Business Edge 38

august/september 2017 business edge

Inside 05 business matters 12 the expert 13 chamber benefits 14 business support 18 business matters 26 cover feature 28 inspirational leaders 34 finance focus 38 events and training 52 new members 54 sussex business awards 54 movers & shakers

the magazine for sussex chamber of commerce members

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Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Sussex Chamber of Commerce currently represents over 1,000 member businesses. Membership of Sussex Chamber of Commerce offers access to invaluable business advice, money saving benefits, networking opportunities and provides a voice for businesses at a local, regional and national level. Business Edge is delivered free of charge to all Sussex Chamber of Commerce members as well as key business decision makers across the county. It has a circulation of 4,000 copies per issue.

Business Edge is a Sussex Chamber of Commerce publication.

If you have any stories you would like to tell us about or any comments please drop us an email at enquiries@

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welcome

business matters

business matters

business matters

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business matters

ask the expert

chamber benefits

feature: business support

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feature: business support

corporate social responsibility

environment and renewables

business matters

sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

SUSSEX CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Unit 4, Victoria Business Centre, 43 Victoria Road, Burgess Hill RH15 9LR

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cover feature

inspirational leaders

ADVERTISING John Neilson, Business Development Manager, Distinctive Publishing Unit 6b, Floor B, Millburn House, Dean Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 1LE Tel: 07813 874 970 Email: john.neilson@distinctivegroup.co.uk

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finance focus

finance focus

business matters

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effective marketing

business matters

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welcome

august/september february/march 2017 2017 business edge

Welcome Welcome to to the August the August// September September Issue!

Issue!

Welcome to our Business Edge magazine. We have some amazing member stories to share in this edition which focuses on energy and the environment.

Are you aware that the law is changing? Businesses need to be proactive about ensuring they are ready for the next new data protection regulations (GDPR) when they come into force May 2018, and not leave preparations until the eleventh hour.

The ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) has prepared a document with 12 steps that you can go through with useful tips and advice on how to prepare your business. In brief you need to be aware that the law is changing. You should document what personal data you hold, where it has come from and who you share it with, therefore an information audit is important. Review any current privacy notices and put a plan in place.

Procedures will need to cover all the rights individuals have, how you delete personal data or how you provide data electronically. These procedures need to also include how you handle requests. Businesses should identify the lawful basis for its processing activity in the GDPR, document it and update its privacy notice. Review how you seek, record and manage consent. Review whether your business needs to verify individuals’ ages (specifically children) to obtain parental or guardian consent for any data processing activity. What procedures do you have in place to detect, report and investigate a personal data breach? Familiarise yourself with the ICO’s code of practice on Privacy Impact Assessments as well as the latest guidance from the Article 29 Working Party.

Designate someone to take responsibility for data protection compliance and furthermore if your company operates in more than one EU member state you will need to have further processes and protection in place.

There is a lot to understand to meet the new regulations. The Sussex Chamber will be holding an event on the 30th August on “A practical approach to GDPR”. So please call the office to book your place as this will have an impact on your business.

We have a BBQ for our members coming up in September on the 22nd – a great way to unwind and meet others in an informal setting. We also have our AGM (Annual General Meeting) coming up in October on the 26th. We have invited the Director General, Dr Adam Marshall, from the British Chambers of Commerce, to provide an update on the Chamber network and its work with Government.

I look forward to seeing you at one of our networking events. In the meantime, enjoy this edition of Business Edge which has some fascinating stories.

Contact us on 01444 259 259 to find out more or have a look at our website:

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

Introducing The Creative Group Sussex based design and marketing agency Creative Pod is going from strength to strength and are pleased to announce the newly formed Creative Group.

Originally established in 2006 by CEO Matt Turner, business has grown exponentially and with the introduction of Rob Nunn, as Managing Director last year, business has been booming - and so, The Creative Group’ was born. But who exactly are we you ask?

The Creative Group is an exciting group of innovative companies ready to service all your creative needs, each playing their own special and pivotal role in the group! Creative Pod, a design and marketing agency, The PrintShop, a full-service print agency, SquareOne, a US to UK market entry specialist and ECHO, an up-and-coming sponsorship brokerage.

But what does this really mean? The expansion of the group means that our clients can come to us for help with anything from a rebrand through Creative Pod, to business cards and flyers through The PrintShop.

Or, if our clients are thinking even bigger, we can help them with all their sponsorship and brand activation opportunities through our experienced team at ECHO. Thinking on a global scale, SquareOne is there to support the clients bringing their products and services overseas.

What was the inspiration behind the group?

With business growing rapidly, along with the services we offer, The Creative Group made perfect sense. By creating four separate companies under one umbrella, our four teams can dedicate their time to all of our clients’ needs and requirements – giving us the space to grow and specialise in these creative industries.

What are your goals/predictions for the future?

Ana Christie Chief Executive

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

In a nutshell, we want to be the go to people for all your creative needs.

With the creative industry constantly changing, our client’s needs and requirements are constantly evolving too. Therefore, at The Creative Group we pride ourselves on our ability to continually adapt and expand our offering further, so that we can provide our clients with the very best service.

The Creative Group is growing fast, with lots more news and updates in the pipeline. Watch this space!

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www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

tel: 01444 259 259

business matters

august/september february/march august/september 2017 2017 business business 2017 business edge edge edge

Exceeding all expectations!

The eighth annual Acumen business convention had a sensational impact on its delegates who came from far and wide.

Held in the main suite of the Grand Hotel in Brighton, more than 300 delegates got to experience a lively high calibre gathering of business experts.

With guests arriving and being greeted by the Acupellas, their fantastic uplifting songs set the mood for a buzzing room full of lively networking. After a sumptuous sit down lunch with wine the main event begins with a warm Acumen welcome and special dedicated thanks to the 2017 Sponsors movie with praise from Hollywood’s finest!

The audience was truly inspired to hear Guest speaker Rob Forkan Co-founder of Gandys as he shared his remarkable business story of how he and his brother set up their business after losing their parents in the Tsunami. He told how they were motivated to create a brand that could give back and help others that face similar tribulation via their fantastic mission Orphans for Orphans. His inspiring achievements proved that out of adversity you can make success and positive action.

There mission to make better lives for children in need of homes and support is truly inspiring.

The organisers had to make sure that everyone was making connections in the

room which is exactly what Sanderson Jones Co-founder of the unique business Sunday Assembly did by energising the room. Yes 300 delegates up on their feet all clapping along, singing and dancing to Tom Jones’ ‘It’s not Unusual’ (you had to be there!). Sanderson’s insightful and interactive session was thought provoking and certainly gave delegates excellent opportunity to get talking.

Also with the ‘feel good’ theme, best selling Author and Founder of ACUMEN BUSINESS LAW Penina Shepherd gave her perspective on the Business of Happiness, showing the factors that do and don’t affect happiness in all aspects of life including business.

Everyone was left with five essential ingredients for long term happiness, what could be better!

Towards the end of the day the time came for the Keynote Speaker, Jonas Kjellberg Founding Partner of Skype flown in from Sweden, gave an amazing talk sharing his business expertise. The room full of delegates gave their full attention as he explained the decade of disruption among large corporate business models. It sparked much interest in the audience so much so

they had questions for Jonas which he did answer.

The ACUMEN BUSINESS CONVENTION provides a packed day of motivation and business connection. The event has grown in size and status over the years and has now become recognised as the most prestigious and professional business conference south of London. Delegates come to gain knowledge, get inspiration and insight, see the latest business trends and get perfect opportunities to endorse their business in front of leaders and decision makers of established companies. It’s the place to be to find insightful speakers, invaluable learning, make contacts that really matter and be thoroughly entertained throughout.

Penina Shepherd, MD & Founder of ACUMEN BUSINSS LAW, said: “It’s been such an amazing day and so fantastic to see so many business experts in one room, all having discussions, making connections and having a great time. That’s what makes us at Acumen so proud to put on this Convention“.

Look out or 2018!

www.acumenbusinesslaw.co.uk/ conventions

AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED

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business matters

august/september 2017 business edge

HSBC launches £200 million fund to support Sussex SMEs HSBC has launched a £200 million lending fund to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sussex, as part of a broader commitment to helping British businesses realise their ambitions for growth.

BCM Advanced Research

Are you ready for the 4th industrial revolution?

David Shore Managing Director / Chairman Time 24 / Sussex Chamber Manufacturing Forum

The world’s biggest hotel company doesn’t own a hotel. The world’s biggest taxi company doesn’t own a taxi.

Air Bnb and Uber are simply software tools.

In May Ford replaced their chief executive because he could only see the auto industry along traditional lines whilst Tesla, Google and Apple are designing computers on wheels. In 2018 the first self driving cars will appear and around 2021 they will start to become mainstream. In the US the IBM Watson cognitive artificial intelligence computer is beginning to replace legal executives at a basic level as you can get legal advice in seconds from Watson with 90% accuracy as opposed to 70% accuracy with humans. Next year a range of new smart phones will have a 3D scanning facility where you can then scan your feet and 3D print the perfect shoe (at home).

Welcome to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) Are you ready?

Industry has gone through three technological revolutions. Steam power was the transformative force of the 19th century.

Next was electricity with the assembly line and the birth of mass production. The third era was the shift in the 1970’s to large scale computerisation. We now enter Industry 4.0 in which computers and automation come together in a new way. In manufacturing robotics are being connected remotely to computer systems equipped with machine learning algorithms that can learn and

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control the robotics with very little input from human beings. In new “smart factories” cyber physical systems monitor the physical processes of the factory communicating and cooperating both with each other and with humans in real time via the web (internet of things). Embedded sensors are in charge of collecting data from physical assets. Last year Foxconn in Asia, who manufacture the I phone for Apple, replaced 60.000 factory workers with robots . The robots interlink with human operatives. In Germany Trumpf manufacture parts where the part senses what has been done to it and what further needs to be done to it.

Factories will be controlled by a Manager touching keys on his mobile phone whilst lying in bed!

“The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog and the dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment”. Warren Bennis So is the UK ready for Industry 4.0. It would appear not as much as its competitors.

Productivity statistics for the UK show that France and Germany could take Fridays off and still be more productive than the UK. Our level of investment in automation is not at the level of these countries with the Boston Consulting Group pointing out that we are 20% behind China and 12% behind France and Germany in preparation for the Industry 4.0 Revolution.

So ask yourselves is there any way you could digitise or automate your processes that will enable you to became more competitive. Are there disruptive technologies coming along that could threaten your business. Think now. Adapt and survive!

The fund is part of a wider £10bn fund for SMEs across the UK which has also been launched today.

HSBC continues to be open to lending, having approved 91% of small business lending applications in the last year.

Brian Weare, HSBC’s Regional Director for the South East region, said: “The launch of this fund reaffirms our commitment to support the growth of Sussex SMEs of all sizes, from start-ups to established businesses.

“We have so many ambitious businesses in our region who are keen to grow locally, nationally and internationally. This fund is all about helping those businesses make investments that will enable them to achieve their goals while stimulating our local economy and creating jobs.”

A major focus of this year’s fund is to encourage small businesses to feel confident about exploring opportunities for export. A 2016 FSB Report noted that one-in-five (21%) small businesses currently export, but there is potential to double this figure with the right support*.

Amanda Murphy, Head of Commercial Banking at HSBC UK, added: “SMEs are the lifeblood of the UK economy, and for many there is an opportunity and appetite to grow their business through exporting.

“HSBC can provide access to new trading networks for businesses of all sizes, help them to understand how they can consider exporting with confidence, and has the expertise to help businesses navigate change by being responsive, flexible and nimble.”

With a geographic network covering more than 90% of global trade and capital flows, HSBC is uniquely placed to help businesses to understand the available markets and overcome the obstacles to growth.

David Shore is Managing Director of Time 24 and Chairman of the Sussex Chamber Manufacturing forum.

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

tel: 01444 259 259

Andrew Steer Head of Business Banking Sussex HSBC

august/september 2017 business edge

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business matters

august/september 2017 business edge

Focus on East Sussex While we sometimes agonise over geographic boundaries creating distinctions around a theoretical line drawn on a map, it is my experience that businesses and their clients rarely care.

In fact boundaries tend to make life more complicated for business in trying to answer the questions “who is actually doing what for whom, and where”?

When asked, I still describe my business as being in Sussex and I doubt whether further distinction is required.

It is therefore important that the Sussex Chamber of Commerce covers the whole county, East to West, North to South, although I do accept we can trip over the same issue when it comes to distinguishing ourselves from our sister South-East Chambers in Kent, Surrey and Hampshire. In covering the whole county we can help pull together the business issues for our member businesses which transcend local boundaries and to facilitate this through our close connections and co-operation with West and East Sussex local administrations and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) Coast to Capital and SELEP.

Sparkling stuff from wine producer Award-winning Sussex wine producer Alison Nightingale of Albourne Estate has launched the first of a range of elegant sparkling wines from the fledgling boutique vineyard.

The 2013 Blanc de Blancs, made with carefully selected chardonnay white grapes and using the highest quality cuvée, has subtle yet delicious almond, brioche and baked apple pastry characters overlaying fresh, crisp fruit aromas.

Using grapes solely hand-picked from the vineyard’s first vintage four years ago and bottled in early 2014, the 11.5% abv wine has matured to produce a wine with finesse, a subtle complexity and a fine, delicate mousse.

“It has an elegance and refinement, a smoothness and delicacy achieved by the traditional method of bottle fermentation used for Champagne and other English wines, and an extended period of ‘on-lees’ ageing,” says Alison.

“Made from grapes of a single vineyard and a single vintage, our Blanc de Blancs reflects the nuances of place and weather patterns, so creating a true ‘terroir’ wine.”

Alison has already built herself a reputation with her four white table wines - a Bacchus, a White Pinot Noir, an Estate Selection and

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an oak fermented Cellar Selection - which are instantly recognisable by their eyecatching labels, which feature local wildlife.

The sparkling bottle depicts a barn owl found at the vineyard, which overlooks the South Downs and is a 10 minute drive from Brighton. It also has on the back the disgorgement date of the wine, the date the grapes were picked, and when the wine was bottled as well as the number of bottles – 2,800 – produced.

Although not a legal requirement, Alison believes customers who know about wine will be interested in this information and for those less knowledgeable it will give a greater understanding of the sparkling wine making process and why bubbles bring a heftier price tag.

Our work with East Sussex County Council on promoting International Trade, and with Lewes District Council where I have the pleasure of chairing the “sold-out” Lewes and District Business Awards in July, are recent examples.

East Sussex, contrary to popular belief, is one of the fastest growing areas in the country and not just with the rural economy. It is forging a far reaching strategic business plan linking skills and education, infrastructure and communications to retain and attract new businesses and business sectors.

As a Segway into this issue of Business Edge covering environmental and green approaches to business, it was pleasing to see Veolia sponsoring the “Best Green Business” category of the Lewes and District Business Awards. This category sports companies as diverse as, drawing on woodland resource as resource for health and wellbeing, to providing lunch and takeaway meals offering specialised nutritional balance in food. To my mind these small examples go to demonstrate some of the diversity of East Sussex in tackling the green agenda in addition to the large green infrastructure projects that we are more generally familiar with.

“By being more open and informative than most producers and by showing how many bottles of a particular vintage are produced, I also hope it comes across that I work on a more handcrafted scale as a small, specialist producer,” says Alison.

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

tel: 01444 259 259

David Sheppard Chairman Sussex Chamber of Commerce

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DIY or Hire an Expert?

For any job out there, you always have two options: do it yourself or hire an expert.

product will be higher and they’re less likely to make costly mistakes.

Sometimes, the task at hand is so easy or takes so little time, that you just don’t think to hire an expert—making a cup of tea on a morning, for example. But other days, you’re running late or forgot to buy milk, so you nip into the nearest coffee shop and ask an expert to do it for you.

Let’s go back to the idea of putting in a new patio.

Other tasks, of course, are complicated or time consuming enough that your first thought is to hire someone else to do it.

Maybe you need to replace the glass in your windscreen or want to add a patio to your garden. Either way, you’re probably going to hire (or at least consult) an expert.

The reason is two-fold: 1) the time, 2) the learning curve.

If something is complicated, you need to factor in the amount of time, energy, and expense it will take you to learn enough to be able to do it yourself.

Similarly, if a job is fairly involved, it will like take up a fair amount of your time, which you’re going to have to pay for anyway— either in time off work or in your leisure time.

Another reason, of course, is the experience and expertise an expert brings to the task. They will not only have the tools and knowledge to do it, but they’ve done it enough times that the quality of the finished

So we hire experts to do these complicated and involved jobs. Because you have to pay a price whether you do it or they do…and they’ll be faster and make fewer mistakes.

If you do it yourself, you’ve got to buy all the tools and supplies, watch some YouTube videos, read a few articles, and then spend a whole weekend actually doing it. The finished product looks great, but there are a few bits you had to re-do after finding the best technique.

Alternatively, if you hire some experts to do it, the outlay cost is probably higher, but they bring all the tools and supplies, as well as the experience of having installed about 10 patios over the last year. The big day comes and you get to spend the weekend out and about, returning just in time to see a finished patio looking great.

There are pros and cons to both. When you DIY, you learn a lot about the process, maybe even enough to do it again down the road or fix any little errors that crop up over the coming years. When you pay for an expert, you may not learn as much, but the finished product is more stable and less likely to have any issues in the future.

When it comes to the customisation of our customers’ OpenCRM system, we tend to have three types of projects.

and getting everyone trained up on it. They will rely on our knowledgebase and asking questions of our support team.

Type 2s will do much of the customisation themselves, but will do so after paying for a few training sessions and a couple hand-holding sessions to get them feeling confident enough to do so.

Type 3s on the other hand, choose to pay us to customise their system and train their staff. They may want to know how the customisation was done, but really they just want to get on with their normal day job and leave the configuration to our experts.

All three types end up with a finished product that works for their business and have a similar success rate. They’ve all had to pay some cost, whether it is their own time, our project management rates, or a combination of both.

It comes back to that idea of DIY vs expert—there’s a cost either way and it should always be your decision about which you prefer to pay.

To talk to a member of the OpenCRM team about how CRM software can benefit your brand, just call 01748 473000 or visit the website: www.opencrm.co.uk

Graham Anderson, is the CEO and founder of OpenCRM, one of the UK’s leading customer relationship management systems.

Type 1s want to go it alone, setting up the system, organising the implementation,

AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED

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business matters

august/september 2017 business edge

The Cloud - it really is for you!

Ian Taylor from managed cloud services provider BetterCloud Services explains how great opportunities are being created for Small and Medium Business to compete much more firmly with the Enterprise, all thanks to Cloud.

According to Gartner, more than $1 trillion in IT spending will be directly or indirectly affected by the shift to Cloud Computing (Cloud) over the next five years.

Engineers from left to right: Alfie Smith, Phil Wolf (Site Manager), Jamie Etheridge, David McCloughlin, Richard Ball

Below we review five Cloud benefits, helping business reduce costs whilst improving customer experience and employee productivity.

Maintenance Engineers WS Wright called out to aftermath of terrorist attacks

Spontaneous Growth - Cloud delivers balanced packages of applications, infrastructure and connectivity. This allows SMB to react to changing needs instantly and obtain only what is needed to grow, allowing great flexibility

Matthew Ball Reactive Maintenance Manager W S Wright (South East)

WS Wright staff are very sad for those not so fortunate and for those who have been affected by the terrorist attacks in Manchester and London; we realise so many people have been affected in so many different ways.

We have seen first-hand the security and damage caused to peoples businesses and homes as a result of the terrorist attack at London Bridge and the movements which took place by the forces in the need to resecure London. We were asked by our client to support and complete building works to secure peoples businesses and help those affected put their lives back on track.

As you can imagine in such awful circumstances, it is not easy to ask people to go into such situations as it makes it all very real. Our Reactive Maintenance Manager chose not to assign engineers to the work, he made a management decision immediately after the attack, overlooked our normal process and requested volunteers to attend London Bridge to work with staff and tenants; every engineer involved in the

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Minimising Risk - When services, equipment and support are moved to Cloud, overall responsibilities of managing service levels and infrastructure move also, minimising risk and freeing up staff for other tasks

work has been a volunteer, some engineers travelling out of their usual geographical area, just wanting to help.

Our client is one of the largest operators of restaurants, pubs and bars and properties in the UK and over the weekend we received some extremely heart-warming emails commending our engineers for their support and sensitivity and work. As you can imagine the people affected on the day and after, those working at the business and living in the area have been through an horrific time and is was pleasing to receive the acknowledgment from the clients senior directors that ‘the help from Wrights has been outstanding.’

Business Agility - Services can be consumed from anywhere, leading to better collaboration and new levels of improved business agility. With ability to deliver results much quicker SMB can create better customer experiences and competitive advantage Capex Reductions - Organisations can avoid the cost of upfront hardware, maintenance support and upgrades Operational Excellence - Cloud helps support operational performance, lower running costs, improving customer experiences and raising productivity across the business model

One of their senior directors thanking the engineers quoting ‘You can’t imagine how thankful the teams have been to receive such unprecedented support’

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

tel: 01444 259 259

Ian Taylor Managing Consultant

Better Cloud Services

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One constant is Quench’s ethos to provide customers with the best quality products and service, all served by friendly and knowledgeable staff to provide an unmatched experience.

Located in central Burgess Hill Quench is open from 9am (10am on Sundays) to serve a variety of breakfasts alongside a range of teas and Italian espresso based coffees. At lunchtime, the menu includes freshly prepared sandwiches, light bites, homemade Gourmet Burgers finished off with some tantalizing deserts.

The bar, featured in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide for the last 4 years, has an up-to-date appearance with a mixture of urban-industrial and shabby chic interiors to create a modern, cutting edge drinking environment.

Whilst the theme takes inspiration from cities outside of the local environment, the decoration is routed firmly in the town that has made the bar a success.

Photos of Burgess Hill past and present adorn the walls, showcasing the beauty of the town throughout

its history as well as the photography skills of local artist Abigail Birch from Babi Photography.

Burgess Hill continues to be celebrated in the bar’s ‘Craft Beer Fridge’, which contains high quality craft beer from across the globe including Board Walk and Brewlin Rouge, from the town’s new nano-brewery, The Kiln Brewery. Local is certainly the buzz word in Quench. Local ales from the likes of Downlands, Bedlam and Harveys breweries. Local spirits including the fantastic Brighton gin. Local wines on the new English Wine List from Ditchling’s Ridgeview and Court Garden as well as Albourne’s wine estate.

Quench is truly an all-day venue that provides the perfect way to unwind, celebrate or just spend time with friends.

2-4 Church Road Burgess Hill West Sussex RH15 9AE

01444 253332 contactus@quenchbar.co.uk www.quenchbar.co.uk

Integration is everything.

Nothing exists alone.

Ballard Chalmers is one of the UK’s leading enterprise software engineering companies, specialising in custom development for the Microsoft Enterprise Application Platform. We are principally dedicated to software development and integration for the Microsoft Cloud, as well as on-premises and hybrid systems. Our expertise is in Microsoft .NET, SQL Server, BizTalk Server and SharePoint Server.

To arrange a free informal technical review and discussion with one of our experts, or for more information call 01342 410223 or visit www.ballardchalmers.com.

software, engineered

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ask the expert

august/september 2017 business edge

Yay! :-) It’s time to go to work David Foster Director Rally Strategic Limited

David Foster’s mission is to improve productivity in organisations through enhancing the relationship between employees at all levels. He is Module Leader for ‘Creativity in Enterprise’, an innovative second year undergraduate module at Brighton Business School and he also runs the niche ‘people, development and change’ consultancy Rally Strategic. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and holds an Executive MBA from London Business School where he focused on change management.

If you woke up this morning with a smile and couldn’t wait to get to work, then you can probably stop reading this article. If not, the next 750 words might help you improve how you feel about work, your ability to think creatively and your overall productivity.

Bold claim? Bear with me whilst we look at some of the symptoms of dysfunction in the normal workplace (as opposed to those relating to change or commercial distress), consider typical causes and then bring focus to how employees at any paygrade can improve the situation. If you’re wondering why you should bother, then consider that this affects your job security, chances for promotion or salary increase and how happy you feel outside work.

Symptoms of normal dysfunction Those individuals with sight of management information will have a variety of ways of telling that the business is working sub-optimally, but there are three types of symptom which will be obvious to employees at any level: environmental, emotional and cultural.

Environmental symptoms relate to how the office environment presents. If there is a perennial problem of litter in the car park, adjacent grass or garden areas are unkempt, or common areas are looking tired, then this negatively impacts on how employees feel, as well as how visitors & passers-by view the organisation. Over time people normalise their surroundings and stop noticing dirty kitchens, bathrooms and/or toilets, but these still dramatically affect staff morale and productivity.

Emotional symptoms relate to how you feel at work and can be thought of as the absence of positivity or the presence of negativity. The absent smile, a lack of belonging or camaraderie, or the sense that your input is not valued; frequently asking yourself why you are working here, angst between individuals or departments, or an amorphous worry that someone will

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discover your failings. These all sap the energy that you are able to bring to your work, or derive from it. More fundamental symptoms occur where pressure frequently morphs into stress, which over time can lead to burnout or other health complaints.

Critically, behaviour is driven by how we feel (which in turn is driven by our cognitions), so how individuals are feeling can have a tangible effect on an organisation.

Cultural symptoms relate to the ‘way that we do stuff around here’ and show up in a variety of ways. At a simple level these include low levels of ‘recognition for work well done’, infrequent discretionary effort (people helping others by working beyond their stated role) and lack of opportunity to learn or develop. More complex symptoms include managers avoiding difficult conversations (thus allowing issues to fester), high absence or staff turnover rates, and high error rates through poor attention or decision-making.

Root causes Each organisation is a unique entity so its dysfunction will have built up for a variety of reasons around its heritage and otherwise successful business model. These range from choices around its products or services and customer segments, to the inimitable ways that it produces and delivers one to the other. However, each organisation is also simply a collection of individuals, so the real causes (and the solutions) are likely to have their roots in the relationships that manifest between people. On this basis there is an elegant simplicity to the problem that exists: high barriers to communication and low levels of trust. Address these issues and the organisation is better placed to solve all manner of strategic challenges.

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

What can you do, today?

It is important to realise that, no matter your role, you can affect low level organisational change… and that even small changes will have a positive impact on how you feel. Start by noting down the obvious symptoms, how these make you feel and what changes you would like to see. This will help to clarify the challenge and act as a reference against which to measure progress.

The likelihood is that other people around you will have similar feelings, but they too will have normalised them. Draw your team-mates into conversation and share how these symptoms make you feel. Involve them in figuring out how the challenges might be resolved, either through direct application of effort (blitzing litter, smiling more, thanking colleagues for input) or through influence on others (involving management to re-task cleaners, strengthen understanding between departments or address issues which have festered).

The process of sharing your feelings demonstrates trust, whilst involving others in solving challenges starts to build camaraderie through lowered barriers to communication… both are iterative. Small movements in one area will positively affect other areas.

Building and maintaining relationships of any kind takes constant hard work, but you’ll be surprised how quickly you will be smiling when you wake up.

Have a great day!

tel: 01444 259 259

chamber benefits

august/september august/september 2017 business 2017 business edge edge

Launch of the new Chamber Services The Chamber has an ongoing commitment to provide members with a range of benefits that offer real value to their business. Without doubt services that help protect members are very important and this is why we have invested in ChamberHR and Chamber Legal Expenses Insurance for many years, two services which have been highly valued by members.

Steve Charles

Head of Business Partnerships Qdos

New services for ALL Chamber members Four services for your protection and peace of mind

In 2016 the British Chambers of Commerce undertook a full procurement exercise to review the scope of the service, to ascertain whether it would be possible to offer a more integrated service and to identify the most suitable partner to deliver these services. We are delighted to announce that as of August our Chamber will adopt the new BCC national scheme which will provide members with access to a wider range of services and will allow them to derive even more value from their Chamber membership. We are also pleased to confirm that these new and improved services will continue to be provided by our current ChamberHR partners at Qdos, ensuring a disruption-free transition to the new service provision and very little change in how you access the services.

Chamber HR

n ChamberHR - advice line, website and legal expenses cover for employment disputes

These services are all underpinned by Chamber Legal Expenses Insurance, which provides cover across 11 different sections up to £100,000 per claim and £1,000,000 in the annual aggregate.

All these services are integrated and delivered directly by Qdos. From a member perspective access couldn’t be easier; One phone number – 01455 852037 (the current ChamberHR number) for access to all advice line services. The HR and legal lines are available 24/7, 365 days a year.

One website – use the same log in details as before. The website features a document library with over 750 free downloadable template documents covering employment, health & safety and legal matters.

Advice line – unlimited access* to health & safety specialist advisors during office hours

Website - over 350 downloadable employment documents

Website with over 200 downloadable health & safety documents

Insurance – cover for employment disputes including representation costs and awards

Insurance – cover to help you defend health & safety prosecutions

Chamber Tax

Advice line –unlimited access* to experienced legal advisors 24/7, 365 days a year

Advice line – unlimited access* to experienced tax advisors

Website with approximately 200 downloadable legal documents for a business

Advice line – unlimited access to experienced VAT advisors

Insurance – cover for your business includes property disputes, data protection, licence protection, criminal prosecution plus jury service

Insurance – cover to deal with a full HMRC enquiry, aspect enquiries, PAYE disputes and VAT disputes

Insurance – cover for employees includes personal injury, motor disputes and wrongful arrest defence

n ChamberLegal- advice line, website and legal expenses insurance for data protection, property disputes and more

n ChamberTax – advice lines for taxation and VAT plus legal expenses insurance cover to defend HMRC investigations

Advice line - Unlimited access* to experienced HR advisors 24/7, 365 days a year

Chamber Legal

Members will now have access to four key services;

n ChamberH&S – advice line, website and legal expenses insurance cover to defend HSE prosecutions

Chamber Health & Safety

One Advice line

One Website

Legal Expenses Insurance

One phone number - 01455 852037

Features a massive document library with 750 downloadable template documents

Providing cover across 11 sections, up to £100,000 per claim and £1,000,000 in the annual aggregate

Access to HR, Legal, Health & Safety, Tax and VAT advice

Employment, health & safety and legal documents

No excess

*unlimited access is subject to a fair use policy

Steve Charles, Head of Business Partnerships at Qdos said; “We were delighted to be selected by the BCC to be the national partner for the UK network.

We know these services can really help members and with the expanded range of services we are now able to provide we can say with confidence that we have a service for ALL members”

Ana Christie, CEO of Sussex Chamber said; “ The Chamber is thrilled to be able to offer this expanded and integrated service which we believe will genuinely protect our members and give them peace of mind in these challenging times. I encourage all members to use these premium quality services”

AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED

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feature: business support

august/september 2017 business edge

Workplace conflict - a problem or opportunity?

In this, our first article, we would like to introduce ourselves to the business communities in Kent, Surrey and Sussex as the regional representatives of the TCM Group, regarded as the UK’s leading provider of business, employment and workplace resolution services.

Linda Thomas and Andrew Gent Area Directors TCM Kent, Surrey, Sussex

Operating from our base in Horsham, West Sussex we are able to offer a wide range of solutions for managing conflict situations in the workplace from mediation through to grievance and disciplinary investigations.

However, we believe that understanding

and prevention are part of a more holistic approach and as such we are able to provide a wide range of awareness and mediation skills training tailored to suit our clients’ needs. This includes assisting employers to integrate conflict management and resolution schemes through policy and process review, cultural change and improving skills.

to build a more productive, less adversarial way of resolving conflict at work.

Andrew has significant experience as a senior manager in a number of public sector and NFP organisations in Kent, Sussex and London, with a proven track record as an investigator of public complaints, workplace grievances and misconduct matters. He is a qualified workplace mediator, trainer and experienced presenter.

If you have a difficult workplace situation, would like to improve your organisational approach to conflict, raise individual awareness or skills or just want to know more then please contact us. and one of us will call you back to talk or arrange a visit to discuss your needs. This includes providing free, no obligation, mediation ‘eye openers’ to staff groups, managers and executive teams.

Linda has 25 years of experience in HR and Learning & Development, in both private and public sector, including working at board level and developing organisational people strategies. A qualified mediator, coach and trainer, Linda is highly experienced in workplace relationship issues and is excited about helping organisations

Extinguishing Equipment

Fire Alarms

We will deliver TCM’s renowned industry leading solutions utilising an approach which reflects our broad knowledge, skills and experience, familiarity with the region and a growing awareness of local business needs and market conditions.

Visit www.thetcmgroup.com or contact us on 0800 294 9787 or 01444 401487

Fire Training

Supplying high quality products at a low price Based in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, B-9 Fire Protection Ltd are specialist suppliers of fire safety equipment, extinguishers, signage and fire alarms to Sussex, Surrey, Kent, London and the surrounding areas.

B-9 Fire have recently installed the monitered fire alarm system for the Chamber of Commerce at Burgess Hill.

We also offer a range of staff fire safety training courses, fire warden courses and fire safety risk assessment to businesses in and around Sussex, Surrey, Kent and London.

Signing

If you are looking for fire safety equipment, supply and servicing in Sussex, Surrey, Kent and London, look no further. We have been supplying fire extinguishers and equipment, signage, fire alarms and fire safety training to businesses, homes, schools and places of worship for many years.

Risk Assessment

Marine Fire

Contact our team today Tel: 01444 241 424

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info@b9fire.co.uk

www.b9fire.co.uk

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

tel: 01444 259 259

august/september august/september 2017 business 2017 business edge edge

feature: business support

Wills & LPAs: Planning ahead for peace of mind With the summer now upon us and the hope of warm, sunny days ahead, I am sure many of us have our holiday plans and itineraries sorted. We are now thinking about what swimsuit to take or which cocktail to sip by the pool, but can we say we are just as organised about protecting ourselves and our loved ones for whatever challenges the future holds for us? That is where the friendly and experienced Private Client team at QualitySolicitors Howlett Clarke can help.

Oliver Nelms

Trainee Solicitor, Howlett Clarke

Have you ever worried about who will care for your spouse or partner, children, parents or pets after you die? Perhaps you have been troubled by what will happen to your belongings or home after you have gone?

One method of guaranteeing surety and peace of mind for the future is by making a Will.

A will gives you the power to decide how your loved ones are provided for and how your estate, including your belongings, money and your house, are dealt with after your death. At QualitySolicitors Howlett Clarke, we have seen many instances of distress and hardship caused by the lack of a Will. Regardless of whether you are single, married or in a civil partnership, have children or other dependents, a small or large estate, live abroad, own property overseas, hold a share in a business, have re-married or are in a second relationship, a Will can hold vital importance on administering someone’s estate on their death.

Do you sometimes consider who will look after you in your old age or perhaps consider where you might be living and

who might be helping you make decisions?

Have you considered who might be making them for you, on matters involving money and medication? Another way of helping to plan a secure and stress-free future is by making Lasting Powers of Attorney. If in the future you become unable to understand or deal with your own affairs, you would need someone you can trust and rely on to make important decisions for you. They would be your attorney.

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) are available in two different types: Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare. A Property & Finance LPA would give your attorney the authority to access your bank account to pay bills, collecting your pension or benefits, making investments, and the ability the sell your house or other assets on your behalf.

A Health & Welfare LPA permits your attorney the power to decide your day-day care arrangements if you can no longer care for yourself, to include where you live, how you should dress, what you eat, what you like to do. If you wish, this can include giving your attorney the power to accept or refuse life-sustaining treatment on your behalf.

Right now could also be a better time to act because as from April this year, the fees for applying for LPAs were reduced from £110 to £82, and for re-submitting an LPA for registration from £55 to £41.

How then can I and my colleagues at QualitySolicitors Howlett Clarke help you?

We can help you write a Will that will ensure that your decisions and wishes are recorded clearly and concisely, so that the people and organisations that you care for most are provided for after your death.

We can assist in the preparation and registration of Lasting Powers of Attorney so that you are looked after and your affairs dealt with, in accordance with your preferences and wishes, if you are unable to care for yourself and your affairs in the future.

We offer fixed fee services for standard Wills and LPAs that can cater to whatever it is you need. If you and your spouse or partner want to make provisions for the future, we offer a reduced rate on both Wills and LPAs if you come in together. Our expert team want to help you safeguard your future and the future of your loved ones, and would be glad to discuss your options with you in a clear, stress-free and cost-effective way.

For more information, please feel free to get in touch.

Call 01273 838594 or email info@howlettclarke.co.uk Or visit our website: www.qualitysolicitors.com/howlettclarke

AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED

15

corporate social responsibility

Schemes that allow business to make a difference Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an increasingly important part of business life as companies seek to make an impact on their communities beyond the simple bottom line.

From helping to raise money for good causes to promoting sound health, companies are playing their part in improving people’s lives.

Methods of applying CSR include: n Environmental efforts: Businesses regardless of size have a large carbon footprint and taking steps to reduce the footprint is good for the company and society as a whole n Philanthropy: Businesses also practice social responsibility by donating to national and local charities n Ethical employment practices: By treating employees fairly and ethically, companies can demonstrate their corporate social responsibility n Volunteering: Attending volunteer events and encouraging staff to volunteer, including giving them paid leave to do everything from tree planting to office work for charities, says a lot about a company’s commitment to the area in which they operate.

All these measures benefit society and that in itself is justification enough for supporting them but there are also benefits for the company taking part, one of which is the boost they provide to reputation.

A company seen to be doing a lot to benefit their local communities can only go up in people’s estimation.

There is another benefit which is harder to measure. Recent research has indicated that people who volunteer, or support communities in other ways, feel better about themselves.

For a company encouraging its staff to support good causes there can only be a knock-on effect; happier employees make for more productive employees.

All in all, Corporate Social Responsibility has much to recommend it for businesses of all types and sizes.

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august/september 2017 business edge

Research shows that 1 in 6 men are affected by sexual abuse That means 30,000 men and boys across Sussex…

Mankind is one of only a handful of organisations in the UK offering specialist support services to these men – and the only one in the Southeast outside London.

Our Services By continually researching and refining our understanding of the particular issues that men face in dealing with sexual abuse, Mankind has developed a uniquely structured programme of gender-appropriate therapeutic services that empowers each man to choose their own pathway to recovery. These services already include 1-1 counselling and therapeutic groups and we are currently developing specialist online youth resources.

However, we want to go further…

Beyond the individual Mankind believes that sexual abuse is a community issue and that it needs us to work together as a community to tackle it effectively. To support this, we have created our Community Squared (C2) initiative directed at encouraging men to disclose abuse earlier by changing the way that we, as a society, talk about male survivors.

C2 works with the community to cocreate events and resources to raise awareness of the issue and help us all to recognise the role we can play in supporting male survivors.

At the heart of this will be a new membership scheme we are launching in 2017 and we are looking for corporate partners to help us reach out.

For more information, please call Martyn Sullivan on 01273 911680

Sussex Disability Charity - The Bevern Trust You and your work colleagues could be the difference that allows Chloe to visit the beach, feel the sea breeze on her face and give her the freedom to enjoy the Summer.

Choosing The Bevern Trust as your local charity partner gives you and your colleagues the opportunity to see first-hand how teamwork through volunteering at our home, fundraising at work or participating in a sponsored challenge together, changes the lives of profoundly disabled people in Sussex. We can inspire your team, whilst enhancing your reputation as a community focussed business.

Businesses like SGN, NatWest and Duke of Yorks Picturehouse Cinema have all seen first-hand, why getting together with The Bevern Trust through CSR is a game-changer.

“Profile-raising, fundraising, moraleboosting activities that you and your colleagues will love to be a part of, time and time again.”

Email info@beverntrust.org to find out how you can change the lives of profoundly disabled people in your community, for good.

Our charity Golf Day on 27th September at Mid Sussex Golf Club is the perfect match for you and The Bevern Trust.

Bring colleagues together for brunch, 18 holes of fabulous golf, delicious threecourse lunch and charity auction for just £60pp. Call 01273 021241 to book, or visit www.beverntrust.org to see how your company can help Chloe and many other people with profound disabilities in Sussex, get more from life.

Email: admin@mkcharity.org Visit: www.mkcharity.org Follow: @MankindCharity

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

tel: 01444 259 259

august/september 2017 business edge

The Base Skatepark Community Interest Company The Base is a state of the art indoor skate park built by the community, for the community – and beyond.

With 8,500 sqft of wooden ramps designed for all indoor extreme sports, we exist to provide a safe environment for all to practice their skills, with a teaching platform to protect young people from avoidable injuries and to encourage a positive sporting attitude.

The Base is a lifeline for the community, striving to improve the lives of young people attracted to extreme sports, who are often alienated by society.

The Base is also an advanced training ground, where four of the world’s top athletes train, attracting 66,000 visitors from as far away as Australia.

As a unique and exciting space, the cutting edge design and open gallery cafe hosts events, photo shoots and private parties with great food and astonishing extreme sports displays in a diverse, revolutionary space.

How can your Company Team support The Base? n Become a corporate sponsor n Hold a team building day with a difference n Hire our airy meeting space n Hold your company Christmas Party at The Base n Tailor make your perfect corporate event n Advertise your company at The Base n Hire The Base Team of professional extreme sports athletes for a display at your event n Fundraise for The Base Contact Janina Cooper now to discuss how your team can get involved: Unit 4, Southern Cross Industrial Estate Bognor Regis PO22 9SA 07834 380 911 Janina@skatethebase.com www.skatethebase.com

corporate social responsibility

Helping Sussex Every child people live deserves a healthy and chance fulfilling lives Choose Give 4 B.E.T.H. as Impact Initiatives has worked with people of all ages across Sussex for almost 40 years. We work with 4,000 people each year with a turnover of over £2,000,000.

Whilst some have may not have heard of Impact, many have come into contact with our services. Our Advocacy and Workability services support people to have a voice and find work; our Health Coaches support people to make lifestyle changes to improve long-term health conditions. We work with older people and children and young people including Stopover young women’s supported housing and the YPC where we provide drop-in sessions, counselling and life coaching alongside meeting and office space for other organisations. Our older people’s services provide places to meet, excellent home cooked food and activities including exercise classes, discussion groups and minibus trips.

We pride ourselves on providing quality services that genuinely improve people’s lives. Recent surveys showed 83% of our Workability clients with disabilities were still in employment two years later. A Health Coaching client recently reported they no longer have diabetes. Stopover clients say they can focus on building their futures as they finally feel safe.

We always welcome financial and partnership support but are also seeking new trustees to complement our existing team, particularly someone with legal expertise where we currently have a gap.

We have four meetings each year and offer training and support as needed.

You would have the benefit of being part of a committed and friendly team and supporting a respected organisation into the future.

your charity partner and help us to fulfil children’s life-changing dreams

From specialist equipment to house adaptations to life-altering operations, our aim has always been to make a difference.

Through our fundraising events and financial assistance, we look to support projects and causes that are not funded by the NHS or local councils.

By offering belief, encouragement, time and happiness to local disabled children and their families as well as local communities, we know we ‘have’ and ‘will’ continue to change lives for the better. Giving our supporters the transparency of where their donations are going and how their money is helping a child’s development has been key to our success to date.

None of this would be possible however without the amazing generosity of our charity supporters and corporate partners.

Whether it’s a one off activity or a longer term partnership that you’re looking to engage in, we would welcome you to join forces with Give 4 B.E.T.H. and our fundraising goals.

Contact info@give4beth.co.uk or call 01243 267019 to find out how you can get involved and how you can make a difference.

You can also visit our website www.give4beth.co.uk to find out more about our work.

www.impact-initiatives.org.uk

AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED

17

environment and renewables

august/september 2017 business edge

Don’t forget about water!

Eden Utilities is a company based on several decades of genuine expertise within the utilities industry.

Mark Chipol Managing Director Eden Utilities

n Improved Meter Reading & Consumption Management n Improved Reporting n Performance Savings, perhaps Quarterly Reviews n Target Leaks

Led by their Managing Director Mark Chipol, they use this knowledge and experience to drive out savings for gas, electricity and water, for their clients, ranging from SME all the way through to some of the UK’s largest energy and water users.

Always operating in a fully transparent manner, to ensure that they represent their clients in the best possible way, the company is keen to continue to grow on its ethic of partnership.

In keeping with the Gas and Electricity markets previously, the water industry recently experienced a big change, that could drive out benefits for end users.

From 1st April 2017, the water market, in England, was de-regulated and opened itself up to competition, for business customers, in the same way Scotland currently operates and has done so, since 2008.

Are you ready?

Unlike the electricity and gas markets, which have been open for several years now, water has been a cost that was just paid and was something you couldn’t really do much about, other than by reducing usage on metered sites.

n Supplier Rationalisation n Improved Customer Service & Administration n Consolidated Billing n Tariff Optimisation n More accurate information for your P&L

So, what can you do? n Early Market Test – what can your current suppliers offer you? n Cleanse Account/Portfolio Details n Identify & Assess “Added Value” Costs/ Benefits vs Discounted Rates n Rationalise Supplier Base (NB. Some suppliers may not enter the new market) n Formalise Supply Contracts

Once you’re ready, then, with a good level of expertise and support, you will be able to: n Benchmark Average Consumption n Target High Volume sites n Closely monitor usage

That has changed, for both water and waste water, and this provides organisations, across most of the UK with an opportunity to review their water spend and work towards reducing it.

n Rectify leaks

The pre-Apr 17 position meant:

Good preparation and buying well, can help organisations to improve their positions and save costs.

n Water was locally monopolised n More than 20 different suppliers across the UK n 100s of different pricing methods, tariffs and billing formats (admin intensive for multi-sites) n Limited Customer Service/Focus n Limited Meter Reads

Imagine if your business could tell you how to save?

n Review performance and savings on an ongoing basis n Potentially reduce your current supplier margin

As with power and gas, be certain that with water, you take key steps with market preparation, supplier choice and the checking of historical billing, for issues that could even lead to reclaiming money back.

So, it’s important.

Don’t forget about water!

Gary Worby, Managing Director of the UK’s longest established utility consultancy, the West Sussex based Energy and Carbon Management, explores how businesses can harness their utility data to reap huge rewards.

Whilst working with some of the UK’s most prominent businesses over the past 40 years, we’ve seen that on average, one in every ten commercial energy bills are incorrect, principally due to increasing complexity within the energy market. Not only does this mean that businesses are paying unnecessarily over the odds, but these errors stay buried in most cases and tend to be in favour of the suppliers.

Businesses can’t control the energy markets but they can control their costs. By moving your utility invoices and meter readings into an intelligent, interactive energy application that provides bill simulation and validation, every error can be identified. This gives you control and peace of mind whilst saving you money.

But these systems can also deliver so much more. Their fully interactive widgets can be developed to accept any business data feed, allowing you to make sense of all your business’ consumptions, whilst guiding you to become more efficient and manage your budget position. Therefore, it begs to question, why is every business not already using one?

Market De-regulation will provide several opportunities:

Gary Worby Managing Director

n Business Customers, able to choose their Water Supplier

Energy and Carbon Management

n Supplier Margin, expected to drop

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www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

tel: 01444 259 259

environment and renewables

august/september 2017 business edge

Home Smart Energy Neil Mitchell Managing Director Home Smart Energy

Home Smart Energy is a Burgess Hill Renewable Energy company run by the MD Neil Mitchell and Operations Director Mike Holloway.

Our passion is reducing everyone’s carbon footprint whilst reducing your energy bills dramatically. We try very hard to keep our overheads as low as possible and that allows us to be extremely competitive on our pricing for the equipment and we even have a pay monthly option, which is open to everyone now.

We were recently at the Grand Design show for nine days in London, lots of eco friendly ways of building or extending your house now. One of our products has been fitted to two Grand Designs houses now.

The latest technology in the UK is Thermodynamic Hot Water systems. One panel and our A-rated hot water tank will heat your hot water 24/7 all year round and the panel can go anywhere, again reducing your usage of gas, oil or electric. It’s called The Magic Box, MCS approved and tested

by BRE and approved.

Technology is changing monthly and we are constantly on the lookout for the latest new proven equipment, whether it’s the latest battery storage system or high performing panel, we know about it.

A 14 panel system on your roof saves two metric tonnes of CO2 each year by not buying from the grid. This year in the UK we have already produced more than 50% of our power needs in one day from renewables, solar and wind turbines.

With more than 25 years of experience in the renewable sector, when you use Home Smart Energy, you’ll benefit from expert advice combined with excellent customer service. We are committed to providing our clients with a positive experience of renewable energy and so you can be assured of the very best workmanship,

products and service from us. We are MCS, NICIEC and HIES regulated, specialising in n Thermodynamic Hot Water System (British Made) n Central Heating Management System (British Made ) n Smart Foam loft insulation n Solar PV with battery storage options All our installers comply with the relevant building regulations and industry safety standards so you can be assured our work and products are of the highest quality.

Going green at Stamco Kurt Smith Marketing and IT Stamco

Stamco installed a new PV solar panel system at their St Leonards site on Highfield Industrial estate in 2016.

Shaun Beattie, Director of M3 Solutions the project installer, explains: “The installation contained 1,000 panels and can generate up to 250kW of power. This is enough power to run 63 households and will reduce emissions by 2,000 tonnes over 25 years or the equivalent of driving 8.25 million miles.”

Since installation the panels have produced a whopping 408258 kWh of energy and amassed approximately £39,000 worth of earnings.

The panels have reduced our electricity usage by 13% and saved us 11% on our electricity costs overall. This is a big saving for us, since it includes electricity use for our prepared timber manufacturing facility.

The installation is part of Stamco’s commitment to sustainability, with efforts being made around the company to improve efficiency and make sure the company is as sustainable as possible.

This includes investment in the new Euro 6 vehicles, Vehicle telematics system, to optimise delivery routes, and minimize engine idling time. We are bronze accredited by FORS (Fleet Operators Recognition Scheme) which drives best practice across the commercial fleet industry in terms of safety, efficiency and environmental protection. This includes Measuring fuel use, vehicle Co2 production and truck tyre recycling.

Our St Leonards Production Facility has recently installed a new sawdust bailing

system to make use of the timber machining waste material and we are a certified supplier of both FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Certified Forests) products.

This guarantees all our raw timber material is sustainably sourced from well managed forests through Sawmills and Suppliers holding the same certification, giving us a provable chain of custody.

We also strive to recycle all the paper, plastic, metal and cardboard we can across all 5 sites.

Nicholas Wilde, Company Secretary led the implementation team at Stamco and says “Our investment in renewable energy systems will help us to continue our efforts to make our business more efficient. We have invested almost £300,000 in installing this PV Solar Panel system which is expected to achieve payback within six and a half years but should last us for the next twenty five years or more.”

AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED

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environment and renewables

august/september 2017 business edge

Electric vehicles for business Russell Horscroft Fleet Sales Manager Motorline Nissan Crawley

When you first mention electric vehicles to business users they tend to shy away from the subject due to the unknown. Our job is not necessarily to sell but to educate and encourage to try before dismissing the idea.

Let’s address straight away the issue of range. In the main, range is tending to be the easiest excuse to dismiss the EV (Electric Vehicle). After personally using both the newer 30kw Leaf and 24kw eNV200 I got circa 120 miles and 70 miles respectively and found that these vehicles really came into their own when used in urban areas, in stop start traffic.

I admit these vehicles are not suitable for every individual or business, however if

asked to assess the current usage of your ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicle it can be quite surprising what you’ll find!

After checking the government website for National Travel Statistics, the average commute has dropped from 8.5 miles per day in 2003, to around 5 miles per day in 2015.

So how many miles are you doing?

The next question is charging. Nissan EV’s have three types of charging: Cable/Domestic Plug (10 amp) – This will take from between 12 to 15 hours dependent on whether you have a 24kw or 30kw battery.

Fast Charge (32 amp) – 4 to 5.5 hours if using the optional 6.6kw on board charger.

Rapid Charge – Will charge from 0% to 80% in 30 minutes.

To assist you, a domestic charging set up is offered free of charge with the Nissan Leaf. A survey is required to make sure your home electrics can take the additional requirement, and for an additional cost you can take the opportunity to upgrade to the 32 amp installation. It costs approximately £2.00 to charge a Nissan EV overnight (depending on provider).

The public charging infrastructure has grown massively over the past few years in the UK with the total number of connectors having increased from 9,125 in February 2016 to

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nearly 12,000 by January 2017. Most UK motorway services now have Rapid Chargers fitted so longer trips can be made. Useful mobile apps enable you to plan your trips and check availability of the charging unit.

When you talk to any Leaf or eNV200 driver, the first thing they mention is how responsive the vehicle is. The beauty of electric cars is that you get 100% of the torque from the motor as soon as you touch the throttle. The Leaf remains practical with room for 4 passengers and a good size boot and the eNV200’s carrying capacity remains the same as it’s ICE equivalent. All the usual mod cons are available, satellite navigation, climate control, heated seats and even a heated steering wheel!

Savings can be substantial. On cars the current government grant is £4,500 and commercials it’s 20% of the cost of the vehicle. Finance options are available from Personal Contract Purchase, Personal Contract Hire and Business Contract Hire.

We also run ‘Work Place Promotions’, this involves us organising a visit to your business and present a compelling offer to employees.

Both vehicles can also give great tax savings. As the Nissan Leaf is fully electric it can benefit from 100% writing down allowance over the first 12 months. Also, company car drivers benefit from a low Benefit In Kind tax, for example a 40% tax payer will only pay £90.66 BIK per month on the Nissan Leaf Acenta 30kw.

tel: 01444 259 259

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WS Wright offers long-term reliability W S Wright Ltd was formed in 1940 and initially traded as a local south London builder before expanding over the years to become an approved, comprehensive and reliable maintenance and projects partner offering peace of mind to clients for over 70 years.

Today, the company has a diverse client base including the Licensed Trade, Local Authorities, Letting Agents, Leisure, Health, Education and the Licensed Betting Trade.

The Building Maintenance Group and Projects Contracts Division operate from the company’s head office in Rye, East Sussex with South West reactive assignments and projects administered and supervised from our office in Verwood, Dorset. The company’s work base is spread throughout London and the South of England and extends to Birmingham in the north, Exeter in the South West and Norwich in the East.

The traditional approaches to contracting are integrated with modern practices and along with a committed and professional management team and staff, we aim to continue providing and maintaining an exceptional level of service, an unwavering commitment and dedication to customer service and synergy with our clients.

provide a flexible and bespoke reactive and planned service offering complete support 24/7, 365 days a year.

W.S.Wright currently offers the following services in the South East of the UK: n General Building, including carpentry, roofing, flooring, plumbing, painting and decorating, etc. n Gas n Electrical n Joinery n Upholstery n Carpet Fitters n External Drainage n Glazing n Metal Worker www.wswright.co.uk

By listening to and understanding our client’s individual needs we are able to

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A range of rooms and areas available to suit all kinds of events and functions including: Weddings u Ceremonies u Marquee events u Parties and Balls u Funeral gatherings Also, the perfect escape for a meeting, team building days or a conference.

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Herstmonceux Castle, Hailsham, East Sussex BN27 1RN Enquiries 01323 834479 www.herstmonceux-castle.com

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WannaCrypt attack is big wake-up call The mass attack by the WannaCrypt malware which hit more than 300,000 users of Microsoft products worldwide, is another stark reminder that UK businesses should regularly update their IT systems with the latest security patches.

It didn’t help that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had stored this system “vulnerability” to use it as a spying tool.

The tool was then stolen by criminals who added the ransomware element. Once it got inside an operating system, it locked the user’s computer and demanded a fee to unlock it which had to be paid in bitcoin.

Unlocked back door Microsoft has criticised government agencies for stockpiling such vulnerabilities which are essentially bugs that provide an unlocked back door into its operating systems.

Many organisations were affected by the attack from the malware. NHS operations and appointments were cancelled and ambulances had to be diverted in more than 60 trusts across England and Scotland. Around the world many other big organisations were hit including FedEx, Telefónica and the Russian interior ministry.

Within only a few days, many users had already paid the £300 ransom amounting to more than £35,000 worth of payments to a number of bitcoin accounts.

Replace outdated systems The NHS was vulnerable because some computers still use Windows XP which is no longer supported by Microsoft security updates. Users of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 were also hit. Microsoft belatedly sent out a patch to help these users.

Gary Jowett from Computer & Network Consultants in Brighton says: “This global malware attack highlights the importance of replacing outdated operating systems and by accepting the regular updates sent

by Microsoft and other software providers.

Ignoring the fundamental importance of your IT infrastructure is just like failing to repair your fleet of vehicles or forgetting to maintain the perimeter fencing outside.”

using company devices and software.

For example, by treating all emails and attachments with caution and not using personal USB sticks to transfer data onto company systems.

Collective action called for Microsoft’s President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith blogged that there needs to be more collective action to fight such criminal activity from the tech sector, customers and governments. He said the latest attack is a “wake-up call” for governments around the world.

But it’s also an alarm bell for any businesses in Sussex, Surrey, Kent and Hampshire who have cut back on IT expenditure in recent years to protect other overheads.

Unfortunately, such cut backs can be an accident waiting to happen that will badly damage a company’s reputation and its ability to serve customers in the future.

Businesses should also remind employees about how to behave responsibly when

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We would love to talk to you and offer a complementary systems check-up with no obligations to use our services.

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Technology - what can we do to help ourselves?

Technology is a tool that allows you to run your business efficiently, flexibly and virtually, from anywhere. It allows you and your staff to be more productive, less reactive and keep your business in good shape.

So what can you do to get operations Richard Long running more smoothly and feeding back to you the information you need to keep you on top of managing the business?

Since 1979, Interlink Express has provided a great delivery service.

Now we have changed our name to DPD Local. Part of DPDgroup, we provide the same great services with the same great people.

Call us now on 01273 447 250 and ask for Stacy or Shelby alternatively email us on brighton@dpdlocal.co.uk.

DPD Local Brighton - Unit 2, Harbour Way Industrial Estate, Harbour Way, Shoreham-by-sea, BN43 5HZ

1. Thinking about how your business operates write down the steps involved from finding a customer to delivering your product/service.

2. Map the applications you use to the various operational stages. For example: Customer information into your CRM App; Map Product/ Service details against customers; Map sales against Customers and the Finance App. 3. Review where your business is at this point and decide how much more integrated you want to make the whole process.

This will give you an excellent starting point to integrate your business operation and you can then plan how to go about it, either internally or by talking to external experts.

Integrating the business operation, procedures and processes means: • the right people in your organisation have access to the right information, • it provides an audit trail, • it will shorten the induction time for new staff • and very importantly give you business continuity by implementing best practice security protocols, backup procedures and if the worst should happen substantially shorten any recovery time.

Importantly, you will see how your business is doing against the KPI’s you have set.

Call us for a no obligation discussion and make the technology work for you.

where solutions are our universe Tel: 020 3318 3260 Email: info@associate-planet.com Web: www.associate-planet.com

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business matters

august/september 2017 business edge

Grants can be a low risk form of finance Amanda Geel Finance Specialist Business Navigator

Amanda Geel, access to finance specialist for the Business Navigator, explains the benefits of accessing a grant….

What are grants? A grant is an investment in your business, but unlike a traditional investment, a grant does not need to be re paid. Grants are often viewed as cash in kind, a subsidy, or even a gift in kind.

They are ‘opportunistic’ but may not fund certain types of projects, types or stages of business, but if you are eligible to apply, it is free money.

Most grants are matched funded, meaning the business is also required to contribute to the overall cost of the project.

Publicly funded schemes are designed to encourage new and growing businesses. To stimulate growth ultimately create jobs. To help achieve this the Government makes available a portion of money to encourage enterprise through business grants.

Reasons to apply for a business grant.

If time is against you, perhaps consider outsourcing to a professional bid writer, or seek an adviser who will give you the guidance necessary to submit a robust application.

Access to finance is important for growth and productivity. Grants will ease cash flow pressures and investment helps achieve a sustainable business.

Most grant funded initiatives do offer guidance notes that so many people fail to read, then wonder why their application has been declined.

Often grants will unleash projects your business may not otherwise afford.

Unleashing a new project can help achieve growth or generate new revenue streams.

Grants contribute to expansion plans - boost innovation, which in turn helps your business grow. Grants make your investment and your working capital go further.

How do I know my application will be successful?

“I don’t have the time to apply” We hear this a lot and, although we recognise how valuable your time is, it is essential you’re accessing finance and investing in your business for your business to grow and flourish.

Not having the time to apply suggests you may not be spending enough time on strategic planning, or simply not doing what’s important to generate growth.

Applying for grants is an investment of time and for many can be quite an arduous process. Yet if the sums add up, unleashing a project, can potentially generate a healthy return on investment.

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“What is the solution?”

You don’t. But you will significantly increase your chances if you demonstrate your project will either: n generate a return on investment n unleash growth n create employment, and or n Impact the local economy.

What sort of grants are available? Small

must be a registered business within the respective Local Authority area to qualify.

Innovation grants are available through Innovate UK. You can apply for funding to test the feasibility of your idea, research and development and to create a prototype. (This grant is awarded through a funded competition).

Larger grant contributions of £10k plus, impose stricter criteria. They are often for capital Investment projects, such as: New equipment, premises & transport. The funder will ask for supporting evidence how the investment will impact growth and new employment opportunities.

There is a substantial grant designed for rural businesses wanting to diversify or make a capital investment. Available to rural businesses who trade mostly across the South Downs, from £2,500 to £75,000. This grant is a 40% matched funded contribution.

Where do I go to source a grant for my business? Business Navigator is a funded

business enabler grants tend to invest in revenue generating projects like: web design, marketing materials, training & specialist consultancy support and are easy to apply for.

business support service that is free and impartial for businesses to use.

The West Sussex Small Business Grant is available from just a couple of Local Authorities serving Mid Sussex and Coastal West Sussex (at time of going press). It is advisable to apply soon, as demand is high and the grant will sell out. The grant offers a maximum matched funded contribution of £2,000 - £2,500, available to local micro businesses (of up to 10 employees). You

Amanda has been of tremendous support to Opus. As a result of Amanda’s proactive support and contacts in less than 6 months we have participated in Arab Health (Dubai) conference. Received a £2,000 grant from the Department of International Trade.

Introduced to funding organisations such as Finance South East and Allied Irish Bank, as well brokering an exciting business partnership with Peter Bailey of TickleTec Ltd.

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

Mr Bola Lafe of Opus Innovation said this of Amanda:

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Tech is developing a new language…. but R&D Tax Relief remains a constant Tech is everywhere, businesses are investing heavily in technological Research and Development; giving rise not only to new ways of doing things, but also to new terminology that may not always be as readily recognised or understood as the end results it refers to.

FinTech refers to technology supporting, streamlining and improving functionality and ease of use for businesses and their customers in the financial and banking sector: the development of mobile phone payments by creating platforms to process such transactions and ensure they are secure would fall under the Fintech umbrella, as would Bitcoin & Blockchain projects.

RegTech refers to the introduction of software often, but not necessarily connected to developments in the financial

sector, that helps manage compliance with any legal or regulatory structures or policies.

InsurTech, according to Wikipedia, refers to innovations in technology that “squeeze out savings and efficiency from the current insurance industry model”, allowing Insurers to examine and sift large quantities of data to tailor packages and premiums consistently to support insurer, broker and the customer.

SportTech refers to technological innovations that assist human beings to participate in sports faster, better or more fairly. Deriving improved performance by examining a multitude of stats from,

for example, a series of tennis matches is essentially reliant on high performance analytical software; variants of which are increasingly being tested and applied in a wide variety of sports.

If your Tech business is planning an R&D project you need reliable advice when it comes to recouping costs and that is exactly where Cooden Tax Consulting comes in. We have a wealth of experience in R&D Tax Relief and can explain how and to what extent your particular project may merit a claim. What’s more – we’ll talk to you in language you can definitely understand from the off!

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Bexhill on Sea

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business matters

august/september 2017 business edge

Harwoods opens new multimillion pound Jaguar Land Rover Centre One of the largest independent prestige car retailers in the South of England has opened its new multimillion pound Jaguar Land Rover centre in Crawley, West Sussex.

Covering an area of five acres, Harwoods’ magnificent Jaguar Land Rover centre was officially opened by sporting legend and Land Rover Brand Ambassador, Sally Gunnell, during a prestigious, well attended event held in the new centre’s two showrooms.

Sally’s warm welcome was swiftly followed by an entertaining opening speech from the company’s Chairman Guy Harwood.

Champagne flowed and canapés were served while more than one hundred invited guests toured the impressive new complex.

The doors to the superbly-equipped workshop were opened for visitors to view Harwoods’ technical facilities featuring Jaguar Land Rover’s very latest diagnostic systems, state of the art tooling and a multitude of hydraulic ramps, all housed within ‘clean room’ conditions.

Harwoods’ new Crawley centre incorporates two spacious and inviting showrooms, one for

Jaguar, the other for Land Rover. Assembled guests took time to look at the latest models from Jaguar and Land Rover on display that evening. These included the sleek all-new Range Rover Velar on sale officially from July.

Crawley’s Jaguar Land Rover franchise had operated for many years. The new development represents a huge investment

by Harwoods in its Crawley business and the fast-growing Jaguar Land Rover franchise.

Separating the service centre from the showrooms is an internal car parking area where Harwoods displayed an alluring array of Jaguar and Land Rover models from the past and present, together with specialist sports and racing models, both modern and classic.

You’ll find Harwoods Jaguar Land Rover Crawley on the Manor Royal Retail Estate in Crawley just 5 minutes from Junction 10 of the M23 and Gatwick Airport. The Centre is just a 25-minute drive from the M25, connecting Harwoods to many areas across Greater London including Leatherhead and Sevenoaks.

The new Harwoods Jaguar Land Rover centre replaces a nearby dealership, where

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Let’s talk water

Southern Water’s CEO Ian McAulay opens up about meeting current and future challenges and why it’s vital to work with local communities to deliver success Like many other businesses across the UK, we are facing a wide range of complex challenges. Climate change, tighter environmental standards and increased population growth all contribute to greater pressures on the vital water and wastewater services we provide to millions of households across Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

In addition, we have adapted to the new world of retail competition within the water industry for all non-household customers - that’s businesses, such as factories and shops; churches, charities and public sector organisations like schools and NHS trusts.

From 1 April 2017, these customers have been able to choose which company provides their water and wastewater retail services – things like customer services and meter reading. Local water companies, like us, are continuing to look after the pipes and infrastructure for all customers. You can find out more online at

www.southernwater.co.uk/for-business We are committed to successfully overcoming a range of challenges by

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developing innovative and resilient solutions, for example new ways of harnessing more energy from our water and wastewater operations. This will help ensure we can provide high-quality and sustainable services for our customers in the decades ahead.

Of course, the challenges we face also affect local communities, businesses and a wide range of organisations, such as councils, across the South East. This means greater collaboration with others will play a critical role in delivering long-term resilience for our region and the people who live and work here.

Let’s Talk Water We are currently developing our plans for the future and have been talking to our customers and stakeholders across the region, so we can fully understand their needs and wishes, the issues that really matter to them. This ongoing programme of research and engagement is called ‘Let’s Talk Water’.

It’s included conversations with hundreds of our customers and community representatives via interviews, workshops, discussion groups and even by asking people to keep a water diary.

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

We recently published the first part of our new strategy and this important document sets out the key messages from our customers and stakeholders about their priorities for the next 25 years. In addition, it provides a view of the specific issues faced by our region in the future.

In ‘Let’s Talk Water,’ we identify possible ways in which we can transform our business to make sure we can continue to deliver for customers and stakeholders on their priority areas, while successfully meeting the challenges we face and taking advantage of the opportunities we have to deliver smarter solutions. The development of our new strategy continues, with our new Business Plan for 2020-25 taking its lead from our long-term approach.

To read ‘Let’s Talk Water – Starting the Conversation’ and find out more, you can visit

www.southernwater.co.ukhaveyoursay.

Working together for better outcomes Partnership working is one of our key areas of focus - for example, working

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august/september 2017 business edge

with councils and developers to enable development and growth, or joining forces with farmers, landowners and environmental organisations to better manage, safeguard and enhance the water environment across a given area – an approach known as catchment management.

Furthermore, our ground-breaking £30 million Bathing Water Enhancement Programme (BWEP) sees us collaborate with local authorities, the Environment Agency and other stakeholders to help improve bathing water quality at seven locations in our area to the ‘Excellent’ standard.

Another innovative partnership which we are working towards is around an integrated water resources plan for the whole of the South East. This would go beyond work among water companies to embrace all those who abstract water from the environment and have a role in ensuring water is not wasted. For example, cooperation across a range of industries, such as agriculture and tourism to look at all the factors influencing water supply, demand and wastewater disposal.

Harnessing the potential of new technology In order to not only protect, but also enhance the environment, we are looking at using new technologies to enable us to work in a smarter, more streamlined way.

We are trialling new equipment that allows us to extract more energy from our water and wastewater treatment processes and operations. This will help us reduce the amount of energy we need to take from the grid, creating the potential for our sites to become self-sufficient or even new sources of energy supply to the wider energy network.

Another strong area of interest is fitting monitors across our sewer system. This will help us to track flows remotely in real time, so we can respond to issues quickly and effectively and better prioritise areas for investment and improvement. That’s all in the interests of providing better service to customers, prevent flooding and protect the natural environment.

With the roll out of smart energy meters across the UK, we also want to explore how

“It is my firm belief that we must work alongside our customers and other key stakeholders to fully understand and promote the ‘value’ and importance of water in our daily lives.”

Ian McAuley | Southern Water

we can use smart technology to provide our customers with a detailed understanding of how they are using water. This will help us tailor our advice and support for them to making savings.

We are committed to meeting international targets for protecting and enhancing global biodiversity. This commitment includes making sure we factor in regional enhancements when planning our water supply and wastewater management strategies.

Renewable energy

In addition, we work with local and national interest groups to reverse biodiversity loss in our region. For example, we are currently developing ways to prevent the potential transfer of invasive non-native species between river catchments in our large reservoirs.

Part of our commitment to protecting and enhancing the environment is around using as little of the Earth’s resources as we can.

This means replacing traditional energy sources with renewable supplies wherever possible in our day-to-day operations.

For instance, we generate energy in our combined heat and power plants (CHP) using the biogas yielded by our wastewater sludge digestion processes. 2017 has been a really exciting year for us as we have seen the introduction of solar panels across a number of our sites. We have invested £4 million to deliver solar power at three of our largest water treatment centres, including one in north Sussex. The potential output from all three sites’ solar panels equates to four megawatts of electricity – equivalent to providing power for 1,000 homes for an entire year. The power we generate from our new panels will be used on site in our treatment processes.

During 2016–17, 17% of our total energy use came from renewable sources – beating our target of just over 16%. Looking to the longer term, we want to start applying a ‘circular economy’ approach, where we extract value from our waste materials - for example, removing and selling nutrients from our wastewater treatment process for use in agriculture. We are also looking at storing power generated by our operations to sell back to the national grid.

Protecting the natural environment In the past year, we have developed a new biodiversity policy to provide us with a clear framework for embedding consideration of this area into all activities across our business.

We now have a team of more than 50 ecologists, all dedicated to delivering ecological surveys, watching briefs, appraisals and mitigation plans for all our projects. We recently won a coveted Institute of Water Innovation Award for our bat location technology in the South East.

Moving forward It is my firm belief that we must work alongside our customers and other key stakeholders to fully understand and promote the ‘value’ and importance of water in our daily lives.

People tend to be disconnected from the water cycle - after all, we are used to simply turning on a tap or flushing a toilet without having to think too much about the thousands of people that treat that water, ensure it flows smoothly through our networks and then remove waste to be cleaned and returned safely to the environment.

I believe the responsibility for highlighting the value of water lies with the water industry itself and we must not stay silent about the challenges we face and, crucially, how we plan to tackle them.

We need to bring people along with us and help them understand that we are not ‘just’ providers of drinking water and handlers of waste - we are guardians of the most precious resource in the world and play a vital role in protecting the environment.

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inspirational leaders

august/september 2017 business edge

Growing company drives a workplace health revolution One of the most encouraging trends in business is the realisation by employers that looking after their staff is not just a humane thing to do but also benefits the bottom line because fit and healthy employees are usually more productive.

One of the companies helping that revolution gather pace is Sussex-based SJA Health Insurance led by its Managing Director Andrew Leach, who has more than 30 years’ experience with insurance brokers and insurance companies, making him one of the most experienced health insurance brokers in the country.

His company is a boutique health insurance brokerage specialising in health insurance and related products for small and large companies and personal clients both in the UK and internationally.

At the company’s heart is a commitment to quality service and a determination to speak up for the individual if Andrew and his team feel they are being unfairly treated.

Andrew’s career started in the mid-70s when he worked in advertising for Anglia Television and the Daily Mail, after which he worked for a company specialising in income protection insurance.

He was headhunted by a brokerage in the City and became their first health insurance specialist, working primarily with overseas banks based in London.

Despite his growing expertise in insurance, his career had a surprising twist before he settled on the path which led to his current role as he worked for nine years in the building industry as Sales Director of a company dealing in glass and marble.

Andrew said: “I then went back into insurance and formed a brokerage in Sussex, which specialised in health insurance. I was MD but a minor shareholder. After about nine years, I broke away after a disagreement and started my own brokerage, Citymain Healthcare Ltd, in January 2001. Many of my clients followed me.

“Twelve years later, I wanted to expand. The only way I could do it quickly was to buy another brokerage. SJA International was owned by a friend of mine who had taken some of the staff from the old brokers that I worked for.

“She had another business, specialising in international health insurance, which was expanding rapidly and she could not focus as much of her attention on her UK brokerage as she would want. During a meal, I suggested that I buy SJA and she agreed.”

Before the move could be confirmed, Andrew had to overcome a number of obstacles, centred primarily around a familiar refrain for entrepreneurs faced with raising finance.

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He said: “I went through six months of frustration talking to banks to help me fund the purchase even though the business model demonstrated that even a conservative cash flow forecast would easily support the repayments.

“None of the banks I approached would lend me the money. Eventually, a Sussex-based company specialising in finding finance placed us with RBS, who offered me the funds under the Government’s Enterprise funding Guarantee scheme, and with this, some of my own money and a loan from a friend, I bought the other company in December 2013.”

Having taken on the SJA staff, he merged the two companies and called the new organisation SJA international Ltd, which now trades under the name SJA Health Insurance.

Although the business has grown to become the leading health insurance brokerage in Sussex, Andrew is keen that it does not grow too large, in order to protect its high service levels.

He said: “The company remains small, and that has its advantages. I envisage staffing levels will grow as we grow but, frankly, I hope it never gets too big as service levels tend to suffer as often with large organisations one rarely deals with the same person twice. I and my staff value the close relationships we have with our clients.”

One of the big advantages for the company is the way it is structured, according to Andrew.

He said: “An insurance brokerage such as this is a rather unusual business model.

Nearly all our income is commissions which are nil rated for VAT so we do not have the hassle of being VAT-registered. We do charge fees for some of our work for larger corporate clients but we are careful these stay below the VAT threshold.

“We do not have any bad debts because we are paid by major insurance companies, we can predict when commissions are to be paid very accurately and because we are in a service industry, we have no stock to worry about.

“This is similar to any other insurance brokerage but being in health insurance means we have very high client loyalty because we are dealing with people’s health and often the health of their spouse, partners and children is rather emotive.

“To retain clients, and this is everything to us, one must give very high levels of service,

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which means sometimes fighting a client’s corner when, for example, an insurer refuses to pay a claim. It is all about trust.

“Our clients recognise the service we give and so we very rarely lose them, and then it is usually because they have had to cancel for financial reasons. Our FeeFo rating is currently 98%, I think the highest of any company in the insurance market.”

In addition to representing individuals, SJA also helps companies who wish to look after their staff.

Andrew said: “Employee benefits have always been a means of showing you care about your staff and its perceived value is greater than the equivalent increase in payroll.

“The cost of private medical insurance is heavily dependent on the cost of medical treatment. New techniques, equipment and treatments tend to be rather expensive and this affects premiums.

“Many insurance companies are now addressing fees at all levels from consultants, surgeons and physiotherapists and are laying down strict guidelines above which they will not pay. Equally, there is a move towards insurers directing patients towards certain consultants and specialists where they have that strict clinical and pricing agreements in place instead of the old system where a GP would refer.

“This is working and we are seeing price increases, on certainly many of our larger schemes, at a lower level than we have done for some time.

“Other trends in this market include inspiring people to lead a healthier lifestyle, which will lead to less and lower claims.

This includes money off gym memberships, health screenings and many other incentives.

“Group life insurance costs have been coming down as people live longer.

Income protection, which has quite low penetration into the market, is set to increase. I think that employers realise the true costs of funding long-term illness and the implications of dismissing somebody that is ill.

“After all, employers have a duty of care to their staff and much of this can be catered for by insurance products, some of which are very inexpensive, such as Cash plans, which if the cost is under £50 per annum per person, do not attract P11 D tax.”

The revolution, it seems, is under way.

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august/september 2017 business edge

inspirational leaders

Andrew Leach CEO SJA Health Insurance

“Our clients recognise the service we give and so we very rarely lose them, and then it is usually because they have had to cancel for financial reasons.

Our FeeFo rating is currently 98%, I think the highest of any company in the insurance market.”

Andrew Leach | SJA Health Insurance

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finance focus

august/september 2017 business edge

R&D Tax Relief

Reduce your tax

Paul Knight FCA Managing Director Honey Barrett Chartered Accountants For further advice call 01323 412277 or visit our website www.honeybarrett.co.uk

If you think that R&D tax relief is only likely to apply to large companies with R&D departments, then think again! We act for small, medium and large owner managed companies and have claimed back for our clients in excess of £800,000 of corporation tax over the past 4 years, with more in the pipeline.

Research and Development tax relief could be available for your business, contact us to find out more.

Many of our clients did not originally realise that some of their activities met the criteria for an R&D claim, and I am sure there are still many businesses out there which could claim but are not.

Some of the industries we have worked with include: manufacturers, wholesalers, IT and construction. That is a very varied list and covers a whole variety of situations.

R&D tax claims can be submitted retrospectively, but the deadline is 2 years from the accounting period end. So for March year ends the next deadline is 31 March 2018 for expenditure in the year to 31 March 2016. A claim between now and the deadline would likely cover the 2 years to 31 March 2017.

We provide a complete range of tax services to help you minimise your tax.

Call Paul Knight for a FREE consultation on 01323 412277 www.honeybarrett.co.uk 53 Gildredge Road Eastbourne East Sussex BN21 4SF

If your year end is imminent, for example 31 July, then you need to act quickly to bank any claim for the year to 31 July 2015.

The basis for SME claims is that the qualifying R&D expenditure is enhanced by 130% to provide an extra deduction in the corporation tax computations. So for example 2016/17 expenditure of £20,000 would produce a claim of £26,000 in addition to the original deduction and this would result in a reduction in CT of £5,200. If there were insufficient taxable profits to absorb the claim, then either the loss created can be carried back one year or carried forward, or a tax credit could be claimed of 14.5% resulting in a tax repayment of £3,770.

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Accountancy and Audit BACS Payroll Bureau Bookkeeping Business Planning Company Secretarial Management Accounts Personal Tax PRISM – KPI Reports R&D Tax Relief Tax Planning Trusts and Estates 10 Steps to Success System Xero Training

Helping you get from where you are now to where you want to be...

Registered to carry out audit work in the UK and Ireland and regulated for a range of investment business activities by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

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Our services include:

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august/september 2017 business edge

Introducing the Financial Advantage Programme!

As a company director of a limited company or plc, or a partner in a Limited Liability Partnership you have most likely worked hard for a considerably amount of time on your business.

If you have been successful in generating profits, these will be reflected in the value of the investments you have made - your assets – both within your business and personally.

Your assets will be intended to fulfil many different purposes: provide income now or later, build a fund for retirement, provide security and ‘insulation’ against life’s uncertainties, and be available to your family or other beneficiaries as an inheritance. The challenge for you is to maximise the value of your assets in two ways: • Firstly, ensure that you achieve a consistently solid return on investment across your entire portfolio, year after year; and • Secondly, use tax breaks and legal asset structures to ensure that you keep as much as possible of your investment portfolio.

However, for many reasons Directors often fail to achieve anything like the full potential of their investment portfolio. That’s why the Financial Advantage Programme from Avantis Wealth can deliver substantial financial benefits.

The three elements of the Financial Advantage Programme: Just consider the difference to your investment portfolio if you could; 1. Consistently achieve 7%-15% return on investment, year after year, for investments made personally and with cash reserves inside your company.

The Financial Advantage Programme shows you how to do this using the proprietary F.R.E.S.H. investment strategy.

2. Structure your pension to take advantage of the new pension freedoms, have maximum flexibility of investment and even provide a source of future cashflow for your business.

The programmes Advantage SSAS can show you how.

3. Deploy well established asset protection strategies to provide protection from future challenges and organise your affairs in the most tax efficient manner.

Well established Trust structures will uncover how in our Financial Advantage Programme.

01273 447299

0800 6120880

Ultimately, the Financial Advantage Programme from Avantis Wealth shows company directors and partners how to make more money, then keep more money, from their investment portfolio in both their personal and company arrangements.

What does it mean in practice?

The Financial Advantage Programme in action Let’s take a simple example. Suppose you pay income tax at 40%. Your current portfolio is generating an annual return of 4% gross, 2.4% net, on a compounded basis. You have built a portfolio worth £100,000.

What would your portfolio look like after 10 or 20 years with this realistic set of figures: Capital now

Time span

Capital in 10 years

Growth

£100,000

20 years

£160,693

£60,693

So what’s the difference if by implementing the F.R.E.S.H. investment strategy you average 8% P.A compound growth, and you have arranged your affairs such that you benefit from tax breaks on your portfolio.

What would your capital have grown to now?

Capital now

Time span

Capital in 10 years

Growth

£100,000

20 years

£466,095

£366,095

The bottom line here is that by starting with the same £100,000, instead of achieving £60,693 growth over 20 years you could achieve £366,095 growth, some SIX times greater.

Next steps – get the F.R.E.S.H. Report!

To introduce the concept of F.R.E.S.H. investments, the keystone of the Financial Advantage Programme from Avantis Wealth, claim your complimentary copy of ‘How to the F.R.E.S.H. Investment Strategy to Achieve 7%-15% Net Annual Returns’. This insightful 72-page report could be the first step you take to make more money and keep more of what you make!

Call our investment broker team on 01273 447299 or email advantage@avantiswealth.com, quoting ‘BUSINESS EDGE’ to request your complimentary copy now! invest@avantiswealth.com

www.avantiswealth.com

Disclaimer: Avantis Wealth Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Avantis Wealth Ltd does not provide any financial or investment advice. We provide a referral to a regulated advisor who will offer appropriate advice, or to the company offering an investment who will determine your suitability for the investment prior to any offer being made. We strongly recommend that you seek appropriate professional advice before entering into any contract. The value of any investments can go down as well as up and you might not get back what you put in. You may have difficulty selling any investment at a reasonable price and in some circumstances it might be difficult to sell at any price. Do not invest unless you have carefully thought about whether you can afford it and whether it is right for you and if necessary consult with a professional adviser in accordance with the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. These products are not regulated by the FCA or covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and you will not have access to the financial ombudsman service. Information is provided as a guide only, is subject to change without prior notice and does not constitute an offer of investment. Some investments may be restricted to persons who are high net worth, sophisticated or professional investors or who take independent advice from an authorised independent financial advisor.

finance focus

august/september 2017 business edge

Chartered Accountants & Registered Auditors in the South & South East

Outsource your endless march of paperwork!

FIXED FEE ON BOOKKEEPING & MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS We offer a full or partial outsourced service to suit your needs and with cloud based products newly introduced, we can easily access your data and give help where you need it: • reconciling the bank • entering journals • preparing the VAT return • tidying the ledgers • solving queries • quarterly management accounts We can quickly do the work you don’t have time to but is essential for financial control, and all for a fixed monthly price.

Just require bookkeeping training?

Then please call us. Offering free initial training to all our clients, we make sure you’re keeping accurate records and getting the most out of your accounting system. No previous bookkeeping experience is needed – we start with the basics and work through all the areas you need to know to keep good books. For a fixed quarterly fee, we can check your records and prepare management accounts, giving you complete control.

Contact Us - talk: 01243 776938/01983 200219 write: info@jamestoddandco.co.uk read: www.jamestoddandco.co.uk

Accountants, tax and business advisers to owner-managed businesses throughout Sussex

For a free initial consultation call us today on 01273 722505 www.parkerpartnership.com

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august/september 2017 business edge

Tailor-made solutions We offer a high quality service to both corporate and individual customers, coupled with a flexible and innovative approach. We start from a blank canvas and build a bespoke solution, with all key decisions made locally by the branch.

Hove branch | Simon Nicholson - Branch Manager Tel: 01273 721814, email: sini07@handelsbanken.co.uk Brighton branch | Simon Howe - Branch Manager Tel: 01273 779937, email: siho03@handelsbanken.co.uk Crawley branch | Simon Briggs - Branch Manager Tel: 01293 525895, email: sibr01@handelsbanken.co.uk Haywards Heath branch | Dave Barden - Branch Manager Tel: 01444 450189, email: daba08@handelsbanken.co.uk Eastbourne branch | Neil Hooper - Branch Manager Tel: 01323 736061, email: neho02@handelsbanken.co.uk

handelsbanken.co.uk Handelsbanken is the trading name of Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ). Registered Office: Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ), 3 Thomas More Square, London, E1W 1WY. Registered in England and Wales No, BR 000589. Incorporated in Sweden with limited liability. Registered in Sweden No, 5020077862. Head Office in Stockholm. Authorised by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) and the Prudential Regulation Authority and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority. Details about the extent of our authorisation and regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority, and regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority are available from us on request.

business matters

august/september 2017 business edge

Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyers 2017 Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyers brings local, regional and national buyers together with local businesses in the region.

Now in our 17th year, Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyers creates new business for those that take part.

Over £22.5m of business is estimated to have been created since 2010 In 2017, there will be more than 2,000 sales meetings at the Meet the Buyers event in October: Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyers 2017 is sponsored by Gatwick Airport – The Gatwick Diamond Initiative – Crawley Borough Council In previous years, Meet the Buyers has focussed on Construction and Infrastructure.

These sectors are still important and will be represented in 2017, but we are looking to create more opportunities in other sectors For 2017, we will introduce 5 separate Zones to reflect different business needs and types in the Region.

These Zones are: n Business Services – to include Professional, Financial, Digital, Education n Manufacturing and Innovation n Public Sector and Utilities n International Business n Construction and Infrastructure n Buyers to date include Canon, B&CE, Thakeham Homes, Marco, Omniserv, the Home Office and the RSPCA

5 steps to gaining new business n Register for Meet the Buyers as a Supplier n See who is going to be there and their needs n Submit your relevant products and services n We will match you with the relevant Buyers n Use your dedicated appointments to get yourself connected with the types of Buyers you want to do business with

4 Steps to being a Buyer n Register for Meet the Buyers as a Buyer n Complete the Procurement Needs Form with your requirements for the next 6-24 months

36

n Cement the date (18/10/2017) in your diary and brief a colleague to be available

n Inspiring & Delivering Innovation - Sept 2017

n Turn up to the Event and prepare to connect with the Suppliers that we have matched to your needs, in your private booth

n Understanding Procurement: Public Sector & Government - Oct 2017

And, during the day, you will have access to our dedicated Buyers Lounge.

The Seminar Programme Designed to help you grow your skills so you can make the most of every opportunity that Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyers can bring to you.

Working with some excellent presenters who have real experience in their field, these free seminars are available to any business

n Digital & Social Media Marketing – Oct 25th 2017 n What do You Say After You’ve Said Hello?

“It’s not rocket science it’s neuroscience!”

– Nov 14th 2017 Please book your place(s) at any of the launched seminars, through our website and Eventbrite; http://

gatwickdiamondmeetthebuyers. com/seminars/ or email events@ gatwickdiamondmeetthebuyers.com for more information, or call 01293 813889

n Understanding Airport Based Business Procurement - Sept 15th 2017

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advertorial

august/september 2017 business edge

All systems go as Mackley celebrates its 90th anniversary

After a record breaking 2015 and a successful 2016, Sussex-based civil engineering and construction company is heading for a special anniversary in good heart.

‘Dredging for Coastal Reinforcement’ category at the 2016 WODA Environmental Excellence Awards in Miami. In total, Medmerry has received more than 20 industry accolades.

Mackley, established in Shoreham-by-Sea in 1927 and now headquartered in the West Sussex community of Small Dole, has no plans to rest on its laurels as it heads towards its 90th anniversary.

With a wealth of experience in tackling complex and challenging civil engineering schemes, Mackley is not afraid to take on projects that others, with less experience and expertise, may shy away from.

The company’s capabilities encompass coastal protection including sea defence, managed realignment and coastal maintenance, ports and harbour engineering, groundworks, bridges, highways and drainage, and renewable energy projects including solar farms and micro hydro electric turbines.

The vast majority of Mackley’s work comes from the Environment Agency and other stakeholders involved with coastal protection and flood prevention.

Bright future under new ownership For a number of years Mackley had been part of Team Van Oord (TVO) - a Joint Venture partnership between Van Oord, Kier Group, Mackley and Royal HaskoningDHV. As a result of this association, in June 2014 Mackley was acquired by Van Oord, the world-renowned Netherlands-based contractor specialising in international dredging, marine engineering and offshore projects.

The acquisition by Van Oord is a key reason why Mackley has flourished, because it has enabled the company to bid for larger contracts and invest in plant and staff.

Brighton’s iconic new shoreline structure The British Airways i360, for which Mackley has been principal contractor, is perhaps the

Success through collaboration Medmerry was delivered by Mackley working as part of TVO and on behalf of the Environment Agency - the same combination that delivered the Broomhill Sands Flood Coastal Defence Scheme.

company’s most high-profile current project, certainly in the eyes of the general public.

At 162 metres high and with an observation pod rising to 138 metres, the British Airways i360 is the tallest observation tower outside London.

Gongs galore From the most visible project to the most decorated, the Medmerry Managed Realignment Scheme, which includes the largest realignment of open coast in the UK. ‘Managed realignment’ involves building new defences inland from the coast and allowing a new intertidal area to form.

Medmerry, located between Selsey and Bracklesham in West Sussex, is one of the stretches of coastline most at risk of flooding in southern England.

The scheme, carried out on behalf of the Environment Agency, is a key element in a 15-year project to provide 7km of new sea defences to protect local communities, while at the same time creating a large nature reserve.

In June 2016, the scheme received global acclaim, picking up first prize in the

The £30m Broomhill Sands scheme took two years to complete and was officially opened in May 2016. The scheme provides improved protection from flooding for 1,400 homes and 100 businesses along a 2.5km stretch of the East Sussex coastline from The Suttons to Lydd Ranges. The scheme has received a plethora of regional and national awards.

Developing the next generation of civil engineers Mackley is keen to help develop the next generation of civil engineers through an on-going association with the University of Brighton and other educational establishments.

In addition to organising site visits, the Mackley team has delivered a series of presentations at the University relating to sustainability and environmental awareness on civil engineering sites.

In June 2016, two University of Brighton students commenced a one-year work placement with Mackley. Sabitha Kamaleswaran and Jerome Bret will experience a wide range of skills and disciplines.

Tel; 01273 492212 Email; marketing@mackley.co.uk Website; www.mackley.co.uk Twitter; @JTMackley

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business matters

august/september 2017 business edge

Gender Pay Gap Reporting - It’s mandatory for big employers, so why not turn it into a great business opportunity?

Victoria Bevis Solicitor

Sherrards Employment Law Solicitors

New legal obligations for businesses The Government has previously tried to tackle the UK’s gender pay gap with voluntary initiatives, encouraging businesses to be transparent about the amounts they pay to men and women, but unsurprisingly the uptake was extremely low.

The Government believes that addressing gender inequality in the workplace could increase the National GDP by 10% by 2030; this probably explains why this issue has stayed firmly on the political agenda. Now Regulations have been introduced which will force private sector employers with 250 or more employees to find out if they have a gender pay gap and to report their findings publically via a government website. But that’s not all: relevant employers must also publish and retain their gender pay gap data for 3 years on their own website, so the information will be readily available to customers.

The new Regulations, which came in to force on 6th April 2017, are designed to shine a spotlight on the gender pay gap by requiring transparency; they don’t actually ‘solve the problem’ or close the gap by force; rather employers must take ownership

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of what happens next and consider how the data they present to the public affects their business.

employees, and part-time workers earn less per hour on average than full-timers. The issue is therefore far from resolved.

The Regulations allow employers to provide an optional narrative to accompany their data. This can be used to explain any gender pay gaps or other disparities and crucially to set out what actions are going to be taken to address them. Organisations may or may not be surprised by their own data, but if you understand the issue and seize the opportunity to be pro-active in closing your organisation’s gender pay gap you can really utilise the narrative to promote your business as being ethical and pro-active in tackling inequality. This has the potential to provide a fantastic springboard into exciting new initiatives, which in turn can be a focus of some really positive marketing and PR.

In some organisations, women are simply offered a lower salary than their male counterparts for the same or equivalent roles, but we already have legislation to tackle this kind of unlawful discrimination in the form of the Equality Act 2010. Although the problem of overt discrimination is not entirely historical, it certainly doesn’t account for the significant gender pay gap that we still have in the UK. The detail underlying the statistics suggests that the reasons for the gender pay gap are subtle and complex and even forward thinking and fair-minded employers may find that they have a gender pay gap. An array of different factors are at play. For example, women:

What is the gender pay gap?

n do jobs which are widely assigned lower value (think HR vs. finance)

The Office of National Statistics first began collecting data on the UK’s gender pay gap in 1997; at that time the differential was a staggering 27.5%. The fact that the gender pay gap is now significantly smaller amongst employees under the age of 40 suggests a promising improvement over the last 20 years, without the intervention of any new regulation. This is corroborated by the 2016 statistics, which reveal that the gender pay gap has narrowed to just 9.4% for full-time employees, the lowest since records began.

However, if we consider all employees, full and part time, the gender pay gap in 2016 was still an embarrassing 18.1%. This is because 41% of female employees work part-time compared with only 11% of male

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n are less likely to be promoted to senior levels; and n receiver fewer bonuses than men Traditional gender roles, with women as the primary carers of children and other dependant relatives plays a part, both in terms of practical barriers to career progression and employer bias (a reluctance by businesses to embrace flexible working arrangements is a good example of both).

The long term goal is of course to utilise the talents of the female workforce more fully. Recent legislation including the shared parental leave scheme which allows couples to opt for the father to take most of the time off following the birth of a

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business matters

august/september 2017 business edge

child, feature in a wider approach by the Government to move away from traditional stereotypes by affording families more choice and flexibility. However, this sort of intervention won’t help to level the playing field in industries where women simply aren’t choosing to work in the first place. It seems that in many sectors (manufacturing is a great example) real change can only happen if school aged girls are encouraged much earlier into careers which have traditionally been dominated by men, and that’s one key area where businesses can use their own initiatives.

Do we need to report our gender pay gap?

The Gender Pay Gap Regulations apply to any “relevant employer”, which is: n a private or voluntary sector employer n with 250 or more employees n on the “snapshot date” (which is 5 April in the relevant year).

The term “Employees” for the purposes of the 250-employee threshold is defined widely in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Casual staff and contractors are likely to count, providing they have a contract to perform the work personally for the employer. Meanwhile, agency staff will also probably count, but for the agency they belong to rather than the end user.

What information will we need to publish?

An employer’s gender pay gap is always expressed as a percentage and is calculated using both the mean and median hourly gross pay over a specific pay period, normally a week or a month, depending on the employer’s usual pay cycle.

Information on the employer’s gender bonus gap (the difference between men and women’s mean and median bonus pay over a 12-month period) must also be published, along with the proportion of male and female employees who received a bonus in the same 12-month period.

You will also need to present data showing the proportion of men and women in each of four equally sized pay bands or “quartiles”, based on the business’s overall pay range. This may highlight differences in the roles that men and women occupy in the organisation. If, for example you employ mainly women in junior admin roles, the bottom quartile may be predominantly made up of women. If you employ mainly men at board level, this would result in the top quartile being predominately male.

Finally, the data you publish must contain a written statement, signed by an appropriate senior individual (for a limited company this will be a Director) confirming that the published gender pay gap information is accurate.

Whilst the Government website is fairly bland and entirely prescriptive, when presenting the data on your own website there is of course scope to be far more creative through the use of graphics,

graphs, colour, photos and even videos – a personal message from your CEO showing commitment to tackling your organisation’s gender pay gap for example.

Where to find guidance on how to calculate your gender pay gap Acas have produced a clear and helpful guide, titled ‘Managing Gender Pay Reporting’ which walks you through the practical steps of making the necessary calculations and can be found on their website: www.acas.org.uk

Why does it matter?

The Equality and Human Rights Commission does have the power to take enforcement action against employers who ignore the Regulations, but of equal, if not greater, concern for most businesses will be the threat of negative publicity. It’s worth noting that most large organisations at this time will have a gender pay gap, so it is unlikely yours will be singled out or ‘named and shamed’ for publishing one; that’s far more likely to happen if you don’t publish your data at all. Not complying with the Regulations may expose you to negative inferences about what your gender pay gap might be, and perhaps most damaging of all it will look like you don’t value equality and don’t have any plans to address the issue.

Finally, many studies suggest that companies with greater diversity and representation of women at senior levels make more profit, a good reason to make tackling this issue part of your business strategy.

How do we close our gender pay gap?

The bottom line is that organisations need to promote women’s participation in the workforce. Senior level buy-in is of course essential, because turning this obligation into a business opportunity requires cultural change. Businesses will need to be ambitious and determined and should consider taking some or all of the following steps: 1. Be positive about flexible working, promoting it more widely within your organisation and training line managers and supervisors.

2. Have the right policies on topics such as diversity in the workplace, recruitment and promotion. Provide practical support, such as transition coaching for those returning from career breaks, mentoring and career development schemes.

3. Engage with the wider community through involvement in projects to raise the aspirations of school age girls, offering work placements, advice and role models. Industries need to promote themselves to girls. Inspire them, encourage them and show them that sectors like manufacturing and engineering are open to everyone.

For further inspiration, look around and see what other organisations are doing. You can start by following links to their own websites via the government portal:

gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/ viewing/search-results

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39

training & development

august/september 2017 business edge

Why training is more important than ever Never has the need for training been more apparent for business.

With the economy having undergone such dramatic changes, the necessity to train people in order to secure new employment or make them better employees in tough times is seen as absolutely crucial.

Many business and economic support agencies have identified training as playing a key role in helping industry to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them as the economy slowly recovers.

They argue that well-trained staff are able to better support their employer as well as identifying new opportunities. A training session can sometimes spark an idea that develops into a new product or maybe new way of working.

Gone are the days when someone did the same job for life, now people are accustomed to switching careers half way

through their working lives and training allows that to happen.

employees recognise opportunities when they see them.

One of the key roles for training companies is helping those still in work to hold onto, and develop, their jobs by exhibiting more flexible skills. Training specialists point out that, even in difficult trading times, cutting back on training is a false economy because well-trained staff are better able to meet challenges.

That could be anything from tapping into new markets to coming up with ways of making sure that their employer makes inroads into foreign markets. Sometimes, the opportunity to step aside from the day job and spend time in a training session can have dramatic outcomes.

A key part of the training is teaching practical skills, everything from understanding changes in legislation to keeping on top of effective customer service but training companies also help

More and more businesses are seeing the benefits of such an approach as their staff use their new knowledge to take advantage of opportunities in the market place. It is a message that is more important than ever.

VENUES FOR ALL OCCASIONS - SEVEN STYLISH PLACES Seven stylish spaces

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CityCoastCentre

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business matters

BRIGHTON MBA DEVELOPING INDEPENDENT THINKERS

TRANSFORM YOUR THINKING

REALISE YOUR POTENTIAL

At Brighton we cultivate entrepreneurial thinkers.

Designed for professionals who want to advance their career or to pursue their own business ideas, our MBA gives you the tools to turn business challenges into opportunities.

• Internationally recognised MBA programmes in full-time, part-time and block formats • Accredited by the Chartered Management Institute and the Institute of Directors • A career focused environment committed to supporting students and alumni

Our optional modules and flexible study routes allow you to tailor your qualification to your ambitions. Work-based projects will enable you to practically apply your new skills to the benefit of your business.

DUAL QUALIFICATIONS The Brighton MBA is accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and the Institute of Directors.

You will graduate with an MBA as well as the CMI’s Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership.

FIND OUT MORE To book your place and nd out more visit www.brighton.ac.uk/mba. If you have any questions about our postgraduate courses, the course team will be happy to help. Email them at business@brighton.ac.uk.

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training & development

august/september 2017 business edge

IS YOUR BUSINESS MISSING SOMETHING?

NEED HELP NAVIGATING THE NEW APPRENTICESHIP LEVY? Contact our dedicated levy hotline to find out how we can help.

Contact us on 01243 812948

LET US HELP YOU FIND YOUR PERFECT FIT WITH A CHICHESTER COLLEGE APPRENTICE

With apprenticeship programmes across a wide range of industries – from construction to care, hairdressing to horticulture and business to engineering – we can help you get on the right track.

CONTACT US business@chichester.ac.uk 01243 812948 chichester.ac.uk/ apprenticeships

MRN: CC1138_07.17

Apprenticeships are a great way for you to develop your business and invest in its future – and they are available for new team members or for upskilling your existing staff!

.

Professional Health and Safety Training Courses across Sussex Realistic, hands on, dynamic and fun training from front line emergency service and industry specialists.

Confined Space Training

Fire Safety Training

First Aid Courses

Open courses for individuals at our Training Academy in West Sussex, or bespoke courses onsite for larger groups.

Working at Height Courses

Health & Safety Training

For further information on any of our courses, or to make a booking... please contact us on: 01903 871381

To see a full list of our courses, visit our website at: Decoy Lane, Arundel Road, Poling, West Sussex BN18 9QA.

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training & development

Want to boost your leadership skills and access fresh thinking? Become a Sussex student mentor Businesses in Sussex and beyond can benefit enormously by taking part in the student-business mentoring scheme from the University of Sussex School of Business, Management and Economics.

You’ll receive comprehensive mentoring training providing you with tools you can use to manage your own teams. The scheme is as an excellent opportunity to link up with our talented students.

Why take part in our student-business mentoring scheme?

Signing up as a mentor to one or more of our students gives you the perfect chance to develop your management and leadership capabilities, as well as communication and interpersonal skills.

It’s a great way to build a network and connect with local business leaders, allowing you to benefit from others’ knowledge and experience while sharing your own expertise. You’ll also make a positive difference to students’ career prospects, especially those seeking to find out more about your business and industry sector for placement or graduate vacancies.

What kind of training will I receive?

A full day of mentoring training is provided, equipping you with the skills you’ll need to mentor students and your own staff.

Sessions take place on the Sussex campus several times throughout the academic year.

Contact us to find out more

bmecbusiness@sussex.ac.uk www.sussex.ac.uk/bmec/business-connections

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43

diary

august/september 2017 business edge

Events August 2nd

Speed Networking with Local Chambers

Hilton Avisford Park Hotel

12.00 - 14.30

16th

Business Networking Breakfast

Cisswood House Hotel

08.00 - 10.30

18th

Wine and The Global Market

Ridgeview Wine Estate

15.30 - 18.00

30th

Business Networking Lunch - August

Stanmer House

12.00 - 14.30

Crawley Town FC

08.00 - 10.30

September 6th

Construction Forum - September

7th

Business Networking Lunch - September

The Middle House Hotel

12.00 - 14.30

13th

Putting for Success

Mid Sussex Golf Club

08.30 - 11.30

19th

A Telemarketing Masterclass

The Kings Church

12.00 - 17.00

22nd

Members’ Summer BBQ

Lindfield Golf Club

16.00 - 19.30

26th

Grow Your Connections - September

Look & Sea Centre

09.00 - 11.00

Hydro Hotel

08.00 - 10.30

October 10th

Business Networking Breakfast - October

18th

Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyers

Arora International Hotel

09.00 - 18.00

26th

Business Networking Lunch & AGM

Hilton Avisford Park Hotel

12.00 - 14.30

Please check the website for the full 2017 Calendar - www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

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august/september 2017 business edge

training and development

Training August 2th

Personal Customer Service in the Digital Age

The Kings Church

09.30 - 16.30

22th

Managing People for Business Success

The Kings Church

09.30 - 16.30

September 7th

Essentials of Supervision & Team Leadership - 2 Day Course

The Kings Church

09.30 - 16.30

11th

How to Have Great Sales Conversations

The Kings Church

09.30 - 16.30

19th

A Telemarketing Masterclass

The Kings Church

12.00 - 17.00

25th

An Introduction to Export Procedures

The Kings Church

09.30 - 16.30

27th

Introduction to Supervision & Team Leadership

The Kings Church

09.30 - 16.30

28th

Strategic Thinking for Senior Managers

The Kings Church

09.30 - 12.30

28th

Managing Change

The Kings Church

13.30 - 17.00

October 2nd

Effective Negotiation Skills

The Kings Church

09.30 - 16.30

9th

A Foundation Course in Importing

The Kings Church

09.30 - 16.30

10th

Time Management & Personal Effectiveness

The Kings Church

09.30 - 16.30

11th

Managing People for Business Success

The Kings Church

09.30 - 16.30

19th

Managing Difficult Behavious

The Kings Church

09.30 - 12.30

30th

Essentials of Supervision & Team Leadership - 2 Day Course

The Kings Church

09.30 - 16.30

Please check the website for the full 2017 Calendar - www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED

45

effective marketing

august/september 2017 business edge

GDPR - The countdown to new Data Privacy Law has begun For those unaware the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) legislation comes into enforcement 25th May 2018. Although this is an EU law it has been adopted by the UK and as such Brexit will have no impact on the outcome. news is that getting on board with the new GDPR rules is likely to lead to better customer engagement with more trust between brands and consumers. As your customers learn about their data protection rights, those brands who adopt a positive approach to GDPR will have the competitive advantage.

This set of rules governs the way companies of all sizes handle personal data for customers and employees. According to the official website at w ​ ww.eugdpr.org​the regulations are designed ‘to protect and empower all EU citizens data privacy and to reshape the way organizations across the region approach data privacy.’ Ok, so we are soon to be non EU citizens, but the gesture remains the same.

Make no mistake, this is a big deal for businesses right across Europe. Fines are now up to 4% of revenue, when previously the maximum penalty for breaching the Data Protection Act 1998 was £500,000. To illustrate the effect of GDPR, we can look at the penalty issued to telecoms company TalkTalk in 2016 (£400,000) for security failings that allowed a cyber attacker to access customer data, under GDPR the same breach would set them back around £60m. But it’s not just big businesses in the

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firing line, experts are predicting large fines imposed by the ICO on SMEs and enterprise businesses caught flouting the rules, It’s also likely that spot checks will come into play, leaving no room to hide for those who choose not to get with the program.

We now know what the stick looks like, what about the carrot? You won’t find the ICO dishing out prizes for good behaviour, so it’s up to businesses to make their own opportunities from this change. The good

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

Advice is to plan early, map and document your personal data structure. Some key questions to ask yourself are are: What personal data do you keep? Where is that data held? Why do you have it? What form is it in? Where are you sending it? How long do you keep it? And is it secure? If you can answer these and present your findings to an inspector at a moment's notice, you’ve made a good start.

By Simon Cooke Marketing Director, Pragmatic www.pragmatic.agency

tel: 01444 259 259

effective marketing

august/september 2017 business edge

Harnessing the power of film to promote your business In this day of rapidly advancing technology, companies need to devise new and exciting ways to communicate their message to their customers– and there are few better ways to do that than video.

That is why it makes sense to call in the services of Brighton Video Production, formed four years ago by Colin and Tim Meagher after Colin turned a 35-year hobby into a business and Tim harnessed his artistic genes to find he had a knack at editing.

Colin, who is a cameraman and also conducts interviews drawing on his experience as a radio presenter, runs the business with son Tim, a cameraman and film editor, editing being the hardest part of the whole filming industry.

Colin said: “Videos are a great way for a company to communicate what they do in a snappy and slick way within minutes. Our films are short and sharp, they do not bore the viewer and they get the message over in an effective way.”

The company has made a wide range of promotional films, everything from showing

“We take our clients, no matter how large or small, through every step of the process, taking them though the script and interviewing to the filming itself and of course the Royalty-Free music options that are available.”

You can find out more about the company at 2 Ambleside Ave Telscombe Cliffs East Sussex BN10 7LS a wide array of events, products, services, conferences and exhibitions to special moment celebrations. Not all the films are for public consumption and the company has made training videos as well.

Mob: 07835 878506 Mob: 07967 319036 www.brightonvideoproduction.com info@brightonvideoproduction.com www.youtube.com/hdviewin

Colin said: “There is nothing that cannot be filmed and the variety of work that we do shows how flexible video can be. We also use drones which gives us the opportunity to present some really interesting camera angles

Putting your

your brand. amplified.

BRIGHTON VIDEO PRODUCT Facebook “f ” Logo

CMYK / .eps

Facebook “f ” Logo

CMYK / .eps

be T: 0845 8842337 E: info@be-everywhere.co.uk www.be-everywhere.co.uk facebook.com/beworldwideltd

twitter.com/beworldwide

linkedin.com/company/be-everywhere

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47

business matters

august/september 2017 business edge

Helping you build your company’s future through fully funded short courses

Are you looking to upskill your staff or even yourself to develop and grow your business, but don’t have the training budget to do so?

Ixion can help – We are an Ofsted Grade 2 (with Outstanding features) not for profit subsidiary of The Shaw Trust and have secured the European Social Fund contract in Kent, East Sussex & Essex. The funding is designed to support local businesses to – n Up-grade knowledge, skills & competences of their workforce n Offer a wide range of qualifications and non accredited courses needed for career progression, business growth & innovation n Offer tailored high level short courses We are offering a range of courses from Leadership & Management, Digital & Social Media to Customer Services and Sales. For

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more information on the courses available please visit https://ixionholdings.

n Location: Essex, Kent, East Sussex

leadpages.co/selep-employer/.

n Registered place of work within the SELEP area

Spaces are limited and due to the popularity of these courses be sure to book as soon as possible. If you would like more details please call 01245 254875 or email

n Employed by a Small or Medium Enterprise (SME) 1 – 249 people

shortcourses@ixionholdings.com If you have more than 10 employees there are bespoke training packages available and can be delivered on your premises. This is a great opportunity to address skills gaps, improve workforce development which in turn increases motivation and productivity of your workforce

n Legally resident in the UK; able to take paid employment in an EU member state n Age 16+

n Eligibility:

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

tel: 01444 259 259

business matters

august/september 2017 business edge

Why it is important to look after mental health Chris Hickey Account Executive Sutton Winson

Chris Hickey, Healthcare Account Executive at Sutton Winson, explains the importance of looking after your mental health and what you can do, as an employer, to create a culture of good mental health in the workplace.

Recently, I have visited a number of organisations to discuss their Healthcare insurances and when I raise the topic of Mental Health, the response is often along the lines of “we’re all mad here!” It always draws a little smile but there is a serious side to the stresses of work and home life and it is a subject that many employers choose to ignore or don’t fully understand.

Encouragingly, evidence suggests that there has been a decline in work absence from stress over the last decade. However, statistics still demonstrate that this is the largest single factor for sick days, accounting for 37% of work related ill health and 45% of days lost in 2015/16 in the UK. Put into perspective, this represented 11.7m days in 2015/16

Stiff upper lip Close to a third of UK workers say they are not able to talk openly with their line manager about their stress and only 45% of those that have been diagnosed had told their employer.

After being diagnosed, 40% of individuals admitted that they wouldn’t speak about it to their colleagues because they don’t want to be treated differently. The stigma surrounding mental health means that employers have typically neglected to address it and still struggle to see mental health in the same way they see physical health.

Developing a workplace culture, which changes attitudes and prioritises the mental wellbeing of staff, may seem burdensome to employers who need to get the day job done and remain efficient. However, in the rapidly fluctuating and competitive global economy, healthy and productive employees are crucial to an organisation’s success.

Addressing the issue It’s vital that open lines of communication are created, developing a greater understanding of the symptoms, causes and treatments of mental illness.

Following the recent pledge by Prime Minister Theresa May to transform support for mental health in the workplace with an extensive new review, there is a nationwide drive to

encourage employers to lead the way and promote and facilitate healthier lifestyles.

Four easy steps to follow n Consider whether any mental health stigma exists within your workplace and question why. n Train Line Managers and Senior Management so they are comfortable to talk openly about the subject. n Improve the awareness of the issues; conduct staff surveys, launch awareness

campaigns and champion nonjudgemental attitudes. n Utilise existing or introduce a Private Medical Policy, Health Cash Plan and/ or Employee Assistance Programmes to offer a number of wellbeing benefits to your staff. This includes counselling, debt management, legal advice and information on eldercare or emotional and work-life issues.

Sutton Winson is a leading independent Healthcare and Protection Insurance Broker with offices based in the Sussex and Surrey area.

AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED

49

construction focus

august/september 2017 business edge

Investment in large infrastructure The construction industry accounts for over 3 million jobs in the UK, this is 10% of total UK employment, these figures suggest how greatly dependent the country is on the strength of our sector and is a clear barometer to the buoyancy of its economy Investment in large infrastructure can only be positive for the country but uncertainty with the lack of labour and increasing material costs is affecting confidence in the industry.

The impending issue that the UK face’s post- Brexit is the deficit in the workforce to complete major projects. For the last 30 years + the construction industry has relied on foreign workers, putting boundaries in place to stop the free movement of labour between the UK and the EU member states could mean that we are losing these workers, causing a shortfall in supply of skilled and nonskilled construction operatives, this would have a major effect on the delivery and

the cost of these projects & ultimately on the countries economic growth.

In order to combat the shortfall in construction labour and the clear neglect towards training & development, it is vital that the government takes a proactive approach and insists that larger contractors are investing in their own apprenticeship programmes and training whilst SME’s are incentivised to employ young local people.

GCL deliver electrical and smart systems GCL deliver integrated electrical and smart systems within the construction, commercial or property management sectors. Intelligent buildings are a result of innovative advancements in smart building technology.

These buildings create a safer and more productive environment for their occupants and are more operationally efficient for their owners.

At GCL Building Technologies, sustainability is at the forefront of our agenda. GCL’s proven experience and commitment mean that your business or property will be well equipped to meet the technological advancements of today and the future.

n advice to bring all of your devices into a central, easy to use intra-structure

We have built our reputation on our innovative and client-centred expertise. We help to keep things simple for you, providing a complete solution to your smart building intra-structure needs.

n we help you meet your environmental responsibilities

Our dedication to the quality assurance of all of our products and investment in training will ensure the seamless installation of your system.

GCL can provide you with: n initial designs or migration of an existing system

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Benefits to your business: n reduction in capital investment, support costs and ongoing maintenance costs

GCL have a diverse range of cabling and electrical capabilities for any given environment. From construction or refurbishments, to populated offices, our expert team is committed to a flexible and professional delivery of your cabling and electrical requirements.

If you are looking for well informed, impartial advice from a modern, forward-

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

thinking firm then please call our expert team today on: GCL Building Technologies PO Box 93 Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN5 7ZR Tel: London 020 3906 6070 Kent 01892 576 950 sales@gcl.uk.com www.gcl.uk.com

tel: 01444 259 259

construction focus

august/september 2017 business edge

Beard - building outstanding care and treatment facilities

Main image: The completed extension and refurbishment of the Eye Clinic at Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford Above: The completed remodelling of Royal Surrey County Hospital pharmacy

Regional construction firm Beard has been appointed to Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s four-year capital works construction framework to help deliver a multi-million pound buildings and facilities improvement programme across its estates.

The Trust provides NHS care services in Sussex for people with mental health problems, dementia and learning disabilities, as well as a range of specialist services throughout the South East. Beard will be undertaking a wide range of construction, refurbishment and building upgrades across the Trust’s estate, ranging from £30,000 small works schemes to £10 million complex projects and the development of new stateof-the-art facilities.

The £136 million turnover building firm is one of five construction partners appointed to the framework to help the Trust deliver its 2020 vision of ‘outstanding care and treatment’. Sixteen construction companies competed for a place.

“We’re really pleased to have been chosen to be a part of this important framework which will help deliver much-needed mental health and specialist care and support facilities in the region,” says Tony Taylor, Beard’s special projects manager.

“Our team has extensive experience in

building high-quality healthcare and specialist facilities for all types of organisations, from NHS hospitals, primary care and private healthcare providers, to medical charities, specialist clinics and care and extra care homes. We are looking forward to working with the Trust and applying our specialist construction expertise to this major four-year facilities improvement programme.”

The framework will use steering groups to encourage collaborative working, drive efficiencies and make sure performance and customer satisfaction targets are met on every project. Beard and other construction partners will also be involved in schemes at an early design stage to ensure buildability, value and cost-effective design.

specialist care sector across the South of England.

Beard’s project expertise is diverse and includes design, construction, development and refurbishments for GP surgeries and community hospitals, and complex facilities such as intensive care units, MRI suites, and clinical and scientific research facilities.

Beard Guildford Office Stonemasons Court, Cemetery Pales, Brookwood, Surrey, GU24 0BL Tel: 01483 485180 E: guildford.enquiries@beardconstruction.co.uk Website: www.beardconstruction.co.uk Twitter: @Beard_Construct

GP surgeries to intensive care units Beard, which celebrates its 125th business year in 2017, has long-standing expertise in designing, building, extending and refurbishing buildings for the health and

AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED

51

new members

august/september 2017 business edge

Welcome to Sussex Chamber of Commerce Membership of Sussex Chamber of Commerce can help you increase profits, get the best from your people and find new clients. Also, it saves you money, gets your voice heard and puts you in contact with even more businesses.

ABC Gas Plumbing & Heating Ltd

Gardner Cars

Precision Technology Supplies Ltd

Solo House, The Courtyard, Horsham, RH12 1AT

44 Crawley Down Road, Felbridge, East Grinstead, RH19 2PS

Unit 16, The Birches Industrial Estate East Grinstead, RH19 1XZ

01403 597598 http://abcgas.co.uk/

01342301050 www.gardnercars.co.uk

01342 410 758 www.pts-uk.com

Aerial Image Masters

Keepers Accountancy Ltd & Keepers Tax Services Ltd

24 St Matthews Court, College Terrace, Brighton, BN2 0EX

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First Floor, 30 Church Road, Burgess Hill, RH15 9AE

07855 483 838 http://www.aerialimagemasters.co.uk/

01444 257236 www.keepers.info / www.keeperstax.co.uk

BeautyPro Ltd.

L3 Commercial Training Solutions

Silveroaks Farm, Hawkhurst Lane, Heathfield, TN21 0RS

Manor Royal, Crawley RH10 9HA

01273 32 32 32 https://www.beautypro.com

01293 491300 http://www.l-3com.

BetterCloud Services

Madebyspoken

Kemp House, 160 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX

Tower Point, 44 North Rd Brighton, BN1 1YR

0208 242 4993 http://bettercloudservices.com

01273 311592 http://madebyspoken.co.uk/

Business Doctors

Mooncup Ltd

5 St Leonards Gardens, Hove, BN3 4QA

4th Floor, Vantage Point Brighton, BN1 4GW

07809 909839 www.businessdoctors.co.uk

01273673845 www.mooncup.co.uk

Condale Plastics Ltd

Neptik

Unit 5, Independent Business Park, East Grinstead, RH19 1TU

4 Gloucester Passage, Noth Laine Brighton, BN1 4AS

+44(0)1342312714 www.condale.co.uk

01273 693762 www.neptik.com

EAO Ltd

Office Angels Ltd

Highland House, Albert Drive, Burgess Hill, RH15 9TN

34 West Street Brighton, BN1 2RE

01444 236 000 www.eao.com

01273737554 www.office-angels.com

Falcon Coffees

Pragmatic-Web

25-26 High Street, Temple House, Lewes, BN7 2LU

1B Buckingham Place Brighton, BN1 3TD

01273 977077 www.falconcoffees.com

01273 613166 www.pragmatic-web.co.uk

www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

tel: 01444 259 259

new members

august/september 2017 business edge

Security 201

Smac Europe Ltd

The Disabilities Trust

332 Goring Road, Goring-By-Sea Worthing, BN12 4PE

Ikon House, Rutherford Way Crawley, RH10 9PB

First Floor, 32 Market Place Burgess Hill, RH15 9NP

01903242902 www.security201.co.uk

01293 520147 www.smac-mca.com

01444239123 www.disabilities-trust.org.uk

Sera Laboratories International Ltd

Story Arc

W S Wright Ltd

Unit 2, Site J, 15 Albert Drive Burgess Hill, RH15 9TN

Studiogreenhouse. 18 Bond Street Brighton, BN1 1 RD

Units 3-5 Lochin Marine, Rock Channel Rye, TN31 7HJ

01444250010 www.seralab.co.uk

07768141755 www.storyarc.co.uk

01797 222455 http://www.wswright.co.uk/

SJA Health Insurance

Sussex Eco Heating

7 Crays Court, Crays Lane Pulborough,RH20 2GU

61A Beaconsfield Villas Brighton, BN1 6HB

Zimple Ink

01798 300800 www.sjahealthinsurance.com

01273 382174 www.sussexecoheating.co.uk

The Pinnacle, Station Way Crawley, RH10 1JH 01293 229718 www.zimple.ink

AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED

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awards

august/september 2017 business edge

5 minutes with Tony Cowling Director The Cheese Man

I left school at 16 and went to Catering College, while working at a fine dining restaurant in Hove. After qualifying with a City & Guilds in hospitality, being 18 I decided on a career change from working split shifts so I joined the Royal Mail. While working there, my father started The Cheese Man and I helped behind the scenes for the first three years until the business grew enough for me to join full time as a partner in 1998. Since then we have continued to grow, year on year.

What was your first job and what was the pay packet?

Worked in a coffee shop after school and weekends, and also outside catering jobs, just on a minimum wage.

What do you always carry with you to work?

Always have my phone! With social media being a big part of the industry we are in, it’s always good to keep up to date with things.

What is the biggest Challenge facing your business?

Dealing with people with no common sense.

If you were Prime Minister, what one thing would you change to help business?

Less red tape! Small to medium businesses, need to do so much these days, which can hold back businesses who want to expand and grow.

What can you see from your office window?

Now we have just moved to our bigger premises on Hove seafront, on a good day I have a great view as far as the Seven Sisters!

If you could do another job what would it be?

Can’t think of doing anything else now! But when I was young, I wanted to be a stuntman. Probably too old for that now!

As a business person, what are your three main qualities?

Don’t expect anybody to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself!

To be proud in what you do!

To be happy in what you do.

What was your biggest mistake in business?

When we first started, if we had the capital, it would have been to buy our own premises instead of renting, although looking back now, it probably wouldn’t have been big enough.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Listening to advice from others.

Who do you admire most in business?

People who work hard to succeed, but are still humble with it.

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www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

29th Sussex Business Awards Now Open for Business www.sbawards.org.uk

The twenty ninth Sussex Business Awards are now open for business.

Celebrating business excellence across Sussex, the Awards are the longest established scheme of its kind in the county and is the one everyone wants to win!

There are seventeen trophies to be won this year including the prestigious Sussex Company of the Year, Best International Company and Best Customer Service.

There is one new sponsor this year, Legal and General who will be sponsoring the Healthiest Workplace category.

Commenting on its involvement, Lucy Pearce, Communications and Engagement Manager at Legal and General said: “As a leading life insurer and provider of rehabilitation services to employers, health is a big part of Legal & General. We understand the importance of a healthy workforce to a successful business. We were delighted to win last year and to be sponsoring the ‘Healthiest Workplace’ award for 2017.”

They join the returning sponsors including HSBC, Mazars, Checkatrade.com, Sussex Innovation Centre, University of Sussex, Coffin Mew, Sussex Chamber of Commerce and Vantage Professional Risks.

The Argus, Heart FM, Title Sussex and Platinum Business will be media partners.

Quotes from 2016 winners “Winning the Professional Services award has been extremely rewarding for Yelo and helped to further raise our profile as one of the leading architecture practices in Sussex. It’s great for our staff to receive recognition for their dedication and the quality service they provide to our clients, and the whole experience was topped by a fantastic awards evening!” Andy Parson Yelo Architects, The Award for Professional Services Sussex companies have until Wednesday 30 August 2017 at 17:00 to prepare their submissions.

For the fourth year, Mike Herd, the executive director of Sussex Innovation Centre and the Sussex Businessperson of the Year 2000, will be taking his place as Chairman of the Judges. Mike commented: “In an era of economic uncertainty, as we all await the impact of Brexit, it is more important than ever to cherish the home-grown businesses which provide local stability and prosperity. In fact the good news is businesses in Sussex are not just contributing to the regional economy - many are also making an impact on the international stage and leading the way for the UK, too.”

There is a small admin fee of £50 (ex vat) to enter one award or £100 (ex vat) for up to three entries. You can also make nominations for the Healthiest Workplace, Most Sustainable Business and Outstanding Contribution to Sussex Charity free of charge.

Winners will be announced at The Grand Brighton on Thursday 30 November 2017.

For further information, visit www.sbawards.org.uk and follow all the latest news @SussexBizAwards

tel: 01444 259 259

august/september february/march 2017 2017 business business edge edge

advertorial

AS A CHAMBER MEMBER YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED

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01797 222 455 W S Wright has delivered building maintenance, refurbishment and projects to a variety of clients throughout the south of England for over 70 years.

Our operational practices are approved by the leading authorities in industry standards supporting our directly employed mobile engineers in the delivery of reactive and planned construction and specialist maintenance services 24 hours 7 days all year.

Construction

Gas

Electrical

Joinery

Upholstery

Flooring

Water Hygiene

Glazing

Metal Fabrication

www.wswright.co.uk | info@wswright.co.uk Head Office: Units 3-5 Lochin Marine, Rock Channel, Rye, East Sussex TN31 7HJ South West Office: Unit 5, Holloways, Bessemer Close, Ebblake Industrial Estate, Verwood, Dorset BH31 6AZ