unLTD. Connecting business across Sheffield City Region #40 by unLTD magazine

JULY 2021 | ISSUE 40 | FREE | UNLTDBUSINESS.COM

COMPLIMENTS

TO THE

SHEF(F)

True North Brew Co executive head chef Andy Burns tells us why he swapped the Swiss Alps for the seven hills of Sheffield and South Yorkshire

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CONTENTS

STORY: ANDY BURNS 26 COVER

ON: HOSPITALITY 31 FOCUS

YOU ASK ME 64 IFCOMMUTING

OF SHEFFIELD LAUNCH 70 BEARS

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CONTENTS

INSIDE... 6-10: News A round-up of news in the region, including award wins and nominations, new online gym launch and anniversaries. 11-13: Appointments All the latest appointments from around South Yorkshire, including news from Glu Recruit. 39: Property Column Mark Pereira, director of Resonate Property, talks unLTD readers through some key considerations when purchasing a property.

@UNLTDBUSINESS UNLTD BUSINESS UNLTDBUSINESS

51: Five Minutes With... Cloud Nine Décor creative director Ruthie Ford explains how Sheffield’s ‘independent spirit’ and ‘creative people’ helped her set up. 52-55: Company Culture We caught up with online student accommodation company UniHomes to chat about their new HQ and, despite expansion, how Sheffield remains home. 56-57: Focus On: Leadership Dale Carnegie Training tell us how agility is the most important element for successful leadership in a rapidly changing business environment. 63 & 77: Your Pitch Jules Dixon tells us how she is loving running her own ‘very personal’ beauty business and we also chat to Laura Metcalfe about how she turned her love of a good accessory – and a hobby acquired during lockdown – into a business with the ‘nicest customers’.

EVERYTHING ELSE: 15: The Diary 17: Financial Health 19: Legal Matters 21: Entrepreneur Support 23: Skills Focus 25: Securing Your Assets 43: Launchpad 69: In A Nutshell 75: Podcast Spotlight 82: Charities

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THE HEAD CHEF TAKING SHEFF PLACES From wild child to respected head chef – our cover star this issue is Glasgow-born Andy Burns who has worked all over the world including Brazil and Switzerland. In the cover feature from page 26, he tells Jill Theobald how a ‘fortnight’s temping’ at The Forum in 2007 turned into 14 years as the trailblazing executive head chef at True North Brew Co– heading up 13 venues, a team of 80 chefs and opening the first fully vegan restaurant in the city. Andy’s personal and professional story is the perfect opener for the first of our Focus On features this month – on hospitality re-opening in our region. Delaying restrictions hasn’t stopped South Yorkshire’s hospitality sector from – safely – reopening its doors. Some, including key Heart of the City II developments, have even launched. Discover how well-prepared the region’s industry is to address the challenges and benefit from the opportunities from page 31. And we also take a look at the ‘new normal’ world of commuting – both from the view of key transport operators in the region and from the employees themselves. Check out our If You Ask Me feature from page 64 – and read lead features writer Jill Theobald’s experience of travelling to and from unLTD HQ by bus and tram on page 69. And our second Focus On tackles the subject of business leadership. The team at Dale Carnegie ask – with all of the changes going on, is your business agile enough to keep up on page 56.

EDITORIAL Richard Fidler richard@unltdbusiness.com Jill Theobald editorial@unltdbusiness.com General hello@unltdbusiness.com 0114 252 7781 ADVERTISING Dan Laver dan@unltdbusiness.com 07867 313995 Phil Turner phil@unltdbusiness.com 07979 498034 General advertising@unltdbusiness.com FINANCE Michael Johnson accounts@exposedmagazine.co.uk DESIGN Simon Waller and Simon Garlick CONTRIBUTORS Marc Barker Chris Coates Jo Davison Mike Durham Matt Holmes Dax Keeling Georgina Kerr

Sam Leeder Jade March James Marriott Bronte Saulle Raj & Fiona Shah Ian Snow Helen Williams

unLTD is published monthly by Blind Mice Media Ltd Unit 1B Rialto, 2 Kelham Island Sq., Kelham Riverside, Sheffield S3 8SD and HRM PR | Creative Unit 1A Speedwell Works, Sidney Street, Sheffield S1 4RG The views contained herein are not necessarily those of Blind Mice Media Ltd and HRM and while every effort is made to ensure information throughout unLTD is correct, changes prior to distribution may take place which can affect the accuracy of copy, therefore Blind Mice Media Ltd and HRM cannot take responsibility for contributors’ views or specific listings.

AGENDA NEWS

BHP NAMED THE UK’S NUMBER 2 ACCOUNTANCY FIRM TO WORK FOR New store at Frenchgate Shopping Centre Doncaster Frenchgate Shopping Centre Doncaster has extended its baby and children’s lifestyle offering with the opening of a new independent childrenswear and nursery retailer. The Pud Store, owned by Apprentice star Francis McVeigh, provides a wide range of products for babies and children including clothing, footwear, and nursery essentials. The Frenchgate store, located on the lower mall opposite TK Maxx, is the fifth location for Pud. A familiar name in Doncaster, Pud is known for its high-quality childrenswear and nursery items available at great prices. Owner Frances McVeigh said: “I am thrilled we have brought Pud back to the heart of Doncaster town centre. “It’s always been a dream to establish Pud at Frenchgate, and I love welcoming our customers back into store, both old and new.” Frenchgate general manager Karen Staniforth added: “We are always looking to add to our offering and childrenswear is always in high demand from our customers. “The store looks fantastic and is very well stocked so parents and children alike can enjoy the Pud experience here at the centre.”

BHP has been ranked the second-best accountancy firm to work for in the UK, and the 35th best company to work for across Yorkshire and the Humber, in the Best Companies survey 2021. The independent accountancy firm, which has offices across Yorkshire and North Derbyshire, works across a wide-range of specialities including audit and assurance, consulting, corporate finance and taxation. BHP is committed to the wellbeing of its people with flexible working patterns and an emphasis on the importance of digital downtime. The firm also has a variety of wellbeing initiatives including a digital health channel, staff wellness days, and online interactive mindfulness, yoga and Pilates sessions. The company focuses on developing talent and offers extensive training opportunities which go beyond professional qualifications, including a three tier Management Development programme.

LISA LEIGHTON, BHP'S JOINT MANAGING PARTNER

BHP employs more than

350 PROFESSIONALS and 37 partners

Lisa Leighton, joint managing partner, said: “Attracting and retaining the best people is critical to our future success. This annual survey is one of the key tools we use to understand what we need to keep doing, but more importantly how we can hopefully make the firm an even better place to work in the future.”

SOUTH YORKSHIRE FIRM MORE THAN ‘JUST A CALL CENTRE’ Three employees at South Yorkshire contact centre CC33 are celebrating career progression and long-service after praising the firm’s workplace culture. Nathan Wilson, team manager at CC33, started out as a sales apprentice more than eight years ago, Andy Ward started as a sales apprentice and is now a team manager after five years with the firm and Jakob Barnes progressed from sales agent to operations support. CC33 is committed to providing excellent employee

NATHAN WILSON

benefits and has a robust internal engagement programme to ensure people reach their true potential.

All employees follow the company’s ‘Dependability, Respect, Innovation, Value, Efficiency’ (DRIVE) value system and use it in every client interaction, every day. Nathan puts his long service down to the company’s strong commitment to company culture. He said: “CC33 is more than ‘just a call centre’, it is a place where you can really grow a career and feel motivated in doing so. The company goes above and beyond for its staff, and I think that is why we have such good staff retention.”

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AGENDA

JIRAFFE MARKS EMERGENCY POSTURE PROVISION ANNIVERSARY Sheffield-based postural support specialist, Jiraffe, is marking the one-year anniversary of providing flexible life-changing support with their Emergency Posture Provision programme. The service was introduced during the first lockdown as a means of providing flexible, easy access to Jiraffe’s range of postural support equipment. Under the provision, equipment is supplied ready for immediate use, is low cost on a short-term contract and has the option to renew, return or purchase at the end. Jiraffe work with a range of therapists across the country to ensure that their specialist products are best placed with those that need them the most. Holly Jenkins, director at Jiraffe said: "Our Emergency Posture Provision is a perfect example of our ambition to help provide life-changing

support to as many individuals as possible. “The huge amount of flexibility this service provides has meant that many children have been able to benefit from our equipment who

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LEFT TO RIGHT: TIM BAUM-DIXON AND MOOSA SACHA

Councillor for Anston and Woodsetts in Rotherham, so it’s been a very exciting month personally. “Over the last few years, we have transformed the business

One of Sheffield’s leading independent gyms, Prime Mover Fitness, has launched a new online health and wellbeing package. Born out of the first lockdown, GRO Online will offer subscribers online training, nutrition, sports therapy, education, and support, all filmed in Prime Mover’s custom-built studio at its Jessop Street HQ. Prime Mover owner Danny Pilkington said: “What we’ve learnt from the lockdown is that people can train from home, get the same results and it can be effective.

otherwise may have struggled to do so, especially during the challenging circumstances the world has faced this past year, and I look forward to seeing its impact continue for many years to come.”

ACCOUNTANCY FIRM HENTONS IS A ‘FIVE STAR’ FINALIST IN AWARDS A Sheffield chartered accountancy and business advisory firm has been shortlisted for five prestigious industry awards, following several key client wins and a 13 per cent growth in turnover over the last 12 months. Hentons – ranked as one of the top 100 accountancy firms by fee income in the UK by industry bible Accountancy Age – has been shortlisted for ‘Mid-Tier Firm of the Year’ and its payroll and digital teams have both been shortlisted for ‘Team of the Year’ in the Yorkshire Accountancy Awards. In addition, Tim Baum-Dixon is a finalist for 'Partner of the Year’ award, and Moosa Sacha for ‘Support Staff of the Year’ award. Tim said: “The shortlisting follows my election as Borough

Gym looks to ‘GRO’ with new online offering

with our shift to digital accounting, which has seen Hentons recognised as one of the top three large firms in the UK by leading cloud-based software firm, Xero.

DANNY PILKINGTON, CENTRE

“When the pandemic hit, as a gym, we wanted to offer our members the same high level of training, advice, nutrition and support and so we started online classes, therapy advice and even mindset workshops. “GRO Online will offer the same level of expertise as our members get seven days a week, but from the comfort of their own living room. “One of the main comments we get from our members is that there is a special community and support mechanism here which you don’t find at a lot of gyms, and we want to share that with the world.” As well as online training sessions, subscribers will also have access to Prime Movers sports therapy experts as well as nutrition advice and support.

AGENDA NEWS Wentworth Woodhouse promotes new screen talent Rotherham stately home Wentworth Woodhouse, scene of Oscar-winning movies and acclaimed TV dramas, has launched a global search for a screenwriting future star.

Barnsley College offers teacher training courses Barnsley College is offering two tailor-made teacher training courses, for those wishing to start a career in education or further progress in their current teaching role, from September 2021.

High-tech sensors enhance patient safety Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH) teamed up with Oxehealth to introduce new technology to enhance patient wellbeing and safety.

Charity joins national care home campaign Sheffcare has joined the national campaign urging the government to make adult social care a national priority.

THE SHEFFIELD COLLEGE IS A FINALIST IN THE EDUFUTURISTS AWARDS The Sheffield College is a finalist in a national education award scheme for its trailblazing partnerships with employers. The Employer Skills Academy and Work-Related Activity Team has been shortlisted in the employer engagement category of the Edufuturists Awards, which celebrate innovative educators in the UK and beyond, including schools, colleges and universities connecting education with industry. The nomination is for the College’s successful employer skills academies programme that equips students with the qualifications and skills employers are looking for. Rachel Topliss, head of employer academy Partnerships and Work-Related Activity, The Sheffield College, said: “We are thrilled to receive this national recognition for our trailblazing work with the employer skills academies. “The programme enables students with a proven

RACHEL TOPLISS, HEAD OF EMPLOYER ACADEMY PARTNERSHIPS AND WORK-RELATED ACTIVITY, THE SHEFFIELD COLLEGE

aptitude and positive work ethic to enhance their studies by engaging with professional organisations and projects to gain transferable employability skills, sector knowledge and practical experience that will help them go further in their careers.” The curriculum is codesigned with employers to simulate real-life work and covers the business and enterprise, construction,

catering and hospitality, cyber security, engineering, animation and special effects, information technology, mental health and wellbeing and professional make-up sectors. During the pandemic, the College adapted by organising guest speaker talks online in addition to launching a virtual reality hub to allow employer skills academy students the chance to explore new industries.

Barnsley brand and digital agency awesome. celebrate 5-year anniversary Award-winning brand and digital agency awesome. is celebrating its five-year anniversary. With headquarters at Barnsley Digital Media Centre, awesome. is looking back on its achievements, while continuing to welcome new clients and launch new projects. Established in 2016 by creative director Dan Rose, the agency quickly built its roster of local clients, over time expanding further across the UK and overseas to include the University of Sheffield, Warner Music, and Carlyle Group.

Joining forces with codirector and developer Chris Endcliffe in 2018 saw the company broaden its services

– in its second year, awesome. built its own headless CMS to be used across web projects for clients and now offers branding, website design, content creation, web developing and marketing solutions. Dan Rose said: “It’s been an incredible five years at awesome. and we’re very proud of the journey so far — as well as the clients we’ve been able to support.” Chris Endcliffe added: “It’s definitely an achievement to hit the five-year mark — especially with a global pandemic to contend with.”

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AGENDA ADVERTORIAL

CITY TAXIS INTRODUCE CITY BUSINESS Kate Beswick, City Taxis client relationship manager, is committed to supporting local businesses and their managed travel requirements. Whether it’s business trips, employee travel or customer rides, City Business gives you an easy way to manage your transportation needs for you and your customers. Open an account and make life easier with cashless travel, consolidated expenses and increased transparency for travel expenses using convenient monthly invoicing. Kate said: “With many businesses now returning to face-to-face meetings, the event calendars reopening and staff travel resuming, we are focused on ensuring our customers are aware they have a local, safe, reliable transport provider, through our simplified booking and hasslefree expenses. For extra peace of mind for both our riders and drivers, all of our Sheffield vehicles have a protective partition screen installed. Let’s get the region moving again!” Account bookings can be made via the dedicated booking line, online web booker, priority booking app or email. Find out more information here: www.citytaxis.com/ city-business

Airmaster appoints new senior contracts manager Lee Martin has joined Airmaster as senior contracts manager in the Maintenance Department. He previously worked with Airmaster colleagues Michael Archbould and Ross Blackwood as their apprentice at SES in

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their Sheffield office and was approached by Ross to join the team. Lee said: “Everyone has made me feel welcome, getting to know people and learning new skillsets. As this role is an officebased role with only a 20-minute

commute to work it gives me a better work-life balance.” Lee undertook a four-year apprenticeship gaining NVQ City & Guilds Level 3 HVAC through block release to Leeds College of Building while working at SES, whose head office is in York.

Utility Source supports historic Sheffield building renovation The conversion of a historic building in Sheffield into a vibrant new development presented utility specialists Utility Source with a number of unforeseen but ultimately beneficial challenges. Situated in Woodseats, the old HSBC bank dates back to 1906 and had been closed for some time before being purchased to create a retail space and four new domestic dwellings.

Utility Source had to contend with several unexpected complications due to the age of the building. Director Dean Pattison said: “We learned the live gas service was subject to a mandatory disconnection due to the time the building had stood empty, which we ensured was corrected and the supply restored. "With renovations due to commence, time was getting tight. The electric network were installing a new main which we didn't believe was necessary. Our suggestions ensured that the system was remodelled to be taken from a much closer, passing main and also facilitating a significant refund for our customer. “The conversion is now at an advanced stage and we look forward to seeing it with a new lease of life.”

AGENDA PROPERTY NEWS

THE GLASS WORKS IN BARNSLEY CLAIMS MAJOR NATIONAL REGENERATION AWARD The Glass Works – the flagship development that continues to transform Barnsley town centre’s retail and leisure heart – has been crowned the winner of the prestigious Regeneration award at the Planning Awards 2021. The Glass Works beat seven other impressive regeneration projects across the UK – including Hendon Waterside in North London, Malt Street in South London, Kresen Kernow in Cornwall and Port Loop in Birmingham. The judges said the scheme was “a great example of how strategic development and targeted investment can play a huge part in revitalising a local economy”. Cllr Tim Cheetham, cabinet spokesperson for place at Barnsley Council, said: “The award is recognition that the Council, our development partner Queensberry and principal contractor Henry Boot Construction, are delivering something truly significant and important for Barnsley.

Business growth specialist grows with new Barnsley office

The awards are selected by a diverse panel of

20 JUDGES

The completed elements of the development include Market Kitchen, Barnsley Markets and Library @ The Lightbox. Set for completion towards the end of this year, the final phase of The Glass Works programme includes a 13-screen Cineworld, Superbowl UK bowling venue, popular family restaurants and high- profile national shops.

A family-run business is on track to double in size this year after moving into new offices at The Business Village (BV) @BarnsleyBIC and expanding its team. BV has doubled the size of its office space having previously had a smaller unit in one of the original buildings at the Wilthorpe site. Founder Mike Brook said: “We’ve grown with BBIC and moving into the new building was the next part of the journey for us. “It is ideally located, and we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in Barnsley.”

Redbrik named the best UK property company to work for Leading South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire Estate Agents, Redbrik has been awarded the title of Property’s Best Company to Work For in the UK in this year’s Best Companies Awards. Redbrik has been named in the following three categories: • Number 1 in the Top 5 UK property companies to work for • Number 24 in the Top 75 best regional (Yorkshire and Humber) companies to work for • Number 31 in the Top 100 UK small companies to work for Redbrik MD Mark Ross said:

L-R MARK ROSS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CLAIRE MADEJ, TALENT AND HR MANAGER, PETER LEE, DIRECTOR AND DAVID COOPER, DIRECTOR

“We are nothing without our people – teaching, training

and nurturing our fantastic team will always be one of our

top priorities. I want to thank every employee for making Redbrik a vibrant, fun, and exciting place to work and for the recognition we have achieved together.” Best Companies specialise in workplace engagement, helping businesses to understand how their employees feel about their workplace. The confidential b-Heard survey gathers data about all aspects of the employee experience to generate a Best Companies Index (BCI) score, which then feeds into the Best Companies List, now in its 20th year.

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AGENDA

APPOINTMENTS

SPONSORED BY

WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF HIRING A GRADUATE? As university students gear up to graduate this summer, there will be an influx of new talent on the market for the region’s employers to consider when recruiting. Weighing up the options between hiring a graduate or an experienced professional can be problematic for any organisation – so Glu’s graduate recruitment consultant, Charlie Hedges, takes a closer look at the pros and cons.

could be taking too much time and effort. If you’ve ‘always done things that way’, it’s easy to not see that – but a graduate can. Con: You need to invest time in training Seasoned professionals will arrive with the background in the role to start straight away and hit the ground running – a graduate may need more support and training. CHARLIE HEDGES, RECRUITMENT CONSULTANT AT GLU RECRUIT

Pro: Graduates are up-to-date with the latest technology Unlike experienced professionals who have adapted, graduates, as a generation, have never lived in a world without the internet, a keyboard and screen. They understand social media and most technology.

salary expectations as an experienced professional. While this will save you money, you should expect to offer better on-the-job training to help graduates grow into seasoned professionals.

Pro: A graduate salary is often lower than those more experienced Due to a lack of work experience, graduates will not have the same

Pro: Graduates can be guided and trained In theory, you can work with graduates to mould them into future business leaders. By guiding and training a

graduate, you can support them into becoming managers by encouraging them to learn about your business, and industry. Pro: They’re inquisitive and not afraid to ask Studying for a degree means you are challenged to think for yourself and ask questions, so a graduate can help you identify other ways of working. What you think is a simple process or system

Sharing SYCF’s ‘stories and successes’ Akhlaq Hanif is South Yorkshire Community Foundation’s new marketing and communications coordinator. He joins after seven years working in Doncaster handling an organisation’s digital and social media output and is looking forward to this new opportunity. He said: “South Yorkshire Community Foundation provides a pivotal support to community groups across the region who make a difference to people’s lives and I’m excited to share their stories and successes.” SYCF supports strong, resilient communities across the region.

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AKHLAQ HANIF

Con: Possible lack of stability Graduates are excited about their career and want to climb the ladder. If they cannot see a career path or any indication of progression, they may quickly move on. Con: Graduates aren’t business leaders An experienced professional often has plenty of teamwork and industry experience. While you can develop a graduate over time, if you need a leader or manager straight away, it’s often better to go with experience.

Commercial director promoted Sheffield-based ITI Network Services Ltd has appointed David Newton as its new managing director. David has 25 years’ experience in the telecommunications and IT industry. He spent five years in the British Army, where he trained in military engineering, signals, security, and electronic communication. On leaving, he worked throughout Europe as a telecommunications network engineer and project manager.

AGENDA APPOINTMENTS

CURRENT VACANCIES Role: Project director Salary: £50,000 - £70,000 + benefits per annum Location: Rotherham Sector: Construction

ABOUT GLU RECRUIT Glu Recruit are a full-service recruitment agency established in 2016. We specialise in temporary, permanent, contract and graduate recruitment – offering a tailored solution from entry level to senior management and board level spanning your entire organisation. As an independent recruitment

agency, we focus on the long-term stick of the placement. Whether you’re a candidate looking to make a career move, or an employer looking to add to your team, our thorough and proactive recruitment and retention service ensures you are well looked after! Call: 0114 321 1873 Email: hello@glurecruit.co.uk www.glurecruit.co.uk

Role: Account manager / senior account manager Salary: £25,000 to £40,000 per annum depending on experience Location: Sheffield Sector: Creative Marketing Agency Role: 2D animator Salary: £24,000 to £29,000 per annum depending on experience Location: Sheffield Sector: Creative Marketing Agency

NEW INVESTMENT MANAGER BEGINS AT FINANCE FOR ENTERPRISE Alternative lending provider Finance For Enterprise has expanded its team of loan experts after appointing experienced banker Paul Howell. Paul will be responsible for helping SMEs access the funding needed to develop their business plans, many of whom are unable to secure help from traditional high street lenders. Prior to Finance For Enterprise, Paul spent more than three decades rising through the ranks at HSBC. He joined the Bank after leaving school, and throughout his career has specialised in commercial banking.

PAUL HOWELL

Recently, Paul helped oversee the bank’s response to COVID in the region, helping to deliver more than £85m in business lending through the CBILS and BBLS schemes.

He said: “SMEs are the lifeblood of our local and regional economy, and I’m looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and playing a much more hands-on role.”

New office manager for growing accountancy firm C21 Chartered Accountants have appointed Rachel Scott as office manager. Rachel, who is also studying a part-time master’s degree in Business and Human Resource Management at Lincoln University, is responsible for a wide range of back-office tasks.

She said: “It’s important our senior management team can concentrate on servicing our clients rather than being heavily involved in administrative tasks. My role not only frees them up to do what they do best, but also allows for greater direction on office procedures that would otherwise not be prioritised.”

Director Jan Hall said: “To provide a great service, we need to have the right people. Having a structured training and development programme enables us to attract the best possible staff, and Rachel’s support in providing structure to this will be a key driver in our recruitment process.”

Emerald appoint new SHEQ manager Sheffield-based built environment specialists Emerald Construction have appointed Malcolm Ridley as SHEQ manager after consulting Glu Recruit. Malcolm said: “After a career in the military, I needed a new role that would interest, challenge and motivate me – this role gives me that opportunity.” Emerald CEO Thomas Joseph added: “Mac stood out a lot from the other candidates as I could see his passion from the start.”

CMS boosts insurance offering International law firm CMS has appointed Gregor Woods as a partner and promoted Tim Riordan to partner in its Defendant Personal Injury team. Partner in the Insurance and Reinsurance group, Carl Dray, said: “Last year, CMS celebrated its 30th anniversary in Sheffield and remains deeply committed to the North of England.”

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HENTONS PLANS FOR THE FUTURE WITH TWO NEW TAX EXPERTS Sheffield-based chartered accountancy and business advisory firm Hentons has made two new appointments, within its specialist Tax Advisory team. Hentons, which is ranked as one of the top 100 accountancy firms in the UK, has appointed Luke Pickering and Connor Smith as tax advisory managers. Luke is a qualified accountant and tax advisor with more than 16 years of industry experience. He said: “My general accountancy background means that when I’m talking with clients and SME business owners, I understand their business finances too, which creates a comprehensive approach to tax planning.” Connor joins from accountancy firm Shorts, having qualified as a chartered tax adviser five years ago. He

New senior appointment for CC33

LUKE PICKERING, LEFT AND AND CONNOR SMITH

assists business owners with all aspects of their affairs through from acquiring or incorporating the business, tax efficient advice throughout ownership and an eventual exit plan from the business.

Tax partner at Hentons, Simon Roberts, said: “Luke and Connor are excellent additions to our team. They have the right skill sets, experience and personality to really deliver for our clients.”

New MD joins TransPennine Express Matthew Golton has taken on the role of managing director of TransPennine Express (TPE), following the departure of interim MD Liz Collins to take up a part-time position with West Coast Partnership. With more than three decades of experience in rail, Matthew joins from his position as business development director for First Rail, where he led the team working with the Department for Transport and Rail North Partnership on the new National Rail Contract (NRC) for TPE. Together with his new team, Matthew will lead the delivery of TPE’s new contract which will provide customers with continued high levels of performance, investment in

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MATTHEW GOLTON

stations, measures to improve the sustainability of services, further steps to enhance the accessibility of the railway and more investment. He said: “I am delighted

to be joining TransPennine Express at such a pivotal time as more and more people begin to return to the railway and use the train to connect with friends and family again.”

South Yorkshire contact centre CC33 has appointed James Flint as head of recruitment and people as part of its recent expansion and after a series of major client wins. James will be responsible for adding structure and processes to support the continuing growth of the business. He said: “I’m looking forward to getting started with supporting the company in meeting the demands of the business and of new clients.”

Magna welcomes new trustees Rotherham’s Magna Science Adventure Centre has strengthened its board of trustees following the appointment of science teacher Kathryn BoultonPratt and PR specialist Matthew Ridsdale. Kathryn and Matthew will work alongside Magna’s existing board of trustees on a voluntary basis to oversee the growth and development of the popular tourist attraction. Award-winning science teacher Kathryn has worked as a chemistry teacher in schools across South Yorkshire for more than 30 years. Matthew launched Rotherham-based consultancy Cannon PR in 2011 and has worked as a PR professional for more than 20 years.

Ysabelle.Slack@BizSpace.co.uk

If you are a property investor it is likely that you have already encountered a negative experience when dealing with a utility provider. Poor communication, navigating a complicated and regulated process, volatile costs or unexpected lengthy lead times are common complaints which cause delay. A delay can of course disturb your lending conditions. At Utility Source we believe in sharing information with our customers to provide ongoing education and understanding.

HERE ARE THREE TIPS WHICH MAY SUPPORT YOUR UTILITIES JOURNEY: Carry out a utilities review before you buy a piece of land or a building. The results may identify potential cost and inconvenience and in some cases can support the land price negotiation. No two jobs are ever the same. Try not to shoehorn data from your last project into your new project as it can lead to nasty surprises. Site specific data will influence an accurate budget and help mitigate any costly delays. Understand timescales! It is normal to allow four weeks to collate utility quotations and 6-8 weeks to have the work completed. There are many unavoidable factors which can slow these anticipated lead times and you need to know what they are.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT US ON 01709 763237 OR AT INFO@UTILITYSOURCELIMITED.CO.UK

AGENDA

THE DIARY BY RICHARD FIDLER

Our editor calls for businesses to be able to play by ‘a consistent set of rules’

THE CURRENT BUSINESS SCENE – A FEW RIPPLES OR CHOPPY WATERS? Is it because of heightened sensitivity around COVID-19 or is the current business scene really difficult to judge? Restrictions on some industries inevitably lead to tough times for them, but then in other parts of the economy you get the feeling that firms and owners have never had it so good. Even within sectors there are differences that are more than just the usual ‘winners and losers’ from competing businesses. No one seems to know for sure how and why things are happening as there are so many variables – COVID-19 and Brexit being just two of the most important. It would be very easy to say things are looking good, or conversely that it’s not because

everyone’s experiences are different. Take the property market, for example. A Stamp Duty holiday for the past year – at various levels and with a separate saving for first time buyers – has led to a bubble in demand with everyone rushing to complete their deals before the first deadline at the end of June. For estate agents and solicitors, this leaves them with very busy diaries during the first half of the year – but a significant slowdown afterwards. It doesn’t mean people no longer want to move house, it’s just that everyone who was half thinking about a change of home this year has got on with it.

Anecdotally there are stories about the knock-on effects to removal companies, financial advisors and other associated property industries that there are simply not enough people in the system to cope with demand. What comes next will be the interesting part. The media (without nuance) will begin to report a slowdown in the housing market, the public will then start having palpitations about reported falling house prices and potential negative equity. And having created a surge in interest in buying and selling a home by pausing Stamp Duty for 12 months the government will feel under pressure to do something (anything) to create demand once again.

Now, that’s just one example. You can multiply that many times over as firms battle through COVID-19 restrictions and, in some cases, changes in trading conditions due to Brexit. Nobody expects the economy to have fewer ripples than a mill pond but it sometimes feels like business owners are caught up in some very choppy waters. At some point you’d like to think that things will settle down. However, the politicians and their advisors seem to be enjoying sticking their noses into people’s lives in ever new and innovative ways. If only they got out of the way and left business to play by a consistent set of rules.

Got views of your own? Let me know: richard@unltdbusiness.com LinkedIn: Richard Fidler

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FINANCIAL HEALTH BY RAJ AND FIONA SHAH OF BLUE WEALTH CAPITAL

The financial planners on the key to a stress-free ‘next phase of life’

INFLATION: CARBON MONOXIDE FOR YOUR MONEY Think forward to life in your 60s – the next phase of life (note I didn’t say retirement!). Question: Do you take your bank statement/portfolio value to purchase your groceries? Answer: No – you bring your income, or cash. The two critical things you need to ask yourself are: • is your income enough for your spending needs? and • is that income increasing throughout time to offset the rising cost of living (or inflation)? With those as your tests, a fixed income approach (such as interest from a deposit account) may not provide you with much confidence. I agree with my friend Nick Lincoln, who believes that bank statements should come with a risk warning of their very own – “the true value of your cash has fallen by another 2 per cent or so in the last year. Every year it buys you less.

Eventually it will be pretty much worthless. But please do carry on thinking that risk is about short-term ups and downs in the stock market.” In comparison to the fixed interest approach mentioned above, there is the ‘variable’ interest approach cash dividend from a collection of some of the world’s largest, best run and financed businesses in the form of the S&P 500 – which grew from $12.09 in 1990 to $56.70 in 2020. That is a compound annual growth rate of 5.8 per cent. The cash dividend grew just under five times in comparison to two times growth for inflation1. And that is not share price growth – this is just the cash dividend! And what I find really interesting is 85 per cent of the companies in the S&P 500 hate cutting their dividend – and, in fact, over the last 60 years have cut theirs ‘substantially’ only a handful of times.2 The advantage of the variable return approach

versus the fixed interest approach could be illustrated by the example below: Say a 60-year-old couple used assets of circa £1m to secure a fixed income of £60,000 per annum by investing in deposit accounts to cover their current living expenses. Now, let’s say their expenses went up by 3 per cent per annum i.e. inflation. This annual increase would mean they start eating into the £1m pot they started with by age 78 – just to sustain their current lifestyle. From age 79 onwards they would need to eat into more of that £1m pot, the next year more and so on. The best they can hope for is that they die before they run out of money!3 A million pounds may seem like a lot of money. However, if you compare it to the amount of money you would need to purchase an income equivalent to the current State Pension of £179.60 per week (which is linked to inflation) – it

would be circa £210k. A very sobering thought! As ever, past performance is no guarantee for future performance and values of investments can go up as well as down. Working with a high-quality financial planner to build and stress test a robust financial plan to ensure your money doesn’t run out before you die could be the key to a long and stress-free next phase of life (note I still didn’t say retirement!) Raj Shah is founder of Blue Wealth Capital and has been shortlisted for Financial Planner of the Year and Investment Adviser of the Year. Raj can be reached at: raj@bluewealthcapital.com Fiona Shah is operations director at Blue Wealth Capital. Fiona can be reached at: office@ bluewealthcapital.com www.bluewealthcapital.com

1. inflationdata.com). 2. http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/spearn.htm. 3. Using historic data on interest rates, the S&P 500 and inflation.

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LEGAL MATTERS

BY DAX KEELING, BELL & BUXTON INCORPORATING IRONMONGER CURTIS The commercial litigation solicitor on the ‘significant change’ in possession proceedings

Rodgers

COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES – AN EVOLVING PICTURE My last article a couple of months ago dealt with the position regarding possession proceedings in respect of residential tenancies. Since that time there has been significant change, and it is now worth comparing the current position in respect of possession proceedings relating to residential tenancies and commercial tenancies. The moratorium on evictions in residential tenancies has been lifted. The restrictions on seeking possession of property where a tenant is in rent arrears have been somewhat eased. Notice periods of intended possession proceedings, where rent arrears are involved, have been reduced from six months to four months, except where at least four months’ rent arrears are due and owing – in that

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situation, the notice period runs for four weeks only. From 1 August it is intended that the longer notice period will be reduced to two months. The obvious result of this is that residential tenants no longer have the degree of protection from eviction they had before 1 June 2021. It should still be borne in mind though, that there is likely to be a backlog in the courts dealing with possession claims and subsequent evictions. If the situation regarding possession of residential tenancies suggests the start of the return to what was once normal, the situation regarding possession of commercial tenancies suggests the opposite. The current position is that landlords cannot enforce forfeiture of a lease and eviction of the commercial

tenant for non-payment of rent and cannot use the Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery procedure unless there are at least 18 months of rent arrears in play. While the current restrictions run until 30 June, the Government has announced an intention to extend the restrictions to 25 March 2022. It has further been stated by the Government that it intends to introduce legislation which allows for specific rent arrears, accruing due to tenant business closure during the pandemic, to be ringfenced. The landlord and tenant will be required to try and reach an agreement over those ringfenced arrears (in respect of possible write-off of debt, repayment schedules etc), and compelled to attend an arbitration to achieve a legally binding settlement if no

voluntary agreement can be made between them. We now seem to have a slightly odd, contradictory situation. The position regarding commercial tenancies is obviously designed to support businesses and its employees and workers, to help them recover from the impact of the pandemic. That ‘protective’ logic is not entirely surprising. The same logic, however, does not seem to apply now to residential tenancies (and so often to those same employees and workers). Residential landlords are likely to be happier than their commercial counterparts at the current time. For further information please contact d.keeling@bellbuxton.co.uk, visit bellbuxton.co.uk or call 0114 2495969.

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ENTREPRENEURSUPPORT BY HELEN WILLIAMS, HELPING ENTREPRENEURS WIN

Our columnist on being clear and consistent on your brand and business

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE KNOWN FOR? What do you want to be known for – as a brand / business and as a person? How much thought have you given this question in terms of how people would think of and describe you when they hear your name personally or professionally? If you are sloppy in communication, is this what you want to be known for? Do you want others to have their opinion that you’re known for not being responsive, light with information or ambiguous with context? Striving to be a high-quality business brand or an effective piece of the puzzle but then not communicating effectively or consistently isn’t really conducive to this vision.

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Do you change your mind regularly in your opinions and seem to flex with whoever or whatever is current / popular / present at the time? Do you alter who you are when forming business partnerships and collaborations and lack a consistent stronghold in direction and core message? Or do you often interchange with what your service offering is and create confusion in the process? If you answered yes to any of the above – consider this. Will any of this contribute effectively to setting your stall out for being dependable and the calibre of business or individual that others want to connect and work with?

Think about the attributes of you and your business – what do you want and need to deliver on? And then how are you actually representing yourself? We know here at HEW that we stand for integrity, passion, honesty (sometimes tough love in Helen’s case!), individuality, consistency, and growth. Why? Because our actions and behaviour display all of this in everything we do. You know what you are getting with us as a business and as individuals – our brand is demonstrated by our behaviour. The shiny logo and product placement doesn’t cut it when potential partners or

customers look into you as people. We are talking integrity and congruency in alignment with your core values and your daily intentions. Be clear on who you are, how you want to be known and then act accordingly. Not knowing will cost you. Having mismatched intentions and behaviours will cost you. Contact us for more information on how we can help identify what you want to be known for as a personal and a professional brand – and we aren’t talking designing websites and logos, but the real, personal, value-led substance behind it all!! helpingentrepreneurswin.com

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SKILLS

SKILLS FOCUS

SPONSORED BY THE SOURCE SKILLS ACADEMY The Source Skills Academy in Sheffield is passionate about bringing out the best in people. It has been helping businesses to increase the talents of their teams since 2003 and is proud to sponsor Skills Focus, a monthly spotlight on training and apprenticeship news and funding to help you develop your staff.

FROM FACETIME TO FACE TO FACE - MEETING AND EVENTS SPACES IN DEMAND AT THE SOURCE Zoom and Teams kept businesses connected throughout the lockdowns. But as we head towards a full lifting of restrictions, demand is surging for safe face-to-face meeting places. Leading Sheffield training and skills academy The Source is perfectly placed to provide COVID-safe spaces. The organisation has a prime location – next to Meadowhall Shopping Centre, close to the M1 – and within minutes of Sheffield city centre. “Bookings are flooding in,” said Eddie Hoyland, business development assistant. “Businesses know the value that comes from meeting clients or staff face-to-face and

are keen for it to return.” The 25 rooms for hire include spaces suitable for interviews, meetings and training, and a 150-seater conferencing room with layout options ranging from theatre-style to classroom. Catering features three price levels plus dietary options and food comes in individual ‘grab and go’ boxes for safety. The facilities team, led by Greg Sutcliffe, is ensuring people are safe from viral transmission throughout the building. Measures include on-site lateral flow tests, temperature-checking, socially distanced room layouts and one-way systems (go to https:// thesourceacademy.co.uk/

EDDIE HOYLAND, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT, LEFT WITH FACILITIES MANAGER GREG SUTCLIFFE IN ONE OF THE SOURCE'S MEETING ROOMS FOR HIRE

coronavirus-update). Since May, industrial recruitment agency Single Resource has been booking meeting rooms to meet with South Yorkshire people unable to travel to its base in Worksop. “Location and transport links are excellent, the highspec rooms are perfect for

interviewing and training and staff are friendly and helpful,” said Louise Bratlley, senior account manager. “We will be using the Source throughout 2021.” Contact roombookings @thesourceacademy.co.uk or call 0114 2635692.

YOUNG FLOCKED TO OUR FIRST KICKSTART RECRUITMENT EVENT A ‘Super Recruitment’ event – staged by The Source and JobCentre Plus to help young jobless people hit by the pandemic – was so successful, two more are in the pipeline. More than 120 people came to the June event at the academy on Meadowhall Way. The day resulted in 79 young people being interviewed for roles and 20 successfully gaining placements with

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the government’s Kickstart scheme. Kickstart aims to get the UK’s jobless 16-24 year-olds living on Universal Credit into paid sixmonth work placements which could lead to permanent jobs. Others were helped onto The Source’s Steps Into Work programme or signposted to apprenticeships and training. “No one went away without being supported,” said Dale

Robinson, director of business development. A Gateway Provider for Kickstart, the training organisation is working with JobCentre Plus and employers to make applications less daunting for young candidates. Attendees met The Source’s support workers and tutors, JobCentre Plus specialists and mental health workers from Sheffield Futures, gaining

support on everything from anxiety and confidence issues to successful interview techniques. They then met more than 20 waiting employers and browsed hundreds of jobs. More Super Recruitment days will be held on July 8 and September 9. Contact kickstart@ thesourceacademy.co.uk

HIRING AN ACCOUNTANCY OR FINANCE APPRENTICE? GET APPLYING FOR INCENTIVE FUNDING! Applications for the increased incentive payment for hiring a new apprentice are now open. The team at First Intuition tell unLTD readers more. Following the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement in April, employers will receive £3,000 for eligible apprentices of any age who start employment from 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021. You can apply for incentive payments for these apprentices from 1 June 2021 to 30 November 2021. The incentive payment is in addition to the £1,000 employers already receive for hiring an apprentice:

• Aged 16 to 18 or • Under 25 with an education, health, and care plan or who has been in the care of their local authority. Apprentices will have an additional two months after the deadline of 30 September 2021 (until 30 November 2021) to start their training programme – this is to allow for probationary periods and sign-up processes to occur. Furthermore, employers will also receive a National Insurance exemption if the apprentice is aged under 25 and a 95 per cent subsidy of the training costs (if not paying via the apprenticeship levy). Levy

paying employers can utilise their levy pots. Applications for the increased incentive payment for hiring a new apprentice are now open. Level 2, 3, 4 and 7 Apprenticeship schemes for the AAT, ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW,

CTA and ATT Qualifications are covered for the incentive payment. If you are looking to recruit an apprentice into your Finance Team, then we can help. Contact Sheffield@fi.co.uk for more info.

The Accountancy Employers Guide Trainees and new staff need as much support as possible to ease them into work over the next year. The Accountancy Employers Guide provides links to relevant resources on trainee recruitment, onboarding, pre-start resources, employability skills, apprenticeship incentives, employer events, and hot topics. The Accountancy Employers Guide is now available to access for free at www.firstintuition.co.uk/fihub/ accountancy-employers-guide/

AGENDA

SECURING YOUR ASSETS BY SAM LEEDER

Sam shares top tips to help protect against commercial vehicle theft

HOW SECURE ARE YOUR COMPANY VEHICLES? One of the impacts of the global lockdowns caused by COVID-19 has been the lack of supply of goods, which has caused shortages in a variety of industries. This has been particularly acute in respect of new vehicles coming into the country causing prices to rise. In addition, with the huge increase in courier vehicle fleets over the last 18 months there is a national shortage of vans. I have no doubt that this, along with the financial impact of the recession, has contributed to the apparent increase in vehicle thefts in recent months. Anecdotally, there has been a significant number of vehicle thefts within the South Yorkshire region, across a broad range of categories including performance vehicles, fourwheel drives and commercials, too.

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There has also been a worrying increase in vehicles with keyless entry being stolen, with 101 being stolen between December 20 and January 21. Clearly no one wants to have their car or van stolen – however, as a business this can have a significant impact on productivity, particularly if you are unable to find a replacement. It is therefore incredibly important to have a strategy around the security of your vehicles and consider how you could mitigate the risks of losing one of them. Here are a few things to consider regarding your vehicle security: • Fit a steering wheel lock Believe it or not, one of the best deterrents to thieves and a great way to avoid keyless entry theft is to fit

an old-fashioned steering wheel lock. • Consider keeping your vehicles inside If you have the space within your commercial property then consider bringing vehicles in overnight and at weekends where appropriate. • Have a safe place for keys While keeping a vehicle indoors is helpful, we do see properties being broken into to steal the keys. It could be worth keeping the keys inside a safe if you have one. • Fit a tracker While a tracker may seem like an expensive option, these can be invaluable in either stopping the vehicle being stolen in the first place, or more importantly in recovering it later.

Where vehicles are adequately insured, your motor insurers will make a fair settlement for the current market value of the vehicle – however, you may not get a courtesy vehicle and if you do it may only be for a maximum of 14 days. It is inevitable that this would cause disruption to your business, and you may not find that you can obtain a like for like replacement. Overall, it could be far more cost-effective to spend a little more in protecting your vehicles – rather than dealing with the consequences of losing one. Sam Leeder ACII Actus Insurance samleeder@ actusinsurance.co.uk 0114 2903624 07718 189476

COVER STORY

SWISS ALPS SEVEN HILLS TO THE

In 2007 chef Andy Burns and his family swapped the Swiss Alps for the seven hills of Sheffield. He tells Jill Theobald how a ‘fortnight’s temping’ at The Forum turned into 14 years as the trailblazing executive head chef at True North Brew Co – heading up 13 venues, a team of 80 chefs and opening the first fully vegan restaurant in the city.

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COVER STORY “I’ve always said I can work anywhere but Sheffield Marriott made it very attractive for my wife and family when we arrived in the city,” says Andy Burns, executive head chef at True North Brew Co recalling why he chose to move to South Yorkshire to

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live and work over other hotel destinations also requiring head chefs. “We lived at the hotel for a month, they put us up for free and fed us, did our laundry while we got settled in. We knew it was a good company but the general manager (GM), the assistant manager and the F&B (food and beverage) man were all in touch with my wife and it

looked like a nice place to go even though we didn’t know too much about Sheffield.” In 2021 that nice place is home to Andy and his family, and professionally he has gone from working at hotels to ‘temping at the Forum for a fortnight’ which turned into 14 years as the trailblazing executive head chef at True North Brew Co. Today he heads up 13 venues, a team of 80 chefs and recently opened the first fully vegan restaurant in the city. “I’m from Glasgow originally and left home at 16, and since then I’ve worked all over the place. I’ve worked in the northeast of Brazil and also Switzerland. I spent 14 years in Switzerland where I had a young family with three kids and owned two restaurants in the Alps. “I had very successful businesses but unfortunately I am a fiend for physical work and by the time I got to 38, working 90-100 hours a week caught up with me. It resulted in my marriage breaking up because I worked with my wife as well and it was very difficult for me to stay in Switzerland as it

was an amicable divorce that turned horrible. “I made plans to go to the Republic of Ireland to hook up with a friend. I knew all the international funky places were already open in Dublin, so looked at Cork which was still a little old-fashioned. I thought I could jump on that bandwagon but in between waiting to leave I met my second wife. She was at hotel school in Switzerland, and I waited a couple of years for her to finish studying before leaving.” The pair married and in 2003 moved to Cork “but it was very different – it needed to catch up with the times and property was very expensive. “Me and my wife decided to start a family and she fell pregnant very quickly. And in Brazil where my wife is from families are very tight. After our daughter Gabriella was born my mother-in-law came over to Cork to look after my wife and the baby and stayed for a few months. I always knew it would be a difficult day when she went back to Brazil and sure enough, we drove her to the airport said goodbye and drove home and my wife said, ‘I want to go home’.

COVER STORY

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COVER STORY

“So I said I’m a chef and I can work anywhere so take the weekend to think about it. Ten minutes later she was on the phone to her family saying we’re coming home! We ended up in Salvador da Bahia and started working for Marriott Hotels and Resorts at a resort of five five-star hotels. I was in the kitchens and my wife was front office manager. “We stayed almost two years there, but I was finding it difficult because I’d always told my children in Switzerland I would always only be a flight away but actually I was quite far away, and I was losing touch with them. “When I was young in Glasgow, I was a wild kid – I made up my own rules, fell on my face, got back up and dusted myself off. So Switzerland taught me a lot about the values in life of order, discipline, regime and respect which is fantastic for someone who has never had that before and for me in my profession. So to go to the north east of Brazil where it's chaos was very difficult. After a couple of years my wife saw how miserable I was and said ‘let’s leave’. “At this point I speak obviously English, fluent French and conversational Portuguese. My wife spoke fluent English and Portuguese and conversational French so English was the common denominator and we looked around Great Britain and logged on to the Marriott Hotels recruitment web page to see what jobs were available around the world. There was three – Norfolk, Edinburgh and Sheffield.” After moving to Sheffield because of the warm welcome and family feel, six months later the Marriott Hotel was “sold to a group of investors and shareholders and they didn’t care about staff or customers really. But my two-and-a-half year old was

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at nursery so we decided to hang fire.” After quitting hotels (“because with the exception of the Marriott a lot of them are not the same anymore”) Andy’s wife is now doing what she set out to do, revenue management. “Then a chef’s agency put me into what was then Forum café bars who were looking for an executive chef. They had three sites all next to each other with The Common Room above the Forum and The Old House about five doors away– and I was the executive chef of me! “I thought, ‘what is this chaos?!’ I came from Brazil from the frying pan into the fire! I said to the agency: ‘look I’ll do the two weeks but don’t send me back here again!’ “But I think what happened on my first day I tried to put in my Swiss organization and system. At 45 I was by far the oldest guy in the company – me and Kane (Yeardley, True North Brew Co MD) are the same age, we’re the old buddies! But all the people I was working with, while all young, were all very respectful of me and were lovely to work with. Fourteen years later, I’m still here! “We’ve developed from, I think I was the only person in the Common Room, four chefs in the Forum and three in The Old House and then almost every year we’ve added a new site. I’ve gone from ten chefs to 80. The company has developed, I’ve developed, and I’ve put in my organization to make it run as smoothly as possible.” And that includes being early adopters of Veganuary. “I tinkered with Veganuary right at the start because The Common Room is a 500-capacity sports bar and it’s meat and carb heavy – burgers, fries, ribs. In Switzerland I bought a hot smoker and it was a great tool because I was in the Alps at

When I was young in Glasgow, I was a wild kid – I made up my own rules, fell on my face, got back up and dusted myself off.

1,400 metres and we did a lot of BBQs. But you never knew what the weather was going to be like and we spent too much time with parasols over BBQs so I bought the smoker. “Around the time Reds opened their first site in Leeds we had a general manager (GM) who saw smoking as an up-and-coming trend, and I said I’d love to do it, but it was difficult to get equipment in the UK. I designed and built a hot smoker to my specifications, and it took off so well before long we needed to expand.” After the GM moved on another arrived “and with them they bring their own concepts” and he thought the next trend was fried chicken. But he also told Andy they needed a vegan option. “So I started working on a vegan KFC, if you like. I researched it and came up with a blinder. We called it Mockingbird and were working with seitan which is wheat gluten, nutritional yeast and stock and I worked on it until I’d developed a really good product. We launched it and before long the vegan chicken had overtaken the real chicken. “Two years on and the sports bar Common Room, 50 per cent of sales are vegan. Take lockdown out of it but the market on takeaway was fantastic. Before lockdown we were already talking about expanding The Common Room vegan options to exactly 50-50 choices. “After my daughter and son were born, I sometimes did the school run and I saw the vegan chef Rikki (Wilson Okrasa) – he’s very recognizable, a bit punky! He was the chef at Church and we got talking about food. Every time I saw him after that we’d have a little chat. When the sous chef at The Common Room left, I approached Rikki and said not only is there the sous chef job, but I want eventually

COVER STORY for you to become my vegan development chef and he jumped – he took my hand off!" Not long after he joined, Kane and the team were experimenting with new concepts for The Old House. “Everybody was running about looking for concepts and Kane brought in a consultant, but it was Rikki who said you really need to make The Old House the first vegan kitchen in Sheffield. Not vegetarian – vegan.” At the time the team went for a Henderson's theme – but it was only open four weeks before lockdown. But in a crisis there is also an opportunity – the company was offering takeaways. “Rikki was very involved in the vegan options although he worked with meat and dairy. As we started to crawl out of lockdown Rikki said to me again, ‘I really think you should do the vegan restaurant and do it now or not at all – because someone else is going to jump on the bandwagon’. “I had heard a lot about veganism and how it was going from strength to strength with beers and wines as well as food.” Coincidently, the GM of the Old House became vegan during lockdown. “All of a sudden we had this fantastic buzz about the place,” says Andy, “with everybody saying they’d work all the hours needed and didn’t want to close on Mondays and

Tuesdays let’s get the menu and branding ready and we can all help. There was this energy I’d only seen before in the company at openings – but everyone was really behind it and they’ve had such enormous success even in just the first few weeks we’ve been open. “Because we did this in a few weeks we didn’t manage to brand it, we didn’t get a huge amount of publicity or bloggers and food critics in. But what we’ve found is we’ve got people coming in not knowing it’s vegan and saying ‘well, we’re here anyway – let’s bring it on’. We’ve not even targeted vegan groups on social media yet so it must be purely word of mouth. “Rikki is a first-time head chef but when I phoned him originally and asked what his dream job was he said to be head chef of a fully vegan restaurant – so I told him what we planned to do with The Old House and said ‘you’re hired!’ “We wanted to make the bar entirely vegan, but are tied to

I had heard a lot about veganism and how it was going from strength to strength with beers and wines as well as food.

a couple of suppliers whose beers aren’t vegan – and the other thing is the upholstery! Kane spent a lot of money on real leather, so they weren’t about to change the seating for plastic! “But it’s been a tremendous success and The Old House is very seasonal. Previously when the hot weather comes customers abandon it for The Forum and beer garden so we expect to be quiet but it’s really busy right now. The lads are struggling to cope with the volume that’s coming through but the buzz and the energy is still there.”

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FOCUS ON

HOSPITALITY Delaying restrictions hasn’t stopped the region's hospitality sector from safely re-opening – some key Heart of the City II developments have even launched.

Matt Holmes, Jade March, Bronte Saulle and Jill Theobald discover how well-prepared the region’s industry is to address the challenges and opportunities.

RAFFINA CAFFE BAR & RISTORANTE, RAFFINA COFFEE & DELI

seen brand new venues opening and many existing businesses re-adapting for the new normal. The advantage of being a big city made up of small villages made a huge difference in keeping up business levels. We are confident more businesses will choose to open in this region soon, investing in local product/brands.

Address: Ground Floor, 837 Ecclesall Rd, Sheffield S11 8TH, Ground floor, Unit B5, Fox Valley Way, Stocksbridge, Sheffield S36 2AB Name and job title: Achille Travaglini, operations manager How have you found opening/ launching your venue during the existing restrictions on hospitality? What measures have you put in place? Challenging and exciting at the same time. The main challenge was the new way of sourcing material and equipment virtually during the lockdown. However, we planned every detail well ahead, ensuring a smooth

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opening. We felt lucky to have the opportunity to open a brand-new concept during the pandemic. Government guidelines have been implemented within our premises. We took extra measures such as reduced opening times, contactless payments, an online ordering system, and

plenty of equipment to ensure sanitation at all times. How do you feel the South Yorkshire business community has addressed the challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic compared with others in your industry nationally? Very agile and flexible. We’ve

With restrictions continuing into July, how well-prepared do you feel the region’s hospitality sector is? Many businesses decided to hold re-opening in May, aiming to re-open on June 21, so this will divert some plans. However, a few more weeks could help businesses get ready and test the field, considering we are now looking at the end of the restrictions rather than another lockdown. Keep positive and plan ahead is our motto at Raffina!

FOCUS ON

BLEND KITCHEN

advice, particularly within the not-for-profit community that have been suffering just as much as anyone. It is clear there is a team effort in Sheffield right now – we’ve seen incredible and positive action from the Chamber of Commerce, Sheffield City Council, the BID team and Business Sheffield, as well as a huge number of business networking groups that have ‘gone virtual’ to keep the cogs turning and protect the mental health of business owners.

Address: Wards exchange, 197 Ecclesall Rd, Sheffield S11 8HW Name and job title: Chris Hanson, founder and head chef How have you found opening/ launching your venue during the existing restrictions on hospitality? What measures have you put in place? Well, first of all, opening a hospitality business at any time is hard work, high risk and unpredictable. But when you consider the goal posts to trading have been moving dramatically pretty much on a monthly basis for over a year – it’s like setting off to sail the Atlantic with no map, no rudder and literally no idea if the weather will be a force 10 gale or a mill pond! We originally planned to open in January 2021 – we could have attempted to trade as a takeaway only as many did – but decided to wait until the April outside dining go-ahead. Luckily, as we are a training restaurant for vulnerable adults, from February onwards we were able to take on paid training contracts and continue to support our trainees behind closed doors. This ability to be commercially nimble and diversify our revenue streams has proved critical to coping with this vastly changing landscape we currently exist in.

How do you feel the South Yorkshire business community has addressed the challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic, compared with others in your industry nationally? It’s quite difficult to gauge just how others have responded. The reality is hospitality has been hit so hard that each business has had to fight their

own battle to survive – I know it’s been a very lonely and often dark place for business owners. But there has been a definite sense of comradery and peer support that has been evident. At Blend Kitchen we have tried to play an active role in sharing information on possible grants and signposting to support and

With restrictions continuing into July, how well-prepared do you feel the region’s hospitality sector is? In my opinion, the lifting of restrictions will be a real double-edged sword. On the one hand, there is potential to welcome many more customers through the door with no limitations. But on the other hand, the huge numbers of nervous and anxious people that are not coming out at the moment, are perhaps even less likely to venture out with no restrictions or safety measures in place and feel even less confident. The only way our region's hospitality sector can prepare – is to prepare for the unexpected! And be quick and nimble enough to adapt and tweak their offering as the bumpy ride to ‘normality’ continues.

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FOCUS ON

welcome customers to the bar. However, we have welcomed the booking system as we can plan our staffing, we can plan better for the ordering of stock, and we have a more organised approach to the business. We ask our customers to sanitise their hands when they walk through the door, have their temperature taken and ask them to wear a mask when away from their table. We have put in all the precautions needed for our customers to stay safe and so we meet the Government guidance. During the times where we were completely closed, we took the time to reassess our processes. This has really helped now that we’re back open and we can work more efficiently than ever before.

THE GASLAMP BRASSERIE AND BAR Address: 131 Bawtry Rd, Wickersley, Rotherham S66 2BW Name and job title: Gail and Darren Baker, owners of The GasLamp Brasserie and Bar. How have you found opening/ launching your venue during the existing restrictions on hospitality? What measures have you put in place?

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When the country went into lockdown in March 2020 no-one could have predicted that we would still be living under restrictions 16 months later. But if this year has taught us anything it is that we are able to adapt to Government guidelines quickly, we are resilient and we have fantastic staff and customers. We’ve tried to find the silver lining in the restrictions and have adapted our business accordingly. We have a limit on capacity, and we are currently unable to

How do you feel the South Yorkshire business community has addressed the challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic, compared with others in your industry nationally? We are so lucky in South Yorkshire to have a supportive and vibrant business community – especially in the hospitality sector. Wickersley is a really nice place to not only live but to visit and we have found that over the last year people have really come together to help support independent retailers and bars and restaurants. The hospitality sector

in general has been one of the hardest hit and those challenges have been well documented but all we can ask for is support – and our customers and staff have shown us nothing but loyalty throughout. We have all had to adapt our offering and it’s been interesting to see how businesses have altered their output. People have really come together to support one and other and it is the community spirit of South Yorkshire that makes us proud to contribute to the sector. With restrictions continuing into July, how well-prepared do you feel the region’s hospitality sector is? We have learnt so much over this period and if we can get through this, we can get through anything. When bars, restaurants, cafes and venues can operate at full capacity, we truly believe that the sector will fly. Each time restrictions are eased we see an increase in bookings and we have to consider that people have more than a year’s worth of celebrating and catching up to do – so venues should be ready for that! We are a resilient region, and the sector will bounce back. It will be hard, but it will be worth it and we can’t wait to operate at full capacity and welcome back more of our customers soon!

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THE FURNACE Address: Unit 7 & 8, Block D, Heart of the City, Sheffield S1 4HS Name and job title: Lewis Mackay, general manager of The Furnace

stronger than ever. We have a lot of confidence in the North and the Sheffield City Region. As soon as indoor/outdoor restrictions were loosened, we couldn’t wait to open our doors and welcome the public back.

How have you found opening/ launching your venue during the existing restrictions on hospitality? What measures have you put in place? It is not the perfect situation for hospitality businesses – both new and established. That said, we are very pleased with how our launch has gone and encouraged for both the short and long-term. The Sheffield community, which we know well through our other venue, The Botanist, has been supportive and we’re now just excited to show off our new Sheffield-dedicated brand. There is a real desire from the public to get back out there and support businesses. People have been in lockdown and unable to socialise with

With restrictions continuing into July, how well-prepared do you feel the region’s hospitality sector is? Sheffield is a strong and resilient city and we’re confident the hospitality sector is well- placed to thrive again. One of the reasons we were attracted to the city is the Heart of the City plans. Alongside us, Heart of the City will welcome more great hospitality venues, including Cambridge Street Collective and Radisson Blu. We are confident this area will become even more of a key destination postCOVID-19 and appeal to visitors, midweek workers, students and the weekend crowd alike.

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friends and family for a long time and we are witnessing people of all ages using the city centre once again for meeting and relaxing. We are currently taking table bookings, plus a limited number of walk-ins. Our outside terrace is proving very popular during the recent good weather. Customers are, of course, required to use the track-andtrace app upon arrival and facemasks must be worn when not seated at your table.

How do you feel the South Yorkshire business community has addressed the challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic, compared with others in your industry nationally? The Sheffield business community adapted and reacted very quickly – no one saw the last 12-months coming. There is definitely a good support network and a sense of togetherness between businesses, who are committed to bouncing back

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Providing people with a home and a future

FOCUS ON POPULAR CAFE CHAIN LAUNCHES THIRD SITE AS LOCKDOWN EASES Popular Sheffield café chain Marmadukes has responded to growing demand from loyal customers with the opening of a third site in the city. Having acquired the new premises in 2020 with the support of Law firm Banner Jones’ commercial team, the restorations of the former sorting office on Ecclesall Road were delayed because of COVID-19 related lockdowns. With Marmadukes cafes also situated on Cambridge Street and Norfolk Row, the latest premises will boast an artisan bakery and food shop with a zero waste section, and an oat milk dispensary. A pastry kitchen downstairs with a separate entrance has also been fitted where the team will make bespoke celebration cakes for customers, and a driveway area to the side will play host to barbecues.

NEW CITY CENTRE ROOFTOP BAR OPENS Alto, a stylish new rooftop bar in Sheffield city centre, has officially opened its doors. Alto is located on the top floor of Cubo – the new modern

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Andrew Fielder, a commercial property expert at Banner Jones, said: “Husband and wife team Tim and Clare Nye have worked tirelessly to create

coworking and private office destination in the refurbished four-story building at 38 Carver Street. The contemporary and relaxed venue boasts an outdoor rooftop terrace, as well as a VIP area, DJ booth, built-in seating areas and a range of

a brand that is well loved by many for the quality of the food and drink that they serve, as well as their efforts around sustainability.

“With such a fantastic team around them we are sure of their continued success and we wish them all the luck with their latest venture.”

drinks, beers, cocktails, and food. The rooftop terrace, in particular, will add a new dynamic to Sheffield’s social scene and is sure to be popular throughout the upcoming summer months. Both Cubo and Alto are the

creation of Marc and Rebecca Brough – under their parent company Staton Young. They have previously opened both brands in Nottingham to huge success, and – since lockdown measures were eased – Alto Nottingham has been virtually fully booked. Said Rebecca. “We want to provide a fantastic space with a great atmosphere and bring a brand-new social hub to the city centre.” Councillor Terry Fox, Leader of Sheffield City Council, said: “It has been a difficult year for everyone, so it’s particularly pleasing to see such a great social space open up for our residents and visitors to enjoy and another fantastic new addition to Sheffield’s evolving cityscape.” Andrew Davison, project director at Queensberry, added: “Heart of the City is delivering a renewed vibrancy to the city of Sheffield, creating a sustainable and exciting mix of workspaces, residential, retail, social and cultural venues.”

ADVERTORIAL

GEO FOR BUSINESS STOPS CUSTOMERS IN THEIR TRACKS With the steel city’s retail and hospitality sectors bouncing back to life, Geo for Business is bringing the online into the real world – and making it work hard for you and your business. As technology catapults forward, brick and mortar businesses must compete. Geo for Business delivers the best the web has to offer right to the high street. You can advertise in the right place, at the right time, to the right people. Founded in Sheffield, the platform uses eye-catching smartphone promotions—known as GeoRewards™—to drive in-store sales and enhance customer value. Turn passers-by into customers right away Geo for Business is a selfservice platform that gets your vibrant digital promotions into people’s hands at prime times. Grab their attention in the ideal location and drive them into your premises to redeem quality GeoRewards™ with your business. Getting started is simple and doesn’t take much time at all. There’s an easy-to-use, intuitive dashboard for you or your team. Plus support from the Geo for Business team is on hand to offer you end-to-end help – that means expert guidance when setting up your profile and creating your first promotions on the platform. Sean Gregory, Geo for Business founder, said: “There’s nothing more frustrating than watching customers walk past your door. Every independent business owner knows that footfall doesn’t always equate to sales.

With Geo for Business, we’re ready to change that and give people a more effective way to reach customers quickly. “We’ve created a platform where customers and business owners can connect and interact. Sharing absurdly magical moments with nearby customers doesn’t have to be hard. We’ve taken all the work out of it for you, so creating instant, live promotions is effortless and takes minutes.” Of course, when it comes to the competitive world of high street hospitality and retail, hooking one customer is never enough. That’s why Geo for Business gives you the chance to turn one customer into many, many more. The platform’s extensive peer-to-peer network shares promotions amongst friends like wildfire. When you share a promotion with customers, you can grab the attention of a whole social circle. What’s more, all of the above takes a matter of seconds when your campaign goes live. “We know that there’s real power in social

groups,” Sean said. “They go out together, eat together, and shop together. So, we want to give business owners the opportunity to tap into that. “The fact that promotions automatically travel through friendship groups means you can make a huge impression. We’ve been working on

this for a long time, and we’re excited to share it initially with Sheffield’s retail and hospitality operators.” Geo for Business is launching in Sheffield soon with a special support package for Chamber of Commerce members. For more information visit business.getgeo.app now.

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PROPERTY

WHAT DO I NEED TO CONSIDER

BEFORE BECOMING A LANDLORD? Purchasing a property to let is an ‘exciting’ option for many people looking to improve their current – and future – financial situations. Mark Pereira, director of Resonate Property, talks unLTD readers through some key considerations. Purchasing a property to let is a popular consideration for many people looking to improve their current financial situation with additional rental income or to improve their pension value. Although the prospect of gaining an additional monthly income – and perhaps a more diverse investment portfolio and greater financial freedom – is exciting, there are numerous responsibilities involved with being a landlord and these should be thought about carefully before taking action. The many considerations range from making the investment itself, to knowing what taxes are going to apply and receiving maintenance requests and calls from tenants. Buying a property to let is not just an investment – you are starting a business.

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Below we discuss some key considerations when purchasing a buy-to-let property. As with any investment, whether that be buy-to-let property or investing in stocks and shares, it’s a good idea to begin with a plan for your finances, along with clear aims to work towards. The purchase price to own the property is the single largest financial outlay when becoming a landlord. There are numerous tangible and intangible factors that contribute to house prices, including the type and age of the property and its location, the wider economic situation at the time of purchase and what development is happening in the local region. You should dedicate a lot of time to deciding which

property and location will help you reach your aim. Rental yield – There are vast differences between properties when it comes to rental return. The rental yield represents how much money you receive in rent when considered as a proportion of the price paid for the property. Working with a local property investment expert can help you identify which properties and areas will provide the best rental yields. Maintenance and ongoing costs – Once your property is set up, you’ll have day-to-day costs to think about. Some of these might include landlord insurance, management fees, service charges, maintenance, property certifications, and licences. It is your responsibility to ensure the property is safe for your tenants.

Finance – Another consideration for entering the buy-to-let market is getting a mortgage. There are many options for financing property including the use of your cash, an interest only mortgage, or a repayment mortgage. We would highly recommend seeking the advice of a wholeof-market mortgage broker who can assist with your decision. Alongside the consideration of costs, you must make the property suitable and attractive to prospective tenants, manage and maintain it and ensure it meets the minimum legal standards in the UK. Working with an established property investment service provider will smooth your journey into buy-to-let ownership while ensuring you make the most of the opportunities.

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THE BACKBONE OF

E-COMMERCE FULFILMENT With e-commerce fulfilment on the rise in the UK, Ben Ellis – operations director at Prodek – shares the Sheffield e-commerce storage firm’s insights into ‘gaining that competitive edge and keep customers coming back’ E-commerce fulfilment is booming in the UK. The sector accounted for almost a third of all retail sales in the UK during 2020. Non-store retailers took a 77.7 per cent share of online sales in the UK last year. Specialist racking and shelving systems now form the backbone of several successful e-commerce businesses in the area. UK e-commerce is going through a rapid growth phase. Fulfilment companies know product storage is critical to gaining that competitive edge and keep customers coming back. Storage solutions which support rapid, accurate order dispatch, are part of fulfilment business growth strategies. Prodek started working with the e-commerce fulfilment sector in 2017 when Barnsleybased truck and trailer parts wholesaler, Universal Components (UC), combined their Sheffield and Barnsley operations to establish one, highly efficient fulfilment centre to support their ambitious growth plans.

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Prodek engineers installed specialist racking to accommodate a whopping 7,100 pallets and long-span shelving systems to store 1,000 e-commerce products. The new HQ offices and boardroom also received a full fit-out as part of the process. In addition to e-commerce storage, we quoted for a full head office fit-out. Having a single contractor carry out all the work ensured the project was completed quickly and completely hassle-free for the client. Since the complete fit-out of UC’s new distribution centre and head office, the Prodek team have returned to increase storage capacity further, accommodating an additional 1,065 pallets and bespoke exhaust pipe storage. UC supply a phenomenal range of truck and trailer products direct to end users – we’re talking cabin windscreens and body panels to drive train components and exhaust systems – and in the world of trucks, these parts can be pretty awkward and bulky to store.

The size and weight of products offered by e-commerce companies demand specialist storage solutions to ensure goods handling and order picking is as fast and efficient as possible. E-commerce newcomer Cloud 9 Fulfilment worked with Prodek to install specialist racking, accommodating 600 heavyweight pallet spaces in their new Sheffield distribution centre. Cloud 9 provide a fulfilment service for e-commerce companies, with secure storage and rapid dispatch of orders, direct to their clients’ customers. They take the headache out of fulfilment for companies selling their goods online, especially those selling via Amazon Prime. Van Pimps in Leicester is another e-commerce business reaping the benefits of storage for their bulky van conversion products, supplying the popular UK campervan market. Prodek installed racking to house 100 pallets with bespoke storage configured to accommodate all shapes and sizes, such as car seats, bonnets, doors, and windows.

All e-commerce fulfilment specialists offer rapid dispatch to meet customer expectations. Companies like Amazon have raised the bar for a broad spectrum of industries supplying goods direct. Fulfilment speed and accuracy are integral to providing the level of customer service most of us have come to expect when we make an online purchase. For Prodek, our winning formula is a combination of a comprehensive fit-out service – totally transforming an entire fulfilment operation – plus our rapid turnaround times. The ease of dealing with a single contractor and speed of installation is certainly why Prodek secure orders for e-commerce storage. These operations need to make a return fast and want a contractor who will get the job done quickly and efficiently – that’s what we do. T: 0114 244 0100 E: mail@pro-dek.co.uk W: www.pro-dek.co.uk/ Twitter: @ProDekDesign

BUSINESS PROTECTION

THE IMPORTANCE OF INSURANCE CLAIMS IN SUPPORTING BUSINESS Settling an insurance claim involves several stages and there are key actions firms can take to ensure it is resolved quickly – over to Vicky Linley Cert CII, head of claims at IFM Insurance Brokers Ltd. Getting a claim paid is arguably the most important aspect of insurance for a business. After all, if the worst happens, a business, having paid its premium, should expect a claim to be met to put things right. Settling an insurance claim involves several stages and there are key actions which firms can take to ensure their claim is resolved quickly. Motor, Property and Employer’s Liability are the most common types of claim which are made by businesses and indeed made against them.

BEING PREPARED FOR MOTOR CLAIMS It is imperative firms register any commercial vehicles used by the business on the Motor Insurance Database (MID), a central record of all insured vehicles in the UK. It is a legal requirement for vehicles to be registered on the MID. If not, insurers can reject any claim made against the vehicle. The premium your business pays for motor insurance is based on a calculation of various risk factors and it is vital you inform your broker of any vehicle or driver changes, along with details of any convictions or prosecutions pending. This may increase the premium you pay, but you will be safe in the knowledge that your policy will respond in the event of a claim. Terms and conditions within insurance policies do stipulate that claims/any incident that may give rise to a claim be reported immediately.

This not only ensures your own claim is dealt with quickly, but, in the case of an ‘at fault’ claim, allows your insurer to potentially deal proactively with the third party claim too, cutting costs. Taking photographs at the scene is a great way of capturing evidence of the damage, surrounding area and weather conditions. Your broker will assist in ensuring all required information is gathered to enable your claim to be processed.

ACTING ON PROPERTY CLAIMS The main causes here are fire, theft and flood. Adjusters have been used less frequently in recent years and tend to be reserved for the more complicated or larger losses. The smaller claims – and certainly claims below £5,000 – are generally dealt with within the insurer claims department. You must retain original purchase receipts as these can be provided, along with photographs of damage, a crime reference number (if applicable) and replacement estimates. If you buy new equipment and machinery, let your broker know to avoid being underinsured. This means, at the point of making a claim, a small business could find itself exposed if its policy fails to respond fully because the sums insured are inadequate. A broker can provide a small business with greater insight into the must-have areas of cover and what sums insured will be correct for them.

PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS AGAINST LIABILITY CLAIMS There is a continuing flow of claims from former or current employees for personal injury against employers and the time limit for this is three years. This means court proceedings must be issued within three years of someone first being aware they have suffered an injury at work. If you receive a solicitor’s letter for such a claim, you should not respond and send a copy of the letter to your broker immediately. You should ensure your accident book and RIDDOR report are fully

completed following an injury. Always inform your broker of injuries. Even if these do not result in a claim, insurers can be informed for ‘information only’ giving them the chance to make early investigations and if a claim is later received. It is also vital to undertake full risk assessments, keep comprehensive training records, enforce rules around the wearing of PPE and to keep on top of any repairs to reduce the chance of a successful liability claim.

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LAUNCHPAD

Jo N

Employing a traditional craft can appear an expensive and old-fashioned option – but JoiN founder Libby Pell is shining a bright new light on the picture framing industry thanks to ‘invaluable’ support from Launchpad

Tell us about your company? Our ethos is – frame it well, frame it once. We’ll make sure your artwork looks its best, is well looked after and, most importantly, puts a smile on your face. All of our picture frames are bespoke made for each and every customer, in our Sheffield-based workshop. We pride ourselves on using high quality and sustainable materials, including our new range of locally sourced oak mouldings. JoiN is here to guide you through the design process, elevate and add value to your artworks, for both galleries and homes. When did you first decide to start up on your own and what inspired you? By the age of 30, I already have nearly a decade of picture framing under my belt – framing original artworks by Salvador Dali, Picasso, Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, to name a few. Honing the craft and developing an expert eye for what visually works, I decided to take the enterprising leap in 2020 and launch my own picture framing business, JoiN. I had already run a small picture framing business in the centre of town, but I had ideas focusing on sustainability and locally sourced timbers and that drove me to set up on my own.

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an invaluable wealth of knowledge and experience. What are your hopes and aims for the business? I see JoiN defining itself as the go-to picture framing company for the highest standard of framing and the best advice on hanging solutions for galleries and homes. It’s our aim to continue developing our locally sourced timber range, a move we made at the start of the year that has cut 4000 miles of travel from our oak mouldings. Prince’s Trust executive for Yorkshire & Humber, Helen Strange said: “Working with Libby has been an absolute joy – she has been so open to feedback and advice, and has created an exciting and innovative business. I can’t wait to see how far she goes! “Stop dreaming and do it. Contact us for information now on 03330 00 00 39 or email growthhub@ sheffieldcityregion.org.uk.”

LIBBY PELL

How has Launchpad helped you? Having the guiding hand of The Princes Trust has been a huge help, providing the fundamental structure to define JoiN in its opening months. From the business

plan to forecasting the first year of trade, the team at PT helped focus my ambitions and excitement into a viable business model. In addition, I was paired with my business mentor Robin Tones, who has

Launchpad is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund meaning there is no cost to the entrepreneur, so we can get straight to work on turning those dreams into reality.

DO YOU HAVE TO PAY TAX ON THE SALE OF CRYPTOASSETS? Cryptoassets appear to be the next big thing and something many people are using as part of their investment portfolio. Jan Hall, director at C21 Chartered Accountants in Sheffield, takes a closer look at where you stand from a tax perspective if you want to sell. Most individuals who hold cryptoassets (such as Bitcoin) do so as a personal investment, usually for capital appreciation or to make purchases. HMRC has issued guidance to make it clear that these holdings will usually be subject to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) if any of the following apply: • Tokens are sold • Tokens are exchanged for a different type of cryptoasset • Tokens are used to pay for goods or services

• Tokens are given away to another person • Coins are donated to charity To check if you need to pay CGT, you will need to work out the gain for each transaction. The way the gain is calculated is different if you sell tokens within 30 days of buying them. If the asset was acquired free of charge, then the market value at the time of acquisition should be used to calculate the gain. Taxpayers can deduct certain allowable costs when working out their gain, including (but not limited to) the cost of: • Transaction fees paid before the transaction is added to a blockchain • Advertising for a buyer or seller

• Drawing up a contract for the transaction • Making a valuation so they can work out the gain for that transaction If the taxpayer’s main activity is trading cryptos, then Income Tax takes priority over CGT and will apply to profits (or losses). As this is a relatively new area of tax legislation, it can be easy to get things wrong. We’re advising an increasing number of clients on their tax liabilities surrounding cryptoassets, so if you are thinking of making any investments, or have a portfolio you want to sell, speak to us on 0114 213 4730 or jan@c21accountants.co.uk to avoid any nasty surprises from the tax man.

Do you want to find out more about how your business is performing, or what areas could be improved? Our free business health check is designed to give you practical information about your business that you can put into practice straight away!

0114 213 4730 info@c21accountants.co.uk www.c21accountants.co.uk

All we ask for is half an hour of your time over the phone, to ask you a few simple questions. Contact us today to book in your free, no obligation business health check!

FOR EVERY BR�GHT �DEA, EVERYWHERE Libraries open doors. Join a thriving business community in your local library. The British Library’s National Network of Business & IP Centres is transforming the way ideas grow into successful businesses. We’re supporting a thriving community of bright and inspiring people in South Yorkshire by partnering with local libraries all over the region. Offering insights and access to free resources, training and events – both online and in-person – we’ll help you imagine, start or develop your business. Whether you’re just setting out, need advice on protecting your intellectual property, or

simply have a brilliant idea you want to discuss, we’re here to guide you. You can find our National Network in regional hubs around Britain – each one based in a local library. We’ll meet you wherever you live and whatever your ambition. With new locations set to open soon, and a growing collection of helpful tools available online, we’re bringing business inspiration and support to more people than ever before to help you nurture your ambitions and plan for a bright future.

Read on to find out more about the Business & IP Centre South Yorkshire. Find your closest BIPC at sheffield.gov.uk/bipc BIPCSheffield

BIPCSheff

Business & IP Centre Sheffield

FEATURE

WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, AND DO I HAVE IT? You may not have thought that you have intellectual property (IP) that you need to protect, or it’s something you can think about later. Most businesses rely on some sort of ‘know how‘, idea or way of doing things, that distinguishes them from their competitors. To be successful and grow your business, understanding what it is that is unique about you is crucial. That’s where we come in.

There are many different sorts of ‘IP’ and we can help you identify the type you need to know about and how to protect it.

Copyright is an automatic right that does not need to be registered. It applies to the expression of an idea such as literature, music or art.

PATENTS

A patent protects your invention and lets you take legal action against anyone who makes, uses, sells or imports your invention without your permission.

REGISTERED DESIGNS

Registered designs protect the look and appearance of a product. Designs operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

If someone else has already registered or disclosed your design or a similar one, it is not available.

TRADE MARKS

A trade mark is any sign used by a trader to distinguish their goods and services from those of others. It must be both: capable of being graphically represented and capable of being distinguished.

WHY SHOULD I CONDUCT MARKET RESEARCH BEFORE STARTING MY BUSINESS? Market research should never be underestimated. It’s the simplest way for entrepreneurs to keep up with market trends and maintain a competitive edge by sizing up your business opportunity. Having a greater understanding of your marketplace from the very start will enable you to create a sound business strategy to establish and grow your brand into one that’s better than the competition. Our databases, publications and industry guides (including Mintel, IBISWorld, Fame, Grantfinder and more) provide you with essential information, from competitor analysis to intellectual property basics. These resources are worth more than £5million and are freely available so you can use your hard-earned money on other aspects of your business.

Undertaking this research will help you find out what your customers think about your product or service, including how much they are prepared to pay for it. You can discover new ways to engage with your customers and find out what they really think, find new suppliers, find new business sales leads and up to date grant and finance opportunities. Many successful new businesses enjoy longevity because their owners conduct regular market research to understand their target market, identify consumer problems and pinpoint realistic competitors, and are twice as likely to succeed beyond three years if they use the support of a Business & IP Centre. It’s all about knowing your customers, getting it right from the beginning and beating the competition.

Find out more at sheffield.gov.uk/bipc or get in touch at bipcsheffield@sheffield.gov.uk

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FEATURE

LIBRARIES ARE NOT JUST FULL OF BOOKS. THEY ARE FULL OF IDEAS. AND THE UK IS ONE OF THE BEST PLACES IN THE WORLD TO START A BUSINESS. For Sophie Heaton, business engagement and marketing manager for the Business & IP Centre South Yorkshire, bringing the two together just makes sense. With a background in business engagement and a wealth of experience in providing advice and guidance, the chance to be involved in this expansion project was an opportunity not to be missed. “I’ve been working with businesses across the Sheffield City Region for several years now, in various roles. It never ceases to amaze me how supportive our business community is. I spent much of last year working to support businesses through the pandemic, signposting to support schemes in the region and speaking with them about their situations.

“Whilst this has been an extremely challenging time for many businesses, and sadly we have lost many, it was encouraging to have almost daily conversations with individuals who wanted to bring their lockdown ideas to life, or feel that now is the right time to get their dream business up and running.” Business & IP Centre South Yorkshire supports entrepreneurs, inventors and small businesses from that first spark of inspiration to successfully launching and developing a business. The Centre was first opened in Sheffield in 2015 and within the first three years helped to created almost 400 business, 320 additional jobs and generated £2.8m GVA for the region. Working directly with the British Library since then, the BIPC National Network has supported the creation of over 12,000 new businesses, led to the creation of over 7,800 new jobs and generated an extra £78million GVA to the UK economy. Now, enabled by a major investment of £13 million announced by the Chancellor last year, the British Library is growing its highly successful network of library-based Business & IP Centres (BIPCs) to over 100 regional and local libraries across England, including in Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster and Crystal Peaks libraries. The expansion will equip dozens of regional and local libraries with

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BIPC spaces, resources, and services by 2023, building on the British Library’s network of small business support already available in 14 city centre libraries across the UK. “We’re on a mission to ensure libraries, as the heart of the community, are a core part of the business support offering across South Yorkshire. We’re passionate about helping to support businesses, both new and existing, to gain the background knowledge and information that they need before they can get going on their new business venture. We’re here to help businesses and entrepreneurs to protect their unique ideas and products, so they can take the next steps feeling secure and prepared.” Each Centre is equipped with a core set of resources, such as up-to-date market research and business databases, which are brought to life by a tailored and highly individual programme of events, workshops and one-toones, delivered in collaboration with local business leaders, role model entrepreneurs and community partners. “BIPC Sheffield is often described as a ‘hidden gem’, but we’re hopeful that with this expansion and the opening of four new spoke centres in the region, we can work alongside partners and other business support programmes to be at the forefront of delivering a unique and varied element of start-up and small business support.”

FEATURE BIPC South Yorkshire works in partnership with local patent and trade mark attorneys to offer free, confidential clinics for new businesses. We caught up with Abigail Welford (Franks & Co) and Adam Hirst (Withers & Rogers) to find out more. CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR FIRM? Abigail: Franks & Co is a firm of patent and trade mark attorneys, established in Sheffield in 1996. The firm has since expanded to have offices based in Northampton, Manchester and Antwerp in Belgium. We specialise in all aspects of intellectual property (IP) and have successfully helped clients to secure registered and enforceable rights in a variety of areas. We handle a range of clients from individual inventors to corporate entities and provide a personalised service for all our clients, regardless of their budget. Adam: We are an established and leading European and UK intellectual property firm with offices in Munich, Paris and across the UK. We have an office in Sheffield and a big team of IP experts across Yorkshire. We work with a diverse range of clients ranging from individuals to well-known multi-national corporations. As a large firm, we have attorneys with experience and expertise in a variety of fields, meaning that we can tailor our service to make sure that the right team works with each client.

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU OFFER REGARDING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY? Abigail: Our attorneys have expertise in all aspects of IP and can advise on what type

of IP protection is best for you and support you in obtaining that protection. We can file and progress patent, trade mark and design applications worldwide through our established associates and can enforce and defend intellectual property rights before the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court and High Court. We also offer prefiling searches to determine if a brand name is free to use and register, and patent searches which provide valuable reassurance before continuing with product launches.

depriving the original inventor or business of its uniqueness. There are also potential tax benefits in obtaining IP rights through the Patent Box tax relief scheme. If a business is going to be researching and developing a product, then unless that effort is protected it can easily be copied. But if the IP is protected, then a company can build up a moat around their products to keep competitors out and gain a strong market position.

inventor, or business so that they have an appreciation of the full range of protection available to them, and ensure they understand the limitations of any such protection. Sometimes the first time that we encounter a new client is when they have innocently strayed into somebody else’s IP rights. Failing to do research can cost companies a lot of money in written off product development and branding and can cause new products to be removed from the marketplace.

Adam: We advise on the protection and enforcement of IP rights for inventions, trade marks, designs and artistic works. We have wide commercial and industrial experience, and our technical expertise covers all major technologies. We are a one-stop shop for intellectual property in the European region. We also have a network of attorneys in firms in most countries worldwide whom we can draw upon for protection and advice as required to meet the needs of each client.

Adam: By properly protecting your IP, you can prevent others from being able to take advantage of what you have created without your permission. Patents are important as they prevent new products and processes from being exploited by those with no right to them. Registration of a trade mark prevents others from using the same or similar trade mark, thereby protecting your goodwill and reputation. The shape or appearance of a product is often what is most easily recognised by a customer. Registering a design prevents it being used by someone else for their product.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO PROTECT YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS HOW CAN A BUSINESS OF WORKING WITH A PATENT OR GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU? TRADEMARK ATTORNEY?

Abigail: Businesses and individuals often spend a lot of time and money developing ideas, brands and products. Without appropriate IP protections in place things such as names, logos and designs may be copied by competitors,

Abigail: Changes in IP law happen frequently. Working with an attorney means that you will always get the most up to date legal advice and the most appropriate and cost-effective IP protection. An attorney will be able to guide an entrepreneur,

Adam: Applying to protect your intellectual property with the relevant government agency can be a long and complicated process. Whilst an individual can apply for patents and trade marks themselves, by working with a patent or trade mark attorney they are much more likely not only to achieve a granted patent or registered trade mark, but crucially to achieve a granted patent or registered trade mark that provides the best possible and most useful protection of their intellectual property.

Abigail Welford at Franks & Co: Via our email franksco@franksco.com or telephone 0114 249 9888. Adam Hirst at Withers & Rogers: You can find out more about us at withersrogers.com or telephone 0114 273 3400.

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FEATURE

DID YOU KNOW THAT SHEFFIELD CENTRAL LIBRARY IS A PATENT LIBRARY? We are part of PatLib UK, a network of organisations across the country, that offer practical help and support with intellectual property. Not only do we support the local community with workshops and information support about intellectual property, we can help with patent and trademark searches and have one of the largest historical collections of English patents in the country. Most people think of needing patents to protect current inventions, but others view patents from the past as a valuable historical resource. Sheffield’s Historic Patent Collection goes back as far as 1617, with our online resource dating back to 1836. Our printed editions of these early patents are not available for public access, but we can support you to access digital copies. As a body of literature, patents are unrivalled in their comprehensive coverage of technology with inventions described in detail which are still commercially applicable today. Sheffield Central Library receives enquiries from around the country, ranging from academics doing research

into specific topics such as aeronautics or steam engines, to a member of the public curious about the patent number on a purchase. We were recently contacted about a small container a jeweller was working on, wanting to know what it was for. Using the patent number on the device we discovered that it was a holder for ‘tobacco cartridges’. Our collection also includes several patents granted to Samuel Roberts, a Sheffield silver manufacturer in the early 19th century. We can also help you if you are undertaking family history searches. A recent family history enquiry concerned patents that the family believed had been granted to an ancestor who was working for a glass bottle manufacturer in Rotherham, in the 1900s. Not only did we find the patents they were looking for, but also found a patent granted in 1934 to someone with the same surname. As this was new information for the family they were really surprised when we sent it

to them, as it was indeed another close relative! If you are looking for help with applying for a patent, we have monthly patent clinics with free appointments and our staff can give you support information. For historic patent enquiries, ideally we need the patent number or name of the inventor and the year it may have been granted.

To find out more about our Patent Library, or if you have any questions about our collection, contact the library on 0114 2734712 or email information.library@sheffield.gov.uk.

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Olusola McKenzie is a qualified fashion designer and runs Learn to Re-create, an award-winning social enterprise that offers fashion and textiles education and production. They promote excellence and focus on ethical practices to deliver a sustainable business, that positively impacts human lives and cares for the environment. Learn to Re-create was founded because of a desire to equip people in the fashion and textiles industry with the required skills to thrive in this industry. “I had an ambition to contribute to the revival of garment and textile accessories production to promote the ‘Made in the UK’ brand. We approached the BIPC as we wanted to understand more about how we could protect our brand and the business. I received business support from an IP lawyer to create a good IP strategy

for our new fashion product. In addition, we received advice to implement a robust business strategy for our production set-up and to strengthen our existing training service.” Olusola McKenzie, Learn to Re-create In the short-term, Learn to Re-create have plans to setup a micro-factory to produce their own fashion label. As part of their sales and marketing strategy, they will use Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technology which will enable them to enhance the user experience throughout the key touch points as they interact with the brand. Longer term, they will provide a production service to fashion start-ups and early-stage businesses by taking on commissions for prototyping and to fulfil small quantity orders.

To find out more about how we can support your business, if you have an intellectual property query or need advice on how to research a new business idea, drop us an email and we’ll get back in touch. Email bipcsheffield@sheffield.gov.uk or visit sheffield.gov.uk/bipc BIPCSheffield

BIPCSheff

Business & IP Centre Sheffield

FIVE MINUTES WITH...

CLOUD NINE DECOR Creative director Ruthie Ford tells unLTD how Sheffield’s ‘independent spirit’ and ‘creative people’ helped her set up Cloud Nine Décor which today supplies art installations for the videos and tours of local folk-singing legend Kate Rusby – as well as national festivals including Glastonbury One thing I didn’t expect to enjoy was managing people, but I now have a team of 30-40 installers who work for me on festival sites, and it’s fantastic to see them being creative as a team. The three words that best describe my business are… Colour, joy, surreal. Sheffield City Region is a great place to start a business because… There’s a really independent spirit in Sheffield and there are so many creative people in the city. You can feel a lot of local support throughout the city and it’s inspiring to see everyone busy with their own creative projects. There is a great network of people you can ask for advice and support, plus rent and living costs are also relatively cheap, so it is a great location where you can be quite flexible when you are first starting up your business.

I was inspired to start my business by… Attending music festivals each summer. In 2008 I went to Secret Garden Party, and I was inspired by how much creativity there was there. They were running a scheme at the time where if you bought a ticket, you would receive a piece of art from the festival and one of the artists mentioned they hire out their artwork to festivals across the country.

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A couple of years after, I applied to do an installation of giant flowers at the Secret Garden Party, and they were displayed on the Pagoda Stage that year. After that my business began to build and some of the first installations I created were for a music video with (Barnsley folk singer/ songwriter) Kate Rusby. Since then, I’ve worked with Kate for her Underneath the Stars Festival and I also made

bespoke giant snowflakes for her UK Christmas tour. Over the last few years, I’ve also worked with more than 20 festivals across the country, and I even supplied the art flowers for the Park Stage at Glastonbury. My favourite thing about running my business is… It’s great to go and work across the country in all of these different places and get paid to do what I love.

In 5 years’ time I expect my business… To be as it is now but with more variety. I’m currently working on an immersive art show which will be happening in Sheffield next year. The pandemic has allowed myself and Ruby, my partner on the project, more time to research and develop new installations and immersive art in the city. Going forward, I would like to be doing more projects in Sheffield rather than being away most of the summer at festivals as I want to be around more for my family.

COMPANY CULTURE

A NEW ERA FOR

BOOMING SHEFFIELD BASED BUSINESS

UNIHOMES It’s a new era for online student accommodation company, UniHomes, as the Sheffield-based business moves into a brand-new development, New Era Square. unLTD’s Matt Holmes caught up with the business to discuss student homes, their new HQ and, despite expansion, how Sheffield remains home.

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COMPANY CULTURE

The student accommodation market in Sheffield is booming. The combination of the city’s affordability for students, the £2.1 billion regeneration investment and strong returns on buy-tolet properties have seen it explode in recent times. Over the last 12 months alone, UniHomes has seen a 68 percent increase in students searching for rental accommodation, as well as a huge 234 per cent increase in student rental enquiries. So, it should come as no surprise that UniHomes is booming as well, positioning themselves as the UK’s leading student accommodation portal with bills included operating in 29 UK cities – with plans for that to be 40 by the end of 2021. That will mean an impressive 23 per cent of the total private student accommodation sector will be using UniHomes, equating to well over a quarter of a million people. It’s come a long way since the business was founded in 2015 by Phil Greaves, Bradley Cox and Luca Mori. Not only

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LEFT TO RIGHT: UNIHOMES DIRECTORS, LUCA MORI, PHIL GREAVES & BRADLEY COX

had all three been landlords and property professionals before starting UniHomes, but they had also all been students, ideally placing them

to understand both sides of the market. “Having been students ourselves we understood the stresses of the student housing

market,” said Co-Founder Phil Greaves. “It was the experience that helped develop the business as a solution to the issues the market faced. “We wanted to provide a transparent, easy-to-use portal where students could easily search for their next student house with full visibility of the rental price with bills included, and equally providing a trusted platform for letting agents to advertise their portfolio of properties for free.” It would appear they have followed through with that goal. On Trustpilot, the UK’s top consumer reviews website, UniHomes has an ‘excellent’ rating of 4.7 out of 5. Due to outgrowing their previous office in Kelham Island, UniHomes have recently been busy looking for a new home for themselves, setting up shop in the exciting New Era Square development near St. Mary’s Gate and Bramall Lane, and cementing their commitment to keeping their home in South Yorkshire. Regarding the move, Co-Founder Bradley Cox said: “Sheffield is the birthplace of

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COMPANY CULTURE

our business and as we expand into 29 university cities, it was important to us to continue to call Sheffield our home, and provide an engaging and vibrant place to work for our team while also being an attractive business for talent to want to work in the city.” Sheffield is home to circa 60,000 students, all carrying huge importance to the city. You could argue the city’s economy is reliant on their contribution and that their level of education and skill set means we should have a potential pool of talent on our doorstep. It’s becoming more important we avoid a ‘brain-drain’ of talent and experience leaving Sheffield, with businesses needing to offer desirable roles in exciting, interesting work environments. This is something UniHomes endeavours to do. As well as great opportunities for progression in a rapidly expanding company, the business model is focused around students, meaning that it’s well suited for roles to recent graduates. Their new offices are built to Grade A standard, and interiors are designed to the highest state-of-the-art calibre with ample break-out spaces for the team to socialise (safely distanced right now of course).

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“The past five years have been an incredible journey,” says Luca Mori, “from starting our UniHomes venture with the three of us around a dining room table, to welcoming our almost 50 strong workforce into our new state of the art office, we couldn't be prouder of what our team have helped us to create.” Brand Manager, Hannah Martin-Singh adds: “Since setting down roots in the business nine months ago, it’s been fantastic to experience the brand’s upward growth and we’re ecstatic about bringing even more letting agents on board. The company’s vibrant energy and attitude towards team members makes this without a doubt one of the best places to work in South Yorkshire”. Last year UniHomes hit a major milestone when the business acquired shared accommodation utilities company Split The Bills in a strategic move with the two businesses offering a complementary business model. A trusted name amongst its target market, the company takes the hassle out of paying bills for tenants in shared accommodation (not just students) removing the need for a ‘chief-bill payer’ or figuring out who owes what. All the household bills get

HANNAH MARTIN-SINGH, BRAND MANAGER AT UNIHOMES

Since setting down roots in the business nine months ago, it’s been fantastic to experience the brand’s upward growth.

bundled into one payment and shared equally between each tenant. Phil added: “Our acquisition of Split The Bills is helping us expand our network as a business across the student market and become synonymous as the go-to accommodation portal for students.” The two businesses combined have put UniHomes in an enviable position of dominating the competitive student accommodation market, and their impressive growth doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. You can check out UniHomes and Split The Bills on their respective websites at: www.unihomes.co.uk and www.splitthebills.co.uk

FOCUS ON

CHANGE KEEPS COMING:

ARE YOU AGILE

ENOUGH TO KEEP UP? Like landscape from a train window, change just keeps coming. Kirsty Tagg, Business Coach and Trainer for Dale Carnegie Training, a global leader in culture, performance, and blended learning, argues that agility is the most important element for successful leadership in a rapidly changing business environment. Long before COVID-19, businesses were contending with unprecedented change driven by technology, AI, politics, the economy, and the environment. Then, along came the pandemic. As we migrated back to the workplace after the third national lockdown in March, leaders were tasked with reengineering the latest iteration of a blended work environment where colleagues had a new set of expectations. Managing these intricacies was yet another tricky pandemic-related leadership challenge.

ARE YOUR BUSINESS AND PEOPLE AGILE? As the pandemic raged, some businesses thrived, others survived, and tragically others closed their doors. There are no judgements. For some organisations, the heavy toll extracted by COVID-19 was too

much to bear, despite prudent and resilient leadership. The need for organisational flexibility lingers as a constant. As goes the axiom, it is better to bend than break. When managing change effectively, I would argue that agility is the key component for success. A Forbes Magazine study revealed 81% of executives consider agility the most important characteristic of a successful organisation due to the demands of continuous innovation.

DEFINING AGILITY Simply, you can think of agility as the capacity to be flexible to change. Along with systems and processes, business agility comprises of resilience, social intellect, capacity to act, and a clear business mission. Dale Carnegie defines agility as ‘the ability to act on information, make decisions quickly and implement them to meet the rapidly-evolving requirements

of customers and the business environment.’ Our Thought Leadership Team researched agility across some 3500 people from major organisations in 11 countries. They concluded there are five foundations for organisational agility.

CLEAR PURPOSE, CENTRED ON CREATING VALUE FOR CUSTOMERS The research showed that managers in high-performing businesses place strong emphasis on the customer and demonstrated that these businesses understand that ‘new information may prompt a course adjustment at any time’. This client focus supports agility by providing a consistent reason for change, in turn empowering employees to be innovative, driving engagement, and deepening connection with customers.

So for your managers, the take home is to ensure their teams receive regular, clear communications and updates on the organisation’s purpose, and involve colleagues in the change process so they can feel part of the world that they are helping to create.

FOSTER RESILIENCE The survey suggests that leaders need to promote a culture of positivity and confidence to underpin structural agility. This helps people to think more flexibly, innovatively, and creatively, in turn enabling greater bouncebackability from high pressure situations, diminishing fear of failure, inertia, and blame culture. To achieve this cadence, leaders must provide specific positive feedback to increase team confidence. They concluded, ‘In organisations aspiring to agility, modelling

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FOCUS ON genuine positivity, and building self-confidence – that is, fostering resilience – should be priorities.’

IMPROVING SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE Social intelligence (SI) creates an environment of trust and psychological safety – fertile ground for agility. SI is just a fancy way of describing our ability to get on with others. For businesses, this will underpin effective collaboration, creative intelligence, and the ability to lead change effectively. Managers with strong SI are better connectors and much more likely to build trust, influence, and foster cooperation. Where there is a dearth of SI, you should look at soft skill development around areas like communication, critical thinking, creativity, empathy, and teamwork. This will be a driving force to develop business-critical people skills that drive agile thinking and behaviours. The research suggests ‘that people with strong social intelligence contribute more to creative performance.’

ENHANCING CAPACITY FOR ACTION Here is the caveat. All the insight data in the world can be meaningless without the ability and willingness to act. Agile businesses are characterised by an ability to quickly pivot in response to the evolving requirements of people, clients, and external conditions. So, your business needs to enhance capacity of people to transform insights into innovation. This might mean developing key people in the skills that have a transformational impact on performance and the ability to engage and inspire teams.

IN SUMMARY Foundational and sustained agility is built on a shared customer-centred purpose, communicated clearly and regularly, the ability of managers to scan the horizon,

act on new information and lead change, clear feedback processes, and a powerful learning culture built on confidence, positivity, collaboration, and high levels of creative and social intelligence.

DEVELOP EFFECTIVE LISTENING TOOLS TO LEARN AND ENGAGE Agile organisations are good at developing mechanisms that drive innovation. Depending on business size, this could mean anything from 1-2-1s and workshops through to companywide surveys. So, whether through facilitated interactions or structured evaluations, asking the right questions, and listening to customer and colleagues, enables quality data and increased understanding and efficiency in responsiveness to change. This type of twoway dialogue keeps people engaged and an active part of transformation. Just like resilience, engagement is a key component in developing agile mindsets.

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Your local IT service provider is on hand to take away the stress of managing your IT systems, so you can concentrate on what you do best, running your business.

Why outsource your IT support to Dentech? 1. Cost saving Our services are tailored to your business, so you only pay for what you need.

2. Peace of mind Reduce your risk of cyber-crime and protect from virus, malware and loss of data with our Back up and Disaster Recovery service.

6. Fast implementation of new technology With access to shared resources you will always have the latest software updates, reducing virus threats and software failure.

3. Flexibility

7. Access to professionally qualified and industry trained technicians

Our fee includes both on site and Remote Management and Monitoring (RMM).

With industry standard partners, we have a wealth of shared resources from specialist IT professionals.

4. Increased business efficiency

8. Instant availability

We ensure your IT equipment and systems are working at peak efficiency.

You have a full time IT manager on hand whenever you need them, without the cost of employing one.

5. Legal & Commercial Compliance We ensure your IT system fully complies with the latest legislation (such as GDPR) as well as PCI security standards if you accept credit & debit card payments.

Dentech IT is a managed service provider with offices in Sheffield and Rotherham, offering IT support and timely maintenance to SME’s in South Yorkshire – all at a fixed monthly fee. We can work as an extension to your existing IT team, or become your in-house team if you don’t have one. Switching is easy - contact us today to see how we can help!

0114 279 2820 | hello@dentechit.org.uk | www.dentechit.org.uk

ADVERTORIAL

PAY MONTHLY, FIXED FEE IT SUPPORT – AN IDEAL SOLUTION FOR THE MODERN BUSINESS With many employees working from home and major disruption in the office, it’s no wonder IT equipment has been taking something of a battering of late. Luke Denman, MD at Dentech IT, takes a look at the benefits of a consolidated IT support solution. The last thing businesses need at this moment is any uncertainty or concerns over their IT systems as we start to re-group and return to some sort of normality. For many businesses, especially SMEs, employing a full time IT technician is not financially viable, so how can you ensure your IT systems are working at peak performance and reliability? With a monthly support package from an IT provider, you get a personally assigned IT manager, working in conjunction with a help desk, to sort out any issue, either on site or remotely. For a much lower monthly cost than employing someone, even on a part time basis, you are covered 24/7 with Remote Management & Monitoring (RMM) services, that actively monitor and check for potential problems and correct them – in many cases before you are even aware of an issue. With the constant monitoring and updating of operating systems, email, data back-up and anti-virus software, your IT systems remain secure and efficient. After all, no one can afford to have idle equipment leading to possible business disruption. Having an on-call support package reduces this

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of mind in knowing not only is your IT system being monitored 24/7 to ensure optimum performance, but you have an engineer on call to put things right in the quickest possible time. In addition to maintaining your IT system via 24/7 monitoring, regular health checks and restoring your failed equipment or systems, you will also have access to a wealth of great value products including hardware, software, and ancillary items. This includes the provision of Microsoft 365 – business tools software which covers everything from premium Office applications and Teams virtual video meetings, through to business email and extensive Cloud storage, which can be supplied on a monthly fee basis, rather than an annual payment which Microsoft charge when dealing direct.

LUKE DENMAN, MD AT DENTECH IT

possibility and is designed to get you back up and running as quickly as possible.

premises. This is particularly important with the increase in remote working – your staff are covered, even if they are working from home. There are also out of hours automated updates for your software and operating systems and, once again, this can be undertaken at remote locations.

What should you expect a monthly support package to include? Tailored remote IT support provides you with a whole host of benefits. Your support package should include remote system monitoring and on screen fixing, in most cases What are the benefits? without having to visit your The main benefit is peace

Tailored business IT support – all in one package The last thing you want on the road to recovery is an IT system that lets you down just when you need it most. With remote monitoring beavering away in the background, your IT support is there even when you don’t realise you need it. To discover more about our tailored monthly fixed fee IT support packages, contact us on 0114 279 2820, email hello@dentechit.org.uk or visit www.dentechit.org.uk.

ADVERTORIAL

FROM INTERN TO HEAD OF COMMS –

A TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY This time last year Whyy? Change were looking to establish and enhance their brand following a challenging few months in lockdown and hired a marketing intern. With restrictions easing, they share the journey Matt Trueman has made over the past 12 months… It’s July 2020 and Sheffield based training provider Whyy? Change has recruited a marketing intern through Sheffield Hallam’s Class of 2020. Matt’s role was to communicate the voice of the business and deliver growth across its channels. At the time Ray Byrne, CEO, said: “Matt has demonstrated the talent and behaviours I want to see in the team. My job is to get out of his way.” A year later and Matt is now head of communications at Whyy? Change. Here’s Matt’s 12-month journey as he reveals just how. Collaborate Having graduated from university, I came into the business with lots of fresh ideas and was given the freedom to put my spin on the content being created. CEO Ray and director of governance Emma Harrison were super supportive which gave me the confidence to experiment. One thing I’ve learnt since starting is the importance of collaboration. Collaborating with other stakeholders and partners has enabled Whyy? Change to foster longterm partnerships with CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing), CMI (Chartered Management Institute), Pearson Edexcel and Bureau Veritas (read more in January’s edition of unLTD on page 32). These partnerships have added value to Whyy?

Change’s apprenticeship offering, while giving me experience working closely with other leading educational institutes in the UK. Navigate Navigating my marketing career at Whyy? Change has been fast paced, having started as an intern, and after two months I was taken on full time and given the role of marketing lead in September. To have been offered a full-time graduate position during a pandemic was a sign of Whyy? Change’s commitment to growth, and vision of providing business knowledge

and services to transform people and industry. In January 2021, I started my CIM Level 4 Certificate in Professional Digital Marketing training – a qualification I’ve always been interested in studying with it being highly regarded in the marketing industry – while developing skills in planning campaigns, applied marketing and digital marketing techniques. Transform One month later I was promoted to head of communications, being given the responsibility of managing the marketing content for all six of Whyy? Change’s product

channels – Marketing, Leadership, Lean and Six Sigma, Apprenticeships, Quality HSE and Functional Skills. Being accountable for marketing multiple product channels, planning events and building Whyy? Change’s online brand has given me exposure to the marketing industry and the world of professional training. One of the projects I’ve enjoyed being a part of is helping to design Whyy?’s guiding principles. As the team grows, instilling the business mantra of ‘Think. Plan. Crack On’ and the guiding principles into everyone has helped us to build a positive company culture. I’ve also been empowered to deliver LinkedIn Sales Training to businesses to give them the confidence to find new clients and enhance their online presence. If you’re looking to get savvy on LinkedIn “whyy” not get in touch? Just drop me a line at @matthewtrueman@ whyychange.com and we can discuss all things LinkedIn.

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ADVERTORIAL

THE REAL EUROS BATTLE LIES WITH PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS There’s excitement at the DeeperThanBlue offices in Victoria Quays. With Euro 2020 now in full swing, head of analytics Simon Harrison is giving bookkeepers a run for their money in the form of predictive analytics and human guesswork

"Euro 2020 comprises 51 matches between 24 countries, split into six groups. Before the start of the first round, we asked people to submit a full set of score predictions for each match in the group stages and collated them in our database, segmented by each person’s knowledge level. "We also took some of the world’s best algorithms and popular publicly shared predictions and benchmarked them against our human predictions to see which will come out on top – a hard fight to win when you’re up against the likes of William Hill,

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Ladbrokes and the FIFA World Rankings. "We also created our own prediction algorithm, which uses a wide range of sources, historic results, squad values and recent performance to predict the most likely score outcome. "All this ties together nicely into our own Power BI dashboard, which presents who will win based on the data we’ve collected – both human and AI – as well as highlighting the most popular scores. “We love doing this for the major football tournaments - it is always a lot of fun. It’s a good chance to put our driver

analysis skills to the test in notoriously difficult to predict football matches as a change to the usual business-oriented applications. “So far in the first round the human predictors have the

edge, but we will see that as more games are played, the consistency of the algorithms will prevail. “Applying this to exciting football tournaments is the only time that my 14-year-old son thinks that what we do is actually cool.”

ADVERTORIAL

RE-IMAGINING BUILDING SURVEYING From a childhood spent on building sites to becoming an RICS Chartered Surveyor, Josh Weston, lead director and co-founder of Fourth Wall Building Consultancy, is on a mission to change a misunderstood industry.

As a traditionally archaic industry, building surveying is not widely understood, but we’re on a mission to change that. We want to re-imagine surveying – cutting the jargon and speaking to clients in clear, plain language. A building survey is essential for anyone purchasing or leasing a house or commercial property – but a lot of people don’t really understand what a surveyor does. I’ve had people show me a report from elsewhere that just doesn’t provide them with clarity or guidance, so why would they think it’s essential? From a childhood spent on building sites to becoming an RICS Chartered Surveyor, I’ve been immersed in property and construction. I’ve always been passionate about creating new spaces and bringing life into old ones – much of that probably began by being given my own toolset aged four and seeing my dad at work. When I began my career as a surveyor, it quickly became clear to me there was an opportunity to bring my northern honesty to the industry and transform the way building surveying services are delivered and communicated, so I can help people to truly understand the buildings they use – whether that’s an asset, workplace or home. We’ve stripped things back, developing a bespoke report with our clients’ needs in mind, focusing on high quality service, and an executive

summary perfect for solicitors and asset managers. We make sure that, no matter what condition the property is in, our clients feel confident and supported in dealing with any potential issues. We create not only great value for them as a service, but ensure they avoid unnecessary stress and delays and are more likely to complete on their purchase. Fourth Wall wants young people to seek this out as an industry to be proud of, and anyone buying and selling property to know how essential measured professional advice is. Surveyors go through years of education and training, so are incredibly knowledgeable

in spotting and highlighting numerous issues. The property industry can seem confusing and technical, but we’re determined to change that and make it much more accessible. Our personal touch is what really makes it for me. We speak to every client directly to go through questions before and after their survey, and at any other stage, meaning we have repeat customers, recommendations and are also instructed on architectural work. Clients trusting us is paramount. We launched in Sheffield earlier this year as, born and bred here myself, we’re passionate about the region and could see a gap

in the market for a dynamic practice offering the personal touch. We’ve seen seismic change in the property world over the past few years, from COVID-19 changing the way retail and office spaces work, to the Grenfell disaster forcing change in the residential market and highlighting the need for property due diligence and a sharper focus on what makes this profession so valuable: integrity. This is an incredibly important time for the property and construction industry, and we all need to adapt moving forward as we continue to see changes in the use of commercial property, and continued demand for residential. We want to evoke change in surveying and are driven to do things differently, including the value we give to our team where everyone sees the rewards from their hard work and commitment. For more information, visit www.fourthwallbc.com.

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YOUR PITCH

WAXING AND LASHES WITH JULES In 2016, charity and social care worker Jules Dixon was sat at traffic lights when entrepreneurial inspiration struck. She tells unLTD how four years on she is loving running her own ‘very personal’ beauty business. Tell us about your business – sell yourselves! I’ve got a little beauty business called Waxing With Jules. I was working in an entirely different area – for a charity in social care – and one sunny day I was stopped at traffic lights with the window down and gazing out. I saw a sign which said ‘Learn To Be a Waxer’ outside a beauticians at the side of the road and I’d always thought what a satisfying role it must be. It’s like the beauty equivalent of a painter and decorator – you stand back at the end and see what you’ve achieved, and it must be super satisfying. So I drove home, and signed up and paid for the course. But instead of doing what I normally do (which is sign up and then do nothing about it afterwards!) I didn’t hesitate. I did the course, bought the equipment, started a Facebook page and off I went! I was amazed at how quickly my business grew and my other popular service is a lash lift and tint which is great fun – I love seeing the before and after transformation. I am a one-woman band, and work really hard to make sure my customers feel relaxed and comfortable. Working from home makes a difference, too, because customers know they are in a safe environment and getting a very personal service from

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business. Now I wonder why I didn’t set up on my own years ago as I get so much out of it. Nothing makes me happier than new customers saying, ‘you were recommended’ – I’m lucky as I hear that quite a lot.

BEFORE A WAXING AND LASHES WITH JULES LASH LIFT TREATMENT

AND THE RESULTS OF THE LASH LIFT TREATMENT

me and 100 per cent of my attention – not a different shop employee each time. I always talk to people about what they want and give them that service to the

very best of my ability – my motto is ‘I want to do what YOU want to do’. My customer base is so loyal, and it is really touching considering this is my first

Who are your customers and how are you targeting them? It started predominantly as word of mouth. In the very early days, I had my price list printed up in the old-fashioned style and went round our estate and other estates in Sheffield, posting them through letterboxes. I thought ‘you’re a small local business, not everyone is on social media and how will you reach those who aren’t?’ At the same time, I also thought ‘this is a waste of time and money!’, just thinking about the people who wouldn’t look at it or it wouldn’t appeal to. But I get returning customers off the back of that today who say, ‘I still have your price list on my fridge door!’ So it was worth every penny and minute of my time. My Facebook page is popular as well and the business is now on Instagram, too. How can people get in touch with you? Facebook: @Waxing_with_Jules Instagram: @Waxing_with_Jules

IF YOU ASK ME

IF YOU ASK ME:

COMMUTING Many businesses are continuing to return to the workplace, while others are increasingly adopting a hybrid model of balancing office life with staff remote working. Here we chat to a range of organisations about how this affects the commute – and how the South Yorkshire transport community has addressed the challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic.

SOUTH YORKSHIRE PASSENGER TRANSPORT EXECUTIVE (SYPTE) TIM TAYLOR, DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER SERVICES What measures have you put in place during the existing restrictions to ensure passenger/staff safety? In interchanges, we’ve put enhanced cleaning regimes in place which include extra attention to ensure doors, handrails, lifts and ticket machines remain disinfected. We’ve installed hand sanitiser dispensers, and our toilets are currently free of charge for access to handwashing facilities. We’re using signage, seat stickers and floor vinyls to help with social distancing and to manage queuing. We’re still monitoring customer movements to keep people safe. Capacity on board services has been limited to allow for social distancing, though on 17 May bus operators increased

capacity by making most of their front-facing seats available. We’re still encouraging people to wash or sanitise their hands regularly when they travel, leave windows open on board and keep a safe distance where possible. And of course, you should continue to wear a face covering when you use public transport, unless you’re exempt. How do you feel the South Yorkshire transport community has addressed the challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic, compared with others in your industry nationally? Locally we’ve worked really well together as an industry to maintain services for key workers, and now for people who need to travel as things have opened up. We’ve worked closely with colleagues in central and local government, as well as industry bodies, to ensure our approach in South Yorkshire is aligned with the wider

moving and ensure safety for passengers when they’re using our services.

public transport industry. However, we’ve been mindful of our residents’ needs, our geography, the needs of our local businesses and protecting the public. We’ve definitely seen a closer day-to-day working relationship with key organisations locally including Public Health, South Yorkshire Police, the four local authorities, larger employers and education settings over the last year or so – and with the public transport operators too. That’s been essential to be able to keep people

With restrictions continuing into July, how well-prepared do you feel our region’s transport sector is? The public transport network in South Yorkshire is largely running now as it was pre-pandemic. Services are available, and there is capacity. We know people have really missed certain things since last March, and we want to let everyone in South Yorkshire know that public transport is here, it’s safe and there are loads of options within the network to help you shop, work and play. The effort that’s been put in during the pandemic, from everyone we’ve worked with, has been phenomenal and under truly exceptional circumstances. So we’re proud to say that, extended restrictions or not, there’s a seat for you on our public transport network, and we can’t wait to welcome you!

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IF YOU ASK ME TRANSPENNINE EXPRESS DARREN HIGGINS, COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR What measures have you put in place during the existing restrictions to ensure passenger/staff safety? We’ve been keeping customers informed every step of the way through our reassurance campaign, providing crucial information pre-travel, during the journey and onboard. We added more signage for social distancing and promoted wearing face coverings, continually re-evaluating how to adapt to the current government guidelines. Seat reservations for advance bookings have been reintroduced to identify available seating onboard as current permitted capacity is 40 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. Across our network, we’ve invested heavily in our enhanced cleaning programme across our trains and stations, with an additional 20 teams of onboard cleaners to reassure and keep customers and our colleagues safe. We’ve encouraged the use of digital ticketing by promoting smart and barcode tickets and launching more contactless payment solutions – tickets can be purchased online via the TransPennine Express website or using the TPExpress App where you can now pay using Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal. This has

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gradually we’re seeing customers returning to the office, so as an industry we’ve needed to respond to reflect this demand. As a transport community, we’ve worked collaboratively to provide services to key workers and adapted the timetable as the pandemic evolved and lockdowns changed. Fundamental to supporting customers on their journeys has been offering more digital and contactless solutions, and providing more enhanced communications.

also helped reduce customer touchpoints and the need to visit ticket offices and ticket vending machines. We received the ‘We’re Good to Go’ accreditation from Visit Britain, confirming that customers can travel with us safely and confidently. We’ve also supported the Rail Delivery Group’s (RDG) safety travel pledge confirming our commitments to COVID-19 safety across our stations.

With restrictions continuing into July, how well-prepared do you feel our region’s transport sector is? As a business we continue to monitor the situation

and government guidelines really closely. We are running more than 80 per cent of our pre-pandemic timetable but as customer numbers look to increase, we’ll ensure we have the right timetable and the strong performance to support them. Some customers may have not travelled with us for over 12 months so it’s about giving them the correct information to reassure them prior to their journey and give them additional help along the way. We’ve recently launched our Flexi Season ticket, a new product offering eight days of travel in 28 days. This ticket is available between two stations at any time providing customers more options for hybrid and flexible working.

How do you feel the South Yorkshire transport community has addressed the challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic, compared with others in your industry nationally? At the start of the pandemic, we saw customer numbers drop to five per cent of previous volumes but

IF YOU ASK ME GOOD TRAVEL MANAGEMENT LTD SARAH WALTON, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER What measures have you put in place during the existing restrictions to ensure passenger/staff safety? We have been in regular contact with our customers to determine what they, and their travellers, need to feel safe and confident. We have clients operating in ‘essential’ sectors, such as engineering, construction, and offshore industries – who have been able to travel – and used their feedback to adapt our services and advice for all clients. Clear and relevant information regarding restrictions and requirements – in addition to receiving proactive advice and guidance – are key. We created several resources to assist with this, which feature on our COVID-19 Business Travel

Guidance Hub and includes checklists for travellers to use before, and during, travel to guide and prepare them for an easier and safer trip. We update it with the latest travel restriction information, safety measures put in place by travel operators, and advice on how we help organisations to amend their travel policies ensuring they

are relevant for travel in challenging times. We moved many customers from online booking to dealing directly with our team of consultants who have the experience and knowledge of ever-changing travel restrictions and finding fares and rates that allow maximum flexibility. We proactively provide travellers, and their employers, with advice and the latest information before, and during, any trip. Having our support during the trip, should plans change due to amendments to travel restrictions or advice, is a key benefit. Additional travel booking complexities, due to the pandemic and Brexit, has seen a shift by companies from booking travel themselves to using us to manage their travel requirements. How do you feel the South Yorkshire transport community has addressed the

challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic, compared with others in your industry nationally? Organisations and operators throughout the travel supply chain rapidly changed their working operations to ensure travellers felt safe and confident to travel. They also fast-tracked innovation and adaptation of existing services that will continue to provide benefits for travellers post-pandemic. With restrictions set to continue into July, how well-prepared do you feel our region’s transport sector is? Operationally it is very well-prepared. We’ve been part of a lot of pro-active collaboration between operators to make travelling as safe and as simple as possible for passengers. That collaboration has brought about changes that make the sector, and our business, operationally flexible.

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IF YOU ASK ME TRAVELMASTER MATT SMALLWOOD, MANAGING DIRECTOR What measures have you put in place during the existing restrictions to ensure passenger/staff safety? TravelMaster’s role with passengers is sort of indirect. We provide the tickets, and our operator partners provide the service. Primarily, we’ve used our comms channels to communicate the government and operator public transport guidance while also encouraging, as much as we can, the purchase of our tickets off-vehicle to help reduce the contact between frontline staff and members of the public. How do you feel the South Yorkshire transport community has addressed the challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic, compared with others in your industry nationally? I think the transport sector, at large, has responded quickly and proactively to the challenges posed by the pandemic. The cleaning regimes in place mean buses, trams and trains have been recognised as amongst some of the safest places throughout the pandemic.

BIZSPACE DONCASTER YSABELLE SLACK, BUSINESS CENTRE MANAGER What patterns are you seeing in tenants’ travel habits? Pre- pandemic customers who live within walking distance relied heavily on a car to get to and from the workplace – this has resulted in many now walking and/or using public transport. This has helped the body and mind and decreased car

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The impressive additional steps taken by operators, like publishing occupancy data measures for passengers and clear up-to-date communication on service

dependency after spending many months indoors with only exercise as an escape. For customers who live further afield, it’s been a realisation of how they rely deeply on a vehicle to get to and from work with the pandemic causing most services to be reduced. Is office occupancy increasing once again or are people continuing to work from home? Since restrictions were lifted, we have seen a huge demand

capacity and rules, have helped keep them informed and keep connected. With restrictions continuing into July, how well-prepared

do you feel our region’s transport sector is? There has been increased capacity on vehicles as the region re-opens at each stage of lockdown easing – there will be challenges as evidence suggests there are more cars on the road than prepandemic and this was already causing issues on service reliability. In terms of TravelMaster’s ticketing offer, we have been working closely with businesses to help align public transport tickets with their own propositions. For example, we’re working with the Sheffield BID to explore innovative ways to support the high street through integrating travel tickets. We’re also working with the hospitality sector to allow visitors to pay for travel when they book a stay and we’ve the exciting new Flexi5 product coming this month which is designed for commuters and casual use. The Flexi5 will be a key product on the road to recovery. It’s one ticket stuffed with five separate days of flexible travel in 31 days (for the price of four) across buses and trams. This makes it just the ticket for passengers making the occasional trip into town to shop or for the former Monday-Friday commuter turned now-and-then nineto-fiver.

for office space, with most now wanting to return to the office.

We have seen a huge demand for office space, with most now wanting to return to the office.

What are the reasons behind businesses returning to an office environment? More than 80 per cent of customers have stated working from home has caused decreased motivation, distractions, and a lack of a good working environment – because there are no physical separations between work and leisure/ home time.

Team Talk

Q&A

with

A hot topic in the marketing world is Sustainability. The team at Sheffield-based Digital Agency, Hydra Creative, are back to discuss the importance of sustainability in marketing campaigns. marketing strategy. Sustainable marketing may be identified Chloe Sheeran, Front-End Developer with wording such as Christa Chambers, Multimedia Executive ‘organic’, ‘eco-friendly’ David Saunderson, UX / Graphic Designer or ‘recyclable’. It can also mean swapping Jana Kukebal, Studio Assistant to more sustainable Jasmine Savery, Digital Marketing Assistant options in all aspects of your marketing. For Q: What is sustainable example, for printed marketing and why is marketing collateral, such as brochures, you could instead print it important? them on recyclable paper with A: Sustainable marketing is the vegetable inks, or send them as a term used to describe when digital brochure instead. - CS sustainable aspects of your business, product or service Q: What can sustainable is promoted as part of your marketing do for marketing messaging. Sustainable a business? marketing can create a perception A: Sustainable marketing can of higher value, encouraging bring about many benefits for a higher value sales, and improving business, such as a positive brand customer loyalty, so can be an reputation, which could lead important aspect of your overall to a big increase in customers. Conscious consumerism is now bigger than ever, with 70 percent of people saying they are looking for specific attributes, such as sustainability, that are important Digital marketing can be a to them when choosing a brand to great way to reduce your purchase from (according to IBM). environmental footprint – If you position your brand as an not to mention it is highly active figure in an environmental measurable, meaning you or societal issue, it can humanise can focus your budget on your brand messages and create the marketing platforms that another reason why customers actually work! - DS should choose you over your competition. - JS

Contributors:

Tip:

Q: Are there any quick swaps to be more sustainable in your marketing strategy? A: Although it can be challenging for a business to switch entirely to operating sustainably, there are areas within your business that can offer quick but meaningful wins to becoming more sustainable – you may already be doing some of them as part of a CSR strategy. - CC

You can reduce your marketing carbon footprint by creating printed campaigns, flyers, brochures, and posters using materials that are environmentally friendly and are recyclable. If you give away promotional items, make the switch to reusable everyday items that your potential customers will need and use. And of course, going digital with your marketing can have a huge positive impact on your environmental footprint. - JK

When we put our heads together – we’re Hydra We are the digital agency devoted to collaboration and client success. Hydra_Creative

HydraCreative

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0114 250 9578 | www.hydracreative.com

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IN A NUTSHELL

IN A NUTSHELL BY JILL THEOBALD

Lead features writer Jill is happy to be back commuting on the buses

BUS / TRAM / TRAIN KEPT A-ROLLIN’ Back in our October 2019 issue, I wrote an article all about how being able to work flexibly made all the difference to my commute and working day. A 30-minute later start and finish time halved my commute time because I was missing rush hour and not sat in queuing traffic. So, it’s very fitting to be writing this article 18 months on following our If You Ask Me feature on travel. Because while COVID-19 has – through necessity – opened many employers’ eyes to the benefits of flexible working and staggered start/finish shift patterns, it’s interesting to note my bosses enabled me to work flexibly years ago and pre-pandemic. After working from home

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again all this year up until mid-May, I was very excited to get back into unLTD HQ and see my colleagues ‘IRL’! While we had no issues getting each issue of unLTD online or out in print while working remotely, it is just not the same as being in the office working as a team – plus I really missed the banter! I was a little hesitant about getting the bus and tram again, I have to admit – but later starts meant my commute was just as short and simple as ever. Plus I was reassured to see bus drivers insisting people wore masks when they boarded, unless exempt, and tram conductors ensuring passengers sat at a safe distance. I also enjoyed my first train journey to visit family in

Nottingham in June. I did not read one page of library book as I was simply enjoying the sensation of travelling and looking out the window at the countryside and towns and villages whizzing by. During the first lockdown I had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing – via Zoom, of course – SCR Active Travel Commissioner Dame Sarah Storey while the country was reacting and adapting to COVID-19. Our cover star was keen to encourage unLTD readers to ‘lock in’ the active travel behavioural changes seen during the pandemic for a healthier, more active future. “Businesses should join their voice with the army of people saying what they want in terms of pop-up cycle ways or trial infrastructure,” Dame

Storey told me in June 2020. “The more councils know people want this, the easier it becomes to implement because it’s a big balancing act between businesses with huge amounts of equipment they can only ever transport in their vehicle and others who could walk or cycle.” She’s quite right. Painters and decorators and plumbers and plasterers cannot take their tools of the trade on a bus or a tram and then walk to their customers’ homes. But office workers like me can grab their laptop bag, jump on a tram and walk to their workplace – so I hope some motorists will on the odd day… And I might see you on board – at a safely social distance, of course!

FEATURE

THE BEARS OF SHEFFIELD

ARE COMING TO TOWN! We can BEARLY contain our excitement as this month we will see the Bears of Sheffield sculpture trail take to the streets of Sheffield. unLTD goes behind the scenes and catches up with some of the artists and sponsors behind the bears. Dotted around the City will be 60 big bears who have been designed by artists based throughout the UK and sponsored by businesses throughout the region. Joining them will be 100 little bears that have been decorated by local schools. Organised by The Children’s Hospital Charity, the purpose of the trail is to raise much needed funds for building the new Cancer and Leukaemia Ward at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

WE HEARD FROM SOME OF THE SPONSORS OF THE BEARS Graham Royle, chairman and CEO of GRI Group Ltd said: “The importance of having a dedicated and well-invested children’s hospital in Sheffield cannot be overstated. The Bears of Sheffield is a major fundraising campaign that will also provide a whole load of fun for adults and children alike. We are proud at GRI Group to have been a major donor to the charity for more than a decade and we can’t wait to see our Butterfly Bush Bear created by Kyle Platts on the trail.”

Boot Construction' is again supporting with the organisation of the event, alongside our plant hire business 'Banner Plant', who are providing the complex logistical support required to move the bears across the city. We are really excited for the event to launch and hope everyone will join us in continuing to support the invaluable work The Children’s Hospital Charity does for families across the UK.” Sheffield BID are supporting the project as a headline sponsor. Diane Jarvis, Sheffield BID manager said: “Back in 2016 we were a supporting partner to the Herd of Sheffield and found it to be a real success. The elephants helped to attract over 180,000 additional visitors to the city centre. So, when we found out that the sculpture trail was coming back with the Bears of Sheffield, we were keen to be involved. “The Children’s Hospital is a wonderful cause and

something many of us in the city have benefited from. In addition to raising much-needed funds for the charity, the trail also benefits the city centre’s traders and contributing to the vibrancy of the city centre.” Darren Littlewood, group finance director, Henry Boot PLC said: “We are proud that the Henry Boot Group of Companies have sponsored The Children’s Hospital Charity, ‘Be Nice & Be Together’ bear. 'Henry

Andrea Marsden, head of residential, West One Student Accommodation said: “West One Student Accommodation is so proud to sponsor Tom J Newell’s ‘Quasar One’ bear and to continue our support of The Children’s Hospital Charity. We saw the impact of the previous Herd of Sheffield elephant that we sponsored and knew we had to be a part of the Bears of Sheffield as well. The unwavering work that the charity does for the patients and families of Sheffield Children’s Hospital

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FEATURE

is unbelievable and we cannot wait to see the results brought on from the money raised throughout the trail.”

HERE’S WHAT THE ARTISTS HAD TO SAY Geo Law, artist said: The bear is the tallest thing I’ve painted and I loved it! I think the craziest was the elephants from the Herd of Sheffield, purely because it was on all fours with a trunk and everything. I know there will be a feeling of excitement and good-will in the city once the bears are in place, I’m looking

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forward to seeing families walking around, snapping pictures of the bears. After having a year of stop and start lock downs it’ll just be nice to see people enjoy the sculptures. Jo Peel, artist said: “The Bears of Sheffield is such a worthwhile and brilliant thing to do which will change the lives of so many children and their families, to be able to do my job whilst raising money for The Children’s Hospital Charity is simply wonderful.”

HOW TO SUPPORT THE BEARS! • Visit all the Bears on the trail and track them online www.bearsofsheffield.co.uk • Make a donation for your trail map from outlets around the city • Join the virtual Bearathon challenge and get your shiny Bears of Sheffield medal • Raise money in your workplace and request a Bears of Sheffield fundraising pack • Donate by visiting www.bearsofsheffield.co.uk • Text BEARSOFSHEFF to 70085 to donate £2. Every penny raised through the trail will help build the new Cancer and Leukaemia Ward at Sheffield Children’s Hospital. We’ll be bringing you more updates throughout the trail so keep your paws on unLTD for more action from the Bears.

CT Proudly Supporting Sheffield’s Children Hospital Charity’s Bear Trail Raising Money for the New Cancer Ward with CT’s Bear Queen charity.ct.co.uk

Award-winning IT Support. Data Security. Cloud Solutions.

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ADVERTORIAL

INTRODUCING CT’S BEAR QUEEN SUPPORTING SHEFFIELD CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL CHARITY

CT is supporting Sheffield Children’s Hospital ‘Bears of Sheffield’ to help raise vital funds for the new and improved cancer ward. Ian Snow, MD of CT, tells unLTD why the tech firm is supporting the campaign – and encourages other businesses to get involved too. We are delighted to announce our support for Sheffield Children’s Hospital ‘Bears of Sheffield’ to help raise vital funds for the new and improved cancer ward. The children who need this ward often have to stay at the hospital for a long time – sometimes more than a year – so the environment in which they are living makes so much difference. Each year, Sheffield Children's NHS Trust cares for babies, children and young adults with cancer and leukaemia as one of only 20 principal treatment centres in the UK which treat these diseases. Treatments for these illnesses often take long periods of time, with bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy patients staying on the ward for six to eight weeks in isolation. The new ward has significance for families far beyond Sheffield. It is the Principal Treatment Centre for children with cancer and leukaemia from babies through to 19-year-olds within

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South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and North Derbyshire, with patients travelling from as far south as Northampton for treatment. The Bears of Sheffield Bear Trail will see more than 60 bears on the streets and in the parks of Sheffield over the summer months for people to visit and show support for the children’s hospital. CT are proudly sponsoring the Bear Queen. This was created by contemporary artist Laura Aldridge and the sculptural design is based on a celebration of the bear itself and is adorned with a ceramic floral wreath as a sign of honour to other bears. Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity chief fun officer, Tchad Western, said: ‘We are thrilled that CT is getting involved with the Bears of Sheffield to raise money for the new cancer ward. “This ward is home to many children who are isolated during their treatment time. Our goal is to improve the experience for children and their families by keeping them connected to the outside world,

maximising the view of Weston Park, and improving the space and storage in their rooms. “For many families, home is wherever their child is, and we want to help make an extremely stressful and difficult time more manageable." Ian added: “We will be supporting the Bear trail throughout the summer and encouraging people to pledge money to our Bear Queen through charity days in the office, business networking

CT'S BEAR QUEEN WAS CREATED BY CONTEMPORARY ARTIST LAURA ALDRIDGE, PICTURED ABOVE events and social marketing. We hope to raise as much money as possible to help this brilliant cause.” To donate to CT’s bear, visit charity.ct.co.uk and all proceeds will go towards the development of the Cancer and Leukaemia Ward at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

ADVERTORIAL

SEE IT BE IT IN SHEFFIELD

BUSINESS AND EDUCATION ALLIANCE Are you an SME or microbusiness wanting to improve social mobility for young people in your sector and the city? Graham Booth, senior project officer at Sheffield City Council’s See it Be it, has just the opportunity… Are you a small to medium enterprise (SME) or microbusiness looking to improve life chances of young people in Sheffield by inspiring them to consider careers in your sector? Do you want to build your network and meet other like-minded small businesses? If the answer is yes, then we would love you to join See it Be it in

Sheffield’s Business and Education Alliance! Sheffield City Council’s See it Be it projects provide employer encounters and experiences of the workplace to help raise aspirations, challenge stereotypes and improve employment prospects for young people – and the Business and Education Alliance provides an opportunity for you to play your part. Studies show young people are twice as likely to be unemployed than the average adult, and COVID-19 means things are only becoming more challenging. We need employers to help bring careers education to life and relate learning to the working world – in fact, young people are 86 per cent less likely to be NEET (not in education,

employment, or training) after four or more encounters with employers, and they are likely to earn 18 per cent more than their peers. By signing up to the Business and Education Alliance, you will receive support to prepare you for activities in schools and match you to opportunities, such as mock interviews, CV workshops, careers talks, work insights and more. We can work with you to develop and promote projects to address skills shortages in your sector or help promote employment opportunities in your organisation, and make sure young people come to you ready to work, with the right skills and qualifications. There are also city-wide programmes you can get involved in, such as the BiG Challenge enterprise competition and Better Learners, Better Workers (in partnership with the Company of Cutlers). We work closely with the Sheffield City Region Enterprise Adviser Network, which supports schools and colleges with their careers’ education – this means we have excellent

links in across the city and know exactly where the need is and how you can have the biggest impact. This is your opportunity to help address social mobility and improve the quality and diversity of your talent pool, while developing your own skills and increasing employee engagement. You will also get the chance to meet some brilliant young people – your potential future workforce! The Business and Education Alliance is fully funded through European Social Fund and Sheffield City Council, so there is no cost to you. To get involved, email seeitbeit@ lifelonglearningandskills.org And don’t worry if you are not a small business as we have plenty of other things going on as part of See it Be it in Sheffield, so just drop us a line to find out more. Join us in helping young people to See it and Be it in Sheffield! To get involved and learn more contact us at: seeitbeit@ lifelonglearningandskills.org

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unLTD PODCAST

THE ROAD TO NET ZERO unLTD’s Road to Net Zero roundtable discussion is previewed on page 78 where podcast producer James Marriott and head of sales Dan Laver chat to representatives from some of the most forward-thinking businesses in the region.

Our roundtable Zoom event – led by Ameresco alongside leading guest businesses including City Taxis, Henry Boot, and Killis – was such a fascinating discussion we couldn't find room for it all in the magazine. Good news! This month's unLTD podcast features the full discussion in all its glory. To listen, just search 'unLTD' in any podcast and we'll pop up. 'I can't do a podcast, I hate my voice!' This is a familiar statement. You’re definitely not the first person to hate the sound of their voice when they hear it. I think pretty much everyone goes through this at the start of their broadcasting / podcasting journey. That’s not to dismiss it as a concern. It’s a major barrier and getting over it is a challenge. Unfortunately, there’s no quick-fix solution. You can’t flick a switch and suddenly fall in love with your voice. Nor can you drink a magic potion to transform it to sound like someone else. But here’s the good news – your voice is absolutely not as awful or unlistenable as you think. In fact, your voice is probably absolutely fine, at

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main steps for anyone who's struggling with their voice. Step 1 – realise it’s WHAT you say that people will judge. Step 2 – get used to hearing your own voice. Listen back to yourself. If you’re not already podcasting, record some dummy episodes. No one else needs to hear, but listening to them yourself will help you get used to – and make peace with – your voice. In time you’ll spot areas to tweak and improve your vocal style, like pace and pitch. If you want to get into podcasting but find your voice is a barrier, or if anything else is stopping you, drop me a line: james@unltdbusiness.com. the very least. And just about everyone can learn techniques to train your voice to smooth over any rough edges. There’s no shame in that. Everybody you hear on the radio or TV will have had some voice coaching. The best will have it regularly, even now. Plus having an accent is not a big deal. The world has changed. Stick BBC news on – or just about any TV or radio show at all – and you’ll find a broadcaster / presenter with a regional twang. No-one

should let an accent hold them back because your audience sure as hell won’t care. So please don’t be tempted to put on a silly voice. It’s really dated. People like you for you – don’t pretend you’re someone else. This subject came up on a recent episode of Pod Almighty, a new monthly podcast I've launched. Check out podalmighty.co.uk or search in your podcast app. I think there are two

Podcast Showcase: Different Minds John Offord is a Sheffieldbased broadcaster and producer and creator of Different Minds. In it, he chats to people from all walks of life about the different ways our brains work and interpret information. It's a positive and incredibly important series. The June episode celebrates Pride Month in the UK, featuring Nick Ransom, a gay autistic man who works for the BBC, and is a cracking listen.

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BE PART OF THE CHANGE This city has some amazing business leaders. They start and grow businesses. They create hundreds and thousands of jobs. They generate profits and pay taxes that fund frontline services. Without more strong and successful businesses in Sheffield, our city would crumble. That is why Sheffield Chamber is saying to you and other business leaders – we need your help in leading the way in making Sheffield the best place in the UK to do business. The Chamber is not a complicated organisation. We have a full-time team committed to supporting our members. We have a Board that shapes our strategy. We also have the Chamber Council, made up of representatives from our membership. What the Chamber Council does is written down in a rule book that has been around for decades, if not a century. We will talk about the rules in another article, but right now the most important thing is to focus on the big picture. And that is, the Chamber Council is there to help make the Chamber stronger and to represent you, our members, when we speak to politicians

SHEFFIELD CHAMBER NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE CHAIR, GRACE BRIERLEY

and decision-makers in the Town Hall. We recently welcomed Sheffield Council’s new leader, Cllr Terry Fox, and the city’s new chief executive Kate Josephs. They came with one simple question. How can Sheffield City Council and the business community work together to make Sheffield a better place for everyone? Since then, members of the Chamber Council have been working to set the agenda and thinking about those issues

that are important to the business community. What does the Town Hall need to start, stop, and continue doing to support businesses large and small across our city? Representing the business community is challenging. There are 30,000 businesses in the city. The Chamber of Commerce Council needs to represent small and large businesses from different industries and sectors. That is why each year our council changes. Some people step up.

Some people step down. This year is no different. Starting this month, we are looking for applications from business leaders who want to help lead the way in making Sheffield the best place in the UK to do business. The criteria is pretty simple – you must work in or run a business that is a Chamber member. But we want people who are energetic and excited about the future, people who want to make a difference to the business community and the city and who are willing to give their time to be part of the change. If that sounds like you, get in touch. We would love to hear from you. If you are interested in the role, please apply online by visiting www.scci.org.uk. If you have any questions or would like to know more, please contact SCCI nominations committee chair, Grace Brierley via email at grace.brierley@ sheffieldmuseums.org.uk.

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YOUR PITCH

LITTLE USHI Laura Metcalfe tells unLTD how she turned her love of a good accessory – and a hobby acquired during lockdown – into a business with the ‘nicest customers’

Tell us about your business – sell yourself! I’ve come to really appreciate the art of a good accessory and I honestly believe that, like shoes, you can never have too many pairs. I wanted to wear earrings that could both make a statement and be everyday wear, so I started making my own pairs during the pandemic as a way of keeping myself busy during lockdown. I’ve tried my hand at so many different crafts over the years but there’s something about making vibrant, fun earrings that I love. Each pair of earrings is handmade by me in my spare room using polymer clay. From

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start to finish it probably takes around two hours to make each pair and that includes making the design, baking the clay, sanding, varnishing, and finishing – a lot of love goes into every pair of them. There’s so much possibility when working with clay and I find inspiration everywhere – from nature to animal print to different fabric patterns. I’m still learning new techniques every day, so my style is changing all the time. I also take custom orders and have worked with some lovely people to make them something unique – it’s those finishing touches that really make your outfit come

together and I’ve had people get in touch for a pair that will go with a specific dress or for a special occasion. Who are your customers and how are you targeting them? People that love to accessorise! I honestly have the nicest customers – everyone who has purchased from me so far has been so kind. I also have repeat customers so it’s nice to know that they really like what I do. I mainly use Instagram to reach people and I currently sell on Etsy. Instagram is the best way for me to show nice images of my earrings, make behind the scenes process

videos through Reels, and find like-minded makers. As a relatively new seller, I find Etsy really easy to use and everything is right there for you – plus, so many people use the site that it’s easy for customers too. As things start getting back to normal, I’m aiming to apply to sell at some local craft fairs so that I can reach more people and meet other makers. How can people get in touch with you? Instagram: @little_ushi Email: littleushimakes @gmail.com Etsy: etsy.com/uk/shop/ LittleUshi

ROUNDTABLE

ROUNDTABLE – SUSTAINABILITY Customers are demanding evidence that businesses are making progress on sustainable activities, according to Karthik Suresh, a management consultant at Ameresco, a leading provider of energy and sustainability solutions, and sponsor of our latest roundtable. unLTD’s Georgina Kerr listened in to the event to find out how organisations are developing their capabilities and whether they are taking a people or tech first approach. Karthik Suresh, Ameresco Ameresco is an energy services company, so we do a lot of large-scale projects and retrofits and developments. When it comes to putting money into large projects, that’s our background. We found a few years ago that as organisations looked at sustainability, it wasn’t really as simple as infrastructure projects or development projects, it was much more about transitioning an organisation into making large-scale changes. Customers were asking for evidence that you were actually making progress on sustainable activities. You couldn’t just go out and say “here’s an engineering project that makes sense” because you had to get buy-in from a whole range of stakeholders that wouldn’t necessarily have

• James Marriott Sound Media & unLTD • Karthik Suresh Ameresco • Kate Beswick City Taxis • Jack Kidder Henry Boot • Ava Jones AESSEAL • Charlotte Killi Killis • April Pass Killis • Katherine Munn Irwin Mitchell • Dave Stones B&B Press

they’d acknowledge that the processes and the systems, and the finance were the easy parts. It was actually much more about how to engage an organisation and the various stakeholders and how do you get them in the conversation and get a consistent, coherent, aligned view – and that can take a few years in organisations. Really that’s the background, but this conversation is to help people share with each other what they have learned and how we can ally organisations to become more sustainable.

involvement. Marketing and PR are interested, lawyers are interested in how it works and ensuring the contracts are the right kinds of contracts. We found as we started talking to organisations,

Jack Kidder, Henry Boot I think it’s a really important question because I think the two elements to success and sustainability are the people and the technology, which go hand in hand. For us as a business in

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the built environment sector, we’ve been conscious and proactive regarding environmental management for a long time but I think we all recognise there’s a massive step change in the race to getting the UK to net zero and the way our business is looking to approach this is that we always say people are our greatest asset and to be successful with this, you can have all the technology and all the processes in place, but if your people aren’t bought into it then you’re only ever going to get so far. So for us, engagement with our colleagues, with our partners, with our customers, with our stakeholders, is a massive, massive part of how we intend to tackle the problem and to really create a mission of excitement around net zero carbon because I think the issue of climate change is

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ROUNDTABLE such a huge potential problem it can feel very overwhelming for a lot of us can’t it, when you start reading into it and looking at the statistics. It’s how we create a sense of excitement and this is a mission our business can tackle, and actually it’s about adaptability and adapting our business to really make a difference in this. Hopefully this answers the question but for me the first step is about empowering people, making sure they feel informed, making sure they feel educated on what their role is and what they can do, and also inspired that they want to make a difference. That’s when you start looking at what technology you need to put in place to make their jobs easier in doing that and to make sure that actually as we all look to reduce our emissions that we’ve got the right tools in place Kate Beswick, City Taxis For us it’s going to be a mix of the two. Driver engagement is the main thing because ultimately most of our emissions come from the cars on the road. We do have some ambitious plans to have a full electric fleet by 2025, but with that there comes the driver engagement, and also that the infrastructure needs to be in place for electric vehicles. There is the question that will the vehicle range be at a certain level before the infrastructure is there for electric

charging of cars. Again, echoing what Jack said, I think a big part is the driver engagement and the employee engagement, but also we need to make sure the infrastructure is there for the capabilities of it. Katherine Munn, Irwin Mitchell As a law firm, we are a people driven business and the three key pillars of our business are our clients, our colleagues and our communities. We’ve developed our technological processes and the pandemic has given people the opportunity to embrace those even if they were reluctant to before, but I would also echo that the technology can only be fully utilised when people are onboard, and this is as much of a behavioural change as it is a technological one.

Dave Stones, B&B Press We have been on our journey for sustainability for the last 20 years and it’s a really important thing for us, and I think what Jack said about the combination of the technology and the people… Obviously working for a print company there’s probably a bit of a thought process that goes on - cutting

down trees, we’re making paper and we’re printing, but there’s a lot of studies that have been produced that show digital traffic, online traffic can be just as damaging for the environment as printing on paper can. Things have moved on a lot in terms of sustainable papers, recycled papers and so on and so forth. I think from our perspective it has to be the people with the technology, but one thing I would say… there’s a lot of thought process around, particularly in our sector, where it’s a badge, and a lot of people pay lip service to getting an accreditation for example. We’re not like that, we live and breathe it, and I think that it’s so important. Picking at what Kate and Jack said, it’s about getting the team onside and getting the people on side, because they’re the face of the business, you can’t have a company website, or a company brochure for example saying one thing, but then you’re not living and breathing it and it’s not embedded. So we spent a lot of time trying to get everybody on board, and it’s been a challenge, it’s not been easy, but I think now with a lot of the things that are going on with David Attenborough hyping everything up and Greta and all these different conferences, it’s now more important than ever and there’s now more exposure than ever, and probably people are under

KARTHIK SURESH

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ROUNDTABLE

JACK KIDDER

more pressure than ever to be accountable and to do the right thing. If I had to make a decision rather than sit on the fence, I’d go down the people angle marginally. Ava Jones, AESSEAL AESSEAL is a manufacturing business. Manufacturing is seen as a point where there is a lot of emissions into the environment and there is a bad name in terms of the impacts that manufacturing can have so as a business we have always taken sustainability and our environmental impact to heart. We are very passionate for what we do, the products we sell do prevent harmful substances from being leaked into the environment, so a lot of what we do protects the environment. Throughout the business in

terms of the people, we have salespeople and technical engineers who are passionate about the products because it’s doing the right thing, it’s helping to make sure that no matter whether you’re in pulp and paper industry or oil and gas, whatever industry it may be, we are doing the right thing from the products that we sell. But in terms of looking at net zero and where we’re going with it, the business offers a lot of sustainability support so from my perspective, I work in the business assurance department, and I work very closely with our sustainability officer. We offer 1:1 training on behavioural impacts of our employees. We basically say “What’s the impact of you making a cup of tea a day?”, “What’s the impact of you doing that?” and we talk through simple steps like that.

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KATE BESWICK

Over the last couple of years, we introduced an investment policy to prevent global warming as a business. The policy outlines giving people a voice so they are able to raise their concerns in terms of what we’re doing wrong, or what we could do better and it gives people the option to bring sustainability and environmental projects to the attention of the board. So we say any sustainability project that’s likely to have a return on investment of eight years, even though it is probably going to be increased to 20 years, we want that to be brought to the attention of our board of directors and a decision has to be made within three months as to if we go ahead with it. That includes things such as a building management system on site, we’ve got UPS and virtue energy storage, we’ve got all sorts that we’ve obviously done on site and

we’ve tried to give as many people as possible the option to raise their concerns and how we can improve our business moving forward. In terms of the people engagement we do a lot, whether it’s’ someone operating a machine or whether it’s marketing. Whoever it may be, they can all go to the board and say “have we considered this option to reduce our carbon footprint?” April Pass, Killis I think I’m really just going to echo what everyone else has said, in terms of it’s a balance between the two. We, as a cleaning company, understand the obstacles we have to overcome in terms of chemicals we can use, in terms of transporting goods. We import a lot of products from different manufacturers around the world which

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ROUNDTABLE

AVA JONES

obviously contributes to emissions. So we have to consider this in lots of different ways. We work very closely with the actual manufacturers in ways to reduce this, we are also introducing lots of new technologies in terms of new products which either reduces chemicals so they are completely chemical free, reducing transport because its such a small product etc, so there’s lots of different ways we are trying to combat that within the cleaning industry. As everyone else says we need the buy-in of our customers, if people do not understand what we’re selling or they do not have the understanding of what they are going to achieve by buying our products, it goes hand in hand. And not only that, it’s not just the customers, it’s our staff as well so not just products we’re selling, it’s how we work

as a company The ethos of the company that needs to be sustainable and it needs to be something that we drive throughout the company, to be more sustainable. As I say, as everyone else has, it very much works hand in hand and you can’t really have one without the other in our opinion. Charlotte Killi, Killis Following on from what April said, we are a cleaning supplies business so we offer chemical free cleaning equipment, which is cutting out the chemicals themselves, and bottles and waste going to landfill, so from that point of view it’s very important to us that although we have been selling chemicals for a number of years, that we’ve looked into products and working with customers so that they understand how this can benefit them. We’ve also ventured into

APRIL PASS

robotic cleaning equipment which is something that we’re having a lot of takers with at the moment, which is obviously freeing up cleaning operatives’ time. We’ve deployed a number of cleaning products into a lot of hospitals recently which then means that it’s freeing up cleaning operatives time to concentrate on the more finer detail areas. It is a real balance between the products and the people for sure. Karthik Suresh, Ameresco I think what we’ve talked about just now was a really amazing example of clarity, because as Ava said, if the leaders in the company make it clear that they want people to bring sustainability projects that meet clear criteria forward for consideration, and the board commits to making a decision in three months,

when you have that kind of clarity on the decision-making process, an organisation is really well placed to make the choices that make a difference. You mentioned a battery storage installation project that went ahead, for example. Those are actually quite complex business cases to put together and it’s hard to convince people of the values and the arguments put forward, for and against. But you’ve done it because it was clear how the business case was going to be handled. I would really take that as an example of when things are clear, you can move fast. The roundtable guests were talking to James Marriott and Dan Laver during unLTD’s latest podcast episode, which is available through all your usual podcast providers. For the full discussion search ‘unLTD business’.

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