Elite Business Magazine July 2014 by webwax

JULY 2014

A new chapter JULY 2014

Receiving an MBE from the Queen last year sealed Notonthehighstreet.com founder Holly Tucker’s status as entrepreneurial royalty. But as turnover approaches £100m and plans for international expansion come to fruition, 2014 marks a whole new era for the online marketplace EB Cover JULY.indd 1

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CONTENTS

The Elite interview

Holly Tucker is conquering e-commerce with Notonthehighstreet.com

Contents July.indd 1

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CONTENTS

VOLUME 03 ISSUE 07 / 2014 11 12 14 17 18 98

Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s letter Contributors News & events Talking point Book reviews Start-up diaries

26 One to watch

Lovespace: the storage start-up that thinks outside the box

32 Lighting up

Entrepreneurs have sparked an e-cigarette boom in the UK 08

38 Rise of the super angels

Private investment club QVentures is rich with entrepreneurial royalty

44 Keepers of the cash

58 Driven by data

46 Employing with ease

64 Breeding ground

50 Metric magic

68 Training day

54 Penning a path to glory

74 Lasting impression

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s much to consider when hiring an accountant Clive Lewis assesses the impact of the Employment Allowance Embracing new technology can avert marketing mishaps Writing a book can be a cunning ploy for small business owners

How utilising infographics can put you one step ahead

Why universities are a hotbed of entrepreneurial endeavours There are plenty of ways of gearing your team for growth A short-term hire can have a longterm impact

77 Tech for start-ups

The latest must-have gadgets, hardware and apps for forwardthinking small businesses

81 Tree-hugger tech

How technology can help cut costs and your carbon footprint

86 Something old, something new

Dan Kirby waves goodbye to the tech of yesteryear

54 Contents July.indd 2

91 Crisis of confidence

Creating a watertight non-disclosure agreement can pay dividends

01/07/2014 21:42

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01/07/2014 19:53

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Untitled-8 1 Hannah-Bodsworth INTERVIEWS ADVERT- MB with resampled image-greyscale-Elite-250614.indd 1

01/07/2014 25/06/2014 19:53 16:22

EDITOR’S letter VOLUME 03 ISSUE 07 / 2014

Scan this QR Code to register for Elite Business Magazine SALES Harrison Bloor – Senior Account Manager harrison.bloor@cemedia.co.uk Darren Smith – Account Manager darren.smith@cemedia.co.uk EDITORIAL Hannah Prevett – Editor hannah.prevett@cemedia.co.uk Adam Pescod – Web Editor adam.pescod@cemedia.co.uk Josh Russell – Feature Writer josh.russell@cemedia.co.uk Joe Jeffrey – Feature Writer joe.jeffrey@cemedia.co.uk Tom Davis – Feature Writer tom.davis@cemedia.co.uk James Dyble – Intern james.dyble@cemedia.co.uk DESIGN/PRODUCTION Leona Connor – Head Designer leona.connor@cemedia.co.uk Dan Lecount – Web Development Manager dan@cemedia.co.uk Marketing Kelly Dunworth - Head of Communications kelly.dunworth@cemedia.co.uk CIRCULATION Malcolm Coleman – Circulation Manager malcolm.coleman@cemedia.co.uk ACCOUNTS Sally Stoker – Finance Manager sally.stoker@cemedia.co.uk Colin Munday - Management Accountant colin.munday@cemedia.co.uk ADMINISTRATION Charlotte James – Administrator charlotte.james@cemedia.co.uk DIRECTOR Scott English – Managing Director scott.english@cemedia.co.uk

Circulation/subscription UK £40, EUROPE £60, REST OF WORLD £95 Circulation enquiries: CE Media Limited Elite Business Magazine is published 12 times a year by CE Media Solutions Limited, 4th Floor, Victoria House, Victoria Road, Chelmsford, CM1 1JR Call: 01245 707 516 Copyright 2014. All rights reserved No part of Elite Business may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the editor. Elite Business magazine will make every effort to return picture material, but this is at the owner’s risk. Due to the nature of the printing process, images can be subject to a variation of up to 15 per cent, therefore CE Media Limited cannot be held responsible for such variation.

Entrepreneurs often suffer from only being good at start-up phase I’ll let you in on a secret. When I went to the home of Holly Tucker, the Notonthehighstreet.com founder and this month’s cover star, it wasn’t the first time we’d met. Our paths first crossed in 2008 when I was a fresh-faced(ish) staff writer at Growing Business and the magazine named her a Young Gun – one of the UK’s most promising young entrepreneurs. She was an inspired choice. In 2008, she was running an exciting start-up in its formative stages; now she’s running an established business, a ‘proper’ business, which turned over £83m last year. Tucker is a rare breed. Many of the entrepreneurs I meet are good at the start-up phase. They love the thrill of getting a new project off the ground, the challenge of the VC beauty parade and the slog of enticing those precious first customers. But the realities of running a larger business – dealing with governance, attending board meetings, building sound infrastructure – don’t appeal. Or worse still, the board doesn’t think they’re up to the challenge and unceremoniously boots them out to install a shiny new career CEO. But Tucker is a different kettle of fish. From conception, to raising cash from five lots of VCs, to now solely steering the ship, she has shown remarkable skill at every stage of Notonthehighstreet’s growth. And as the company gears up for international expansion, she’ll undoubtedly prove her mettle again. Here’s to the next six years.

HANNAH PREVETT EDITOR

cemedia.co.uk

Editor's Letter.indd 1

01/07/2014 23:26

CONTRIBUTORS

Jon Card

Lyndsey Simpson

HR expert Simpson has lots to be cheery about this month. Not only has her company, The Curve Group, struck a new deal with supply firm IESA, but it also celebrated its tenth birthday with a sunset cruise in Oxford and a photo shoot, which caught Simpson in playful mood. Anything to take her mind off the World Cup: she drew Ecuador in the company sweepstake and we suspect she wasn’t too chuffed with the early exit of England – as well as Spain, where she’s residing for much of the summer.

It’s safe to say that Card was on fire when penning his fantastic analysis piece on the booming e-cigarette sector this month. And he can now sit back and watch his hotly-tipped Columbia power their way to World Cup glory. Well, that’s what he was hoping at the time of going to press, having bet a massive £1 on the team to win the tournament. Should they prevail though, Card won’t be celebrating with a Cuban – or an e-cigarette for that matter – for he gave up smoking last year.

Sarah McVittie It’s been all change in McVittie’s life lately: her bouncing baby boy Archie came into the world in March, which she describes as having been ‘amazing, exhausting and totally life-changing’. Unfortunately start-ups wait for no man (or baby) and McVittie returned to Dressipi after eight weeks, fuelling this month’s column on how having a family can teach you more about the world of work. World Cup fever has bitten at Dressipi as much as anywhere: whilst McVittie has Argentina in the team’s sweepstake, her co-founder and fellow Elite Business columnist Donna Kelly drew Brazil. There could be tears before bedtime.

Contributors July.indd 1

Clive Lewis When not writing about making the most of the Employment Allowance for you lucky lot, Lewis has been keeping an eye on the World Cup. Whilst we don’t normally get this sort of financial advice from Lewis, he’s told us his money is on Brazil. Meanwhile, for their hols this year, Lewis and his wife have had their eye on Sicily, the setting of their favourite show Inspector Montalbano. But unfortunately, like one or two EBers, Lewis isn’t a huge fan of flying, meaning Signore and Signora Lewis have settled on the compromise of Southern Italy. La vita è certamente bella.

01/07/2014 21:43

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01/07/2014 19:54

NEWS & EVENTS

Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, the first piece of

legislation that puts small businesses first. Included in the bill were measures aimed at, among other things, late payments, red tape and access to finance. Publicans were cheering, too, as the government finally confirmed the introduction of statutory regulation for the industry that should give tenants of pub-owning companies a fairer deal on rent and beer prices. Cheers to that.

WORDS: JAMES DYBLE

AGIF / Shutterstock.com

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics bore more positive results, revealing that the UK’s GDP continued to rise from Q4 2013 into Q1 2014 by 0.8%. This may not be felt by most individuals though, as disposable income fell by 0.2% and the average household’s saving ratio dropped to 4.9% over the same period. So, while the UK’s economy is definitely heading in the right direction, the benefits are yet to reach all parts of society.

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Never ones to miss a marketing opportunity, McDonald’s, Pizza Express and Nando’s were quick to take advantage of Luis Suarez’s latest antics. After the Uruguayan striker took a chomp of Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in their World Cup encounter, Twitter went into overdrive with McDonald’s suggesting Suarez enjoy a Big Mac instead, Pizza Express claiming their pizzas were tastier and a post from Nando’s asking Suarez to “get his teeth into something really tasty” receiving over 30,000 retweets. But Specsavers was the big winner in our eyes. The optician helpfully pointed out the difference between Chiellini and Cannelloni, followed by its renowned slogan. EasyJet owner Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou had his wings clipped when he was informed his latest IPO, for EasyHotel, would raise only £30m instead of a hopeful £60m. The low-cost chain

ikeworldtravel / Shutterstock.com

Britain’s SMEs were left rejoicing last month as the government unveiled the

that has hotels based in Dubai, South Africa and all across Europe will offer 44.3% to new investors once trading begins, with the remaining share being retained by easyGroup holdings. Haji-Ioannou was quick to jump to the brand’s defence. “This is a great business model, which will continue to prosper as it grows and meets the demands of budget conscious travellers around Europe and beyond,” he said.

Business secretary Vince Cable announced a change in the law that made ‘exclusive’ zero hours contracts a thing of the past. While he confirmed that contracts where staff were not guaranteed hours do have a place in the labour market, he ruled that zero hours employees should not be prevented from seeking alternative employment when working under such contracts. While we are all for flexibility, if the Elite Business team finds its local closed due to lack of bar staff, then we are not going to be impressed. Google’s Nest products will soon be able

to communicate with third party appliances, opening up a whole new world of consumer interactivity. The Nest division, purchased by Google in January 2014 for $3.2bn, will allow users to sync their homes’ thermostats to wristbands, garage doors and new Mercedes Benz cars, automatically changing the temperature when the homeowner is waking up, leaving and returning to the house property. It’s safe to say Google is no longer just a search engine

01/07/2014 21:44

NEWS & EVENTS

With the worst of the recession well and truly behind us, the benefits are being felt in all parts of the country. Adzuna, the job website, released figures announcing unemployment has reached a five-year low and competition for jobs has fallen steadily over the past few months. This impact has been felt the most in the north, with now only four areas having more than ten job seekers per vacancy. While employers may grumble at the reduction in choice when looking for staff, the positive effect this will have on the economy is surely something they can smile about.

Pay-day lender Wonga has been hauled over the coals by the Financial Conduct Authority after sending out letters from a fake law firm to customers in arrears. Charges were also added to some customer’s accounts for receiving these letters. Wonga has since apologised for the scheme, which took place between October 2008 and November 2010 and will be directly contacting affected customers with offers of compensation. It comes off the back of Wonga announcing in April it was to contact 200,000 people who had overpaid loans. Unfortunately, two Wongas don’t make a right. A study from Thomas International has told us what we already know: UK workers are more positive, communicative and friendly than our US counterparts. While the number of stereotypically entrepreneurial traits among Brits has fallen by 17% during the last seven years, a good 76% of us are extroverts compared to 65% in the States. We might not be very good at football but at least we are open and friendly when discussing how we are not very good at football.

Whistleblowers are set to receive more information and support in legislation, as announced by Jenny Willott, the employment relations minister. As well as improved guidance and reviewing the current process for referring a case to the appropriate regulator, MPs will now become designated prescribed persons meaning they can play a more active role in whistleblowing cases. Employers will also be informed of what to do when an employee makes a disclosure, and the government has reaffirmed its stance that claimants who win their cases should have their tribunal costs reimbursed.

A new government report suggested that work experience being integrated into education could help young people break into the job market. While the UK’s youth unemployment rate is average across Europe, our unemployed youth figures are significantly higher when compared to countries whose unemployment is similar to Britain’s. According to the government’s findings, employers said one issue is lack of experience, while they also outlined a desire for a broader set of skills to sit alongside literacy and numeracy. Are you listening, Mr Gove?

UPCOMING EVENTS Business Junction – Networking Lunch July 10 Obikà Mozzarella Bar, 19-20 Poland Street, London W1F 8QF

Business Scene Birmingham July 16 The Studio, 7 Cannon Street, Birmingham B2 5EP

Prelude – Speaker Boutique: Growing from 5 – 50 Staff July 17 Charlotte Street Hotel, 15-17 Charlotte Street, London W1T 1RJ

(L)News.indd 2

Increasing numbers of businesses appear to be realising the importance of foreign language skills, according to a joint report from CBI and Pearson Education due out this month. The 2014 Skills Survey rated French and German as being the most useful but don’t be reaching for your GCSE textbooks just yet as other languages have seen a substantial rise in demand. “With China and Latin America seeing solid growth, ambitious firms want the language skills that can smooth the path into new markets,” said Katja Hall, deputy director-general of the CBI.

UKTI - British Business House July 23 - 25

Angels Den – Monitoring & Mentoring Masterclass August 6

Business Junction – Networking Evening July 30

A full event listing is available on our website: elitebusinessmagazine.co.uk/ events

Glasgow City Chambers, George Square, Glasgow G2 1DU

Boujis, 43 Thurloe Street, London SW7 2LQ

Edwards Wildman, 69 Old Broad Street, London EC2M 1QS

01/07/2014 21:44

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01/07/2014 20:01

TALKING POINT

A fair return? Has the Living Wage Commission proposed a reasonable deal for workers and businesses?

It’s time the government stood up for workers The Living Wage Commission’s new report does not go far enough. While the Commission has done valuable work in making the case for a living wage, it has fallen short by failing Jason to back new legislation to make fair pay a Stockwood legal requirement. CEO, Simply Businesses of every size have a responsibility Business to pay their staff properly. It is a travesty that, through a combination of low pay and a lack of hours, it is not possible to attain a basic standard of living even when in employment. This is one of the defining issues of our time and both the government and the private sector have a responsibility to tackle it head on. But fair pay isn’t just a moral obligation – it’s also good business. A fair wage is a sign of respect, and an indication to your staff that you value their work. This is a key tool for maintaining morale and, in turn, boosting productivity. A fairly recompensed workforce will be more likely to remain loyal and hardworking. The government has a responsibility to legislate for fair pay, as time and again the private sector has failed to meet its moral duty on this issue. Just as the argument was won for the National Minimum Wage, so too will the argument soon be won for the living wage. It is time for the government, and for businesses of every size, to stand 17 up for the UK’s workers.

Improve apprenticeships before improving pay

WORDS: JAMES DYBLE

here can hardly be more emotive an issue than the national minimum wage. And it was thrown into the spotlight last month as the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, stated it was a “national scandal” that millions were living in poverty despite being in full-time employment. The Living Wage Commission (LWC), chaired by Sentamu, suggested in its long-awaited report that the government pay its own workers a living wage, which should pave the way for 1 million workers to live within their means by 2020. However, the Commission stopped short of suggesting it be written into law. With 13 million people living in poverty in the UK and 6.7 million of those coming from a family where someone works, this is clearly an issue that affects many lives as well as the economy. But given that the jump from national minimum wage to a national living wage would represent a 20% hike – and 40% for those living in London – any change in legislation would surely have had a telling impact on many SMEs’ balance sheets Now that attention has turned to how organisations go about their business, we ask whether the LWC’s conclusions were a reasonable outcome for both enterprises and their cash-strapped employees.

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I remain puzzled as to why we have a Living Wage Commission and a government-set minimum wage. The mere fact that two exist makes a mockery of both. Jan Cavelle founder and director, The government’s minimum wage is adjusted Jan Cavelle Furniture regularly in tandem with the cost of living. The dates in the recommendation are therefore irrelevant. What is relevant is the division between the two as to the level the minimum should be. SMEs struggle to employ. The employer’s National Insurance tax has always been a hindrance when providing full employment and yet remains oddly hidden to the majority of the populace, leaving the capitalist employer more exposed to this picture of us ripping off our under-paid staff. The truth is that while the recession may be waning, businesses all over Britain are struggling for survival and enforced increases in wages can only mean one of two things to many: laying off staff or the end of their businesses. Then for many, national apprenticeship schemes fail to offer local courses that would allow unskilled young people to learn in the workplace at a lower cost to employers. The only option for all these businesses is to provide their own in-house training and they have to pay considerably more on wages than would another business that was able to tap into the apprenticeship schemes. Once again, many of these businesses who could otherwise provide a future to our young people will be that little less likely to be able to do so.

01/07/2014 21:44

BOOK REVIEWS

Brand Famous – The Road to Reinvention – How to get everyone talking about How to drive disruption and your business accelerate transformation Linzi Boyd

Josh Linkner

here’s no doubting we’re living in a heavily brand-conscious age. Whether it’s Apple’s omni-present influence on product design or Twitter’s ubiquitous tweeting bird, consumers have never been more keyed up toward intelligent branding. Brand Famous is aimed at helping start-ups gain brand traction in this landscape, offering insight into how enterprises new and old can build, renovate or refresh their brand to become the enterprise that everyone is talking about. One thing that certainly leaps off the page is the way Boyd presents her case. With its bold typography, visual layout and luminous orange detailing, this is a book that knows how to get and hold your attention. At first it may seem like a minor detail or dressing, but this actually gives Brand Famous a really practical edge: Boyd’s book is all about providing a framework to lay out, plan and build your brand. From the dot-to-dot games to its product pyramid template, everything within its pages helps support practical development or reappraisal of a brand, making it far easier to utilise and benefit from than a traditional text-book style offering. All in all, Brand Famous is a great book to get hands-on with your brand and create something that really stands head and shoulders above the competition. JR

nce enterprising powerhouses, Polaroid, Kmart and Blockbuster all became masters of their own downfall by failing to reinvent themselves. As Linkner rightly argues in The Road to Reinvention, refusing to innovate when the market demanded it eventually spelled their demise. It’s fair to say Linkner has form when it comes to reinvention. As he admits, were it not for serious introspection at various points in his own entrepreneurial journey, he probably wouldn’t be sitting on four successful tech exits at a combined value of $250m. Indeed, he’s arguably the perfect candidate to pen a book on the transformative power of disruption. Not only does his flair belie a writer on only their second book but his knowledge of the world’s greatest disrupters – himself included – means it’s hard not to take his word as gospel. Linkner’s juxtaposition of commercial reinvention with the plight of his beloved Detroit – currently rising from the ashes with the help of Linkner and his entrepreneurial kin – lends The Road to Reinvention an emotive edge that similar titles sorely lack. To treat this book as a warning shot to budding entrepreneurs and corporate execs would certainly be a gross disservice to what is a positive, inspiring and important piece of contemporary business literature. AP

Publisher: Capstone Out: Now RRP: £14.99

Publisher: Jossey-Bass Out: Now RRP: £18.99

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01/07/2014 21:45

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30/06/2014 14:37

the elite INTERVIEW

WORDS: HANNAH PREVETT PHOTOGRAPHY: EMILIE SANDY

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01/07/2014 21:48

breaking new ground (L)Elite Interview.indd 2

Having founded the website Notonthehighstreet.com together in 2005, Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish became one of the online worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most well-known entrepreneurial partnerships. Tucker now leads the business alone and, with an aggressive international expansion on the cards, her energy shows no sign of waning

01/07/2014 21:49

T 22

he first thing you notice about Holly Tucker is her unfaltering enthusiasm. Despite having a cold and cough that’s left her sounding like a 40-a-day smoker she smiles broadly and bounds from room to room, giving the photographer and I a tour of her home. She moved into the house in St Margarets, south-west London, three years ago with long-term partner Frank and their nine-year old son, Harry. Since then, it’s undergone a huge transformation. “We’ve ripped it apart. It was not like this when we moved in,” Tucker says emphatically. She’s done a stunning job. From the grand chandelier that hangs in the lounge to the faux-grass soapdish in the downstairs bathroom, there is much to be said for her attention to detail. If Tucker runs her business with the same love and precision as she builds her home, it’s no wonder Notonthehighstreet. com has been such a smash hit. It’s no coincidence that Tucker set up a business with an artistic leaning: she has always been rightbrained. Having been born in Chiswick, she lived in Holland between the ages of seven and 15, before returning to the UK to complete her education. In her A-levels, she

gained A grades in art and creative design and technology – and, somewhat ironically, a D in business studies. At 17, a multitude of options presented themselves: would Tucker go to study for an art degree or would she pursue a career in advertising, having worked a summer job at ad agency Publicis since she was 15? “When it came to the day of my A-level results, in the morning I had an interview with Rick Bendel [the former CEO of Publicis in Europe who went on to become chief marketing officer at Walmart].” Her mum and sister were waiting in the car to drive her to her Ascot school to collect her exam results. Not that it mattered. Bendel had offered her a job as a junior account executive. “Basically, I was going to be the tea girl,” laughs Tucker. If she really was making the brews initially, it wasn’t for long. Quickly promoted to account manager and entrusted with clients including L’Oréal, Coca Cola and Renault, Tucker’s talents were plain to see and she was eventually poached to go and work at Brides magazine. She had a vested interest in the business of matrimony: she was getting married at the age of 21. After it became clear Condé Nast wasn’t quite her “cup of tea”, Tucker got a new job at coolwhite.com, one of the first wedding portals to curate a collection of venues, planners and other assorted wedding-related services. A spell as a freelance consultant followed, but while Tucker was making a decent living she felt her creative instincts were being suppressed. “Don’t forget, originally I was going to go and do a career in art,” Tucker points out. She began designing sculptures made from plants. “I would buy really weird pieces of wood and then I would pot up all these sucker plants and things and I started creating wreaths that were less ordinary; they were made out of chilli and tangerines and artichokes,” explains Tucker, who was divorced from her husband at 24.

How privileged am I to watch people live their dreams?

(L)Elite Interview.indd 3

While working out of her one-bedroom flat in Chiswick in the evenings, it occurred to Tucker that she was unlikely to be the only budding artist in the neighbourhood. “Chiswick is all 2.4 children so I assumed there must be a Christmas fair.” There wasn’t. “I said, ‘OK, I’ll set up the fair and then I can get the best stand to sell my products. So I spent every evening setting up this fair with 240 stalls under one roof where I hand-picked each incredible business,” says Tucker. “The feedback afterwards was that the businesses that were selling loved standing next to another quality business.” Realising she was on to a winner, Tucker ditched wreaths and created Your Local Fair, which staged fairs in affluent areas including Hampstead, Fulham, Notting Hill and Henley. She was on a roll – until the great British weather put paid to a fair she had co-ordinated in Chelsea. “I had 190 stands in Chelsea town hall – which, by the way, costs a lot of money to hire out – when this huge storm came over. I’ll never forget that moment; it was so stressful. The issue was, if it pissed with rain, however much advertising you’d done, you were stuffed,” says Tucker. She had the basis of a spectacular business – people were snapping up the unique, hand-crafted bounty – but the medium was wrong. She’d have to take it online. In the meantime, Tucker had met her now partner, Frank, and become pregnant with their son. “I had Harry on January 28, 2005, and then six weeks later I had to pay the rent,” she explains. She began freelancing to make ends meet but couldn’t shake the idea of an online marketplace. Having decided she didn’t fancy being a sole founder, she contacted Sophie Cornish, her former boss at Publicis, to ask her if she would like to help her launch the business. “I sent her this famous email where there’s a line that says, ‘To sum it all up, it’s just everything that’s not on the high street,’” recalls Tucker. Within 24 hours, Cornish had jacked in the small florist that she was running to join Tucker in her pursuit of entrepreneurial superstardom. “I’d take Harry, with all the palava you’ve got to take with a three-month old, while we sat creating the business plan,” Tucker muses. In January 2006, they moved into their offices in Sheen – “the shit end of Richmond”. Tucker’s sister, Carrie, became employee number three as the co-founders spent three months trying to build the technology platform that would enable consumers to buy from multiple small businesses but pay in just one transaction. “The one-basket technology didn’t really exist,” says Tucker. “Amazon and eBay were the only marketplaces out there, so when talking to our small business partners we had to educate them on what a marketplace was.” The one-basket system caused other problems too: although Tucker and Cornish had commissioned a company to build the site for

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01/04/2014 01/04/2014 20:45 11:52

the elite INTERVIEW

The latest addition to the Tucker household: nine-month-old Mudley

We’re helping create British businesses, which is just amazing

them for the princely sum of £30,000, it became evident that the developers were incapable of doing what was asked of them. “Two nights before we launched, we realised we weren’t going to have a checkout,” says Tucker. This was particularly problematic as the eyes of the world were watching. “We wish we’d known the word beta. What we did know is PR,” she laughs. They had done such a excellent job of promoting the new company that on the day of launch, 16,000 people visited the site. “We didn’t have any choice but to launch it as a preview. Then someone came into our mix who was originally supposed to do something small but ended up rebuilding the site in three weeks. We switched it over at midnight one night and sacked the web development company. That was Notonthehighstreet version one,” muses Tucker. Sales trickled through. Though the team was growing, there were only a couple of sales a day and the company was only charging 10% commission, so its share of the proceeds was tiny. It was also charging small business partners a £99 joining fee, which has since been revised upwards to £199 and commission now stands at 20%. But still, this wasn’t enough to cover the costs of keeping the lights on. “We knew we had to build better technology, we knew we needed a back-end system, but we had just started to run out of money. My father remortgaged; Sophie’s parents wrote another cheque.” Though gratefully received, their parents’ handouts barely touched the sides. Attempts at fundraising in the City fell on deaf ears. “Two blonde women going around the City talking about their little shopping website? Men were telling us that their wives did all the shopping. It was cringeworthy. Every stereotypical story you can think of – that’s what we were experiencing.” A chance meeting between the fledgling company’s PR representative and a man in a church in the south of France secured an introduction to Tom Teichman, chairman of VC

(L)Elite Interview.indd 4

firm Spark. Teichman signed a cheque for £300,000. “Finally, we were on our way,” smiles Tucker. But it didn’t take long before the cash dried up again. As the business grew rapidly, so too did overheads. In the first year the business turned over £199,000; the next it was £900,000. Then it hit £2.3m in 2008. Although they were operating on a shoestring, the founders knew that they could not afford to cut corners in the quality of suppliers. “We knew we had to be curated so we turned away, and still do, 80% of applicants who come to the site. Those days where we weren’t paying ourselves a salary and I had a young child; not paying yourself a salary is not a joke. We were turning away £1m of joining fees in the first year because we knew the brand had to really stand for something and it was about quality and about the best British small businesses.” As the business went through growth spurts, it had to find partners to help ease its growing pains. Notonthehighstreet has five venture capital investors on board to-date. As the company swelled, so too did the earnings of its partners. “Our partner base did not grow as much as our customer base did. Even today in 2014, we’ve only got 5,000 partners and we had 200 when we joined, so actually that growth has not been huge. It’s always been about the quality of the partner,” says Tucker. Last year, six of those partners made £1m through selling their goods on Notonthehighstreet. “It was the proudest moment of my career. We’ll probably make 20 this year.” That is why she does it all, she says. “How privileged am I to watch people live their dreams? We’re helping create British businesses, which is just amazing.” The financial rewards haven’t hurt either. Last year, Notonthehighstreet turned over £83m. It was a landmark year for another reason too:

Tucker became the sole leader of the business after Cornish stepped back from the day-today running of the business. Tucker says the decision was just part of the company’s evolution. “It’s quite a natural thing when you have a partnership: when it comes to the hundred millions it starts to become a situation where you need one person who’s leading,” says Tucker carefully. She stresses that the pair’s relationship is still in tact. “I’m meeting her for lunch after this. We’re still very close. She’s a director on the board and she co-wrote this,” Tucker says, pointing to a copy of Shape Up Your Business, on the kitchen table. Tucker will be glad she no longer needs to put pen to paper for she has other pressing matters at hand. In the next couple of months, Notonthehighstreet will launch its German website. “We’ve got a few hundred partners and we’ve got a team out in Berlin,” says Tucker. She doesn’t expect it to be a walk in the park. “International is a challenge. I bought the URLs in 2007 when we couldn’t afford the heating. I’ve always known that we have to go international, but actually being able to do it is another matter.” The plan is to adapt slightly for the German market but to apply all of the learnings from the UK, so the same early mistakes aren’t made twice, she explains. And the expansion isn’t all that’s keeping Tucker busy. She and partner Frank, a former Scotland Yard detective, are launching a charity called Happy Bricks Foundation, which will help underprivileged children in Tanzania. Frank also harbours fantasies of starting his own business, in which he can indulge his passion for food. Unsurprisingly, Tucker is his biggest cheerleader. “Most of our conversations in the evenings are about building something,” she smiles. “And the more wine you drink, the more you build.” Shape Up Your Business, written by Sophie Cornish and Holly Tucker, is published by Simon & Schuster, is out on July 3 and is priced at £14.99.

01/07/2014 21:49

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01/07/2014 20:02

ONE TO WATCH

(L)One to watch.indd 1

01/07/2014 21:51

ONE TO WATCH

iven the economic climate in recent times, plenty of us are trying to do more with less. Particularly in cramped homes and offices, being able to clear space for new purposes has become a valuable asset but hiring out an entire storage container for a few heirlooms isn’t necessarily the most cost-effective approach. Fortunately, serial entrepreneur Brett Akker has hit on a solution: providing scaleable storage options for consumers and businesses alike with his new start-up Lovespace. It was soon after selling his first enterprise, the carsharing service Streetcar, to industry giant Zipcar in 2010 that Akker decided to go back down the start-up route. “Probably too soon,” he jokes. The seed for Lovespace was first sown while he still was working for Zipcar, and before long he left to focus on the idea full-time. “They were actually really supportive,” says Akker. “I think they realised that once you’ve got the start-up bug it’s hard to let it go.” Lovespace happened to come out of a chance discussion between Akker and Carl August Ameln, one of the original angels in Streetcar. “Brett said to Carl: ‘I enjoyed doing Streetcar; where can we do that again?’” relays Steve Folwell, managing director of Lovespace. Both Ameln and his partners Lasse Hoydal and Arnaud Ripert had extensive backgrounds in self-storage across Europe and Scandinavia.

“They thought the concept of convenience, flexibility and value would work very well in storage,” he adds. The basic idea behind Lovespace is to allow a flexible approach to storing items, allowing consumers to scale up their storage needs as required, rather than buying a huge amount of space of which they will use a fraction. “You can store one box, suitcase or bike rather than having to pay a small fortune to take a small store cupboard in one of the traditional

What Streetcar did for car rental is what Lovespace does for traditional self-storage Brett Akker, Lovespace

provider’s locations,” says Folwell. “You’re only paying for the absolute space that you need.” One might notice this focus on flexibility has a faint echo of Akker’s first start-up and this is certainly no coincidence. “The original conversation was, basically, about bringing Streetcar into another industry,” he explains. “What Streetcar did for car rental is what Lovespace does for traditional self-storage.”

Little boxes

Cramped and cash-strapped consumers and businesses have a new best friend in Lovespace, the start-up that lets them buy free space by the boxful

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With the sharing economy gaining increasing traction, it’s hardly surprising that savvy start-ups are catering to consumers looking to be more economical with their assets. “People’s views have changed dramatically in the last few years: what they used to maybe consider a necessity would now be considered a luxury,” Akker explains. Consumers might once have considered keeping a car that was only driven once a week in their drive but services like Streetcar arrived at the right time to provide them better value for money. “It’s the same with Lovespace – people are looking for that more granular option.” Spotting a gap in the market is, of course, one thing but the first major hurdle for many an enterprise is securing the seed capital. Fortunately, Lovespace wasn’t lacking in backers willing to put their money where their mouth is. Not only did Akker and Ameln themselves stump up the readies, but Smedvig Capital – a former investor in Streetcar – was more than happy to follow suit. Of course, before it could really grow in terms of user-base, Lovespace needed a solid brand behind it, something it was hitherto lacking. Developing a clear brand for the fledgling enterprise in part grew out of discussions with both prospective customers and the team, working out what their proposition would really mean to their market. “Through a bit of a process of osmosis and trial and error you get to something,” Folwell explains. “In our case it was: ‘living a bigger life one box at a time’.” Given that Lovespace involves physical storage, a collection and delivery infrastructure and a tech platform, it would be fair to assume that scaling things up would come with a few logistical headaches. But scaleability has been built in from the start, with everything from the digital platform to a partnership with courier company City Link for areas with lower delivery density allowing the business to grow organically. However, that’s not to say that Lovespace can just take its scaleability as read either. Recently, the enterprise had to make 1,000 collections in a single day, more than all of their collections in April combined. Keeping up with the enterprise’s rapid growth means its team needs to be able to scale alongside everything else. “Everything from a digital and logistical perspective scaled beautifully,” Folwell says. “But building a team quickly enough to keep up: that’s the challenge.”

01/07/2014 21:51

FP AD PLACE.indd Salesforce event.indd1 1

02/05/2014 20:37 00:28 01/04/2014

ONE TO WATCH

Fortunately, the enterprise doesn’t Company CV seem to be struggling to draw in Name: talent. “We’ve done a good job Lovespace somehow of recruiting a fantastic Founded by: team here,” says Akker. “It’s really Brett Akker & Carl exciting.” From Akker and Folwell August Amein Founded in: 2012 themselves to their dream team of Team: 15 storage experts, Ameln, Hoydal and Ripert, every member of Lovespace adds significantly to the enterprise’s credibility. “Our storage experience on the board of directors is very strong,” he adds. This has inevitably helped them in securing some of their key strategic partners. “Early on, we struck up two terrific partnerships – they’re very trusted brands that don’t partner with just anyone,” says Folwell. The first is with Oxfam – for every three boxes a customer stores with Lovespace, the enterprise will deliver a box of unwanted possessions to the charity. The second allows expectant mothers to purchase all they need for their coming baby in a Mothercare store and Lovespace will store and deliver the goods for when they’re actually needed. “I’m not sure that would have been easy to do without the credentials that we have collectively round the table,” Folwell comments. These partnerships, in turn, have added a very palpable impact on the enterprise’s ability to build trust with its consumers. “From day one, partnerships have been crucial,” explains Akker. “In terms of the people we’re looking to target, doing that through trusted third parties is far easier.” And slowly but surely this has had a pronounced effect on Lovespace’s profile, meaning that the enterprise has been attracting its fair share of champions and advocates. Which is why, when Lovespace began to look for its next cash injunction, there was only one natural choice. “We decided to do it through crowdfunding because we’d had a lot of interest from partners, customers, angels at different levels who just thought it was a brilliant idea,” says Folwell. Launching its round on Crowdcube, Lovespace could scarcely have anticipated the response it would receive.

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When the customer gets their stuff back being absolutely delighted that you helped them, that’s what matters to us Steve Folwell, Lovespace

“We obviously went in looking for £600,000; we felt that would get us through to the end of the year and the peak student storage season over the summer,” says Akker. However, the start-up became a little part of crowdfunding history, when it smashed its original target and raised an additional £1m of capital, pulling in funds from consumers, angels such as Humphrey Cobbold, the former CEO of Wiggle, and even the VC backing of DN Capital. “That gives us very good runway for the coming months and years.” This isn’t the only recognition of the strength of its concept that Lovespace has received. It has also appeared in Real Business’s Everline Future 50 and received a Startups100 award. “It’s nice to get those accolades; they’re nice little staging points along the way and I don’t want to underplay them,” says Folwell. However, he feels that the most important thing is providing customers with a service that helps and benefits them. “It’s the end goal: it’s the customer on the doorstep, when they get their stuff back, being absolutely delighted that you helped them,” he explains. “That’s what matters to us.” But what’s next for Lovespace? Not only is the enterprise looking to grow aggressively and engage more deeply with its customer segments in Blighty, but with the help of Ameln, Hoydal and Ripert international expansion seems to be firmly within Lovespace’s sights. Akker concludes: “There’s an awful lot still to achieve, there’s an awful lot of growth still to be had but it’s definitely a very exciting time.”

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Thousands have traded their fags for e-cigarettes, leading to a boom in the e-cig market. Yet, legislation is playing catchup and there are questions aplenty as to its future

Analysis.indd 1

he e-cigarette market has been one of the great success stories of recent times. Created little more than a decade ago by a Chinese scientist, e-cigarettes are now being used by millions across the world. Sales of the products in UK supermarkets and major multiples have risen to well over £100m, there are an estimated two million users and the market is growing rapidly. Until recently, the e-cigarette industry had been driven by new entrepreneurs, while larger corporations have taken a back seat, maintaining a ‘wait and see’ approach. Yet now they are beginning to assume a greater interest and, as a result, acquisitions are taking place. Both large tobacco companies and big pharmaceuticals have cottoned on to the idea that this is not a sector they want to miss out on. Although electronic cigarette machines were first created in the 1960s, their modern day incarnation traces its roots back to Chinese scientist Hon Lik, who created the e-cigarette in 2003. His invention was patented and Chinese manufacturers, primarily based in the Shenzhen region, have been selling their wares across the world. Web-savvy UK entrepreneurs soon spotted the potential of the product and created import businesses, shipping in from China and selling online. Today, analysts believe there to be about 70 e-cigarette companies selling in the UK,

with brands such as Nicolites, 10-Motives and E-lites among the biggest names. But the sector has been driven online by entrepreneurs, some of whom have grown very quickly. Mark Winkler is an associate director at FF&P Advisory and worked with e-cigarette business Skycig. The business was formed in 2011, but was sold to Lorillard in a £60m deal at the end of last year. Winkler says the e-cigarette business initially attracted a “very entrepreneurial mindset”, as tobacco companies and big pharmaceutical companies decided to stay out of the fray at the outset. “The sector is very entrepreneurial. Tobacco companies didn’t want to get involved and pharmaceuticals had their own sets of products, so this left an opportunity for independent companies,” he says. Over the past two years, though, public awareness has grown, the market has matured and e-cigarettes are now becoming a part of more traditional retail set-ups. Winkler says attitudes among bigger businesses, such as tobacco companies and pharmaceuticals, have altered, although it’s still early days for the industry. “There will be more start-ups and there will be more acquisitions as people will still see the opportunity. There isn’t that much brand strength yet. We are seeing advertising on TV and in print, but there are still opportunities.”

01/07/2014 21:52

ANALYSIS

There will be more start-ups and there will be more acquisitions as people will still see the opportunity Mark Winkler, FF&P Advisory

Analysis.indd 2

01/07/2014 21:52

ANALYSIS

GROWTH

Among those enjoying the boom is Andrew Payne, co-founder of Socialites, the e-cigarette company. The business has been in operation for less than two years but expects to achieve revenues of £15m by the end of its financial year in March. “We’ve grown from zero to having 65 retail stands in the UK,” he says. “The growth of the industry has been massive.” Indeed, figures from traditional retail sales show a huge rise in take-up. Market research company IRI says growth in the 12 months to April 2014 has been 126%. E-cigarettes are now available in over 90% of supermarkets, grocery and pharmacy outlets across the UK; IRI values the market at £116m. However this figure only accounts for sales made in larger multiples and doesn’t include internet-only retailers, markets or even dedicated e-cigarette stalls. IRI therefore admits this figure is an underestimate, with the true market size being significantly greater.

Trendsetters

WATER VAPOUR

But the e-cigarette market sits in a peculiar place, with both health and tobacco companies poised to invest. Legislators are still coming to terms with how it should be governed. Is it a health product which helps smokers quit or, as it contains nicotine, a type of cigarette? Also, when people use them, are they smoking and therefore subject to the smoking ban? The industry argues that it is an alternative to smoking for those already addicted to nicotine. They argue that if all smokers switched to e-cigarettes, there would be fewer deaths, and that the product also helps smokers give up tobacco. However, the law does not permit e-cigarettes to be sold as a health product, which places the e-cigarette companies in an awkward spot. “It can help people stop smoking but we don’t promote it as a quitting product,” says Payne. “99% of our customers are smokers. We get customers that want to quit because it’s harmful or it costs too much, or because they have families.” On the point of harm reduction, the Department of Health appears to agree, stating that it would prefer smokers to switch. However, issues such as the public smoking bans and advertising regulations are still a smoky grey area. Payne argues that employees should be allowed to use them at work in most instances. “There’s no passive smoking, bad

Analysis.indd 3

We’ve grown from zero to having 65 retail stands in the UK. The growth of the industry has been massive Andrew Payne, Socialites

Many of the first e-cigarette businesses were set up by young, web savvy entrepreneurs. Ben Wilson, who founded Freshcig in 2011 aged just 21, is a classic example. The business is now on track to produce revenues of £1.2m. He explains how he did it: “It was Christmas 2010 when I first came across e-cigarettes and bought some for a family member. The products were fairly poor in terms of construction, but I decided to buy a batch and sold them all on Amazon overnight. I carried on selling and, in June 2011, I launched Freshcig. Unfortunately, this was about the time when Amazon decided to stop selling nicotine products. So we sold via our own website and used sites like Groupon - this got us our first batch of customers. “We are manufactured in China and have established our own product line. We have an English contact out there who controls it on our behalf. We have lots of plans, such as launching different brands and looking to move production to the UK. We are also pursuing further retail and online growth. About 80% of our sales are through our website, so that’s where we are focused. “The cost saving of using e-cigarettes is something we are allowed to push to customers. A typical user will make a saving of 70-80% and for someone on 20-a-day this will mean a massive £2000 per year.”

01/07/2014 21:52

EB July.indd 1

01/07/2014 20:02

ANALYSIS

smells or carcinogens. It’s just water vapour, so people should be able to use them at work. Some airlines don’t want to allow them as it looks like people are smoking. But some pub groups don’t either. Why they would want their customers to go outside and smoke in the cold, I don’t know.” ADVERTISING CONCERNS

Promoting e-cigarettes is one of the problems the industry faces and advertisers are calling for clarity. Chris Baker is head of strategy at Inferno, the advertising agency. His business works with the Department of Health on its campaigns but he has made a “conscious decision not to get involved” in e-cigarettes. He says the industry needs better guidelines as, currently, the status of the industry is confused. “The problem is that the regulations regarding e-cigarettes are very vague and the ads end up confusing the hell out of consumers. You can’t talk about the benefits. We have this limbo between it being a cigarette and a health product.” However, he says the government is keen for consumers to switch from tobacco products to e-cigarettes. “From the government’s point of view, there would be fewer deaths if people stopped smoking and used e-cigarettes instead. Also, there would be a major saving to the economy, as the cost of treating smoking related illnesses is massive.” REGULATIONS

New regulations from the European Union, set to come into force in 2016, will better clarify

Analysis.indd 4

their position. Industry insiders are likely to welcome the changes as they will bring some greater clarity to the marketplace. The regulations, as they are currently planned, will limit the strength of the products, the size of the liquids sold and, most importantly, license them as medicines. This final point is contentious and some disagree. Ben Wilson, founder of Freshcig, says he wants regulation but he doesn’t believe that e-cigarettes are health products. “Tighter controls on this industry would be a good thing but I don’t think it should be classed as a medical product,” he says. “If that happens it will kill the product by making it more expensive and a market created by businesspeople will be handed over to the pharmaceutical industry.”

We have this limbo between it being a cigarette and a health product Chris Baker, Inferno

FUTURE

The e-cigarette industry has come out of nowhere and is now waiting for legislators to catch up. As such, this bustling, innovative, entrepreneurial market sits in an awkward no-man’s land. Also, the product arguably contains the seeds of its own destruction; if it really helps people quit then surely one day it will run out of customers? However, right now, the businesses involved are unconcerned. There are millions of smokers worldwide and, so far, only a small minority are using e-cigarettes. Furthermore, despite stark health warnings going back decades, the lure and appeal of nicotine remains a part of many people’s lives. There is still a lot of money to be made from smoking – and this is not likely to change anytime soon.

01/07/2014 21:52

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30/05/2014 19:40

FINANCE

TAKING

FLIGHT

With the downturn knocking the confidence of seasoned investors and start-ups alike, ‘super angel’ investment platform QVentures is aiming to plug the equity gap for the benefit of all

(L)Taking flight.indd 1

WORDS: ADAM PESCOD

he financial crash of 2008 has indisputably had a marked impact on the European investment landscape. As demonstrated by the latest figures from the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EVCA), total venture capital investment as a percentage of GDP has fallen quite dramatically over the course of the last five years. From pushing close to 50% of GDP in 2008, VC investment in 2012 accounted for less than 25% of GDP in the EU and below 20% in the Euro area. While a silver lining is provided by the slight increase in VC investment in seed and start-up companies between 2011 and 2012 (in the EU), the overall picture is pretty bleak for start-ups that have ridden the storm and experienced rapid growth during the recession. Considering that later-stage firms are often regarded as a safer bet by institutional investors, the sharp decline in investment into such companies is a telling tale indeed. The downturn may have seen fewer exits – and thus less income for VCs – but it also seems to have made them more risk-averse. This trend has not been missed by Lex Deak. The serial entrepreneur recently founded QVentures, a new online investment platform that connects ‘super angels’ – the top brass from the worlds of private equity, venture capital and entrepreneurship – with start-ups that require investment at a level above what an angel investor can provide and below what a VC tends to cough up. QVentures was the logical next step for Deak who’d previously established a private investment club within The Supper Club, one of the UK’s premier entrepreneur networks. “There was something to be said about highly liquid and experienced entrepreneur investors getting together in small groups,” he says. Deak hopes that QVentures will be able to assist those companies that find themselves trapped in the much talked-about ‘equity gap’. “The traditional VC model is quite staid now and is understandably moving slightly later while there’s a lot of activity in the pure seed stage,” says Deak. “That creates this void in the middle – and it’s a tricky space because there are fewer people who are prepared to write cheques for upwards of £100,000 and invest their time.” “But there are still a significant number,” he adds. “It’s just about approaching them in the right way.”

01/07/2014 21:53

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A number of high-profile names have already bought into Deak’s vision, with Michael Acton Smith, Richard Reed, the Innocent Drinks co-founder, and Moonpig’s Nick Jenkins among the founder members of QVentures. Their support has been matched by venture capital firms such as DFJ Esprit, Balderton and Octopus, as well as Seedrs, the crowdfunding platform. Through pooling the resources of major players from both sides of the table, it’s hoped that the rewards will be higher, and the risk lower, for all involved. Yet, were it not for a chance encounter with Aaron Simpson, the founder of Quintessentially – the global private members’ club for high net-worth individuals – Deak may have struggled to build such a strong proposition. Lex Deak, founder, QVentures The presence of Quintessentially’s vast network of entrepreneurs has helped give QVentures the clout and capital it requires to transform the fortunes of some of the fastest growing and most exciting start-ups in the UK and from overseas. “This sort of concept was something that was really close to Aaron’s heart,” says Deak. “We got off to a head start when it could have otherwise have taken us years to build up a network that would rival that of Quintessentially.” Deak is quite keen to distance QVentures from the crowdfunding tag, despite his admiration of what it is doing for the fortunes of certain start-ups. “I think crowdfunding is Lex Deak, founder, fantastic for consumer businesses but, for me, QVentures

“We are not a crowdfunding platform. We are a super angel investment club”

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the real opportunity was going slightly higher up the food chain and connecting a smaller group of more liquid and experienced investors with a better quality of deal flow,” explains Deak. “We will avoid the label of crowdfunding wherever we can. We are not a crowdfunding platform. We are a super angel investment club.” His sentiments are echoed by Todd Ruppert, chairman of QVentures and former CEO at T. Rowe Price, the global investment management firm. “I think the whole crowdfunding space is going to be very disruptive and additive to society, but QVentures is not really a ‘crowd’,” he says. “I would rather call it ‘group funding’. It is not for the masses; it’s for a more segmented and curated group of individuals.” Indeed, with membership of QVentures capped at 1,000 individuals and corporate entities, the contrast with crowdfunding could hardly be starker. “We invest time in qualifying all of our investor members,” says Deak. “We are not out to boast 20,000 or 30,000 members. This is much more about quality over quantity.” There’s little doubt that the individuals already gracing the books of QVentures have positioned it as a force to be reckoned within the global investment space. “There’s not really a business you could think of that is not going to relate to someone’s direct experience on that board,” says Reed, who now runs JamJar Investments, a venture capital fund set up last year with his fellow Innocent co-founders. “A combination of the Quintessentially network and the networks of those senior advisors on the board means it’s going to be pretty unparalleled in terms of access and contacts.”

Nicko Williamson,

co-founder and CEO, Bounce

Richard Reed,

co-founder, JamJar Investments

Todd Ruppert,

chairman, QVentures

01/07/2014 21:54

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FINANCE

“I have no interest in investing in things that the world doesn’t want”

What is a ‘super angel’?

Richard Reed, co-founder, JamJar Investments

Lex Deak, founder, QVentures

And what of the companies looking to take advantage of the QVentures offering? Thus far, a handful of disruptive start-ups have secured investment. These include Bounce, the minicab app devised by Nicko Williamson, the founder of Climate Cars, in conjunction with the people behind Kabbee, the taxi price comparison service. Williamson admits it was the names involved in QVentures that really piqued his interest. “The thing that attracted me to QVentures is the people involved; the access to some incredibly high calibre investors,” he says. “When you are raising money, a core part of it, especially if you are raising from angels and individuals, is access to the right kinds of people.” Among the other firms to have raised money through QVentures are Wordeo, the video messaging app, and Network Locum, the online marketplace that helps medical practices cover temporary absences for their GPs. Deak admits that half the deals so far have involved tech firms but stresses that this is more down to coincidence than strict criteria. Generally, though, there are certain attributes that will ultimately make the QVentures board sit up and take notice. “We really want to focus on ventures where there is already quite a lot of meat on the bones and that de-risk it slightly for our members as well,” says Deak. “It needs to be in line with what a lot of the other VCs and networks look for: something that is highly scalable, where there are early revenues or exceptional traction and the management has a great track record.” Reed is slightly more to the point. “It’s a boring answer but we’ll just be looking for quality,” he says. “I won’t put money into something where the team isn’t strong and the product isn’t both useful and beautiful. I have no interest in investing in things that the world doesn’t want.” Technology is nevertheless a core part of QVentures’ own business model, with its online platform serving as a useful tool for its welltravelled network of investors. And Deak reveals that he has already started work on a new technological development that he believes “will be a world’s first and really turbocharge the whole process”. “We want to make sure that we don’t run before we can walk, but it’s all there for the taking,” he concludes. “The aim is to be the world’s premier super angel and ultra-high net worth investment club. I’m very bullish about what we can do.”

Typically, a super angel would have real hands-on experience of running a business that’s turning over north of £50m and employing a couple of hundred people. They will have had a minimum of half a dozen angel investments already and will be keen to learn and understand the psychology and the detail of angel investing. On the other side, you have finance professionals, hedge fund managers, principals at VC firms; the side of the community that will be well-versed in the technicalities of investing. By extension, they would qualify as highly sophisticated or ‘super angels’. The amount that they are able to deploy is obviously a contributing factor, so we would expect a minimum of £25,000 per annum to be deployed. All of this combined provides us with enough confidence that we are dealing with the right kind of people.

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01/07/2014 21:54

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01/07/2014 20:08

Five-minute money masterclass

Hiring an accountant 44

For many with entrepreneurial ambitions, one of its big draws is going it alone and carving out their own path. This is often achievable but what happens to those who just can’t quite nail down the monetary side of things? Whilst some entrepreneurs will come from a financial background, for those who don’t, hiring an accountant may become a necessity. Yet how can a business owner make sure the person tasked with crunching the numbers is the ideal fit for their enterprise?

WORDS: TOM DAVIS

Check their credentials

Test their industry knowledge

In an era where job applications come in faster than you can read a CV, SME owners are finding less and less time to do the appropriate background checks on their potential employees. Recent research by software provider Clear Books has revealed that only 8% of small firms check an accountant’s qualifications before hiring them. What makes this even more worrying is that, unlike some professions, the term accountant is not protected by any law. This has some serious implications. “The first thing to remember is that anyone can call themselves an accountant,” says Jessica Jewers, chartered accountant at Ecovis Wingrave Yeats. “It is, however, against the law to refer to yourself as a chartered/certified accountant unless you are one. Selecting an accountant who has qualified through one of the main accountancy bodies will provide you with the necessary assurance about their professional and ethical conduct.”

Jessica Jewers,

chartered accountant, Ecovis Wingrave Yeats

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Katarina Miller,

co-owner and partner, MillerWash Associates

Whether you are in the technology or food industry, as an SME owner it would be impossible to have a successful brand without a good amount of knowledge of your industry. This is no different for the company’s potential accountant: they must be well-versed in the SME sector and should not just be expected to look after the company’s finances but also help the brand to grow as a business. “As an entrepreneur, you have a vast knowledge of the sector you work in and it’s crucial your accountant understands the way your industry works too,” says Katarina Miller, co-owner and partner at MillerWash Associates, the accountancy firm. “This does not necessarily have to be experience gained in a work capacity; it could be through personal interest or a hobby.” Gaining this information is an important part of the interview process. “I would recommend discussing your industry within the interview and maybe drop in a few current-affairs-related questions,” Miller adds.

Diane Brennan,

managing partner, Jackson Stephen

Emily Coltman, chief accountant, FreeAgent

Sarah Hathaway, head of ACCA UK

01/07/2014 21:55

Trust them with your life When looking at hiring employees, it is important to remember that, despite analysing them objectively, they are also humans, and being able to trust your accountant is imperative. “For many businesses, the relationship with the accountant is the lynchpin of the company not least because the focus is retention of company and personal wealth. This means trust is probably the most important factor when choosing an accountant,” says Diane Brennan, managing partner at Jackson Stephen, the accountancy and advisory firm. “With trust, a working relationship can flourish, often to the benefit of the business and its employees, which can then increase loyalty between the parties.” And this trust is extremely important in regards to the information you will share with your accountant. “Remember that you are going to give your accountant a lot of crucial and confidential information about your business, so listen to your gut instinct and make sure that you can trust them,” adds Emily Coltman, chief accountant at FreeAgent, the accounting software provider.

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In it for the long haul? As an SME, it is almost certain that your company will grow and change at a rapid rate, and having an accountant who is willing to adapt with the brand is a must. “Any business with serious growth potential needs a person who can adapt quickly to their changing management accounting needs and ideally be able to build and manage a professional finance function,” says Sarah Hathaway, head of ACCA UK. “Business growth is never even and rarely goes according to plan, so it’s vital to have the right skills in place early.” Having a bond with an accountant who is willing to grow with the company will undoubtedly assist in building a long-term trustworthy relationship that will help your brand to thrive.

Trust is probably the most important factor when choosing an accountant

Drop the fancy lingo Being able to communicate clearly with your accountant is essential so there is no space for flowery language and technical jargon. To fully cooperate and work with their accountant, SME owners must be able to understand the number cruncher to avoid any potential misunderstandings. “Accountants who use a lot of technical jargon and leave you feeling confused will not help you make the right decisions,” says Jewers. “An adviser should be able to articulate their thoughts in a clear and precise manner.” But don’t panic: this is something that will become clear to you during the interview process. A few questions to prompt their accountancy knowledge will soon show whether they are able to communicate to a level that you are comfortable with. Remember that an accountant is your partner; if you find someone with whom you can have a flowing conversation about your brand, then the potential for growth is huge.

Diane Brennan, Jackson Stephen

01/07/2014 21:55

FINANCE

Every little helps With the government’s much-lauded Employment Allowance now three months old, Clive Lewis, head of enterprise at ICAEW, offers a gentle reminder of its worth to small businesses

businessadviceservice.com

t’s now been three months since the introduction of the Employment Allowance, which allows businesses, charities and community amateur sports clubs to save up to £2,000 on National Insurance Contributions (NIC) per year. Here at the ICAEW, we are urging all of those who are eligible to take advantage of the new allowance, especially small businesses. SMEs stand to make significant savings now the Employment Allowance has been rolled out fully. For example, if a small business hired ten individuals between the age of 18 and 20, four adults on the minimum wage or a single adult on £22,000 per annum, it would be able to do so without having to pay any employer’s NIC. As a result, it is anticipated that the implementation of the Employment Allowance shall relieve 450,000 businesses or charities of their requirement to pay NIC where they may have had to previously. The system is easy to implement and the process of claiming is simple for all organisations. For instance, merely ticking the ‘yes’ box through either payroll software or HMRC’s Basic PAYE Tools will qualify you to take away the £2,000 from your monthly or weekly contributions. This continues until the full allowance for 2014/15 tax year has been used up, at which point the

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The Employment Allowance offers significant cost savings to small firms

Employment Allowance then continues to roll on automatically on an annual basis. Although the introduction of the new Employment Allowance should save small businesses money, it does not allow multiple firms that are a part of the same large group or structure to claim the allowance. Only one firm within each structure can claim it and the same applies to firms that run multiple PAYE schemes, as they can only claim against one of their schemes. However, should it transpire that not all of the £2,000 allowance has been claimed, the company can then claim the remainder against a secondary PAYE scheme. To check if this is the case, HMRC’s online portal allows you to see how much of the allowance has been claimed at any time, by going to the ‘View PAYE and liabilities’ section. While the Employment Allowance is open to most businesses, there are some exceptions. These include employing someone for personal, household or domestic work, such as a nanny, au pair, chauffeur, gardener or care support worker. The allowance should, in theory, be easy for businesses to implement, as the entire allowance can be claimed up front as opposed to being presented as a monthly reduction. This should particularly make it easier for smaller businesses to take the new allowance on board and help encourage them to recruit more staff. But you must register in order to be eligible, so ensuring that both businesses and charities are aware of this is vital. HMRC has produced a six-page guide giving detailed information about exactly which businesses and charities may or may not apply for the allowance. It can be found on the HMRC website. At the end of the day, every little helps when you’re a start-up, so you can ill-afford not to be taking advantage of support like this.

01/07/2014 21:56

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01/07/2014 20:12

SALES & MARKETING

Analyse this

WORDS: JOSH RUSSELL

or cash-strapped start-ups, making every penny count is absolutely vital. Nowhere is this more of a concern than in your marketing budget, where poorly thought-out campaigns can be akin to throwing your money down a wishing well. Because of this, using metrics to keep an eye Knowing how to target and optimise your marketing spend on how your spend is influencing customer journeys is an essential marketing discipline with metrics and analytics isn’t always easy for the beginner but, for the uninitiated, getting one’s head but here are some tips and tricks to get you started around the world of analytics and testing isn’t the easiest learning curve. Certainly keeping an eye on whether they’re making the best use of their cash is an essential discipline for any enterprise. “Making sure that every last scrap of your marketing budget is put to good use is vital for a start-up,” says Bhavesh Vaghela, chief marketing officer of ResponseTap, the call tracking and analytics company. However, this doesn’t always mean it’s easy to get a clear picture of whether a company is getting value for money. “For companies that want to measure how their marketing investment is delivering a return, it can be challenging to get that insight,” says Richard Neale, EMEA marketing director at Birst, the business intelligence service provider. Analysing the effectiveness of an enterprise’s marketing spend will always depend on the objectives that it is trying to achieve. Chaz Brooks, creative director and co-founder of Chaz Brooks Communications, the PR and marketing agency, says that these goals may centre around things such as speeding up or lowering the cost of acquiring new customers and increasing market share. “You need to know which customers are your most valuable, what it costs to get a new customer, the time it takes from suspect to client and your share of the market so that you can benchmark your performance,” he says. Almost invariably, the place to start is ensuring you’ve built up an accurate picture of who you are trying to actually reach. “It may seem obvious, yet so many marketers still fail to hit the right demographics,” comments Ted Prince, senior vice president of information services and corporate development at Neustar, the real-time information and analytics provider. Bhavesh Vaghela, ResponseTap

Making sure that every last scrap of your marketing budget is put to good use is vital for a start-up

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01/07/2014 20:13

SALES & MARKETING

“It should absolutely be the first item in any good marketing plan: home in on your target through proper demographic and behavioural segmentation and then allow the marketer to understand what specific channels are most effective for reaching that target.” Because of this, before one even puts a campaign in motion, it’s important to conduct proper market research. “Getting to know what your target demographic likes and dislikes is crucial to creating a successful marketing campaign,” explains Jennifer Allen, client liaison coordinator at Amber Arch, the mystery shopping company. She recommends marketers conduct various forms of research, from exit polls and customer surveys to focus groups, to really get to grips with whom they’re actually courting with their marketing efforts. Ensuring a campaign is properly targeted before putting any money down is a good start but, once it’s in progress, there’s still plenty more marketing publication tracking to be done. Ad Age that revealed Fortunately, we’re living almost a third of digital in a world where almost marketers were using every tool we use first- or last-click provides reams of data attribution cookies to for our perusal, from track consumers’ passage CRMs to e-commerce from ad to purchase, platforms. “Google potentially missing a Analytics and email much more nuanced campaign software story. “Although still Jennifer Allen, Amber Arch like Mail Chimp or a useful measure, a Campaign Monitor can last-touch attribution do a lot of the hard work for you in measuring system gives full credit to the last digital ad a consumer sees for making the sale and this isn’t the impact of your marketing activities against enough to tell the full story,” Prince explains. your chosen benchmarks,” says Brooks. Of course, tracking online spend is all well However, it’s important marketers ensure and good but it’s a wide world out there and they’re getting the full picture by integrating and utilising all of the metrics at their disposal. only a proportion of advertising takes place on the web. Increasing oversight of offline “Data can be held in the sales and customer relationship management apps but how often is investments is also vital. “We know the customer’s journey is not purely online so this linked up to web analytics or marketing we need to incorporate a broader set of data automation information?” says Neale. that allows us to understand what drives the “Without getting the overall picture, it can be offline activity as well,” comments Vaghela. difficult to get the right metrics in place to “It is only then that the analytics we have can justify further investments.” be turned into insights that help us improve An enterprise also needs to make sure it’s the experience we give our customers.” using the most appropriate metrics. In 2013, Including both online and offline is an Neustar conducted a piece of research with the

Getting to know what your target demographic likes and dislikes is crucial to creating a successful marketing campaign

(L)Analyse this.indd 2

essential part of understanding the full journey that consumers are taking. “[Enterprises] need to ensure that the display ad reached the right consumer and to be able to measure how it affected that consumer’s offline behaviour,” Prince says. A marketing model that utilises offline data helps show which channels are having the most significant impact and reveals the myriad factors that are helping influence customers’ purchasing decisions. But there’s another factor marketers can’t ignore when ensuring the best bang for their buck. While tracking can ensure you are spending smart when bringing in the customers, ensuring you retain them is just as vital a part of optimising your marketing activities. “Awareness of customer service becomes an essential requirement for marketers,” comments Neale. “Measuring how customers are responding to your service and their happiness is therefore just as essential as the number of new leads that you are creating.” It’s true that keeping track of marketing isn’t the simplest endeavour. “As digital marketing grows in importance, the consumer’s journey to a purchase is not as simple and direct as it used to be,” says Prince. However, this is no excuse not to keep a close rein on your investment.

01/07/2014 21:57

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01/07/2014 20:16

SALES & MARKETING

Literal thinking

For some entrepreneurs, writing a book may be something to consider once they’ve made it. But writing about start-up life needn’t be the preserve of the retired

John Fisher,

managing director, FMI Group

Jane Sunley, founder

and CEO, Purple Cubed

Mindy GibbinsKlein, managing

director, Panoma Press

Literal thinking.indd 1

WORDS: ADAM PESCOD

rofile-raising is undoubtedly one of the key activities for a start-up when it’s looking to take its first steps towards greatness. Whilst social media has enabled many small businesses to get their name out there for a comparatively low expense, a hefty investment in marketing and PR will eventually become a necessary evil for the more ambitious of enterprises. Whether it’s acquiring the services of an established PR agency or going all out for the best-looking website, cash will need to be splashed. However, there is another avenue available to entrepreneurs. It’s worth considering that the numerous business books released over the years were not written solely for the benefit of the reader. In itself, book-writing is arguably one of the canniest ways that a business owner can raise the profile and credibility of both themselves and their enterprise at any stage of their journey. “It’s a noisy world out there; just about every industry is crowded,” says Mindy Gibbins-Klein, managing director of Panoma Press, the publishing company. “Everybody has got websites, everybody is on social media and everybody is blogging. It’s very hard to stand out. But without spending more money on sales and marketing, you can actually raise your profile in a very solid way.” Gibbins-Klein is also the founder of The Book Midwife, a coaching service for businesspeople who are keen to get themselves published. She is of the belief that inexperience or inability needn’t hinder an entrepreneur’s ambition and effort to get their name onto bookshelves and the Amazon top-sellers list. Nevertheless, she says it’s essential for entrepreneurs to pick a topic that they’re comfortable writing about and which is also both relevant and

01/07/2014 21:57

SALES & MARKETING

You do need to have a very strong concept and understanding of what your book is about Mindy Gibbins-Klein, Panoma Press

Literal thinking.indd 2

marketable. “You do need to have a very strong concept and understanding of what your book is about: where it adds value, who is going to benefit from it and who the readers are,” she adds. “And the publisher, if they’re investing, has to see that there’s a decent market. They have to know how and where they’re going to sell books and how many. They also want to see that you understand your market.” Of course, most entrepreneurs will tell you that building a business is a time-sapping affair. But whilst this may discourage business owners from making their book-writing dream a reality, a publisher will generally assist in making it more manageable than it otherwise would be. “Time is an entrepreneur’s most precious commodity and they should be spending it on their core business – not trying to figure out ISBNs, layouts and how Amazon works,” says Gibbins-Klein. “If you are are self-publishing and not working with a publishing company that is doing everything for you – getting your books into shops, representing you internationally and launching you properly to the media – you have either got to do all of those things yourself or you’re going to miss out.” Technology has also made things a lot easier for time-poor entrepreneur-cum-authors. “The great thing about tablets and iPads is that you can write on the go,” says John Fisher, managing director of FMI Group, the brand engagement agency, and the author of five books. “In the old days you had to be in an office at a computer but it’s a lot easier now because every time you have a bit of downtime, wherever you are, you can still be getting on with your book.” Fisher wrote his first book, How to Run Successful Incentive Schemes, prior to establishing the FMI Group when he was working as marketing director for an insurance firm. “I was running incentive programmes for a large salesforce and doing that for two years meant I collected a lot of information about best practice,” he explains. “I then realised I possibly had enough for a book and I had in fact gone and looked in book shops only to find out there wasn’t anything about how to construct sales incentives.” He successfully pitched the idea for the book to Kogan Page and it has been reprinted three times in the space of fifteen years at home and abroad. It has also been endorsed by the Institute of Directors and listed in The Sunday Times Book Club. Fisher has gone on to be regarded as a trusted and credible business writer by Kogan Page, which released his fifth book, Strategic Brand Engagement, in November 2013.

01/07/2014 21:59

SALES & MARKETING

Why print isn’t dead

Mindy Gibbins-Klein, managing director, Panoma Press A lot of people think they’ll just do an ebook because it seems faster, cheaper and easier. Whilst it is easier to publish an ebook, it’s not faster to write. It may be cheaper in the sense that you don’t have to print books but you don’t get the ROI. If the reader were to think about an ebook versus a print book, they’d be more impressed with the print book. I ask this question everywhere I go and every time I speak. Everyone agrees that the real credibility builder is the book in print and then they laugh at themselves for even thinking that they’re just going to do an ebook. It’s not the same at all. 56

Fisher is eager to stress that penning a book brings no guarantee of success, adding that due consideration must be given to demand before one jumps into something that will entail a hefty time investment. “If you’re going to pitch something to a publisher, you need to realise that the book is going to be 50,000-75,000 words long so you need to spend time writing out a synopsis to see if there’s enough meat in your topic,” he says. “It has to be quite broad and it has to appeal to lots of different types of businesses, otherwise you’ll end up with 10,000 words, which just isn’t enough for a book.” There’s certainly no substitute for seeking advice and feedback beforehand, something that Jane Sunley, Jane Sunley, Purple Cubed founder and CEO of Purple Cubed, the people and performance specialists, attests to. “It would be awful to spend hours and hours writing a book only for people to read it and think ‘that’s a really bad book – why would you bother?’” she comments. “You will need to speak to a few people about whether it would really be of interest.” Sunley has had two books published thus far, the first of which – Purple your People: the secrets to inspired, happy, more profitable people – marked the ten-year anniversary of her company’s foundation. Whilst initially intended as a resource for Purple Cubed’s employees and clients, Sunley was convinced to seek a publisher for the book and duly found one in the shape of Crimson Business. The warm reception that greeted her first book led to the publication, in January 2014, of Sunley’s second title – It’s Never OK to Kiss the Interviewer… and other secrets to thriving, surviving and high-fiving in work – this time through Lid Publishing. It reached number nine in WH Smith’s best-selling business books and Sunley was asked to write a chapter in 20/20: 20 great lists from 20 outstanding business thinkers, released by Lid to mark its own 20th anniversary. As far as Sunley is concerned, the personal and commercial benefits that her books have brought her have been matched by a notably positive impact on her workforce. “It’s really good for the team to work in a company where either the owner has written or co-written a book,” she

Some people do very well and sell 50,000 but that’s pretty unusual for a business book

Literal thinking.indd 3

says. “People want to know that where they’re working has an identity or a purpose.” Sunley believes there’s no point writing books unless you’re going to sell some. “There’s got to be an end result just otherwise it’s not worthwhile doing it,” she says. However, she adds that it would be naïve indeed for an entrepreneur to expect a book to significantly benefit their bank balance. “Some people do very well and sell 50,000 but that’s pretty unusual for a business book,” Sunley explains. “You really shouldn’t go into things thinking you are going to put your feet up and be able to buy an island unless you’re going to write a bestselling novel.” Gibbins-Klein put things in more perspective. “The average entrepreneur probably buys five to ten business books every year,” she says. “If they’re only going to buy ten books and you are competing with thousands to be one of those ten that somebody buys, you’ve got to be a bit realistic with the figures. Anybody in my industry gets excited if a book is going to sell 10,000 copies.” More often than not, it’s a less direct form of financial impact that can make all the difference. “The real return will come when somebody understands what you have to offer, understands the value, and is willing to spend money with you because you packaged it up in a hard-hitting, thought-leading business book,” Gibbins-Klein adds. “If there’s one piece of business that’s worth £10,000 and you get that deal because of the book – and that happens again and again – that’s where the ROI comes from.”

01/07/2014 21:59

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SALES & MARKETING

Getting graphic

WORDS: JOSH RUSSELL Getting graphic.indd 1

nfographics – in which data, statistics and information are visualised – have become an increasingly common sight in the last five years, particularly in content marketing circles. Some recent research from the Content Marketing Institute demonstrated that the proportion of content marketers using infographics has leapt to 51% compared to just 38% last year. Evidently there is a huge appeal to infographics but what is it that makes them such a great technique for drawing in consumers? In part the public’s appetite for infographics might be a reaction to our information-saturated age. With the vast proliferation of content available to consumers, it’s important to be able to summarise data trends in the most immediate and palatable way possible. “Instead of just having tonnes and tonnes of words on a page, you can make something visual very easily,” explains Aran Jackson, creative director of JBH, the content marketing agency. “It’s about consolidating a lot of information down into a small visual.” There are two main reasons why an enterprise might make use of an infographic. “There’s one which is the company communication, which says that they’re doing a report or they’re doing findings on their finances for the year,” Jackson says. “Then you’ve got the viral, content side of things: you’re chatting about things that people find interesting.” It is the latter of these which lends itself so well to an enterprise’s content marketing strategy. “For me, as a marketer, infographics work well because you don’t have to read an awful lot of information to get a flavour of the company or their product or whatever it is that they’re trying to get over to you,” explains Jane Hunt, the company’s director of strategy. This means like other examples of content marketing, they can be useful to engage consumers in a dialogue without forcing a sales message down their throat. The key is identifying things that a company’s consumer base may be interested in and presenting information that will be useful or provide insight to them, even if it doesn’t connect directly to the enterprise’s service or products. “Companies can almost talk about something

The increasing use of infographics is selfevident but why are they such effective tools for boosting the profile of your brand?

01/07/2014 22:00

SALES & MARKETING

2013

12%

38%

Increase in traffic for publishers that use infographics

2014

51%

Proportion of content marketers using infographics

90% 2011 of the information transmitted to the brain is visual

that’s only tangential to their company,” says Jackson. An example he provides is if a company identifies a high proportion of parents in its consumer base, a useful way to engage them might be to serve an infographic on saving money or making food last longer. Whilst visually presenting this information can prove to be an enticing piece of native content on one’s own site, it’s important to remember that, more than any piece of written content, visualised information like an infographic can prove to be highly viral. “Journalists, bloggers or other companies find them easy to share,” says Andy Blason, JBH’s digital director. “They are just bite-sized pieces of information that are thought-provoking and engaging. That’s why they get shared so much.” This is one reason that companies tend to avoid explicit branding on their infographics – the more heavily a company brands a piece of

Getting graphic.indd 2

2012

2013

2014

Increase in Google searches for ‘infographic’

their content, the more likely the consumer is information onto one screen,” says Jackson. to view them as an ad in disguise. Whilst some Additionally, once you take infographics soft branding telling the end consumer who away from simply being a static image and put the infographic together is okay, the more toward a coded and interactive piece of explicit this becomes, the bigger a turnoff this content, it also has huge ramifications for is likely to be. “There’s no need to really brand social sharing. “It means that the user can them,” Hunt comments. “They can be about share across their own social networks or the content and the design can reflect that, across Twitter,” says Blason. “We can even rather than having to strip that down to apply hashtags to certain pages, which be within strict brand guidelines.” means again the content’s getting Infographics have definitely out further and further.” become a well-established But before an enterprise part of the content goes overboard with the marketing toolkit but this infographics, the JBH doesn’t mean that they team are quick to stress have stopped evolving that relying only on as a medium. There is one kind of content will increasing demand in never help you cover the content marketing all bases. “Mix it up so space for interactive people don’t get used to infographics, which allows you only producing certain Aran Jackson, JBH users to interact with the data types of content,” Blason in front of them. “Interactive recommends. “The more you infographics have a more enhanced engage and surprise the reader, the level of engagement for the user, with the user or the listener, the more that they will ability to code them and use certain scripts buy into your brand.” and web languages to make them punch even Whatever kind of content you use, it needs to harder,” says Blason. be led by the purpose you are trying to fulfil. There are several key benefits to making “Different types of content achieve different infographics interactive. Not only does the types of objectives: that’s really important,” ability to directly interact with the content Hunt comments. “It’s the objective that really naturally increase the user’s engagement but it needs to be considered first, not the format of allows both the maker and the sites that embed the content.” She refers to a client of theirs that them to summarise a great deal information wanted to boost its search marketing efforts than they could with a still graphic. “Rather for specific keywords, which lent itself well to than going to lots and lots of different websites an interactive infographic. “The more specific and reading reams and reams of articles, these you can be with the objective, the better the infographics allow you to consolidate a lot of content and the better the outcome.”

It’s about consolidating a lot of information down into a small visual

01/07/2014 22:00

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PEOPLE

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01/07/2014 22:01

PEOPLE

University challenge Given the huge number of enterprises started whilst the founders are at university, what is it that makes it such a fertile ground for start-ups?

WORDS: JOSH RUSSELL

tories of enterprises emerging from academic environments abound. Long before The Social Network elevated college start-ups to Hollywood cliche, universities were renowned for churning out world-famous start-ups. Beyond the Facebooks, Googles and WordPresses of recent times, plenty of long established corporations like Dell, Microsoft and FedEx started on campus. But what makes universities so effective at nurturing entrepreneurial talent? In part, the accessibility of information means new ideas occur much more readily. “As the students are gaining the theoretical and conceptual knowledge, they’re starting to attach the knowledge to their own ideas,” explains John Howell, associate dean at Kaplan Holborn College, a college dedicated to business, accountancy, finance, economics and law. As students encounter new knowledge, they will often locate potential applications for it and find ways that it can be put to use. “They thrive on that opportunity to take an idea and say ‘what can I do with it?’” Howell adds. “‘How am I going to then be able to make something of that when I start to set things John Howell, Kaplan up myself?’” Holborn College Additionally, few ideas on a campus are created in isolation. Whilst getting feedback on your hot new business concept can be tricky when you’re working in your garage,

University Challenge.indd 2

academic life comes packaged with significant levels of peer feedback. “That is very conducive to a creative atmosphere for the students, where they start to bounce ideas off each other,” Howell says. “And that can then help you to understand more about the possibilities and the opportunities that you might want to explore.” There are certainly ways universities can support and facilitate these exchanges. An example is a programme run at Kaplan Holborn called the Investment Club which supports budding entrepreneurs in approaching business ideas critically. “They pitch ideas, they talk about where they would invest money based on their ideas of what’s going to sell and what the big up-and-coming trends are,” Howell explains. It is true that there are considerable concerns about whether education is providing enough in the way of entrepreneurial skills, with some advising that the best way to learn about business is to enter the world of work. But it is true that this might not encourage the critical thinking required to build a truly disruptive start-up. “It’s actually nice for students to criticise and really evaluate the potential of ideas,” says Howell. “You wouldn’t get that working in a business where you don’t like to criticise the way things are run.” And rather than encouraging them to follow a model set up by their predecessor, this allows students to learn some of the mindset required to build a new generation of business. “In terms of how they might see a business surviving, thriving or actually leading, with those three elements in mind, they are actually quite critical,” says Howell. As you can see, the academic environment can definitely contribute to building a thriving start-up. But why take our word for it? We spoke to three university start-ups about how forming a business on campus helped them.

As the students are gaining the theoretical and conceptual knowledge, they’re starting to attach the knowledge to their own ideas

01/07/2014 22:01

PEOPLE

BBOXX

nideo

Minimal Media

The initial spark behind BBOXX, the company bringing solar power to the developing world, came from an offhand comment CEO and co-founder Mansoor Hamayun made one evening over dinner, when he remarked that half the world didn’t have access to electricity. This encouraged Hamayun, along with his cofounders and fellow electronic and electrical engineering students, Christopher Baker-Brian and Laurent Van Houcke, to look into if they could crack the problem. Whilst the concept didn’t come directly from their course itself, their studies definitely influenced its subsequent success. “The things we learnt at university meant that we already had the capabilities to design and build our own products,” Hamayun explains. The team began working on projects in Rwanda: by the time they had graduated, the students had brought power to 600 homes and raised $300,000. “By the end of it we were being approached by so many people across the world asking ‘can you do this for us?’” Hamayun believes that in part what makes university such a fertile ground for start-ups is a blend of the resources at your disposal and the ability to experiment and try new things. “We were surrounded by like-minded people who understood our vision and wanted to help; even our lecturers were supportive in what we were doing,” he says. “The environment of university provides the chance to learn and also the freedom to be different and start something new.” There’s no doubt that BBOXX wouldn’t have been the same success had it not been for its fledgling years at Imperial College. “Starting our business at university opened up many opportunities for funding and marketing that would not have been likely to come our way if we hadn’t,” Hamayun says. “If I had to start BBOXX all over again then I would still begin it at university.”

In its first incarnation, nideo, the professional video platform, was very much the product of the university environment. “Our first project [was] a video production company that we developed using the free resources available at university,” says Roy Kimani, co-founder and CEO. “Often, the companies we worked for used YouTube by default but were frustrated with some of its more unprofessional aspects.” This helped Kimani and his co-founder James Hakesly see the need for a more professional platform, leading them to found nideo. Having attended an arts-focused institution, there wasn’t a great deal of commercial training involved in either of the founders’ degrees. “When it came to business or anything entrepreneurial, there was very little, if any, support,” Kimani explains. However, he believes this can actually be instrumental in encouraging potential entrepreneurs to look to forge their own path. “It is out of this frustration and the need to be resourceful in order to attain a level of independence that drives most university students to start their own enterprise.” But the fact that one has spare time and few commitments means that taking a gamble on a start-up can place less pressure on founders still looking to find their feet. “It is the perfect time to learn from your mistakes without any significant consequences,” Kimani comments. And this freedom can have a strong, knock-on effect on an enterprise’s eventual success. “The university environment gives you the opportunity to experiment, which is key to developing a strong foundation for any idea.” Certainly forming during university has had a pronounced effect on the DNA of nideo. “We still maintain the agile approach to working we had whilst at university,” says Kimani. “Our willingness to innovate and determination to succeed both come from our beginnings as a university start-up.”

Graham Cooper and his Minimal Media cofounders Alan Whitfield and Hollie Harmsworth first came together to work on their final project: making a short film. The concept for their production company Minimal Media emerged very naturally from this relationship. “The idea for our business was a natural step from the course we were on,” Cooper explains. “We wanted to provide high quality films to everyone and try to steer away from the usual corporate look that most film companies offer.” Being steeped in such a rich creative environment meant that bringing together a talented team was far easier than it would have been if Minimal Media had started up in a more commercial environment. “You can tell who the hard workers are, who has an actual passion for that industry and the drive to really do well in their career,” says Cooper. “Our different skills and knowledge fitted perfectly together, meaning that as a team we could produce fantastic products.” Transitioning from university to running one’s own enterprise might seem like a pretty severe gear change. “We began setting up as we were coming to the end of the degree so we pretty much went from students to business partners straight away,” says Cooper. In some ways, however, this benefitted the start-up as they were able to keep the momentum they’d built up whilst working together. “Having a long break will make it much harder to get the motivation to set up,” Cooper adds. However, the fact that they’d had such a strong support network meant making the change comparatively easy. “We had great support from the [Careers Centre] and Go Wales teams at Glyndwr who helped us get some of our earliest jobs as a company,” Cooper explains. “It was also helpful that we had recently worked on a project together, so we had grown to understand how each other works and that really helped the transition.”

Mansoor Hamayun Imperial College

University Challenge.indd 3

Roy Kimani University for the Creative Arts

Graham Cooper Glyndwr University

01/07/2014 22:01

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02/05/2014 15:54 00:53 22/04/2014

PEOPLE

Whether outsourcing or keeping it in-house, failing to treat training and L&D as a means to an end can prove costly for an SME

No train, no gain.indd 1

A WORDS: ADAM PESCOD

No train no gain

rguably the most memorable episode from Ricky Gervais’s hit BBC comedy The Office is ‘Training Day’. Who can possibly forget David Brent’s guitar-led intervention as Rowan the trainer attempts to offer some valuable lessons on customer service? Unfortunately, some would suggest that Gervais’s take on training is a fair reflection of many employees’ attitudes. Workers can often be left wondering whether a training session actually merits the time away from the desk or if it just provided a suitably welcome break from all the number-crunching. What’s more, as far as start-ups are concerned, when and where does one begin when it comes to building up the skills and competencies of a small and growing workforce? Moreover, how can an investment in training and L&D be justified at a time when every single penny counts? Yet with technology advancing at a rate of knots and the race for talent more competitive than ever, the need for sophisticated training and learning & development (L&D) functions has hardly been greater. “The first thing to consider is that learning and development doesn’t always have to mean training,” says Ruth Stuart, learning and

01/07/2014 22:02

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development research adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). “Training can be associated with quite large expenditure, whereas there’s a whole range of L&D activities that can be quite low cost to implement.” Stuart goes on to explain that technology is helping drive a new wave of L&D activities, which, for start-ups, can prove invaluable. “What we are seeing at the moment is the rise of what we call social and collaborative learning,” she adds. “People are starting to use things like social media or other internal networks to share and comment on content. By doing so, they are able to develop. Sometimes it pays to think more creatively about what learning and development actually is.” Undoubtedly, one of the key considerations for a small business when it comes to tackling training and L&D is whether to deliver it in-house or employ the services of an external specialist. The CIPD’s report suggests that internal techniques are still proving a popular option across the board. However, it

The Crunch Academy Crunch Accounting, the online accountancy start-up, has grown rapidly since its launch in 2007, owing largely to its success in disrupting an age-old industry. And the recent launch of Crunch Academy – which will see the company’s training and key accounting qualifications delivered in-house – could see Crunch stealing a further march on the competition. Laura Hughes, training manager at Crunch Accounting, says the significant expansion of the firm’s workforce made the opening of the academy nothing sort of a necessity. “We used to outsource to local colleges but because we have now got so many more staff, it’s too costly to have lots of people out at the same time,” she explains. “We can now be flexible with the delivery and do a couple of hours of training every day if necessary in order to reduce the amount of time that each person is away from their desk.” Needless to say, Crunch is already seeing the benefits of not having to do business according to an academic calendar. “Productivity is higher

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also reveals that smaller firms in particular have more of a tendency towards external coaching and conferences, workshops and events. Indeed, they are less likely than larger organisations to include in-house development programmes (25% vs 53%) or on-the-job training (44% vs 53%) among their most common L&D methods. According to Stuart, this preference of smaller enterprises to seek external help can be explained by a couple of factors. “Sometimes it might be because the organisation hasn’t reached a particular size where it needs a dedicated learning function,” she says. “There’s also perhaps a sense that the organisation might not feel it has got the capability and skills itself to deliver that learning function.” This is by no means to discount the value of internal training and L&D provisions for start-ups, many of whom do steer clear of outsourcing from the outset, or complement it with an in-house offering. “It can be beneficial because you have people who really understand the culture and values of the organisation –

than when we outsourced to colleges because they worked on a 39-week academic year whereas we can increase the number of hours per week that they study and get the syllabus covered far quicker,” Hughes says. “We are also giving them hands-on experience to complement that training, which helps speed the process along, and means we can tailor the training to what fits with our business.” Hughes adds that the academy will go on to offer customer service training for Crunch’s account managers as well as additional qualifications for people in all parts of the business. “For us, this has been put in place to support the growth plans of the business,” she says. “We firmly believe that by training from a grass-roots level, you get the best out of your staff and that, ultimately, will work out better for our clients as well.”

Business doesn’t stop evolving, so neither should learning Penny de Valk, Penna

Laura Hughes, training manager, Crunch Accounting

We firmly believe that by training from a grass-roots level, you get the best out of your staff

01/07/2014 22:03

PEOPLE

which is obviously really important to a startup, says Stuart. “Having internal learning and development professionals can also really help in terms of providing some credibility.” It goes without saying that whatever approach a start-up chooses, the decision must take the needs of the business into account. “The key is asking yourself ‘what’s the outcome for this specific piece of training or development?’” says Karen Meager, managing director of Monkey Puzzle Training. “There is no one formula that works for every industry and every business.” A large part of this process is nailing down what ‘success’ actually looks like. The last thing a start-up wants is to invest its precious time and money in a well-intentioned training or L&D programme only to see next to no returns from it. “Setting benchmarks for success and communicating this with all relevant parties is important to prevent L&D becoming a wasted exercise,” says Penny de Valk, managing

No train, no gain.indd 3

The first thing to consider is that learning and development doesn’t always have to mean training Ruth Stuart, CIPD

director of talent practice at Penna, the HR services provider. “Being able to come out of an L&D programme and say ‘as a result we’ve seen an increase in productivity and efficiency, our customers are happier and they are sharing positive feedback’ confirms to all parties that it added value to the business.” The CIPD’s report highlights that more businesses are starting to realise the importance of assessing the impact of L&D initiatives. Moreover, the proportion of businesses encountering difficulties when it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of their L&D output has dropped to 60% – from 76% last year. Stuart believes this is because businesses are beginning to appreciate that financial outcomes are a fairly unrealistic way of measuring L&D success. “Something that is starting to be talked about within the L&D community is this idea of return on expectation rather than return on investment,” she says. “It’s having quite a lot of resonance with people because whilst something like return on investment is a really important metric, people do find it really difficult to measure. Sometimes it can be quite hard to make a direct link between a learning initiative and what the outcome is in terms of sales, profit or other business performance metrics. With return on expectation, you can then guarantee you’re hitting the needs of the business.” Without a doubt, training and L&D is something that any business should be thinking about from the very start – and that should be delivered to employees at every level of an organisation. “Some businesses may be guilty of focusing their L&D investment on new recruits in order to get them up to speed with the business quickly,” says de Valk. “But it’s important that everyone – right up to the board – is regularly challenged to learn more and stay market relevant. Business doesn’t stop evolving, so neither should learning.”

01/07/2014 22:03

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PEOPLE

Short and sweet

Interim workers are often a more attractive option for SMEs than employing full-time staff. Lyndsey Simpson, co-founder of The Curve Group, reveals how to get more bang for your buck from a short-term hire

ver the last six months I have been focusing exclusively on talent as a subset of HR and more specifically, the trouble with talent. I am now broadening out to the wider realms of HR, uncovering common problems and sharing solutions on all the people-related issues in one’s business. This month, I am lifting the lid on interim workers: what they are, why to use one and, more importantly, how to make the most of the expense involved. For the purposes of simplicity, I am going to use the word interims throughout this piece. You may call them contractors, experienced temporary resource or freelancers but what I am referring to is a senior professional employed on a nonpermanent basis, usually on a short-term contract or for a specific project. They are often responsible for managing a period of transition, absence, crisis or change within an organisation but, for SMEs, they can often be used to plug the knowledge or experience gaps in your permanent team. Typically, interim workers cost a fair amount more than their permanent counterparts and can often come with lots of different regulations that, as an employer, you need to be aware of. These include,

(L)Short and sweet.indd 1

among others, agency worker regulations, IR35-friendly contracts and opt-out agreements. As such, many employers shy away from utilising the expertise of interims and instead make longer term investments in the form of permanent employees. However, in the modern economic climate, it makes sense to have a proportion of your workforce – and thus cost base – on a flexible basis to adjust up and down as your business demands. It is also often a comfort to employers to know they’re getting the top talent the market has to offer without having to worry about training them to hit the ground running or developing and securing them for the future.

The best way to make the most of an interim employee is to let them make a lasting impression

As I’ve already alluded to, there can be a lot to think about when considering taking on an interim employee, particularly if you’re an SME and this is the first time you’ve considered the short-term employment option. Nevertheless, regardless of a company’s size, the benefits of using interim employment solutions almost always outweigh the costs – both financially and logistically. An interim candidate should be an expert in their field but they can also bring a lot more to the table. They will have experience of running projects and implementing changes in a massive variety of organisations, cultures and environments and can share the best bits of each with you. Their passion and motivation – and the fact they are constantly joining new businesses – means they don’t get bogged down in the office politics or the boredom and lethargy that seems to inevitably get to many long-term employees. Finally, they can typically join your organisation and get to work within a matter of days of accepting a contract offer. However, the overarching benefit and selling point for many is that they’re not forever. If you’ve got short-term projects or gaps or can’t find the right permanent employee, they could be exactly

01/07/2014 22:04

PEOPLE

what you need. And if they don’t fit in or add significant value, you just end their contract. In order to get the best talent, you need to know exactly what you want. This means using an experienced agency that can take away the pain of complying with all of the regulations for you – but you’ll need to make sure you prep your agency with more than just the job specs. “Sharing your company culture, values and way of working is just as important as sharing what qualifications and experience the candidate needs,” says Cindy Knight, who heads up interim and contractor recruitment at The Curve Group. “That way we can find more than just the perfect interim – we can find the perfect person for the organisation.” Just as an agency can help you find the best talent, there’s no harm in utilising one to select it either. All too often, businesses decide

(L)Short and sweet.indd 2

upon an interim candidate by seeing who is available first or who’s the cheapest. This isn’t the best tactic. It’s better to forget what they were paid before, pay them what you think they are worth and let your agency make recommendations on how to select the best. To ensure you’re making the most of these short-term candidates, it’s imperative that they know every single detail of the job they are being asked to do. By preparing an in-depth delivery brief that defines the deliverables and desired outcomes, you can ensure maximum effort from the get-go. A good interim will be used to receiving this type of information prior to start and they will probably relish turning up on day one feeling well informed. Additionally, it helps to find ways of saving ‘paid’ time by sorting logistics ahead of time, such as setting up

email accounts and preparing lists of key stakeholders, meetings and structure charts. After a quick HR introduction, they will then be ready to get to work. The best way to make the most of an interim employee is to let them make a lasting impression. A great way to guarantee this is through knowledge transfer; making sure that other members of the team tap-up the interim whenever they need to, perhaps even assigning a buddy who can observe the way they work and implement changes. As a fresh pair of eyes, interims are also in the best position possible to make changes for the better. They should be encouraged to make suggestions on how things could be improved across the business. Consider what they say and if you think it’s a good idea for your business, go ahead and do it.

01/07/2014 22:04

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01/11/2013 00:48

TECHNOLOGY

WORDS: JOSH RUSSELL

Much as having a high-end phone comes with associated kudos, when you’re bootstrapping it hardly seems worth blowing a year’s worth of noodle money on an iPhone 5s or an HTC One M8. For that reason, alongside our normal collection of great gadgets and digital desirables, we’ve decided to put three of the most recent budget smartphones head-to-head to see which provides the best bang for your limited buck

Lomo’instant The indisputable king of instant photography, the Lomo’instant knocks the dowdy old Polaroid into a cocked hat, packaging SLR flexibility with immediate results. Not only can the camera use interchangeable lenses, it has manual shooting modes, can take unlimited multiple exposures per frame, capture exposures as long as your heart’s desire for night time photography and comes with colour gels for creative snapping. Frankly, Lomo’instant puts Instagram’s feature set to shame, which, for an analogue camera, is one hell of an achievement.

EE Kestrel EE’s first entrant into the smartphone market, the £99 Kestrel is a blend of the sublime and the ridiculous. On the plus side, it has the best screen of any our budget smartphones, coming with a 4.5-inch, 245ppi. But odd design choices rather tar this; the Kestrel’s headphone jack is inexcusably placed on its side, meaning that music fans will be facing a hell of a lot of snagging when taking it in and out of pockets. However, there’s one feature that could ameliorate this frustration – the Kestrel comes with 4G, something you won’t get for a comparable price anywhere else.

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01/07/2014 22:05

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01/07/2014 28/03/2014 20:53 11:56

TECHNOLOGY

Moto E Despite the success of its bigger brother, last year’s £135 budget hit the Moto G, you’d be forgiven for thinking that when a smartphone drops down to just £90 there’d be some pretty major scrimping on features. Not so. The Moto E still comes with a 256ppi, 4.3-inch qHD screen and is solidly built. Perhaps most importantly, given its comparatively modest processor, it now packs an incredibly clean version of KitKat 4.4.3, unadulterated by bloatware or poorly designed user interface overlays. While its camera is rather underwhelming, this is probably the best phone you’ll find for such a small price tag.

iStick

If there’s one thing Apple is notorious for, it’s how rigidly it guards the gates to your device, making it impossible to transfer files without using its proprietary software. That is what makes the iStick so amazing: a flash drive with both USB and Lightning connector, it allows you to move files from your computer to your phone without faffing about in iTunes, stream movies and music live from the drive or completely back up the contents of your phone to your computer. And the most impressive part? It’s 100% Apple-approved.

Nokia Lumia 630 With its luminous colours, the Nokia Lumia 630 is the very definition of cheap and cheerful. But this belies quite how serious a piece of kit it is for its £99 price tag. It comes with a nippy quad-core 1.2GHz processor and has a camera that easily rivals that of the Kestrel. It’s not entirely without flaws though: the Windows Store is still lacking some key items, although this is gradually improving, and it has no front facing camera, meaning that if you really like to pose for your selfies you’ll be better off looking elsewhere.

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01/07/2014 22:05

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TECHNOLOGY

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WORDS: JOE JEFFREY

As consumers and businesses become more concerned with environmental credentials, SMEs can look to technology to help solve their CSR woes

f you’d asked what images the colour green evoked 20 years ago, the answer to the question would have surely have been something along the lines of sheer envy, gushing meadows or fuzzy, felt frogs with eyes made from ping-pong balls – among other things. Fast-forward to 2014 and many would argue the main emphasis would be on something beginning with the letter ‘E’. Promising to omit any future Jim Henson-related references, we’re sure you’ve guessed it; we’re talking about the environment. Protecting the world we live in is a hot topic and has been for years. From issues on El Niño to recycling every last piece of disposable plastic we have in our homes, it’s a big thing – a big business. However, it’s not just big enterprises that are getting in on the act. SMEs are also becoming more and more environmentally conscious, without burning a hole in their pocket as large as the ozone layer – so much so that throughout the period of 2011 to 2012, low carbon and environmental goods services were worth £128bn and employed 938,00 people within the UK. And that figure continues to rise. With government statistics revealing that around 75% of each person’s carbon emissions within the UK comes from products and services, more and more SMEs are jumping on the carbon efficiency bandwagon. And, if you haven’t yet, why not? Without further ado, Elite Business offers you the ultimate guide to going green for business and, of course, the environment, while saving money in the process.

01/07/2014 22:06

TECHNOLOGY

Robert Gorby, Powwownow “Swap meetings for video conferences”

“We believe that by utilising technology, such as web chats, screen sharing and conference calls, businesses can significantly reduce their carbon footprint,” says Robert Gorby, development director at Powwownow. “This is because limiting unnecessary travel will help to reduce a company’s dependency on taxis, cars and trains and therefore the amount of emissions created. In the ultra-competitive business world we currently face, clients and customers are choosing their suppliers on more than just the simple product or service offered. As a result, a ‘green company’ develops a competitive advantage over its rivals and has the potential to be responsible for increased revenue.”

Olly Slator, Gear4DJs

“Work with manufacturers to go green”

PCs and monitors

Switch off your monitor if you’re away from your desk for more than a few minutes. Although it doesn’t sound like you’re doing the environment much of a favour, you are. Oh, and if you’re thinking of running off to that meeting and leaving your PC on, don’t. That’s just lazy.

Lighting

Make the most of natural light. Embrace it; savour the vitamin D seeping through those sunlight-deprived pores – after all, it makes us all happier bunnies. Also, remember to switch off lights when they’re not needed and when you’re the last to leave a room.

Heating and AC

It’s not that we want to shut you away from the world in order to build upon your entrepreneurial empire but keeping doors and windows shut when the AC is on ensures that you don’t waste valuable resources – both energy and cash. On the opposite end of the thermostat, just because you’re cold doesn’t mean everyone else will

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be. So pull out those thermals, woolly jumpers, onesies or anything else you can think of to remain as comfortable as you need to be. Don’t automatically reach for the dial.

Paper

Paper that’s already been used on one side can be re-used for draft documents or note-taking. It can also be re-used in fax machines. We’re not asking you to send out your important correspondence on the back of a used sheet of paper – we’re simply asking you to think before you print. Also, remember to recycle your used paper, cardboard and magazines (except perhaps this one).

Meetings

Run meetings electronically by using conference facilities and share documents online as much as you can. If people have to attend a meeting in person, either travel by public transport or share a car – it’s a lot more environmentally friendly, plus a tad more sociable.

Gear4DJs, a small Brightonbased DJ equipment enterprise, has not only invested in eco-friendly equipment but has also adopted its very own ‘eco commitment’. “Every one of our manufacturers is requested to use the greenest solutions available to them. This could be anything from reducing the size of a shipping box, which results in more boxes being transported in one container, to investing in the most up-to-date LED technology and only working with energy-efficient amplifiers where possible,” says Olly Slator, managing director of Gear4DJs. The firm’s eco commitment doesn’t stop there though. “We would be doing a disservice to both our customers and the manufacturers we work with if we were encouraging people to make their warehouses and workplace practices greener but failing to do the same ourselves,” Slator continues. “We understand that entirely, which is why our headquarters, showroom and trade counter all boast eco-friendly designs. We have installed solar panels across the roofs of all of our buildings, for example, so that our power comes from natural light. Meanwhile, everything in our showroom is illuminated using energy-saving LED lights.”

01/07/2014 22:07

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AME Sight also benefits those with dyslexia by placing guide lines under test making following sentences easier and offer the user the ability of being fully voice controlled. With a fully integrated web browser, users just have to tap what they wish to listen to and it is read aloud to them. With a fully integrated web browser, users just have to tap what they wish to listen to and it is read aloud to them.

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01/07/2014 20:55

TECHNOLOGY

Tech relics

Dan Kirby predicts what tech will soon be consigned to the scrapheap – and how start-ups will benefit from the gadgetry set to replace it

y first job – in 1997 – was as a junior account executive in a graphic design company. In non-marketing speak, this meant that I was the dogsbody. The tasks I had to do were wide and varied but included getting colour prints of our work done for client presentation. The company – a start-up – didn’t have its own highresolution inkjet printer so we had to get prints done at a specialist supplier. The supplier happened to be on the other side of town. As this was the late 1990s, it wasn’t yet possible to email the file, so I did what any good dogsbody would do. I’d get the files on a floppy disk, stick it in my sweaty palm and drive through the thick mid-afternoon traffic. One time, the floppy disk corrupted on the way and I had to make the journey twice. Writing this now, all of the above sounds like a technologically redundant waste of time. But it got me thinking. As the rate of technological change gets faster and faster, which business technologies we use today will look quaint and outdated in the future? Here are my predictions:

CDs & DVDs

They’re just holding on by the skin of their teeth, but silver disks of data are already surplus to requirements. As file transfer

(L)Tech relics.indd 1

solutions such as Dropbox or WeTransfer get slicker and more integrated and bandwidth speed increases, there will just be no need for these scratchable, loseable, burnable file storage solutions. In the future, when you exchange data, you’ll simply tell your cloud storage service to allow access to that data from the other person’s service.

Cables

I am sure the back of your desk, like mine, is a vipers-nest of cables of all shapes and sizes. They look a mess and they’re a pain to disentangle. High-speed wireless internet will remove the need for so many cables, as will rechargeable contact pads for laptops, phones and tablets. Improvements in battery technology will make lugging around your chargers a thing of the past, as usage will last for several days.

The desk phone

I have a smartphone. I have Skype on that smartphone and Skype on my laptop. I can use FaceTime. And I can have a Google Hangout or any number of web-based voice conversations. Why, therefore, do I need this bulky thing on my desk that only recruitment consultants call me on?

01/07/2014 22:07

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01/07/2014 20:56

TECHNOLOGY

Computer hard disks

Why do you need a multiple-terabyte hard disk when storage is moving to the cloud and access speeds are hitting 5G levels? When you can access your documents, create and stream your presentations and consume entertainment at high speed from anywhere, your device just needs to be a well-designed window into your digital world, not a storage platform.

Being ‘out’ of the office

When people say that they are ‘out of the office’ and can’t get back to me on something, I think, why? How can that be possible today? No-one should ever be ‘out’. Your IT structures should allow you to be able to access anything at any time, whether in the office you lease and sit in with colleagues, the train or the pub. With 1,000 to 5,000 times the bandwidth capacity of 3G planned for 2022, there will be no excuse for being ‘out’ ever again.

Email 88

We hate it but we need it. It works but it’s a pain. Thankfully, social networks such as Yammer or the more recent collaboration app start-up Slack will replace email with live feeds of information you can interact with, linking directly with other cloud applications such as Dropbox or Google Docs. Email will become an outmoded messaging service, like a landline phone seems when you use a mobile phone.

Business travel

I know travel isn’t strictly a technology but our relationship with trains, planes and automobiles will be radically affected by the introduction of immersive virtual reality technologies such as Oculus Rift. Why travel when you can don a headset and virtually sit next to the person you need to meet? Crossborder collaboration will become as simple as sitting at the next desk. As large-scale screen

Email will become an outmoded messaging service

and 3D projection technology drops in price there will be no reason why cine 360-style video-conferencing, integrated with 3D-immersive surround sound, will not become mainstream. Remote teams will feel more emotionally connected and shared business experiences easier to create. Already becoming commonplace in Silicon Valley, the telepresence robot had its big moment in March when NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden used one to appear in robot form on stage at a TED Talk. Telepresence devices are already commercially available, and the ability to manage one’s working life from behind the controls of a mechanised avatar is not only extremely cool but also removes the energy-sapping inefficiencies of travel. Of course, we will still need to do the face-to-face or take clients for a drink, but rail travel may be replaced by self-driving car networks which pick you up and drop you off like a taxi yet chain together on motorways for efficiency.

Printers

Printer ink costs more than gold. Think about that. And it’s not only expensive, it’s wasteful of resources and always runs out when you really need to print something. As e-ink technology progresses and digital paper becomes more like paper, it will seem crazy to expensively print things for them only to get binned – or hopefully recycled.

PAs

I don’t have a PA but in the future I will – and he or she will be an AI robot. IBM’s Watson supercomputer became world famous after successfully performing in US TV show Jeopardy. The press is already predicting that GPs will be replaced by health monitoring and AI diagnostic tools. So if your health can be diagnosed by a computer, it can sort my travel arrangements and restaurant bookings too. Like all predictions, these are cast-iron guaranteed. Just check back in 50 years: I’ll be sat here smugly with my robot pals.

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01/07/2014 22:08

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01/04/2014 21:28

LEGAL

In confidence

(L)In confidence.indd 1

WORDS: JOSH RUSSELL

Non-disclosure agreements are much maligned, but there’s no getting away from the fact that they can provide much needed peace of mind for enterprises that are entering into new relationships

t’s undeniable that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) get a lot of flak in entrepreneurial circles, with many claiming that they “aren’t worth the paper they are written on”. However, it is true that a degree of confidentiality is required in certain circumstances to protect an enterprise’s secret sauce and its commercially sensitive information. For this reason, we asked a selection of law firms how enterprises can make best use of NDAs and how to ensure they are putting them to work effectively. The first thing to cover is, in basic terms, what NDAs actually do. “They are contracts that require one or each party to keep certain information that is disclosed by the other party confidential,” explains Rhys Williams, partner

in the commercial technology team at Taylor Vinters. The agreements not only cover how said information cannot be shared but also for what applications it can be used. “The information in an NDA may only be used for a particular specified purpose,” he says. There are a range of scenarios which might require the imparting of confidential information, as Williams outlines. “[It might be] a proposed new business venture involving both parties, the entry into a new market by one or both parties or the technology and the related intellectual property underpinning a proposed transaction that is owned by one party but needs to be examined by the other,” he says. While it might be readily apparent that a new

01/07/2014 22:09

LEGAL

relationship is going to require the sharing of confidential information, what sometimes trips enterprises up is the expectation of what kinds of information an NDA might cover. “Broadly, the law of confidentiality will protect information which is confidential in nature – it is not public property or public knowledge – and is shared in circumstances where the method of disclosure is controlled,” says Sean Kelly, partner in the corporate team at Pitmans. This means that information already in the public domain and that has been shared on a non-confidential basis cannot then be effectively protected as confidential in an agreement with a new party. As with most legal agreements, the first line in ensuring an NDA’s effectiveness is making sure the terms are watertight and clearly cover all scenarios. “If there is any ambiguity about what information needs to be kept private, then lawyers could have a field day and cause problems,” says Robin Campbell-Burt, associate director at Spreckley Partners. There are key provisions that need to be made by an NDA if it is to be effective. “It should be broad enough to cover the information shared, any inadvertent or deliberate disclosure by you of information and any works which may be derived from the confidential information,” Kelly says. While it sounds like an obvious step, the contract needs to clearly state that key

(L)In confidence.indd 2

information cannot be shared, with terms that who understand the purpose of NDAs,” he explicitly state that the aforementioned details comments. However, it is important to note must be kept secret. This also requires one to that the nature of the relationship and stage at detail cases where it is acceptable to share which one is seeking investment will affect information. “You need to clarify when the things. While at a later-stage funding round a information may be disclosed to third parties, new investor will be more comfortable being [for example] if required to do so by law or asked to sign a confidentiality document, regulation or if the information is no longer asking at an investment seed round, where confidential,” says Williams. they might be seeing 20 start-ups at a glance, Lastly, there need to be clauses in place that might not be so well received. handle the end of a relationship. “If the Perhaps the biggest question mark around transaction does not proceed, the recipient NDAs, however, is how much they can actually should be required to return all information or help enterprises deal with a breach once it has to destroy it,” Kelly explains. Another case that occurred, with many noting they do little but needs to be considered is when confidentiality shut the barn door after the horse has bolted. naturally expires. “Information will only be “It should always be remembered that one of considered to be confidential for so long as it the NDA’s strongest characteristics is to act as truly maintains its ‘nature of confidentiality’.” a deterrent,” says Kelly. “Once the information Even if one gets the terms protected under the exactly right, an NDA won’t NDA has come into the always be an appropriate public domain, the NDA catch-all solution for every is of little or no use.” relationship. One case that This means that rapid often gets questioned is action is required if an start-ups assuming that NDA is to prevent issuing investors with NDAs serious operational is going to be appropriate. damage. “[If] Williams feels that the confidential information majority of investors will has started to leak into understand the case for an the public domain, the NDA. “Most investors are most important thing is Sean Kelly, Pitmans sophisticated individuals to plug the leak as quickly as possible,” says Williams. Legal action is best applied to hold another party to the contract, rather than trying to retroactively clean up the mess afterwards. “English courts have a wellestablished process for enforcing interim injunctions, which will be the primary objective for most companies,” he says. Financial reparation can be obtained after the fact in circumstances when a breached agreement does cause losses. “They’ll have to account to you for any profits made as a result of using the confidential information and compensate you, in the form of damages, for the loss you have suffered,” Kelly says. But it’s important to note that seeking damages is a far more complicated process and involves much more legal wrangling than holding someone to contract. Ultimately, there will always be a case for confidentiality agreements, as long as they are approached in the right way. “NDAs provide us with greater legal protection,” says Campbell-Burt. While you can’t expect them to be a cast-iron defence, they are definitely better than the alternative. “If they are done correctly, there is no ambiguity for both us and the client,” he concludes. “We are both better protected.”

One of the NDA’s strongest characteristics is to act as a deterrent

01/07/2014 22:09

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Crawford Gill Associates is a close protection and specialist security consultancy based in the prestigious heart of central London. We take pride in being able to supply some of the world’s most elite protection specialists to discerning clients globally. We offer all encompassing bespoke security solutions from personal protection details and residential estate security packages to special event security planning and high value asset logistics.

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STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD Branding  Graphic Design  Print  Web A top quality team of highly qualified & experienced graphic designers, illustrators, image retouchers & web developers. Accredited members of the CIM, CIPR & Design Business Association. FREE consultation with 20% discount on any first order - exclusively for subscribers of Elite Business Magazine. Quote ref: EBM20

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Providing bespoke products and services in time and budget..so you can lead the way in style..! and remember We won’t be beaten on PRICE and QUALITY... Our dedicated team of professionals can provide solutions for just everything from web design to 2D/3D animation, online marketing, and much more. Today online presence is a key to success for every business, if you think so and want your bespoke web site that can be found by search engines…Call The Experts

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Mindfulness for Business Transform your day to day life! Reduce stress, improve health, promote wellbeing, and enhance focus. Book now for this eight week online course with Julie Walsh our life coach Special May Offer Only £99 - VALID UNTIL 31st May (Usual price £199) Book Now at www.businesshelpforyou.co.uk and receive a 2-hour practical skills workshop Free (Workshops are in Essex)

e: support@businesshelpforyou.co.uk w: www.businesshelpforyou.co.uk Creative Design

Blue Baboon Design is an innovative and creative full service digital marketing agency. We provide clean, well-executed designs and work with the most up to date programming tools to create beautiful websites that work. Our services include:  PPC  Website Design and Development  Social Media  SEO  Web Hosting  Consultancy  Website Maintenance If you are looking for a new digital partner then please get in touch..

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All-in-one help with everything from business cards to social media. Plan B Images is run by Birgitte Lydum, who has 15 years' experience in print and online media. She takes the hot air out of graphic design, while offering sound and friendly advice. Get in touch for a no obligation chat.

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WEBSITE GIVING YOU THE BLUES? Want to improve your online presence? Want to make more sales? Want more conversions?  Logo and Branding  Search Engine Optimisation  Web Design & Development  Ecommerce Solutions  Digital Marketing  Printing Get in touch and let us be your Wingmen and make the web work for you

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Classifieds July.indd 1

Thorne Creative | Brand Design Consultancy Be bold. Be brave Transform your organisation, making it: • Stand out in the market • Easier to manage • More profitable Branding advice for your business, from £90.

Set up your own home based bookkeeping practice with an award winning bookkeeping franchise. Join over 20 franchisees offering bookkeeping to businesses using cloud software such as xero, kashflow and sage. We provide vat returns, profit & loss, payroll and credit control etc from only £50pm. No qualifications are needed as full training is given. Franchise fee £15,000 plus vat.

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01/07/2014 21:43

classifieds Hypnotheraphy

Pioneer HR and Training Consultancy Ltd

Pioneer HR and Training Consultancy Ltd has been set up to provide quality and cost-effective outsourced HR solutions to SMEs. We offer following bespoke HR services to suit your specific business needs: • Complete HR outsourcing • Disciplinary and Grievance • HR policy and procedure manuals • Employee engagement • Recruitment and Selection • Health and Safety • Staff Training • Employee handbook and Employment Contract

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Legal Services

Kirsty Grant

Member of The British Society of Clinical Hypnosis

D.Hyp, PDCBHyp, MBSCH

Is something holding you back from reaching your full potential?

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• Phobias • Sleep issues • Weight control

• Self-confidence • Public speaking • IBS

Conveniently located in EC2 & E18, see website for more information or contact Kirsty Grant to discuss confidentially and without obligation.

Hart Brown has a well established and respected commercial team providing legal services to an expanding and diverse range of businesses in the South East. With experience in dealing with all business issues from buying and selling a business or commercial property, to restructuring and employment issues, Hart Brown has the expertise to find the best solution for your business. To find out how we can help you, call us today!

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Nutrition

Outdoor Advertising

For advice and assistance call us today!

Vivasoya drinking yoghurt is wholesome and health-supporting. It is fully processed using natural fermentation to remove protease inhibitors, phytic acid and other anti-nutrients in soya beans. United Nations Food and Agriculture Departments are supporting the consumption of foods processed this way for its health benefits.

Billboard Connection will provide your business with a complete solution for all your outdoor advertising needs - From Design to display - We can manage every aspect of your outdoor advertising campaign. Because we deal with All of outdoor companies, we are able to offer you more choice at competitive prices Consider the advantages of including Outdoor advertising in your next Campaign: OUTDOOR ADVERTISING....• CANT BE TURNED OFF• WORKS DAY AND NIGHT • IS BIG BOLD AND COLOURFUL • QUICKLY BUILDS BRAND AWARENESS • LOWEST COST PER THOUSAND

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Mullis & Peake LLP Solicitors are one of the South East's largest and most respected law firms, with a team of specialists providing up-to-date, professional legal advice on all that matters to people and companies. Specialising in Employment, Legal Disputes, Partnerships and Commercial Property including Developments

Print Management

We are a young, creative, print management company, providing effective print media solutions, cost saving prices, excellent customer service and of course fantastic print. It’s what we’ve always done and we’ll always continue to do. We work with both local and international clients producing such items as: • Business Stationary • Magazines • Leaflets/Flyers • Catalogues • Brochures • Point of Sale • Books • Exhibition Graphics

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Vivasoya, foods for a healthier world

Recruitment

Software Development

Affordable Recruitment Services Anchor Ambition specialises in the recruitment of:  Accountants and other Financial staff  Legal staff  Office Executives including Administration, PA and Secretarial staff

We believe in placing people first and we operate on this motto. We guarantee you a personalised affordable service that involves getting to know about your business and the ideal candidate you are looking for.

Keycode Consultancy is a small London based software development company that creates mobile (iOS, iPhone, iPad) cloud, desktop and web applications for small to medium size businesses. We are the understanding software developers with the keycode to unlock your business potential because we excel in what we do best and can also work from small budgets of £2,000.

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Web Design

We offer a full range of web development services from site design and build to SEO and internet marketing services, working across all platforms and devices, and all digital media from animation to web video. Our full range of services includes:  Branding  eCommerce  Photography / Video  Website Development Strategy  Website Design  Email Marketing  Print, Digital  Social Marketing  Mobile  Search Engine Optimisation  Content Management System  Copywriting

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Established in 2007 and based in Maidstone, LG Web Design specialise in creating visually stunning HTML5 websites for small to medium businesses in Kent, London and the South East of England. Whether you're looking to re-brand, or get your very first website, LG Web Design can act as your one-stop-shop; from designing your website, to getting you listed on Google; we do it all! Book your free consultation today.

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Webwax provide a full ‘in-house’ service for web design, ecommerce, web hosting, search engine optimisation, ad-words, email campaigns, graphic design, virtual brochures, copy writing, social media and photography. With a wide range of clients both locally and globally, Webwax believe in providing a Return on Investment in the projects we involve ourselves in. Whether you are after a simple website with a few pages or a full blown e-commerce site, we can help.

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01/07/2014 21:42

Advertising feature

Top names to attend UK’s biggest entrepreneur event A line-up of top speakers will appear at the UK’s biggest event for entrepreneurs and small business leaders this autumn.

ore than 3,000 delegates are expected to attend ‘MADE: The Entrepreneur Festival 2014’ in Sheffield, Yorkshire, on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 September. They will gather to hear a range of success stories and business wisdom from some of the most inspiring entrepreneurs of recent years, including: • Levi Roots, the colourful musician and food entrepreneur who famously won Dragons’ Den investment in his Reggae Reggae Sauce products and has since become a multi-millionaire. • Michelle Mone OBE, the Scottish model turned lingerie entrepreneur who launched and owns the successful Ultimo bra range. • Jamal Edwards, whose youth broadcasting channel SB.TV has Alastair MacColl, BE Group grown into a global brand with more than 150 million YouTube views, documenting a new breed of video stars. • Doug Richard, successful software businessman, former Dragon from Dragons’ Den, and founder of SchoolForStartups, teaching entrepreneurs across the world. • Shaa Wasmund, best-selling business author, entrepreneur and founder of the Smarta, the social enterprise company that offers business support. • Rekha Mehr, founder of posh London baker Pistachio Rose, and now Start up Entrepreneur in Residence for the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills. • Wayne Hemingway MBE, fashion designer and co-founder of Red or Dead brand. MADE delegates will also enjoy a new presentation from self-improvement expert Paul McKenna, who will share practical, easy to implement success strategies with the audience. And Mark Easton, the BBC’s home editor, will chair a panel of business leaders and

MADE is one of the UK’s most important business events

Made.indd 1

entrepreneurs to discuss ‘What makes a great entrepreneur and how do we make more of them?’ All these speakers will be appearing at the MADE for Success Conference held at Sheffield City Hall on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 September, with guidance on building a brand, managing growth and leadership management. Brendan Moffett, director of Marketing Sheffield, said: “MADE is the UK’s biggest and best celebration of entrepreneurship and this line up of top speakers will make it a valuable, must-attend event for new businesses. “We hope to attract more than 3,000 entrepreneurs, business owners and managers to Sheffield for a host of engaging conference sessions, events and exhibitions, providing the best advice, knowledge and support to accelerate business growth. “Since it was established in 2010, MADE has become a major event for entrepreneurs, attracting leaders from business, government and the media. It puts a real focus on educating young entrepreneurs and we’re working with local schools, Sheffield College, Sheffield Hallam University, and the University of Sheffield to attract high numbers of young people.” As well as the MADE for Success Conference, the wider MADE festival includes numerous specialist fringe events during the week of 22-26 September, including an exhibition and Gala Dinner. The week-long series of events is being organised by business services provider BE Group, under licence from Sheffield City Council, with Irwin Mitchell, Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Sheffield and Sheffield College all on board as key festival partners. Alastair MacColl, BE Group chief executive, said: “MADE is one of the UK’s most important business events and we’re really pleased to have attracted so many high-profile business men and women to share their success stories. MADE 2014 promises to be the best yet.’’

01/07/2014 18:54

MADE

The Entrepreneur Festival: Sheffield

24 - 25 September 2014

madefestival.com

Paul McKenna Success and happiness are not accidents that happen to some people and not others. They are created by certain ways of thinking and acting. I will share with you some amazing success strategies. The Sheffield College

Event Sponsors:

JOIN US FOR THE UK’S MOST INSPIRING FESTIVAL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP MADE brings together the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs, business owners, incredible inventors and magnificent makers. Be inspired, share insider tips, gain practical support, network, meet funders and investors and promote your business.

• PAUL MCKENNA • LEVI ROOTS • DOUG RICHARD

• SHAA WASMUND • JAMAL EDWARDS • NIGEL RISNER

A major event to inspire, motivate and share business success Partner Sponsors:

SHEFFIELD CITY HALL Wednesday 24 September 5.00pm – 7.00pm Thursday 25 September 9.30am – 5.15pm Tickets £48 / £24 Concessions

(price includes VAT)

Book your place online: www.madefestival.com 0191 426 6333 @MADEfestival #MADE2014

facebook.com/MADEFestival

Delivered by:

Made.indd 2

01/07/2014 18:55

the START-UP DIARies

The mother of wisdom Sarah McVittie, co-founder, Dressipi

dressipi.com

Business lessons can come from the most unexpected places: even from the mouths of babes

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happened to me a couple of months ago. I had a baby. My son, Archie, was born in March. I can honestly say that being a mum, while one of the most wonderful things ever, is nothing like I expected it to be. I thought I’d be able to have a baby, go back to work and continue working the way I did before. Nothing could be further from the truth. I definitely work way more efficiently now than I used to before I had Archie. Knowing that I want to be home by bath-time means that I use my time much more effectively. I’m much better about prioritising what needs to be done and what can wait. The experience has also changed the way I look at working mothers. And the same goes for my husband – seeing me going back to work has encouraged him to be more flexible with the maternity policy at his own company. I’ve also found that becoming a mum has changed my long-term focus as an entrepreneur. Before I was determined to build a great business but now I also want to create something that provides for my children. It’s remarkable how knowing you have someone to look after for the next 20 years or so affects your long-term thinking. hen you run a start-up, you soon In many ways, the qualities that you need to learn that not everything goes according to plan. Whether it’s acquire when you’re running a business are the learning that the product you’d set your heart on same as those that you need as a parent. A lot releasing next month won’t be ready for three of your job is about encouraging the reluctant or finding out you’re pregnant, the unexpected – whether that’s a developer, a customer or a has a habit of throwing all those intricate plans sales prospect. Frequently you have to be there you made off track. The trick is learning how to console the disappointed. There will always you respond to those challenges be the projects that misfire or the in such a way that you make The qualities that sales presentation that doesn’t go the most of the opportunities down how it should. These are you need when coming your way. all roles I’ve played as a person running a business who’s grown two businesses In a previous diary, I talked about how one of the big are the same as from scratch and they’re now revelations we had with Dressipi things that I’m learning to do as those that you was that, in creating the perfect a mother. recommendation service for It’s all hard work but it’s also need as a parent consumers, we’d also created amazing. It’s made me think how something that retailers would pay for. We lucky I am to be able to see my son grow and knew then that that the business had a different develop and change. And along with that I get future to the one we’d first envisaged and chose to work with a great set of people to create a to pursue it. It meant that we had to put some business that will also grow, develop and change really exciting consumer-focused ideas on ice over time. but it was the right thing to do. I suppose that when you look at it like that, Another one of those life-pivoting moments every day is Mothers’ Day.

01/07/2014 22:10

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30/05/2014 20:23

Dell recommends Windows.

For me, Glasgow 2014 is about more than managing a complex infrastructure. Dell is our trusted partner, helping with a multiplicity of moving parts; from everyday laptops to customised solutions.

Brian Nourse, Chief Information Officer for Glasgow 2014

The Dell Latitude 7000, pre-installed with Windows 8, has been reimagined to be all about you. Put what matters most right on your Start screen, and get instant access to your people, apps, sites and more, so you can spend less time searching and more time doing. Some features require Windows 8.1. Update available through Windows Store. Internet access required; fees may apply

Glasgow 2014. Powered by Dell, from laptops to the data centre. See how at Dell.co.uk/Glasgow2014 #TeamDell Dell Products, Registered in Ireland. Reg. No. 191034 c/o P.O. Box 69, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 1RD. Microsoft®, Windows®, Windows® Small Business Server, Windows® Server, Microsoft® Office 2013, Windows® 7 and Windows 8 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Dell and the Dell Logo are trademarks of Dell Inc. ©2014 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.

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01/07/2014 3/5/14 21:05 3:28 PM