PLATINUM BUSINESS MAGAZINE - ISSUE 29 - SUSSEX EDITION by Platinum Media Group

The widest-read business publication in the South East

PLATINUM

SUSSEX EDITION . ISSUE 29. 2016

GOLF AND WINE Mannings Heath

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Prof Debra Humphris

PLATINUM THE BIG STORY

The most dangerous man in the world

SUSSEX BUSINESS AWARDS

Finalists Announced

BUSINESS TRAVEL Barcelona

BRANDING Lotus Labels

READ ALL PAST ISSUES AT WWW.PLATINUMBUSINESSMAGAZINE.COM

Award winning business, tax and wealth advice To find out more about the full range of accountancy, business advisory and financial services that help our clients achieve their business and personal goals, please contact:

Bryan Elkins, Partner, Horsham office T: +44 (0)1403 253 282 E: bryan.elkins@krestonreeves.com Shirley Smith, Partner, Gatwick office T: +44 (0)1293 776 152 E: shirley.smith@krestonreeves.com

Offices across London, Sussex and Kent www.krestonreeves.com

HURSTPIERPOINT COLLEGE

Welcome

THE BIG STORY VLADIMIR PUTIN The most dangerous man in the World

46 58 62

BUSINESS IN BARCELONA Where new ideas flow freely

HOW TO BE A LINKEDIN ROCKSTAR How to maximise your impact

A SAD DAY FOR MANKIND The US Election is a depressing spectacle

THE CHIEF ENABLING OFFICER

A ROUND OF WINE

Exclusive Interview with Brighton Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vice-Chancellor Debra Humphris

At a Glance 6 10 12 14 16 19 22 24 32 34 36 38 43 44 46 52 54 58 60 61 62 64 71 72 76 78 81 82 86 89 90 92 93 94 104 106

Local News Entrepreneurial Spark NatWest Lloyds Sussex Business Awards National News DMH Stallard Vladimir Putin EMC Carpenter Box Kreston Reeves Gatwick Diamond Business Awards Business Travel Uniglobe Travel - Barcelona Coast to Capital Rawlison Butler Identity - Digital Marketing IT News Whitney Associates Anger Management Motoring Charity News Debra Humphris Mannings Heath Table Talk - And so to Food Wine Masterclass Food & Drink Awards Lotus Labels East Sussex National Brighton Hotel Awards Best of British Charm Hotel Chambers of Commerce Platinum Style Institute of Directors

Mannings Heath is now more than just a great golf club

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 published and owned by Platinum Business Publications Limited.

Issue 29 - 2016

A word from the Editors Following on from last month’s announcement about our expansion, we have been inundated with congratulations, and submissions, for one of the four brand new official Chamber titles: Surrey Chambers Business, Brighton & Hove Business, ACES and Worthing Chamber Connect. Many thanks to all those who took the time to write and we are now hard at work in our new offices (see image below, left) and filling the floor space in Platinum Towers with new employees faster that we can shake a stick at it. In this issue, we profile the most dangerous, and probably richest, man on the planet, Vladimir Putin and in writing it, we are filled with horror at what might be about to transpire. Whilst the eyes of the world are on the madness of the US election, Putin has been arming in a terrifying fashion and is now, most likely, unstoppable. His statement that if Trump wins the elections all with be well, but if Clinton wins there will be war, is deeply chilling. But assuming that we have not all been blown to smithereens by the time this edition hits the street, we bring you news from DMH Stallard and the Chief Economist from HSBC and his comments about the post-Brexit earthquake, Kreston Reeves tells us how to get a tax holiday and Coast to Capital discuss the education of the next generation. Rose was swanning around Barcelona to bring you all the news about business travel to that beautiful City and Ian popped over to the sensational Mannings Heath Golf Club to chat with them about their new vineyard. Maarten was off in yet another mouthwatering selection of cars and then got hot and bothered about the US elections in Anger Management. Yet another packed issue that we sincerely hope you enjoy and as if this is not enough, next month you will have two Platinum publications to read and then three and then four and then…… you get the point.

Maarten & Ian Platinum Business Magazine November 2016

The Team

Maarten Hoffmann – Director maarten@platinumbusinessmagazine.com

07966 244046

Ian Trevett – Director ian@platinumbusinessmagazine.com

07989 970804

Lesley Alcock Business Development Director lesley@platinumbusinessmagazine.com 07767 613707

Amanda Menahem

Kate Morton

Food & Drink Editor

Copy Editor

Rose Dykins

Julia Trevett

Lauren Psyk

Amanda Spicer

Travel Editor

Accounts Manager

Event Photographer

Head of Design

Sussex News

LOCAL NEWS THE CRAZY GANG The first Crazy Rockinghorse Sportathon saw a dozen businesses compete in a series of unique challenges in aid of Sussex children’s charity, Rockinghorse. Held at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove (home of Sussex County Cricket Club), each team of six pitted their wits, sporting prowess and teamwork skills in 20 challenging mini games in a bid to win a bespoke two feet high trophy, kindly donated by Tom Fell Blacksmiths. Sponsored by Focus Group, who went on to win the Sportathon, competitors participated in events including melon shot put, Bhutanese darts, pole walking and a sumo suit relay race. The all-day charity challenge for corporates was designed and directed by Sussex based adventurer and leadership coach Neil Laughton of Laughton & Co, with event organiser Gemma King of Vivid Marketing, both volunteering their time and expertise to support the local charity. The event was compered by local entertainer Tom Foolery, with additional entertainment provided by UK Beatbox Championship finalist BeatFox, whose beatboxing talents have seen him tour with Jessie J. Ryan Heal, Chief Executive of Rockinghorse children’s charity, said: “Our thanks to Neil and Gemma for choosing to support us and creating such a wonderfully unique event. The money raised from the event will help us to make a real difference to the lives of children we support at the Drove Road centre in Portslade.” Special thanks to all the Sussex businesses who kindly supported the Crazy Rockinghorse Sportathon, including; Laughton & Co, Vivid Marketing, Sussex County Cricket Club, Focus Group, Seico Insurance Group, Platinum Business Magazine, L&S Printing, Tom Fell Blacksmiths, Tom Foolery, BeatFox, Appleyard Events, ODM Stationers, Preston Insurance Brokers, FTA Global and What could you win? To register your interest in the event next year (date TBC) please email gemma@vividmarketing.co.uk.

NEW CORPORATE FINANCE PARTNER

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Of course l believe in free will. I have no choice.

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Simon Jordan has joined Kreston Reeves, one of the leading accountancy and financial services firms located across London and the South East, as Corporate Finance Partner with effect from October 10th 2016. He will be primarily based in the firm’s London City office but will provide services to clients across all locations. Simon is a seasoned practitioner with over 18 years corporate finance experience providing lead advisory and transaction support services to entrepreneurial businesses. Typical transaction values are in the £1m to £50m range. He has worked on around 300 transactions ranging from company sales, MBOs, private equity transactions, corporate acquisitions, buy and builds, to fundraising, due diligence and AIM flotations. He has extensive experience and knowledge of TMT, biotech, clinical research and healthcare as well as manufacturing and precision engineering. Simon also has international experience, having completed numerous cross-border transactions predominantly in Europe and North America.

Sussex News

BUSINESS PARK GROWTH

AIRPORT CAPACITY FOR BUSINESSES Stiles Harold Williams have launched a website specialising in commercial properties close to the region’s airports, positioning the firm as a dedicated airport and aviation property specialist in the south east.. The site features current available property such as: • Three adjoining hangars at London Southend Airport

Following the hugely successful letting of over 27,000 Sq Ft of light industrial / warehouse space, Michael Jones Commercial and Whiteover & Co Limited are releasing Phase II - and a further 35,000 Sq Ft at Rock Business Park off the A24 at Washington, West Sussex.

• Redhill Aerodrome Business Centre

Situated in the heart of the Sussex Countryside, the units that were constructed by the Hargreaves Group, who are renowned for high quality residential and commercial developments throughout the South East with over 50 years’ experience.

• Astral Towers (near Gatwick)

The majority of Phase I was let within 12 months with occupiers including Carillion PLC, Flute Office Supplies Limited, Baby Box Limited, Premier GT Ltd. UK IP Media & Events Ltd. & Elling of London Limited. The release of Phase II will provide a much needed supply of industrial properties onto the open market. At present, vacancy levels across Sussex are at their lowest for a number of years and interest is therefore expected to be high.

• Hangar One, Cecil Pashley Way at Brighton City (Shoreham) Airport

Agency Partner Alex Gale said: “Aviation has long been seen as an undervalued sector without a dedicated web portal and we believe what we have created allows us to fully showcase client properties.” www.airportproperty.co.uk

Jon Justice from agents Michael Jones Commercial commented, “The market currently has a real shortage of light industrial / warehouse units and we are therefore delighted to be involved in the marketing of this development. We expect these units to be even more popular than Phase 1 as there is a greater variety in sizes and the business park is starting to flourish”. If you are interested in viewing one of the new units or if you would like further information then please contact either Michael Jones Commercial on 01903 201212 or Whiteover & Co Limited on 01273 494977.

HASTINGS JOBS BOOST BD Foods, a Hastings-based food manufacturing business is expanding into purpose-build new premises and creating 40 new jobs with help from funding provided by East Sussex County Council. BD Foods produces an extensive range of sauces, dressings, dips and soups which are sold to restaurants, hotel chains and airlines. Its impressive client list includes British Airways, Conrad Hotels, Eurostar, Nandos, Café Rouge and Marriott, to name a few. BD Foods has accessed grant and loan funding of £360k through Locate East Sussex, the county’s business support service. This has been supplemented with an investment of £750k from Hastings Borough Council, all of which will be invested into a new building for BD Foods. Since 2001, BD Foods has grown from a start-up company with just three members of staff, to its current size where it employs over 100 local people. The company is expanding rapidly and now has a turnover of £7 million a year as a result of 15 years of strong and sustained growth. John Davis, Managing Director of BD Foods, said: “Without Locate East Sussex, we wouldn’t have been able to fit out the new units. The team at Locate East Sussex understand problems, money and business. They really want to help and I am grateful for their input.” To find out more about how Locate East Sussex can support your business, visit www.locateeastsussex.org.uk

Sussex News

LOCAL NEWS DMH STALLARD ADVISES ON £4.55 MILLION SALE DMH Stallard’s corporate team has advised the shareholders of C24 Technologies, a niche financial market software business, on the sale of C24 to Gresham Computing plc. The value of the deal is up to £4.55 million. C24 specialises in standards-based financial messaging and integration solutions and boast a customer base that spans the UK, continental Europe, North America and Japan, with the majority of customers being blue-chip financial institutions. Chris Simmons, Partner at DMH Stallard, said: “This is a very exciting move for two companies that bring together market leading technologies. The synergies are clear and I’ve no doubt that this move will provide further impetus to the ambitious global growth plans of Gresham. We were delighted to advise the senior team at C24 on this defining next step in their corporate journey.” Gresham is a leading software and services company providing real-time transaction control and enterprise data integrity solutions. Wayne Meikle, Co-Founder of C24 Technologies, said: “In Gresham, the founders of C24 all felt we found a committed and experienced partner to support our global customers and realise our future C24 Data Platform vision. Gresham’s Clareti platform is regarded as industry leading, and our technology and expertise will further strengthen its position and opportunity in the market.” DMH Stallard worked closely on the acquisition with the corporate finance team at Moore Stephens. Mark Lamb, Lead Advisory Partner at Moore Stephens commented: “C24 has rapidly grown over the last 5 years with proven technology to ingest, visualise and transform financial messaging data. We are delighted to have been involved in this transaction and to assist the senior management team at C24 in their successful sale to Gresham. We wish all involved a successful and profitable future.”

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An acceptable level of unemployment means that the government economist to whom it is acceptable still has a job

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WORKSHOP EXPECTING GOOD CROWD Following from the success of their Alternative Funding event in February this year, Carpenter Box are hosting a Crowdfunding Workshop. Currently the largest four banks account for over 80% of UK SME’s main banking relationships, with many SME’s only approaching the largest banks when seeking finance. The Alternative Funding workshops aim to highlight and showcase innovative routes to funding, outside of traditional bank finance. The first workshop will focus on crowdfunding, which funds projects and ventures by raising capital from a large number of people. Carpenter Box will be joined by Mike Royston from Crowdcube, the world’s leading investment crowdfunding platform. They have successfully funded more than £188 million with over 300,000 registered investors. The venue is the Crowne Plaza at London Gatwick, the date is 8th November at 8am. www.carpenterbox.com

Sussex News

GOLDEN HANDCUFFS FOR CREATIVE POD Creative Pod, the full service marketing, design and print agency based in Manor Royal, was awarded the Sussex Crimestoppers’ Golden Handcuffs as part of their contribution to the local community. Sussex Crimestoppers’ Golden Handcuff Club (GHC) is a group of individuals and organisations who support the work that Crimestoppers do within Sussex through financial donation or provision of services. Sussex Crimestoppers are the local representation of the Crimestoppers Trust, an independent national charity. Crimestoppers help law enforcement to locate criminals and help solve crimes through anonymous reports from members of the public, as well as through raising awareness on how best to prevent crime. Creative Pod regularly contributes to the local community through a variety of schemes, including starting their very own community based initiative, Young Start-up Talent, which looks at inspiring young entrepreneurs in starting their own business. Matt Turner, CEO of Creative Pod, said, “We are delighted to have been awarded the Sussex Crimestoppers Golden Handcuffs. At Creative Pod we are committed to contributing to our local community and we are passionate about the work that Crimestoppers do to improve our community. We are looking forward to continuing our work with them in the future.” creativepod.net

SUSSEX GRADUATES READY TO HELP The Sussex Graduate Internship Programme has returned for 2016/17. The University of Sussex funded scheme offers organisations the opportunity to recruit a 2016 Sussex graduate for a 10-week graduate level internship. The University offers a contribution of between £3,300 and £3,800 (depending on location) per internship. Full details, including eligibility criteria, are available from the university. Companies are invited to submit expressions of interest to advertise a graduate level internship. Accepted vacancies will be promoted to eligible University of Sussex graduates. Internships can commence at any time between Monday November 14th 2016 and Monday January 9th 2017 and must run for a minimum of 10 weeks.

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To swear off making mistakes, all you have to do is swear off having ideas.

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For details, email internships@sussex.ac.uk or telephone (01273) 877528.

GATWICK KEEPS GROWING Gatwick’s record growth and booming long haul services continue to defy the predictions made by Airports Commission. In September, 4.3 million passengers travelled through the airport which is up 6.9% on the same month in 2015. Gatwick now serves 42.3 million passengers a year – this is a milestone the Airports Commission forecast Gatwick would not reach until 2030. Long-haul routes also continued their impressive growth and are up 29% on this time last year. Gatwick is commencing new routes to Cape Town and Moscow, joining the 20 new long haul routes which have started this year to China, Peru, Canada, Costa Rica, Nigeria, South Africa and the United States. The Airports Commission forecast Gatwick would need a second runway to attain more than 50 long haul services and, even then, would not reach that mark until close to 2050; Gatwick serves more than 50 today. As a Government decision on airport expansion is expected soon, this record performance illustrates again the demand and appetite for expansion at Gatwick that is only growing. Gatwick’s plan can be delivered quickly, with less risk and lower impact and more competitively – it will signal to Europe and the world that Britain is open for business. Gatwick Chief Executive Stewart Wingate, said: “Gatwick gives the Government the certainty of a competitive solution which keeps costs and impacts low while laying the foundations of an economy that works for everyone.”

Entrepreneurial Spark

READY TO HATCH The first batch of ‘Chiclets’ from NatWest’s Entrepreneurial Spark venture in the South East are seeking investment as they grow their innovative companies.

ntrepreneurial Spark is the world’s largest free business accelerator offering support, coaching and mentoring to those companies that want to grow and scale. There are now 12 accelerators across the UK, including the South East base in Brighton For the ‘Chiclets’ (as the entrepreneurs are known), it is an intensive

process with weekly enablement sessions, workshops and mentoring. The Brighton hatchery opened in August 2015, and now some of the fledgling companies are seeking investment to really grow and scale their business to the next level. On these pages, they explain why investors should take notice.

OMGTea Founder Katherine Swift 1. Please describe your business In 2010 my mother was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Watching her fight the disease made me realise that the most important thing in life is family, friends and health. I decided that I wanted to do something positive and became involved in supporting the ground breaking research of one of the world’s leading genetic and cell biologists, whose research was highlighting the benefits of antioxidants in our diets. Green tea is renowned for its healing properties due to an abundance of antioxidants and I wanted mum to drink a quality green tea with the highest level of antioxidants. With its amazing health and healing properties and an astonishing level of these antioxidants, I created OMGTea - Organic Matcha Green Tea, with a percentage of OMGTea’s profits pledged to The Healthy Life Foundation, a charity I founded that funds research into age related diseases.

2. Are you looking for funding or investment and if so, how much? Yes, £100,000

3. What would the money be used for? To develop a Ready to Drink (RTD) product to add to the OMGTea range

4. Why should an investor invest in your company? After centuries of relative obscurity, matcha is now exploding onto the global beverage market in a way that was truly incomprehensible a few years ago. Matcha market value was $2.5 billion in 2013, retail sales surged 55% in 2014, RTD’s increased by 253% and the annual growth is forecast to be 25% until 2019. The proposed OMGTea RTD product will be combined with alkaline water (first to market) making it a genuinely healthy drink. OMGTea is doing what it can to validate the health claims of green tea and particularly matcha, and has commissioned its own research with two exciting papers due to be published in January 2017.

Entrepreneurial Spark

JOOSR 1. Please describe your business Joosr is a new way to learn. We produce 20 minute summaries giving the key insights from the world’s best performance-boosting books. With a carefully curated library spanning leadership, entrepreneurship, health, parenting and much more, Joosr summaries bring out the most actionable aspects of books by the world’s leading thinkers.

2. Are you looking for funding or investment and if so, how much? Joosr is seeking funding to support our international growth plans and platform expansion. We are offering £500k of equity investment opportunity during the next two months. We’re also continuously looking to support our research and development through grant funding support.

3. What would the money be used for? As a new offering within the ebook summaries space, we’re focused on raising awareness and driving traffic to our products. We’re growing our brand in the UK and internationally which requires significant investment into marketing. A key focus area is also accelerating the expansion of our platform and library of content for our users. Much of our operating costs go into hiring great people.

4. Why should an investor invest in your company? The global e-learning market is worth $255bn per annum globally, and with 516 million ebook readers globally by 2020, Joosr aims to be at the forefront of the bitesize mobile learning market, providing learning and self-development for the millennial generation. With over 30,000 Joosr ebooks sold in over 75 countries and 2,000 app users to date, there’s a strong appetite for Joosr’s bitesize, mobile content. Joosr is the only UK-based company in this growing market and has the purpose to help people learn who can afford it, and to help those who cannot. 1% of our annual subscription revenue is pledged to the World Literacy Foundation, keeping young people out of crime and boosting local economies.

PictureMyDay Graham Bromelow, Company Director 1. Please describe your business PictureMyDay is a start-up interactive design website which enables users to virtually design their wedding reception rooms and explore them in 3D. The design functionality is easy to use, simply choose an item from the wedding themed library and drag and drop it into an authentic venue, which has been remodelled to scale. At any point during the design process you can change from 2D mode to 3D mode and walk through your design as if you were there in person. PictureMyDay allows wedding venues, wedding suppliers and couples to collaborate in an interactive real time way to effortlessly design beautiful room layouts and styles.

2. Are you looking for funding or investment and if so, how much? We are looking for £150,000 investment. PictureMyDay Ltd is already SEIS approved as of May 2016.

3. What would the money be used for? The majority of the investment will be used to hire a world class software company to develop version two of the design tool. They will upgrade the functionality; implement new features and craft an amazing user experience. We will also use the money for a marketing budget, which will fund advertising, SEO and operational costs.

4. Why should an investor invest in your company? PictureMyDay is bang on trend with the emerging overlap between the wedding industry and the tech industry. Visualisation tools are more accessible and enhanced than ever before and are already used as a sales tool in other industries. PictureMyDay is also scalable into different markets – corporate events, trade shows and exhibitions would all benefit from an interactive design tool. Potentially the most exciting prospect for PictureMyDay would be delving into the virtual and augmented reality markets to enhance visualisation and wedding planning even further.

Branding News

THE BANK OF BRANDS RBS has launched a new campaign for its NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland customer facing brands

he last few years has seen RBS make progress in its strategy to build financial strength, simplify the bank, and focus on its customers in its core home markets of the UK and Ireland. This progress gives the bank the platform to invest in its customer facing brands, NatWest in England and Wales and the Royal Bank in Scotland. NatWest’s new brand positioning will be: ‘We Are What We Do’ – articulating the pride it places in serving customers well. This new positioning shows the importance the bank places on accountability, and for turning good thoughts into effective actions. NatWest will commit to teach 1 million young people about money by 2018 through its MoneySense programme. MoneySense is one of the longest running financial education programmes in the country.

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NatWest will commit to teach one million young people about money by 2018 through its MoneySense programme. MoneySense is one of the longest running financial education programmes in the country.

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Royal Bank of Scotland will emphasise its commitment to the people of Scotland with the campaign the Royal Bank for Scotland. This will articulate how the bank serves Scottish communities, focusing on what matters for customers and its determination to do the right thing. Royal Bank of Scotland is tied to the history and people of Scotland. ‘Royal Bank for Scotland’ signifies the value in that relationship. David Wheldon, Chief Marketing Officer at NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “Our strategy in recent years has been to build a bank that reflects

what our customers want and need. We are no longer a global bank with global aspirations, our home is here and we have great brands in NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland that connect with our customers. “By investing in these brands we can help rebuild pride and trust in the service we provide. I want the bank to be held to account for our actions and behaviours with “We Are What We Do” and “The Royal Bank for Scotland” speaking to that ambition.” NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland’s focus on customer service has seen it take a bold pricing promise on teaser rates; remove bonuses and incentives for frontline staff; introduce community protection advisors to protect customers from fraud; support more UK businesses than any other bank; and launch one of the first financial education programmes in the UK through its MoneySense programme. Its commitment to improving customer service will continue with a new customer feedback system being rolled out across the country; and a company-wide leadership training programme being embedded across the bank.

Clients choose me for the same reason I choose my bank. Expertise Expert guidance and support for professional businesses Our Relationship Managers are specialists in business banking. Their in-depth knowledge of the professional services sector means they understand your challenges. From office moves or IT upgrades to supporting expansion, they will work with you, giving you the financial guidance and tools you need to succeed.

Call us 0800 694 0042 Minicom 0800 404 6161 or contact Rachel Cundall, Business Banking directly on 07920 089 199 Monday to Friday 9am-5pm (excluding public holidays). Calls may be recorded.

Finance

MANAGEMENT BUYOUT

Paul Green, Nicky Taylor and Trevor Gillman.

A Broadstairs furniture manufacturer has opened a new chapter after completing a management buyout with the support of Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.

avid Bailey Furniture Systems Ltd, which was founded in 1982, design and manufacture fitted furniture for the healthcare, education and veterinary sectors. Satisfied clients include NHS trusts such as Southmead Hospital in Bristol, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Guy’s Hospital and Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Managing Director Trevor Gillman, who first joined the firm as a surveyor in 1990 and soon oversaw an expansion in the company’s healthcare offering, has now used a £110,000 loan, alongside a £300,000 invoice discounting facility - which freed up working capital - from

Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking to complete the buyout. He plans to develop partnerships with other likeminded businesses to build upon their already comprehensive range of expertise and offer an enhanced selection of services ensuring they stay ahead of market trends. Trevor said: “Lloyds Bank has made my idea to buyout the management of the company a reality, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. “The team there made it clear from the outset that they believed in me and my plans for the future of the business, and they gave

me fantastic advice. “Now I have more control to pursue my plans for the business and expand the range of products we deliver.” Nicky Taylor, a regional manager at Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance who struck the invoice discounting deal, said: “As well as the initial funding for the buyout, it was necessary to free up some working capital within the company. “That’s why the bulk of the funding came from the invoice discounting facility – it’s an easy way to get immediate access to cash that is being held in sales invoices.”

Finance

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We were impressed by Trevor’s ambition – he’s got an entrepreneurial mind and a great eye for how to improve things.

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new Pfizer Ltd-sponsored building. The company capitalised on this first step into the healthcare market the following year, securing a £200,000 order from Guys Hospital. In 1993 David Bailey’s changed focus to embrace this new market, rebranding as David Bailey Furniture Systems Ltd. The next five years saw a period of rapid growth, marked by the completion of major contracts at Kingston Hospital, Pfizer Ltd, Ashford Hospital, Middlesex Hospital, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Bristol Children’s Hospital By 2000 David Bailey Furniture had completed the first PFI hospital at Darent Valley Hospital for Carillion PLC, the resulting business relationship culminated in the £1.8million order at Southmead Hospital, Bristol, cementing their position in the healthcare furniture industry. Paul Green, senior relationship manager at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “We were impressed by Trevor’s ambition – he’s got an entrepreneurial mind and a great eye for how to improve things. “Supporting this management buyout gives him the autonomy to develop new partnerships and services and we were more than happy to help him transform his role in the business.” David Bailey Kitchens was incorporated in 1982, and manufactured domestic kitchens for the local Kent market. Canterbury Hospital was the first healthcare client to approach David Bailey Kitchens in 1990, with a requirement for furniture for their

Lloyds Banking Group is committed to helping businesses of all types and sizes, giving them the funding and support they need to grow at home and abroad. We have set out our pledges in our Helping Britain Prosper Plan. For our 2016 SME Charter we have pledged to support 5,000 ﬁrst time exporters; grow lending to small businesses; help 100,000 start-up businesses; and support small ﬁrms for their next phase of growth. Since the start of 2011, we have grown our net lending to SMEs by 28% whilst the market has contracted by 13%. To see the latest supporting businesses factsheet please visit: http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/media/media-kit/sme-fact-sheet/

Business Awards

THE SUSSEX SHORTLIST Sussex Business Awards 2016 Finalists Announced

he shortlist for the 28th annual Sussex Business Awards has been announced and hundreds of applicants have been whittled down to just forty one finalists. Representatives from 27 towns across the county make the shortlist and 2016 is set to be a hot contest to receive one or more of the prestigious seventeen trophies. Six companies make the shortlist twice, including The Base Skatepark CIC, Stelfox, International Logistics Group (ILG), Cheesmur Building Contractors, Yelo Artchitects and The Dental Barn. To reach their crucial decision, the judges reviewed all the entries within their categories. Candidates then go through a rigorous reviewing system, including phone, face to face and panel interviews, to determine who will be in the running for one of the most highly coveted awards in Sussex. Taking his place as chairman of the judges for the third year in a row was Mike Herd, executive director of the Sussex Innovation centre and a previous winner of the Sussex Businessperson of the year, who commented: “The exceptional qualities of the entries really shone through, and I know a lot of worthy winners have been chosen. “Congratulations to all the shortlist!” Sussex Businessperson of the Year finalists have been automatically selected from entrants to the Sussex Company of the Year and the Small Business of the Year Awards, as well as direct entries. Winners will then be decided after a series of face to face interviews in front of a panel of judges. Entries were judged by an expert panel which included representatives from Mazars, Morgan Sindall, HSBC, Southern Railway, Vantage Professional Risks, Checkatrade. com, Sussex Innovation Centre, Checkaprofessional.com, Wealden District Council, Sussex Chamber of Commerce, University of Sussex, Natures Way Food, Coffin Mew, The Argus, Platinum Business Publications, Heart FM and Title Sussex. This year’s ceremony will take place on Thursday 1st December 2016 at The Grand, Brighton and will be presented by comedian Simon Evans. The Awards sell out each year so make sure to book your tickets soon. Buy online at www.sbawards.org.uk

Tickets cost £90 each or £850 for a table of ten. This includes champagne reception, three course meal, and two bottles of wine on each table, as well as entertainment, dancing and a few surprises. For more information or to buy tickets, please contact us on T: 01273 666200 or E: sussex@midnight.co.uk. Follow us on Twitter @SussexBizAwards. www.sbawards.org.uk

Business Awards

THE FINALISTS The Entrepreneur of the Year

The Award for the Most Promising New Business

Sponsored by The Argus

• ILG • Lovelocaljobs.com • Wave Leisure Trust

• Andy Cheesman, City Cabs • Brighton & Hove Buses • Carousel

The Small Business of the Year

Sussex Businessperson of the Year

Sponsored by Sussex Chamber of Commerce • Boom Boom the Label • Fundraising Auctions Ltd • The Dental Barn Ltd

Sponsored by Heart FM • To be announced

The Sussex Graduate of the Year Sponsored by University of Sussex • To be announced

New Degree Apprenticeship in management Government grants available

The University of Brighton is launching a new Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship which will start in January 2017. The apprenticeship is for middle managers and those aspiring to management positions. It’s for employees of any age, leads to a University of Brighton honours degree, and is studied parttime through blended learning. Benefits to employers: • Boost your reputation as an employer • Motivate and inspire your workforce to improve quality and efficiency • Get high quality work-related education for your staff at dramatically reduced cost • Benefit from government subsidies and grants

Successful apprentices will achieve: • BSc (Hons) Professional Development in Business • Degree Apprenticeship • Chartered Manager status awarded by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Degree Apprenticeships are two-thirds funded by the government, which means they are highly cost effective for employers. In addition, the University of Brighton has a limited number of extra grants available which will can further reduce the cost to employers, meaning the whole apprenticeship can cost as little as £600.

For further information contact Viki Faulkner on v.j.faulkner@brighton.ac.uk

www.brighton.ac.uk/managerapp

#ApprenticeshipsUoB

NATIONAL NEWS

National News Compiled by Maarten Hoffmann

THE CHANGE IS WELCOME

$14 BILLION AND COUNTING

The collapse in the value of the pound was labelled a “welcome change” by former Bank of England governor, Mervyn King recently.

Deutsche Bank failed to reach a deal with US authorities over a multi-billion dollar fine imposed in October, leading its shares to fall more than 3% on the news before a slight recovery. The lender has been under intense pressure after being ordered to pay a $14 billion settlement deal following a US Department of Justice probe into misselling of billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities.

King, who headed up the Bank during the turbulent days of the financial crisis, before handing over to Mark Carney, broke away from the consensus view of economists that the collapsing pound is bad for the UK. Many have pointed to this as the currency market’s way of saying that the UK’s economic prospects are bleaker outside the European Union. Lack of access to the single market of 500 million people as well as curbs on migration are likely to drag the country’s economic growth, experts have said.

STILL FLYING

But King voiced a more optimistic view on Monday. “The whole thing has generated reactions which are over the top,” he said of the pound’s collapse. King added: “During the referendum campaign, someone said the real danger of Brexit is you’ll end up with higher interest rates, lower house prices and a lower exchange rate, and I thought: dream on.”

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Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.

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Monarch Airlines has been granted an eleventh-hour reprieve after a £165m investment from its majority shareholder secured its future.The company had a deadline of midnight on October 12th to prove to the UK airline industry regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), that it had sufficient funds to stay afloat. Without the cash injection from Greybull Capital, Monarch would have lost its Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (Atol), which allows it to fly package holidaymakers. Andrew Swaffield, Chief Executive, said: “It is testament to the extensive effort by all parties, over the past weeks and months, that we are able to announce the largest investment in our 48-year history, as well as the renewal of our Atol licences. Stage two will be to increase profits to ensure that this situation does not occur again in 12 months time. That might be a tougher mission.

National News

NATIONAL NEWS £250,000 PRIZE

MADNESS

Lord Wolfson, the chief executive of Next, is offering a £250,000 prize for the best suggestion on how to solve the problem of the UK’s overcrowded roads.

Despite a report stating that Scotland’s economy is on a par with basket-case Greece, a consultation gets under way next week on plans for a second Scottish independence referendum, the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed.

The competition is expected to attract entries from policymakers, businesses and universities around the world. He is looking for new ideas to bring more investment and a better deal for road users. The competition asks: “How can we pay for better, safer and more reliable roads?” Lord Wolfson says that road users pay more than £30bn to use the road network, yet only around £9bn is put back.

She told the party’s Glasgow conference that an Independence Referendum Bill would be published next week. It marks the first step to holding a second vote. Ms Sturgeon said Scotland had the right to choose a different path if it was not allowed to protect its interests “within the UK”. The first Scottish independence referendum, which took place on September 18th, 2014, resulted in 55% of voters saying “no”. Perhaps this is the EU model where you keep going until you get the response you want?

“The new prize is an opportunity for fresh thinking about how to tackle congestion and secure investment in a modern road network,” he said. “If we can learn from the rest of the world, or pioneer new thinking in Britain, then we can do something about delays.” This is the third time the prize has been run. It is free to enter, with the deadline for submissions on March 2nd, 2017. The judges will consist of a panel of experts, including former chancellor, Alistair Darling.

CHAMBER BOSS The British Chambers of Commerce has picked an insider to replace its director general John Longworth, who quit in March in a row about his support for Brexit.

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The factory of the future will have only two employees: a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.

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Adam Marshall, an American who has worked as a policy expert at the chambers since 2009, will take charge with immediate effect “following a robust recruitment process”. Dr Marshall has been acting director general since Mr Longworth’s resignation earlier this year. The BCC consulted with its 52 regional chambers before assessing a list of internal candidates for the job.“Adam has a detailed knowledge of the Chamber Network and a strong understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing Chamber members across the country,” said president Francis Marshall. “At a time of great political and economic uncertainty, I am confident that Adam has the ability and passion to enable the BCC to thrive under his leadership.”

National News

ILLITERATE AND INNUMERATE Lord Heseltine says the UK’s skills shortage is a serious problem - and if it was up to him he would start industrial strategy in primary schools. He told MPs the UK would never be a world-beating economy unless young people were better educated. And he called for “much bigger devolution to the people who know where the failing schools are”. On improving literacy and numeracy, he added: “We need it across the country and we need it yesterday.” The Conservative grandee, who was deputy prime minister in the 1990s and subsequently advised David Cameron on regional strategy, made the comments as he gave evidence to the Commons Business Innovation and Skills Committee alongside former chancellor George Osborne. Claiming that the UK is “29th as a country in the world league of education” - it was 23rd in reading in 2015, according to the OECD’s Pisa rankings and 26th in maths - he stressed: “If we accept that - we’ll never be a world beating economy in the future because it’s all about people - it’s about education and then about skills. And if you want to have skilled people, you’d better educate them properly before you start making them skilled.”

HS CHOO CHOO

REMOANER British businesses should stop hiding and instead travel the world promoting “Brand Britain” as “cheerleaders of open markets”, according to former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King.

Theresa May’s Government is “not backing away” from building the High Speed 2 rail link between London and the North, the Transport Secretary will insist. Chris Grayling will say Britain needs the link now more than ever as the country’s Victorian rail network struggles to cope with population growth.

The self-confessed “remoaner” - a nickname reflecting his vote to remain in the EU and his subsequent grumbling - said the economy was performing well, but that should not be taken for granted. In the financial crisis, he found that consumers continued spending enthusiastically until early 2010, indicating sentiment can change “almost overnight. He was joined by Sir Michael Rake, the chairman of BT and Worldpay, who said that the global reaction to the Brexit vote is one of shock, and so British firms should take the lead in restoring the country’s image. The City leaders said that companies should play a bigger role telling the world about Britain’s strength, restoring the country’s brand. Mr King, who is now vice chairman at private equity group Terra Firma, said he is “a proud Brit” who wants others like him “to fight the fight to tell the story of the brand that was Britain four years ago, that for me is the real Great Britain.” “We will need to be braver… self-help has to be the order of the day. If our politicians are going to damage our relationships with our trading partners, we as businesses have to strengthen those relationships, to make sure they are stronger than they ever have been across borders,” he said, speaking at the Lloyds Bank Sterling Conference.

He will tell a HS2 conference: “We’re not backing away from HS2. The case is as strong as ever. “We need this railway. And if we’re going to build it, let’s make it state-of-the-art, fit for the decades of growth ahead so that in 2033, we no longer have a rail network with a Victorian heart but a network with an Elizabethan heart, able to deliver everything we expect of a 21st century transport system.” MPs on the Public Accounts Committee said they were not convinced the target for completing the first phase between London and the West Midlands by the end of 2026 will be met. They also raised concerns that estimates of the costs for phase two - which extends from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds - are still volatile and exceed available funding by £7 billion.

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Leaders’ Forum

EARTHQUAKE AVERTED? Jonathan Grant, Partner at DMH Stallard, explains how the health of the corporate transaction market post-Brexit offers much to be happy about.

Here are our top tips to make sure your company is in the best shape possible to make the most of the unexpected positive market conditions.

Top tips for raising finance to expand • Have a clear business plan recognising risks in the economy; • If your business is safe from Brexit risks explain that; • Ensure your business plan includes contingencies for different levels and speed of growth; • Understand the finance alternatives. Private equity, business angel/ crowd funding, debt/bank facilities are all different in their impact and effect.

Top tips for selling your business (or extracting value) • Can you find a buyer from your own contacts or do you need help?

f you read all the newspapers and watched the round-the-clock TV coverage following the Brexit vote, you’d be forgiven for feeling pretty terrified about the days of darkness that were predicted to soon envelop us. To put it mildly, Brexit generated a number of worries - and it would be foolish to suggest they have all gone away - but to date, in the corporate transaction market, concerns have largely proven unfounded. M&A activity tends to reflect the national economy; confidence in growth leading to an increase in deals. After a short-term negative economic reaction to the Brexit decision on 23rd June, the economy rebounded strongly supported by the Bank of England and a quick change of government. DMH Stallard has seen continued high levels of activity through the summer and into Q4. The capital markets remain active, although we have seen more deals using cash shells on AIM to fund acquisitions. Project finance continues apace, with infrastructure related deals remaining buoyant; typically these provide long-term investment yields. Our mid-market M & A volume remains strong with plenty of pipeline deals. This suggests companies with money and private equity investors are keen to acquire for growth; sellers are no longer willing to sit on their hands. With business leverage relatively low, the fundamentals appear to be good. For most sectors growth is difficult to generate organically. The banks continue to lend and to support MBOs and competition for new business is increasing. We suspect that confidence will be knocked at different stages over the next couple of years, as seen by the recent drop in currency values, but provided a stable platform is maintained and confidence built, positive M&A volumes will continue unaffected. As always robust businesses in good sectors with professional management teams will remain those best able to command top prices.

• Take advice early as good preparation increases value; • Understand buyer concerns - exchange rates may make an overseas buyer an option, but you may need help identifying them; • Buyers risk profile is heightened; you can deal with that, but drifting into a negotiation without preparation is a big risk. For more information or to discuss options please contact:

Jonathan Grant, Head of Corporate, 01293 605011 jonathan.grant@dmhstallard.com

Abigail Owen, Corporate Partner, 01293 605022 abigail.owen@dmhstallard.com.

DMH Stallard is an award winning law firm providing strategic and operational legal advice to clients, enabling them to protect and grow their businesses. For more information on their services, please go to www.dmhstallard.com.

The Big Story

VLADIMIR PUTIN The World’s most Dangerous Man By Maarten Hoffmann

ladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a strange old cove. Part saviour of the Russian Empire, part bare-chested butch gay icon, and part the most frightening man on the planet. It is also estimated that he is the wealthiest person on the planet. But what are his global intentions? Vladimir Putin was born on October 7th, 1952 in Saint Petersburg. His mother was a factory worker and his father an officer in the Russian navy, serving in the submarine fleet, and later, at the outbreak of WW2, went on to serve in the Destruction Battalion of the NKVD. He retired in 1942 after being severely wounded. Putin had two brothers, Viktor and Albert. Albert died in infancy and Viktor died of diphtheria during the Siege of Leningrad. Putin studied law at the Saint Petersburg State University in 1970 and graduated in 1975. His thesis was on ‘The Most Favoured Nation Trading Principle in International Law’. While there, Putin was required to join the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and remained a member until December 1991. Putin met Anatoly Sobchak, an Assistant Professor who taught

business law and was highly influential in Putin’s career. On his childhood, he says: “I come from an ordinary family, and this is how I lived for a long time, nearly my whole life. I lived as an average, normal person and I have always maintained that connection. We lived

simply - cabbage soup, cutlets, pancakes, but on Sundays and holidays my Mother would bake very delicious stuffed buns (pirozhki) with cabbage, meat and rice, and curd tarts (vatrushki)” Mr Putin says.

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This is a situation as dangerous as any we have seen in human history.

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“My father was born in St Petersburg in 1911. When World War I began, life in St Petersburg became hard, people were starving, so the entire family moved to Pominovo, a village in the Tver region my grandmother came from. Incidentally, my relatives still vacation in the house where my grandparents lived. It was in Pominovo that my father met my mother, and they got married at the age of 17.” After graduating from Leningrad State University, Putin was

The Big Story assigned to work in the state security agencies. “My perception of the KGB was based on the idealistic stories I heard about intelligence.” His interest was quickly taken by the intelligence services and he longed to be a spy. In 1975, he joined the KGB, and trained at the 401st KGB school in Okhta, Saint Petersburg. After training, he worked in the Second Chief Directorate (counter-intelligence), before he was transferred to the First Chief Directorate, where he monitored foreigners and consular officials in Saint Petersburg. From 1985 to 1990, Putin served in Dresden, East Germany, using a cover identity as a translator which was a perfect cover as his innate talent for languages meant that his German and English are fluent although, to this day, he refuses to negotiate with world leaders in anything other than Russian. According to Putin’s official biography, during the fall of the Berlin Wall that began on November 9th, 1989, he burned KGB files to prevent demonstrators from obtaining them. After the collapse of the Communist East German government, Putin returned to Saint Petersburg, where in June 1991 he worked with the International Affairs section of Saint Petersburg State University. There, Putin looked for new KGB recruits, watched the student body, and renewed his friendship with his former professor, Anatoly Sobchak, the Mayor of Saint Petersburg. Putin resigned with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in August 1991, just before the 1991 Soviet coup d’état attempt against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Putin said: “As soon as the coup began, I immediately decided which side I was on.” In 1999, he described Communism as “a blind alley, far away from the mainstream of civilisation.”

In 1996, Putin was called to Moscow, and in June of that year became a Deputy Chief of the Presidential Property Management

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These men, and many more besides, owed their vast fortunes to Putin’s patronage toed the line out of fear of his terrible retribution.

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Department, a position he occupied until March 1997. During his tenure Putin was responsible for the foreign property of the state and organised transfer of the former assets of the Soviet Union and Communist Party to the Russian Federation. This is really where his power started to grow. He had control of the state assets, fully understood that true power took a lot of cash and said that cash was the only way of controlling one’s enemies. On 26 March, 1997, President Boris Yeltsin appointed Putin Deputy Chief of Presidential Staff, a post in which he remained until May 1998, and Chief of the Main Control Directorate of the Presidential Property

Management Department. His predecessor in this position was Alexei Kudrin, and the successor was Nikolai Patrushev, both future prominent politicians and important future associates. Yeltsin was a weak man and a prolific drunk who was easily manipulated, and Putin was there to take full advantage of the power vacuum. This is where his power base really took root and his eyes turned to the top spot in the Federation. The route to such power was to guarantee that Yeltsin could not be pursued through the courts for the countless laws that he broke on his own path to the top. Putin recognised that not only would this ensure Yeltsin’s full support but would also give him a bargaining chip should it ever be required. On December 31st, 1999, Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned and, in accordance with the Constitution of Russia, Putin became Acting President of the Russian Federation. On assuming this role, Putin went on a previously scheduled visit to Russian troops in Chechnya. The first Presidential Decree that Putin signed was titled “On guarantees for former President of the Russian Federation and members of his family.” This ensured that “corruption charges against the outgoing President and his relatives” would not be pursued. This was most notably targeted at the Mabetex bribery case in which Yeltsin’s family members were involved. On August 30th, 2000 a criminal investigation was dropped in which Putin himself was one of suspects as a member of the Saint Petersburg city government.

Call Worthing: 01903 234094 Call Gatwick: 01293 227670 Email: info@carpenterbox.com

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The Big Story On December 30th yet another case against the Prosecutor General was dropped “for lack of evidence,” in spite of thousands of documents passed by the Swiss prosecution. Later, Putin signed a similar federal law which replaced the decree of 1999. The case of Putin’s alleged corruption in metal exports from 1992 was brought back by Marina Salye, but she was silenced and forced to leave St Petersburg.

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Don’t destroy your enemies. Manipulate them and use them for your own goals”.

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While his opponents had been preparing for an election in June 2000, Yeltsin’s resignation resulted in the Presidential elections being held within three months. Putin won in the first round with 53% of the vote.

The inauguration of President Vladimir Putin occurred on May 7th, 2000. Putin appointed the Minister of Finance, Mikhail Kasyanov, as the Prime Minister. The first major challenge to Putin’s popularity came in August 2000, when he was criticised for the alleged mishandling of the Kursk submarine disaster. That criticism was largely because it was several days before Putin returned from vacation, and several more before he visited the scene. Between 2000 and 2004, Putin set about reconstruction of the impoverished condition of the country, apparently winning a power struggle with the Russian oligarchs, reaching a ‘grand bargain’ with them. This bargain allowed the oligarchs to maintain most of their powers in exchange for their explicit support for, and alignment with, Putin’s government. A new group of business magnates emerged, including Gennady Timchenko, Vladimir Yakunin, Yury Kovalchuk, Sergey Chemezov and Chelsea Football Club owner, Roman Abramovich, and all had close personal ties to Putin. These men, and many more besides, owed their vast fortunes to Putin’s patronage and toed the line out of fear of his terrible retribution.

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Yeltsin was a weak man and a prolific drunk who was easily manipulated, and Putin was there to take full advantage of the power vacuum.

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Putin had now secured his power base and his coterie of billionaires, who had pledged undying support. This was not necessarily due to their political allegiance to Putin but rather out of self-preservation. Crossing Vladimir Putin normally resulted in a one-way visit to a Siberian gulag or a radioactive cup of tea. Putin now had control of the largest country on earth, trillions of dollars and of one of the largest standing armies in the world, with the second-largest nuclear arsenal.

The Big Story behaviour” towards Moscow could have “nuclear” implications. Dmitry Kiselyov, who was appointed by Putin to head the country’s government-owned news agency, made the warning on a recent edition of his flagship current affairs programme Vesti Nedeli (News of the Week).Relations between the two countries hit a new low on Friday after Washington accused Moscow of war crimes following a sustained bombardment of the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, where at least 250,000 people are still living in the rebelheld east of the city. Mr Kiselyov said there had been a “radical change” in the relationship between Russia and the US in recent weeks, the BBC reports. “The loud talk in Washington of a ‘Plan B’ for Syria. Everyone understands what this means: direct military force in Syria,” he said. During Monday’s programme a Russian Defence Ministry spokesman also warned US

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Administration staff, politicians and public sector workers have been ordered to take their children out of foreign schools immediately and return home to the Motherland.

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And now we arrive at the political structure of the world in 2016 and one can only admire, through gritted teeth, Putin’s remarkable progress in transforming a country that was on its knees into the belligerent superpower we see before us. And this is where the real terror begins, as Putin sees himself as the saviour of the Russian Federation, and this moral justification is all he needs to assume the mantle of the worlds policeman. Having an opponent in the White House with absolutely no appetite for aggression and who set uncrossable red lines within the Syrian nightmare just served as an invitation to Putin to cross every one of them. When there were no repercussions from the US, he was emboldened and swept into the country as its ‘saviour.’ This also afforded Russia a base of operations in the Mediterranean - one that the West will surely live to regret. He then invaded Ukraine and took Crimea and the West blustered and made grand statements, but did absolutely nothing about it. Now Putin had a

Baltic sea base. Again, Putin was emboldened, and his intention to reunite the old Soviet Union took a giant leap forward. But who is there to stop him? The US, at present, will not and the European Union couldn’t run a whelk stall, so he is free to do whatever he wishes. This is a situation as dangerous as any we have seen in human history. Russia have total control of the air space above Syria and, in response to the US bluster of closing Syrian airspace, they have placed S-300 anti-aircraft missiles in the area and vowed to shoot down any US jets. Three war ships are currently sitting in the Mediterranean armed to the teeth with Malachite cruise missiles along with the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier. They have just moved Iskander-M missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, into Kalingrad on the Polish border. A Russian news presenter, dubbed the “Kremlin’s chief propagandist”, has warned the United States that any “impudent

bombers not to target the Syrian army. “We’ll shoot them down,” commented Mr Kiselyov. In the past he has boasted that Russia was the only single country “genuinely capable of turning the USA into radioactive ash” and claimed last year: “In Syria, America stands on the side of the terrorist caliphate.”The German Foreign Minister claimed that mounting tensions between the US and Russia have led to a global political situation which is “more dangerous” than the Cold War. As if all this were not bad enough, Putin has ramped up the rhetoric and the possibility that he is ready to go to war. Putin has issued an emergency decree that all officials urgently repatriate any family members living abroad amid fears the world is about to be plunged into a new global conflict. According to reports, the Russian leader has told diplomats of all ranks to “bring relatives home to the Motherland”. Administration staff, politicians and public sector workers

The Big Story have been ordered to take their children out of foreign schools immediately. Russian political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky told the Daily Star: “This is all part of the package of measures to prepare elites for some ‘big war’.” The worrying development, which follows Putin’s suddenly cancelled visit to France, applies to all state employees. Workers were reportedly told to pull their children out of school immediately, even if it was in the middle of term. Anyone who fails to act will put their chances of promotion at risk, local media reported. Putin’s cancellation is the latest deterioration in ties between Moscow and the West. Earlier, the Russian strongman said the United States would have to compromise in the war in Syria, saying: “There is a need to behave like partners and take each other’s interests into account. We are ready for that.”

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Americans voting for a President must realise that they are voting for peace on Planet Earth if they vote for Trump. But if they vote for Hillary it’s war.

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He also launched a stinging attack on France, accusing President Francois Hollande of deliberately luring Moscow into vetoing a United Nations resolution on Syria and questioned whether Paris was doing the bidding of the US. His next move in this political game of chess was to get involved in the US Presidential elections, openly stating that Americans should vote for Donald Trump as President or risk being dragged into a nuclear war, according to a Russian ultra-nationalist ally of President Vladimir Putin who likes to compare himself to the U.S. Republican candidate. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a flamboyant veteran lawmaker known for his fiery rhetoric, told Reuters in an interview that Trump was the only person able to de-escalate dangerous tensions between Moscow and Washington. By contrast, Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton could spark World War Three, said Zhirinovsky, who received a top state award

The Big Story from Putin after his pro-Kremlin Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) came third in Russia’s parliamentary election last month. “Relations between Russia and the United States can’t get any worse. The only way they can get worse is if a war starts,” said Zhirinovsky, speaking in his huge office on the 10th floor of Russia’s State Duma, or lower house of parliament. “Americans voting for a President must realise that they are voting for peace on Planet Earth if they vote for Trump. But if they vote for Hillary it’s war. It will be a short movie. There will be Hiroshimas and Nagasakis everywhere.” Zhirinovsky’s comments coincide with deep disagreements between Washington and Moscow over Syria and Ukraine and after the White House last week accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organisations. Even as WikiLeaks released another trove of internal documents from Clinton’s campaign on Wednesday, Putin insisted his country was not involved in an effort to influence the U.S. presidential election.

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Victory for Trump would be a gift to humanity. But if Hillary Clinton wins it will be the last U.S. president ever.”

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Zhirinovsky once proposed blocking off mostly Muslim southern Russia with a barbed wire fence, echoing Trump’s call for a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. Zhirinovsky, who said he met Trump in New York in 2002, revels in his similarities with the American businessman — they are the same age, favour coarse, sometimes misogynistic language and boast about putting their own country first. Zhirinovsky has even said he wants a DNA test to see if he is related to Trump. But unlike Trump, a billionaire real-estate developer who casts himself as the anti-establishment candidate in the U.S. presidential race with no past political experience, Zhirinovsky is a consummate political insider who has sat in the Duma for more than two decades.”Trump will have a brilliant chance to make relations more peaceful ... He’s the only one who can do this,” he said, adding that Trump could even win a Nobel peace prize.Though Putin and Trump have never met, Zhirinovsky said he believed they could establish a close working relationship, adding: “Victory for Trump would be a gift to humanity. But if Hillary Clinton wins it will be the last U.S. president ever.” Speculation over the size of Putin’s personal fortune has gone on for almost a decade, following reports in 2007 that he was worth at least £40 billion, based on leaks from inside his own presidential administration. In 2010, US diplomatic cables suggested Putin held his wealth via proxies. The President formally owned nothing, they added, but was able to draw on the wealth of his friends, who now control practically all of Russia’s oil and gas production and industrial resources. Putin’s actual wealth is, of course, unknown, but estimates of in excess of $100 billion would not be far off the mark. This makes him the richest person on planet earth. So money is certainly not the driving force behind his actions and, worryingly, that only leaves his desire to see Russia as the world’s greatest superpower, regaining the lost Soviet empire and, the most dangerous emotion of them all, ego. Here’s a man who likes to parade himself shooting bears and riding horses bare-chested. A judo black belt who greatly enjoys denigrating

The Big Story women, as was witnessed at a meeting with Angela Merkel during which, knowing her fear of dogs, he called in his own dog to prowl around Merkel’s chair whilst he chuckled and she shook with fear. While Putin has been mocked for some of his pretensions, not least his penchant for being photographed in the midst of “manly” pursuits, that is seriously to underestimate his nous. This is particularly true when he is speaking to his constituency, an alliance of nationalists, conservatives and a vast, sprawling middle ground. According to Clifford Gaddy, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, Putin interposed himself as a key political fixer under the patronage of Yeltsin-era figure Anatoly Chubais in the mid-1990s. Putin, he says, “understood the principles of the British intelligence chief John Masterman’s double-cross system: don’t destroy your enemies. Manipulate them and use them for your own goals.” Putin did, and continues to do, precisely that. He has targeted the oligarchs, whose secrets he captured in his rise to power, first as the Prime Minister, under whose auspices the brutal second Chechen war was prosecuted. He has broken those who have stepped out of line.

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He has boasted that Russia was the only single country “genuinely capable of turning the USA into radioactive ash”

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In the meantime, the horror of the war in Syria will drag on and on. On the question of red lines, Obama’s has been crossed to no effect, while Putin’s red line on western intervention has been defended at the cost of yet more Syrian lives on both sides of the war and with no real prospect of a negotiated peace. Somewhere, a black dog is smiling a wolfish grin and the world as we know it is more dangerous than at any time in human history.

Mergers & Acquisitions

AN ACTIVE MARKET EMC Corporate Finance Chief Executive Nik Askaroff, South East Dealmaker of the Year for the last two years, looks at the state of the M&A market in the South East

EMC recently brokered a deal between two of its long-standing, Brighton-based clients that saw a team of digital professionals and a group of clients move to Cobb Digital (pictured) from Leapfrogg. The deal sees Cobb Digital nearly double in size and the Cobb Group take another step towards becoming the number one full-service media group in the South East. Meanwhile Leapfrogg continues to provide top-end strategic advice to the retail sector.

f you’re anything like me, the date of 23rd June 2016 is already ingrained in your memory. Whether you recall it with joy or despair will, I suppose, depend on how you voted in the referendum. Only time will tell what effect the decision to leave the EU will have on the economy in general and our businesses in particular. For the time being, most of us who run small and medium sized enterprises are simply happy that the initial prognosis of fiscal calamity has proved largely false.

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Lots of smaller business owners are coming to the conclusion that now might be a good time to capitalise on the years of hard work they have put into building their companies

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Here at EMC, in fact, things could hardly be better. By a strange quirk of fortune’s erratic wheel, we are enjoying one of our busiest spells for a long time in mergers and acquisitions activity. As I write, in the 14 weeks since the June referendum we have completed four significant deals and have three more just about to come to the boil. Our pipeline is also as full as it has been for a considerable period, so we’re certainly not bleating about Brexit… not yet, anyway!

Mergers & Acquisitions M&A activity normally reacts badly to political and economic uncertainty – and we’ve certainly been going through that! But as Experian MarketIQ’s half-yearly report shows, the deal market nationally has proved pleasingly robust. This is what Experian’s Research Manager, Jane Turner, had to say: “While we have undoubtedly seen a more cautious stance take hold among the UK’s larger corporates, privately held businesses have been looking to grow by acquisition in increasing numbers in the first half of 2016, with several sectors actually returning substantial spikes in activity. “With so much uncertainty surrounding the ramifications of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, it is difficult to predict to any great degree how M&A activity will be affected in the second half of the year, although it does seem probable that there will be some reduction in the deal flow in the short term as companies take stock. “However, the imperatives for UK businesses to make deals are still in place and the new economic reality will likely create its own opportunities for canny investors. With that in mind, dealmakers on both the buy and sell side will feel that it is more important than ever to carry out rigorous research before putting their best foot forward in the pursuit of strategic acquisitions.” Sure enough, each of the three full months since the referendum have seen a fall-off in deal volumes. But that was to be expected. However, the appetite for a deal in the right circumstances is still there. In particular, many larger companies holding sizeable cash reserves – and there are plenty of them – are busily scouting around for potential acquisition targets as a way of growing by investment. Well, they’d be silly not to given that the banks are almost actively discouraging them from holding onto their cash. At the same time, lots of smaller business owners are coming to the conclusion that now might be a good time to capitalise on the years of hard work they have put into building their companies and get out while the going is still relatively good.

ABOVE: EMC’s Kevin Wheelhouse (left), with Genie Care’s Mike Wilkinson and Alison Wilkinson following the signing of the deal with the Frontier Medical Group took a hefty tumble from £60.4bn to £19.6bn. Most of that was attributable to there not being a deal anything like the size of the £47bn acquisition of BG Group that took place in the first half of last year.

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M&A activity normally reacts badly to political and economic uncertainty, but… the deal market nationally has proved pleasingly robust.

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In the short term, I see no reason why the M&A market in our corner of the South East – we operate primarily in Sussex, Surrey and Kent – should not continue to be encouragingly active, particularly at the smaller end. While values aren’t achieving the multiples they once did, good, well-run businesses will still be much sought after and attract a decent premium.

We work mainly with small and midmarket businesses. In the small market sector (under £10m) in the South East, deal volumes increased by 29.3% in the first half of this year compared to 2015. Values also rose by 37%.

We’ve had a couple recently that proved the point. Pasante Healthcare in Lancing was started by entrepreneurs Lawrence, Dominic and Paul Boon in 2000 and grew to become the largest independent condom company in the UK and a global brand exporting to over 60 countries around the world.

That was a rather rosier picture than in the whole of the South East M&A market where, although the number of completed deals in the first half was up 10.5% on 2015, values

We worked with the company for several years and, just a few weeks ago, it was snapped up by Malaysian company Karex Bhd in a £6m deal. Karex, the world’s

fastest-expanding condom and sexual health manufacturer, plans to use Pasante to spearhead its expansion into Europe. Similarly, Ford-based Genie Care, the company behind a unique device that helps clinicians and carers with the regular turning of bed-bound patients to prevent ulcers, was bought by the Frontier Medical Group for an undisclosed sum to complement its Repose range of pressure area care products and further cement its commanding position in the sector. In both these cases the owners were well prepared for an exit. But that isn’t always the case. We’ve seen it time and again when an initial approach by a prospective purchaser has taken the owners completely by surprise. In an ideal world, you will control the timetable for your business exit. That would allow you a year or two – with, perhaps, a little help from firms like mine – to get everything in the best shape possible before testing the market. But it doesn’t always work like that. The call can come at any time so you need to be prepared. Whatever you do, don’t bite straight away. Although you may be flattered by the attentions of a potential suitor, take time and, more importantly, take advice from those who have been there, seen it and proudly wear the T-shirt. You won’t regret it.

Nik Askaroff is CEO of EMC Corporate Finance. Tel: 01273 945984. Email: nik.askaroff@emcltd.co.uk. Web: www.emcltd.co.uk

Business Survey

A MANUFACTURING SURVEY with added BITE Chris Coopey, Partner at Carpenter Box, reviews the findings of an in-depth manufacturing survey and announces the return of BITE 2017 (Business Innovation Technology Efficiency), the flagship event hosted by the firm aimed at helping any and every business.

Cautiously Optimistic South East manufacturers and engineers are optimistic of their future growth prospects, but are cautious of the impact leaving the European Union could have on their plans, according to a new survey from MHA and Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.

he fifth annual survey from the Manufacturing Group at MHA, the UKwide group of accountancy and business advisory firms which I lead, was sponsored by Lloyds Bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manufacturing team for the second year. It asked over 550 small to medium sized manufacturing and engineering businesses from across the UK for their views on the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.

Barriers to growth Over two thirds (70%) of businesses in the South East questioned are optimistic about their growth prospects in the coming 12 months. However, a note of realism was struck in relation to concerns over the way negotiations over the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exit from the EU will go, with 32% of businesses perceiving this uncertainty to be a barrier to growth.

Another cause for concern was the skills gap. Whilst more than half of firms (55%) will be looking to recruit over the next 12 months, 40% of the businesses expect to struggle to find skilled machinists. 97% of companies believe that their production costs will rise in 2016/17 due to the increasing cost of raw materials together with higher wages. As a result, productivity

gains are being seen as important in bringing down costs, as almost two thirds (63%) wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t consider passing the additional costs onto their customers.

New opportunities Securing opportunities to trade globally remains a priority for South East manufacturers, with 70% of businesses exporting. The Eurozone remains the most popular trading partner for firms, followed by North America and Asia. The MHA Manufacturing Survey also finds around eight in every 10 companies committing to R&D investment this year, although surprisingly 10% remain unaware of the benefits associated with R&D Tax Credits. Our latest survey demonstrates that the manufacturing and engineering sector remains innovative and resilient despite the uncertainty

Business Survey

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Our latest survey demonstrates that the manufacturing and engineering sector remains innovative and resilient despite the uncertainty around the upcoming European Union exit negotiations.

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around the upcoming European Union exit negotiations. It also shows that much can still be done to help UK industry increase its global market share and offset the trade deficit. Urgently needed is a well thought through skills strategy to produce a pipeline of educated and motivated candidates into the apprenticeship and further and higher education systems to meet the growing demand. Whilst businesses can and should be more proactive in helping themselves, a coherent industrial strategy with cabinet support is a must if the sector is to reach its full potential. Jez Hockley, Area Director for Manufacturing at Lloyds Bank Commercial

Banking in the South East, said: “While the result of the EU Referendum has left manufacturers with some questions over how they will fulfil their future plans, many in the South East are actively identifying new opportunities with global trade partners to help deliver sustainable growth. “Manufacturing has never been more important to the success and growth of the British economy, and closing the skills gap remains crucial to sustain the long-term success of the industry. We are continuing to work closely with firms through this evolving economic landscape to help ensure they maintain their competitive position in domestic and global marketplaces.”

The report’s findings will be presented by Philippa Oldham, Head of Transport and Manufacturing at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers at the next METALL (Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology Alliance) meeting on November 15th.

For more information and to sign up visit www.metall.org.uk

BITE is back T

he BITE event is full of ideas to help businesses run smoother and leaner using innovative technology combined with good commercial sense. It follows on from the very successful BITE pilot event in 2015, which saw over 300 people converge on the Amex stadium in Brighton to hear about everything from cloud accounting, to getting truly motivated around sales and marketing. Feedback from the first event was phenomenal and we’re determined to make BITE17 even better!

As far as testimonials go, this one from an attendee just about sums up the buzz that was BITE 2015: “We wanted to congratulate you all on the success of BITE15! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and met some fascinating people and businesses that we would definitely like to keep in touch with. All of the sessions were educational, interesting and well delivered.” BITE 2017 is scheduled for Thursday 27th April 2017 and aims to deliver the same inspirational format helping businesses to keep ahead of the curve. Delegates will again have the opportunity to meet with some of the best business software vendors, as well as other great companies across the breadth of the service sector including bankers, alternative finance providers, lawyers and other business advisers. As before, BITE will be held at the Amex Stadium in Falmer. With its free parking and great facilities this modern and already iconic venue

provides the ideal backdrop to the event. The format for the day will revolve around a number of key note sessions, opportunities to visit the BITE exhibitors and various break-out meetings with experts focusing on a range of business opportunities and techniques for dealing with today’s business challenges. Although the agenda is yet to be finalised BITE attendees will have the opportunity to hear a whole lot more about alternative business funding. We will have a panel based Q&A featuring experts talking about many of the available options, including the traditional banking offer. Although alternative funding accounts for a very small percentage of the funding market, it does have particular value at certain points of the business cycle. Commentators believe that the sector will continue to grow to the point where rather than being alternative, it becomes part of the mainstream although we may still be many years away from that Rubicon being crossed. The effect of ‘The Cloud’ will also feature high on the agenda. In the year since BITE 2015 the cloudscape has moved even further with opportunities covering almost everything imaginable from single solution software to add-ons to cloud accounting systems optimised for the retail, property and manufacturing sectors to name but a very few.

If you want to pre-register for BITE, you can sign up at http://www.carpenterbox.com/bite2017/ You can also see a video covering the BITE 2015 event on the sign up page.

Property Investments

A TAX HOLIDAY?

Are furnished holiday lets the path to follow for investment property? asks Jo White, Tax Consultant at Kreston Reeves

fter many years of a comparatively benign marketplace for buy-tolet investors, George Osborne’s introduction of an increasingly hostile tax regime for investors, not least because of the extra 3% stamp duty land tax introduced for property purchases, has meant landlords are now having to review their circumstances From next April, there will be restrictions on the level of mortgage costs that can be set against rental income for tax purposes. In addition, buy-to-letters will no longer be able to claim a 10 per cent allowance for ‘wear and tear’ - only what they actually spend on

maintenance, replacement items and repairs.

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The most significant benefit available with a furnished holiday let is the potential to claim for capital allowances.

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With these recent reductions on the tax relief for buy-to-let properties, recent press coverage has focused on the returns available from reverting to furnished holiday lets as the best way to make the most of an investment. So what is the reality?

What defines a property as a ‘furnished holiday let’? There are special rules in order for a property to qualify as a furnished holiday let (FHL). These include:

Property Investments

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Holders of more than one FHL property are able to take an average of all the let days to be able to meet the criteria for all their properties.

example, if losses are made on properties held in the EEA they cannot be offset against profits made from properties held in the UK.

• The property is in the UK or one of the remaining 27 countries in the European Economic Area (EEA). It is not yet clear if these rules will change in the coming years following the Brexit vote. • The property must be furnished sufficiently for normal occupation and guests must be entitled to use the furniture. • The property must be commercially let i.e. you must intend to make a profit. • The property must be available to let for at least 210 days each year and the property must be let for at least 105 days each year.

❞ they are exempt from the changes announced in the Summer Budget which are set to affect buy-to-let landlords.

These rules will clearly affect investors’ choice of property purchase when investing in holiday lets. Foremost, investors will need to ensure that the property is in a desirable location to maximise the opportunity of it being let on a short-term basis.

5. Capital allowances can be claimed on FHLs for the purchase of a range of assets, such as furniture and white goods, as well as for certain works completed on the property, such as electrics and heating.

Tax advantages of a furnished holiday let versus a conventional buy-to-let

The most significant benefit available is the potential to claim for capital allowances. This is because allowance can be obtained as soon as you purchase the property - but only if the assets have not previously been claimed for. Although additional information gathering is required for this (potentially by way of a Surveyor’s Report) up to £200,000 per annum (current rate) of qualifying costs can be claimed against any FHL income so the benefit of claiming is likely to significantly outweigh the cost. Buy-to-let properties can only obtain tax relief where furniture is renewed, no claim can generally be made for lighting or heating costs unless they are being repaired. Both of these differences significantly lower the items that qualify and the tax relief given.

There are commercial decisions that need to be assessed before making the decision to purchase a furnished holiday let however, there are four potential benefits which may outweigh purchasing a conventional buy-to-let property. 1.

Business Property Relief (BPR) could have the effect of exempting all or part of the value of the FHL from inheritance tax, because a FHL is seen as a business. The amount of relief is dependent on whether or not the property is owned wholly or shared. Generally buy-to-let properties do not attract Inheritance Tax Relief, even if you generate all of your income running a property ‘business.’ To date, however, there has not yet been a successful case for a furnished holiday let claiming BPR.

Despite these specific criteria, if the reason you fail to meet these rules due to the property not being let for a minimum of 105 days in any one year (but this has been met in previous consecutive year(s)), or if you intended to let the property for the minimum period but you were unable to, the property would still meet the requirements under a ‘period of grace’ arrangement.

2. Entrepreneurs’ Relief can potentially be claimed. This could thereby reduce Capital Gains Tax from 18% or 28% to 10%.

Holders of more than one FHL property are able to take an average of all the let days to be able to meet the criteria for all their properties.

3. Where you sell a FHL it may be possible to rollover any gain, deferring the tax liability due, where you reinvest in another qualifying business asset.

It is worth noting at this point that properties held in the UK are considered separately to properties held in the EEA. For

4. 100% of your mortgage interest (and other qualifying finance costs) is a deductible expense for an FHL because

If you are in the process of buying a buy-to-let property or a furnished holiday let - or currently own one and would like to discuss the best ways to get the most out of your investment, please contact me or one of our specialist Kreston Reeves’ advisers. jo.white@krestonreeves.com 01403 250926

This material is for general information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal or other form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain independent, professional advice for your own particular situation. Kreston Reeves LLP (Registered number in OC328775, registered office: 37 St Margaret's Street, Canterbury CT1 2TU) is registered to carry on audit work and is regulated for a range of investment business activities by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. A list of members’ names is available at our registered office and details of the licensing bodies for our insolvency practitioners can be found at our website. Kreston Reeves Financial Planning Limited (Registered number 3852054, registered office: 37 St Margaret's Street, Canterbury CT1 2TU) are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. All of the above addresses are registered in England.

SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND As we celebrate the best of business 2017

ENTER T HE GA T W I C K DI AM O ND BUSINESS A W ARD S Now in the ninth year, we have brought together a fantastic group of sponsors and judges to help us find and celebrate the very best businesses across the Gatwick Diamond. Any business in the Gatwick Diamond can enter and, with 14 categories, there will be at least one Award (if not more) that are relevant to you and your business. Entry period runs from 6th October to 18th November and judging visits will take place across December and January. The Awards will culminate in the spectacular Awards Ceremony on 16th March 2017 at the Effingham Park Hotel. Be sure to put the date in your diary for the business networking event of the year!

For more information and to download an entry form, visit:

WWW.GATWICKDIAMONDBUSINESSAWARDS.COM

Business Scene

GATWICK DIAMOND BUSINESS AWARDS RETURN

eremy Taylor, Chief Executive of Gatwick Diamond Business, hosted the launch of the 2017 awards. The breakfast event at the Copthorne Hotel was attended by sponsors, judges and the 2016 winners. Jeremy announced that the compere is to be the actor and comedian Stephen Mangan, and officially declared the awards open for entries.

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Lee Harding (Irwin Mitchell) with Monique Limerick and Darren Flood (Vines of Gatwick) Tim Rush (KPMG) John Redfern (NatWest) and Ann Swain (FSB) Lisa Downs (Rawlison Butler) and Russell Fernandes (NatWest) Ben Harvey (Storm Creative) and Paula Aldridge (Gatwick Airport) Jeremy Taylor and Shelby Beeden (Gatwick Diamond Business) Ian Woodland (Assurity Consulting), Alan Trace (Extech) and Dan Sibley (NatWest) Lorraine Axten (Emirates), Andrew Hookway (Extech) and Debra Vice-Holt (University of Brighton) Diane Belford (Rawlison Butler), Stuart Furneaux and Claire Bartlett (Search Consultancy) Stuart Crane and David Bywater (KPMG) and Neil Gardner (ASB Law) Markus Wood and Sharma Hadrill (Avensys Live) with Paul McConalogue (NatWest) Jeremy Taylor

Business Awards

OPEN FOR ENTRIES The closing date for entries for the 2017 Gatwick Diamond Business Awards is the 18th November. Enter your company now. We are delighted to be announcing the 9th Gatwick Diamond Business Awards Once again we have brought together a fantastic group of sponsors and judges to help us find and celebrate the very best businesses across the Gatwick Diamond. The Gatwick Diamond Business Awards give any business the opportunity to shine as brightly as they can … like a Diamond.

Jeremy Taylor, Chief Executive, Gatwick Diamond Business.

Headline Sponsors to date: Gatwick Airport, NatWest, Nestle, Emirates Airline Pre-Dinner Reception: Irwin Mitchell Compere: Stephen Mangan

Award Categories & Sponsors Business Person of the Year - KPMG

International Business of the Year - Gatwick Diamond Initiative

New Business of the Year - the FSB

Employer of the Year - Search

Green Business of the Year - Crawley Borough Council

The Award for Supply Chain Excellence - University of Brighton

Business of the Year - NatWest

The Award for Developing People for Business Success - Central Sussex College Responsible Business of the Year – University of Sussex, School of Business, Management & Economics Manufacturing Business of the Year– asb law

The Award for Innovation and Technology in Business - Rawlison Butler LLP Professional Services Firm of the Year - tbc The Award for the Place to Meet - Vines BMW & Mini

The Award for Customer Delight - Extech

Award Categories & Sponsors

Key dates for your diary:

Design Partner: Storm Creative Partnership 18th November 2016 Closing date for entries Venue Partner: Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Event Partner: Avensys Live

Dec 2016 - Jan 2017 Judging Period 9th February 2017 Finalist announcement at the Sponsors and Media Breakfast

Media Partner: Platinum Business Magazine 16th March 2017 The Gatwick Diamond Business Awards 2017 Staging Design & Event Partner: Avensys Live

13th April 2017 Sponsors and 2017 Winners Celebration Breakfast

To find out more about the Awards and to be involved, visit www.GatwickDiamondBusinessAwards.com or follow the Awards on Twitter @gdbizawards

Business Awards - Interview

RED LETTER DAY Co-founder of Red River, Simon Pringle, won Business Person of the Year at the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards 2016. Here he explains what the award has meant to him and the company.

Can you describe Red River to someone who may not be familiar with the company? Red River is a software development company that works with high growth businesses, start-ups, investors and generally with organisations undergoing rapid change. We develop systems and products that run businesses or deliver our customer’s services. We are a unique blend of technical excellence, business acumen and creativity, that helps us thrive in this high speed environment.

Why did you decide to enter the GDB awards? We founded Red River nine years ago and have grown to be an influence in the region. The area has an identity and culture that is different to London and Brighton; both of which are recognised digital hubs. I realised that businesses in the Gatwick Diamond, especially

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It has been evident that the award has helped in meetings we have had and the business we have won.

❞ those who have experienced recruitment issues and a skills shortage, are part of an interdependent community that we all need to nurture and promote. I have worked hard in the last few years to do my bit to grow the economy, help business initiatives and work with schools, colleges and universities to ultimately to keep people in this region and within

the business community. A large part of the work we do is for overseas customers and we feel this has helped with inward investment into the region too. Entering the awards was just a continuation of this. I felt I had a story to tell and experiences to share.

What do you think made your entry stand out to the judges? Growing your own business is normal and not headline news. We have done that year on year, especially in the last 24 months, but I believe that there were a number of things that made a difference. We changed the structure of the company to create a more democratic approach that would stimulate growth and facilitate autonomy and learning, this has worked really well. The engagement with the universities and colleges to help generate a local talent pool and the work I do with educational and youth organisations such as Maggie Philbin’s TeenTech. I have loved working with investors and start-ups over the last few years and helped to create a number of innovative companies. I have enjoyed talking at events across the region and have been an advisor on many business and educational initiatives. I believe my business partner Kieren and I have created a unique and incredibly supportive environment that has developed leaders and innovators and has attracted customers, business partners and staff.

What impact has winning the Businessperson of the Year award had on the company? Personally it has been just a great boost and for the business it has bought a mass of publicity and interest. It was great to receive the affirmations from partners and customers on the night and the weeks following. It has been evident that the award has helped in meetings we have had and the business we have won.

What does the future hold for Red River? We have plans for the next three years for growth, expansion and expansion of our services. The last six months have presented a number of partnership opportunities that we are in the process of embarking on. Personally, I would like to continue help grow the region’s economy, promoting the Gatwick Diamond outside of the area and also to help generate the next wave of software professionals.

DELIVER BALANCED GROWTH FOR BRITAIN A second runway at Gatwick will give airports across the UK greater opportunity to grow, which means more competition and balanced growth for the whole country. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s make it happen so all of Britain can get the benefits.

gatwickobviously.com @LGWobviously

TRAVEL SUPPLEMENT

PLATINUM

Barcelona has gained a reputation for being chic and cool, and, as Rose found out, it is fully justified. She had a good old root around and located the best event and meetings spaces, cool restaurants in which to hang out and a very funky hotel. The architecture of the Catalan capital could be regarded as totally bonkers or incredibly creative but whatever your take, it is stunning and highly memorable. Maarten had a charming stay at the Charm and John has gone all hitech on us and thinks robots are taking over the world of airlines - with his knowledge, l wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bet against him.

THIS MONTH:

PLATINUM

BARCELONA

Travel

ROBOT WARS Lost in Dubai should be a thing of the past

by John Burroughes Managing Director, Uniglobe Preferred Travel

e all know the proverbial saying about buses coming along at once, and so it was last week that prolific forces managed to converged numerous important travel related events in the same week, in different parts of the world. The net result of this was that I found myself talking to a lost business traveller (Brian) in Dubai airport while my son Andrew, found himself at the Amadeus Innovation Centre in Nice talking to a robot.

Let me explain. I was in Dubai to meet with owners of travel businesses from many different countries to discuss the future of travel distribution, which is a particularly hot topic in our industry at present, especially with the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Virtual Personal Assistant (VPA). Now we are all used to Apple’s Siri and Amazon Echo, we in the travel industry are preparing to welcome Amadeus’s Pepper and even Hitachi’s EMIEW3 robot, (note the

French give a fluffy name, the Japanese a serial number). It wasn’t that long ago that we were explaining to business travellers what this newfangled item called an e-ticket was! So first to Japan where at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, Hitachi are trialling a project with their EMIEW3 robot, which is performing a range of functions such as giving directions, answering travel related questions and actually taking travellers to the locations they are seeking within the airport. Robots are also

Travel

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It wasn’t that long ago that we were explaining to business travellers what this new-fangled item called an e-ticket was

❞ being trialled in Japanese hotels. Here I would like you to picture the massive queues one used to have to join at an airport to check-in, nowadays you can go to a terminal, tap your details in and move swiftly on. Instead of waiting behind the people that are trying to check-in on the wrong day, or arguing about an upgrade, how about a robot to assist you at check-in or at checkout? Whilst on the subject of upgrades, with a robot, surely all we would need is an upgrade code, as opposed to being eyed up and down by the hotel clerk to see if we appeared worthy of one.

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The AI revolution is not just around the corner, it’s already looking and learning from us

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In addition to the airport, a hotel is trialling a robot that stores and retrieves your luggage, and robots that deliver your suitcases to your room - no more embarrassing moments where the bellhop hovers in the doorway whilst you fumble for some token of your gratitude. Pepper on the other hand is being groomed (well, programmed) to work by rechargeable battery and as a human, a.k.a. a travel consultant. The idea is you visit a travel agency, you see that the travel consultants are busy and all of a sudden you hear a ‘friendly voice from a cute little robot’ (Amadeus’s words not mine). It greets you saying: “hello, let me show you some pictures,” if you see a picture you like just smile, you join in and away you go your profile is already being built from a series

of pictures and questions. Integrated within the software is complexed artificial intelligent algorithms that are trawling through billions of news articles embedded within the robot, sorry Pepper. Pepper is simultaneously linking your profile which it created through your dialogue with external destination profiles. After displaying a shortlist of suggested destinations, Pepper transfers all of this information to the travel consultant’s desktop, (travel consultant is a human, at the moment) where they refine your destination choice and aim to add value to make your trip truly unique. Before you think that all of this is a bit far-fetched, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Amadeus, Samsung and Apple all have major AI test projects currently running and the global stakes have never been higher, as we have just seen with the withdrawal of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7, which is expected to cost the company £4.4bn this year alone.

So back to Brian, the lost business traveller I encountered in Dubai. Brian is a marine engineer and travels to all parts of the globe at very short notice to fix ships and machines. His skill set is much sought after and doesn’t come cheap, yet the reason he was wandering around Dubai airport was the travel company he was using had not informed him which hotel they had booked him into, they hadn’t even sent him an email itinerary, yet alone one that he could access online. Now dear Brian being a considerate soul, was waiting for a suitable time difference between him and the UK before waking up said agent. If ever there was a cost to a company or person where even a sliver of the above technology could have added to a better personal experience, here is an example.

If you’d like to know more, please contact me on John@Uniglobepreferred.co.uk

Someone who is particularly interesting is a man called Dag Kittlaus. He was behind the development of Apple’s Siri, the digital assistant bought by Apple in 2010. He left Apple in 2012 and began working on a new more advanced AI project called Viv, which was in turn purchased by Samsung last week. The stated aim of Viv is to “breathe life into inanimate objects.” The fine line between technical genius and falling off the wafer thin electronic tightrope, has never been more publicly displayed as in the last few weeks with the above loss for Samsung. Set this against the launch of Apple’s iPhone 7, which contains something they are calling ‘image signal processor’ (ISP) which is capable of performing as many as 100 billion operations in just 25 milliseconds, the AI revolution is not just around the corner, it’s already looking and learning from us!

Travel - Barcelona

Shake hands in...

BARCELONA Ideas flow freely in the Catalan capital, thanks to its legacy of great thinkers and a ‘fail faster’ state-of-mind, reports Rose Dykins.

arcelona’s architecture oozes with individuality. The stately buildings running alongside its wide, grid-like streets and avenues of dappled plane trees are punctuated with fantastical neo-gothic structures, each one with a legion of hooknosed gargoyles peering down at me. Rambling through Parc de la Ciutadella, I

spy chartreuse canaries flitting between the Mediterranean flora, their colour popping against an uncharacteristically pale sky (everyone I meet jokes that I’ve brought the British weather with me). The waterfall monument, crowned with a golden statue of Aurora in a horse-drawn chariot, and flowing with vivid blue water, holds my attention for

some time. This is easily trumped, however, by the eye-popping Sagrada Familia, designed by Catalan Modernist architect Antoni Gaudi. It’s still surrounded by cranes, despite its construction beginning in 1882. By the time the surreal, swirling Catholic church is finally completed in 2026 – the centenary of Gaudi’s death – it will have taken longer to build than

Travel - Barcelona The Gothic Quarter

the Great Pyramid of Giza, but I’m definitely witnessing another Wonder of the World in the making. I head back towards the Old Town to meet with Belgian entrepreneur Mark Mekki, founder of travel experience curation and technology company, Ode to Joy (library. odetojoy.life). He shows me the sweeping views from the terrace of his rooftop office. Putting my awe to one side for the moment, I ask him about Barcelona’s business climate. “We moved here for the lifestyle,” he says. “What I found was an enormous ecosystem of entrepreneurship. It’s becoming one of the start-up hubs of Europe – of the world, even. It’s a very friendly city to come into as an entrepreneur, very low-risk, with a lot of potential for funding and making contacts. There’s still a perception about Spain and Catalonia that red tape will be an issue, but actually it’s fairly simple now.”

Sagrada Familia

What else makes Barcelona so conducive to starting up a new business? “There are a lot of incubators, and there’s a lot of free or cheap office space – the amount of co-working space in Barcelona is only second to Berlin and San Francisco, I believe,” Mekki reveals.

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For meetings and conferences, Barcelona’s innovative streak makes it an obvious choice for holding international tech and digital events.

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“However, it’s more about the mentality than the infrastructure, which is grounded in the fact that Spain, and Catalonia in particular, was hit hardest by the recession, so people had to go out and try different things. This

mentality crept in - you have nothing to lose, so try something crazy and see if it sticks. People are coming up with these ideas, and venture capitalists are saying: ‘that could work worldwide, let’s give you a million euros and just roll with it.’” For meetings and conferences, Barcelona’s innovative streak makes it an obvious choice for holding international tech and digital events. For example, the city is the annual host of the Mobile World Congress – the world’s largest gathering for the mobile industry– and will stage the Smart City Expo World Congress this month. Last year, the Catalan capital was named the second-most popular city for meetings in the world, having hosted 182 meetings in 2014, with 127,469 participants – it was pipped to the post only by Paris. And, there is no shortage of interesting, creative company incentives to reward employees with. For example, local experience provider, CoCoA (cocoa.network) runs an Inspirational Hubs programme. It allows corporate groups to visit Barcelona’s surrounding farms and vineyards to partake in agricultural activities, meeting with locals and taking in an authentic aspect of Catalan life. It’s also possible to treat football fans with a VIP tour of Camp Nou stadium, the home ground of Barcelona FC – Ode to Joy can even arrange a private dinner on the actual pitch. For me, the best way to experience Barcelona is on foot, with my neck permanently craned upwards, whether I’m winding my way through the narrow alleyways of its Old Town, or stumbling upon yet another architectural remnant from the brilliant creatives that have made this city what it is today.

Parc de la Ciutadella

Travel - Barcelona

MADE IN BARCELONA Five ingenious innovations from Barcelona-based start-ups Wallapop – A secondhand marketplace app that allows users to buy and sell items by connecting with people in their neighbourhood. It has attracted €150 million of investment and has been downloaded around 25 million times.

Kantox – A foreign exchange platform, Kantox enables peer-to-peer trading, and alerts users of the best trading times. It has handled more than a million transactions since it was founded five years ago.

Smadex – Creates and distributes mobile advertising for companies. Last year, its monthly revenue rose to €300,000. Kompyte – An intelligence platform that gives marketing teams real-time information about competitors’ latest moves. Trip4Real – Recently purchased by Airbnb, Trip4real is a Barcelona-based booking company that connects travellers with local activities and experiences in more than 70 European cities.

Can Cisa/Bar Brutal – Tucked away on a quiet street in the Old Town, this popular wine bar serves delectable tapas amid a cool, buzzy atmosphere. cancisa.cat

Hisop – Head here for beautifully presented modern Catalan cuisine crafted from seasonal ingredients. hisop.com Bacoa Burger – Lowhanging exposed lightbulbs and metal stools adorn in this trendy burger bar, where you grab a pencil, put a cross next the fillings you’d like – all of them locally sourced – and wait for your order to be served to your table. bacoa.es

Eat Here

Travel - Barcelona

TOP FOUR EVENT SPACES CCIB Covering 100,000 sqm, with the capacity to welcome 15,000 delegates, the clean lines of this convention centre cut a sharp silhouette on the seafront district of Diagonal Mar.

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CATALAN HISTORY MUSEUM The museum’s rooftop terrace overlooks boats bobbing in Barcelona’s old port from one side and staggering city views from the other. It has space for 600 guests.

➠ FUNDACIO JOAN MIRO Set on Montjuic hill, the galleries of this contemporary art institute pop with bold colours and thought-provoking sculptures. These can be hired for events; other spaces include an 180-capacity auditorium and a cypress garden.

➠ CASA BATLLO A dream-like Gaudi building in the middle of the city, this unique building’s roof looks like it’s crafted from a dragon’s skin, while its balconies resemble sharks’ jaws. For a banquet to remember, hire the magical Noble Floor.

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Travel - Barcelona

HOTEL BRAND ON THE RADAR Room Mate Hotels

ith four properties in Barcelona, this international boutique hotel brand targets those seeking ‘affordable luxury’. Each one has an individual visual theme that reflects its locale as well as its ‘character’ - the idea being that visiting the hotel is like staying with a friend (hence why each hotel is given a person’s name). When I checked in to the 81-room Room Mate Anna, I was greeted by staff sporting orange heart-shaped badges with a word on them relating to one of their hobbies or interests (just in case you’d like a conversation prompt).

Room Mate Anna Room Mate Carla Executive room with terrace

Aside from the striking scarlet design of my Deluxe room in Room Mate Anna – located a minute’s walk from Passsig de Gracia metro station – the highlight of my stay was the WeMate wifi hub. When you leave the hotel for the day, you’re handed a palm-sized wifi-emitting device that connects to up to ten smartphones. It feels liberating to use Google Maps without worrying if, like me, your data roaming is permanently turned off abroad to prevent gut-wrenching phone bills. I also appreciated the unusual wasabiflavour toiletries and that breakfast was served right up until midday – a brand standard across all hotels, along with the WeMate hub. Room Mate Carla – situated opposite the famous neo-gothic Casa Thomas – has a sleek blue design, 81 bright white rooms with bold motifs, and two meeting rooms, one of which has views out on to the hotel’s peaceful ground floor terrace, which is often used for meetings in the sunshine. Room Mate Anna and Room Mate Carla opened up in Barcelona this summer.

Visit room-matehotels.com

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Coast to Capital

ENTERPRISING ROLES Educating the Next Generation by Georgina Angele Enterprise Coordinator

working with clusters of schools and colleges, recruiting Enterprise

The Foxhound patrol vehicle

Advisers to match with Headteachers and their senior leadership teams, in order to build strategies that will increase the number of encounters that students have with employers, businesses and further and higher education institutions. By the end of this academic year, the EAN will consist of 100 schools and colleges and more than 100 senior level business volunteers as Enterprise Advisers.

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By the end of this academic year, the EAN will consist of 100 schools and colleges and more than 100 senior level business volunteers as Enterprise Advisers

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Why is this needed and what is the impact of the Enterprise Adviser

n the last two editions of the magazine, I have introduced the Careers & Enterprise Company, The Enterprise Adviser Network (EAN) and the work being undertaken in the Coast to Capital LEP area in connecting

the work of businesses with our local schools and colleges. It has been an exciting 12 months and with the support of volunteer Enterprise Advisers from local organisations, a network of leaders from business and education has been created. This network is collaborating to create careers and enterprise strategies that provide the structure for employers and schools to connect and deliver meaningful interactions and activities in our schools and colleges, providing young people with a better understanding of the skills and qualifications they need to gain employment on leaving education.

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Marie Harding is Head of Careers at The Regis School and says: “Linking with the EAN has had a massive impact on the way that Careers Information Advice & Guidance (CIAG) is delivered within the school. Students benefit in a number of ways both directly and indirectly from the contact we now have with the local business community. The EAN has given me the support I need to be able to offer students many more opportunities for contact with employers than I would ever be able to achieve if I were working alone. I know that if I have an event to run or need a speaker for an assembly, our Enterprise Adviser Kevin usually knows someone from the network. With Kevin’s support we have managed to secure a large number of businesses and volunteers to come in and provide interactive experiences for

Linking with the EAN has had a massive impact on the way that CIAG is delivered within the school.

our students. These real world experiences will have a far greater impact on the students than learning in the classroom alone, and will help

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As a result of funding from the Careers & Enterprise Company, the recruitment of four new Enterprise Coordinators is underway. Once appointed and in their roles, the Enterprise Coordinators will each be

Network so far in our region?

them to develop essential employability skills for entering the world of work.”

To find out how you and your business can join the Enterprise Adviser Network and inspire the workforce of the future, contact Georgina Angele, Senior Enterprise Coordinator on 07879 980444 or georgina.angele@ coast2capital.org.uk.

Coast to Capital

URT GROUP LTD

Employing apprentices as the next generation of engineers

URT

Group is a leading Composites Manufacturing and Engineering solutions provider in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. They design, machine and manufacture a wide range of composite components, large and small, for clients in a variety of industries from defence, motorsports, automotive, marine, aerospace and lifestyle products. URT manufacture composite components to satisfy the most secretive clients and withstand the most demanding environments, from Formula 1 race tracks to theatres of war, and such diverse products as vehicles trying to break 1000 mph on land, to satellites travelling 1000s mph in the harsh environment of space. “Apprenticeships for URT are an asset to our organisation and bring significant benefits to

the business and our existing workforce,” says Kevin Emmett, Director. “Apprenticeships are a unique way to grow your own. They combine on-the-job training in your organisation with off-the-job learning, and are an effective way of growing the skill base. Not only has our apprenticeship programme helped us to ensure essential knowledge and skills are passed on to our next generation of staff, it has also allowed colleagues to improve their own management and mentoring, by them teaching our apprentices vital skills they’ll be able to use for the rest of their careers”.

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apprentice taken on. Since then 22 apprentices have joined URT and all have been given full time roles within the company. With the support and strong working relationship with local education providers Chichester University and Technical College, URT’s apprentices develop and flourish into valued members of the team through its engineering courses, backed up with their inhouse training and development programmes. This effective training strategy is one that supports not only the business aims but also meets the individual development needs of their employees.

“Apprenticeships are a unique way to grow your own”

Such has been the success of the scheme, that URT has decided to take on apprentices for the foreseeable future to continue this growth and to develop their skill set further.

Kevin Emmett, Director

“The momentum we have created by building the apprenticeship brand has brought about exceptional success for the apprenticeship programme, with exapprentices now holding senior roles such as technical project managers and supervisory roles within the company, bearing in mind these guys are still in their early twenties, but have the abilities and qualities to do the job,” says Kevin.

❞ Spreading the word URT’s apprenticeship scheme was first launched 11 years ago with a focus on school and college leavers, and which saw their first

Another bonus from the apprenticeship scheme is that URT has also won several industry awards for the training and development of their staff, which has also lead to more business development and an increase in output and turnover.

EA Kevin Emmett with three former pupils from The Regis School now employed as Apprentice Engineers at URT Group Ltd Rory Driscoll, Ben Tew and Jake Foote

Kevin added: “I wanted to pass my engineering knowledge on to young people who are interested in what we do, so becoming an Enterprise Advisor and joining the EA network has helped URT as an employer tap into the talent pool of school leavers locally to us. I’ve teamed up with The Regis School in Bognor Regis and already it’s proving be an overriding success with three apprentices joining URT from the school over the last two years. I work with Marie Harding (Head of Careers) at the school and we have already participated in various careers and STEM events within the school, taking alumni students back into the school for talks on apprenticeships and their career path.”

VAT Fraud

BEING TAKEN FOR A RIDE? Clive Lee

Michael Axe

Clive Lee, Commercial Disputes Partner, and Michael Axe, Senior Associate, at Rawlison Butler on the dangers of ‘VAT Carousel’ missing trader fraud

o called “VAT carousel” frauds can cost HMRC millions, and at the same time, a surprisingly large number of innocent companies find themselves inadvertently caught up in the chains of related transactions. Michael Axe looks at how HMRC has the power to pursue those innocent companies for the VAT “stolen” by the fraudsters, as well as the steps that innocent companies can take to protect themselves from being held liable for HMRC’s losses.

“VAT carousel” fraud – now also commonly known as “missing trader intra-community” fraud (or “MTIC” fraud for short) – has been around for many years. In fact, it has been around ever since fraudsters first started exploiting the VAT rules which state that cross-border transactions between EU Member States are zero-rated for VAT purposes. However, many UK companies do not appreciate how innocent parties caught up in the fraudsters’ “carousel” can be left bearing significant tax liabilities to HMRC after the fraudsters have disappeared.

What is MTIC fraud? In its simplest form, although in practice there are many variants, MTIC fraud involves a company that is registered for VAT in one EU Member State (“the Overseas Seller”) selling goods to another company (“the Importer”) that is registered for VAT in a different EU Member State (the UK, in this example). The Overseas Seller then claims VAT refunds in its own Member State for any VAT which it paid when buying the goods for export. The Importer, meanwhile, does not have to pay

VAT Fraud

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To show that a company “should have known” about a VAT fraud, HMRC will need to show that “the only reasonable explanation for the transaction … was that it was connected with fraud”.

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any VAT on goods imported from another EU Member State, but it will charge VAT when it resells the goods to a VAT registered company in the same Member State (“the Buffer”). The Buffer is usually the innocent party in the chain of transactions, and is usually not one of the fraudsters. A fourth VAT registered company (“the Broker”), which may be one of the fraudsters or could be another innocent party, will then buy the goods from the Buffer, with the Buffer charging VAT as normal on that sale, and accounting to HMRC for both the VAT it paid to the Importer, and the VAT it charged to the Broker. The Broker, having paid VAT to the Buffer, will then be able to reclaim the VAT it paid back from HMRC (either as an actual refund or as a reduction in its own VAT liability). The Importer then

goes missing (becoming the “missing trader”) without paying any VAT to HMRC. The Broker will then re-export the goods out of its Member State (in this case, the UK), without having to charge VAT on goods exported to another EU Member State. Finally, the original Overseas Seller will reacquire the goods and start the “carousel” all over again. The end result, as summarised in the diagram below, is that both the Overseas Seller and the Broker are able to obtain full VAT refunds in their respective Member States, while the “missing trader” Importer absconds with the VAT paid to it by the innocent Buffer, which should have been paid to HMRC The goods used in MTIC frauds are usually high value, easily transportable goods, so

that the VAT paid by the innocent Buffer (and stolen by the “missing trader”) can be maximised. Early MTIC frauds involved goods such as computer chips (CPUs), mobile phones, iPods and similar electronic devices, but fraudsters are becoming more creative, and recent cases have involved items such as razor blades, white goods, and even EU Emission Allowances. Given the high value of such goods, HMRC can be defrauded out of significant sums of VAT on a single “VAT carousel” transaction.

How does this affect innocent parties? In the above simple example, the Overseas Seller, the Importer, and the Broker are in on the fraud, but the Buffer (the party which

VAT Fraud actually pays the VAT that is stolen by the “missing trader” Importer) is the innocent party. In more complex MTIC frauds, there will often be a long chain of resales to multiple Buffers, and sometimes there can even be several different chains of sales and resales (some not even involving the “dirty” goods at all, so-called “contra-chains”) taking place in a single “carousel” fraud, all involving several different innocent Buffers and an innocent Broker. Some complex “carousel” chains have been known to involve up to 600 different companies – so the risk of an innocent company becoming unwittingly involved in an MTIC fraud cannot be underestimated.

the Buffer (or Broker) “knew or should have known” that the “missing trader” Importer would not pay the VAT due to HMRC. As there will often be warning signs (such as those discussed in the section below) in MTIC fraud “carousels”, there can be grounds for HMRC to argue that an innocent Buffer or Broker should nevertheless have suspected that the “missing trader” Importer was involved in a VAT fraud.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, by the time an MTIC fraud is uncovered by HMRC, it is not unusual for all of the fraudsters to have disappeared and/or for them to have left their VAT registered companies as empty shells (with their officers difficult to trace or identify). Quite often, therefore, the innocent Buffer(s) (and Broker) are the only companies left in the “carousel” chain (a) which HMRC can trace and (b) which have any assets for HMRC to pursue.

The purpose of these rules is to transfer the risk in the fraudulent transactions from HMRC to the other traders in the chain, by making them more responsible and accountable for the VAT arising from the chain of transactions of which they were a party, and with the

HMRC’s additional powers In an effort to combat the rise in MTIC fraud, various pieces of legislation have been introduced in the UK over the years. However, this has often proved somewhat ineffective as the legislation has focused on amending the VAT rules for specific types of goods (such as mobile phones, CPUs, telecoms, games consoles and even on supplies of gas and electricity) so that the VAT burden is reversed, meaning that the customer (i.e. the Buffer) has to account to HMRC for the VAT, rather than the supplier (i.e. the “missing trader” Importer). However, when these reverse VAT charges are brought in for specific types of goods, the fraudsters will usually simply move on to using different types of goods in their frauds. Therefore, in the fight against MTIC fraud, arguably the most effective piece of legislation is that which enables HMRC (in certain circumstances) to pursue the innocent companies who purchased the goods directly or from other Buffer companies which originate from the “missing trader” Importers. In such cases, although the “innocent” companies were not actually in on the fraud itself, HMRC can still pursue them for the VAT defrauded by the “missing trader” Importer if

The effect of these rules is that, if HMRC can objectively show that the innocent company knew or should have known that the transaction was fraudulent, then HMRC can recover the defrauded VAT by denying that company the right to deduct input tax.

incentive of encouraging the trader to more carefully question the legitimacy of those transactions.

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A surprisingly large number of innocent companies find themselves caught up in MTIC frauds.

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How can innocent companies protect themselves? First and foremost, companies should be wary of transactions that sound too good to be true, or which are outside of the way in which they normally carry out their business. For example, in some MTIC frauds a Buffer or Broker company will be approached by one company offering to sell them goods at a discounted price, and then almost immediately, they will be approached by another company offering to buy the same type of goods. In fact, it is quite common for the transactions in an MTIC fraud to all happen on the same day, so the Buffer/

Broker doesn’t actually have the goods for any length of time at all (and in some cases, the whole transaction occurs on paper, and the Buffer/Broker never even takes delivery of the goods!). This is (arguably) a fairly obvious example of a suspicious transaction, but often innocent companies can become “distracted” by how good a deal sounds, and overlook such concerns. In some more incriminatory cases, companies may even willingly turn a “blind eye” and deliberately “ask no questions” about goods they are offered at discounted prices. Ultimately, the test to be applied is whether or not the Buffer company “knew or should have known that, by his purchase, he was taking part in a transaction connected to a fraudulent evasion of VAT”. If it can be shown that the Buffer company did know (or should have known), then it will be considered an accomplice to the fraud. This test is, of course, very fact specific, and there are many cases that have dealt with the circumstances in which an “innocent” company can be said to have known (or should have known) about a VAT fraud. There is, however, some comfort for such companies, as the burden of proof is on HMRC, and the bar to be reached is a high one. To show that a company “should have known” about a VAT fraud, HMRC will need to show that “the only reasonable explanation for the transaction … was that it was connected with fraud”.

How can RB help? A surprisingly large number of innocent companies find themselves caught up in MTIC frauds. If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself in such a position, swift action can make all the difference. At RB, our specialist Tax Disputes Team works closely with specialist tax accountants and leading tax counsel, to ensure that the necessary technical expertise is at hand when you need it. Not only can we can assist at an early stage as soon as you suspect you may have been inadvertently caught up in an MTIC fraud carousel, but we can also provide the necessary expertise in dealing with any investigation or proceedings commenced by HMRC.

For more information on this or any other issue relating to tax disputes, please contact Clive Lee or Michael Axe on +44 (0)1293 527744

This document is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Professional legal advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this document.

Direct Debit Processing Donor Development Campaign Planning Marketing Resources

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Call us on: 0800 368 9701 or email: info@charityline.org.uk

Digital Marketing

HOW TO BE A LINKEDIN ROCKSTAR by Shea Bennett, Head of Digital Marketing at Identity

inkedIn has 450 million users worldwide, with 20 million people actively using the platform in the United Kingdom. LinkedIn is the business social network, and has established itself as a powerful tool for networking, recruitment and sales. The most important part of LinkedIn is your profile. This is essentially your online résumé, and is very important for professional branding. Google loves a good LinkedIn profile, and it is typically the most effective way to find your details when searching for your name online, almost always outranking the other social channels. Moreover, your LinkedIn profile is often the first place people will look you up when you meet them in any kind of business capacity face-to-face, so it absolutely pays to make sure it is first class. In this article I will outline tips and best practices on how to build a first class profile on LinkedIn.

Your LinkedIn profile strength rating is important because it is part of what determines how highly you rank on the platform. This is particularly true in search results, and if your LinkedIn profile strength is anything below All-Star you will not rank well. Thankfully, reaching All-Star status is not that difficult, and with a little work you can comfortably reach this status by ensuring the following is in place:

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Most people won’t take you seriously if you have less than 500 connections within your LinkedIn network

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LinkedIn Profile Strength

• You have a profile photo

There are five levels of LinkedIn profile strength, and your level is only visible to you when you visit your LinkedIn profile page. The levels range from Beginner, which is assigned to every new LinkedIn profile, through to Intermediate, Advanced, Expert and All-Star.

• Your profile lists 2 or more job positions that you’ve held • You have 5 or more skills on your profile • You have written a summary about yourself • You have filled out your industry and included a postal code

• You have listed where you went to school • You have 50 or more connections • You regularly update and keep working on your LinkedIn profile At first this may read like quite a list but it’s something that typically happens organically unless you are very inactive on the platform. But absolutely make the effort and you can reach LinkedIn’s official All-Star status very quickly.

The LinkedIn 500 Club Once you’ve acquired All-Star status on LinkedIn it’s essential that you keep growing your network on the platform. There’s a difference between LinkedIn rating you as an All-Star and actually having an exceptional profile. For starters, the harsh reality is that unless you are very well known within your industry most people won’t take you seriously if you have less than 500 connections within your LinkedIn network. Indeed, that number is utilised by LinkedIn as a kind of badge of honour, as once anyone exceeds that total it will always be displayed as “500+” and never anything higher. You could have 501 connections or 50,100, but any visitor to your profile will only see 500+. This is important social proof and does carry a lot of weight with people looking you up on LinkedIn at networking events and trade shows. While it’s important that you are connected to relevant people on LinkedIn, make the effort to get your connections above 500 as quickly as you can.

How To Build a Great LinkedIn Profile Like all of social media you will only get back from LinkedIn what you are prepared to put in. In order to rank highly on searches within the platform and generate leads and business opportunities it’s essential that you regularly active on the platform and doing whatever you can to build a great profile.

Keep The Basics Updated Make sure that the basic but important

Digital Marketing

parts of your LinkedIn profile, such as your current employer, current position, dates and your professional headline – the part that details what you do at the very top of your profile – are always accurate and up-to-date.

Use a Professional Photograph As much as we like to think that they don’t, people will always judge books by their covers, and on LinkedIn your “cover” is your profile photograph. This is something that must look professional and all-business, and is absolutely worth considering paying for a professional photograph. This photo should be recent and it should only be of you – not a picture with colleagues, loved ones or pets. Most importantly it must look like you look now, so if you have a big change in appearance be sure to update your LinkedIn photo.

Write a Great Summary The summary at the top of your LinkedIn profile is a really great opportunity to sell yourself. Many visitors to your profile won’t get past your photo, professional headline and summary, so it’s essential that you keep it updated and write it in a style that is easy to read and showcases the best of your abilities and experience.

to check all spelling and grammar, and avoid typos at all costs.

Keywords = Discoverability The use of keywords in your profile plays a big part in how people find you on LinkedIn, both within the platform and through a search on Google. So take some time to think about what it is that you want to be found for and then make sure that relevant keywords have then been inserted into your profile. Don’t go overboard – you don’t want to give the appearance of trying to spam or game the system – but good keywords can often be the difference between being visible and invisible on LinkedIn.

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Seek out influencers and thought leaders in your sector and invite them to your LinkedIn network – you’ll be amazed how many people will be more than happy to connect

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Triple Check Spelling and Grammar

Network, Network, Network

This is another one of those things that is easy to dismiss but can fundamentally impact how people feel about you online. Be sure

I touched on this above but the entire point of LinkedIn is to network with people, and this includes new people. While you should

absolutely connect with colleagues and clients, aspirational networking on LinkedIn – connecting with people you want to know more about and potentially do business with – is not only a powerful way to grow your network, it’s essential to getting the most out of the platform. Seek out influencers and thought leaders in your sector and invite them to your LinkedIn network – you’ll be amazed how many people will be more than happy to connect.

Personalise The Invitation To Connect When you connect with someone on LinkedIn you get a very generic “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” message as the default. This is obviously quite boring and generic, and for best results it’s important that you tailor and personalise your invitation message with each new connection. Think about how you met that person, or why you want to connect. Avoid sales pitches, but do try and sell yourself. One final tip: did you know that you can download a spreadsheet of all of your LinkedIn contacts? Simply click on My Network > Connections and then the Settings (gear) icon, and under Advanced Settings, click on “Export LinkedIn Connections”. This downloads a CSV file of everyone in your LinkedIn network, including their name, email, company, position and more. What an incredible tool for sales prospecting!

Biography: Shéa has managed the digital campaigns and marketing solutions for both B2B and B2C brands across a variety of industries, including retail, finance, education, healthcare, charity, sports and events. A recognised authority within the digital space, he has published two books and written thousands of articles about social media, and his work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post and the BBC. Identity specialises in the manufacture and implementation of corporate branding, with over 30 years’ experience in the industry. A major supplier of digital marketing, events management and commercial signage across the UK and Europe, Identity is a multi-award-winning company with a very experienced team of industry-respected individuals. Email: sb@identitygroup.co.uk, Web: www.identitygroup.co.uk

Technology News

CLOUD TALK NEW GOOGLE LONDON DATA CENTRE Google has announced that it will open a London region of the Google Cloud Platform service in 2017. The London location will be one of eight to come online next year as part of investment by Google to keep pace with demand as the firm reaches one billion cloud customers. Another advantage of a London data centre for UK customers is that their information remains in the UK for data protection requirements, especially given the uncertainty around this topic following the Brexit vote that will take the UK out of the European Union.

MOD DRONE COMPETITION Defence boffins are running a competition to see who can develop a drone platform capable of running up to 20 UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). The competition, titled “Many drones make light work”, is to demonstrate how UK industry working in partnership with the MOD could rapidly deliver new military capability by exploiting emerging and innovative technologies. Examples of uses for this military robot swarm include tracking individuals / vehicles, area mapping / surveillance and communications relay tasks. If interested check out this UK Government link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cde-themed-competition-many-drones-make-light-work/competition-document-many-dronesmake-light-work

CLOUD HOSTING SURVEY

MICROSOFT OUTLOOK UPDATES

Nearly 95% of small to medium businesses say they either already use a cloud hosting service or plan to transition to it according to study from B2B research firm Clutch.co

Microsoft have announced new features coming to Outlook.com, plus one for Outlook on the Web, part of Office 365. Key among them is support for Google Drive and Facebook photos.

The survey of 300 SMBs (defined as having between two and 1000 employees) found a trend towards cloud hosting. Almost three quarters (72%) of SMBs have changed web hosting providers over the past five years, while a worrying 86% said they had experienced issues in the last year alone. Most businesses change providers because they can find better value elsewhere.

• Google Drive support for Outlook.com. Outlook.com users will be able to access their Google Drive based files directly from the web UI (User Interface) when sending attachments. This feature was already available in Outlook for Android and iOS

In terms of specific issues with hosting providers, the biggest bugbear was downtime, cited by 35% of respondents, although poor performance (33%), increased costs (32%), poor customer support (27%), and server limits (26%) were also noted.

• Edit Google Doc, Slide and Sheet documents. Also new to Outlook.com and tied to the previous feature is the ability to open and edit if you have permission, Google Doc, Slide and Sheet documents from within Outlook.com • Facebook photos support for Outlook.com. You can now connect your Facebook account to Outlook.com allowing you to share photos from Facebook via email • Easier attachments in Outlook on the Web. Outlook on the Web places a single attachment icon at the top of long email threads so you can find all of the attachments from that single location

The Cloud Consultancy Europe are authorised Office 365 resellers

If you would like help and advice with your IT infrastructure call me. t: 00 (44) 1342 716873 e: jamie.shaw@thecloudconsultancy.eu w: www.thecloudconsultancy.eu

uk.linkedin.com/in/shawjamie

Business Consultancy

THE SECRET TO YOUR SUCCESS By Janette Whitney ACIB MCMI, of award-winning Business Consultants Janette Whitney & Associates

any people will have heard the terms Business Consultant or Management Consultant, but few fully understand what they are, much less what they can potentially do for a small or growing business. It is assumed by many small business owners that business consultants are the thing of big businesses or major corporations, but recruiting the right Business Consultant can help a small business gain experience, knowledge, contacts and ideas as well as constructive criticism, all of which cannot fail to be of value to a company regardless of its size. So what are the benefits?

Been there, done it! An experienced Business Consultant can fill the gap in a small business owner’s experience or can add industry knowledge of a specific sector the business is targeting. A good Business Consultant will be an experienced business person with a respected background who has probably helped a number of businesses find their feet, grow or survive tough times.

Think outside the box A Business Consultant does not work with a business full-time and won’t be concerned with day to day issues, but will instead look at the bigger picture. What is the direction of the business? Are targets being met? What environmental changes might affect the business? Which competitors to watch out for and what are the plans to keep ahead?

Impartiality A Business Consultant does not engage in office politics and retains their independence. In addition, the consultant will have witnessed changes sweep over the business sector in the past, which means that they are able to advise with confidence and recommend unbiased decisions in the interests of the business.

Connections A successful business is a connected one, usually through networking. However for a small business it can be time consuming and can often prove difficult to build a trusted network of contacts. A Business Consultant can usually offer an address book of relevant contacts to go along with their own experience. This could be a supplier, distributor or potential customer to help boost business, or a potential partner to add a new dimension to your business.

The benefits of working with an experienced Business Consultant are: • Provides business expertise that can far outweigh the costs • Adds credibility and strengthens the management team (especially helpful to gain funding) • Will be a sounding board for the MD or CEO • Assists with growth and raising the company profile • Brings years of experience to bear when looking at proposed business plans • Can provide crucial guidance at critical stages of a business • Fills particular skills gaps which the owners of a young company may have

ABOUT JANETTE Janette Whitney ACIB MCMI is a multi award-winning Business Consultant and business growth specialist, providing practical strategic advice to businesses from start-ups to £10m turnover companies. Professionally qualified with over 35 years business experience and a proven track record of satisfied clients, she helps businesses to grow profitably and achieve their goals. Janette is also an award winning business author and media columnist. If you would like assistance to achieve your growth ambitions, please call Janette on 01403 733671 for your free 15 minute telephone consultation Email jw@whitneyassocs.co.uk or visit www.whitneyassocs.co.uk

Anger Management

ANGER MANAGEMENT

A SAD DAY FOR MANKIND by Maarten Hoffmann

here are 7.1 billion people on this planet. There are 528 million people in the United States of America.

The US is still regarded as the leading superpower, the leading economic nation (China notwithstanding), the great Defender of the Faith and the icon of democracy. They have produced more millionaires and billionaires over the century than any other nation. We listen to their music, watch their movies and, it would appear, lap up their reality stars. Third-world nations pine for their lifestyle and wealth and it is the dream of many to become a US citizen. Is it just me who fails to comprehend how, with all this, they cannot produce two acceptable presidential candidates to run for the top spot and ‘Leader of the Free World’? Here we have the unedifying spectacle of a first-rate huckster with all the principles of a mutilated corpse versus, allegedly, a boughtand-paid-for evader of the truth, married to a former president, whose private life puts the hucksters to shame.

As if that were not quite enough, they then put them on prime-time television across the world, going at each other like a pair of very unpleasant playground bullies with the moral compass of Genghis Khan. The world

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Is it beyond the wit of man to locate two stable, untarnished, principled men or women of character to run?

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is watching and the world is amazed at how far so-called ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom of speech’ have declined. Politics have become reality television – even down to having one candidate from an actual reality show.

Is it beyond the wit of man to locate two stable, untarnished, principled men or women of character to run? Are there so few of them left or are the terrible and shocking consequences of such a role too horrifying for most to contemplate? The press have such a field day, mightily sponsored and encouraged by the other party, digging into every last vestige of one’s life, that there can be few amongst us who would bear such scrutiny – or accept it. Are the standards to which we hold our politicians too high for a mere mortal to aspire to? If so, this is indeed a sad day for mankind, as what is left is surely just a dictatorship. Take Putin or Xi Jinping of China. Both head up totalitarian regimes where the state holds ultimate power. Dissent is crushed, the people are provided for, more or less, and there is relative calm. Okay, in the 21st Century they are both creatively stunted, produce little of aesthetic value and often engage in bloodthirsty, demonic power grabs with little regard for life. That obviously is not the way to go, but what else is there? Removing government entirely would never work as there would be bedlam. I am loathe to say it, but the problem is the freedom of the press. Not necessarily the facts that are uncovered, but the inevitable, and always unpleasant, spin that is always attached by one side or another. We cannot under any circumstances do away with free speech, but how about muzzling it from time to time. I would suggest appointing a panel of the country’s most respected citizens modelled on the jury trial system that has served democracy well since time immemorial. This panel would fully investigate the candidates, with no holds

Anger Management

barred, and forensically interrogate them, and their lives, in private and under the full authority of the Official Secrets Act. Nothing leaves the room. The panel then approve a candidate for each party, and the press, from that day forth, is legally barred from reporting on the background of any candidate. Should the panel have missed something in their forensic review, then it is the panel that are responsible and answerable to a court of law.

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We need the brightest and the best to run this world, and we will never find them as long as we demand they be saints

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This would leave the road clear for each party to elect three candidates to put before the panel, with the candidates secure in the knowledge that if they had an affair 20 years earlier, smoked a joint in college or admitted they listened to Michael Buble, this would not be made public and would not hold them back. Anything not germane to running for office would not be held against them and

would not be revealed to the press. We need the brightest and the best to run this world, and we will never find them as long as we demand they be saints. US political science Professors Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox asked more than 4,000 high school and college students if they would be interested in running for political office in America someday: 89% of them said “no.” That finding is the crux of a new book based on their original research, Running From Office. In it, the authors argue that the dysfunction of Washington has turned the next generation off politics in historic fashion. Unless behaviours change, Lawless says, the country’s brightest stars are going to pursue just about anything but one of the 500,000 elected offices America needs filled each year. “We’re not necessarily blaming young people. It’s that they live in an environment where they’re not particularly interested in politics, because they find it argumentative and dysfunctional. And their parents agree. And their teachers agree. And the news media agree. So they get these constant reinforcing messages that this is not something that is fun or interesting or important or noble

… The other set of players are the politicians themselves. They behave increasingly in unappealing ways and in ways that suggest that they’re not effective at their jobs.” If the best don’t rise to the top, we will have people running our public offices who are not there to bring about a better society but to shape it in their own image. God help us the day that this happens. Alas, that day is around the corner.

Motoring

JAGUAR XJ By Motoring Editor, Maarten Hoffmann

have fond memories of the old XJ12. That great lumbering beast that drove like a poor man’s Rolls Royce. It might have been one of the last great British built, and owned, cars complete with gorgeous leather, walnut dash and two chrome filling caps on either side of the rear panels due to the copious amount of fuel it consumed. But then who gave a hoot when petrol was 38p a gallon. Since those heady days, the Indians have got their hands on Jaguar, retained the XJ moniker and produced another. Brave souls them Indians. So as it wafts onto my driveway, l see absolutely nothing of the old model bar the

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...it does everything it is supposed to do and you can sync your phone to it to remote start, check fuel levels and programme the Satnav. I don’t know why you might want to do that but you can if that sort of thing takes your fancy.

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badge. Oh dear, this could all go horribly wrong. The XJ is aimed at the BMW 7-Series and Merc S-Class, both range topping models and both very tough acts to follow. At first glance, the Jaguar is a good looking beast with quite a sexy roofline and that now familiar Jaguar grill. It easily looks as good as its two rivals so l delve inside. The seats are comfy and with 14-way electrically operated adjustment, there is no concern about finding your ideal driving position. The steering wheel adjusts in the same fashion for rake and reach. You have parking sensors everywhere which is just

Motoring

as well as rear vision is not great and, as avid readers will know, l like touch screen infotainment systems. But, here l have to say l am not a great fan. It seems to be too fiddly, icons too small to hit on the move and it can be quite slow to respond and therefore your eyes are off the road far too often. That said, it does everything it is supposed to do and you can sync your phone to it to remote start, check fuel levels and programme the Satnav. I don’t know why you might want to do that but you can if that sort of thing takes your fancy. There are three engines to choose from – the supercharged V8 available in the XJR, a petrol V6 and a 3.0-litre V6 diesel that l am sitting in. There is quite enough power to get

you down the road and the ride is pretty good but as this will, on many occasions, be chauffeur driven, l would suggest that you feel too much of the road surface to be ideal. The rear passengers get control of the heating and AC and there is plenty of leg room to doze off whilst Parker whisks you home but for the permanently chauffeur driven, then l would suggest plumping for the long-wheel base version. Cruise up the extras list and you can have twin 10.2 inch screens in the back along with massage seats, folding laptop tables and reclining seats. It is remarkably nimble for such a large car and very agile in the bends with little body roll unless you really chuck it around and then all hell breaks loose but this is not what the car is designed to do. It is designed for wafting just like the original. The XJ is slightly cheaper than the 7-Series and around the same price as the Audi A8. The Merc S-Class is considerably more expensive but then the residuals are much better and, to

be frank, it’s a better car. The upshot is that the XJ is not at all a disappointment but when compared with its rivals, it begins to flag a tad. The difference is the price and if you are a CEO with a chauffeur, price should not be your overarching concern. The XJ is good but the BMW and Merc are better.

TECHNICAL STUFF Model Tested: XJ 3.0 V6 Td Engine: 3.0-litre Power: 296 bhp Performance: 0-62 mph 5.9 seconds Top Speed: 155 mph Economy: 49.6 combined Price: £61,690.00

Motoring

MOTORING NEWS THE HARRODS CATERHAM British car manufacturer Caterham has launched its first personalisation programme – Caterham Signature – with a special edition Seven designed by world-famous department store, Harrods. The Harrods special edition car is now on sale exclusively in store and includes a host of special features which demonstrate the breadth of options new Caterham buyers can add to their vehicles. These include paint colours and designs, dashboard and interior styling, embroidery and even the colour of the chassis. The £59,999 Harrods special edition is on display in the famous London store throughout October for Harrods Man month, starting from Friday October 7. The special edition Harrods Seven – a 420S under the skin – is painted in Harrods green, with a custom white stripe and gold pinstripe while, beneath the bodywork, the chassis has been powder-coated in gold.

GT-R NISMO

EMPIRE The ultra-desirable flagship of the Nissan GT-R range – the exhilarating GT-R NISMO – will go on sale from November 1st, with prices now confirmed for the first time.

The GT-R NISMO is the pinnacle of the GT-R range, a highperformance race car for the road which takes the very best of the super-coupe’s legendary Japanese heritage, then enhances the iconic design and state-of-the-art technology even further.

The Lamborghini of the leisure vehicle world will be unveiled to the UK public at the Motorhome & Caravan Show 2016 next week; the Morelo Empire Liner. The new show-stopping super-liner from German motorhome manufacturer Morelo is equipped with premium fittings expected of a home, including under-floor heating, rain shower and even a garage, perfect for storing a car. Over 1 million leisure vehicles are in use in the UK and the leisure vehicle industry contributes in excess of £6 billion to the UK economy through the value of holidays, vehicle sales and associated supplies and services, supporting over 130,000 jobs.The Morelo Empire Liner includes a huge panoramic roof that provides views from the spacious double bed. It’s the luxurious interior features like these that has attracted A-list owners and has made it particularly popular with customers from Formula One.

Power comes from a twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6 delivering 600PS – 30PS more than any other car in the range. The engine features a pair of high-flow, large diameter turbochargers used in GT3 competition, and power is sent to all four wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch paddleshift gearbox. The GT-R NISMO costs €184,950 in Germany and France, and £149,995 in the UK – the model’s three key markets in Europe. Prices in other countries may vary slightly.

TOP SELLER Sales of the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV have topped the 25,000 mark in the UK, accounting for approximately half of the total number of plug-in hybrids registered in the UK since the very first of such vehicles were registered in 2010. By the time the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV was launched in May 2014, a total of just 2,770 plug-in hybrids had been registered for use on UK roads but by the end of 2014 that total had risen to just over 10,000 vehicles, with the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV accounting for 5,354 of those vehicles.

FOCUS ST-LINE INTRODUCING THE NEW

Your adrenaline’s rushing, and you haven’t even stepped inside the car yet. A full body styling kit, 17˝ rock metallic alloys and a sports interior. The ST-Line has all the practicality of a Ford Focus with the exhilarating styling of a performance car. There’s just one thing left to do – start the engine.

Birchwood Ford

Lottbridge Drove, Eastbourne, BN23 6PX 01323 407099 Eastbourne Road (Nr Uckfield), Halland, BN8 6PS 01825 700737 Sedlescombe Road North, St. Leonards-on-Sea, TN37 7SQ 01424 230865 www.birchwoodford.co.uk Important information

Official fuel consumption figures in mpg (l/100km) for Ford Focus ST-Line range: urban 33.2-67.3 (5.6-4.3), extra urban 60.1-83.1 (4.7-3.4), combined 46.3-74.3 (6.1-3.8). Official CO2 emissions 140-99g/km. The mpg figures quoted are sourced from official EU-regulated test results (EU Directive and Regulation 692/2008), are provided for comparability purposes and may not reflect your actual driving experience.

Motoring

AUDI RS7 Performance By Motoring Editor, Maarten Hoffmann

ou know those days when oneupmanship raises its ugly head? You turn up at a party with the latest gadget and some bugger is there with an even later gadget. Or you throw your kids a birthday party in a zoo and then an invitation comes through for a friend’s party at a game reserve in Kenya. You get the idea – there’s always someone trying to top you. So, imagine the scene. You have just driven out of the Audi showroom in your gleaming new RS7 and then some oik pulls alongside in the RS7 Performance. Gutted. The RS7 Performance is an extra £6,575 on top of the already rather steep £85,000 for

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It’s a great bit of engineering of that there is no doubt. The drive is super smooth and with AWD, it handles beautifully and affords you supreme conﬁdence whatever you throw it into.

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the base model that is already quite hardcore but what do you get for your money? Well, there’s a fancy finish on the wing mirrors, window trim and grill and larger 21-inch alloy wheels. On the inside, you get privacy glass and carbon fibre inlays and that’s about it. But of course, knowing Audi the prize will be found under the bonnet and low and behold, there it is. The standard 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 has been fiddled with to offer 597bhp over the standard 552bhp while a new sports exhaust offers a butcher note out of the tail pipes. And what do you get for this? Well, it shaves two-tenths of a second off the 0-62mph sprint time, doing it in 3.7 seconds!

Motoring

If you want to go faster still, you can pay an extra £1,450 and raise the top speed from 155 to 174mph or for an extra £10,725 for the Dynamic Plus package, you can get it to 189mph. Is this not all getting a bit silly now? I love Audis and you will be hard pushed to find a bad one and l don’t mind when they convince me to get my wallet out and pay crazy money but l do draw the line at them actually stealing my wallet and helping themselves. The RS7 is a cracking car so what plonker is going to fork out an extra £17,000 to get fancy wing mirrors and a top speed that can only be achieved on an autobahn? It’s a great bit of engineering of that there is no doubt. The drive is super smooth and with AWD, it handles beautifully and affords you supreme confidence whatever you throw

it into. But then so does the standard car. It is built superbly and is so comfortable that you could quite easily nod off. Is it an M5 or an AMG Merc? No, but it is a brilliant piece of German engineering – but then so is the standard car. It will worry almost anything else on the road and as with all Audis you can drive it like Sterling Moss or dial everything down and take the vicar for tea. It’s a great all-rounder with a ruthlessly efficient chassis, dynamic cornering abilities and a beautiful interior – but then so does the standard car. And the biggest problem? Well, that’s called the RS6 – my Car of the Year 2015. That barnstorming estate can carry the entire contents of your house in the back and still rip your eyeballs out of their sockets if you hit the go pedal with too much gusto. The RS6 has a very clearly defined purpose but the RS7 Performance, well, l am not really sure who or what it is for. It’s a coupe, so there is limited headroom in the back and limited vision. It’s quite good looking but not a stunner and if you spend £85,000 on it only to be usurped by the Performance, l would be hacked off. In effect, if you are in your lovely new RS7 and a Performance model comes alongside, look at him with pity and sympathy as he has

the identical car to you but paid an extra six and a half grand to get there two- tenths of a second faster than you. Who’s the idiot? My advice? If you like the look of the RS7, buy the RS7. If you are not sure, do what any sane, right minded person from planet earth would do and buy the RS6 Avant – one of the finest all-round cars in the world.

TECHNICAL STUFF Model Tested: RS7 Sportback 4.0 TFSI Quattro Performance Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo Power: 597 bhp Performance: 0-62mph 3.7 seconds Top Speed: 155 mph Economy: 24.8 mpg combined Price: £92,060.00

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Charity News

FESTIVE FUNDRAISING

Help Chestnut Tree House and give a local child a smile this Christmas

hestnut Tree House, the children’s hospice for Sussex, provides care all year round, both at the hospice and in families’ own homes. Christmas can be a difficult time for many of the charity’s families and Chestnut Tree House always tries to make it special for them. There are lots of ways you can support the local children’s hospice this forthcoming festive season by getting involved in this year’s Christmas fundraising fun. You could hold a dress-down day and encourage everyone to wear their favourite Christmas jumpers, or you might want to wear Santa hats, reindeer antlers or Santa suits (available to purchase from Chestnut Tree House) while you go Christmas carolling. You could even run a Christmas raffle and hold a special Christmas party. These are just a few of the ways you can get involved in some festive fundraising fun.

The team at Sterling Park

The suggested day for you to take part is Friday 9th December, but feel free to choose another day that suits you. Registration is free and once you’re registered, you’ll receive a very special Get Festive fundraising pack with loads of ideas to help you hold a unique and exciting Christmas fundraiser to help support your local hospice. For more information and to get your free fundraising pack, please call the Fundraising Team on 01903 871820 or sign up a www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk/getfestive

The Air Partner team

Twitter: @ChestnutSussex Facebook: Chestnut Tree House

The Technetix team

Interview

MEET UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON’S CEO (Chief Enabling Officer, that is)

Exclusive interview with the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Debra Humphris

ebra Humphris has been the ViceChancellor at the University of Brighton for less than a year, but she has made a

“I’ve come to an institution where there is

“There were some changes in the previous

a very clear imperative to refresh and renew,

senior leadership - retirement, people moving

and to reassert our role and our purpose in

on to take new opportunities - and that has

big impact already. Straight-talking and ready

society,” says Debra. “There are numerous

opened up opportunities for me to create a

to embrace change, Debra is determined to

opportunities for us. The economic climate

new team.”

strengthen the bond between the university

and the policy context that we find ourselves

and the wider business and local community.

in as an institution are changing dramatically,

has mirrored that of Chief Executive in

and we must adapt if we are to improve.

a company. The aims may ultimately be

If anyone has been coasting in the sheltered bubble that can often be found in university

“We have had a period of flushing out a

More than ever, the role of a Vice-Chancellor

different, with educational attainment

campus life, they may well have had a bit of a

whole load of things that we need to speak

replacing the search for profits, but the

shock. Debra Humphris is on a mission, as she

openly about, speaking truth unto the

pressure on budgets and tough decisions

makes clear when we meet to discuss her plans

institution and ourselves so that we can re-

mean that the two worlds are becoming more

for the university.

base and start to move forward.

intertwined. Pragmatism is the key, and this

Interview

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Our joint Medical School is the happiest medical school in the country, with the most satisﬁed students

❞

is an attribute that Debra clearly possesses.

The model that we currently have in Hastings

in the NHS before doing a PhD at St George’s

But does she see her role as primarily a Vice-

was predicated on a certain number of

Hospital Medical School Tooting, establishing

Chancellor or a Chief Executive?

students and before the changes to fees being

with a colleague the Healthcare Evaluation

there. We have sadly never met that target,

Unit. Her focus was on how you change

first and foremost. But absolutely, I am also

and it’s unlikely despite our best efforts that

clinical practice in evidence-based health care.

the Chief Executive. I am responsible for a £200

we ever will; it’s just not financially sustainable.

This was in the early days of evidence-based

million business, 21,000 students and 2,800

Our staff in Hastings have put in huge

practice in medicine and health care, and the

staff – no pressure there, then!

amounts of effort and commitment, but we

unit became the National Institute for Clinical

only have a certain amount of income and we

Excellence. Later, she established the Health

don’t get a big grant from the Funding Council

Care Innovation Unit at the University of

anymore. We have to make some really tough

Southampton before becoming the Pro-Vice-

decisions for the institution as a whole.

Chancellor for Education at the University of

“I’m an academic, so I’m a Vice-Chancellor

“But my primary focus is always on our students . We owe it to them to give them the best possible education and experience that we can.

Southampton.

It may surprise some to learn that 73% of our income now comes from student tuition fees. So it’s very evident who we should be paying attention to. People now invest in their education, and they think about it as an investment. “You can’t buy a degree - you have to work for a degree. It’s very much a partnership. As a student you join our

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It would be a retrograde step if we just became more and more UK focused.

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academic community and we create the conditions for you to realise your potential – to shape your future. You can buy an expensive text book, but you have to put the effort in if you want to get the value out. “I keep reminding everybody, my job is to enable good people to do great things. The CEO in me is, I hope, more of a Chief Enabling Officer, and my job is to enable the talent to go and do brilliant things.” Enabling the students and creating the right environment for them to succeed would be a

Her next move was to take the position of Vice-Provost Education at Imperial College

“We want to evolve the way we deliver

London: “Imperial was an amazing place to work and I had a wonderful time,” recalls Debra. “I’m told that in three years I made a real impact. However, what had struck me was that I was sitting in an extraordinary organisation with extraordinary students and there was something about my core values that slightly grated. On a personal level I worried about how much privilege I was

higher education in Hastings and do it in

giving to the already privileged. I know what

partnership with colleagues at the Sussex

a transformation education is in people’s lives

Coast College Hastings to create a locally

because I look at my own.”

appropriate higher education offering. They

In a similar vein, as the first female openly

already deliver higher education and degrees

gay Vice-Chancellor, Debra is keen to promote

accredited by the University of Brighton, so

diversity and opportunities for female students

there remains higher education in Hastings.

in sectors where they have often been under-

“If we can end up in a situation in Hastings

represented. The university is committed to the

where, with the college, there is a sustainable

Athena SWAN Charter, which was established

model of higher education provision that’s

in 2005 to encourage and recognise

institutions have to make tough decisions.

locally relevant, that will be a good place to be

commitment to advancing the careers of

Perhaps the biggest dilemma that Debra has

for the town, for us and for the college.”

women in science, technology, engineering,

much simpler outcome if funds were unlimited. There is no such luxury, and educational

faced so far is the future of the university campus at Hastings, which has been running at an annual loss of around £1.2 million. On

Transforming Lives If the emphasis of the interview has been

maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education and research. “It’s about gender equality,” explains Debra.

announcing that the future of the campus was

about tough decisions and pragmatism, this

“It is about women in engineering and it’s

up for review, Debra has faced a barrage of

is only part of Debra’s story. She is committed

equally about men in female-dominated areas.

criticism.

to helping create a fairer society with an

I’m delighted that our new Pro-Vice-Chancellor

emphasis on greater social mobility. It is this

for Research will be the first leading woman

ethos which influenced her decision to take on

taking the research brief in this institution.

Debra says, “A number of universities across the country are having to make some tough, serious changes because the economic context of universities has changed quite considerably.

the Brighton role. She began her career as a nurse and worked

“One of the first things I did when I arrived here, was to take over chairing the Equality

Interview and Diversity Committee for the university. It

about having a business park where people

staff – all of those sorts of really challenging

was important for me to take part in Pride this

who want flexible space can come in and

things about just scaling your business, which

year, which was just amazing. Imagine, if I’m

use a co-working space. They may want

may take you away from the core idea that

a female, gay Vice-Chancellor and yet I don’t

to hire a desk and for it to be in an open

drives you and makes you into more of a

turn up to Pride – in Brighton! I make sure I fly

working environment in which there are

manager.”

the flag for the university. We have to be really

other people sharing ideas and doing similar

clear about statements around equality and

things; facilities, coffee machines that spark

development, but what about the current

inclusion. We’re an inclusive community and

conversations and connections. This is the sort

links with business, and the recurring theme

are very proud of that.”

Business Connections One community that Debra is building connections with is the business community, and key to the future engagement is a new proposed Business School on the longanticipated Moulsecoombe development on Brighton’s Lewes Road. What is the remit for the new school? “We need to ask ourselves some serious questions: “What will a business school of the future look like? What is a business school? Is

The Business School is an exciting

of how young people can leave education and

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be work-ready? It is not the first time this topic has come up, as Debra explains:

I know what a transformation education is in people’s lives because I look at my own.

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of modern business environment for start-ups,

it an entrepreneurial or an enterprise centre?

and I’m very interested to explore how we do

What will be the social enterprise endeavor?”

that with partners in the business community.

“Every year The CBI produces a report which highlights this issue, and every year we ask employers what it is they want us to do, and what we should put in the curriculum to add to the educational experience. And that’s when it gets just a bit trickier, because they’re not quite sure what things they specifically want. So, the closer we work, the more likely we are to come up with a better solution, and placement opportunities will be key. “Part of our future strategy is enhancing that partnership that we have with employers

“There’s a difference between a building

“Two weeks after starting I was part of the

and an academic vision for business. Thinking

Greater Brighton Devolution pitch to ministers,

looking for. Some of this is just about the

about the academic vision for the Business

and one of the core pieces in there with which

attitude of the graduate - about turning up on

School, the element we are clear about

I have great empathy is how we help find the

time, how they work together in a team. And

is that the school will be open to and for

next Google, how we scale up start-ups and

we can mirror that to a certain extent in the

business. We’ve had some really interesting

help SMEs take their businesses to the next

undergraduate experience. But it’s never going

conversations about how, in many institutions,

stage. It’s about supporting and maturing

to be quite like the reality of going into a work

you’ll see science parks. We should think

businesses, how you help people to recruit

environment.

to understand what the skills are that they’re

Interview

about 1,000 EU students currently at the

Professor Adam Tickell, has started and we

boards with key related businesses and

university– out of 21,000 students. It’s not

will be looking for opportunities to work

industry colleagues in many of our curriculum

just a financial challenge, it’s the diversity. I’ve

together.”

areas. Having that free flow and exchange

said at all my graduation speeches this year

of ideas between industrial partners is really

that I applaud the diversity of nationalities

important. We bring expertise to contribute

that we represent in the university. We’re an

to the delivery to students. The merging

international community, we’re preparing

between what business is seeking and what

students for a global society, so I think it

the university can deliver is getting that much

would be a retrograde step if we just became

closer. There doesn’t have to be a gap. It’s

less internationally focused.”

“We have very helpful industrial advisory

entirely up to us how we work together.” What do you think the effect of Brexit is going to be on the university? “We’re part of Universities UK (effectively the universities’ lobby group), and I was one of the 100 Vice-Chancellors who signed the letter saying this is just not a good thing for the UK and our education. There are a number of fundamental worries. In terms of research funding, we do well out of Horizon 2020, and the EU Research Council funding. We’re the better and richer for it in terms of

should be involved with their local schools. In her first major speech as Prime Minister, Theresa May praised the University of Brighton

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the aspirations of school students through its

Imagine, if I’m a female gay Vice-Chancellor and yet I don’t turn up to Pride in Brighton!

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What’s the working relationship with the University of Sussex? Like Brighton, they

in the HE sector has any confidence that,

have just appointed a new Vice-Chancellor.

investment in the UK research councils.

schools, and also about how universities

for its commitment and track record in raising

that intellectual activity. I don’t think anybody post-Brexit, there’s going to be any greater

Education has been in the news, with the new Prime Minister talking about grammar

“We have a joint Medical School, which is the happiest medical school in the country,

support for academy schools. “We already do this,” stresses Debra. “We’ve got our two academy trusts supporting fourteen schools across Sussex, which is making a real difference to the quality of education, both in Hastings and Brighton. Most recently, a secondary school in Burgess Hill has joined our University of Brighton Academies Trust. I jokingly said the other day – we checked it out this morning – that you can go from nursery to PhD through a University of Brighton experience – that’s lifelong learning.” Many thanks to Debra for sparing the time

with the most satisfied students. That, I

in her busy schedule. The interview is only a

from the EU. Will EU students still be able to

can assure you, is no mean feat; it is a real

brief summary of the conversation. We have

access student loans through the student loan

testament to the School and to the current

the feeling that Debra will make a significant

company? If they are classed as international

Dean, Malcolm Reed. So we come together

impact on the university and education in the

students, their fees will go up. We have

around that. The new Vice-Chancellor,

region. Watch this space!

“There is a real worry of losing students

Interview

A ROUND OF SUSSEX WINE

Adam Streeter

When Mannings Heath Golf Club was bought by a new owner, the incoming GM Adam Streeter announced he was digging up nine holes of one of the courses to grow grapes. Surely, the members were up in arms? In fact, there is a tangible buzz of optimism around the club. Interview by Ian Trevett.

t’s hardly the text-book approach to endearing yourself to the locals: a longestablished golf course has two courses, until the new GM walks in and announces that he is chopping half of a course out. But if your surname is Streeter, this is par for the course. Adam, like his mother Penny who was awarded the OBE for services for Women in Business, has an ambitious, entrepreneurial streak. And the members know that this is good news for Mannings Heath Golf Club, which will soon be better known as Mannings Heath Golf Club & Wine Estate. So what was the reaction when 29-year-old Adam announced his dramatic plans for the golf club? “It was amazing, as I thought there would be some grumbling, but the reaction has all been positive,” says Adam. “The place was

in need of a bit of love and attention, and everyone recognised that. We have always been open and honest about everything we are doing, which has been appreciated.

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Being young means you have to work harder, as you need to prove yourself

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“One of the consequences of planting a vineyard, which takes a long time to mature, is that the members are confident that we are here for the long term. “The members love the Waterfall course

and we would never dream of touching that. In fact we have invested a lot into the course. Taking nine holes from the Kingfisher course, which until recently was a public course, and replacing it with a vineyard, has actually got people excited. I have been really impressed about how open to change the members were. As far as we know, this will be the first golf course with a vineyard in the UK. It is fairly normal in South Africa, and actually the clientele for golf and wine are often not a million miles way from each other. It will take five years before we can produce any wine here, but it has been an opportunity to introduce our wine from South Africa.” The family own Benguela Cove wine estate, along with a hotel and restaurants in South Africa, and Adam believes there are aspects of that business that will work well in the UK:

Interview “One thing we can learn here is the way the South Africans create an experience around the wine. If you go to a wine-tasting event or tour of a vineyard, they are so enthusiastic about the wine that people really buy into it. We are planning wine events here, such as pairing events where we can link up with local cheesemakers or chocolatiers. It’s all about avoiding the wine events being stuffy - which they can be if not done right. Also, the events have to be accessible, without people feeling intimidated if they are new to wine.” The new ownership at Mannings Heath has certainly brought in a touch of southernhemisphere enthusiasm. “We are getting some lapsed members coming back to the club, which makes me think we are doing some things right,” says Adam. “Employing extra staff and investing in machinery makes a huge difference to a course. We are bringing in consultants who specialise in golf courses to ensure we are doing all we can to lift the quality. We want to be back among the top 100 courses in the UK as soon as possible. We are just outside now. “To get up the ratings, it’s not just about the course - it’s about the clubhouse, the booking service, the whole experience. We want this to be at a five-star level. We are introducing new staff and will be opening a new brasserie. In the long term there will be a new fine-dining restaurant. We are investing in all aspects of the club, from the furniture to staff uniforms.” It all sounds very ambitious. Adam’s upbringing explains a lot. After getting divorced, his mother Penny found herself in a homeless shelter with three young children. She found work in the recruitment business, before launching her own company, along with her mother, in 1995, funded by evenings moonlighting as a children’s party entertainer. Ambition 24hours was launched in 1996 - a temporary staffing agency that supplies a 24-hour staffing service in the health sector. Adam was very young then, but he can recall those early days of the family business:

“It is the most incredible story, and it gives me goosebumps even now thinking about what she achieved, from where we were to where we are now. It was just sheer hard work; she is a workaholic. She started the business with my grandmother when she was a single mum. She wanted to make sure we had everything we needed and she has a natural-born desire to be ambitious and to win at whatever she does.

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We want to be back among the top 100 courses in the UK as soon as possible.

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“She started off doing general recruitment in the healthcare sector and she started getting calls at 11 o’clock at night. I remember her sitting on the floor by the front door, as that was where the phone was, and she would have a book of phone numbers of nurses. The phone would ring from a hospital wanting staff urgently and she would get straight back on the phone to find the cover. Of course, it was all paper and pen in those days.” The firm was an enormous success and earned Penny an OBE. Born in Zimbabwe, and with her family living in South Africa, Penny returned to South Africa and a brand-new opportunity presented itself. “We owned a house on a stunning estate,” recalls Adam. “The estate was in a bit of trouble, and rather than risk losing the house in such a good location, my mother saw an opportunity and bought the estate. So we quickly went from being healthcare recruiters to also being farmers, winemakers and

property salespeople. We opened a five-star hotel a few hours down the road and we started to build the Benguela Cove brand.” By this time, Adam was already very experienced in business, despite his young age. “When I was 14 I began working in my holidays in Ambition. Working on a sales floor at the age of 14 was quite an experience - intimidating but fun. When I was 19 I was working for another company, but then we bought some more agencies and were migrating these over to the UK, so I re-joined the family firm. I was working on these until four years ago. It gave me a big step-up. Being young means you have to work harder, as you need to prove yourself and you don’t have the experience. I still feel the same way now, as I am still relatively young to be doing what I am. “When I moved to South Africa, I stepped away from recruitment and did an intensive cheffing course for a year, which I was interested in. It was three years reduced into one. It was certainly intensive and extremely hard work; you can’t hide in the kitchen and you can’t disguise any lack of experience. “We launched the hotel, got a five-star rating, and then opened a fine-dining restaurant in one year, which was a bit of a whirlwind.” Now the whirlwind has reached these shores, but where does the journey go from here. Will Mannings Heath become a wine estate with golf as a sideline? “No.” say Adam. “It is a golf course with a vineyard, and it always will be. It has been here a long time and is very well established. We don’t want to lose that. The golf course will only get better.”

www.manningsheath.com

Table Talk

A month in food By Amanda Menahem

The Beaufort Bar at The Savoy

love autumn. More than summer and

- game, mushrooms, celeriac and squash to

down with a Californian Pinot Noir, an autumn

especially in the context of food. If I’m

name a few. Autumnal ingredients are rich and

salad of squash, purple kale, red onion, quinoa

planning on trying a top restaurant that’s

satisfying and give chefs the chance to really

and almonds, again made at home, were some

demonstrate how they can showcase flavours.

of the highlights that kicked off my September.

been on my list for ages, I’ll tend to wait for an autumn (or even winter) table. I moved

Roast duck breast with mushroom risotto

I spent a lot of time in London this month

my booking at the Ledbury from July to

at Plateau (it wouldn’t be a ‘month in food’

for both business and pleasure. And of course,

November for this very reason. Autumn

without a visit to Plateau I’m afraid), roast

food was central. Lunch at Café Murano in

flavours are so much more appealing to me

guinea fowl cooked at home and washed

Covent Garden was delightful. One of my best

Above - Café Murano’s beef carpaccio, octopus salad and grilled sardine

Table Talk

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Expectations are always so high with these sorts of establishments, that there’s always the likelihood of them not meeting them.

friends Becky and I enjoyed a selection of small plates; grilled sardine,

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beef carpaccio, octopus and a grilled courgette salad. Café Murano is the casual off-shoot of Angela Hartnett’s Michelin starred Murano and is a great venue if you’re in the Covent Garden area (as is the nearby Ivy Market Grill). All the dishes were well executed and a level above places like Polpo. We enjoyed an excellent Franciacorta; an Italian sparkling wine made with the same grapes and method as Champagne. Because of the warmer climate, Franciacorta tends to be less acidic and more fruity - Champagne’s more approachable cousin. We followed this with drinks at the Beaufort Bar in the Savoy (much better than their more famous American bar in my opinion). Dinner that night was enjoyed with the girls I used to work with in my Harrods days at the ‘hot right now’ Frenchie in Covent Garden. Bacon scones with salted clotted cream were a standout. My starter of sweetcorn, soft poached egg, smoked eel and Piedmont hazelnuts came as a luscious cold sweetcorn cream with the accompanying ingredients sat in the centre. An unusual dish full of flavour. My fish main was less surprising, more ‘classic’ but very good nevertheless. A dessert of bitter chocolate with hazelnut crumb and bacon ice-cream was an experience of two halves. The chocolate, a beautiful rich warm chocolate mousse but the bacon ice cream a slight step too far (even for me). A dish like this will always divide people. The menu contains some good comfort food (rabbit ragu) as well as some of the more surprising dishes. There’s something for everyone (but in the right way) and it’s a genuinely skilful and inventive addition to the London dining scene. Another discovery in London this month was Il Convivio in Belgravia. A great little neighbourhood Italian close to Victoria and clearly full of returning locals. It’s good homely Italian food, cooked with care and flair. My disappointment in the month was a bit of a surprise. Midsummer House, a two Michelin starred restaurant in Cambridge, home to revered chef Daniel Clifford. Expectations are always so high with these sorts of establishments, that there’s always the likelihood of them not meeting them.

My Autumnal Salad

Midsummer House - scallop, celeriac and apple Out of a 10 course tasting menu, only a few dishes wowed me. I’ve been to many similar establishments (and lesser starred) where nearly all the dishes were spectacular. A ‘main’ of lamb was simply a lamb cutlet and peas. Nicely cooked, but something I could have done at home. In contrast, a dish of celeriac baked on open coals with hazelnut hollandaise was a masterpiece in both taste and theatre and the sautéed duck liver, gingerbread, pear and chicory salad was superb. The desserts were ‘meh’ (even with my sweet tooth!), but the homemade chocolates and doughnuts served with coffee were heavenly. I could have just had the celeriac, duck liver and petit fours and I’d have been happy. I do tire of tasting menus. More often than not I would prefer to choose my meal. So many tasting menus are comprised of ‘fillers’ and unfortunately this felt a bit like that. Perhaps that’s another reason why I like the autumn and winter, small, delicate summer dishes are replaced by altogether more robust offerings. Food you can wrestle with. I’m looking forward to discovering some of these in the next few months, and sharing my thoughts here.

A classic fish dish at Frenchie

Table Talk

Wine Masterclass BONFIRE NIGHT BANQUET by Jonny Gibson

’ve been splitting more logs for our wood

can stand up to spicy foods. We run a regular

burner this weekend. It feels good to have

steak and red wine matching evening and

a full stack ready to go without worrying

use Carmenere with Asian beef noodles

about running out. There’s something deep

to demonstrate this. Other wines to pair

rooted about watching flames and warming

with spicy food include Beaujolais, Pinot

up by a fire whether it’s indoors or outdoors.

Noir, Primitivo (aka Zinfandel) and the soft

It’s got me thinking about wines for Bonfire

Grenache blends from the southern Rhone.

Night and wines that go well with the comfort

Ripe fruits, a hint of sweet spice and low

foods that we like to eat at this time of year.

tannins are the key.

Think chilli con carne on jacket potatoes, corn on the cob (soak them in their outer leaves in water for 30 minutes and then place straight onto hot coals or embers for 15 minutes, delicious), roasted squash, slow cooked spicy beef brisket and warming curries. The heat from a chilli can present a

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY Sussex Wine School Steak and Wine pairing evening is on Tuesday 6th December at Hotel du Vin, Brighton. Tickets cost £35. To buy tickets and for further information please visit www.sussexwineschool.com

I’m a big fan of mulled wine and mulled cider, especially when the weather gets colder and you’re entertaining friends. Warm up two litres of good cider (try Biddenden Cider from Kent) and

challenge for drier, high tannin red wines like

add some cloves, star

Cabernet Sauvignon and some Italian reds as

anise, cinnamon sticks,

it accentuates their bitterness and astringency,

nutmeg and the juice of

but other grapes and wine styles make perfect

an orange. Simmer for

companions. Step forward Carmenere reds

six to eight minutes and

from Chile. This grape produces easy drinking

add a few tablespoons

reds that have lots of ripe forest fruit flavours

of sugar to taste… and

and more than a hint of cinnamon, pepper

you have the perfect

and cloves about them, which means they

mulled cider.

Jonny Gibson is the head tutor and owner of Sussex Wine School, an independent company that runs regular tastings and courses including WSET Levels 1-3 in Brighton, Lewes and Tunbridge Wells.

www.sussexwineschool.com

SOME SUGGESTED WINES AND CIDER FOR NOVEMBER NIGHTS: Aspall Premier Cru Dry Cyder 500 ml - widely available for around £2 Cotes du Rhone Villages Seguret Les Terrasses des Dentelles 2014 - Lidl £6.49 Ara Single Vineyard Marlborough Pinot Noir 2014 - Waitrose £11.99 Soter Vineyards Planet Oregon Pinot Noir 2013 - The Wine Society £16 The Society’s Exhibition Côte de Brouilly 2015 - The Wine Society £8.95 Surani Costarossa Primitivo di Manduria DOC 2014 - Majestic £8.99 Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2014 - Majestic £9.99

Table Talk

THE FINALISTS Complied by Emma Andrews at peopleplacesfood.co.uk The public nominations for this year’s Brighton & Hove Food and Drinks Awards saw over 2,600 votes cast, determining 3 finalists for each of the 17 categories. These finalists were announced in September and we are here to give you a whistle stop tour through this collection of Brighton & Hove’s favourites. BEST INTERNATIONAL CUISINE

BEST COCKTAIL BAR