VOX Magazine - issue 1

VOX

YOUR QUARTERLY BUSINESS MAGAZINE CONNECTING CHESTER & WREXHAM

Monthly Advisory Board

VOX

YOUR QUARTERLY BUSINESS MAGAZINE CONNECTING CHESTER & WREXHAM

Welcome to VOX. Your voice to target the business community across Chester and Wrexham. Whether you are based in Chester or Wrexham, or are keen to reach the businesses that are, our magazine has been specifically designed to reach the people that matter.

Meet the team:

Clara lives in Chester and runs a successful marketing company, Zebra Marketing and Communications (www.zebra-comms.co.uk), that has been operating locally, nationally and internationally for over 11 years. Clara specialises in strategic marketing, copywriting, media relations and services relating to events, exhibitions and conferences.

01978 437070 | 07702 736763 clara@ezpublishing.co.uk

Vicky lives just outside Wrexham and owns and produces EssentialsMAG (www.essentialsmag.co.uk) – a local monthly community magazine which is hand-delivered through 14,000 letterboxes in and around Wrexham. She is also a successful graphic designer and artist and has been working in the creative industries since 1992 and established her first business in 2003.

01978 855459 | 07740 945795 vicky@ezpublishing.co.uk

Subscribe

VOX is a quarterly business magazine hand delivered to a large number of industrial estates, business parks, venues and hubs around Chester and Wrexham. If you are outside our circulation area and would like a copy delivered to your door you can subscribe. Full details are on page 19.

Cover illustration: The Racecourse, Wrexham by artist Emma Gore @emmagoredesigns

Clara Hughes Editorial Director

Vicky Heathfield Creative Director & Advertising

Welcome

Welcome to our first issue of VOX

To say we’re excited to be launching our new business magazine for Chester and Wrexham would be an understatement. We have worked together in different capacities for over 10 years and one thing that we are both passionate about is working locally and raising the profile of local businesses throughout the area. Over the years, we have got to know many local businesses through our own individual companies and also through networking – and the level of talent and innovative businesses in this region is phenomenal. We also know that there are many amazing businesses out there that we haven’t even heard of yet, let alone met!

So, what is VOX and why have we launched it?

VOX is the Latin word for ‘voice’, and this is what we want to provide for local businesses around Chester and Wrexham – a voice and a platform to showcase your work, share your successes and offer help and advice to each other.

What’s in store?

In this issue alone, we are featuring the exciting journey of Wrexham AFC and its plans now that it has been bought by two high-profile celebrities. We also share some of its sponsors’ thoughts on what this exciting time for the Club and town means to them. We talk at length with Cheshire business leader Adam Dandy, who not only runs a successful company, but was also fundamental in setting up the charity Share. And we celebrate Chester’s success at being the first city in the world to gain Sustainable Palm Oil City status. You’ll also find lots of other features – from branding, giving and receiving feedback, and how psychometric tests can help in business, through to news articles and insight from local businesspeople.

Help us raise your voice

We are delighted with our first issue of VOX and would like to thank our advertisers and contributors, who have helped shape this issue. We also love the original cover artwork created by local artist Emma Gore. Look out for more of her work in future issues.

We believe that our magazine can evolve further and as the name suggests, we want it to become the voice for local businesses – a platform where we can share your stories and experiences of the region, celebrate your successes and be proud to be part of a community uniting two important economic hubs. To make this happen we would love to hear your views and find out what you would be interested in reading about.

We hope you enjoy reading our inaugural issue of VOX!

Clara and Vicky

Croeso

Croeso i'n rhifyn cyntaf o VOX

Dim ond hanner y stori fyddai dweud ein bod yn teimlo’n gyffrous i lansio ein cylchgrawn busnes newydd ar gyfer Caer a Wrecsam. Rydym wedi gweithio gyda'n gilydd mewn gwahanol ffyrdd ers dros 10 mlynedd ac un peth yr ydym ni'n dau yn angerddol amdano yw gweithio'n lleol a chodi proffil busnesau lleol ar hyd a lled yr ardal. Dros y blynyddoedd, rydym wedi dod i adnabod llawer o fusnesau lleol trwy ein cwmnïau unigol ein hunain a hefyd trwy rwydweithio - ac mae lefel y dalent a’r nifer o fusnesau arloesol yn y rhanbarth hwn yn rhyfeddol. Rydym hefyd yn gwybod bod yna lawer o fusnesau anhygoel yn yr ardal nad ydyn ni hyd yn oed wedi clywed amdanyn nhw eto, heb sôn am gwrdd â nhw!

Felly, beth yw VOX a pham rydyn ni wedi'i lansio?

VOX yw'r gair Lladin am 'lais', a dyma beth rydyn ni am ei ddarparu ar gyfer busnesau lleol o amgylch Caer a Wrecsam - llais a llwyfan i arddangos eich gwaith, rhannu eich llwyddiannau a chynnig help a chyngor i'n gilydd.

Beth sydd ar y gweill?

Yn y rhifyn hwn yn unig, rydym yn cynnwys taith gyffrous Clwb Pêl-droed Wrecsam a'i gynlluniau nawr ei fod wedi'i brynu gan ddau o enwogion adnabyddus. Rydym hefyd yn rhannu meddyliau rhai o'i noddwyr ar yr hyn y mae'r cyfnod cyffrous hwn i'r Clwb a'r dref yn ei olygu iddyn nhw. Rydym yn siarad yn helaeth ag arweinydd busnes Swydd Gaer, Adam Dandy, sydd nid yn unig yn rhedeg cwmni llwyddiannus, ond a oedd hefyd yn sylfaenol wrth sefydlu'r elusen Share. Ac rydym yn dathlu llwyddiant Caer o gael ei henwi fel dinas gyntaf y byd i ennill statws Dinas Olew Palmwydd Cynaliadwy. Fe welwch lawer o nodweddion eraill hefyd - o frandio, rhoi a derbyn adborth, a sut y gall profion seicometrig helpu mewn busnes, i erthyglau newyddion a mewnwelediadau gan bobl fusnes leol.

Helpwch ni i godi eich llais

Rydym wrth ein bodd gyda'n rhifyn cyntaf o VOX a hoffem ddiolch i'n hysbysebwyr a'n cyfranwyr, sydd wedi helpu i lunio'r rhifyn hwn. Rydyn ni hefyd wrth ein bodd â'r gwaith celf clawr gwreiddiol a grëwyd gan yr artist lleol, Emma Gore. Cadwch lygad am ragor o'i gwaith mewn rhifynnau yn y dyfodol. Credwn y gall ein cylchgrawn esblygu ymhellach ac fel mae'r enw'n awgrymu, rydym am iddo ddod yn llais i fusnesau lleol - platfform lle gallwn rannu eich straeon a'ch profiadau o'r rhanbarth, dathlu'ch llwyddiannau a bod yn falch o fod yn rhan o gymuned sy’n uno dau ganolbwynt economaidd pwysig. Er mwyn i hyn ddigwydd, byddem wrth ein bodd yn clywed eich barn a darganfod beth fyddai gennych ddiddordeb mewn darllen amdano.

Gobeithio y gwnewch chi fwynhau darllen rhifyn cyntaf VOX!

Clara and Vicky

Electronics distributor pushes turnover to new heights with the help of fresh strategy

A NORTH WALES-BASED ELECTRONICS DISTRIBUTOR has pushed turnover to record levels by implementing a new strategy developed with the input of fellow business leaders. Phil and Tom Kneale run Graphtec GB, which distributes computer controlled cutting equipment from Wrexham, increased sales past £4m for the first time, up from £3.2m.

After considering their options and taking advice from David Roberts, who runs peer-to-peer business coaching service The Alternative Board (TAB) in North East Wales, the company expanded its product line and re-examined its pricing structure. The decision was aided by the pair taking the chance to reacquaint themselves with every aspect of the business during the first Covid-19 lockdown. With the majority of staff either working from home or furloughed, as sales and supply initially slowed down, they expanded their roles to ensure customers’ needs were met.

Tom Kneale explains: “In the early days of the pandemic, for everything that needed someone in the office it was up to Phil and I to keep it ticking over for all of our customers, from top to bottom. We managed to keep disruption to a minimum, and also got a renewed grasp of the business. My plan was to add in new product lines and services from suppliers, and while it was a big step, it has proved incredibly successful. David Roberts and TAB helped us develop this new strategy, which included supplying a wider range of systems for trade and hobbyists alike - such as printers, engravers, specialist software and a wide range of other accessories.”

“One of the big parts of TAB is the meetings, where you meet with David and other business leaders. These are very helpful in allowing you to raise problems and discuss solutions with other people in business who may have a bit more experience or knowledge than you do. They can really help shed light on a particular area, when you’re looking for solutions or help find new opportunities.

Phil Kneale added: “As many of our clients are signwriters and hobbyists, such as paper crafters who might be making cards, we were one of the few businesses where we weren’t necessarily negatively impacted overall by Covid-19. However, there were times when it was touch and go with how suppliers and dealers could work, so those conversations with David that Tom and I had really helped us keep the ship on an even keel. As a result, turnover rose from £3.2m to just over £4m. We also managed to keep staffing steady through the pandemic, even bringing in an extra person. We’re now also in a position to be recruiting for three additional roles.”

Chester Gift Card

IN ORDER TO LOCK MONEY INTO OUR HIGH STREET and encourage shoppers to spend locally, Chester BID has launched the Chester Gift Card

The Chester Gift Card is a preloaded Mastercard that can be redeemed in any Chester city centre business that has signed up to accept it. The card can be loaded with any amount from £5 to £500, meaning people can give the gift of a cup of coffee or a whole weekend away with hotel, food, shopping, drink, spa and experiences. Chester BID is encouraging businesses to sign up for the scheme. The more businesses that sign up, the more desirable the card will be, meaning the more money that can be locked into the local economy.

Chester Gift Card will be promoted via targeted social media, and cards can be purchased either online at www.chestergiftcard.com or in person at Chester’s Visitor Information Centre by the Town Hall. There are already 100 Chester high street businesses signed up to accept this card. The programme is open to national and independent businesses, supporting the high street as one organism working together.

Graphtec GB’s Tom and Phil Kneale (left, right) have overseen an increase in business at Graphtec GB over the course of the pandemic thanks to their work alongside The Alternative Board’s David Roberts (centre).

Support for apprenticeships

DID YOU KNOW - whether you are in England or Wales there is still incentives available if you are planning on taking on any new apprentices?

In England, from 11 January 2022, you will be able to apply for a payment of £3,000 for apprentices, with an employment start date from 1 October 2021 to 31 January 2022. Applications for these payments close on 15 May 2022.

The payment is different to apprenticeship levy funds, so you can spend it on anything to support your organisation’s costs. For example, on uniforms, your apprentice’s travel or their salary. You do not have to pay it back. This payment is in addition to the existing £1,000 an employer will already get for taking on an apprentice who is either:

• aged 16 to 18 years old

• under 25 and has an education, health and care plan or has been in the care of their local authority

For further information visit www.gov.uk

In Wales, the Welsh Government is further extending incentives to support businesses in recruiting apprentices in Wales until February 2022. The Apprenticeship Employer Incentive Scheme is a key part of Welsh Government’s Covid Commitment to support businesses and workers in recovering from the impacts of coronavirus.

Under the scheme businesses are able to claim up to £4,000 for each new apprentice they hire under the age of 25. The £4,000 incentive will be available to businesses that are employing a young apprentice for at least 30 hours per week.

For further information visit www.gov.wales

Easing of international restrictions welcome boost to leading North Wales travel agency

CHANGES TO OVERSEAS TRANSIT RULES has sparked a renewed push of jobs and growth at one award-winning North Wales travel agent. Delmar World, which has been operating in Gresford since 1964, will be adding to its team after experiencing a marked upturn in interest for vacation bookings, following the easing of international travel restrictions.

The family-owned travel business, which was named Small Agency of the Year (North West England and North Wales) at the 2021 Travel Weekly Agent Achievement Awards, has launched a home-working division and has also placed office-based permanent hires back on the radar, to help meet the increased demand in services. The new home-working department will look to help travellers not only find their next holiday, but also guide them through the changing laws mandated by international navigation during a global pandemic.

The agency, which currently employs seven people, has set its sights on expanding past the 14-strong staff the company employed pre-pandemic, with bookings for 2022 already totaling half of its pre-covid yearly targets.

Delmar World managing director Ann Anglesea said: “Customers are wanting to catch up on seeing the world and we’ve had bookings gradually come in for areas further away, which reflects how confidence in travel is returning over time. People are now reaching out to deal with professionals who not only are familiar with the changing rules and regulations of international transit, but also have the personal experience and knowledge when it comes to planning a long-awaited holiday.”

For more information on Delmar World, visit www.delmarworld.com

Delmar World’s directors Ann Anglesea and Howard Davies

Driving into a new career

UP TO 4,000 PEOPLE WILL SOON BE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE of training courses to become HGV drivers. This is part of a package of measures to ease temporary supply chain pressures in food haulage industries, brought on by the pandemic and the global economy rebounding.

Natural Balance celebrates 1st birthday since relocation

NATURAL BALANCE

PHYSIOTHERAPY & SPORTS

INJURY is celebrating the end of its first year since relocating to Darland House on Chester Road in Rossett, near Wrexham. Previously located in the Chester Wellness Centre, Natural Balance has been providing a holistic approach to clients requiring physiotherapy and support with sports injuries, within the Wrexham and Chester areas, for more than 20 years.

The Department for Education is investing up to £10 million to create new skills boot camps to train up to 3,000 more people to become HGV drivers. The free, short, intensive courses will train drivers to be road-ready and gain a category C or category C&E licence, helping to tackle the current HGV driver shortage. An additional 1,000 people are expected to be trained through courses accessed locally and funded by the government’s adult education budget.

Fuel tanker drivers need additional safety qualifications, which the government will work with industry to ensure drivers can access as quickly as possible.

To help make sure new drivers can be road ready as quickly as possible, the Department for Transport (DfT) have also agreed to work with Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency (DVSA) to ensure that tests will be available for participants who have completed training courses now.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has also announced the immediate deployment of their Defence Driving Examiners (DDEs) to increase the country’s testing capacity. MOD examiners will work alongside DVSA examiners, providing thousands of extra tests.

“Not only do we work in Rossett, we also live here! As such, we have been overwhelmed with the welcome shown by the local community since we relocated to Darland House and would like to thank old clients and new for their ongoing support,” said Phil Cabral, Director and Chartered Physiotherapist.

The team at Natural Balance Physiotherapy & Sports Injury specialise in reducing pain, optimising health, increasing fitness, maximising function and enhancing performance – working with clients at their home, in the gym or workplace, or even pitch-side.

Support for Welsh businesses

HEALTHY WORKING WALES

(HWW) is a programme delivered by Public Health Wales on behalf of Welsh Government. It supports and encourages employers to improve the health and wellbeing of their staff, engage and communicate with employees more effectively, and help to achieve a range of business and organisational outcomes.

This includes organisational performance, productivity and reducing sickness absence coststhrough one-to-one support, training events and workshops, online and telephone information, and guidance.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, HWW has supported employers to create healthy and safe workplaces that promote health and wellbeing and prevent Covid-19 transmission.

HWW has developed a range of guidance and infographics and continues to keep its website as a one-stop-shop of Covid-19 information and resources up-todate. Information and resources available include: podcasts, topic specific resources on important health and wellbeing topics, case studies and virtual workshops.

If you have any queries, please contact us on:

WorkplaceHealth@wales.nhs.uk

Creative community work with scientific engineers to create tomorrow’s world

WHEN NORTH WALES-BASED SCIENTIFIC ENGINEERING FIRM Scanwel was looking to rebrand and raise its profile, new marketing manager Katy Harrison called upon her North Wales creative network for help. Scanwel is an expert solution provider in the vacuum, surface and nanoscience sector. It has grown from a one-man business operating from a workshop in an old schoolhouse in North Wales, to an international solutions provider to the academic, industrial and scientific community, currently operating from its new premises in Bala.

Scanwel is investing heavily in its business infrastructure, to ensure that it is positioned for future growth and acquisition. As a consequence of this, it recognised that the communications channels to its potential clients needed to reflect both its current position and its aspirations for continued expansion. To reinforce this message, Scanwel decided it was time for a rebrand. This included redeveloping the website, updating its look and feel with a new company video and photography, and fully understanding its current position in the market.

Collaboration is key

The management team at Scanwel is lean, so Katy looked for outside design and marketing support from her network of contacts. To this end, she bought together design, videography, photography and marketing support from: JC Creative, Knew Productions, Ginger Pixie Photography Zebra Marketing and Communications

All these businesses are based in North Wales, and the collective expertise of the team has enabled the project to be carried out in a short space of time.

Good relationships built on trust

Katy explains:

“Having worked in North Wales for a number of years, I have developed a network of trusted suppliers, which I’ve met through networking or worked with on previous projects.

“In addition to this, the individual businesses were familiar with each other’s work, so we were able to establish a real sense of collaboration and familiarity across the project from the start. Working with trusted local businesses has also meant that when restrictions have allowed, we have been able to meet face-to-face and build the relationships further.”

Business opportunities

Mersey Dee Alliance wants £220m

cross-border

recovery deal to help bounce back from pandemic

THE FUNDS WOULD BE SPENT ON IMPROVING TRANSPORT LINKS AND TOWN CENTRES, decarbonising the economy and backing businesses.

Cross-border growth deal proposed

The Mersey Dee Alliance wants a £220m Cross Border Recovery Deal to help north east Wales and Cheshire bounce back from the pandemic. The group seeks the major fiscal stimulus for improved public transport and active travel routes, with £55m to bring empty town centre properties back into use.

Members also propose a £60m Business Challenge Fund (BCF) developed by the private sector to support businesses to deliver growth and productivity, whilst accelerating the journey to Net Zero carbon. There would also be funding for improving digital connections and a low carbon programme to help drive forward the hydrogen strategy.

The MDA – which covers Flintshire and Wrexham in North Wales and Cheshire West and Chester, and the Wirral in the north West of England – is set to start negotiations with the Welsh and UK Governments to fund the Deal. It says it will complement existing growth deals in North Wales and the North West of England.

Councillor Mark Pritchard, Chair of the Mersey Dee Alliance, said: “The MDA economy has been hit hard by Covid-19. Our GVA contracted by 15%, equivalent to £3.5bn of the pre-pandemic, £22bn value of the economy. Thousands of jobs were lost in aerospace, other manufacturing sectors and retail. The MDA Cross Border Recovery Deal is Phase one of the proposed £400+ Fiscal Stimulus Package that we published in March 2021.

"Investment is needed now to recover from the negative economic impacts of Covid-19 and lay the foundations for future, sustainable growth, driven by the world’s first net zero, industrial cluster, in partnership with HyNet and businesses.

"The Cross Border Recovery Deal will address longer term structural challenges caused by complexity for businesses and planners in the public sector because of the administrative border which imposes two sets of policy frameworks on the region’s economy. The negative effects of this administrative complexity can be seen in an over-reliance on the car, because in the past it has been difficult to plan transport on a holistic, cross border basis that aligns with economic needs."

The MDA has worked in close partnership with neighbouring economic partnerships (the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership and Liverpool City Region) to produce its proposals.

GROW SMARTER LIMITED which operates under the Action Coach banner, is introducing an exciting new business development programme for business owners in Cheshire and North Wales.

Having a Board of Directors hold you accountable for your actions is the best way for your business to gain traction and begin to develop into a fully-fledged profitable enterprise. Grow Smarter is currently hand-picking business owners from a variety of industries to form an initial group of Mini Boards that will facilitate stronger growth for those business owners, which are ready to take their business to the next level.

Each Board of Directors group will consist of six to nine (maximum) invited business owners or entrepreneurs. The Board of Directors is not an open invitation to the public at large, but rather a hand-selected group of individuals who will have already worked within a formal training environment. The Board of Directors programme is not a seminar, rather a controlled and facilitated discussion around growth and expansion of each Board Member’s business or businesses.

Using market tested and proven strategies, each Board of Directors will benefit from a defined meeting structure, brief weekly peer-to-peer coaching, lead coaching from a qualified business coach and monthly events with world renowned speakers. Confidentiality Agreements ensure that financial and structural inner workings of each business, as well as future plans, are protected.

If you are a business owner looking to compete at the highest level in the ‘new economy’ contact jeffwilliams@actioncoach.com to learn more.

News from the Chester Northgate project team

Voting on the shortlist of names for the new Arcade and Square closed on 5 November and over 5,500 votes were cast online. The winners are:

Coachworks Arcade

In recognition that there has been a coachworks on the Northgate site since 1870. The original 1914 Westminster Coach & Motor Car Works façade is being restored into a new arcade and arched entrance into the development.

Exchange Square

After the name of the original Market building opened in 1698. It was a grand building with an open piazza, coffee house and shops on the ground floor, and upper rooms that included a banqueting room, a court room, and a council chamber. Sadly, the building burnt down on 30 December 1862.

For more information visit www.chesternorthgate.com

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site website relaunched after make-over

THE PONTCYSYLLTE AQUEDUCT AND CANAL UNESCO world heritage site website has had a makeover to meet accessibility standards, making it easily available and fully bilingual on mobile phones and tablets.

In addition to the new look, the website now offers access to new learning content and collections not normally available. These give a virtual experience from home, allowing you to watch, read and discover this iconic place and experience some of the greatest aqueducts, tunnels, cuttings and embankments ever built.

Deadline for our Mar/Apr/May 2022 issue is: 11 February 2022

please email: clara@ezpublishing.co.uk

The website was launched during a visit from the Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site.

The website will continue to develop with the introduction later in the year of a World Heritage Site Business Ambassador scheme, which builds on the existing North Wales Tourism Ambassador scheme. It’s designed for tourism businesses from within the 11-mile World Heritage Site to be featured following the completion of a couple of short modules, showing a commitment and dedication to going that extra mile to advocate the area to visitors.

This will help support post-Covid tourism business recovery and continue to develop a thriving tourism economy, with truly passionate people at the heart of it.

The new look website has been supported by funding from the Welsh Government’s Regional Tourism Engagement fund and new activities funded through Wales Cultural Recovery Fund.

This exciting project has been developed on behalf of the World Heritage Site by Glandŵr Cymru, the Canal and River Trust in Wales, in partnership with Wrexham Council and provides information and a great educational resource to prospective visitors, enabling them to plan their visit.

You can visit the website at www.pontcysyllte-aqueduct.co.uk

fairy tale A true North Wales

Photograph ©Gemma Thomas/Wrexham AFC

Back in October 2021 Wrexham AFC’s new owners finally visited Wrexham for the first time. This eagerly anticipated visit was deemed a triumph from all sides and cements what was already looking positive, as the start of a beautiful long-distance relationship.

With FLEUR ROBINSON Chief Executive Wrexham AFC

THE STORY STARTS BACK IN MAY 2019, when Wrexham's board was approached about talks with two mystery investors. As we now know, those investors would turn out to be Hollywood movie megastar Ryan Reynolds and Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator and star Rob McElhenney. They were voted in almost unanimously by members of Wrexham Supporters Trust (WST) in September 2020, who were sold on their vision for the club, and in November 2020 over 98% of the supporters voted in favour of the takeover.

In February 2021, the takeover was completed and Rob and Ryan invested £2 million in the club immediately on its completion, with the deal also containing plans for a documentary on the takeover called Welcome to Wrexham. The documentary will follow the Hollywood duo's “crash course in football club ownership" and much filming was carried out during the recent visit.

The interview

Earlier last month (November), a few short weeks after the visit, we had the opportunity to interview Fleur Robinson, the new chief executive of Wrexham AFC. Fleur only joined the club in June this year, and what a first six months she has had!

Fleur joins Wrexham AFC with an impressive CV as commercial director at Burton Albion, where she spent 26 years building the club within the League and the local community.

“The role with Wrexham AFC was a fantastic opportunity for me personally and professionally, but there is also a mountain of work that has needed to be tackled. As with football clubs up and down the country, the stadium was shut for so long due to Covid, so we have had to work out how to reopen in a Covid-safe way and how to deal with the increased crowds that

are now – excitingly – attending our home games. Our last gate was 9,800, a huge turnout and close to capacity.

Setting out our stall

“Wrexham AFC has always been an important club, with a huge catchment, and our new owners have just increased that reach. The club has always played an important role within the local community, supporting local initiatives and building relationships with local businesses. This is something we are keen to see continue and develop. Our new co-Chairs have set out their goal, guiding principles and hard promises in a mission statement to the supporters, staff, players and friends of Wrexham AFC, so everything we do will align with their mission.

“It is amazing that we have secured sponsorship with the likes of Tik Tok, Expedia and Aviation Gin this year. However, the relationships we have

developed with our local sponsors over many years – from stand sponsors and short sponsors, through to our partners, and of course, all of our other sponsors too – are equally as important to us. We are looking to maximise on the global interest that our global partners are providing to us, while building and developing our relationships much closer to home –both new and existing.

Building on good foundations

“On the pitch, the initial investment from our owners has enabled us to secure exciting new players and our new manager, Phil Parkinson. Our ultimate aim is for promotion within the League. Meanwhile, off the pitch, we are also busy building on the foundations of our team and backroom staff. We are currently undertaking a recruitment process, which will hopefully provide some exciting opportunities for local people.

“They are genuinely invested in the club, the town and its future, and it is very special to be part of this exciting journey”

Photograph ©Gemma Thomas/Wrexham AFC

“Wrexham AFC has a wonderful opportunity and while the level of interest this year has been phenomenal, it is important that we are creative now in how we harness the interest, to ensure that we develop a sustainable club for the future. As well as our grounds for our home fixtures, the Racecourse offers year-round commercial opportunities as a venue for business and leisure. We want to explore the potential of the venue and how it can be used in the future.

Opportunities for all

“While a lot of focus is currently on the men’s team and how it is performing within the league, our women’s, youth and disability teams are all intrinsic to the overall success of the club. We are determined that all the teams will receive the same opportunities and support. We also have plans to further raise the profile of the Racecourse Foundation and ensure that we are working with grass roots organisations across the area, doing what we can to make a difference.

“This certainly held true when Rob and Ryan visited us last month. The trip was hugely anticipated and for a while they were with us, we were potentially the most talked about club in the world! The guys spent time getting to understand the club and the teams and meeting the players. They also held a Fans Forum one evening. They are genuinely invested in the club, the town and its future, and it is very special to be part of this exciting journey.

Building connections

“My only regret about my first six months in position is that with everything that I have had to get stuck into, I haven’t had chance to meet as many people in the business community as I would like. I am keen to start meeting local businesses and look at what opportunities there are to partner, to work together for our mutual benefit and the benefit of the wider community. I am keen to redress the balance in the new year.”

If you would like to discuss any opportunities with Fleur, she would welcome the contact and the opportunity to get to know the local business community. Please contact media@wrexhamafc.co.uk

Powering up

One of the highlights of the recent visit by the club’s co-Chairs, was the time spent with Powerchair Football. Kerry Evans is the disability liaison officer at Wrexham AFC. She has been in her role for four years.

She explains: “For me, the highlight of their visit was being told they would be attending our Powerchair Football session on the Friday evening. Powerchair Football has been in the making for the past 12 months and the work that has gone into getting it set up is outstanding. The Racecourse Community Foundation do an amazing job of coaching these sessions and it is one of the many projects I’ve achieved that I’m most proud of. These sessions can change lives and introduce a sport to disabled people. Anyone with a disability can play, but you must sit in a powerchair whether you are a wheelchair user or not.”

“As well as our grounds for our home fixtures, the Racecourse offers year-round commercial opportunities as a venue for business and leisure. We want to explore the potential of the venue and how it can be used in the future”

Photograph ©Gemma Thomas/Wrexham AFC

Photograph ©Gemma Thomas/Wrexham AFC

The sponsors

The club’s sponsors have a key role to play in the future of the club too, and Wrexham AFC is proud to have some amazing sponsors. Alongside global brands including Tik Tok, Expedia and Aviation Gin, the club celebrates some other key local sponsors including:

Stand sponsors:

WREXRENT, Wrexham Lager, Macron

Short sponsors:

Ifor Williams Trailers

Partners:

Ifor Williams, Town and Country, Barlows

Throughout the last year, there has already been some fun publicity stunts, like the spoof ad the co-Chairs did last Christmas for Ifor Williams Trailers and also the fan-made Alright Laaamarni ad. There were also the deliveries of Aviation Gin to many of the bars and restaurants in Wrexham town centre. But perhaps the best one so far was the Wrexham sign, done in the style of Hollywood, which mysteriously appeared just outside the town and turned out to be a publicity stunt by National League sponsors, Vanarama

We asked a couple of the other sponsors what difference the new owners would make to the club and the town, and here’s what they said:

Nick Evans

DIRECTOR AT EVANS LAMSLEY

“We are proud to sponsor Wrexham AFC. We are enjoying the excitement that the new owners have bought to the town and that fact that it’s building up the area. It’s going to bring in so many more visitors to the town and hopefully generate greater success on the pitch too.”

Vaughn Rawson

DIRECTOR AT RAWSON DIGITAL

“As a long-term Wrexham fan I was inspired to renew our sponsorship with Wrexham AFC. We think that the club is on the brink of something special and really wanted to play a part in the story. The owners have already shown their intent to support, not only the football club, but also the communities and people surrounding it. Whether it is supporting fundraisers or driving footfall into the town, we have seen the impact and can’t wait to see it develop."

Wrexham AFC mission statement

To the supporters, staff, players, friends and family of Wrexham AFC:

We’re two people who’ve made a career of never taking ourselves too seriously. However, we realise taking stewardship of this great and storied club is an incredibly serious matter and something we don’t take lightly. With that in mind, we wanted to take you through our Goal, Principles and Promises.

Our Goal

Our goal is to grow the team, return it to the EFL in front of increased attendances at an improved stadium while making a positive difference to the wider community in Wrexham.

Hard Promises

Provide comprehensive financial support for the manager and his coaching team. Build a sustainable model which will attract the best players and best staff to the Racecourse Ground.

Always beat Chester.*

Explore the renovation of the Racecourse Ground and improve the venue for the club, for International matches and perhaps, the occasional Tom Jones gig.

Invest in a permanent training facility that is worthy of an EFL club.

Guarantee the club cannot be relocated, renamed or rebranded. Appropriate and respectful observance of the Gresford Colliery Disaster will remain sacrosanct.

Recognising the role fans and the WST have played in stewarding the club through extremely difficult times, we will create an honorary board that includes fans, representatives of the WST and WAFC alongside our own advisors.

Ensure the continued presence of Dixie McNeil as the club’s honorary President, subject to his desire.

Always beat Chester.*

Expand club staff to take advantage of increased interest in Wrexham, both locally and internationally.

Recognise and reinforce Wrexham AFC’s role as a leading force for community good in the town. Work with the Club’s Disability Liaison Officer, Kerry Evans, to retain and enhance Wrexham’s reputation as an inclusive and forward-thinking club, alongside other important local groups such as the Racecourse Community Foundation, food banks and schools.

Commit to a more ecologically-sustainable version of the club and stadium.

Commit to transparent decision making with regular and open communication.

Ensure that when the day comes that we leave the Club, it will be in a better position than it is today.

ALWAYS BEAT CHESTER.*

*If we ever play Chester again.

Rob and Ryan

To read the full mission statement visit: www.wrexhamafc.co.uk/club/mission-statement

City of Culture Wrexham shortlisted for

THE TOWN, WHICH IS CURRENTLY also campaigning for national ‘city status’, remains in the running after several of those initially considered – including all the other Welsh contenders – failed to make the cut. The accolade is awarded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and is seen as a hugely important boost to the local cultural scene and economy. The 2025 City of Culture will be the fourth city to hold the title since the UK City of Culture programme began in 2013. Previous titleholders include DerryLondonderry, Hull and this year’s City of Culture, Coventry.

Cultural impact

Wrexham County Borough Council announced its bid for the title ‘UK City of Culture 2025’ on 7 July 2021, in conjunction with Wrexham town’s separate bid for city status. In all, eight locations have been longlisted for the title. Those chosen include cities, towns and even counties, with all the home nations represented. Wrexham County Borough in North Wales is listed alongside Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon in Northern Ireland, Sterling in Scotland, and Bradford, County Durham, Cornwall, Derby and Southampton in England.

This sadly means Bangor, Powys, Conwy and Newport haven’t made it through. The bidders, which were announced in October by the government’s Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, will each receive £40,000 to develop their applications – this is the first time longlisted places have received this funding and is seen as a way of levelling up the competition, to make it a fair contest between culturally different areas.

The race is on!

The winner will host a year-long cultural festival, that will showcase the area’s cultural offerings, and attract and focus interest in the region from across the country and the world. It will also leave behind a cultural legacy for the future. Each bidder will work with a panel of experts to finalise their bids, before a shortlist is announced early in 2022. The winner benefits from the opportunity to attract additional investment, to create jobs in many sectors and to draw thousands of visitors to their local area. Wrexham’s bidders and champions will be hoping their enthusiasm for the area and its many cultural, architectural and natural attractions rubs off on the judges when it comes to decision time.

There’s a real buzz around Wrexham at the moment, for a number of reasons. One of the big talking points is Wrexham’s bid to become City of Culture 2025.

“The winner will host a year-long cultural festival, that will showcase the area’s cultural offerings”

Palm Oil City Chester the first Sustainable in the World

In 2019 Chester became the first Sustainable Palm Oil (SPO) City in the world, as a result of a long-running campaign led by conservationists at Chester Zoo.

TO ACHIEVE THIS REMARKABLE status more than 50 organisations in the city of Chester had to revolutionise their supply chains and commit to sourcing palm oil - a vegetable oil used in thousands of household products from food items to cleaning materials and cosmetics - from entirely sustainable sources.

One of the early companies to sign up to this ambitious initiative was Hillyer McKeown (HM) Solicitors

Richard Burnett, from Hillyer McKeown (HM) Solicitors says: “The campaign led by Chester Zoo felt hugely ambitious, and as an innovative business ourselves, we jumped at the

chance to support the Zoo and Chester achieving the 1st SPO City status. Faye Sherlock provided information and after asking staff if they would like to get involved, straight away colleagues came forward. At first it was a steep learning curve for us all. It became clear that people (including us!) were confused about how to choose sustainable options – largely because of the many names used for palm oil. We began by auditing products used in our office and worked with supply chains to swap to sustainable alternatives – with help from the Zoo to choose the right brands. As well as company-wide changes and promoting SPO online, we encouraged colleagues to ‘Make One Swap’ to a sustainable product each month.

“When news came in that Chester achieved its goal and HM had become the First SPO Workplace in the World we were incredibly proud. As an SPO Champion we continue raising awareness of the campaign and the challenges of switching products.

“Looking back on where the campaign for Chester began compared to today, we believe that this was the beginning of a significant shift in people’s perception. The huge impact of Chester’s campaign became more obvious when it featured in the Earthshot Prize 2021 – putting SPO in front of a global audience. The ambitious plan continues, and we look forward to SPO becoming the norm not the exception.”

What were the origins of the initiative?

Oil palm plantations are causing widespread habitat destruction in South East Asian rainforests, pushing iconic species such as orangutans and tigers to the edge of extinction. In September 2017 Chester Zoo launched an ambitious, major new conservation campaign to make Chester the first city in the world to source its palm oil from entirely sustainable sources.

The Zoo wanted to do something innovative; something game-changing; something that could have a significant impact on shaping the future of our planet. It wanted Chester to lead the way on an issue that’s vitally important to the long-term survival of many iconic species.

Local collaboration

To achieve Sustainable Palm Oil City status, the zoo needed to get representation from key organisations across Chester. Chez Jules was the first Chester business to commit to the project. All of its champions took steps to put in place a sustainable palm oil policy, switching products from unsustainable sources to sustainable ones and some went even further.

To achieve Sustainable Palm Oil City Status, the initiative had to reach five stars:

• Star 1 - 25 restaurants, cafes, hotels and fast-food outlets

• Star 2 - Five workplaces that offer staff catering services

• Star 3 - Two of five schools (local authority, catering provider for the majority of schools or consortium of schools), colleges, universities, council food outlets (a key catering provider to a large proportion of council outlets) and hospitals (key catering provider)

• Star 4 - Three visitor attractions or leisure facilities (zoo, aquarium, football club, gym)

• Star 5 - Three manufacturers or retailers based in the city

A conversation with Adam Dandy

Entering the family business

WHEN YOU ARE BORN INTO A FAMILY with a family business that dates back nearly 200 years, there can be an overwhelming expectation that you will step in and continue the business –leaving it for the next generation to take up the baton.

However, Adam Dandy, owner of Dandy’s Topsoil & Landscape Supplies, originally had no plans to enter the family firm. He had ambitions to join the Cheshire Constabulary. He even became a Special Officer at 18 and continued to serve with them while studying at college. However, having finished college he found himself driving a wagon for his father and realised he needed to make a decision about his future.

Adam explains:

“Although I was enjoying driving the wagon, I wasn’t really invested in the business long-term at that point. However, I went with my dad to JCB in Uttoxeter to attend a tour of the factory. During the visit the tour guide told us a story about how Mr Joseph Cyril Bamford CBE had stopped his son being late for work – by fining him £100 for every minute he was late. My dad thought this was a great idea and I soon owed him more than I was earning. It also made me realise it was better to be the one making the money!”

Matters of the heart

In 2004 Adam took three months out of the business to travel around Australia with his then-best friend, who is now his wife. On his return from travelling, he threw his energy into Dandy’s, pushing the business to grow over the first five years. With his keen interest in technology, Adam embraced the early days of the internet, making Dandy’s the first company in the UK to sell landscape materials online.

Adam adds:

“It was nerve-wracking starting to sell online. We kept it simple to start with. A one tonne bag of topsoil delivered to anywhere in the country for a fixed amount. Within our first 24 hours we had 30 pallets going to the South East.”

Today the business sells 75% online –and the majority of that is still to the South East.

Flattening the curve

Adam and his wife Clare bought out Adam’s parents in 2007. At the time, the company was targeting primarily landscapers, so Dandy’s Topsoil was a very seasonal business. With ambitions to grow, in 2010 Adam decided to purchase 2,000 tonnes of Rock Salt from British Salt, to distribute to councils for gritting. Whether it was luck or good judgment, Adam picked one of the coldest winters on record and managed to establish a loyal customer base. This diversification has enabled Dandy’s Topsoil to have a more sustainable year-round business with fewer peaks and troughs.

Celebrity endorsement

Visit Dandy’s website or social media and you can’t fail to see the smiling face of Dion Dublin, TV presenter, football director and pundit, and former professional footballer. Not necessarily an obvious ambassador for landscape supplies, but Adam explains how this came about.

“We have established a great relationship with Dion and I would go as far as to say he has become a close family friend too. However, we first met Dion when he had taken to Twitter to find a landscape gardener for his home in Knutsford. Several people recommended Dandy’s and we contacted him. Although we wouldn’t normally undertake the landscape work, we decided on this occasion to lay the turf for him. The project was a challenging one, but by the time we had completed it, we had created a fantastic garden for him and got to know him personally too.

“People buy on trust, and this is particularly true with online sales. If you can demonstrate a genuine, trusted relationship, you are likely to increase your conversion rates. Dion was a happy customer, and we were looking for a face that would be recognised and trusted by people, particularly in the South East.

“We approached Dion to become the face of Dandy’s and were delighted when he agreed.

“He has been our ambassador since late 2019. So far, it is working out very well for us and we had some real fun with him when we did our photoshoot!”

Dandy's is your trusted one-stop shop for gardening and landscaping supplies, delivered to your door nationwide. It has changed a little bit from the family fruit and veg business set up in 1826!

“To invest myself and my life in the family business, was the best decision I ever made”

Making a difference

The first five years of running Dandy’s was all about developing the business and ensuring that Dandy’s as a business was sustainable.

But when Adam had the opportunity to undertake some charity work for a Leukaemia charity, he found that he felt a sense of genuine happiness from going in there and really making a difference. It made him realise that Dandy’s success meant that he could channel some of his energy into helping the local community and further afield.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not a box ticking exercise at Dandy’s. The whole team is committed to making a difference. Adam recognised a need for local support in Sealand and Blacon, so raised £2,000 via crowd

funding to build and fill the shelves of a Food Bank based at Dandy’s depot. The company has also donated a wagon-full of food to other local food banks.

The sales team is also empowered to help charities where they can, like selling gravel to them at cost price. But when local charity Stick ‘n’ Step needed help laying it, Dandy’s team rolled their sleeves up and helped them in their own time.

Adam is pleased that the Dandy’s story has taken him in all kinds of interesting and unexpected directions over the years: “I think making that judgement call years ago, to invest myself and my life in the family business, was the best decision I ever made. It’s been an amazing journey and one I feel has further to travel.”

Greening the business

As a company that relies on heavy machinery and trucks, it’s hard for Dandy's to reduce its carbon footprint, but the business is committed to doing everything it can to minimise its impact:

• £35,000 investment in solar panels – these produce 35 kW electricity, which is enough to power the office, shop and most of the farm. It also powers the fleet of Ginger Scooters that operate in Chester city centre.

• £500,000 invested in the very latest Eco-delivery vehicles, fitted with Euro 6 Adblue engines.

• Utilising and blending most of Cheshire West’s green waste to produce a range of fertile growing medium, for gardeners and growers across the UK.

• The introduction of a soil specially designed for vegetable growing to encourage people to ‘grow their own’ and help reduce food miles.

“Adam recognised a need for local support in Sealand and Blacon, so raised £2,000 via crowd funding”

“I’m hopeful that hydrogen will be the environmental answer for heavy machinery, but that’s still some years away. In the meantime, we will look at any opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint”

Adam Dandy Dandy’s Topsoil & Landscape Supplies dandys.com

Shaping SHARE

Adam Dandy is also one of the founders of Share - Supporting Homeless, Assisting Refugees Everywhere. Share's aims are simple - it supports families in crisis and people who are homeless in North Wales and Cheshire, and assists refugees fleeing for their lives, wherever they are in the world.

In September 2015, the photograph of a three-year-old child washed up on a beach in the Mediterranean spurred four local mums from the Mold area to ‘do something’ to make a difference to people fleeing for their lives from war torn Syria and Iraq. They joined forces with Adam Dandy, and Share was born. Within weeks they were joined by like-minded businesses, schools, churches and other organisations, and inundated with donations.

In January 2016 the Share Shop on Northgate Street in Chester opened. In Chester, Share volunteers help to raise valuable funds for the charity in the Share Shop, by selling donations that have been received which are not suitable for refugees or local homeless people. These items are still valuable, as all funds are divided between the refugee and homeless projects.

Twice a week, the Share van also provides a valuable outreach service to those living rough on the streets of Chester. Loaded up with hot drinks, food, sleeping bags and warm clothing, the aim is to give some comfort to people who have no place of their own to call home.

M. CHADWICK

thinking brand

The importance of not bland!

Brands and branding are concepts that are much misunderstood by so many people in business. On the one hand, many smaller businesses think that a brand is no more than a name and/or a logo, while on the other hand, some equally incorrectly believe that brands and branding are very expensive, unaffordable and only for bigger businesses.

By PHIL STRACHAN

THE TRUTH IS THAT EVERYONE IN business, regardless of the size of their business, is already a brand. They already have a brand (good or bad) and their business is already branded, whether they deliberately set out to create a brand or not. In simple terms, a brand can be thought of as being what people say about your business when you are not in the room - it is the impression you have left.

Your brand is what you stand for Your brand is not your name, your brand is not your logo - these are simply identifiers, how people can recognise your brand versus others. Your brand, on the other hand, is what you and your business stand for and are seen to stand for, what comes to mind when people hear your name or see your name or brand identity – eg reliable, approachable and great value, or unreliable, aloof and poor value.

These associations, on both rational and emotional dimensions, are built over time and from experience. They are essentially about how you and your business are perceived – and that is why branding is fundamentally the art of managing perceptions.

No point in just blanding in How you are perceived, what you and your business are seen to stand for, is something that you can and must influence if you are to be successful.

You must be able to stand out from the crowd and apart from your competitors for all the right reasons. Your brand is your identity, it is your means to differentiate your offering meaningfully and effectively. It is your way to ensure that you don’t simply ‘bland in’ with the competition and become lost and drowning in a sea of sameness.

Don’t just jump on the blandwagon

It is important to ‘think brand – not bland’ because there is simply no point or value in being bland - and it is pointless jumping on the already well oversubscribed blandwagon. You don’t want to end up becoming yet another example of the bland that time forgot.

So, your brand is your identity, and it can and should be managed.

However, new businesses often dive headlong into execution mode. They have logos designed, websites built and social media campaigns launched, before they have identified what their message needs to be. They don’t know who they are, what they are or what they need and want to be seen to stand for to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Yet they are in execution mode and potentially wasting money. They are putting the cart before the horse. In the case of existing businesses, they are often supposedly being ‘rebranded’ when

in fact all that is being done is a superficial, and ultimately pointless and ineffectual, change of name and/ or logo.

Necessity can be the mother of re-invention

On the subject of established businesses, it is vitally important that they periodically take a step back and take a long hard look at themselves from the outside-in. Many businesses that have been established for maybe 10 or 15 years are still saying essentially the same thing that they were when they originally launched - and still presenting themselves in the same way. This, despite the fact that they will most probably have changed, often very significantly. This could be due to changes in the market over time or due to new and existing competitors refreshing their messaging, perception and presentation. To remain relevant and current, every business should

periodically review what actions they need to take to manage their perceptions. This might include revitalising, refreshing, and reinvigorating their presentation and communications – and perhaps even reinventing themselves.

In summary

For a new business, good branding can transform the likelihood of success. It can add huge value by helping you to stand out, and to connect, engage and

communicate effectively with your target audience. For existing and established businesses, a review of your branding can refresh, rejuvenate, and revitalise your business and give it a new lease of life.

Phil Strachan Strangebrew 07770 753975 phil@strangebrew.co.uk

“Don’t simply ‘bland in’ and become lost and drowning in a sea of sameness”

pandemic

How the turned my passion into a business

We all remember that moment when we were told that the whole country was going in lockdown and we were to stay at home for three weeks. It was the defining moment in 2020 that has changed and shaped many lives.

By MAJA KENNEY

I QUITE ENJOYED THE THREE WEEKS of guilt free nothingness. Speaking to other business owners it is clear that even when we take a well-deserved break, we still feel like we should be working. The fact that everyone had to stay at home and basically do nothing meant I could finally relax. I was starting to think I’d be quite good at the whole retirement thing, and my garden had never looked so good!

Freedom to change direction

However, the realisation soon hit that the events sector was not going to come back anytime soon. I needed to adjust to the fact that my business supplying exhibition stands was not going to keep me busy for a while.

The time was perfect to assess my priorities and figure out what I actually wanted to do. Having passed my motorcycle test in my forties –something I had wanted to do since I was a teenager – I have definitely made up for lost time. On average, I cover 12,000 miles a year. There is no easy way to describe how I feel when I am riding my motorcycle. The cliche of ‘freedom’ is used so often because it is true. Since obtaining my licence and buying my first motorcycle, I have been showing people some of the roads in North Wales. It is a well-known fact that North Wales offers some of the best

roads in the UK for motorcyclists, and so the idea of offering day tours around North Wales came to me.

The challenges of lockdown

I tested the market for my idea on social media. Initially we were limited to what could be covered in a day, because hospitality venues were still closed. But at the first sight of ‘freedom’, the bookings started coming in and I took my first group out for a day. We brought our own sandwiches and coffee flasks and set off.

Despite high levels of anxiety beforehand, the day was a huge success. At each planned stop, the

happy faces of my customers as they took their helmets off, made my heart do a happy dance. The feedback, the comments and the smiles were all I needed to confirm I have made the right choice.

Taking it to the next level

The day tours carried on around the restrictions until the hotels started to open up. At this point I extended the tours to offer three or four days and cover more than just North Wales. I designed a three-day tour to cover a day in North, a day in Mid and a day in South Wales. And even then, this was just scratching the surface of what Wales has to offer.

“The grand old adage of ‘Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life’ couldn’t be more appropriate for me”

It has been wonderful to be able to share some of the lesser-known roads with other motorcyclists.

It is very much a seasonal business, though and last winter I signed up to become an Amazon delivery driver. The long hours, the poor pay and less than ideal working conditions made me even more determined that 2021 would be a great year that pushed my business further.

National to international Spring 2021 I started the tours up again and it’s been a busy year. One of my early bookings in 2020 asked me to take

them on a tour to Slovenia. This is my home country and I jumped at the chance.

Five of us flew to Ljubljana and hired the bikes, while one rode all the way from the UK to Slovenia. We spent five days riding the roads and despite it being a very small country, we still didn’t get to see everything. Most people tend to visit Lake Bled and Ljubljana or just ride through to get to the Adriatic coast. It really is a hidden gem of a country and unexplored by motorcyclists from the UK. I thoroughly enjoyed the planning, organising and running the tour, one of the best ones of the year, for sure.

As the year draws to a close, I am already planning 2022 dates for Wales, Scotland, Slovenia and Tasmania, to mention just a few! I have found that the majority of the tours I run are bespoke for a particular group of riders. However, I make sure that there is a selection of tours that are open to anyone, and these bring together a real mix of people.

All I can say is, the whole world changed at the start of the pandemic and that has definitely made a huge difference to my lifestyle. The grand old adage of ‘Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life’ couldn’t be more appropriate for me.

Maja Kenney Maja’s Motorcycle Adventures majasmotorcycleadventures.co.uk maja.kenney@gmail.com

“There is no easy way to describe how I feel when I am riding my motorcycle. The cliche of ‘freedom’ is used so often because it is true”

The gift of

feedback

As Christmas approaches and you consider what to gift your nearest and dearest, I am pretty confident that ‘Feedback’ will not be on their ‘Amazon Wish List’.

ALTHOUGH THIS TIME OF YEAR typically coincides with end of year performance reviews, and whether the gift of feedback is well received or ends up being cast aside or sold in the next car boot is often determined by your approach to feedback.

To help, here are my top tips:

Why are you giving the feedback?

Feedback should be in service of the individual either for their personal or professional development. Ask yourself how your feedback is helping the individual/organisation – if this is difficult to articulate, then it will be difficult for the receiver to understand and act on. If the individual can’t understand or act on the feedback –why are you giving it?

Timing and circumstance

Feedback should be as immediate as possible, performance reviews should be a summary of the feedback received throughout the year and nothing new

By LYANN FARRELLY

should be shared at this point. Try to make the circumstances as comfortable as possible, by allowing privacy and time. Anticipate that this is a conversation not a presentation and allow time for response and reaction of the receiver.

Avoid judgement and be curious

You will be a lot clearer and less likely to get a defensive response, if you focus on the behaviour and the impact of the behaviour on your organisation without adding a layer of judgement (if you cannot think of an impact on the business but it’s just an annoyance perhaps this isn’t feedback for them but information for you!)

As, this is a conversation not a presentation it requires you to be curious about the feedback you are giving, and potentially acknowledge any responsibility you or the organisation may have.

Accept emotions

If it is difficult to say, the message will be difficult to hear and may illicit an emotional response. This emotion, potentially anger, frustration and disappointment in themselves may be aimed at you as the giver of the message. Try to stay calm and not defensive. If needed, take a break or a moment to collect yourselves, but never leave things unresolved.

“Pay attention to what is being said and how it makes you feel”

I am not entirely sure which leaves me feeling more uncomfortable giving or receiving feedback. Here are my tips for those moments when that feedback, solicited or otherwise, comes your way:

Breathe and stay calm. You don’t want to let your reptilian/monkey brain (the amygdala) be responsible for your response. Breathing helps you regulate the amygdala’s response to perceived threat and allows you to engage your more rational brain.

Listen, to everything! Pay attention to what is being said and how it makes you feel. If you are defending yourself, you are not listening. There is a reason you are receiving this feedback; it may not be ‘fair’ or ‘justified’ or even accurate, but you won’t know this if you jump to defend yourself.

Acknowledge their truth. Ooh this is tough! Someone tells you that you hurt their feelings, but you were just

joking, you feel they are being oversensitive, but that doesn’t matter. As a rule of thumb if someone tells you that they feel an emotion – that is real and it makes no difference if you agree or disagree, so accept it is their truth!

Process. Don’t feel the need to immediately acquiesce and promise to change. Just as you shouldn’t immediately defend yourself. You may need time to calm down, check facts, or you may not be able or willing to address the feedback right now. Also don’t be afraid to ask for clarity or examples to help your understanding.

Always respond. People say that feedback is a gift, even if it is an unwelcome gift, but even unsolicited/unhelpful feedback has a story to tell. Say ‘thank you’ and either commit to change or not (either of these options come with consequences that you should take time to make sure you are comfortable with)

Do not respond to feedback with feedback – at this point no one is listening!

Be kind. Even if you don’t feel like kindness is being extended to you. Giving feedback is difficult and sometimes people are clumsy when delivering it. You are not responsible for their behaviour, but you are responsible for yours.

Giving and receiving feedback IS HARD! It takes practice and emotions will often get the better of us. Although, if done with the individual’s best interest at the core of your approach - feedback truly is a gift.

Lyann Farrelly

Thursday’s Child

Coaching and Consulting 07907 648960

thursdayschildcoaching.co.uk

Executive Coaching

Become the best version of yourself and realise your full potential as a leader. Helping you articulate your values, your vision, your beliefs and your leadership goals.

Team Coaching

Achieve optimum team performance, becoming a high performing and dynamic team who are able to work productively together to achieve goals and surpass organisational objectives.

Lyann Farrelly, Founder and Director

Organisation Coaching

Take your organisation to the next level, increase engagement and productivity by investing in your company culture and learning and development.

“There are many distinct methods of Executive Coaching and, as an Accredited Foundation Executive Coach, with over 20 years of experience, I am perfectly placed to help your organisation reach its goals.”

Simply call me today on: 07907 648960 or visit: www.thursdayschildcoaching.co.uk

Thursday’s Child was founded on the belief that every individual, team and business has ‘far to go.’

“A combination of COVID-19 and the new immigration rules has left some industries well short of their staffing needs.”

Talent planning

You do not need to spend long perusing headlines to understand the labour shortages which some industries face, notably haulage, food supply chain and hospitality. For many businesses it is seriously curtailing operations.

IT IS EASY TO SEE THE CAUSAL LINK from big themes like the new immigration rules, which has restricted the movement of EU citizens, and the pandemic which has also restricted movement - as well as make people reprioritise what they are looking for in a job.

How SMEs can think strategically about talent planning and resourcing for the future:

• Employers need to respond to trends such as UK nationals being unwilling to do the jobs that former EU migrants would happily undertake.

• Many SMEs have the advantage of agility to help them adapt and survive; adopting a strategic approach to recruitment and retention can help.

The severity of the labour crisis in some sectors has taken many by surprise, even if the origins are clear to trace. By adopting a strategic approach, you can address the issue in clearly thought-out stages, and benefit from being proactive.

Workforce audit

Whether you are experiencing the squeeze already, or fear you may be affected in the future, a sensible place to start is with a workforce audit to understand your present situation. This does not need to be onerous, but make sure you collect useful information that will inform future decision-making. For instance, profiling employee age will help you understand how many of your

By LAURA BRAY

workforce are approaching retirement. You could capture the length of service to identify where churn occurs most. Overseas workers are still permitted by a new visa system, so monitoring nationality and skill sets could be useful.

With your audit complete, turn your attention to creating a priority list of the roles which have the highest impact on your business. Knowing where to expend your effort (and budget) most effectively is a key element of thinking strategically.Having completed these initial pieces of work, you should be armed with data and insight to start targeting specific job roles.

How can you make these more attractive?

Budgets are often tight and, yes, salary is important; but it is not the be-all and end-all. Perks are one cost-effective solution. Another area to look at is improving the experience for staff doing your roles. Many of the jobs which were formerly performed by EU migrants have unfavourable working conditions, such as long or unusual hours, hard manual labour, uncertainty and seasonal variation. Think creatively to address such issues.

How can you make hard-to-fill vacancies more attractive? A key factor, especially for sectors looking to replace EU labour, is to recognise where training and reskilling is required.

How can you open up your job roles to a wider domestic pool of workers? By creating career pathways for the next generation, or for more experienced workers looking to switch sectors. One element of this could be to use government schemes such as apprenticeship incentives or the Kickstart Scheme. Another idea could be to explore technological solutions like eLearning.

Local SMEs will want to pursue initiatives appropriate to their own size and budget. With the right rigour and creative touch, they can benefit from taking a strategic approach.

Professional advice is available.

“A workforce audit will help you understand your present situation”

Laura Bray HR Dept Wrexham and Chester hrdept.co.uk/wrexhamchester/contact

menopause Managing in the workplace

The Government has recently announced it is setting up a Menopause Taskforce to improve support for women going through the menopause. So what is this likely to mean for women in the workplace and for their employers?

FOR DECADES WOMEN HAVE BEEN struggling to cope with severe symptoms of the menopause while holding down a job and juggling busy family lives.

According to the “Government Report on the Menopause” launched earlier this year, menopausal women are the fastest growing workforce in the UK.

Almost 80% of menopausal women are in work, with most hoping to work for many more years, but three quarters have reported that they are considering reducing their hours, and one in four are giving up their jobs because they are finding it too difficult to balance work with their symptoms.

Calling for action

Carolyn Harris MP, who has raised the Menopause (Support & Services) Bill in Parliament, is calling for more action to be taken by employers to support women going through this transition in their lives.

In a House of Commons debate led by the MP, she urged employers: “Don’t have a policy that is left in a filing cabinet that reflects a tick box. Have a policy that reflects your workforce and what women need and is intended to help them.”

For many women experiencing extreme symptoms at this time of their lives, the

By GAYLE WHITTAKER

workplace becomes a frightening environment where they feel they have to hide the changes they are going through and the impact those changes are having on their physical and mental health.

Symptoms of the menopause vary from woman to woman. Some will breeze through with little or no symptoms, while others will be affected so severely they end up experiencing relationship breakdowns or leaving their jobs as a result.

There is no way of telling how a woman will be affected by the menopause until symptoms begin. However, there are many ways that women can manage their symptoms with the right support around them.

Employers are in a prime position to notice when a female colleague may be struggling. The peri-menopause – the period of time in a woman’s life prior to the actual menopause – can occur from the early 40s onwards.

Possible impact

During this phase symptoms can include memory loss or brain fog, hot flushes, irritability, anxiety, tiredness, unexplained aches and pains, and loss of libido among others. Often at this time women have no idea these symptoms are linked to the menopause, because they may still be having regular periods and consider themselves too young to be menopausal. It is extremely common for women in their early-to-mid 40s to start to feel one or two of these symptoms and wonder what is happening to them. Furthermore, in the experience I have seen with my clients in the treatment room, GPs will often prescribe anti-anxiety medication or anti-depressants at this stage, instead of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) or alternative treatments to help manage symptoms, often making the situation worse.

By talking openly to female staff in the workplace, employers can begin a conversation that could lead to the employee realising the changes she’s feeling may be due to the perimenopause.

Providing the right environment Making workplaces a safe space for women to talk and providing more flexible conditions to help them work around their symptoms are two of the easiest and most effective steps a business can take to support their employees.

In addition, being able to signpost them to professionals who can give them support with their symptoms will really help to make female employees feel supported and valued in the workplace.

As well as conventional medicine such as HRT, complementary therapies can

play a key part in the management of symptoms during the peri-menopause and menopause by helping the body to rebalance itself and by reducing stress and anxiety.

So why not consider having a list of reputable local complementary therapists who are registered with a trade association and specialise in women’s health, available as a source of information for employees? You could also consider holding a health day in the workplace where therapists could be invited in to talk to employees about the support they can offer.

Gayle Whittaker Reflexologist Universal

Therapist 07766 701479

theuniversaltherapist.co.uk

Handy tips for talking with colleagues about mental

health

Choose a setting

• Choose a venue where you can talk without being disturbed

• Turn your phone off or set it to silent mode

• Give yourself plenty of time so you don’t appear to be in a hurry

Talking and listening

• Keep the chat positive and supportive, asking open questions. Explore the issues and how you may be able to help

• Keep your body language open and non-confrontational

• Be empathetic and take them seriously

• Do not offer glib advice such as “pull yourself together” or “cheer up”

• Give the person your full focus and listen non-judgementally, without interrupting

Support and follow-up

• Give reassurance that there are lots of sources of support available

• Keep the conversation going – follow up and ask them how they are doing

• Reassure them that your door is always open, and really mean it

• Keep in touch with employees who are off sick

• Encourage the person to visit their GP.

Thanks to Umbrella Health and Safety for allowing us to reproduce these tips. For more information visit www.uhas.co.uk

Venue finding

Chester and Wrexham offer a huge selection of meeting rooms, venue hire and conference facilities. Over the coming issues we will feature a selection of venues and their key features throughout the two areas. However, for our first issue we are focusing on a few of the hotels that offer business and conference facilities midway between the two locations.

Rossett Hall Hotel, Rossett

www.everbrightgrouphotels.com

Rossett Hall is a traditional period property set in its own grounds and gardens. It benefits from a large car park and is within easy travelling distance of Chester, Wrexham and North Wales. It offers two meeting rooms and two syndicate rooms, the largest of which can accommodate 150 delegates. The self-contained conference suite has direct vehicle access and areas for syndicate work. All meeting rooms have natural daylight and are situated on the ground floor. The grounds are available for team building exercises.

Holt Lodge, Wrexham

www.holtlodge.co.uk

Located between Shrewsbury, Chester and Stoke-On-Trent, Holt Lodge is an ideal location for business guests in the North West as well as for off-site business meetings and conferences away from the busy cities. The hotel offers a choice of event spaces for different size groups up to 110 delegates. The suites include Meadow Suite, Orchard Suite and the Garden Suite, which can take up to 110 guests in theatre style, 48 boardroom, 36 u-shape and 63 cabaret-style. It even has its own private bar.

Grosvenor Hotel, Pulford

www.grosvenorpulfordhotel.co.uk

Featuring stunning, contemporary decor and surrounded by beautifully landscaped grounds, the Grosvenor Pulford Hotel & Spa is situated minutes from the historic city of Chester and on the border with stunning North Wales. The hotel can tailor corporate packages for a range of business purposes and delegates numbers from 2 to 220 guests in the Belgravia, Westminster or Grosvenor Suite. The hotel offers ample free parking onsite and complimentary WiFi access throughout the hotel.

Carden Park

www.cardenpark.co.uk

Carden Park’s 1,000-acre estate in the heart of the Cheshire countryside contains everything you need to motivate and inspire your team. With 18 meeting and event spaces, which hold from 2 to 400 delegates. Whether it’s your annual company conference or a fun team building day complete with a themed afterparty, the hotel can tailor its meeting rooms and packages to fit with your bespoke requirements. The hotel has dedicated co-ordinators on hand to ensure you find the right space for your meeting, conference or event.

Do you have a venue you would like to see featured?

If you have used a hotel or other venue for a business meeting, conference, seminar, training or team building event and you think it should be featured in a future issue, please contact us with your suggestions.

13 JANUARY

What’s on

A round-up of some of the business event happening in and around Chester and Wrexham in January to March 2022

GrowthCLUB - Business Planning Day for Small to Medium Sized Businesses

Live business event, Chester venueinitial session is complimentary. Call Jane on 01244 515533 janemclean@actioncoach.com

21 JANUARY

Chester Business Club Lunch with Guest Speaker: Darren Edwards (Disabled Adventurer, Motivational Speaker and Resilience Coach). chesterbusinessclub.co.uk

23-25 JANUARY

9am - 5pm Wales Spring Fair

The Wales Spring Fair is Wales' premier home and gift trade show, held at Venue Cymru, Llandudno. It is a regional show covering all of the North Wales and North West area, providing a great base from which to enter the Welsh giftware market. walesspringfair.co.uk

1 FEBRUARY

12:30pm - 2:30pm

WCNW Chamber of Commerce

Chinese New Year - Year of the Tigernetworking Lunch event. The Slowboat, 57 Frodsham Street, Chester CH1 3JJ wcnwchamber.org.uk

If you have an event taking place between April and June 2022, please let us know, so we can include it in our next issue. email vicky@essentialsmag.co.uk

9 FEBRUARY

9am -11am

WCNW Chamber of Commerce Round Table Networking - attendees will have the opportunity to connect with local business professionals and promote their business, all whilst in a friendly and relaxed environment. Delyn Safety UK Ltd, St David's House 6 Queens Lane, Mold, CH7 1JR wcnwchamber.org.uk

10 FEBRUARY

GrowthCLUB - Business Planning Day for Small to Medium Sized Businesses Live business event, Chester venueinitial session is complimentary.

Call Jane on 01244 515533 janemclean@actioncoach.com

16 FEBRUARY

WCNW Chamber of Commerce Round the screen networking –non-members special event (online) wcnwchamber.org.uk

4 MARCH

Chester Business Club

Sportman’s Lunch with Guest of Honour: Frank Bruno chesterbusinessclub.co.uk

8 MARCH

11am - 3pm

KTS Women in Business International Women's Day 2022

KTS unite their Women in Business networks to support Women in Business in the Cheshire and surrounding region. Statham Lodge Hotel, Warrington Road, Lymm, Warrington WA13 9BP tricia.cheshirebe@gmail.com

10 MARCH

9am - 11am

WCNW Chamber of Commerce

A fantastic opportunity to meet new and existing contacts securing strong business relations and friendships and promote their business.

Mercure Chester Abbots Well Hotel Whitchurch Road, Christleton Chester CH3 5QL wcnwchamber.org.uk

17 – 18 MARCH

Cheshire Fashion Week

The Cheshire Fashion Week offers a stellar line-up of runway shows and presentations featuring new season collections from designers. Tickets go on sale 1 March 2022 cheshirefashionweek.com

22 MARCH 10am -3pm

Liverpool Business Fair

A business-to-business exhibition showcasing around 60-70 exhibitors from the region is the main feature of the Fair.

Liverpool Football Club, Anfield Road, Liverpool L4 0TH liverpoolbizfair.co.uk

25 MARCH

Chester Business Club Lunch with Guest Speaker: Capt Hugh Daglish LVO DL RN (Last Commander, HMY Britannia) chesterbusinessclub.co.uk

While every effort has been made to ensure all the details are correct at the time of going to print, it is advisable to check details with the venue concerned

Networking

There is a whole host of networking opportunities across Chester and Wrexham - from groups that you have to join and attend a structured weekly meeting, through to one-off events that you can ‘pay as you go’. Most membership groups offer you the chance to attend as a guest – often for the first one or two sessions – to allow you the time to work out if it is a group that suits you. If you are new to networking, try a few and see if you can find a group that works for you and your business. If you have an event you would like listed in a future issue, please get in touch.

Networx 4 Business

networx4business.co.uk

Networx offers membership networking with a membership cost of £600 for 12 months, per venue and includes breakfast. Sessions take place fortnightly at each venue. With just one business type per group, you will have the opportunity to talk about your business and what you are looking for. If you are interested, the first visit is free and then you can visit a couple more times – paying just £10 to cover your breakfast – before you need to make a decision about joining.

Chester sessions

• MONDAY 9.00-11.00am

Bollicini, 2 Abbey Green, Rufus Court, Chester, CH1 2JH

• TUESDAY 6.00-8.00pm

Mollington Banastre Hotel & Spa, 1 Parkgate Road, Chester, CH1 6NN

• THURSDAY 9.00-11.00am

Mollington Banastre Hotel & Spa, 1 Parkgate Road, Chester, CH1 6NN

Wrexham sessions

• TUESDAY 9.00-11.00am

Wrexham Golf Club, Holt Road, Wrexham, LL13 9SB

FSB

fsb.org.uk

FSB membership means inclusive support, market-leading benefits and a voice heard in governments at all levels. If you are self-employed or own a small business, membership is built from the ground up, to help you achieve your ambitions. Together, we are stronger.

Join virtual events, including networking and business surgeries at: fsb.org.uk/event-calendar.html

BNI

bninorthwales.co.uk bnicheshire.co.uk

BNI members are business professionals who help each other grow their businesses through their commitment to the principal core value, Givers Gain®. Each week, in thousands of communities across the globe, members meet with other trusted business leaders to build and nurture lasting relationships and pass qualified business referrals. Membership in BNI offers access to business training, peer learning and opportunities to network and do business with hundreds of thousands of BNI members around the world.

Membership fee is £615 plus £200 one-off joining fee.

North Wales chapters:

• Spectrum - WEDNESDAY 9.30am

The Mountain Park Hotel, Northop Road, Flint CH6 5QG

• Rossett - WEDNESDAY 6.45am

Online only

• Wrexham - THURSDAY 6.45am

Online: 3 weeks of the month

Last Thursday of the month meet at:

The Beeches, Chester Road, Gresford, Wrexham LL12 8PW

• Flint - FRIDAY 6.45am

The Mountain Park Hotel, Northop Road, Flint CH6 5QG

Chester chapters

• Grosvenor - TUESDAY, 6:45am

Mollington Banastre, 1 Parkgate Road, Mollington, Chester, CH16NG

• Roman - WEDNESDAY, 12:00pm

2nd Floor Leverhulme Stand, Chester Racecourse, Chester, CH1 2LY

• Chester - THURSDAY 6.45am

Cheshire View, Plough Lane, Christleton, Chester, CH3 7PT

West Cheshire and North Wales Chamber of Commerce wcnwchamber.org.uk

West Cheshire and North Wales

Chamber of Commerce is the leading organisation representing the business community across the whole of West Cheshire and North Wales. As an independent, not-for-profit organisation, its objectives remain clear: to promote and encourage business for members and others regionally, nationally and internationally to improve commercial growth and prosperity.

Serving the business community in these diverse regions for over 100 years, the Chamber aims to support every type of business - from sole traders to large corporations. It tailors its' service to suit its' members, developing an enviable portfolio of member benefits, business advice, export knowledge, events and training opportunities to help make your business a success.

Institute of Directors (IOD) iod.com

The Institute of Directors was founded in 1903 and within three years were awarded a Royal Charter to support, represent and set standards for business leaders nationwide. It is the UK's largest membership organisation for business leaders, providing informative events, professional development courses for self-improvement, networking and expert advice. IOD is the only institute in the world to offer internationally recognised qualifications designed by directors for directors, specific to the core competencies required of directors and senior leaders.

JayKay Events

jaykayevents.co.uk

JayKay is an independent local Chester company dealing will all types of events including business breakfasts, workshops, seminars, teambuilding days, product launch events, charity black tie dinners, fundraising events, ladies-only events, celebratory events and many more.

Chester Business Club chesterbusinessclub.co.uk

One of the principal activities of Chester Business Club is the Speaker Dinner. The aim of these Black Tie events is to provide an impartial forum for leading commentators – from Business, Politics, Media, The Arts and Public Life - to speak on a topic of their own choosing as a positive contribution to increasing public awareness of the important issues of the day.

The Business Network Chester is a diverse membership group of around 100 companies sharing a wealth of knowledge and expertise to help grow each other’s businesses. The ethos behind the group is "know, like, trust"a belief in building long-lasting relationships with other senior decision makers. Meeting at lunch times, in prestigious venues around Chester, it provides a highly structured event, which enables attendees to meet senior decision makers in a relaxed and enjoyable environment. Attendees may also attend a free, highly educational seminar, which runs prior to the event.

Real5 Networking - Chester real5networking.com

Real5 Networking is a business venture focused on local business networking for mutual commercial gains. The idea is that all members agree to give a minimum 5% profit share back to the referee, so there is a real incentive to maximise the network.

Netwalk Delamere jaykayevents.co.uk

A healthy, open networking group, based around a low impact walk in Delamare Forest. During the walk everyone is given the opportunity to address the group to explain what their business does and how they can help others. There is also ample opportunity to talk one-to-one as you walk. The cost of attending is £15 and includes hot drink, artisan picnic lunch and guest speaker.

The Business Network Chester businessnetworkchester.co.uk

Join the club the benefits of taking up business membership

ANYONE WHO IS RUNNING A

business knows it’s not the most straightforward process. For many people it’s an ongoing learning curve and there’s no guidebook that will prewarn you of every challenge and test you may be faced with. But whatever business you are involved with, be it services, manufacturing or other sectors, it can be beneficial for businesspeople to be affiliated or members of industry bodies and associations, which can provide a myriad of benefits and assurances.

A credit to their business

Industry memberships can make all the difference to how your business adapts to developments and addresses advances in technology and work practices. Business memberships provide access to so much more than just a ‘badge’. Chartered bodies and other accreditation-based organisations ensure that your business is aware and up to date on industry legislature. They add a layer of qualifications and accreditations to your arsenal of strengths, from Continued Professional Development (CPD) to recognised qualifications. They can also provide access to additional things, such as HR and legal advice, or support and

research into new areas of exploration. Some even have partner offers for their members.

Recognising excellence

There are professional and trade bodies for almost every sector and their accreditations are an important way of demonstrating to clients, customers and competitors your professionalism and expertise. It’s about relationship building, of feeling and being a part of a wide organisation, but also knowledge sharing and insight into changing regulations. Also, through your association with these organisations, it may lead to more work, as you are recognised as being an expert. This might happen though your appearance in print, online or in person, in podcasts or seminars.

The accessibility and ease with which businesspeople can connect with their peers and public, though online platforms and tools, has transformed the way we do business.

Stronger together

In addition to professional bodies, there is also a multitude of business and networking organisations – defined both by region and sector – that can

be used to build relationships between businesses and people. They can provide introductions either to peers, or to potential partners and customers. It’s often the case that these connections can lead off in all kinds of interesting directions – some associated with your business, but others can be new opportunities and sectors.

Being adaptable and able to use transferable skills to move into new business areas is one of the most useful ways to expand a company’s reach. It’s finding those links that allow this to happen.

Becoming part of a professional body is a positive step for any business, but it’s up to you to make the most out of your memberships.

At the turn of a New Year, it’s a good time to be planning for the year ahead and a new chapter in your business’s story. Make sure the money is factored into your budget, to renew or join a professional body. There are many different ones out there – and you can’t join them all – so do your research and think very carefully about which ones are the best fit for you.

mean business Chester and Wrexham

Chester and Wrexham set a gold standard for business and enterprise. These two places, in two different countries, are situated on either side of the River Dee. Both boast an array of landmarks and attractions that bring visitors to the area. Set in a landscape of contrasts – the Welsh Hills, the Cheshire Plain – on either side of the border, they are united in their achievements, when it comes to business endeavour and excellence.

Chester is an English city well known around the world for its history and culture, but it offers so much more than simply tourism and leisure. Chester has long been established as a centre for business, with everything from accountancy and law, to finance and retail. It’s also a hive of creative activity, with many long-established firms and start-ups making up its business demographic.

On the outskirts of the city, there’s Chester Business Park, a 175-acre landscaped business environment in the green belt, which is ideally placed for both the city itself and the transport infrastructure. Chester lies at the end of the Cheshire Science Corridor Enterprise Zone, and the business park provides a perfect work environment for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, M&S Bank, MBNA Ltd, Tetrapak, the Regus serviced offices hub and many more companies.

The city and its businesses also have great connections to the Wirral, Merseyside, Lancashire and into North Wales and beyond. As well as the many businesses in the city, there are also the necessary education and training opportunities, for young people to gain business skills and qualifications, at the university and colleges in the region.

This combination of thriving business and attractive opportunities makes Chester a place that people not only live in, but to work in too.

Chester

In 617 AD, a battle took place between the Saxons and the Welsh forces, and Roman Deva officially became known as Chester

By the 11th century, Chester had become a powerful city and bustling port

Chester Roodee has been a racecourse since 1539

A full circuit of the Chester walls is about 3 km or 2 miles

Grosvenor Park was opened in 1867

In the final year of the 19th century, the Eastgate Clock was erected

Chester Zoo opened to the public in the 1930s

Chester University earned its university status in 2005

In 2020 Chester became the first Sustainable Palm Oil City

Across the border is the Welsh town of Wrexham. This place too is steeped in history. Echoes of its industrial past are still everywhere to be seen today, from its industrial estate, to the region’s canal infrastructure – its towpaths and aqueducts more popular with walkers and sightseers than goods freighters these days.

Wrexham Industrial Estate, formerly Wrexham Trading Estate, is 1,359-acre site, which was built on the site of a former munition’s factory. The worldrenowned site, one of the largest in Europe, is home to over 300 businesses, including household names Kellogg’s, JCB and Wockhardt. The estate’s proximity to the aerospace firm Airbus UK also means it’s a popular location for affiliated businesses in the engineering sector.

The town itself it also world-renowned, thanks in part to the recent acquisition of its football team by two Hollywood stars, but also thanks to its place in North Wales as a commercial and creative hub, that hosts everything from business seminars to annual arts and music festivals,

such as FOCUS Wales

Like Chester, its business landscape is also filled with established companies and newer start-ups – including local food producers and entrepreneurs.

Chester and Wrexham both offer a wealth of opportunities to companies of all sectors and sizes. They may be divided by nationality and a border, but together they mean business.

Wrexham

In the late 14th century Wrexham became a small town

In 1391 Wrexham was given the right to hold an annual market and fair

The parish church of St Giles was built in 1492 (and the steeple completed in 1506)

Iron Mad Wilkinson opened opened Bersham Iron Foundry in 1762

By 1841

Wrexham’s population reached 5854

Gresford Colliery opened in 1911 and closed in 1973

The first Wrexham Science Festival was held in 1998

In 2012 the Olympic torch relay visited Wrexham

Hollywood stars bought Wrexham AFC in 2021

“Chester and Wrexham both offer a wealth of opportunities. They may be divided by nationality and a border, but together they mean business”

Diversity is to be seen AND heard

By BUSHRA ALI

WHEN ASKED ABOUT DIVERSITY AT organisations, the answer almost inevitably is that they have an equality and diversity policy. When I ask what that means, the explanation I usually get is that they have a ‘no tolerance’ policy on discrimination, and it is in the manual. When I ask how they actively encourage diversity in the workplace, the question is usually met with silence, and indeed it speaks volumes.

If the penny has not dropped yet, please allow me to recall a recent experience. I was recently interviewed for a position. The interview was conducted by two lovely gentlemen, named Mark and Mark, who asked me “Each time we recruit we never get applications from diverse sectors, what can we do differently?”

I asked whether the firm currently employed individuals from ethnic minority or diverse backgrounds. The question was met with a “No, we are not getting applications from those individuals so how can we employ them?”

I asked what was being done to demonstrate that individuals from diverse backgrounds are welcome. This question was met with the expected answer that “Our adverts state we have an equality and diversity policy and that applicants from all diverse backgrounds are welcome.”

I then asked, “What is done to show they are welcome?” but the question was not understood.

Recently I was interviewed as a finalist for a woman’s award by two females and a male, all white. When I was answering a question regarding hurdles I had overcome in my journey, I was explaining how as a single young Muslim female, I had my parents go ask their elders for permission to send me to study outside the local area. None of the Judges even flinched. I doubted they understood what I was actually relaying. None of them on the panel could relate to what I had experienced, despite how courteous they were towards me. Feeling understood was more important to me than the award.

It is indeed a sad state of affairs that organisations think they tick the ‘diverse’ box by having a mixture of men and women at the organisation. There are just as many organisations that believe they are a diverse company by having an equality and diversity policy. Unless these organisations shift in their way of thinking they will never see positive change.

Companies that are not receiving applications from diverse backgrounds need to ask themselves the question, why?

• Do you allow staff the option to take their lunch at a different time so they can go to the mosque for Friday prayers?

• As well as doing the ‘Christmas meal’ do you allow individuals to take a day of leave for their religious celebrations?

• Do you actively promote team building days that do not involve drinking yourself to the ground?

• Do you allow flexi-working for staff with caring responsibilities?

• What adjustments have you made or are you willing to make for staff that recognise themselves as having a disability?

• Do you give anything other than alcohol to reward someone for their hard work?

• Do you have a wellbeing officer?

• How diverse is your interviewing panel?

• If I was applying for a role at your firm, would I feel welcome if I was wearing a head scarf for religious reasons?

• Have you thought about bringing on someone external to your firm to join the interviewing panel to ensure it is diverse?

• When was the last time you reached out to equality and diversity teams at your local universities?

You need to be seen taking action

It is unacceptable to me when organisations complain they do not receive applications from diverse backgrounds when they have not

analysed their own actions and how those are perceived.

What can you do to make a difference?

As a company there is plenty you can do that will not cost more than a few pounds and a bit of time, but I assure you it is time spent well. Have a team meeting and openly encourage the conversation on the make-up of the team, the application process, interview process and what more can be done to actively promote and encourage diversity in the workplace.

• Consider equality and diversity training for you and your team

• Take on a student for work experience from the not so usual background

• Meet up with your local university and learn how they are supporting students from diverse backgrounds into employment

• Appoint a wellbeing and diversity officer at your workplace

• Increase your active engagement with individuals from all backgrounds and walks of life

• Offer your time to mentor an individual who is perhaps not from the top university or belonging to a particular social class

• Offer a job to someone not because they have a 1st class degree, but for the passion and enthusiasm they show for the role

• Review your core values as a company

• Choose to support a charity.

Let me end with this. An aunty once shouted at me for laughing really loudly and told me girls are to be seen and not heard. I challenge you, diversity is to be seen AND heard.

Bushra Ali

Bushra Ali Solicitors

“Openly encourage the conversation on the make-up of the team, the application process, interview process and what more can be done to actively promote and encourage diversity in the workplace”

Label it safe

A product’s labelling is so much more than an opportunity to identify ‘what’s inside’ and promote the company producing it. It is also a clear and simple way of sharing health and safety information with the customer from ingredients, allergens and best before dates for food products, through to product safety marks for other consumables.

Allergen labelling changes for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS)

From the start of October 2021, the requirements for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food labelling changed in Wales, England, and Northern Ireland. Also known as Natasha's Law, this labelling change helps to protect consumers by providing potentially life-saving allergen information on the packaging.

Any food business that produces PPDS food is required to label it with the name of the food and a full ingredients list. Allergenic ingredients must be emphasised within this list. This can include food that consumers select themselves, for example from a display unit, as well as products kept behind a counter, or some food sold at mobile or temporary outlets.

Examples of food considered PPDS

Foods that may be provided by a baker or related food business include:

• Sandwiches, cakes, bread, and pasties that are packaged on the premises prior to the consumer ordering or selecting them

• Multi-packs of cakes, sausage rolls, baps, cobs or rolls packaged on the premises prior to the consumer ordering or selecting them

For further information on this visit: www.food.gov.uk

Businesses given more time to apply new product safety marking

The new UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking replaces the product safety labelling the UK previously used while a member of the EU, such as the CE mark. Originally due to come into force from 1 January 2022, the Government announced recently that due to the impact of the pandemic on businesses, the introduction would be delayed by 12 months until 1 January 2023. This means that businesses have an additional year to apply for new product safety markings for most products placed on the market in England, Scotland and Wales. Businesses will need to apply UKCA marks for certain products to demonstrate compliance with product safety regulations. CE marking can still be used until then.

Selling goods in Great Britain

The UKCA marking applies to most goods previously subject to the CE marking. It also applies to aerosol products that previously required the ‘reverse epsilon’ marking.

The technical requirements (‘essential requirements’) you must meet – and the conformity assessment processes and standards that can be used to demonstrate conformity – are largely the same as they were for the CE marking.

The following web page has been created to help businesses to find out if they need to use the UKCA marking and how to use it:

www.gov.uk/guidance/using-theukca-marking

“Also known as Natasha's Law, this labelling change helps to protect consumers”

Personally Speaking

Who doesn’t love a personality test? I for one have always found them fascinating, from the quiz in the magazine – are you mostly As, Bs or Cs? – through to the profiling that has been carried out at different points in my professional life.

By CLARA HUGHES

I REMEMBER WHEN I UNDERTOOK some leadership training about 18 years ago, the coach had identified where my personality profile would fall even before I did the test – and certainly before I recognised these characteristics in myself.

But what are they and how are they used in a business environment? Can a person’s personality truly be identified and categorised into such distinct ‘types’, when everyone is an individual, and what benefits do they bring?

What are personality tests and what are they used for?

There are as many different types of personality tests out there – usually referred to as psychometric tests in the business environment – as there are different types of people. However, if the right test is selected, it can provide a standardised method for assessing individuals or teams.

In business, psychometric tests are often used as an aid to employee selection and development, as they can add some objective measure of performance.

However, a test is only as good as the person reviewing the results and it is important that tests should not be the sole form of judging a person’s

suitability for a role or team. They should only ever be used as one of a selection of assessment methods, such as a formal or informal interview.

Benefits to business

Although psychometric tests in the business environment are often associated with recruitment, there are many other ways these tests can be deployed to benefit the company.

• Recruitment and selection: Possibly the most recognised use of this type of testing. Used alongside other assessment methods, psychometric testing is often used as part of the recruitment and selection process, to explore the match between candidate and role. While it can never replace the interview, it does help to develop a clearer picture of the individual in a short time.

• Coaching and career guidance: Many coaches use psychometric instruments to help individuals in their personal development. It helps by enabling them to understand their own strengths and development areas, which in turn helps to facilitate personal learning and growth. Some psychometric tests explore areas such as interests and values inventories, and these can be used to help an individual consider their preferences for future career decisions.

• Team development: Using psychometric testing in team development is where it can really come into its own. It can be used to identify the main characteristics of each team member, which will not only help them with their own personal development and selfawareness, but will enable a greater level of understanding of what makes each team member ‘tick’ to be established, which will then help the team communicate and work together better.

• Succession planning: Identifying future leaders can be difficult and it is not always the ones that project the most confidence and assurance that are the right fit for the role. Data from tests can be used as part of the assessment and development of future talent and leaders.

Benefits to you

There are lots of websites offering free personality tests and they are great, but only up to a point. However, the real benefits of undertaking these tests are the insights you can go on to explore with a trained coach, who understands what it all means. Over the years, I have found it beneficial to my personal development. It has provided me with a greater insight into my own personality, which has led to greater self-awareness and self-confidence, and it also helped arm me with the tools to understand my colleagues’ drivers too.

Just for fun

If you fancy finding out a bit more about yourself or your team, why not try some of these online tests in the first instance?

You might then decide you want to delve a bit deeper and work with a coach or a trainer, to investigate things further:

www.16personalities.com

www.personalityperfect.com/test

www.my-personality-test.com/big-5

“However, a test is only as good as the person reviewing the results”

Self-build Bacon brings home self-build recommendations

By NATHAN BOOTH

A RECENT REPORT BY MP RICHARD

Bacon may make all the difference in getting a clear voice on the subject of self-build heard in the halls of Westminster. With the ongoing housing crisis in the UK and the simple fact that not enough houses are being built to meet demand, the Bacon Review hopes to galvanise opinion and move the selfbuild sector into increased activity. This could deliver between 30,000 and 40,000 self-build homes annually.

Creative overdrive

Mr Bacon is keen to raise the profile of custom and self-building, focusing on efficiency and attractiveness. Earlier this year, the prime minister asked him to undertake a review of the current state of play of self-build, and to make a series of recommendations on his findings. The 114-page review has now been completed and published, and it makes encouraging reading both for anyone looking at embarking on a selfbuild project and self-build specialists. It addresses a wide range of subjects and looks at how self-build can be promoted as a viable option for anyone to undertake.

The report, called House: How Putting Customers in Charge Can Change Everything, notes that ‘Instead of beauty and a natural order, we see a sterile sameness almost everywhere we look…We are failing to create the listed buildings of tomorrow.’

While houses are being built by developers to meet the current huge demand, it is at the cost of the distinctiveness that a self-build scheme brings to the appearance of a completely new construction project. The review lays out six main recommendations for growing and strengthening the self-build sector, which would make it much simpler and more straightforward for people to build their own homes, in their own style, in their own way.

Recommendations for self-building

In his review, Bacon makes six key recommendations, which map out a clear way forward for the sector.

1. Greater role for Homes England

The report recommends a new ‘Custom and Self-Build Housing Delivery Unit’ to be formed within Homes England, to enable the creation of serviced building plots on small and large sites. It will also support the delivery of custom and self-build housing at greater volume across the country.

2. Raise awareness of the right to build

The Government, working through Homes England and in partnership with the custom and self-build industry, should create a custom and self-build housing ‘Show Park’.

It should also strengthen existing legislation, to ensure the wider publicity of ‘Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Registers’, and the sharing of key data between landowners and people on these registers.

“We are failing to create the listed buildings of tomorrow”

3. Support community-led housing, diversity of supply and levelling up

The successful Community Housing Fund should be reactivated. This will create accessible opportunities for communities to help themselves, by introducing a Self-Help Housing Programme and introduce a ‘Plot to Rent’ scheme.

4. Promote greener homes and more use of advanced manufacturing

The trailblazing role of custom and self-builders should be recognised for its use of advanced manufacturing and its ongoing investment in greener homes, to accelerate the delivery of the government’s ‘Modern Methods of Construction’ and ‘Net Zero Housing’ ambitions.

5. Support self-build housebuilding through the planning reforms

Any future planning reforms should ensure that they maximise opportunities for access to permissioned land, including making focused changes to the ‘Right to Build’ legislation, so it achieves its objectives.

6. Iron out any tax creases for building houses

The government should investigate any possible tax disadvantages between selfbuilding and other forms of house construction and identify specific actions to eradicate them.

Here at CB Homes, we welcome these recommendations and are pleased that finally a spotlight is being shone on a sector of the construction industry that is often neglected. We hope that the government can now implement these recommendations in a way that works for everyone, so they can make a real and lasting difference to the custom and self-build sector.

This will deliver both confidence in the industry and more diverse houses for people to live in.

Nathan Booth

Land, Legal and Finance, CB Homes

cbhomes.co.uk

01829 730244

North Wales draws in North American

entrepreneur

If you are reading this article with the hope that Dawn Roberts-McCabe is the nom de plumb for one of the famous North American, dynamic duos who is pouring millions into the Wrexham football club, sorry to disappoint.

By DAWN ROBERTS-McCABE

I’M FROM CALIFORNIA, NOT CANADA (or Philly) and my interest in North Wales dates back a little longer and is rooted in personal experience. I spent six wonderful years heading up a children’s charity and forming, what I now realise were unbreakable bonds in the local community. In 2013, I returned to the U.S. Diplomatic corps as an immigration expert and started travelling the world again, but I left a big piece of my heart in North Wales.

In 2019, I returned to the UK with my sons, looking to set down more stable roots for them as my eldest son was due to start secondary school and didn’t want the transient lifestyle of the diplomatic corps. I too was ready to settle down again and quickly found a job as an area manager for a major international charity. Then COVID struck and my job offer was rescinded. Instead of meeting my regional team, I found myself at the JobCentre meeting my work coach! I had never signed on for support in my life, so at 40-something, it was a huge blow.

A turning point

While trying to figure out what to do next, a friend asked me for some advice on their spouse’s US Immigration case. I was able to assist them quickly and efficiently and at the end, my friend sent me wine and told me I should really be charging people for my services. That was the moment I knew I wanted to start my own consulting business, not just for the money but to take back some of the pride I’d lost along the way.

Here is where my connection to North Wales kicked in. I reached out to a friend and business owner to be my mentor. OK, it wasn’t really that official but that’s how it has evolved! I’d witnessed her striking out on her own in a small, shared office in Wrexham and grow her own business over the years. I know it can be a challenging road, so it was nice to have someone forging the path successfully ahead of me. My friend has been a great sounding board and helped me shape my business plan.

Developing an identity

A business needs an identity and mine was given life by Gresford-based designer Steve Kettell. He managed to take the sunrise I’ve been signing after my name since the first grade and make it into a regal logo. One fit for a consulting company.

Logo at the ready, next stop, breaking the internet with a smashing website designed down the road in Wrexham. I had worked with John Ulotti, UQ Web Design years ago on the charity website and was thrilled to hear he was still at it and better than ever. He deftly translated my very un-tech ramblings about a friendly, warm, yet professional website and made it happen.

There would be no Bespoke Immigration Consulting without UQ!

Overcoming the challenges

Rounding out my North Wales dream-team, is Libby Pritchard from Hall Livesey Brown, Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors

Her business advice has been invaluable. I appreciate the way she explains options to me and gives me the confidence to make my own decisions. It is always daunting to take on a new challenge and it is easy to second guess decisions but with an expert like Libby in my corner, I know my business will come out a winner.

Beginning trading in the middle of a pandemic was always going to be a challenge. I am very proud to say I’ve attracted clients from all over the world to my business. In the past year I’ve successfully reunited loved ones from Iraq to Australia with their loved ones in the United States. All with the help of my North Wales business associates!

Dawn Roberts-McCabe Bespoke Immigration Consulting bespoke-immigration.com

“A friend asked me for some advice on their spouse’s US Immigration case”

inspired What you in 2021?

What a difficult year or so we have all endured. It’s been a true test of our mental, emotional and physical resilience. With so much negativity and doomsaying across all communication channels, just how do you ‘reposition, refocus and move forward’, and chart your own path to a future you want? We thought we would ask a few business leaders for their inspirations from this year. And we thought we would share ours with you too. Maybe you will find something that resonates with you.

Ian Traynor

Managing Director at Luminate Ventures Ltd

Executive mentor, business consultant, NED and board advisor, helping with business transformation.

The inspiring individual that I became reacquainted with this year is Clive Humby OBE, DunnHumby. DunnHumby was the pioneer behind Tesco Club card – a revolutionary customer loyalty data analytics service supporting Tesco’s stellar growth. In 2010 Clive Humby stated at a Data and Analytics convention that data was the new gold. It drove market development and a new industry in data and analytics companies, offering everything from customer data and credit data to house price data analytics.

Fast-forward to 2021 – I met Clive Humby OBE at a Customer Management convention, presenting the next level. Data is indeed gold, but to become of real value and use, it needs to deliver ‘insight’ – unlocking all of that data and turning it into meaningful modules, action and decision points. The three key elements he shared have become my inspiration:

1. Ask ‘Why’ three times – this will help you understand the data more and enable you to develop your promotions and messaging

2. A mass of data can tie you up in knots – so ask “what do I need to know to progress my sales/revenue/communications?” – then look at the outputs of the data within your business. Review and make decisions on that level of information, without becoming overloaded

3. Set realistic goals and targets based on the data/information you have – add to this some realistic market knowledge or data.

Remember, unless you harness the ‘insight’ from the ‘new gold’, then it just becomes fool’s gold.

Bob Bond

CEO at Pathway Software

WriteUpp, from Pathway Software Limited, has helped over 13,000 clinicians handle over 4 million appointments. It’s securely recorded over 2 million clinical notes and raised invoices totalling more than £70 million.

Podcast/Book/Person: Podcast

Name or title: The Masters of SaaS - created by Todd Chambers, founder of UpRaw Media in Amsterdam

How you found out about it: We’re a client of UpRaw

Brief summary of what it was about: It's a ‘tour de force’ of content marketing. A series of fascinating, honest, funny interviews with CEOs and founders of some of the top SaaS (Software as a service) businesses in the world. They cover everything from positioning to customer service, outbound sales and much much more. I became a real fan listening to them every time I jumped in the car

How did it impact you? It became my ‘go to’ resource for anything to do with the business of running a SaaS company. As the CEO of a SaaS business (WriteUpp) I’m always looking for ways to accelerate growth, build a better business, and reach a larger market.

In many cases the Master of SaaS podcast provided the inspiration. It didn’t always provide the full answer (obviously), but it triggered thoughts and made us re-think how we run, market and manage our business.

Elaine Thomas

Director and Co-owner at Living Floors Ltd

Luxury flooring used by renowned interior designers and award-winning architects from around the world

Podcast/Book/Person: Podcast

Name or title: High Performance with Jake Humphreys and Damian Lewis

How you found out about it: Through another podcast 'Conversations of Inspiration' with Holly Tucker

Brief summary of what it was about: The podcast features high achieving guests from all areas such as sport, business, media. The key to each episode is 'what is high performance?'; this means different things to different people

How did it impact you? Listening has really opened my mind to what can be achieved, using the tough times to learn from and move on. I love the fact that you may take a brilliant tip from an athlete and translate it to your business. I look forward to a Monday listen and would highly recommend it!

Vicky Heathfield

Creative Director at EZ Publishing

Producing VOX, your quarterly business magazine connecting Chester and Wrexham

Podcast/Book/Person: Podcast (also a book)

Name or title: Remarkable People by Dan Walker

How you found out about it: Audible search

Brief summary of what it was about: ‘Remarkable People’ recounts inspiring stories of the people Dan Walker has met throughout his journalistic career, shining a light onto stories of selflessness and compassion that seldom make the headlines.

How did it impact you? This book made me laugh and cry in equal measures! But, more importantly, I was inspired by the absolute heroes in this book and their heartbreaking stories (but always with a positive message). This book was just what I needed this year to remind me that there are remarkable people out there that make this world an amazing place!

Clara Hughes

Editorial Director at EZ Publishing

Producing VOX, your quarterly business magazine connecting Chester and Wrexham

Podcast/Book/Person: Book

Name or title: Sorry I’m late, I didn’t want to come – an introvert’s year of living dangerously by Jessica Pan

How you found out about it: My husband bought it me

Brief summary of what it was about: Jessica Pan, the author, is a self-confessed introvert who asks the question, “What would happen if a shy introvert lived like a gregarious extrovert for one year?” The book follows her over the 12 months.

How did it impact you? I find how people interact and behave with each other fascinating. I recognise that my personality type is naturally inverted but due to the nature of my work, I often find myself in situations where I need to be more extravert. I identify with many of her observations, although, I can fairly confidently say, you will never see me doing stand-up or improv!

Richard Knew Director, Knew Productions National award-winning video production for business

Podcast/Book/Person: Person

Name or title: Jeff Hardman of Broxton based Barnhill Consulting

How you found out about it: Jeff and I have got to know each other over several years through local networking events and attendance at Jeff’s leadership coaching workshops.

Brief summary of what it was about: I approached Jeff to help me with some specific manufacturing-sector sales coaching, particularly around tracking and conversion of annual projections.

How did it impact you? The results have already been impressive. Next year we will be working with two new multinational manufacturing companies and have 2022 mapped out with likely orders throughout the year too.

Charity round-up

Our charity pages are an opportunity to highlight the good work local charities are undertaking, promote fundraising success and future events.

Chester Business Club presents cheques to charities

Following its successful Charity Ball in October 2021, Chester Business Club has presented cheques to the two principal charitable beneficiaries. Representatives from the Hospice of the Good Shepherd and the Brainwave Children’s Charity each received £8000 at a presentation ceremony held at Rowton Hall Hotel.

The Ball was held at the Pavilion, Chester Racecourse, and the event attracted a sell-out attendance of over 300 guests. CBC Ball chairman Abi Smith: “It was great, following the Covid lockdown, to welcome an enthusiastic crowd of partygoers for an evening of fun and entertainment, and especially in support of two such worthy charities. The Club is indebted to our headline sponsors RB Surveyor Services for their generous financial support.”

Other sponsors included Connectus Business Solutions, Storrar Cowdry Solicitors, Living Floors Ltd, Excello Law, EMS Event Co, Matthews of Chester, Eclipse Marketing, Wildo Print Co and White Fox Wines.

Boodles kindly sponsored the Drinks Reception, and Clogau Gold donated a splendid pendant for the Prize Draw.

Save the date: Farndon Soapbox Derby – 18 September 2022

The Farndon Soapbox Derby is the first event of its kind to be held in the village and is being organised by a dedicated group of local residents and business owners who are on a mission to bring fun and celebration to the community, whilst raising some much-needed funds for the Hospice of the Good Shepherd. As well as raising money for this local charity, 10% of what is raised will be pumped back into the area to support worthy local initiatives. Applications to enter a Kart team of four people to race through the streets of Farndon are open now. The event can accommodate up to 35 teams and 10 teams are already signed up. Karts can be themed, designed and decorated, and there will be a special prize for the team that raises the most money in sponsorship!

Local businesses are being encouraged to get involved and support the event too especially as it is expected to generate huge media publicity. Also, with up to 5,000 people expected to attend the event, it is a golden opportunity to really be seen. Generous sponsorship and advertising packages are available. To find out more or enter a team, visit www.farndonsoapboxderby.co.uk

Recent funding enables local library to go green

Gresford and District Community Library has successfully secured almost £25,000 funding to enable it to commence its ‘Library Carbon-Reduction Project’. £10,000 has been received from National Lottery, while a further £24,740 has been gifted from Welsh Government’s Community Facilities Programme. This money will enable the library to carry out a lot of work around insulation and replacing its ancient, gasguzzling boiler. The end result should be a greener library, which will also have a positive impact on the day-to-day running costs, reducing its energy bills.

Gresford and District Community Library (GDCL) is a community facility which serves the villages of Gresford, Marford and Rossett, and the surrounding areas. It has achieved charitable status and is a volunteer-run community library with important links to Wrexham's overall library service.

To visit the website or Facebook, search for Gresford and District Community Library

Charity celebrates significant milestone

Home-Start Wrexham celebrated its 30th Birthday with a sponsored walk and raised over £2k, with the final total still to be confirmed.

Home-Start is a family support charity rooted in the Wrexham community. Volunteers are trained and supported to offer families the help they need to provide their children with the very best start in life. In Wrexham services offered include weekly one-to-one family support, parenting programmes and courses, tenancy support, preschool family group and an annual family camping trip.

Pam Hoyle, Director explained: “Unfortunately getting people together to have a big party wasn’t the responsible option this year. Instead, we opted to have an outdoor walk. One of those volunteers on the sponsored walk was Ann, she has been a volunteer for 30 years in January.

“A huge thank you to all of our brave walkers who stuck at it, blistered and soaked through, to raise such a fantastic amount for our organisation, to enable it to carry on supporting local families when they need us the most.”

If you would like to know more about Home-Start contact its friendly team for a chat on 01978 366660 or email homestartwrexham@gmail.com

Halloween Spooktacular raises over £1000

Paul Pemberton recently held a ‘Halloween Spooktacular’ to raise over £1,000 for Dynamic. This local charity, based at Bradbury House, Salisbury Road, Wrexham, provides out of school activities for children and young people with disabilities.

The Halloween Spooktacular was held at the Hafod Club in Rhos, and families were invited to wear their best spooky outfits and enjoy a night of live music, entertainment and fun. Prizes were given to the best dressed and best carved pumpkins too. When asked why Paul had decided to organise this event, he said: “I feel the work Dynamic does is underestimated. I have a nephew who attends, and our family is so grateful. This is my way of saying thank you”.

Marie Gibson, Liaison Officer at Dynamic said: “We can’t thank Paul enough for organising this event and raising such a fantastic amount. It’s been such a difficult time for so many local charities and gestures like this really do mean a lot to us. Whilst we do receive some funding to deliver services, we need to raise an additional 50% to deliver all our services. This money will be put to good use and help us to carry on our vital work supporting local children and young people with disabilities”.

For more information please contact Marie Gibson, Liaison Officer at Dynamic on 01978 263656

Call for governors

Governors for Schools, the education charity, is calling on employers across Chester to support their staff to become school governors. School governors set the strategic direction of the school, working with school leadership and the board to challenge, support and monitor progress.

Schools need people with a variety of expertise to sit on the board and you don’t have to be a parent or have worked in education. It’s a fantastic way to develop skills, gain leadership experience and most importantly, help to provide an excellent education for every child in Chester.

There’s lots of training and support, and by working with employers, Governors for Schools is able to recruit talented and committed volunteers who can have a real impact.

If you are looking for a skilled-volunteering opportunity to support your people with, or your focus is social responsibility and you’re looking to engage with schools, please contact Senior Partnerships Manager, Emma Harris, at emma.harris@governorsforschools.org.uk and she’d be pleased to discuss a school governor initiative with you.

Charity round-up

Wrexham Community Lottery

The new Wrexham Community Lottery with a £25,000 top prize launched in November 2021 and the first draw will take place on 18 December 2021. The local lottery has been set up by AVOW and will be open to anyone in a bid to raise money for charities and good causes in Wrexham. It costs £1 per game to play, and winners could win up to £25,000 as part of the weekly draw.

AVOW wants to make sure good causes and local charities can continue to receive financial support in the future. Setting up a lottery will help to raise money to continue to fund these projects. Sixty per cent of the money raised will go to good causes. The rest of the money will go towards the prize money, an external lottery manager who will run the game, and VAT. Players will be able to set up a monthly payment in advance with the option to do a three-, six- or 12-month repeating subscription by direct debit or payment card. Winners will be informed via email and will have the money transferred automatically to their chosen bank account.

John Gallanders, Chief Officer of AVOW, Wrexham, said: "The Wrexham Community Lottery is really exciting, and I hope that lots of people join in. It will support local voluntary organisations and charities.”

Whilst this is a fantastic and fun opportunity for everyone, AVOW wish to remind everyone to gamble responsibly. To date, there are 16 organisations that have signed up to the new Wrexham Community Lottery which people can choose to support when buying their tickets.

These cover a variety of services in the Wrexham area including Children’s Services, Older People’s Services, Sports Organisations, Community Centres, Equine Services, Debt and Food Poverty Support.

For more information visit: www.wrexhamcommunitylottery.co.uk

Local nurse wins charity lottery

Helen Price recently won Nightingale House’s weekly jackpot prize of £2,500. Helen said: “I’m a Nurse at a Wrexham GP Practice, I’m aware of the hospice and how important it is. I joined the lottery in 2015 as it was a great way of being able to offer my support. In 2018, my mum became a patient, and I am so very grateful for all the wonderful care that she received. I’m so glad that the Hospice is there to do what it does, and to offer such amazing support to patients and their families.

“I’m delighted to win. We moved house during the pandemic, so there are numerous projects that the winnings could go towards, but with a husband and three children, suggestions so far have included sheds, saxophones and pet tarantulas.”

The lottery has been running for 25 years. With 15,000 members, it is the biggest source of income for the hospice and last year raised over £500,000 of vital funds. This income is now more important than ever. The revenue generated by the lottery continues to be a lifeline and a vital source of regular income. That lottery income is enough to run the hospice for 58 days. That’s fifty-eight days of providing services such as In-patients, Day Services, Rehabilitation and Family Support.

If you’d like the chance to be a Nightingale House lottery winner and support your local hospice, you can join the lottery at www.nightingalehouse.co.uk/join-our-lottery We

If you have charity news you would like to see included in the next issue, please send details to clara@ezpublishing.co.uk

Clock Tower Save the

A local organisation is hoping to save one of the region’s many historical buildings and resurrect it to its former glory.

THE ENBARR FOUNDATION, A NONprofit organisation, has initiated an ambitious project to restore John Summers Clock Tower in Sealand, Deeside in Flintshire. It is one of a number of local landmarks from our industrial past that are gradually falling into disrepair.

Since 1907, the Grade II-listed John Summers Clock Tower housed the general office for Shotton Steelworks. After the building was sold by Tata Steel in 2009, it was vandalised and has seriously deteriorated in the decade since. The project, which has received lottery funding, has been supported by an army of volunteers. By restoring it to its former glory and developing it into a community space, the project will secure the building’s long-term existence – so it is here for future generations to use and enjoy.

A strong foundation

Working in collaboration with a number of local businesses and organisations, The Enbarr Foundation has gained considerable recognition for its work, including a Daily Post Business Award in 2018, and many nominations and wins. The project has also been featured on BBC News.

The project’s foundation is a coalition of volunteers, social organisations, businesses, academia and members of the public, which is working together to transform the area. It is bringing local people, businesses and community organisations together to plan, develop and build the future of the local community around the John Summers site – whilst harnessing local ‘people power’ and assets within the community.

Those involved will find out about their region’s heritage, as well as strengthening their key skills and supporting their wellbeing. All of these elements are important to communities and the people who live in them. In the spirit of the famous 1980s film Back to the Future – which features a clock tower so prominently in the electrifying climax, when lightning strikes Hill Valley’s clock tower – the Enbarr Foundation is calling on volunteers to ‘Save the Clock Tower’.

Vicki Roskams, engagement manager at Enbarr Foundation explains:

“Working together on this project will help to alleviate many social issues in the community and provide a focussed communal project developed by the community for the local region.

“When it’s completed, the hub will be a space of safety, collaboration and support. It will also inspire young people in the local community to be innovative and confident, to turn their own ideas into projects and to inspire career pathways, via the project’s heritage skills centre at the site. It will serve as a place where local people can celebrate their history and especially their place in the region’s heritage and share their experiences with future generations to leave a legacy of a thriving and cohesive Welsh Culture –before time runs out for this wonderful monument.”

For more information on the project and ways you can help you can email engagement@enbarrenterprises.com, visit the website www.enbarrfoundation.co.uk or call on 01244 560644

Chester & Warrington Growth Hub

Cheshire and Warrington Growth Hub is responsible for delivering support and guidance to businesses across the sub-region, offering a free to access and impartial service. The Growth Hub is part of a network of 38 other Growth Hubs across the country funded by government to provide business support. Cheshire and Warrington Growth Hub, alongside Marketing Cheshire is part of the Local Enterprise Partnership.

Supporting Chester businesses to go and grow further

The team of business experts at the Growth Hub can help businesses, whether they are an individual on their journey to start a business, or an existing business looking to grow and expand. The team is made up of individuals with a variety of backgrounds, including commercial finance, exporting, small business ownership and the visitor economy. Support is available for businesses of all sizes and all sectors.

The Growth Hub can help businesses with bespoke support on key business issues including:

• Business Growth

• Coronavirus Recovery

• Exporting

• Finance

• Innovation

• Net Zero

• Recruitment and Skills

• Sector Specific Support

One of the local businesses helped by the Growth Hub is Chester-based drinks manufacturer Jeffrey’s Tonics, who following advice from the Cheshire and Warrington Growth Hub and Department for International Trade (DIT), were able to exhibit at a virtual food trade show.

Director at Jeffrey’s Tonics Steve Frehley said: “We worked closely with the Cheshire and Warrington Growth Hub and DIT and we had a very successful trade show online, securing an order from a major brand.”

Workplace efficiency firm iPEGS, based in Saltney was also helped by the Growth Hub, who introduced the company to the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, BFS and MSIF Microfinance. This introduction led to a five-figure finance facility from the funds above, which helped towards the expansion of iPEGS’s sales and marketing team.

Making connections

Cheshire and Warrington Growth Hub works with over 200 partners from the private and public sector to ensure that businesses can access the specialised support they need. These partners range from national organisations; Innovate UK, Department for

International Trade, Job Centre Plus; local authorities; Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester and Warrington Councils; local universities and colleges, Business Improvement Districts, Chambers of Commerce and other membership organisations. The Growth Hub also works with partners from the private sector, including local professional services firms of accountants, banks, commercial estate agents and solicitors.

The Growth Hub is encouraging Chester businesses to get in touch to see how they can help with your growth plans, setting up a new business or planning your recovery from Coronavirus.

To find out more about how the Growth Hub could help your business visit growth.cheshireandwarrington.com or email

info@growth.cheshireandwarrington. com

Wrexham Businessline

The following articles have been sourced from the regular email newsletters produced by Wrexham County Borough Council’s Business and Investment team, which provide updates on the availability of new funding and support initiatives, changes in regulations and resources which may be of interest to businesses within the County Borough.

ReAct funding is still available

Organisations looking to or considering recruiting a new member of staff are still able to benefit from the ReAct programme. You will receive up to £3,000 in quarterly instalments for the first 12 months, to help cover the new recruit’s wages. In addition, up to £1,000 can be accessed for any jobrelated skills training needed to bring the new recruit up to speed.

To qualify for the programme the person you wish to recruit must either:

• Be under formal Notice of Redundancy or

• Be within 12 months of the date of redundancy or

• Be within 12 months of becoming unemployed for reasons other than redundancy

https://businesswales.gov.wales

New jobs programme to create life-changing opportunities for 16-18 year olds in Wales

The Welsh Government have announced that in 2022 a new Jobs Growth Wales+ programme will launch, which will focus on helping young people (aged 16-18), who are not in education, employment or training, to reach their full potential and take their first steps into the world of work.

https://gov.wales

Get ready for Plastic Packaging Tax: does the tax affect the goods you import?

Does your business manufacture or import plastic packaging? If so, you will be able to sign-up for HMRC’s Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) webinars to learn more about what you need to do before the tax comes into force on 1 April 2022.

An Overview of the Plastic Packaging Tax

The tax aims to encourage the use of recycled plastic instead of new plastic within plastic packaging. It will be charged at a rate of £200 per tonne on plastic packaging manufactured in or imported into the UK, including packaging that already contains goods when it is imported, such as bottles filled with drinks.

If all the plastic packaging that you manufacture or import contains at least 30% recycled plastic, you will not need to pay the tax, but you may still need to register.

To find out more visit www.gov.uk

Dedicated hotline and online service now available for UK exporters

On 1 October the Department for International Trade (DIT) launched a new export hotline and online service. British businesses exporting, or those considering exporting, to Europe will

now be able to access one-to-one advice. From queries around rules of origin, to guidance on recognising professional qualifications and entering new markets, the Export Support Service provides a single point of contact to help exporters navigate a range of complex information simply and quickly.

https://www.gov.uk/ask-exportsupport-team

Help

support your staff’s financial resilience and wellbeing

The financial vulnerability of individuals with little or no savings has been highlighted during the course of the Coronavirus pandemic. This has of course had a direct impact and detrimental effect on the wellbeing of those concerned. In an effort to help improve people’s resilience, the Welsh Government are encouraging employers to partner with a credit union in order to offer work-based payroll savings (which are simple to set-up) and access to affordable credit. Doing so would provide an effective means of helping employees to build a financial safety net, with worries and anxieties about money being reduced as individuals would be in a better position to be able to cope with temporary financial challenges in the future. If you would like to sign up to offer a payroll savings scheme to your employees, you’ll be able to identify your local credit union via the

following link, or alternatively email enquiries@creditunionsofwales.co.uk for further information.

https://creditunionsofwales.co.uk/ payroll-partners/

Flexible Plastic Fund

The Flexible Plastic Fund looks to improve the rate of recycling of 'flexible' plastic items including bags, wrappers, films, pouches, packets and sachets. Funding and support is being made available to incentivise recycling. For further information and to find out how manufacturers, retailers, recyclers and individuals can join the fund, visit: https://flexibleplasticfund.org.uk/ about-the-fund

Pub is the HubCommunity Services Fund

Pub is the Hub encourages rural pub owners, licensees, and their local communities to work together to support, retain and locate local services which may have already been lost –

such as a local shop, library, post office or community centre – where possible, within the pub.

Access to experts in the licencing trade can be provided, with a grant of up to £3,000 also being made available. For further information and to access an expression of interest form, please visit: https://www.pubisthehub.org.uk/ community-services-fund/

Town Centre Entrepreneurship Fund

A town centre entrepreneurship fund has been made available by the Welsh Government for new pre-revenue startup businesses, and some existing businesses (that qualify) looking to relocate or occupy premises in Wrexham Town Centre. The scheme is being managed and delivered by Business Wales. Grants of between £2,500 and £10,000 can be provided, which can be used towards revenue costs when starting up in or relocating to the town centre. Applicants need to be able to demonstrate a minimum of

100% match funding for the grant through savings, loans etc. Further information can be found at Business Wales www.businesswales.gov.wales

If you would like to receive a copy of Wrexham County Borough Council’s Business and Investment team’s regular newsletters, you can sign up via:

English: https://bit.ly/business-updateswrexham

Welsh: https://bit.ly/diweddariadau-busneswrecsam

For more information on any of these articles, or to find out how Wrexham County Borough Council’s Business and Investment Team can support pre-start, new and established businesses based in or looking to re-locate to Wrexham please email: business@wrexham.gov.uk or telephone: 01978 667000

planning Business

As 2021 draws to the close and businesses start to think about the new year, now seems like a good opportunity to think about business planning.

By JEFF WILLIAMS

BUSINESS PLANNING IS NOT ABOUT producing a slick document for the bank manager to review, nor is it about that first plan you developed with an idea of how you wanted your business to grow. An effective business plan is a living breathing document that you refer to every month, to tell you whether or not you are on track with what you want to achieve this year. If you are actively doing this, you are already on track to growing your business significantly.

Proactive business planning is about getting everything out of your head and onto a clear plan that you can share with others who are going to help you fulfil your goals. Imagine taking out a map and marking your path to your destination, taking note of the roadblocks, junctions, diversions and breaks you will have to take along the way.

If you begin with a very clear vision of what you want your business to look like in the end, then you can start to put together a practical business plan detailing the opportunities and challenges in front of you. It’s all about the numbers at the end of the day.

Understanding the numbers

Think back to your first payslip, do you remember where you looked first when you received it? That’s right, the bottom right-hand corner to find out how much you are going to be paid.

In fact, you already had a pretty good idea in advance what that number ‘should’ be didn’t you? The same should be true in business. Rather than opening the payslip in surprise, your business plan should be a very clear plan as to how much you will sell each month,

at what rate, at what cost and at what profit. You should know and plan this in advance each month. Throughout each week and month, you should check that you are on track to achieve your forecasted profit, because that’s what it’s all about isn’t it?

The 'What's in it for me' (WIIFM) factor Next, be very clear on exactly who you want as customers. What problem are you solving for them? What must happen to cause them to become your customers? What do you need to keep doing to keep them coming back? And what could happen to cause them not to buy?

Understand and plan for the fact that for your business to grow, your business needs to become attractive to the best people out there. You must learn how to induct them, train and develop them so that they stay and contribute to yours and their own prosperity – and dare I say, happiness and fulfilment. For your business to grow you must learn how to grow your people, because they grow your business.

Adapt, adjust and innovate

Proactively planning to systemise your business and create strong efficiencies

and therefore higher profitability is the final part of an effective business plan, whilst keeping an eye on the competition and planning to adapt, adjust and innovate as necessary.

Effective business planning is an ongoing process of continual planning and improvement. If this is not occurring your business is effectively going backwards.

Some great questions to ask yourself as you go into next year are:

• What revenue do you already have promised for next year?

• What is your monthly break-even requirement in terms of revenue per month/week?

• How much revenue is required to make a profit each month?

• What is the gap between what is planned to come in each month and what you need to achieve?

• What strategies are you planning to apply to bridge that gap?

• Who is responsible for each action or strategy and do they have the time and resources to get their job done?

Reaching your goals

The easiest way to plan is to break the year down into four 90-day periods, and then break each 90 day period down into three one month periods.

Getting some help to keep you on track and focused is also a good idea.

Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail, or at the very least just exist on the edge. Creating a proactive business plan makes sense if you want to reach your destination and get your business firing on all cylinders.

So, what’s your plan?

“Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail”

For more advice and tips on Business Planning speak with Jeff Williams, Business Coach to arrange a complimentary strategy session 01244 515533

jeffwilliams@actioncoach.com

Across

1 Blunders (6)

Take five

Grab a cuppa and clear your mind of work for a short while with our puzzles.

7 Science of classification (8)

8 Slippery fish (3)

9 Relating to the lower back (6)

10 Movement of water causing a small whirlpool (4)

11 Stitched (5)

13 Motivate (7)

15 Fighter (7)

17 Rise to one's feet (3,2)

21 Where darts players throw from (4)

22 Lender (6)

23 __ Botham: former cricketer (3)

24 Teaches (8)

25 Colours slightly (6)

Down

1 Welcomes (6)

2 Pursue (6)

3 Cigarette ends (5)

4 Take out (7)

5 Lacking confidence (8)

6 Among (6)

12 Establish firmly (8)

14 Release air from something (7)

16 Assent or agree to (6)

18 Growing weary (6)

19 Naples (anag) (6)

20 Middle of the body (5)

If you would like to showcase your business by offering a competition prize for future issues, contact us to discuss options

vicky@ezpublishing.co.uk

Check your answers

Crossword Classic Sudoku

Contributors

Thank you to the following for their contribution:

Articles:

Fleur Robinson, Wrexham AFC

Adam Dandy, Dandy’s Topsoil & Landscape Supplies

Phil Strachan, Strangebrew

Maja Kenney, Maja’s Motorcycle Adventures

Lyann Farrelly, Thursday’s Child Coaching and Consulting

Laura Bray, HR Dept Wrexham and Chester

Gayle Whittaker, Universal Therapist

Michael Knight, Umbrella Health and Safety

Bushra Ali, Bushra Ali Solicitors

Nathan Booth, CB Homes

Dawn Roberts-McCabe, Bespoke Immigration Consulting

Ian Traynor, Luminate Ventures Ltd

Bob Bond, Pathway Software

Elaine Thomas, Living Floors

Richard Knew, Knew Productions

Jeff Williams, Action Coach

Advertisers:

Action Coach

Active Childcare

DLS Business Solutions

DTG Gardening Services

Essentials MAG

Everbright Hotels

GHP Legal

Hadlow Edwards Wealth Management

Haswells LLP

Highstream Solutions

HR Dept Chester & Wrexham

Ian Williams Photography

Knew Productions

Living Floors

Mint Fencing

Networkx4Business

Rossett Business Services

Strangebrew

The Business Network Chester

Thursday’s Child

Time For Marketing

William Matthew Chadwick

Woodlands Marketing

Wrexham Football Club

Zebra Marketing & Communications

What’s in the

Coming up next issue...

With issue one complete, we are turning our attention to issue two. Due out in March 2022, some of our forthcoming features include:

• The business of tourism – as we head into Spring, how are our hospitality and tourism sectors getting ready?

• Best meeting venues that aren’t in the office – whether you have given up the office in favour of home working or just looking for inspiration, we explore some of the best locations for business meetings.

• Job Swap – we are looking for volunteers to swap roles for the day. Are you an accountant who has always wanted to work in a charity, or a graphic designer that has always fancied an insight into the world of manufacturing…? Get in touch and we will try to arrange a job shadowing day for you!

We will also be interviewing more local business leaders, and featuring articles on business news, charity updates and many other topics.

Get in touch

for future issues we’d love to hear from you.