justice Kerr found that RBS did not breach its duty to exercise reasonable care and skill when dealing with Morley and that its actions were rationally connected to its commercial interests.

Which universities spend the most on wellbeing?

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xclusive research from Beeja Meditation has revealed which UK universities are investing the most into their student wellbeing services, with some universities spending over £6 million more than others. Of the top five, the Uni-

versity of Central Lancashire came out first with a whopping spend of £6.2m. University of Sheffield ranked second followed by De Montfort University, University of the West of England, and University of York consecutively.

Failure defeats losers and inspires winners BUSINESS WISDOM

Meat-free and your money back

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mployees at Manchester-based property development firm Igloo Regeneration will no longer be reimbursed for meals that contain meat following the introduction of a vegetarian-only expense policy. Igloo is the UK’s “leading responsible real estate business,” and its internal policies should reflect that, Igloo Regeneration director John Long told the BBC. The company pointed to research that suggests that going vegetarian is one of the biggest ways in which you can reduce your individual environmental impact.

Airsorted becomes Houst

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ondon-based professional property hosting company Airsorted has unveiled its new brand identity - Houst.

Already one of the biggest players in the professional hosting space, Houst’s ambition is to be seen as an essential partner to property owners, rather than simply a service provider. The rebrand signifies the evolution of the market, and the business itself, with multiple platforms to list and rent short and mid-term property rentals – outside of Airbnb. In 2019, Houst supported hosts across 20 cities, across 11 countries to achieve more than 250,000 bookings generating a total of revenue for hosts of over £90 million.

Bezos pledges billions to Earth

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mazon boss Jeff Bezos has pledged $10bn to help fight climate change. The world’s richest man said the money would finance work by scientists, activists and other groups.

Writing on his Instagram account, he said: “Today, I’m thrilled to announce I am launching the Bezos Earth Fund… we can save Earth. It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organisations, and individuals. Earth is the one thing we all have in common - let’s protect it, together.” Mr Bezos has an estimated net worth of more than $130bn, so the pledge represents almost 8% of his fortune.

Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming BUSINESS WISDOM

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Are you ready? for the new VAT rules on energy saving materials Dan Hobbs, Tax Partner at MHA Carpenter Box, takes a look at the changes in VAT around energy saving materials to help you see if you’ve been affected saving materials was restricted to comply with EU law. The UK rules were found to go beyond what is permitted under EU law. Supplies which would previously have qualified for the reduced rate, now only qualify if they meet the new and more restrictive tests which are noted below. This is not good news for the sector or the environment.

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he Manufacturing team at accountancy association MHA release a quarterly series called The Engine; these provide a national outlook on the issues facing the manufacturing market.

An overview From October 1st 2019 the scope of the VAT reduced rate (5%) for energy

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What are the changes?

From October 1st 2019 the reduced rate only applies to the installation of energy saving materials (and energy saving materials supplied with installation), where the supply meets one of the new social policy conditions noted below, or a new 60% test is met in relation to materials.

The reduced rate has been removed for wind and water turbines. The installation of these turbines is subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20%.

Solar panels have been retained in the scope of the reduced rate.

Social Policy Conditions Condition 1: The supply of the installation is to a ‘qualifying person’ and in the qualifying person’s sole or main residence.

A qualifying person is a person who is: • Aged 60 or over, or • is in receipt of certain benefits, such as Child Tax Credit (other than the family element), Council Tax Benefit, Disability Living Allowance, Disablement Pension, Housing Benefit, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, War Disablement Pension and Working Tax Credit.

Condition 2: The supply of the installation is to a ‘relevant housing association’, which includes registered social landlords and registered housing associations.

BUSINESSFINANCE SURVEY Condition 3: The supply of the installation in residential accommodation is in a building or part of a building used solely for a ‘relevant residential purpose’.

This includes children’s homes, care homes, etc.

Note: subcontractors are unlikely to meet Condition 1 or 2 as they supply a main contractor and may need to rely on the 60% test below for reduced rating.

60% Test Where one of the above social policy conditions is not met, it is necessary to look at the new 60% test for materials.

If the open market value purchase price (excluding VAT) of all goods supplied to the customer (as part of the installation which remain in place once the job has been completed) is greater than 60% of the total value of the supply to a customer (excluding VAT), an apportionment is now required between materials (which will become standard rated) and labour

(which will be reduced rated). Sounds complicated…

Example 1: A contractor pays £500 (excluding VAT) for material and charges its customer £1,000 (excluding VAT) for the installation.

Since the cost of materials is only 50% of the value of the total supply, the contractor can charge the reduced rate of 5% on the total supply i.e. 5% of £1,000 = £50.

Example 2: A contractor pays £7,500 for materials (excluding VAT) and charges its customer £10,000 (excluding VAT) for the installation.

Since the cost of the materials is 75% of the value of the supply, the supplier will need to separately identify the value of the materials and charge VAT at the standard rate on the supply of those materials to its customers. The labour element of the supply will continue to qualify for the reduced rate.

“Supplies which would previously have qualified for the reduced rate, now only qualify if they meet the new and more restrictive tests”

Supplies where the material cost is likely to be a high proportion of the value of the supply e.g. solar panels, will not generally be eligible for reduced rating unless one of the above social policy conditions is met, which could have a significant impact.

Who is impacted?

Any contractor or subcontractor installing energy saving materials including: • Controls for central heating and hot water • Systems draught stripping • Insulation • Solar panels • Wind turbines • Water turbines • Ground source heat pumps • Air source heat pumps • Micro combined heat and power units • Wood-fuelled boilers

Get in touch For more information get in touch with our friendly team of tax and business advisers by contacting Dan on 01903 234094 or visit our website: www.carpenterbox.com

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The Gatwick Diamond Business Awards

19th March 2020

Join us for a night of glitz and glam in the Millennium Suite of the Copthorne Effingham Park Hotel for a pre-dinner reception hosted by Norwegian, before taking your seat for a sumptuous three course dinner with wine.

Our presenter for the evening will be writer, broadcaster, actor and former MP and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, Gyles Brandreth. Gyles is one of Britain’s most sought-after award ceremony hosts and after-dinner speakers. A star of Celebrity Gogglebox, a veteran of QI and Have I Got News For You, a reporter on The One Show and a regular on Just a Minute, his many books include The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries and two recent best-sellers: The 7 Secrets of Happiness and his celebration of good English, punctuation, spelling and grammar: Have You Eaten Grandma?

This Black Tie event will see the very best of the Gatwick Diamond Business community come together to celebrate the achievements of World-Class businesses in this World-Class region.

6.00pm

Evening starts with Pre-Dinner Reception Sponsored by Norwegian

6.45pm

Take your seats for Dinner

9.30pm

Gyles Brandreth

10.00pm

Presentation of the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards

11.00pm

After-Show Party

01.00am

Carriages

For more information and to download the booking form, visit:

WWW.GATWICKDIAMONDBUSINESSAWARDS.COM

@GDBIZAWARDS

FINANCE

Mental health in the workplace Burn out and how to avoid it by Dan Morgan, Managing Partner at Haines Watts Esher

drove you in the beginning and is this still what drives you now? Take the time to review your business plan and make sure you’re still on the right track to achieve your goals.

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R

unning a business and being your own boss may be a dream for many, but it also comes with a whole host of challenges. Business owners would do anything for their company but at what cost? How can business owners balance success with a healthy and happy life?

Through opinion research with business owners, we discovered that more than a quarter (27%) of business owners admit that running their business is having a detrimental impact on their physical and mental health with 73 out of 100 business owners strongly agreeing that their business is emotionally exhausting. Below are some top tips to keep you on top of your game.

Ask for help Build good support systems both in your personal and professional life.

Peer groups or mentors who face similar challenges to you can be invaluable in offering you people to lean on who understand your struggle and offer you new skills on how to work through it.

3

Break things down It is very easy to feel overwhelmed with your work load. Start by taking a step back and figuring out what needs

to be a priority, what could be delegated and what can be pushed back.

Working through your tasks this way can help you to better plan your business’ future and set realistic timelines for you to achieve your goals.

4

Recruit the right team As your business grows you can no longer do everything. It is vital to have the right team in place to get you out of the day-to-day allowing you to focus on longer term objectives for the business. Hire people that challenge you and know more than you do.

That way you can shift into the leadership role of asking the right questions rather than providing all the answers.

This will allow you to take a step back and re-address your work-life balance.

5

Take time away from the office This one may feel obvious and impossible at the same time with 52% of business owners taking less than 10 days holiday a year and 8% taking no holiday at all. You may have an overwhelming feeling of guilt or fear that the business will fall apart without you but you must trust that you have put the right systems in place for business to continue. The time away from your business will allow you to come back with refreshed thinking and a new perspective.

1

Re-motivate yourself Surround yourself with a positive team, their confidence and enthusiasm will be infectious, allowing you to see the big picture and your challenges not seem so great. Never underestimate how powerful the attitudes of others can be on your own mood.

Try to remind yourself why you started your business in the first place, what

T: 020 8549 5137 E: esher@hwca.com www.hwca.com/accountants-esher

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Gatwick Diamond Business Awards 2020

The finalists are announced So, who are the best businesses in the Gatwick Diamond Region?

T

he finalists in each of the categories for the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards 2020 were announced on February 13th, but you’ll need to wait until March 19th to find out who the winners are.

Community Investment Business of the Year

The Gatwick Diamond is home to a vast range of businesses, spanning all sectors of the economy, from household names to niche companies, and from multinationals to sole traders.

So, the winner of a Gatwick Diamond Business Award must stand out in this impressive business community.

The Award for the Place to Meet

All Award winners will have shown innovation and inspiration in their work and demonstrated a real commitment to this world-class economic area.

Our celebrity host, Gyles Brandreth, will present the Awards and entertain us through the evening. A special thank you to our Headline Sponsors Gatwick Airport, NatWest, Thakeham and Extech Cloud.

The evening will get off to a flying start with a pre-dinner reception sponsored

by Norwegian and rounded off with the highly anticipated after-show party.

The finalists in each category are:

Green Business of the Year sponsored by Britaniacrest Recycling • Cleankill Pest Control • Denbies Wine Estate Ltd • Goplasticpallets.com

Apprentice of the Year

sponsored by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council • Lavender Mwamba (St Catherine’s Hospice) • Max Rayner (WS Planning & Architecture) • Megan Quinn (Creative Process Digital)

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sponsored by Gatwick Airport Ltd • Community Transport Sussex • MHA Carpenter Box • PVL UK Ltd

sponsored by Prowse & Co Ltd • Elekta • Manor Collection - Hartsfield • Phileas Fogg

Employer of the Year

sponsored by Search Consultancy • Ashdown Park Hotel & Country Club • MHA Carpenter Box • Southern Sheeting Supplies Ltd

The Award for Developing People sponsored by Crawley College • Bowles • Gatwick Recruitment and Training Ltd • MHA Carpenter Box

BUSINESS BUSINESSAWARDS SURVEY International Business of the Year sponsored by Gatwick Diamond Initiative • Aspen Pumps Group • Avtura Limited • PVL UK Ltd

The Award for Innovation & Technology sponsored by University of Sussex • Airport Energy Services Limited • LifeBox Health Ltd • PVL UK Ltd

The Award for Brighter Thinking sponsored by Menzies LLP • Cleankill Pest Control • Freedom Works • Storm12 Ltd

Professional Services Firm of the Year

Growth Business of the Year

Manufacturing Business of the Year

Business of the Year (Up to £1m)

sponsored by Crawley Borough Council • DMH Stallard • Cleankill Pest Control • Vail Williams LLP

sponsored by Kreston Reeves • Elekta • PVL UK Ltd • Time 24

New Business of the Year sponsored by University of Sussex Business School • PRIMOtax Limited • Teach All About IT Ltd • The Company Connector Ltd

sponsored by Red River Software • Freedom Works • IPG • Southern Sheeting Supplies Ltd

sponsored by SHW • Adastra HR Limited • Ethos Farm Limited • Posture People – Love your workspace

Business of the Year (Over £1m) sponsored by NatWest • Assurity Consulting • Denbies Wine Estate Ltd • Gatwick Recruitment and Training Ltd

Business Person of the Year

sponsored by Richard Place Dobson • Paul Bates - Cleankill Pest Control • Richard Pollins - DMH Stallard • Steve Cropper - Gemini Print Group

The Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Gatwick Diamond

sponsored by Southern & Gatwick Express Railways We have introduced this prestigious new award to recognise outstanding personal contribution to making the Gatwick Diamond a great place to do business. It celebrates personal commitment to the Gatwick Diamond and extended leadership, rising way above the individual’s direct business or professional responsibilities.

Find out what is happening by visiting www.gatwickdiamondbusinessawards. com or follow @gdbizawards on Twitter for real-time updates on the night.

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Wellness trends and advances...

GENE THERAPY Gene therapy shows remarkable potential in treating genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis, infectious diseases, cancer and even heart disease.

It allows for DNA to be introduced into a patient’s cells to compensate for faulty genes or to make an advantageous protein. If a mutated gene causes a required protein to be defective or missing, gene therapy may be able to introduce a normal copy of the gene to restore the function of the protein.

The development of the CRISPR-Cas9 system over the past decade was an exciting development in the genome-editing field and the introduction of the CRISPR based ‘prime editing’ holds incredible potential. In a nutshell, it could allow more efficiency, accuracy, speed and importantly, can be used at less cost.

Gene therapy still faces many challenges and is currently primarily available in research settings but with the availability of technologies such as

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HEALTH & WELLBEING FERTILITY ASSISTANCE TECHNOLOGY As both women and men desire more control over their reproductive health, reproductive assistance, once deemed a luxury, is becoming a growing part of healthcare.

Conversations around fertility are now common as women, long underrepresented in medical research, demand more information, more innovation and the fertility services are listening.

Medical research is, of course, expensive but femtech (had to have been coined in Silicone Valley!) start-ups are believed to have secured over £1 billion in investment to date.

Fertility Assistance Technologies include wearables such as the Ava fertility bracelet which tracks physiological signs and indicates optimal fertile days, with an accuracy of 89%.

The hand-held myLotus measures luteinising hormone concentration in a urine sample to indicate the best days for conception. Both these devices allow for information to be followed on an app and period tracking apps are now one of the most popular health categories the coronavirus isn’t the only in the App Store.

2020. By Tess de Klerk, Health Editor

...for 2020 and beyond It’s a new year, a new decade and development to keep an eye on in CRISPR, research and development are speeding along.

Big pharma are investing heavily in cell therapy for cancer over the next year and beyond. Several companies are in late-stage development of their genome therapies and the hope is that we will see FDA clearance for the treatment of haemophilia and muscular dystrophy in 2020.

NUTRIGENOMICS The testing of DNA to determine how different foods may interact with specific genes is not new but as consumers increasingly realise that our physiology is as unique as our personalities, nutrigenomics is going mainstream. The re-

finement of this technology is offering a major opportunity for us to take charge of our own health and wellbeing.

The cost of in-depth analysis of your bodily make-up, including gut microbe analysis and personalised reports on what you should and shouldn’t be eating for optimal health, has become affordable with packages starting from £99. Companies can also offer insights into body type, strength and aerobic capability.

The ease of testing is fueling this growing trend as kits are received in the post, samples collected at home and sent off to the lab. The analysis takes around 10 days.

New Hope Fertility released an athome IVF kit, which allows women to privately prepare for the egg retrieval process, while Modern Fertility sells finger-prick tests to gauge reproductive hormones.

Digital platforms such as Peanut Trying to Conceive are increasing in numbers too as women seek and offer support during their journeys to conception and the sperm/egg donor matching app, Just A Baby, is going from strength to strength.

Thankfully, women are not the only ones encouraged to take charge as last year saw an influx of products that measure, track and store male sperm

“The need to strike a balance between the pursuit of wellness and the need to work is the central concept of the wellness sabbatical”

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too. This is encouraging as one-third of all infertility cases are reportedly caused by male reproductive issues.

THE WELLNESS SABBATICAL The need to strike a balance between the pursuit of wellness and the need to work is the central concept of the wellness sabbatical.

not disconnecting! At the same time physical pursuits, stress-reducing treatments and opportunities for rest and relaxation should abound.

Surely being allowed to work and play in supportive and beautiful surroundings can only increase health happiness as well as productivity.

Not just for hippies and those who long for days gone past, mainstream medicine is taking the emergence of this new psychedelic medical movement seriously. Trials are taking place in Europe and the US with Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins University having launched their own centres into psychedelic research.

Results are proving astounding, with patients reporting miraculous and enduring psychological transformations.

According to behavioural psychologists, it takes 21 days to break bad habits and to make lasting lifestyle changes The use of psychoactives but few of us are fortusuch as psilocybin, the nate enough to be able active in magic mushto take three weeks rooms, is still illegal in away from work to immost countries, therefore merse ourselves in nathe only therapy availature, yoga, meditation ble in the UK would be in or whatever it is that we Potent psilocybe cyanescens wavy cap psychedelic magic mushrooms a clinical research setyearn for. ting but fear not, Holland offers very comfortable, spa-like centres and in Fortunately, the retreat and wellness Jamaica, you can find yourself breathPSYCHEDELIC THERAPY CENTRES world is slowly but surely catching up ing tropical air and warming in the sun Lastly, but possibly the most fun, is as breaks are being tailored to those while experienced facilitators safely the rise in Psychedelic Therapy Cenof us who want our work and wellness guide your journey. tres where natural psychoactives, too! Whether in the mountains of Thaisuch as ayahuasca and magic mushland or on the beaches of the CaribbeThis therapy is set to continue its rise rooms, are used to facilitate theraan the wellness sabbatical must offer in popularity during 2020. A note to my peutic breakthrough. With converts superfast wifi, be smartphone and editor - the use of psychedelic centres making statements such as ‘10 years laptop friendly and offer flexible time must be investigated and I would be of therapy achieved in three days’ this for working as well as pursuing health willing to do so in Jamaica... trend is growing. and happiness. No more shaming for

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Clients are our business Dedicated to your success DMH Stallard is a full service, award-winning law firm that is passionate about winning and passionate about client care. It’s not by chance that we have one of the highest levels of repeat business in the industry.

For Business

For You

We make it our business to know your business, delivering results and adding value whether you’re an established market leader or an ambitious start-up.

Working for you and with you, our exceptional personal law service will help you plan, protect and achieve the very best outcomes for you and your family.

Award-winning pragmatic advice for businesses and individuals

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dmhstallard.com

Jaguar F-Type SVR

By Maarten Hoffmann

I

t was not that long ago that we had three major tuning badges – BMW’s M Series, Mercedes AMG and Audi RS. These were the fast models of the normal range and over the years, they have got faster, louder and lairier every time. The newish kid on the block is Jaguar’s Special Vehicles Operations department that translates to the SVR badge – and quite a badge it is.

The Jaguar F-Type SVR is a lighter, faster and sharper version of Jaguar’s F-type R All-Wheel Drive. Don’t be fooled into thinking the F-type SVR is a trackday hero in the image of a 911 GT3, though.

“SVR is about everyday usability,” says Mark Stanton, director of Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations division. ‘It’s about taking the basic traits of a Jaguar and amplifying them appropriately. We wanted to dial up the performance without losing the duality.’

The SVR badge made its debut on the Range Rover Sport SVR and this is the first time it’s been applied to a Jaguar.

It becomes the fastest F-type to date with a 200mph top speed, and 60mph arriving in 3.5 seconds. In 2017, l took the SVR along with the Audi R8 plus and the Alfa Quadrifoglio to the Nurburgring, and the three of us voted the SVR the most fun on a track. For those

62

uber-keen racers there is even an app that overlays your speed, revs, g-force loadings and other info over footage taken by a compatible GoPro camera.

It is a tad hefty, coming in at 1705 kg and you can feel this bulk at times but with so much power underfoot, it really doesn’t matter as you just

power through it. Cornering is where you don’t want to power through but the balance of this car is so perfect that this fails to bother. Spend an extra £8,570 on the carbon ceramic brakes and stopping is only troubled by the look on the face of the car behind as your rear bumper grows ever larger in his windscreen at an alarming rate.

BUSINESS MOTORING SURVEY

“...the touch infotainment screen works well until you hit a bump and change the satnav to Kabul high street” TECH STUFF Model tested: Jaguar F-Type SVR Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8 Power: 575bhp Speed: 0-60 3.5 seconds Top: 200mph Economy: 25.9 mpg combined Price from: £118,575 As tested: £120,925

l guess you get used to it over time.

The quilted leather seats are great and the touch infotainment screen works well until you hit a bump and change the satnav to Kabul high street.

20-inch tyres. They even saved 8kg on the magnesian framed seats and offer a lightweight carbon roof panel.

Powered by a 5-litre supercharged V8, kicking out 567bhp and moved through an 8-speed automatic transmission – with the obligatory paddle shifts, should you so wish. It also inherits the four-wheel drive system that ensures you are glued to the tarmac. There are a few other tweaks here and there such as new dampers and anti-roll bars and

Airflow is all-important at these speeds therefore they offer an active rear wing, rear venturi, front splitter and a flat underfloor ensuring the airflow is smooth all around the car. It is all hugely entertaining and inspires supreme confidence and really is, like the R8, an everyday supercar.

Inside, all is well. I am still not sure about the pistol-grip gear changer but

This is highly capable car but when you look at the starting price of £118,575 before you add a single extra, it strays into dangerous territory with the likes of the Porsche 911 Turbo, Audi R8 and the McLaren 540C on offer.

Jaguar does garner a certain loyalty amongst many and this will help and it is a great-looking car. It’s easier to drive every day than the McLaren, it’s a bit more fun than the R8, and the design isn’t 800 years-old like the Porsche.

Take your pick, they are all great and hugely entertaining cars but the SVR does have a little something about it.

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Mercedes GLC

By Maarten Hoffmann

T

his is a very important model for Mercedes and enters quite a crowded sector. Its rivals include the Alfa Stelvio, BMW X3, Audi Q5, Porsche Macan, Jaguar F-Pace and the Discovery Sport. The GLC will steal sales from all of them.

There are two choices of body styles; the 5-door SUV, which l have, and the coupé liftback. The latter is not the prettiest car l have ever seen and the rear visibility is appalling. There is also a great choice of power plants with the V8 GLC 63 and the V6 GLC 43, and both are highly entertaining. But l will focus on the 5-door SUV which, l am sure, will be the big seller.

squeak to be heard, and the MBUX infotainment system has a world-class voice-assistant and a touch iPad and touch screen. For me, the jury is out on touchscreens; l like them for their ease of use but some are just too fiddly. This one sits bang in the middle of that range. The entry-level GLC

“The clever trick here is that the GLC feels like a car and not a lumbering SUV”

It is quite a good-looking car from just about every angle and with four-wheel drive and an auto box as standard, it’s a great start. Inside, all is well and very Mercedes and that is to say really well put together. There’s not a rattle or

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200d kicks off the range and you can specify Sport or AMG, and there are a vast array of variations, none of which l have space nor the patience to list.

I have the 220d, giving 62mph in around 8.3 seconds and it has all the poke you need. It is pleasingly solid on the road, as you would expect, and gives you the confidence to push

it hard and test the limit. The 9-speed auto box is smooth and refined, the ride is very good, though if you opt for the 20” wheels, you should also opt for the air suspension – unless you have a very good relationship with your dentist! Don’t – the standard wheels are all you need.

The clever trick here is that the GLC feels like a car and not a lumbering SUV, and this is in part due to it being built on the same platform as the C-Class estate. The car’s body is a mix of aluminium and highstrength steel, and features structural reinforcements normally only seen on convertibles. The aerodynamics are class-leading with a drag coefficient of just 0.31.

The interior is a very nice place to be with great seats, plenty of reach on the steering wheel, with knobs and dials

MOTORING BUSINESS SURVEY TECH STUFF Model tested: GLC 220d 4Matic Engine: 2,143cc Power: 170bhp Speed: 0-60 8.3 seconds Top: 130mph Economy: 47.9 mpg combined Price from: ÂŁ40,300

all in the right place. I could do without the fake wood but it seems l am alone as it bothered no-one else l pointed it out to. It is also the first car in years that does not have any USB ports! The heated seats controls are on the door card rather than buried amongst the array of buttons and that really makes a difference if, like me, you love heated seats and want them on fast. Rear passengers will welcome the leg room and it is light and airy back there and the boot space equals the X3 and Q5 at 1600 litres.

The CoupĂŠ version

In summary, this is a very attractive, well put together SUV that will worry the competition no end and cause them to up their game.

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ow n le

b

ila a v sa

te

la p ’ 0

2

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The E-Class Saloon From only £349* per month Combining luxury and comfort with modern, sporty styling, the E-Class saloon offers the ultimate form of sophisticated driving. External safety features include high performance LED head and tail lights and the Parking Package, inclusive of Active Parking Assist and reversing camera.

Driver convenience is heightened throughout the interior design, with the KEYLESS-GO starting function and multifunction steering wheel. The E-Class saloon is a figure of opulence for both driver and passenger.

Representative Example

E220d SE Saloon Auto

Monthly Payments of

£349.00

1

Customer Deposit

£5,999.00

On the Road Price

£32,039.84

Optional Purchase Payment2

£14,000.00

Amount of Credit

£26,040.84

Duration of Agreement

48 months

Total Amount Payable3

£36,761.00

Purchase Activation Fee2

£10.00

Representative APR

5.9% APR

Fixed Interest Rate

5.78%

Excess Mileage excl. VAT

9p per mile

For more information please contact our Sales Team at Mercedes-Benz of Guildford on 01483 916292

Mercedes-Benz of Guildford Moorfield Road, Guildford, GU1 1RU

01483 916292 www.sandown-group.co.uk

1. Finance offer based on a Mercedes-Benz Agility agreement. Vehicle condition, excess mileage and other 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 January and 31 March 2020, registered and delivered by 31 March 2020, excluding Mercedes-AMG models, 10,000 miles per annum. 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 Surrey and Hampshire and Sandown Dorset and Wiltshire Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for Consumer Credit activity and our Firm Reference Numbers are 679326 and 684382 respectively. Sandown Surrey and Hampshire and Sandown Dorset and Wiltshire Limited are Appointed Representatives of FISC Limited Trading As TRACS, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for General Insurance; FISC Limited’s Firm Reference Number is 773446. 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 01/2020. Images for illustrative purposes.

er f f O nth d e c r mo n a nh 9* pe E n 28 w o d nly £ n a S mo fro

The GLA From just £289* per month The Mercedes-Benz GLA remains to be the sportiest vehicle of its class, encompassing eye-catching aesthetics whilst still being prepared for all terrains. The Urban Edition takes this one step further with its off-road comfort suspension, making it the ideal vehicle for cross-country driving. The versatile and compact GLA SUV also perfectly complements fast-paced city living; KEYLESS-GO, Media Interface and a Reversing Camera with 180 ° view all make driving in an urban environment that much more efficient.

Representative Example

GLA 180 Urban Edition Auto

Monthly Payments of

£289.00

1

Customer Deposit

£3,999.00

On the Road Price

£25,350.01

Optional Purchase Payment

2

£11,325.00

Amount of Credit

£21,351.01

Duration of Agreement

48 months

Total Amount Payable3

£29,206.00

Purchase Activation Fee2

£10.00

Representative APR

5.9% APR

Fixed Interest Rate

5.78%

Excess Mileage excl. VAT

10p per mile

For more information please contact our Sales Team at Mercedes-Benz of Guildford on 01483 916292

Mercedes-Benz of Guildford Moorfield Road, Guildford, GU1 1RU

01483 916292 www.sandown-group.co.uk

1. Finance offer based on a Mercedes-Benz Agility agreement. Vehicle condition, excess mileage and other 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 GLA SUV models between 1 January and 31 March 2020, registered and delivered by 31 March 2020, excluding Mercedes-AMG models, 10,000 miles per annum. 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 Surrey and Hampshire and Sandown Dorset and Wiltshire Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for Consumer Credit activity and our Firm Reference Numbers are 679326 and 684382 respectively. Sandown Surrey and Hampshire and Sandown Dorset and Wiltshire Limited are Appointed Representatives of FISC Limited Trading As TRACS, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for General Insurance; FISC Limited’s Firm Reference Number is 773446. 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 01/2020. Images for illustrative purposes.

MONACO e th d an

MOVIES Enjoy the glitz and glamour of the Givenchy Spa at Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo

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TRAVEL

A

warded the ‘Best Hotel Spa in Monaco’ at the World Luxury Spa Awards 2019, the Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo is a Leading Hotel of the World, and one of the most prestigious addresses in Monaco.

A luxury residence from another era with a unique atmosphere and a sumptuous spa retreat, the hotel is located within a former 19th century palace in the Carré d’Or overlooking the Mediterranean.

From the 126 rooms and suites to the three restaurants and swimming pool, the Hotel Metropole offers its guests the very best in design and gastronomy. What’s more, the unveiling of the Givenchy Spa in April 2017 brought another level of sophistication and elegance to this French Riviera bolthole.

A collaboration with the House of

Givenchy, the Spa Metropole by Givenchy is only the third of its kind in the world. Designed by interior architect Didier Gomez, the spa is beautifully integrated into the hotel with stunning marble finishes, sleek proportions and contemporary

including treatments from worldrenowned pedicure-foot specialist to the stars, Bastien Gonzalez whose Pedi:Mani:Cure studio is open daily for possibly the best holistic pedi you’ll ever have. For the ultimate treat, book in for the ‘Signature Metropole’, a bespoke 90 minute face and body treatment which will leave you feeling blissfully restored and radiant.

If you do feel the urge to leave these plush surroundings, Port Hercules is a 10 minute walk away, whilst there are numerous restaurants and chic boutiques to explore within three minutes of stepping off the hotel’s herringbone-brick driveway.

materials. All ten treatment rooms are decorated in serene shades of white, with embossed walls that evoke the lace of haute couture gowns, as would be fitting for a Givenchy spa!

The Spa treatment menu is extensive,

Be whisked off on a private tour of Le Clos des Roses with the hotel’s Head Sommelier, or take a night-time trip to the majestic Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. A stay here isn’t complete without trying at least one of the

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TRAVEL

hotel’s three restaurants headed up by chef Joël Robuchon, two of which are Michelin-starred.

Visit his eponymous restaurant for Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, or try Robuchon’s first Japanese restaurant ‘Yoshi’ renowned for the freshest sashimi and the best sakés. You also won’t want to miss spending an afternoon lounging at ‘Odyssey’, the hotel’s poolside restaurant given a fresh renovation and special mural designed by the late Karl Lagerfield.

Inside scoop For a really personal touch, guests can select their own playlist during spa treatments and choose one of the special L’Atelier de Givenchy

fragrances which is sprayed onto a tissue in the pocket of your bathrobe to remain with you throughout the stay.

How to get there Fly into Nice Airport and the transfer is just 19km by car, or arrive in style by helicopter transfer in just 10 minutes.

Go Bespoke says This is a great weekend retreat for a romantic ‘Flop and Drop’ trip to recharge the batteries and do some people-watching.

Prices from 360 Euros per night. Contact Go Bespoke for the latest offers and availability.

For more information about booking a trip to Monaco or a holiday through Go Bespoke, please call on 020 8935 5779 or email info@gobespoketravel.com, quoting ‘Platinum’.

EXCLUSIVE OFFER Jet off to Monaco for the premiere of the new James Bond film, ’No Time to Die’ on April 7th and brush shoulders with the stars at this unique event. In collaboration with the Princess Grace Foundation, guests will stay at the Hotel Metropole Monte Carlo. Enjoy VIP access to an exclusive, glamorous ‘Bond Girls & Villains’ evening at the hotel, featuring a surprise international rock and roll legend on the April 6th. You will then have the opportunity to walk the red carpet and enjoy preferred seating at the ’No Time to Die’ premiere.

Price: £1,995 per person The package includes: Two nights in a Deluxe Room, including breakfast at the Hotel Metropole Monte Carlo, exclusive access to the Bond Girls & Villains party at the hotel on April 6th, including a VIP rock and roll legend, red carpet access to the ’No Time to Die’ premiere on the 7th, return flights with British Airways to Nice and return helicopter transfers from Nice to Monaco.

A percentage of each ticket will be donated to the Princess Grace Foundation.

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5 TRAVEL

Post-Brexit travel tips

Travelling to Europe after Brexit? Luxury travel experts Go Bespoke give us the low-down on what you need to know

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he UK has now officially left the EU after 47 years of membership. Whilst British citizens will not need a visa to travel to the EU until December 31st 2020, there are a number of ways that travel may change during the transition period. Go Bespoke outlines five aspects which you should bear in mind for post-Brexit travel.

IMMIGRATION Check the immigration rules for the country you're visiting While you shouldn't need visas for short trips, you may need a visa to stay longer if you're working or studying.

Be sure to have all the right documents to be able to cross the border easily.

TRAVEL INSURANCE Be sure to include healthcare in your travel insurance The government says those travelling to the EU should "take out appropriate travel insurance with health cover before travelling to the EU" as "you may be charged for your care if you do not get health cover with your travel insurance."

DRIVING Check if you need an international driving permit and get motor insurance You will need motor insurance green cards for your vehicle if you are driving in the EU or EEA.

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Put a GB sticker on the back of your vehicle You could get a fine if you do not have one of these, even if your car is already registered in the UK and if your number plate shows GB with a Euro symbol.

charges so it's best to check this before you travel. However, a new law means that you're protected from getting mobile data charges above £45 without you knowing. Once you reach £45, you will need to opt in to spend more.

TRAVELLING WITH PETS Contact your vet at least four months before travelling with a pet Make sure your pet is still able to travel by contacting your vet. If your pet doesn't have the proper documents, you will not be able to take it with you.

Please note the above is for guidance purposes, and you should check the government’s website for up-to-date advice: www.gov.uk

MOBILE DATA Post-Brexit, your mobile phone company may have changed its policy on mobile roaming

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SPORT

Men’s football still poor at tackling homophobia It’s 2020, and the omnipresent question of when the first men’s professional footballer will come out is as far away from an answer as ever. By Alan Wares

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he 11th ‘Football v Homophobia’ (FvH) month took place in February 2020. An awareness-raising campaign, brought about by the Manchester-based group Pride Sports, is aimed at bringing inclusivity within the footballing community.

One would liked to have thought that society would have become more enlightened than this by now; we are talking nearly 30 years since Fashanu’s enforced outing. And yet in that time, no male player has dare sought to express their sexual feelings.

It is an international initiative that exists to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation gender identity and expression at all levels of football.

Football v Homophobia was originally conceived and launched by the Justin Campaign in 2010. The Justin Campaign, a small voluntary-run football campaign group, was founded in 2008 to demonstrate that ten years after Justin Fashanu’s tragic suicide in 1998, homophobia was still hugely prevalent in both grassroots and professional football. Along with raising awareness the campaign had a strong focus on art, events, education and football.

Justin’s playing career spanned 19 years and 23 clubs, including two years on the books of Brighton & Hove Albion from 1985-87. He played just 16 league games for the club, before a serious knee injury looked to have cut short his career.

The reason for mentioning this player’s mediocre career is that Justin is still the first and only male professional footballer to have come out as homosexual. He did so shortly before the gutter-press was about to out him as gay.

Other male footballers have since come out, and become open advocates of the LGBTQ scene, but not while as current players; only after their retirement.

female footballer on the planet, American soccer star Megan Rapinoe, is one of the greatest advocates for LGBTQ equality, using her platform to berate those who seek to abuse or discriminate against ethnic, sexual or gender inequality. She is a true campaigner, and her voice should be heard.

There are many women players at Brighton & Hove Albion whose sexuality has been openly discussed - by the players in question, for one - on social media without the merest hint of interrogation or comment.

So what’s the problem with men’s football? The issues are many, but certainly not complex. In far too many quarters, the will to promote equality simply isn’t there.

Justin Fashanu

In an ideal scenario, one’s sexuality really ought to have no relevance to the wider world, yet football - so often unfairly criticised as a bringer of society’s problems rather than a reflection of it – does not operate in a social or cultural vaccum. The sad truth is that, even in 2020, male professional football still isn’t ready for any homosexual role models. And this is true not just in the UK, but across the ENTIRE football world.

Many, if not most sports, have LGBTQ heroes, male and female. Yet men’s professional football, for a long time the leading campaigner against racism in the UK, is still tragically in the dark ages on promoting and accepting all forms of equality in its ranks.

Take one step to the side, and the best

For me, enough is enough. It’s time men’s professional football did the right thing, and create the right environment for players to able to express themselves, without harming anyone else, as they wish.

‘Rainbow Laces’ aren’t enough. Wearing a ‘Kick It Out’ T-shirt isn’t enough.

Offloading loose platitudes about tolerance and acceptance have no real value. Until such time as ALL aspects of British men’s professional football the players, the clubs, the Players’ Union, the supporters, the TV companies who yank the strings – pull in the same direction, we will forever be hounouring Justin Fashanu as ‘The Only One’.

His memory, as well as all of those whose mental health suffered on the shame they felt, the lack of support they received, and the abuse that they were subjected to, will remain tortured. www.footballvhomophobia.com

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CHARITY NEWS

Take on the Castle Night Trek and make a difference Chestnut Tree House launches a unique challenge taking place on Saturday May 16th at Herstmonceux Castle, Hailsham

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re you ready to take on a challenge? Do you want to push your limits? This is your chance to be the first to take part in a brand new 10k trek and experience the stunning grounds of Herstmonceux Castle - after dark!

“Castle Night Trek is a challenging trek through the gardens and grounds of Herstmonceux Castle. If you are a challenge seeker who wants to make a difference in your local community, then this is the trek for you,” says Gill Stapley at Chestnut Tree House.

Arriving at 7pm, participants will walk from day to night, reflecting the 24hour nature of the care and support that Chestnut Tree House offers to local children with life-shortening conditions and their families.

“At sunset, you’ll be putting on your walking boots, switching on your head torch, and getting set to trek through varying terrain of ancient woodland, wildflower meadows and enchanting gardens. This is a challenge you won’t forget!” continues Gill.

“The challenge will be tough. But you

will create your own magical memories whilst helping local children and families make the most of every moment together and, when the time comes, say goodbye in the way they want”.

Although the Castle Night Trek is a challenge, Chestnut Tree House promises participants many magical surprises along the way. The trek will finish back at the moated 15th century castle where challenge-seekers can celebrate their achievement in style

with a glass of bubbly.

Castle Night Trek will take place on Saturday May 16th 2020 at Herstmonceux Castle. The trek is open to everyone aged 14 years and over (participants aged 14-16 years must be accompanied by an adult). Sign up before Tuesday March 31st and receive early bird registration at £20 per person. Find out more and register at www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk/ castlenighttrek

To find out how you and your business can support local children with life-shortening conditions, and their families, visit www.chestnut-treehouse.org.uk, email corporate@ chestnut-tree-house.org.uk or call 01903 871846 / 01323 725095

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BUSINESS GROWTH

NatWest Accelerator

Entrepreneur of the Month – March 2020 Laura Way, Founder of VOTCH first round of fundraising as our vision is to be a mainstream watch brand with an ethical core.

What have been the highlights so far?

There have been many. We have previously partnered with the Watchshop and we are currently sold in boutique shops across nine countries. We have been featured in press such as Forbes, The Times, Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Dezeen, LiveKindly, International Business Times, Heart Radio and Evening Standard.

Tell us about yourself After graduating from The Arts Institute in Bournemouth with a degree in Arts and Event production, I moved to London where I worked in advertising, beginning my career on the iconic Levi’s account at BBH. From there I went on to manage productions for print and TV campaigns and worked on projects such as launching Guinness into the South Korean market, Christmas campaigns for TK Maxx and managed productions for other notable brands such as BBC, Sky and Natwest.

What does Votch do?

I launched Votch after suffering an illness that saw me lose my skin.

Having felt the pain of losing my own skin I vowed to never wear the skin of another living being again. When an old watch strap broke and sourcing a vegan-friendly strap proved nigh impossible the idea for Votch was born.

An ethical and cruelty-free watch company that gives back. We work with innovative materials such as Piñatex, a by-product from the pineapple harvest as well as other materials that utilise sustainable technology to create materials that rival the appearance and performance of traditional animal-based leather. We have over 5000 customers since launching on a global scale and we’re currently in our

We have won PETA awards for best vegan watches and best vegan mens watches. Votch was also displayed on the billboards in Times Square, New York in honour of Earth Day; and we’ve also raised £17k for charity to date!

What have been the biggest challenges?

Our biggest challenge to date was learning a new skillset and industry.

Prior to launching Votch I produced TV commercials – whilst this had many transferable skills, time management, budget controlling etc – actually creating and manufacturing a product was a whole new world to me. I launched Votch with a small business loan and personal investment so funding to date has been hard at times, especially for covering stock, however – as someone who always likes to push and challenge myself we are currently in our first round of fundraising to en-

able us to launch new collections and ranges to meet demand.

What tools, techniques or resources have you found useful?

When I launched Votch it was just me, so having someone to be accountable to really ensured I hit my goals on time, and I initially sought advice and mentorship through the Small Business Centre in London. I am currently on the NatWest Accelerator course which has helped realign my focus and challenge me in new ways and position my thoughts with a growth mindset. I frequently listen to TED talks and listened to one recently by Mike Cannon-Brookes about imposter syndrome, something I think us entrepreneurs can often to relate to.

What advice would you share with other budding entrepreneurs?

Don’t put off that task you know you need to do but keep putting off. I usually clear anything daunting or challenging I need to tackle first thing in the morning so I can clear it from my mental load for the rest of the day.

Challenge yourself frequently and put yourself out of your comfort zone regularly - you’ll be amazed at how much this can improve your confidence and ability to tackle problems.

www.votch.co.uk

Each month the leadership team at Brighton’s NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator select a founder of the month to recognise the individuals that have demonstrated a growth mindset and entrepreneurial spirit to overcome challenges and accelerate the growth of their business in a short space of time.

To find out more about the Accelerator hub, email BrightonAccelerator@natwest.com

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national

news

South East SMEs warned over late payments

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usiness East Sussex Growth Hub has issued a warning to SMEs about the impact of late payments. The average SME is owed over £80k – the cost of a high-end Range Rover. Recent research revealed that 48% of SMEs have been affected by late payments to the

point where the business was at risk of failing. Recent surveys show that 28% of SMEs have been forced to delay payments to their suppliers, while 47% of owners and managing directors had to stop their own salary, 7% were forced to pay their employees late and 36% could not pay tax due.

Japan heading for an economic crash

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apan is on the brink of recession as the coronavirus impact threatens its economy. Official figures showed gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 1.6% in the last quarter, equivalent to an annual pace of 6.3%. The sharp contraction in the world’s third biggest economy

was blamed on a sales tax hitting consumer and business spending as well as the impact of a major typhoon. Analysts say the coronavirus outbreak could take a further toll. If GDP falls for a second successive quarter the economy will be in recession.

Imagination is everything.

It is the preview of life’s coming attractions BUSINESS WISDOM

Germany eyes rehab group

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choen Klinik, a German healthcare group, backed by buyout firm Carlyle, is joining the race to seal a £1.2bn takeover of Priory Group, the British hospital group best-known for its rehabilitation work with celebrities.

Acadia Healthcare, which is listed in New York, bought Priory Group in 2016 for £1.5bn, but found its plans curtailed by an unexpectedly hostile response from competition regulators.

Sources said that Schoen Klinik was expected to bid for the British company directly, although it is expected to secure financial backing for any deal from Carlyle.

Zuckerberg ‘happy’ to pay more tax

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation BUSINESS WISDOM

Disney launches wedding dress range

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he entertainment giant has teamed up with bridal boutique Allure Bridals for a new wedding gown range that replicates many of the famous Disney characters.

Among the 16 styles in the collection are those inspired by Ariel, Aurora,

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Belle, Jasmine, Cinderella, Pocahontas, Rapunzel, Tiana, and Snow White.

The Disney range, which features ball gowns and mermaid trains ranging in price from $1,200 up to $10,000, will be unveiled next month at the 2020 New York Bridal Fashion week.

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ocial media CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Facebook must pay more tax in the region.

The boss of Facebook said he recognises people’s frustration over the issue and said he backed plans by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation to find a global solution. In the UK the social network paid just £28.5 million in corporation tax, despite revenue hitting £1.65 billion. The OECD’s plans propose that digital firms pay more tax in countries where they generate profits.

DIGITAL MEDIA

Get social savvy Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay says Kerry Watkins, Founder and MD of Social Brighton cultivating a social media presence.

It’s also increasingly difficult to access your target audience as social networking becomes a much more integral part of people’s lives.

What is the cost of social media inaction?

There was a period of time when you could get away without fully embracing social, but that time has passed.

The decision makers of tomorrow have grown up communicating with businesses through social media and are notoriously difficult to engage through traditional mediums. If you want to future-proof your business, now is the time to start going all in on social media. But what is the cost if you don’t?

Fail to reach and impact future decision makers The decision makers of tomorrow are today’s Millennials and Gen Zs. They want to see social proof; to have confidence in your brand through seeing social media activity, quality content and evidence of engagement. These factors all influence someone’s perception of your business and will influence their decision to purchase.

Difficulty attracting talent and retaining engaged teams Young people now are far more discerning about the kinds of companies they want to work for. Businesses today should be striving to build a workforce who are passionate about what they do and naturally become brand advocates.

When your employees publish positive content about your brand it receives on average eight times more engagement and is reshared 24 times more frequently. The cost of inaction is reduced trust with prospective customers. Without this, it is so much harder to recruit quality staff. Especially if your competitors can demonstrate a forward-thinking approach to social marketing.

A dated approach to marketing with no business ‘personality’ People have come to expect a more intimate, behind the scenes experience from businesses across sectors.

“Employees are trusted 16% more of the time than CEOs” Edelman trust index

Popular new formats such as Instagram Stories and live streaming are ideal ways to share your story and make people feel included. This kind of content shows transparency and confidence and facilitates a less sales focused approach.

You’ll have far more success selling to someone who already knows and trusts you, rather than interrupting someone who doesn’t – a fundamental social media marketing principle. The cost of inaction is failing to show your business values, people and personality in a popular and credible format that people use every day.

Love it or hate it, it’s here to stay. It will continue to evolve but one thing’s for sure, businesses need to adapt and get on board.

Social Brighton partner with organisations to drive results through the positive use of social media. www.socialbrighton.com @social_brighton

In 2018, Millennial purchasing power surpassed that of Baby Boomers, confirming Millennials as ‘the most important age range for economic activity’.

Already, the majority (63%) of consumers who search online are more likely to purchase from brands who have an established social media presence.

You may see fierce competition from brands who have already started

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PEST CONTROL

More than meets the eye when it comes to pest control

By Paul Bates, Managing Director Cleankill Pest Control helping those, often residential customers, in real emergency and distressing situations.

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o the average person pest control might seem like a straightforward business, but it is far from straightforward.

The world of pest control is constantly changing in many respects, from legislative issues to do with the use of pesticides to the vast range of accreditations needed to work in different sectors and different pests becoming resistant to treatments.

Cleankill is registered to remove waste, and staff will sometimes find themselves a foot deep in pigeon mess that needs clearing out before netting or wires can be installed to prevent the birds returning.

The vast majority of Cleankill’s work is business-to-business – working with facilities managers who are in charge of a number of sites. Most businesses will have a pest prevention plan which means technicians are not simply reacting when there is a pest problem.

Contracts include an agreed number of visits during the year, whether there are problems or not, so any infestations can be spotted and resolved early on.

Cleankill’s service is all about giving customers peace of mind that their premises will be kept pest-free while

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The biggest issue is to get the message out there that Cleankill can offer a better service than the big, better-known brands and that the cheapest option is not necessarily the best one - while very expensive does not always equal quality.

people are expected to work. The organisation’s values include: honesty and integrity; customer excellence; autonomy and innovation; open/twoway communication; teamwork and willingness to learn/share knowledge.

The Cleankill team has built a reputation for acting with professionalism, courtesy and expertise. Customers can count on staff arriving in smart uniforms and branded vehicles, unless requested otherwise, and that staff will use the best available products and equipment.

“Pests know no boundaries and much of Cleankill’s work is in Mayfair and Belgravia”

The most common pests Cleankill deals with are rodents. Rats go into property usually by mistake. Mice on the other hand want to be there and will often have been there some time before you see them and the first signs will be their droppings. On average a mouse will generate 80 droppings a day.

Pests know no boundaries and much of Cleankill’s work is in Mayfair and Belgravia. We see inside some of the most expensive properties in the country. I once carried out a survey at an Arab prince’s property in Princes Gate – 60 toilets, each with a gold plated waste pipe, and two industrial air conditioning units, one for the servants and one for the royal family!

Calls to deal with squirrels and parakeets are also increasing. The damage these creatures can cause is staggering. The growing parakeet population in South London is particularly problematic as these birds are expert at accessing buildings through places like vents and then destroying internal timbers and vents.

Every member of staff signs up to the ‘Cleankill Way’ which engenders how

Key to Cleankill’s approach is focusing on helping people and solving their problems rather than selling a service.

We believe that if we focus on offering the best possible service and exceeding customer expectations then the profits will follow.

In an independent customer feedback survey, 100% of respondents said they would recommend Cleankill and nearly all customers said they are ‘very satisfied’ with the service.

Cleankill is the only pest control provider in England to achieve a Gold Investor in People accreditation.

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

or call

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