SME news

news in brief

SPRING 2021

Demand for City offices grows as Lockdown eases

An office space provider has seen a significant increase in demand as businesses look to return to London with more flexible office arrangements.

The rapid growth of small businesses has seen WorkPad receive record numbers of enquiries for working spaces within its 35 buildings in prime London locations.

WorkPad reports that there are a number of reasons for this increase in demand: growing SMEs looking for impressive, central London offices, larger businesses downsizing as they adopt a hybrid approach and SMEs seeking increased flexibility in their contracts.

Unlike many shared offices, private unbranded spaces provide no distractions and tenants can enjoy privacy. This, coupled with the demand for attractive spaces in prime locations in which SMEs can claim a presence in London, has seen the business fill two properties to full capacity in the past month alone.

Workpad: private, unbranded spaces are popular, especially if offering London locations

“WorkPad itself is an SME, so we know the importance of the perfect space in which to grow a business, said CEO, Edward Griffin. “We also understand the specific needs of small businesses, whether they’re in their earliest days, a few years old and making major strides in their field, or an established, small, but mighty business.”

Furloughed women shun tech jobs

Men are more than twice as likely as women to embark on a new career in the tech industry if they can’t return to their existing jobs when furlough ends.

In fact, one recent survey of furloughed workers has suggested that the technology sector faces significant obstacles in attracting female talent. It found that 39 per cent of women admitted no interest in STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths - compared with 26 per cent of men.

Otherwise, the overall picture for UK tech is positive. The technology industry was the most popular destination for furloughed workers looking for a career change. Even before the pandemic, Tech Nation estimated that the digital tech industry was growing six times faster than any other. The significant expansion of the digital economy over the past 12 months has only accelerated this trend.

However, as IT consultants NTT DATA UK’s research reveals, interest in moving into the industry is not consistent among all groups.

Directors say they have stopped EU trade

Nearly two in ten business leaders who trade with the EU stopped doing so at the end of the Brexit transition period in January, IoD research has found.

The number was discovered in a survey of 900 directors who were polled as the Office for National Statistics prepared to publish figures for the first month of 2021. The number was narrowly split between those who indicated they had stopped trading temporarily and those who reported it as permanent.

Directors selling both goods and services were most likely to have halted EU trading overall, with those selling services being more likely to do so permanently relative to goods-only traders. Similarly, those in financial services were far more likely to be permanently stopping EU trade, and few reporting this in manufacturing, with more doing so temporarily. “This should serve as a call to action for government. While still a minority, the hit to trade with our largest and nearest market needs to be addressed to ensure it does not become a permanent dent in our global ambitions,” said the IoD’s Head of Policy Roger Barker.

REMOTE WORK THE NEW NORMAL FOR LIVI

The European leader in digital care, Livi, will allow employees to work fully remotely from now on, a move which affects more than 600 of them across five markets.

The company said that, as a digital first company, it believes in the power of technology to empower people to do their best work while giving them the flexibility they need.

Its purpose is to attract new talents without geographic limits and to be able to meet staff needs for greater flexibility as an organisation committed to diversity.

Anna Fredrixon, Head of HR, said: “During the peak of the pandemic we managed to quadruple our healthcare provision output within a week, all done remotely. Great people are truly the foundation for success, and 2020 really proved that having trust and focus on empowering our employees is the way forward when creating a great place to work. It is the output that counts, not where the work is done.”

Ben and Daisy Wolfenden

WOLFENDEN APPOINTED TO ELEVATE ELDER’S BRAND AWARENESS

Digital marketing agency Wolfenden has been chosen to help increase the brand awareness and profile for live-in care company Elder.

The Leeds-based company will devise an organic-led strategy for Elder, which has seen a significant uplift in popularity in the past year, growing five times faster than in 2019. In 2020 it ranked 5th in Startups100, was awarded the ninth fastest-growing tech company in the UK by The Sunday Times Fast track and one of Top 50 Startups to work for. It recently announced 1,500 new carer jobs across the UK.

Senior Brand Manager Kate Dunning said: “We were thoroughly impressed with Wolfenden’s fresh-thinking and approach during the pitch - this was no mean feat as it was a process that was conducted entirely remotely. Their strategy was completely aligned with how we want to grow and position the Elder brand and we were particularly pleased that they were offering an approach which would seamlessly integrate with our team here, working in partnership with us to maximise and elevate what we already have in place.”

ONLINE RETAILERS FACING CARDBOARD PACKAGING ‘DOUBLE WHAMMY’

Agrowing number of internet retailers are struggling to fulfil orders because of a shortage of cardboard packaging brought about by the boom in online sales during the pandemic.

Jo Bradley, Business Development Manager for packaging solutions at Quadient, warns that with some paper and sheet board producers rationing supply to even their biggest customers, buyers are having to pay a significant premium to secure the materials they need. The price of corrugated cardboard (OCC) has risen from around £60 a ton in December to about £75.50 a ton in late January.

Bradley says: “Quite simply the switch to online retailing has resulted in a substantial and sustained hike in the amount of cardboard that is needed throughout the retail supply chain so, in the short to medium term at least, packaging buyers will have to cope with the ‘double whammy’ of longer lead times and higher prices.”

WEST MIDLANDS FACES AI REVOLUTION

BBusiness leaders in the West Midlands are working with the region’s 12,500 leading tech and digital companies to see how they can integrate AI and advanced technology into their everyday activities.

SuperTech – the UK’s first professional services technology supercluster – is open to firms across the country and aims to increase technology-led productivity gains within business and professional services organisations.

The area generates £27.8 billion gross value added annually and employs more than 360,000 people, making it the UK’s largest centre for business, professional and financial services outside London.

Eight industry leaders from finance, law, property and technology have been chosen to head up SuperTech including David Stewart, Group Chief Operating Officer at Wesleyan, Tony Randle, Partner at Shoosmiths, Simon Davis CEO of Nimbus Maps along with Inez Brown, president of Birmingham Law Society.

Wesleyan boss David Stewart, said: “ProfTech, like FinTech, is an emerging sector with enormous potential to scale. Having undertaken a number of studies into FinTech, which in just a few short years is now worth £411.7 million a year to the West Midlands economy, we’ve identified three ways in which we can facilitate growth – access to businesses, access to technology and access to talented people.

“SuperTech combines all three, by connecting technology firms with the major professional services businesses we have across the region.”

Simon Davis, CEO of Nimbus Maps in Warwick, said: “The SuperTech collaboration is unique in taking this integrated approach which reflects the group’s fundamental beliefs that there is much to be gained in sharing intelligence and practice between professional silos.”

Wesleyan’s COO, David Stewart

“The Supertech collaboration is unique in taking this integrated approach which reflects the group’s fundamental beliefs that there is much to be gained in sharing intelligence”

Simon Davis, Nimbus Maps

Jo Bradley, Quadient

Transatlantic deal sees data management consultancies join forces

Amplifi, a management consultancy based in Dallas, has acquired Comma Group, consultancy exclusively focused on connecting people and data to improve commercial results. The acquisition enables both companies to expand their global reach, strengthen their services and digital transformations to clients worldwide. The data industry has experienced explosive growth over the past year, a trend expected to continue. The growth is partly attributed to Covid-19, which has affected all industries but made a big impact on digital transformation and the important role of data. “Today, more than ever, organisations need to use data to compete strategically or they will get left behind. Becoming part of Amplifi will allow us to accelerate our global vision and provide our current and future customers with a more comprehensive set of services to address today’s market needs,” said Leigh Wells, Comma Group’s CEO.

“We are excited to join Amplifi because of market demand and fit, reflected in our shared philosophies, principles, and a strong culture of innovation and delivering excellence to customers.”

UK developers ‘among world’s most productive’

British software developers are among the most productive in the world – delivering code almost twice as fast as any other country, according to data released by CircleCI.

The stats – taken from over 55 million data points from 44,000 organisations globally – measure each country’s throughput or, the median number of times software teams submit new code every day. British average throughput sits at 1.26, more than 80 per cent higher than the global average of 0.7.

The data also shows UK developers are 19 per cent more efficient than their counterparts in France and 35 per cent more than those in Germany.

However, despite high productivity levels, the report also shows some signs of risk-aversion as UK engineering teams are not innovating as much as the levels seen elsewhere.

A success rate measure, which assumes failures in testing to be a signal of innovative risk-taking, shows the UK delivering successful code 95 per cent of the time, compared to just 83 per cent in the US, and a global average of just 61 per cent.

Nicholas Mills, CircleCI EMEA GM, said: “In software development, failure is a sign of innovation. But in Britain, a 95 per cent success rate says that teams are not taking chances with their code.

“We would expect the figure to be much closer to the global median of 61 per cent. Why? Teams that are experimenting and trying new things will sometimes fail.

“The finance-heavy British tech ecosystem may be bogged down by legislation and unable to break the rules.

“But it could also be that in the US, ‘move fast and break things’ and growth at all costs is the norm; whereas in UK and Europe more widely, sustainable growth and reaching profitably sooner is often the aim for start-ups.”

“In software development, failure is a sign of innovation. But in Britain, a 95 per cent success rate says that teams are not taking chances with their code.”

Nicholas Mills, CircleCI

Marshall initiative targets growth

Marshall Centre and Cranfield Executive Development have combined to create a 12-month programme that delivers the process, tools and support for companies looking to design, deploy and manage a successful growth strategy.

The Capture Future Growth initiative is set against a backdrop which has seen 36 per cent of SMEs halting all growth initiatives and 80 per cent reporting a decline in revenues since March last year.

Timothy Britt, Head of Strategic Services at Marshall Centre said: “We continually work to find new and better ways of addressing the challenges our customers and communities face. We believe joining up with Cranfield Executive Development to deliver Capture Future Growth provides a powerful message of intent that will resonate with businesses looking to move from survive-to-thrive and, in so doing, play a role in helping kick-start economic and social recovery.”

Dr Stephanie Hussels, Director of the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurship at Cranfield University said: “SMEs are the backbone of the economy and it is vital for industry and higher education to work hand-in-hand to support them on their journey.”

Dr Stephanie Hussels, Cranfield University

BOOSTER PUTS AMCM ON THE LAUNCHPAD

AUK-based space launch company will be able to rapidly print rocket engines in-house after it commissioned the largest industrial 3D printer in Europe.

The bespoke 3D printer from the EOS Group company, AMCM, will allow Orbex to print over 35 largescale rocket engine and main stage turbopump systems annually as it scales up production capabilities for launches.

AMCM will deliver a complete printing suite with post-processing machinery and machine vision systems for automatic image-based inspection of printed components. Orbex said it will expand its factory floor space by 1,000 m² to accommodate the new machinery.

“Although our rocket engines and other critical systems are already quite mature after years of testing, a large-scale in-house 3D printing system like this gives us far greater speed and agility as we ramp up production,” said CEO Chris Larmour.

“It means we can continue to iterate and drive up performance even further. Longer-term, as we get ready for multiple launches per year, it will give us greater control over our costs and supply chain.”

Planning permission was granted for Space Hub Sutherland, Orbex’s home spaceport, at the A’Mhoine peninsula in Sutherland in August last year. The A’Mhoine site is currently the only UK spaceport to receive planning permission and construction is expected to begin in 2021 with the first orbital launch in 2022.

Swoop CEO, Andrea Reynolds

FUNDING PARTNERSHIP GIVES SMEs GRANT OPTIONS

NatWest has launched a grantfinder service in conjunction with the funding and savings platform, Swoop.

The bank wanted to give SMEs greater access to third-party funding which is not in the form of debt. This new service aims to connect them with grant providers such as local authorities, growth hubs, local enterprise partnerships and privately funded schemes.

The platform will allow businesses, not just NatWest customers, to access tailored grant options via a questionnaire which matches applicants with suitable options.

Swoop CEO Andrea Reynolds said: “Our mission is to empower entrepreneurs to make the right financial decisions every day by bringing all their finance options together in one place, personalised to their specific business circumstance.”

£88M DEAL TAKES WOOD INTO HAINAN

Aberdeen engineering firm Wood has won a contract worth more than £88.2 million to expand a Chinese refinery.

Wood will provide Chinese group Sinopec with engineering, procurement and construction services in Hainan. Once completed, the ethylene renovation and expansion project will produce up to one million tons of ethylene derivatives and refined oil annually.

Pipework and cables for power, telecommunications and lighting will be delivered by Wood’s engineering and project management teams based in Shanghai and on site.

Wood’s executive president of projects, Mike Collins, said: “We are delighted to win this new contract with Sinopec which demonstrates the strength of our long-standing relationship with the client and their confidence in our extensive EPC expertise in the petrochemical sector.”

COVID ‘HAMPERING WORKPLACE RELATIONSHIPS’

Covid-19 has had a significant impact on employer-employee relationships, and is hampering productivity, according to a new report from MetLife UK.

Thirty-two per cent of employees told researchers the relationship been weakened and reduced their sense of belonging to the business. Almost half felt their relationship had worsened and agreed their productivity had diminished.

Logistics tech business sees record-breaking year

A logistics provider to Bear Grylls’ ecommerce shop, is forecasting revenues of £12m this financial year, driven by the explosion of online retail over the past 12 months.

This represents a 58 per cent rise on the £7.6m achieved in 2019 – marking the best year to date for Chorley-based Fulfilmentcrowd.

Founded in 1984, the company provides tailored order fulfilment services and technology to more than 400 UK and international online retailers. With 102 staff across 11 UK and global centres, including Germany, the Netherlands and the US, the firm manages more than 120,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space, processing more than 50,000 items per week.

Over the past 12 months, the firm has opened three new sites in Marton Fold, UK, Bocholt, Germany and Sandston, Virginia, USA, strengthening its international network and increasing its worldwide delivery capabilities.

Vanessa Ashworth, Chief Marketing Officer, said: “We have seen extraordinary levels of demand.”