Platinum Business Magazine Issue 64

THE LARGEST CIRCULATION REGIONAL BUSINESS PUBLICATION IN THE UK

ISSUE 64. OCTOBER 2019

Focus on

BURGESS HILL

Why big data is so valuable

The Platinum

Car of the Decade

It’s time for the South East to

SHOUT LOUDER!

ack Ma J China’s $35bn capitalist

SUSSEX

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2

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CONTENTS 9

NEWS National, international and local news

17

DMH STALLARD Is the Prompt Payment Code starting to bite?

18

KRESTON REEVES How to achieve business growth

42

PIER RECRUITMENT How video technology helps match clients and candidates

44

HEALTH & WELLBEING Improving mental and physical wellbeing in the workplace, with contributions from ViiSana and West Sussex County Council

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MHA CARPENTER BOX Developing and implementing strategies to maximise profitability

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22

48

KEN BLANCHARD How to be an emotionally aware leader

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NATWEST The latest survey of business confidence

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GATWICK DIAMOND BUSINESS AWARDS The 2020 Awards deadlines are almost upon us

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NATWEST ACCELERATOR Jarvis Smith of MyGreenPod

SUSSEX INNOVATION CENTRE SINC launches the New Investor Network

50-59

TRAVEL Find the best places in The Maldives this winter, and the best ski escapes, courtesy of the experts at Go Bespoke Travel.

THE BIG STORY Ian Trevett profiles Jack Ma, China’s capitalist hero

36

MAZARS Innovation, diversity and ethics are more important than ever

expo

WOMEN IN BUSINESS EXPO A look ahead to next month’s show in Farnborough

74

FLEXIBILITY MATTERS Interview with recruitment specialist Emma Cleary

76

MOVERS & SHAKERS Who’s going where... Harvey John Recruitment tells us who is moving on in the world of Sussex commerce

78-85

MOTORING Maarten Hoffmann runs the rule over his favourite cars of the past 10 years – and reveals his Car of the Decade

ROCKETMILL The science behind big data

30 37

72

THE BUSINESS SHOW Preview of the big London

39

DMH STALLARD Are you obliged to allow employees to record disciplinary matters?

40

JEFF ALEXANDER Why the South East should shout louder

87

THE GRAND HOTEL Planning your perfect Christmas party

88 60-71

FOCUS ON...

BURGESS HILL With the mid-Sussex town set for a multi-million pound investment programme in housing and commerce, we take a look at what the future may hold for Burgess Hill.

ANGER MANAGMENT Reflecting the ferocious anger nature can release through tropical hurricanes

90

CHARITY NEWS Chestnut Tree House events, and the Best of British luncheon

92-98

PLATINUM SPORT A former England footballer to address a cricketing crowd, women’s football in focus, a look back at this summer’s cricket – and a new contender in the Platinum Challenge

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WELCOME

Welcome

I

t seems the summer has done a runner and into the jaws of autumn we must go – but chin up, Platinum is here with all the news, views and opinion for our region – still one of the fastest-growing and wealthiest areas in the UK. In this issue, the petrol head that is Maarten has been in heaven creating the Platinum Cars of the Decade and, for some inexplicable reason, he saw fit to go to St Tropez to review the Car of the Decade! Ian has been grappling with the richest man in China, Hanna presents beach and ski vacations that will have you dreaming of far-flung places and we present a focus on Burgess Hill, a town which is growing rapidly.

At Platinum Towers, we are all a quiver as we prepare the launch of our latest publication, Dynamic - The Business Magazine For Women, to be launched at the Women in Business Expo on October 16th. It is packed with features and articles concerning women in business and we plead with men to get hold of a copy as without all genders understanding the issues, the road to change will be rocky.

Make no mistake, the girls are coming and we can all get on board, get out of the way or get run over.

The Platinum Team

Maarten Hoffmann – Director

Lesley Alcock

maarten@platinumpublishing.co.uk

Commercial Director

Ian Trevett – Director ian@platinumpublishing.co.uk

And while you’re here...

Not only do we have the largest number of print readers on planet Earth but you can also join our 468,000 online readers. If you can’t wait for the next issue then jump onto our social media platforms and join the conversation.

@platbusmag Platinum Publishing Group www.platinumpublishing.co.uk

Nicole Kemble Commercial Manager

Fiona Graves

Lydia Bunyard

Events Director

Events Executive

Kate Morton

Danielle Mason

Hanna Nicholson

Features Editor

Sales Executive

Travel Editor

Alan Wares Head of Design

Platinum staff images courtesy of David Green, Shoot Me Now Photography • shootmenow.co.uk

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Having tomorrow’s conversations, today

Our thinking starts with you With our relationship led service, we look to understand the opportunities and challenges faced by you and your business. Our focus is always on client service, with open and honest relationships.

Switching to MHA Carpenter Box is easier than you think: we make it hassle-free from start to finish. Get in touch today for a free and informal consultation.

Call: 01903 234094 • Email: info@carpenterbox.com

www.carpenterbox.com

Now, for tomorrow

Sussex

news CHRISTMAS VENUES

Brighton Summit: Crack On October 11th 2019 • The Clarendon Centre

B

righton Summit is for anyone who wants to evolve and grow their business: from agencies to start-ups; from multinationals to social enterprises and charities.

Whether you’re a business owner, a CEO, or a manager, an entrepreneur or an employee.

It’s networking at its best with six curated sessions throughout the day designed to facilitate networking opportunities and where attendees will meet, work together and connect.

BUSINESS WISDOM

New home for The Creative Group

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This year’s theme is Crack On and it’s all about taking your business by the scruff of its neck, deciding what you want and going for it.

Chef’s charity feast

L

ast month, Head chef Jimmy Gray from Jeremy’s restaurant at Borde Hill Garden willingly gave up his Sunday evening off in order to cook for the lucky winners of a charity auction. Jimmy donated his private dining prize to an auction held at Haywards Heath Golf Club on behalf of the Kangaroo Children’s Charity which

offers a vital voluntary service to disabled children in the community. Jimmy prepared an exceptional four-course meal for a table of 10 at the home of the biggest bidder on the night. Highlights included ceviche of sea bass with lobster, avocado and radish, and shoulder and loin of lamb with couscous, tomato salad and mint yoghurt.

Soap company cleans up in export win

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Success and failure are both difficult to endure. Along with success come drugs, divorce, fornication, bullying, travel, meditation, medication, depression, neurosis and suicide.

With failure comes failure.

n East Sussex soap manufacturer has secured an export win in Japan estimated to be worth up to £100,000 a year. Family-run Christina May design eco-friendly soaps - made from pure vegetable oils and perfume - for its brand The English Soap Company.

Located on a farm just outside

of Heathfield, East Sussex, Christina May employs 35 workers and currently exports to 34 countries including the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Taiwan and New Zealand with plans to further expand its export markets to include the Middle East, India, South Korea and Indonesia.

An expert is someone called in at the last minute to share the blame.

BUSINESS WISDOM

multi-award-winning marketing and design agency has moved into its brand new office on Manor Royal, Crawley. The Creative Group’s move comes as a direct result of the company’s continued and substantial growth over the past 24 months, which has seen it acquire several new, notable clients, including Sally Gunnell OBE. The office, which was fitted out by two of the company’s clients, Citrus Signs and Spacelink, is set to be the perfect environment for continued growth and client acquisition for the business.

Preparing for Brexit

T

hroughout October, Sussex Chambers of Commerce will be hosting ‘Business Brexit Awareness Boot Camps’ – a series of free practical workshops to help all business prepare for Brexit. Business are invited to learn about issues including a Brexit checklist to help you plan, cross border trade and documentation, the impact to supply chains and your customers, changes to people, workforce and immigration, how to treat personal data, e-commerce – and more besides.

The workshops; October 7th – Worthing October 14th – Uckfield October 18th – Hastings October 21st – Manor Royal October 29th – Brighton Call 01444 259259 or visit www. sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk for more information.

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“Always a pleasure speaking with experienced technicians with a sense of humour�

Humanising IT

96% of people said they had a positive experience with Extech Cloud, based on over 3,000 IT support calls.

Sussex

news

Betting on the future

G

rosvenor Casinos has unveiled its exciting vision to transform the former Art Deco cinema on Grand Junction Road in Brighton into a 24/7 entertainment hub known as Pier Nine. Construction is now underway at the £5.2m venue which will be set over three floors and include stylish

bars, modern eateries, two classic casinos as well as a private cinema and karaoke space to hire. Work on Pier Nine is set to complete this December with an official launch in early 2020. The project will create 60 jobs and will offer applicants a mixture of full time and part time roles.

You never become a howling success by just howling BUSINESS WISDOM

Picture perfect ranking for MPB

T

he Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100 has featured Brighton-based firm MPB in this year’s ranking of the most exciting and fastest-growing tech companies in Britain. MPB, which is an online platform for trading in and buying used camera gear, employs 97 people in central Brighton and Hollingbury and 23 working in New York. The online platform is used by 135,000 photographers and filmmakers across the UK, Europe and America, and is on track for revenue in excess of £40m this year.

Acquia’s new acquisition

D

igital experience company Acquia have announced its acquisition of Brighton-based Cohesion, creator of DX8. Founded by local entrepreneur Drew Griffiths,

Aim low, reach your goals, and avoid disappointment BUSINESS WISDOM

Cohesion DX8 is the first low-code website builder which enables brands to create sophisticated websites in a fraction of the time compared with traditional methods. CEO, Griffiths said: “With the addition of Cohesion DX8’s technology, Acquia will make it possible for organisations and agencies with demanding requirements to launch websites faster, while maintaining consistency across multiple brands, regions or divisions.”

Business growth support team

A

ccountants, business and financial advisers Kreston Reeves have launched a dedicated business growth advisory team to help businesses achieve their ambitious growth plans. Led by Partner Mark Attwood who has over 20 years’ experience advising and working alongside growing businesses, the Growth Advisory team provides practical, focused and hands-on support to help firms refocus, boost and achieve ambitious growth.

Accountants increase their numbers

S

ussex-based chartered accountants, MHA Carpenter Box, has recruited its largest ever intake of new trainees. Over the last year, 13 new trainees have joined the firm which has offices in Brighton, Worthing and Gatwick. Nine of the 13 are enrolled on the firm’s Platinum Accredited training programme on the road to the BUSINESS WISDOM Association of Chartered Certified Ac-

countants (ACCA) qualification. Three are studying towards the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ACA) qualification whilst one is studying towards a tax qualification with the Association of Tax Technicians (ATT). All of the trainees will benefit from being a part of the firm’s comprehensive inhouse training programme, which has earned Platinum Status.

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a m s t s i r h C e t Celebr a m a e t r u with yo Festive Fun Raceday – Monday 2nd December

Christmas Raceday – Monday 16th December Dine in the course-side Marquee Restaurant with welcome drink, three-course lunch and racing for just £65 per person inc. VAT.

Book now to avoid disappointment!

ADVANCE GRANDSTAND & PADDOCK Group Tickets (10+): £14 ADVANCE GRANDSTAND & PADDOCK Tickets: £15

Tel. 01273 890383 | racing@plumptonracecourse.co.uk www.plumptonracecourse.co.uk

national

news

Historical days out hit record high

N

ational Trust membership has climbed above 5.5 million in a record-breaking year for conservation spending.

The English heritage and historical charity announced in its annual report that its membership had increased in the past year by more than 300,000 to 5,600,000. It

also revealed that it had spent more than £148m on conservation and restoration projects in 2018/19. A total of 26.9m visits were made to the 780 miles of coastline, 248,000 hectares of land and more than 500 historic houses, gardens and parks that the National Trust looks after.

Employment and wage rates on the up

O

fficial figures released by the Office of National Statistics reveal that UK wage growth is at its highest since 2008. Not only have payslip figures risen but the number of people working has seen a sharp increase with a record 32.81 million people in employment. Despite this wage growth, the gig economy, which currently

accounts for nearly five million workers in the UK is still blighted by late payments. Research from ETZ Payments unveils 25% of Brits cannot afford commitments such as weddings and holidays due to the freelance payment structure whilst 13% of freelancers regularly miss bill payments due to not being paid on time.

Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

BUSINESS WISDOM

A smarter way to watch TV

S

ky’s advertising arm, Sky Media, has recently announced the results of its research into the addressable TV market via the report ‘AdSmart: 5 Years and Forward’.

Addressable TV allows brands to target key groups based on specific attributes including post codes and Mosaic groups on the UK’s biggest

channels, making TV more relevant and affordable. 75% of the UK’s top advertisers have now used AdSmart, but also 1000 SMEs have now used TV for the first time because of the technology.

The research revealed that AdSmart is helping businesses grow, boosts ad engagement by up to 35% and cuts channel switching by 48%, proving a win for viewers and advertisers. AdSmart is now available in Virgin Media homes as well, meaning 40% of homes can be reached by addressable TV, allowing brands to reach audiences as small as 5000 and up to 30 million.

UK firms go Dutch

B

rexit has lured almost 100 companies away from Britain and into the Netherlands, according to a Dutch government agency. 98 firms have so far set up shop in the Netherlands with a further 325 companies planning to move. Of the firms that have upped sticks are media companies Bloomberg and Discovery, and financial firms MarketAxess and Norinchukin. Other businesses attracted to the Netherlands because of Brexit are in the IT, advertising, life sciences and health sectors.

Apprenticeships v University

A

survey commissioned by the Chartered Management Institute found that 51% of parents would encourage their child to apply for an apprenticeship instead of university, and 59% of parents thought an apprenticeship provided better job prospects than a degree. The survey also found few people were aware of T Levels - a new technical study programme that will sit alongside apprenticeships and A Levels - due to launch in England next year.

Rob Wall, head of policy at the CMI, said raising awareness was “proving to be a real challenge”. “As parents are a major influencer in young people’s education and career choices, educating and informing parents will be key to making T-levels a success.”

The most popular laboursaving device is still money BUSINESS WISDOM

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Knowing you.

We work alongside businesses and understand the challenges that they have to navigate in order to attain and sustain growth.

We can help you to thrive and achieve your growth goals through; • Business advice and growth strategies • International expansion support • Corporate and international tax advice • Corporate finance support In addition to dynamic businesses we also advise not for profit organisations, private individuals and their families, on their tax and financial planning needs.

For further information, or to find out how we could help you, please contact us using the details below.

For all your business, tax and wealth needs.

Call: +44 (0)330 124 1399 Email: enquiries@krestonreeves.com Visit: www.krestonreeves.com

national You want a side of plants with that?

news US newspaper pulls oil industry sponsorship

T V

egan food has become the UK’s fastest-growing takeaway order. With 600,000 people believed to be vegan in the UK in 2018, and an increase in “flexitarians” choosing to reduce their consumption of animal products, orders of vegan takeaways grew by 388% between 2016 and 2018 while vegetarian orders rose

by 137%, according to research by the British Takeaway Campaign. The online delivery platform Deliveroo reported that vegan orders had quadrupled over the past two years and said that in the last year the number of vegan restaurants on the app increased by 168%.

Never invest in anything that eats or needs repairing BUSINESS WISDOM

The Prince charms London Fashion Week

L

ast month’s London Fashion Week saw a collaboration between sustainable fashion pioneers Vin + Omi and Prince Charles. The prince teamed up with the duo in a bid to design a sustainable fashion range made out of nettles from his Highgrove estate. The prince met representatives of the British design industry last year as part of the Positive Fashion initiative, which promotes sustainability, best social and environmental practice, equality and local production. The designers recruited a team of students from Oxford Brookes University to help harvest 3,000 nettle plants for the collection.

he New York Times has scrapped plans to sponsor one of the world’s biggest oil industry conferences after pressure from climate campaigners including Extinction Rebellion. The conference is due to take place this month at the InterContinental Hotel on Park Lane in London and will attract executives from the world’s biggest oil companies as well as senior Opec leaders and ministers from fossil fuel-rich Middle Eastern nations. A New York Times spokeswoman said the paper had “decided to end its relationship with the Oil and Money conference” because its subject matter “gives us cause for concern”.

Lego set to reach kids globally

T

he world’s largest toymaker by sales and profits is set to open another 160 new stores this year. Lego is rapidly increasing the number of its own-brand stores and investing heavily into ecommerce as it draws lessons from the collapse of Toys R Us and the Nordic region’s biggest toy retailer Top Toy. The Dan-

ish toymaker is making a big push in Asia and is on track to have 140 stores in China in 35 different cities by the end of the year. Niels Christiansen, Lego’s chief executive, said: “We have the ambition of getting to as many kids as we can around the world, and getting to that means we have to keep gaining market share.”

The wheels are turning, but the hamsters are all dead.

BUSINESS WISDOM

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Clients are our business Dedicated to your success DMH Stallard is a full service, award-winning law firm that is passionate about winning and passionate about client care. It’s not by chance that we have one of the highest levels of repeat business in the industry.

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Award-winning pragmatic advice for businesses and individuals

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LEGAL

Is the

Prompt Payment Code starting to bite?

A culture of late payments in the UK cripples many businesses and causes economic and human misery. Kelly Mills hopes that things are changing

Kelly Mills

I

ntroduced more than a decade ago, the Prompt Payment Code has often been criticised for its ‘lack of teeth’ in tackling the culture of late payment of commercial debts.

However recent developments suggest that there may be changes afoot; excellent news for SMEs in particular.

Research by the Federation of Small Businesses (2017) identified that the UK’s poor payment culture was costing the economy some £2.5billion each year, forcing a staggering number of small companies – more than 50,000 - out of business. The human cost is equally significant.

Research undertaken last year on behalf of online payment ratings platform, The Prompt Payment Directory, found that over half of SME owners surveyed had suffered stress, depression and other mental health issues as a result of late payments.

to report persistent late payers. BUPA Voluntary signatories to the Code, run was recently named and shamed by the Chartered Institute of Credit when a supplier complained to the Management (CICM) on behalf of the Small Business Commissioner. The government, promise to pay 95% of complaint was uptheir invoices with“If we are to see an held, but reports in 60 days. Sadly, this is all too often end to the UK’s late suggest that the supplier didn’t disregarded. payment culture, even receive the statutory miniCarillion, for examsuppliers must mum late payment ple, ignored its obbe encouraged to interest due from ligations under the Code and actually report persistent BUPA, let alone an apology! inserted a 120-day offenders” payment term into If we are to see an end to the UK’s late supplier contracts; it collapsed owing payment culture, suppliers must be suppliers £2bn, many of them small encouraged to report persistent ofbuilding, electrical and engineering fenders – but they need to be protectfirms. ed and properly compensated without being fearful of being ‘punished’ with Recently the CICM has taken a toughno more business. er approach by naming and shaming a number of large businessThe Small Business Commissioner, es which have failed to Paul Uppal apparently favours a more adhere to the Code. radical approach to making large busiThese businesses nesses more accountable, which may were suspended involve him taking over the running of from the Code as the Code and being given the power to a result, but the fine offending companies. negative publicity appears to have After 10 years, is it too much to hope had the desired efthat a prompt payment culture is finalfect: almost all subly set to emerge? sequently put plans in place to meet the 60-day payment deadline going forward according to the CICM. Worth blowing the whistle?

Beyond recovering outstanding payments, however, there is currently little to incentivise small businesses

Kelly Mills, Partner, heads DMH Stallard’s Debt & Leasehold Recovery team. Contact her at kelly.mills@dmhstallard.com or call 03333 231580. www.dmhstallard.com

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Going for growth Assessing your options for growth in order to achieve commercial success by Emma Chesson, Growth Advisory Specialist at Kreston Reeves align, to embrace the challenges that can impact performance and growth.

These include: • Business model review •D efining the asset in your business • Increasing company valuation • Brand development • Business audit • Business purpose • Future mapping your business • Growth planning and strategies • Sales advice and support

B

usiness growth comes in many forms, but one constant is that the customer, or client, is king. Get that wrong and business growth will stall or splutter out.

Kreston Reeves – together with specialist brand and marketing consultant Belinda Collins – have introduced a new Growth advisory service that combines, in a unique offering, the financial and brand support businesses need to boost, maintain or refocus their growth plans and achieve commercial success.

The Growth advisory service provides advice on a variety of business disciplines that businesses need to

As part of the service, the Growth team offer a series of practical group and one-to-one workshops to help business owners better understand their brand DNA, business development strategies and to create an actionable growth system.

The first full Going for Growth Brand DNA workshops will be held on October 14th and 15th at Kreston Reeves Chatham office in Kent. A complimentary masterclass introducing the Going for Growth Brand DNA workshop is also being held on November 28th 2019 in Maidstone, Kent. For more information, please visit www. krestonreeves.com/growth-advisory.

“Marketing was the wrapper around a product that did not necessarily change”

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The importance of Brand DNA

Customers and clients now have more information at their fingertips than ever before, helping them make quick and informed decisions over whether to buy or not. This has seen businesses move and refocus the way products and services are taken to market.

The 1950s and 60s were defined as the ‘product era’ where marketing focused on product attributes. Businesses typically responded with new products and services in incremental improvements.

The 1970s and 80s were defined as the ‘image era’ where marketing focused on products’ unique selling points. Marketing was the wrapper around a product that did not necessarily change. Advertising was critical.

Businesses like The Body Shop began to emerge with a clear purpose.

BUSINESSFINANCE SURVEY Moving into the 90s and the noughties, businesses embraced purpose, and positioned brands around ‘why’ – why was a business in business and what was its purpose. Delivering profit for shareholders was simply not enough.

And it is this purpose-driven business environment that businesses will need to understand and embrace over the next decade – the emotional journey of the consumer will increasingly drive business growth.

So how should businesses align to this shift?

corporate behaviour and that is unlikely to change.

And business purpose is more than just marketing greenwash. It will define what a business stands for, how businesses will engage with all their stakeholders and how a business

Going for Growth

Businesses and their customers are living in challenging times. Our relationship with Europe remains uncertain, countries and economies are increasingly inward looking, and the memories of the 2008 crash and a decade of austerity are still fresh in minds.

“Customers and clients now have more information at their fingertips than ever before, helping them make quick and informed decisions over whether to buy or not”

The journey for business-to-business and business-to-consumer organisations will be different but do share some common threads – first and foremost that this is not just a here today, gone tomorrow fad. Businesses have never been under so much scrutiny from investors, employees and customers over

wishes to leave customers and clients feeling. Customers unsatisfied with these touch points are likely to walk away and share their experiences.

Businesses need to consider their customer and client journeys, the emotions and the financial drivers behind buying decisions, building into that journey a variety of touch points, and embrace storytelling.

Business leaders need too to have a strong understanding of their vision and strategy for growth, their assets, their financials and profit. The Going for Growth Brand DNA workshops will cover all of this in detail.

And yet this is not the time for businesses to retrench. It is the time to take a step back, examine the business and understand customer journeys, and to understand societal changes.

The Going for Growth Brand DNA masterclasses and subsequent workshops are designed to do just that.

Events will also be held in Sussex and to register your early interest email: events@krestonreeves.com Emma Chesson is a Growth Advisory Specialist and member of the ‘Growth team’ at Kreston Reeves, accountants, business and financial advisers. Emma can be reached by email emma.chesson@krestonreeves.com or by phone on +44 (0)330 124 1399. www.krestonreeves.com/growthadvisory

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T HE

MANUFACTURERS’ PROFITABILITY Developing and implementing strategies to maximise profitability is a fundamental challenge facing manufacturers

puzzle

The manufacturing team at accountancy association MHA releases a quarterly series called The Engine, which provides a national outlook on the issues facing the manufacturing market. In this article, Tony Summers, Partner and Head of Manufacturing at MHA Carpenter Box, looks at the fundamental challenge facing businesses today: developing and implementing strategies to maximise profitability.

Tony Summers

T

o crack the profitability puzzle, companies must carefully plan their strategy and application of resources to identify what investments will have the most impact.

With the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) falling and so much Brexit uncertainty, the intuitive reaction to increase profitability may be to reduce investment that doesn’t

20

directly or immediately improve a company’s revenue-generating activities.

However, areas like R&D, sales, marketing, staffing and recruitment are an essential investment for the future. If companies follow their instincts and cut back, it creates considerable risks for profitability in the long run.

Investing for the long-term It is important that companies focus their resources where the full potential has not yet been realised, and there’s a real prospect of generating competitive advantages.

Companies should remain forward-looking by focusing their investment on four key areas: • R&D

• Plant and equipment • Skilled labour recruitment • Reward and investment in staff (e.g. through pension funding) Recent analysis of 1,559 US manufacturing firms published in IJOPM (Strategy, Operations, and Profitability: The Role of Resource Orchestration, International Journal of Operations and Production Management) shows that financing R&D has a significant positive effect on long term profits as it drives the development of new products to bring to market. Continued upgrades to plant, property and equipment are essential to future proof a manufacturing business, as a lack of investment in these areas can ultimately lead to poor performance.

FINANCE The opportunity to recruit highly skilled technicians and engineers and integrate them into the company as the agents for future long-term growth must not be neglected. Incentivisation through investment in pension provisions or share schemes for example can have long-term, positive performance implications, helping to retain your best people.

Although profitability may suffer shortterm pain as a result of these investment decisions, if executed well, they can certainly prove beneficial in the longterm.

sector accounts for 28% of R&D claims, with a total tax relief value of over £900m. In addition, loss-making companies can obtain cash tax refunds of an effective rate of 33.35% of the R&D spend, while tax-paying companies can claim £19 back for every £100 invested in R&D through corporation tax, as well as a further £24.70 through the R&D tax credit system.

“The opportunity to recruit highly skilled technicians and engineers and integrate them into the company as the agents for future long-term growth must not be neglected”

Maximising available Tax Reliefs Industrial strategy released by the UK Government in 2018 cited R&D as a key foundation for productivity, targeting an increase in R&D investment from 1.7% to 2.4% of the GDP by 2027.

To support this, the rate of R&D tax credit was increased for UK companies both large and small.

At a glance, the figures looked promising, with £1.3bn of R&D tax relief being claimed by UK SMEs. Our conversations and experience with manufacturers, however, show that they are not aware of all the reliefs available to them and may be missing out.

HMRC estimates the manufacturing

One of the latest government initiatives developed in line with this strategy is an increase in the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) to £1m – a considerable boost from the former £200,000 limit.

Manufacturing companies must understand this is a temporary increase due to end in December 2020, and they must therefore make the most of the opportunity as soon as possible. The AIA allows companies to deduct the full value of a qualifying capital item from profit before tax, and most protective equipment also qualifies for the relief.

In an environment where unemployment is at record lows and skilled labour can be hard to find, this measure can support investment in areas such as automation, stimulating investment and productivity. Manufacturing companies face a big challenge in

Join us for our next METALL event: How can established brands thrive in the modern marketing landscape?

Marketing remains a key aspect of driving your business’ profitability, but the landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years.

Join industrial marketing experts Katie and Nik Webb from Molokini, who will discuss the common marketing challenges facing manufacturing, engineering and technology businesses and how you and your team can tackle them.

At this event you’ll learn: • How marketing has changed for industrial brands • What new marketing technologies and tools you need to know about • Why getting your brand right is still a key element in ensuring success We will be holding the Manufacturing Engineering Technology Alliance (METALL) event in the morning on October 10th at Cisswood House Hotel (near Horsham).

You can sign up to this free seminar by visiting www.metall.org. uk/events

balancing short-term profitability with long-term growth.

Summary By making the most of tax benefits, maximising existing resources and making new investments, manufacturers can have a far greater chance of enhancing profitability.

For more information, get in touch with our friendly team of tax and business advisers by calling 01903 234094 or visit www.carpenterbox.com

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HOW TO BE AN

emotionally aware leader Building more effective teams by learning to balance candour and curiosity by author, Craig Weber

I

recently had a chance to visit The Ken Blanchard Companies to pilot content from my newest book, Influence in Action: How to Build Your Conversational Capacity, Do Meaningful Work, and Make a Powerful Difference. The premise of this new book is how to exercise more effective leadership—and find deeper purpose and meaning—by building your ability to engage in open, constructive, learning-focused dialogue when it counts.

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This content builds upon the work of my earlier book, Conversational Capacity — a portion of which is being used in The Ken Blanchard Companies’ new Team Leadership program.

In both the books and the new program, we look at practices leaders can use to increase their awareness, cultivate a new mindset, and hone new skills to increase their own conversational capacity and that of their team.

What is conversational capacity? It’s the ability to remain both candid and curious under pressure. It is in this “sweet spot,” where candour and curiosity are in balance that leaders can have the most influence and their teams are able to perform at their best.

One of the important things we teach is learning how to recognise when emotional reactions threaten to knock

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP can use this framework to influence the conversation in a constructive way—even if no one knows what they’re doing. We can walk into a team meeting about a contentious decision, for example, and by knowing what to watch for and how to respond in more mindful ways, we can have a profound impact on the way the conversation unfolds and the decision gets made.

us off balance. After all, it’s really hard to stay in a sweet spot if we’re not even aware we’ve slipped out of it. This requires learners to become conscious of two defensive emotional reactions, grounded in the powerful fight-or-flight response, that trigger us out of the sweet spot: When the need to win (to be right, to get our way) triggers, we tend to drop curiosity. When the need to minimise the level of risk, tension, or discomfort triggers, we tend to drop candour.

ness front, the basic discipline in building your conversational capacity is to get better at catching it, naming it, and taming it.

There is a power in being able to say; “I can feel my need to minimise starting to kick in. I’d better watch that or I’m at risk of dropping candour,” or “There’s my need to win gearing up. I need to be careful or I’ll leave the sweet spot.”

It allows you to take the next steps: First, refocusing on what matters in

In Conversational Capacity, I share an example of a parent-teacher conference where the teacher is the only person in the meeting who knows these skills. The parents are extremely upset about what they believe is happening.

Yet the teacher is able to pull the entire conversation back into the sweet spot, where it should be: focusing on what matters—getting the parents, the school, and the teachers on the same page about what’s best for a young child’s education.

Conversational capacity is even more powerful when people on a team have a shared set of concepts and skills for how they’re going to communicate when something difficult is on the table. They can create, either formally or informally, what I refer to as a conversational code of conduct—a set of agreements for how team members behave with one another when something important is at stake.

“Research shows that if you can label an emotional reaction, it gives you more control over it”

One simple tool that is helpful for increasing the ability to recognise when these defensive reactions threaten our balance is a trigger journal. In a trigger journal, we notice those moments in life when we leave the sweet spot—and then ask ourselves three questions: What was the trigger? How did it affect my behaviour? and What would be a better way to respond next time I catch it?

Each of us is triggered in distinct ways.

Our differing personalities, roles, cultural backgrounds, experiences, and many other factors guarantee it. For example, a situation that triggers you to shut down might prompt your colleague across the table to heat up.

The goal of a trigger journal isn’t necessarily to get in touch with all of your triggers—I doubt that’s even possible—but to get in the habit of noticing when you’re triggered so you can label it. Research shows that if you can label an emotional reaction, it gives you more control over it. So on the aware-

the conversation—learning, thinking more clearly, and working with others to make the most informed decisions possible; and then replacing your habitual behaviours with skills that will keep you in balance. When your need to minimise kicks in, you can employ two candour skills to stay in the sweet spot. When your need to win is triggered, two curiosity skills can help you stay balanced.

This is the power of conversational capacity. We are able to remain aware, focused on learning, and behaviourally balanced even in difficult moments.

And what’s beautiful about this discipline is that it is helpful at both the individual and the team level.

A single person can have a demonstrable impact on the way decisions are made in a meeting because they

A core idea in my work is how, no matter your status or station, you can play a leading role in building healthier work relationships, teams, organisations, and communities. Building your conversational capacity, and that of your team, is the key to doing it.

If you wish to learn more about The Ken Blanchard Companies’ research on team leadership, please contact uk@kenblanchard.com or visit www. kenblanchard.com/Resources

Training the World’s Best Managers

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Private sector output stabilises in August

P

rivate sector activity in the South East posted no change in August, following two months of consecutive deterioration, according to the latest NatWest PMI® data. This stabilisation occurred despite a sharp fall in overall new business, as firms continued to clear backlogs at an accelerated rate. Input prices rose sharply, as the rate of inflation reached the fastest since January. Meanwhile, output expectations were the second-lowest since future activity data were first compiled in 2012.

The headline NatWest South East Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the combined

output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – posted at the 50.0 neutral mark in August, rising from 49.7 in July. The latest figure signalled no change in private sector output, ending a two-month sequence of decline. Sector data indicated that the steadying of activity levels was due to a marginal increase in the service sector, as manufacturing production continued to decline.

The volume of new work received by private sector firms in the South East fell for the fourth consecutive month in August, with the rate of decline quickening to the fastest in over three years. The fall in overall new business was driven by a marked decline in

Key Findings • New business falls at quickest pace for over three years • Input cost inflation at sharpest rate since January • Output expectations weaken

the manufacturing sector, outweighing a marginal increase in the service sector.

Falling order volumes allowed private sector companies to cut their backlogs at a sharper rate in August. The fall in the level of outstanding business extended the current sequence of decline to 11 months, with the pace of backlog depletion the fastest in the current sequence.

A lack of incoming work and less pressure on capacity led private sector firms in the South East to cut workforce numbers for the first time since February, in August. The reduction was marginal overall.

The rate of input price inflation quickened in August, to the fastest since January. Moreover, it was above the UK average for the

“A lack of incoming work and less pressure on capacity led private sector firms in the South East to cut workforce numbers for the first time since February”

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The volume of new work received by private sector firms in the South East fell for the fourth consecutive month in August, with the rate of decline quickening to the fastest in over three years. The fall in overall new business was driven by a marked decline in the manufacturing sector, outweighing a marginal increase in the service sector.

the quickest of the 12 monitored UK regions.

Outlook

BUSINESS SURVEY

Expectations for business activity weakened in August, reportedly linked to political uncertainty. The level of sentiment was positive overall, but dipped to the second-lowest since the series began in mid-2012.

South East Business Activity Index sa, >50 = growth since previous month

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COMMENT

“The volume of new work received by private sector firms in the South East fell for the fourth consecutive month in August”

first time in six months, and markedly above the long-run series average.

Meanwhile, output prices continued to rise solidly. The rate of increase in selling prices was the sharpest for three months and among the quickest of the 12 monitored UK regions.

Expectations for business activity weakened in August, reportedly linked to political uncertainty. The level of sentiment was positive overall, but dipped to the second-lowest since the series began in mid-2012.

Stuart Johnstone, Managing Director, London & South East, Corporate & Commercial Banking “The South East registered another slight dip in private sector output in July, unlike the trend for the UK as a whole where growth resumed at a weak pace following June’s contraction.

crease in new work since October 2017 – may provide some stimulus to the South East in the coming months.”

“Both new and outstanding business fell in the South East at the start of the second half of the year.

Employment continued to increase, albeit only marginally.

“The outlook darkened in July as Brexit uncertainty remained, with 12-month expectations for output the weakest since April. More positively, London’s recovery in July – the capital saw the greatest in-

Stuart Johnstone

METHODOLOGY The NatWest South East PMI® is compiled by IHS Markit from responses to questionnaires sent to South East companies that participate in IHS Markit’s UK manufacturing and services PMI surveys.

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The Ga twick Diamo nd Bu siness Award s

19th M arch 2020

Join us for a night of glitz and glam as we roar into the 20s to celebrate the very best of business.

The Gatwick Diamond Business Awards celebrate people and businesses who have shown innovation and inspiration in their work, and have demonstrated a real commitment to the region. The Awards have become one of the most prestigious business occasions – celebrating the best of the best across the Gatwick Diamond.

For more information and to download an entry form, visit: WWW.GATWICKDIAMONDBUSINESSAWARDS.COM

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@GDBIZAWARDS

BUSINESS BUSINESS AWARDS SURVEY

The Gatwick Diamond Business Awards

are open for entries The closing date for the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards 2020 entries is the November 22nd 2019. Enter your company now!

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e are delighted to be announcing the 12th Gatwick Diamond Business Awards.

Once again, we have brought together a fantastic group of sponsors and judges to help find and celebrate the very best businesses across the Gatwick Diamond.

The Gatwick Diamond Business Awards celebrate people and businesses who have shown innovation and inspiration in their work and have demonstrated a real commitment to the region.

Any business that is located in or trades in the Gatwick Diamond region

Headline Sponsors

Gatwick Airport Ltd, NatWest, Thakeham, Extech Cloud

Award Categories & Sponsors Business of the Year (Over £1m Turnover) – NatWest Business of the Year (Under £1m Turnover) – SHW Business Person of the Year – Richard Place Dobson Responsible Business of the Year – University of Sussex Business School International Business of the Year - Gatwick Diamond Initiative The Award for Customer Delight – tbc The Award for Developing People – Crawley College The Award for Innovation & Technology – University of Sussex Employer of the Year – Search Green Business of the Year – Britaniacrest Recycling Ltd New Business of the Year – University of Sussex Business School

can enter – you do not need to be a member of Gatwick Diamond Business or any particular organisation and entry is free.

The Awards have become one of the most prestigious business occasions, celebrating the best of the best across the Gatwick Diamond.

Dates for your diary November 22nd 2019 Closing date for entries December 2019 – January 2020 Judging period February 13th 2020 Finalists announcement March 19th 2020 The Gatwick Diamond Business Awards April 16th 2020 Sponsors and Winners Celebration Breakfast

Apprentice of the Year – Reigate & Banstead Borough Council The Award for the Place to Meet – tbc Manufacturing Business of the Year – Kreston Reeves Professional Services of the Year – Crawley Borough Council The Award for Community Investment – Gatwick Airport Limited

Partners Design Partner – Storm12 Ltd Venue Partner – Copthorne & Millennium Hotels Staging Design & AV Technology Partner – Avensys Media Partner – Platinum Publishing Group

To find out more about the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards and to be involved, visit www.gatwickdiamondbusinessawards.com or follow the awards on twitter @gdbizawards

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The Science behind Data A new approach to problem solving in business by Jeremy Horne, RocketMill’s Head of Data Science Celebrating their 10th year in business and as the newly crowned BAHBAs Company of the Year, Brighton’s multi-award-winning performance marketing agency, RocketMill is soaring to new heights.

Several new senior appointments include former Mindshare UK Chief Strategy Officer, Matt Andrews who joined RocketMill as CSO in March and most recently, Jeremy Horne, RocketMill’s new Head of Data Science.

Jeremy is first up in RocketMill’s new

thought leadership series with Platinum Business Magazine, delivering his no-nonsense approach to how data science can drive efficiencies for your business.

Former Head of Analytics at The Kite Factory, Jeremy is an experienced data, analytics and insight professional with over 14 years’ experience working with clients across multiple industries. He is responsible for building a new function within the business to help RocketMill’s clients understand their customers.

I

t sounds a bit cliché, but Data really is the new oil. Brands know a lot more about us as consumers than ever before and this means we expect a lot more of them in return – specifically, personalisation. We want marketing communications tailored to our preferences – the types of products we buy and the discounts to make these purchases possible – and with choice available, we’re more than happy to shop elsewhere if we don’t get this.

So how can brands not only get our attention – but keep it for subsequent purchases? Unsurprisingly, it all goes back to Data. At RocketMill, we part-

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP BUSINESS SURVEY ner with clients on their data driven journeys to answer key business questions, across five core service areas:

1

Database strategy Customer databases are growing in complexity. Analysing all this information can be a daunting task, but organising it in the first place can often be trickier, for example: •W hat fields should I collect from my customers at what part of the journey?

• How should I best engage with my customers to collect and update this information?

• What structure should my database take and how should I organise it?

• How do I merge all my legacy databases into a single source of the truth?

• Can I streamline my datasets to have fewer fields, without losing the granularity?

makes it inefficient to contact everyone all the time, so it is important to create smaller cohorts to focus on for targeting. We use a comprehensive suite of techniques to create simple and actionable segments, including: • Recency, Frequency, Value modelling to understand the scale of opportunity • S tatistical clustering, grouping together people with similar characteristics

“Data science is all about problem solving”

We work through this process to ensure clients have a simple, yet comprehensive dataset of the people at the core of their business.

2

CRM analysis We get under the skin of customer databases to help clients understand their customers, answering questions such as: • What does my typical customer look like and how do they transact/interact with our products?

•H ow do I define a high value customer and what makes them different in terms of purchase behaviour and LTV? • How can we get smarter with “freetext” data, e.g. emails and call centre transcripts?

3

Segmentation The growth of CRM databases

•C ustomer profiling to identify geographical areas of opportunity for database growth

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Modelling Segmentation techniques are great, but why contact everybody within a chosen segment? Our machine learning models generate customer level insight so that clients can understand which people are most likely to: • Purchase over a given timescale • Purchase without a discount • Become high value customers • Respond to a piece of direct mail

seasonally?

• How should I distribute my channel spend to get the best return?

Of course, these techniques can seem daunting and complex and I don’t expect everyone to become technical experts overnight. Look out for my Data Science 101 video series on our YouTube channel for more information, but to boil it down to two words, data science is all about “Problem solving”.

I’d encourage you to ask yourself what your key business challenges are and get in touch if you’d like some help solving these with data.

Jeremy’s Data Science 101 video series features alongside a playlist of RocketMill Moments from experts across the agency. These snappy insight films deliver thought leadership and advice in around two minutes – perfect for business leaders.

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Media measurement There’s more to marketing than just the customer picture – how can we make the entire process more efficient? We evaluate historical media performance to answer questions such as: • What is my marketing ROI for each media channel?

• Am I operating within diminishing returns for each of my media channels?

• What is the optimal weekly spend (by media channel) and does this differ

Want to start your data driven journey?

Get in touch to grow your business: RocketMill Ltd, City View, Stroudley Road, Brighton, BN1 4DJ YT: RocketMill Digital Marketing t: @RocketMill I: @rocketmill_ W: Rocketmill.co.uk LI: @RocketMill T: 01273 916 600

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China’s

favourite capitalist

Jack Ma created Alibaba, China’s equivalent of Amazon, after failing to find his favourite beer online.

Profile by Ian Trevett

T

he world’s rich list is dominated by tech entrepreneurs who have exploited the opportunities thrown up by the internet, and accumulated billions in the process.

They are the smart guys (yes, mostly men) who came up with an idea and discovered the world could not stop giving them money, and they have become global celebrities to boot.

gap in the market. He teamed up with a group of pals who shared a crowded apartment and bought into his dream of creating an e-commerce business.

He struggled for years to make it a reality, but when he made it, he made it big.

In September, when he stepped down from Alibaba, the company he founded, his personal net worth was estimated to be $38.5 billion.

We have featured many of these super-rich geeks on the covers of the magazine: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Apple’s Steve Jobs (and his successor Tim Cook), Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg and Microsoft’s Bill Gates. And there is another name who belongs firmly in the same company: Jack Ma.

Capitalist in a Communist Country Unlike the rest of the tech billionaire boys’ club, Ma does not hail from California’s Silicon Valley - his home town is Hangzhou, China. And he is a fully paid-up member of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1934, when Chairman Mao led a ragged group of die-hard communists on the legendary and heroic Long March of more than 4,000 miles across 24 rivers and 18 mountain ranges, he probably wasn’t driven by the dream of creating a land for super rich capitalists. But China’s modern take on communism is probably not exactly what Karl Marx envisaged

Ma’s story has uncanny similarities with the others. It is a true rags-to-riches story of a man who just happened to have a canny entrepreneurial zeal.

He had no coding experience but when using the internet he spotted a massive

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when he scribbled away on the manuscripts of Das Kapital amongst the dusty books in the British Library.

Li Yuan, New York Times’ Hong Kongbased correspondent wasn’t exactly shocked by the apparent contradiction: “Though it still publicly extols the principles of Karl Marx, the Chinese Communist Party largely abandoned collectivist doctrine in the post-Mao era, freeing private entrepreneurs to help build the world’s second-largest economy after the United States.

“In fact, the disclosure reveals a party that is eager to prove its legitimacy by affiliating itself with capitalist success stories. Mr Ma is a tech rock star in China, and his membership in the party could prod others to follow his lead.”

Some believe that the Communist Party goes much further than taking a paternal pride in Alibaba’s success.

In 2015, Forbes ran a piece by Jay

THE BIG PROFILE

Somaney entitled “Chinese Government Has A Huge ‘Stake’ In Alibaba”.

He wrote, “With China’s murky and archaic ownership structure laws and the fact that the government of China and/or the China Communist Party has huge control over almost single thing in the Chinese economy, companies and even society, means that Alibaba is the ‘golden child’ at the moment.

“In almost every single line of its various businesses, Alibaba is by and large protected by the government from foreign competitors.

initiative and entrepreneurship. In fact, since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, large businesses have found their independence further curtailed. The Economist doubts whether China will see likes of a Jack Ma again noting “the Party is intent on having a say much earlier in the development of industries that it considers impor-

avoid flashy demonstrations of power or wealth. Beijing fears unrest stemming from a yawning wealth gap, and nothing stokes public ire more than a bejewelled billionaire in a flashy car.

Finally, put on a good face for the country. Don’t make China look petty, small or cheap. Give it a successful mien, one that makes the People’s Republic look like a benevolent superpower in the making.”

“Ma has the instinct of a capitalist but has to play by the rules, including the unspoken ones”

“… The Communist Party of China has succeeded in building a publicly traded global brand name although it’s been done under the usual cloak and dagger secrecy.”

The relationship between state and business is complex. The Party wants to control business but in doing so stifles

tant. As a result, China is unlikely to see new business leaders with the boldness and brio to match Mr Ma.” Ma has the instinct of a capitalist but has to play by the rules, including the unspoken ones. The Spectator’s Elliot Wilson attributes Ma’s longevity to his adherence to three strict rules: “First, business is purely business: never stray into the political realm. Second,

You could claim that Alibaba’s stratospheric success can be explained by the backing of the Chinese state. But equally, it could be argued that Ma’s achievements are all the more remarkable as he has had juggle being an agile businessman with compliance to the unpredictable whims of the Communist Party.

Where’s my favourite beer?

Ma’s eye for a deal started at a young age. After President Nixon visited Hangzhou in 1972, Ma’s hometown

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THE BIG PROFILE became a tourist mecca. As a teenager, Ma started waking up early to visit the city’s main hotel, offering visitors tours of the city in exchange for English lessons. The nickname ‘Jack’ was given to him by a tourist he befriended (his real name is Ma Yun).

Business Insider describes the moment when Ma spotted the big opportunity. “Ma was captivated by the internet when he used it for the first time during a trip to the US in 1995.

He had recently started a translation business and made the trip to help a Chinese firm recover a payment. Ma’s first online search was ‘beer,’ but he was surprised to find that no Chinese beers turned up in the results.”

Ma found American beer, German beer and many others, but no Chinese beer. His country was, it seemed, living in the dark ages. The Economist wrote: “With liberalisation would come rising incomes and global travel, reasoned Mr Ma, and soon hundreds of millions of Chinese would clamour for the goods and services enjoyed by the comfortable classes elsewhere.

Unlike those in America, the land of Sears and Walmart, China’s retail chains were fragmented and stodgy.

This, Mr Ma calculated, meant that e-commerce could quickly become a potent force.

“Ma is one of China’s best-known personalities and he is always ready with a good quote or an inspirational message” “He was right. China’s online consumers are now the world’s most voracious.”

The figures are staggering. This year Alibaba is targeting $1tn in gross merchandise value, the value of the goods sold on its platforms, up from $853bn last year.

Ma has left his successor eye-watering targets. He predicts that by 2036 the Alibaba economy will create 100 million jobs, support 10 million profitable businesses and serve two billion customers around the world.

The wisdom of Jack Ma Ma is one of China’s best-known personalities and he is always ready with a good quote or an inspirational message, which are intently received by his millions of admirers. You could fill a book with Ma’s outpourings of wisdom such as ‘Help young people. Help small guys. Because small guys will be big. Young people will have the seed you bury in their minds, and when they grow up, they will change the world.’

Or: ‘The world will not remember what

“China’s online consumers are now the world’s most voracious.”

you say, but it will not forget what you have done.’

He loves a stage and adores attention.

Each year he gathers all of his employees who have got married in previous 12 months to perform a mass ‘Wedding Ceremony’ where he encourages the couples to have lots of sex and bear children. He has appeared in a Kung Fu film, where he wipes out eight attackers single-handedly. He likes to sing or dance at the annual company conference – in 2017 he dressed as Michael Jackson and threw some moves on stage. His retirement party was a modest affair - just 60,000 in the Olympic Stadium!

His mantra is ‘work hard and play hard’. He backs what is known as the 996 working week. This is where employees from 9am to 9pm, six days a week. Earlier this year, he wrote that without the system, China’s economy was “very likely to lose vitality and impetus”.

He expects employees to sweat blood for the company, but he believes in rewarding his people. He has always distributed shares to employees and many have profited from the success of the company.

With the increasing US-China tensions, it may be a timely move to exit from the company, but this is not his motivation. Now he is turning to philanthropy and will focus on his foundation. He intends to follow in the footsteps of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, though Ma is as competitive as ever, saying, “I can never be as rich [as Bill Gates], but one thing I can do better is to retire earlier!”

With his fortune and business acumen, Ma has the opportunity to make a real difference, but his personal ambition is less ambitious. He declared, “I’ll go back to teaching. This is something I think I can do much better than being CEO of Alibaba.”

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YOUR GOALS, OUR EXPERTISE IT ALL ADDS UP TO THE WINNING TEAM Whether you are a well-established business or just starting out, we aim to save you time and money.

We offer quality accountancy and business advice for a fixed fee, tailored to your specific needs. Our team are friendly, approachable, with jargon-free expertise and fast-response times. We work with you when you want and how you want.

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We work hard on your accounts, so you don’t have to.

OUR SERVICES: CORPORATE BUSINESS PRIVATE CLIENT

For further information and an initial FREE meeting, or to discuss how we can help you achieve your goals, please contact us on: T: 01273 739592 E: info@cardens4u.co.uk W: www.cardensaccountants.com

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Kingston Smith changes its name to Moore Kingston Smith

We are delighted to announce that we have changed our name and will now be known as Moore Kingston Smith.

Our new name reflects our membership of the Moore Stephens International Network, one of the world’s major accounting and consulting networks, which has also simultaneously rebranded to become known as Moore.

Paul Samrah, partner in Redhill commented: “Kingston Smith joined the global advisory and accounting network in May, enhancing our offering to

clients at an international level, and strengthening the development and growth opportunities of our firm and our people. Of course, we are still the same local practice providing advice and support to our clients; but the network enhances our international reach for businesses looking for that support.”

The addition of the Moore name will enhance Kingston Smith’s international presence and reach, while retaining the firm’s valuable heritage and brand recognition.

Maureen Penfold, managing partner, commented: “Helping our clients thrive has always been central to Kingston Smith’s identity and purpose. Being internationally recognised as the London firm of the Moore Global network will position us to provide even greater support to our

clients in reaching their global aspirations.”

She continued: “Our heritage and independence is important to us as a partnership, as it is to our clients and our people. Our commitment to our core values, which place clients at the centre of everything we do, is shared by the Moore network, whose vision is to become the most respected accounting network in the world.

“The natural alignment between our brands has made adding the Moore name to Kingston Smith a natural next step in our journey – one which will further strengthen our international presence and reach.”

Paul added: “I know that the whole team at Redhill is keen to make use of our new network to continue to support our clients’ growth and development.”

01737 779000 redhill@mks.co.uk www.mooreks.co.uk/redhill

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

The pace of change Global accounting firm Mazars believe that innovation, diversity, and ethics are more important than ever. We hear from Mike Bailey, Partner, on how entrepreneurs can embrace change in our rapidly changing world Working with clients of all sizes, from start-ups and entrepreneurial business to global players, we offer a different perspective and aren’t afraid to challenge. We are committed to providing valuable insights, high quality services and developing enduring relationships.

How long has Mazars been established?

Mazars bears the name of its original founder, Robert Mazars, who started his practice near Rouen, in Western France, in 1940. The firm quickly grew to establish itself as a highly reputable practice, rapidly acquiring new clients and becoming well-known for its focus on technical excellence and quality of service.

We believe that a societal approach to business and ethical behaviour is more important than ever. Our Business, For Good® initiative encourages business leaders to ‘think and act long-term’ in order to enhance business performance and pursue profit responsibly for the benefit of companies, their stakeholders and wider society.

How has the landscape for entrepreneurial businesses changed over recent years?

Business has become so much faster in recent years. The rate of innovation has increased dramatically and innovations become the “The move toward norm far quicker. has brought opIn the UK, Mazars greater inclusivity This portunities for those merged with Neville who can embrace Russell in 1998. Nevand diversity disruptive innovaille Russell traces its in business is tion but has spelt history back to 1900, when Charles Nevgathering pace” doom for those who can’t. ille Russell set up his own business bookkeeping for Lloyd’s underwriting syndicates in the heart of The move toward greater inclusivity the City of London. Mazars is now an and diversity in business is gathering integrated partnership in 89 countries pace with implications for engageacross the globe, with over 23,000 ment with both a company’s workprofessionals. force and its customer base.

What makes you stand out from the rest?

We’re a positively different firm. We have strong values, where innovation and collaboration are encouraged and diversity embraced – we are committed to building for the future.

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There is a growing pressure on businesses of all sizes to demonstrate a more ethical approach to business, whether that’s in relation to procurement, employee behaviour, business decisions, environmental impact or workers’ rights. And businesses that

fall short of what society sees as acceptable are called out on social media sometimes within hours of their transgression.

What positive steps can businesses take to stay ahead of the game in what seems an unstable future?

Businesses must balance the need for a short-term focus with the need for informed, long-term strategies.

Every business is different but there are some positive steps all companies can consider: • However hard it may be, focus on the future instead of prioritising the here and now. As part of Mazars Optimize approach we help you to clarify your strategic vision and assess whether you need to realign your objectives to achieve this.

• Always look for ways to use technology to streamline your business processes. Embrace the digital era. An enhanced digital presence can open new markets and provides a better understanding of your customers’ needs.

• Value and develop your workforce.

Workforce planning involves understanding your current and future labour markets to identify where your workforce is coming from. With Brexit looming, companies who get on top of this will be ahead of the game.

Contact Mazars Mike Bailey and his team can help you spend time on your business, not in your business. Contact Mike at mike. bailey@mazars.co.uk

BUSINESS EXPO

How trade shows can help SMEs grow and develop The Business Show’s aim is to help and develop SMEs to succeed in their own business ventures…

A

t the start of 2018 there were 5.6 million small businesses in the UK. This number is continuing to fluctuate, but in recent years we are seeing more and more SME’s become successful and who are even starting to franchise.

Still, one of the most popular franchises that has come out of the UK remains to be The Body Shop, who have gained massive international success with over 2,000 stores in 66 different markets. Here at The Business Show we love motivational stories of start-ups and seeing how far small businesses can come, and we know we can play a big part in helping them get there.

The very purpose of starting The Business Show was to provide the essential tools for the start-up of businesses and to encourage the growth and development of SME’s.

The Business Show has been running for 20+ years, and with that the organisers, event managers and directors have gained great knowledge of what is needed to succeed in the business world.

The Business Show is Prysm Group’s flagship and longest running event, and

the reason the show has been running for 20+ years is that it shows fantastic results and we see lots of thriving businesses at the end of it. The Business Show provides the right platform to climb the ladder to your destination of

success. With business owners, entrepreneurs, and employees congregating at the ExCeL Centre in London in May 2019, the Business Show was again, an unprecedented success.

The Business Show is known for its industry-leading seminar programme, and this year it contained over 200 of the most influential speakers from across the sector. We were honoured to have Sian Gabbidon, winner of The Apprentice 2018 as one of our unrivalled

keynotes. Sian offered her invaluable experience and advice to entrepreneurs who look to follow in her footsteps and create a business from scratch.

One of the main highlights of this event is the speed networking area, which allows visitors to create more contacts in just one hour than others do in their whole career. Running alongside our seminar programme is 125 interactive masterclasses, which will provide even more insight into how other business professionals grow and expand their businesses while also reinforcing the knowledge you have already taken from the show.

On November 27th & 28th, The London ExCeL will see the 42nd edition of The Business Show take place. It is set to be the biggest and best show to date. Our keynote line-up already has amazing talent such as The CEO of Revolution Beauty, Adam Minto. As well as the Founder of Lad Bible, Alex Partridge and many more to be announced. We really hope you can come and join in with all that The Business Show has to offer. www.thebusinessshow.co.uk

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On the record

LEGAL

Employees may have the means to record a disciplinary or grievance meeting, but are they entitled to? Employment law specialist Greg Burgess offers some advice may be considered a reasonable adjustment.

Greg Burgess

M

ost of us carry a mobile phone that’s capable of recording a conversation; but do employers have to allow employees to digitally record a disciplinary or grievance meeting if asked? Employment partner Greg Burgess explains how employers should respond.

Can you refuse?

Yes; as long as you are confident that you are going to be able to produce an accurate minute or note of the meeting, then there is no reason to agree to allow the employee to record it.

An employee has the right to be accompanied to any such meeting by a colleague or trade union representative whose role, in part, should be to take a note of the meeting for the employee to refer back to. If the employee comes to the meeting unaccompanied, and asks instead to record the meeting, then you still are not obliged to allow them to record it - you might suggest allowing regular breaks to allow them to keep their own contemporaneous note.

of any internal meetings. In a similar vein, it was recently held in the case of Phoenix House Limited v Stockman that a Tribunal was right to reduce the employee’s compensation by 10% after she covertly recorded an internal meeting.

Can an employee who covertly records a meeting subsequently rely on the recording in a subsequent Tribunal claim?

Yes, potentially. Tribunals take a fairly Can you, the employer, record the employee-friendly approach here. If meeting? the recording contains evidence that There is nothing to stop you recordis relevant to the claim before them, then it is quite possible the Tribunal will agree to that “If the employee comes to recording being admitted the meeting unaccompanied, as evidence.

and asks instead to record

How can you pre-empt the meeting, then you still any request to record are not obliged to allow meetings?

It’s advisable to make it them to record it” clear in your disciplinary ing the meeting yourself, provided you policy that employees are not allowed make clear to the employee that they to record internal meetings (including will be provided with a copy of the redisciplinary and grievance meetings). cording.

You should also ask them to confirm at the start of the meeting that they are not recording it.

Can you take disciplinary action against an employee if they have covertly recorded a meeting?

Yes, particularly if you have made it clear in your disciplinary policy that no covert recordings should be made

Greg Burgess is a Partner in DMH Stallard’s Employment team. Contact him at greg.burgess@dmhstallard. com, or call 01293 558547. www.dmhstallard.com

The only circumstance where it may be prudent to agree to the request might be if the employee has a medical condition which prevents them from taking a note for themselves, and where they have not been able to find a colleague to accompany them. This

39

The Local Industrial Strategy

why should businesses care?

Jeff Alexander, CEO of Gatwick Diamond Business, calls for our region to shout louder There are several reasons for this. First is that we are taken for granted – the goose will continue to lay the golden eggs come what may. The second is identity - our distinct economies are lumped together as “the wealthy South East”. Third, is the difficulty national politicians have in shouting about the importance for investment in the country’s wealth creating assets as opposed to just addressing failure.

T

he Northern Power House and Midlands Engine are strong brands. The aim of government, local business and civic leaders is to make the economies they define match the branding. You will be hard pressed to find a government minister’s speech on the economy that does not refer to at least one these areas – often with a commitment to invest in their growth. The same cannot be said for our part of the country.

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the catastrophic equivalent of the decline of the steel, shipbuilding and coal industries. There are exceptions, such as our sea-side towns, but overall our economy has proven resilient through change. The diversity of our economy is one of our great strengths and a factor in the relative speed with which it recovered from the 2008 crash. But it is also a challenge in terms of projecting a clear identity.

“We are taken for granted – the goose will continue to lay the golden eggs come what may”

All three factors are valid. Decades of regional economic policy (or lack of it) have failed to reduce the North/South and other economic divides. So positive discrimination in favour of economies and communities that have suffered the consequences of the decline of industries on which they were dependent is a valid government policy.

The South East has largely been spared

I’ve described a difficult backdrop against which Coast to Capital (C2C), our business-led Local Enterprise Partnership, must negotiate a Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) with government. All LEPs are required to work with central government and local stakeholders to produce these strategies by the end of the year. Our LIS will determine the investment our region will attract from government in areas vital to business including infra-

BUSINESS OPINION

structure, skills and innovation.

The LISs flow from the National Industrial Strategy which focuses on driving up productivity to at least match the levels achieved by our main international competitors – we are simply not punching our weight. The emphasis is on productivity gain rather job creation as an end in itself. This should play to our strengths, but only if we get three things right.

First, we must galvanise business interest, input and support. I have so far attended three C2C consultation events on the LIS – in very different parts of the region – Bognor, Brighton and Reigate. The choice of these locations reflects the economic diversity of our region – belying the “wealthy South East” generalisation.

So far, this early-stage consultation has appealed particularly, but not exclusively, to ‘partners’ rather than businesses. I am not knocking this, but as the process moves on and propo-

sitions begin to develop, deeper business involvement and commitment will be essential. This is itself a challenge for our region – our business leaders are not naturally inclined to “march on London” with their elected representatives in the way that their Northern equivalents are. Like it or not, this is to do with lack of regional identity and, perhaps, lack of common interest in the face of adversity.

Second, it follows that we must work harder to create that identity around which our public, private and social sectors can rally. Gatwick as a brand, and the airport as an economic driver, must be at the heart of this. They are what make us stand out – regionally, nationally and internationally. C2C recognised this is naming their Strategic Economic Plan (a forerunner of the LIS), “Gatwick 360°”. The LIS needs to capture the imagination and get business fully behind it. It needs to offer an equivalent rallying call to the Norther Powerhouse or, more aptly, better performing areas such as the Oxford

to Cambridge Corridor.

Third, we must demonstrate a commitment to, and opportunities for, productivity-driven growth. We need to identify and build partnerships around investments that, with government support, will deliver an exceptional economic dividend for the UK economy. Without that commitment and focus, we have nothing to offer the government in return for the infrastructure and other investment we badly need.

An early test has come with the publication on 18th July of the Gatwick Airport Master Plan taking forward the option of bringing the stand by runway into operational use. Will the region’s businesses and civic leaders come together, as powerful critical friends, to champion our “Engine for Growth”?

Gatwick Diamond Business stands ready to work with C2C, other business organisations and our local authority partners to ensure that as a region we pass this test.

“Decades of regional economic policy (or lack of it) have failed to reduce the North/South and other economic divides”

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A pier

into the future How video technology helps match clients and candidates for Pier Recruitment date will be finding inventive ways to be away from the office to attend job interviews, so they will desperately want to avoid fruitless expeditions.

T

he first interview for a job is always a jump into the dark – for both the client and the candidate.

The client has read the CV and feels confident that the candidate has the right experience, but will they be the right person for the role? Will the candidate be presentable and fit in with the office culture. Will they communicate well and be professional. You never really know who is going to walk through the door, and multiple hours of valuable time can be wasted by appointments with unsuitable applicants.

For the candidate, the lost time in pointless interviews can be even more traumatic. In many cases, the candi-

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Katie Gibson, Managing Director at Pier Recruitment, is acutely aware of how inefficient the traditional recruitment process can be. She says, “80% of our clients said they only carry out a first stage interview or telephone interview to establish if the candidate was articulate and could communicate effectively and to find out if the person was a good cultural fit for their team.

“We believe recruitment should be simple and streamlined.

“Last year we carried out research on what companies find frustrating about the service we provide. The length of time spent on the recruitment process was exhausting and candidates not showing up for interviews was demotivating.

“Many of our clients said that they have so many applications for their jobs, it was often hard to narrow down their search. This coupled with finding the CVs often don’t reflect the true skill set of the potential employee, meant they felt the need to offer more interviews than are really necessary.”

There had to be an easier way Katie found the answer to this age-old problem when she discovered Hinterview, a company who specialise in recruitment videos at an industry conference in London. Hinterview creates platforms where an agency can pre-interview candidates and produce short interviews to be sent to the client. Katie worked with Hinterview to create a bespoke, ground-breaking video-engagement system called ‘Pier View’.

“The process is very simple for the candidate,” says Katie. “It is just like being on FaceTime or Skype, and the video is only two to three minutes long. We just ask the candidate five questions which we have already agreed with the client.

“Pier View is a two-way interview tool designed to take the place of a first stage interview, significantly reducing the time to hire and therefore reducing the cost of recruiting. The system brings the candidates to life and makes them more than a piece of paper.”

Robust and safe Importantly, the thorny issue of GDPR has been robustly tackled, as Katie explains: “The GDPR had to be 100% secure. A client can only view the video five times. If they want to see it again

BUSINESS INNOVATION

we will ask why. We can scrap the video from our end at any time. You can’t download or forward it on. You can’t cut and paste it on social media and breach someone’s privacy. This is very important as the candidate may want their job hunting to be totally confidential.”

The Pier View difference Having a video pre-interview has cut time and costs, and helped ensure the right candidates get the right jobs. Katie comments, “A common complaint is that people can write very good CVs, but the candidate may not be as impressive as they might expect from the CV. Or vice versa, you get candidates who are much better in real life in the interview than their CV suggests.

“The first stage for potential employers is to see if there is a cultural fit and if the applicant has good communication skills. We are saving clients 70% of time. Clients are not losing good candidates due to the length of the process. And they know that the candidate has confidence in front of a camera, which indicates they are a comfortable communicator.

know the candidates is committed to the process ahead of them.

“Pier View helps clients and candidates, but is also helps us at the agency. Our consultants know that if a client agrees to see a candidate after seeing the video, there is more chance that they will want to employ them. And that means we are offering a great service as a recruitment business.”

“Candidates like the fact that clients have seen the video, so they know that the client has already seen something they like.

“We have found that Pier View has reduced the number of candidates not showing up for interview by 90%. Having completed the video interview, we

For more information, email Info@ pierrecruitment.co.uk Or call 01273 874192

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Let’s get moving

By Paul Ollerton, Managing Director at ViiSana Ltd amounts of money, by implementing simple sustainable ideas.

The Benefits

Paul Ollerton

P

hysical inactivity is commonly labelled as one of the most worrying and largest public health issues of the 21st century. It’s also accepted that being physically active is good for your mental and physical wellbeing.

BUT, we are faced with a situation where around four in five workers in the UK have a desk job and most of our work is sedentary. On average, desk workers are sitting up to nine and a half hours a day. Yes – you read that correctly - NINE AND A HALF HOURS PER DAY! As employers, we should clearly be taking responsibility to make a change through creating a more active-oriented work environment.

This month’s article focusses on how this can be achieved in a business of any size, without spending large

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First and foremost, physical activity is a natural mood elevator; studies show it relieves mild anxiety and depression, improves energy, and increases a general sense of wellbeing. It is therefore easy to make the natural assumption that companies whose workers are active both on and off the job will have a higher morale.

Couple this with the more obvious benefits of staying active such as a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, musculoskeletal problems and many other improvements (not to mention the cost to business that this brings), and you are left with a pretty compelling reason to take this seriously.

A recently published study in the USA, of more than one million people, identified that being physically active for one hour per working day would negative the increased health risks of sitting for more than eight hours per day.

The same study also suggested a link between the same hour of activity and a lower chance of developing mental health deterioration, including symptoms of depression and burnout, in comparison to those who remain physically inactive.

Don’t be a desk potato So here are the simple areas to consider to get your workforce moving: Make a stand • Give employees the option of standing desks throughout the day. Rather than buying one for all employees, consider setting up a “pod” of standing desks for people to use as they wish – and make sure everyone gets a turn if they wish to.

• Remove the chairs from a meeting room and make a no-chair policy for the room (then stick to it), or make standing at long meetings an acceptable option.

• Encourage telephone calls standing up – there is evidence that people can communicate more powerfully when standing.

Make a Move • I ntroduce walking meetings. These can be especially useful for 1:1s among managers and their employees for a less formal check-in.

•T ake the stairs not the lift. Put signs up in the lift to encourage people and make stairwells more appealing with artwork or motivational signage.

•M ove around the workspace. Encourage conversation rather than emailing or messaging – it might be worth considering office layout to encourage walking.

HEALTH & WELLBEING

Think ‘desk’ • Consider hot desking as an alternative to standard seating. Many UK corporates have moved to having a more agile workplace. This means workers sit in a different seat every day, taking their belongings with them as they move around. This also helps to foster wider working relationships.

• S wap some of your chairs for stability balls for those workers who wish to use them. They do help to build core strength but need to be carefully considered if a worker is prone to lower back problems.

Technology to the help • Invest/subsidise in wearable technology or pedometers. Some health and wellbeing providers (like Vitality) will provide these at low cost to help kick start a project. The gadgets can be set to give timely reminders to move, and groups/teams can enter

online leagues for fun to see who can move the most.

• Small devices such as a portable pedal machine can counter some of the harmful effects of sedentary working, according to a small study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Encourage all the time • Put a simple A4 poster at workstations reminding workers of the benefits of moving.

•A dopt the ‘5 in 55’ rule. Every 55 minutes get up and MOVE. Encourage workers to take brief, two to three minute fitness breaks throughout the day for brisk walking, stretching, or stair climbing.

• Introduce an active lunch break programme – ban eating at the desk and organise lunchtime walking, running, cycling, or yoga groups.

Contact us ViiSana specialises in implementing wellbeing programmes through the implementation of company-wide Vitality Life and Health insurance. If you would like to discuss your company’s individual health concerns/challenges, or if you would just like to discuss ideas for implementing a programme at your business, please get in touch: Email: paul.ollerton@viisana.com Phone: 0333 772 0761 Twitter/Instagram/Facebook/ LinkedIn

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HEALTH & WELLBEING

Cutting alcohol with a DrinkCoach Could DrinkCoach help you sleep better and lose weight, from the comfort of your own home?

I

t can be easy to get into the habit of using alcohol to unwind at the end of a long and busy day, but even a couple of drinks can affect the quality of your sleep.

Alcohol is also highly calorific (with seven calories per gram, almost as much as pure fat), and disrupts natural sleep cycles so while you may drop off quickly after a glass or two, you may wake up feeling less than refreshed.

If you’re drinking more heavily, you may wake feeling as though you’ve had no rest at all and it can be easy to turn to comfort food to get you through the day, before repeating the same process the next evening.

Having more drink-free days and drinking less overall can result in big improvements in quality of sleep, as well as weight loss and a host of other benefits. This was certainly the experience of Joe*, a 50 year old male who made contact with DrinkCoach after seeing a social media advert on Facebook.

DrinkCoach offers one-to-one coaching sessions, via Skype, for anyone looking to change their drinking habits.

DrinkCoach sessions are free for people living or working in West Sussex.

Joe was drinking five bottles of 5% lager (660ml) every evening, when he contacted DrinkCoach, which equated to 116 units per week. This pattern had begun when he was working in London, as his workplace had a heavy drinking culture. Over time, heavy drinking had become a habit. Joe was concerned about the long term impact of his drinking on his health and felt

46

that alcohol was the main contributor to him being overweight. This prompted him to contact DrinkCoach.

Joe had four sessions with his DrinkCoach, Lucy, and with her support reduced his drinking from 116 to 23 units per week, with a number of alcohol free days.

DrinkCoach sessions are free for people living or working in West Sussex.

As the sessions are via Skype they can be done from anywhere with internet access, so can be done in total privacy. Sessions are available at evenings and weekend, as well as during the working week, making it easy to fit around busy lives.

As a result of these changes, Joe experienced improvements in his physical health (including improvements to his blood pressure), his psychological health and his overall wellbeing. The most positive benefit Joe experienced was an improvement in the quality of his sleep, and this became his biggest motivation to maintain his changes.

Hot on the heels of his success, Joe’s wife also managed to also reduce her drinking, and she too reported improvements in energy levels and sleep.

To book an appointment or find out more, visit DrinkCoach.org.uk and enter the code ‘WSWork’ to get your sessions for free.

BUSINESS GROWTH

NatWest Accelerator

Entrepreneur of the Month – September 2019 Jarvis Smith, MyGreenPod profit. All commerce should have one unified purpose: “Does it serve all things for all time.” If not you are causing more harm than good.

Please describe what MyGreenPod does We are an ethical lifestyle media company with a magazine supplement distributed with the Guardian, a website and we run the country’s number one sustainability awards. Our business has always been about inspiring people to live more sustainably.

Before I came into business I studied with a female Shaman for over ten years, learning the laws of nature and sacred and spiritual laws and still do a Kriya (an ancient Eastern technology which includes Breathing, Yoga and Meditation) daily. I mention this because it gave me a set of rules that I applied to my business.

These rules were as follows, to have a solid foundation, to work in co creation with source and nature, to be an inspiration to others working in harmony with people and planet, to have integrity, to be in service to all things for all time and to have a good flow of energy coming in (and going out) which we call cash flow.

The business was never about just profit but about purpose, planet and

What have been your highlights?

We are now in times of change with the climate emergency and the pillars of society falling apart everywhere.

Most people are too busy to care, but within the next ten years all the nice things we have in our lives will be taken away and we will be tested on mass. This potentially is going to be huge shamanic awakening for humanity. I’m not trying to scare anyone, because if you are at peace with life and death being the same thing then we have nothing to fear.

model and a social community platform.

MyGreenPod has always been a movement, a place for people to explore how they can become better human beings by supporting a restorative economy.

If you run an ethical business do enter our P.E.A. (People. Environment.

Achievement.) Awards. It’s free to enter and the awards will be held in a secret London Venue on November 13th – the closing date for entries is the September 30th. www.peaawards. com

This for me is a highlight in the sense that I could see the future and trusted that vision and as a result, responded at the time. In a very practical and tangible way of noticing we are doing things right, we often break a story before the other mainstream media outlets like the BBC. We have grown from a million readers to over six million in the last four years, our projection over the next two years is to reach ten million. We were bought into by Yeo Valley’s investment fund three years again and have been creating a model that will tap into their 13.5 million customer base.

We have a brand new website launching with a marketplace, a subscription

If you have a great ethical product that needs exposure email jarvis@ mygreenpod.com Sign up to the magazine for free at: www.mygreenpod.com/subscribe For a greener cleaner lifestyle go to: www.mygreenpod.com

Each month the leadership team at Brighton’s NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator select a founder of the month to recognise the individuals that have demonstrated a growth mindset and entrepreneurial spirit to overcome challenges and accelerate the growth of their business in a short space of time.

To find out more about the Accelerator hub, email kristina.pereckaite@ NatWest.com

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Nigel Lambe, Chief Executive of Sussex Innovation and Laurence Grant, Director Match founder

SUSSEX INNOVATION LAUNCHES...

New Investor Network Suss Ventures, a new partnership with the founder of Director Match, Laurence Grant, aims to match start-ups with high-net worth investors in order to accelerate business growth

S

for Suss Ventures, matching our own “Since joining Sussex Innovation earussex Innovation has partambitions. lier this year, I have been very aware nered with Laurence Grant of the many companies in our ecosysto launch a new investment “By finding the right investors for the tem who are seeking investment for initiative designed to bring the South right opportunity, many of East’s most innovative our members have been start-ups and high net worth “I’m very proud that Sussex able to successfully raise individuals together to acInnovation has brought me on the finance to grow in the celerate the growth of high board to help launch Croydon’s past. With this new initiapotential businesses. first dedicated service for raising tive, we hope to create a more formalised way of Suss Ventures will be manfinance and investment” doing what we’ve always aged by the Director Match done, matching more of founder, and is initially Laurence Grant these opportunities to based out of Sussex Innoprivate and professional investors the next stage of their growth,” says vation’s East Croydon hub. Laurence, throughout the region.”

Nigel Lambe, Chief Executive of Suswho joins the Sussex Innovation team sex Innovation, “We’re looking forward as Head of Investment Projects, previSuss Ventures is intended to go beyond to exploring this new project with Lauously founded the Shaking Hands netbrokering investment deals, and will rence, who is very well connected with working group and is also a Growth leverage the experience of Sussex Inthe Croydon business community and Champion for the Coast to Capital Lonovation’s in-house consultancy team presented us with a compelling vision cal Enterprise Partnership.

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SUSSEX INNOVATION CENTRE “By finding the right investors for the right opportunity, many of our members have been able to successfully raise the finance to grow in the past” to offer a complete investor readiness package to selected start-ups. In addition to seed, angel and VC investment, they will also help companies to explore alternative methods of raising capital such as grant funding and loans.

CASE STUDIES: Ready to grow...

Five Sussex Innovation members who have successfully raised angel, seed and VC investment in recent years of the finance to fund several distinct research projects conducted by the Materials Physics Group at the University of Sussex, and received further funding for a specific application from the UK Defence and Security Accelerator in April this year.

The network will be brought together for the first time in an informal launch event at Sussex Innovation Croydon later this autumn. Plans also include a series of themed pitching events, commencing in early 2020.

“I’m very proud that Sussex Innovation has brought me on board to help launch Croydon’s first dedicated service for raising finance and investment,” said Laurence Grant. “There is clearly a huge appetite for this initiative – just by posting on LinkedIn about my new role, I’ve heard from more than 200 entrepreneurs and 25 investors in less than a week! I’ve already met for coffee with many of them, and look forward to finding out about all of the great ideas brewing in our region.”

Want to find out more?

If you are an innovator seeking finance to grow, or a private or professional investor looking for new investment opportunities in the South East, contact Sussex Innovation to arrange an exploratory meeting. The Sussex Innovation network comprises an active portfolio of more than 200 innovative technologies, products and services in a wide variety of sectors. Email laurence.grant@sinc.co.uk

Hozah

•H ozah, the ‘zero-effort parking’ service provider received an investment totalling £350,000 from a consortium of angel investors in October last year. This investment has provided Hozah with working capital to bring their hassle-free parking payment system to multiple locations, including multi-storey carparks and large public parking sites such as universities and hospitals.

• INTCAS is a global higher education marketplace that raised £2m Series A financing in March 2018 through multiple investors. The student registration and management platform is an ambitious undertaking that has required infrastructure to be built at significant scale pre-revenue.

• Advanced Material Development secured £750,000 of early stage funding last June towards realising a range of commercial applications for 2D nanomaterials. The company contributed £600,000

• Enterprise Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company specialising in therapies for respiratory disease. The business closed a £29m Series B round involving founding investors Epidarex Capital and multiple VC firms in April 2018, enabling them to begin testing treatments with healthy volunteers.

• Emteq is a technology company developing sensor technology to record and interpret human facial expressions. The business has raised two significant rounds of investment, with the latest a seed investment round of £1.08m from VC firm NCL Technology Ventures and Innovate UK. The funding has enabled Emteq to hire more developers to accelerate the commercialisation of its products and expand its R&D activities.

www.sinc.co.uk

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The FOR FAMILIES Vakkaru Located on a breath-taking enclave within the biosphere reserve of Baa Atoll, Vakkaru is an authentic island getaway offering unassuming luxury and attentive service. Parrotfish Club caters for children aged between 3 and 12 with imaginative play areas, cookery classes and a dedicated children’s pool; whilst older children can enjoy pool tables, table tennis and other games at Coconut Club.

FOR CAMERA ROLLS Joali A new opening and idyllic hideaway in the Raa Atoll.

The brainchild of Turkish businesswoman, Esin Güral Argat, ‘Joali’ is the Dhiveli word for hammock, and the vibe of this place is cradling! Picture-worthy experiences include a private dinner in the Manta Ray Tree House, watching the sunrise from the floating yoga pavilion, or an afternoon in the white marble hammam.

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FOR HONEYMOONERS One & Only Reethi Rah This glamorous, award-winning all-villa resort is perfect for couples in search of privacy and the ultimate in laid back luxury. Located in the North Malé Atoll on one of the Maldives’ largest private islands, the resort is a veritable tropical sanctuary.

Enjoy romantic in-villa dining or let the hotel staff set up an idyllic location for you to dine under the stars together.

FOR ADVENTURE-SEEKERS Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru This extraordinary island resort, and the only UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, is the first to launch once-in-a-lifetime excursions on its ‘DeepFlight’ submarine, Super Falcon 3S. The pinnacle of personal submarine technology, passengers can skim over coral formations, fly through shoals of fish and encounter creatures such as turtles, sharks, dolphins and rays down to a depth of 120 feet – all without getting wet!

Maldives TOP FIVE RESORTS

BUSINESS SURVEY TRAVEL

If you’re looking for barefoot luxury this winter, head to the Maldives where there’s an idyllic hotel to suit everyone.

By Hanna Nicholson, Go Bespoke When to Go: The best time to visit The Maldives is between November and April when it is mainly dry season, with low humidity and beautiful, warm sunny days.

Climate Averages: Average maximum daytime temperatures of 23ºC-31ºC. Things to know: The monsoon season falls between May and October.

Temperatures are still high during this period so don’t rule it out as a good time to go – plus the intermittent rain means plenty of opportunity for luxurious spa treatments.

How to get there: Fly to the capital, Malé, direct from London airports which takes approximately 12 hours 35 minutes.

Other options include flying via Dubai, Singapore or Sri Lanka with a stopover on either the outward or inbound leg of the journey.

Contact Go Bespoke on 020 8935 5779 for more information on current offers and availability.

FOR ALL-INCLUSIVE OZEN Maldives This luxury all-inclusive is the only one of its kind in the Maldives and includes à la carte fine dining experiences at six different restaurants, champagne trails, holistic spa treatments and exhilarating diving at the PADI-certified school as well as unlimited snorkelling excursions. Located on Maadhoo in South Malé Atoll, just a 45-minute speedboat ride from Malé Airport, this is an absolute must if you’re splashing out on a special holiday but keeping the pennies in check while you’re away.

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5

OF THE BEST SKI ESCAPES

With ski season on the horizon, here are some of the best chalets you’ll want to stay at, whether it’s a family affair, a group celebration or a team-building weekend

THE PARTY PAD Le Petit Palais, Courchevel 1850 Complete with its very own private bar and nightclub, this is the ultimate pad for exclusivity and indulgence.

The chalet is located just off the popular Bellecôte piste, providing guests with ski in ski out access within 40 metres of the door in this ultra chic resort.

Each of the seven bedrooms - spread over 18,000ft² on six floors - has its own private bathroom, exuding style and contemporary design. Other highlights include a wine cellar, steam and sauna rooms, a hammam, cinema room, swimming pool and a professional kitchen.

Price from £90,000 per week

THE FAMILY CHALET The Lodge, Verbier Owned by Sir Richard Branson, this mountain retreat in Verbier is a true alpine paradise. Ideal for a luxury family ski holiday, The Lodge is complete with nine stunning bedrooms and suites, an indoor pool, indoor and outdoor jacuzzis plus a Bunk Room for up to six children. The chalet also comes with a friendly team of experienced staff including a spa therapist and Michelin-star trained chefs. Perfect for a summer or winter escape.

Price from £39,000 per week

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BUSINESS SURVEY

Fly Premium from London Gatwick to the Americas and Asia.

Our service includes: • Lounge access at selected airports • Premium meal service • Complimentary drinks throughout the flight • State-of-the-art touch screen entertainment system • Complimentary seat reservation at time of booking • 2 checked bags x 20 kg • USB charger and power outlet in your seat • Fast Track at selected airports

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BUSINESS SURVEY TRAVEL

AFFORDABLE LUXURY Cerf Rouge, Meribel Cerf Rouge is the perfect alpine haven, just a few minutes walk from the Méribel Village lifts. With impeccable furnishings, luxurious open plan living, Super King Hypnos beds, a hammam and a private hot tub with magical views, it is also really close to good restaurants and bars. Sleeps 10 in five beautifully appointed en-suite bedrooms.

Price from £5,200 per week

COUPLES GETAWAY Experimental Chalet Perched among the snow-capped summits of Verbier, the Experimental Chalet is a boutique hotel with 39 rooms and suites, some with panoramic views of Mont Blanc. The minimalist design by Milanese architect Fabrizio Casiraghi is inspired by mountain lodges and given a modern twist, with jewel-toned upholstery and lacquered wood. Perfect for a couples getaway, the hotel’s signature cocktail bar also serves as a launchpad for Verbier’s legendary hot spot, Farm Club, located underneath the hotel.

Prices from £220 per night (based on a double room)

5

OF THE BEST SKI ESCAPES

THE STYLISH ONE

Zermatt Peak, Zermatt Chalet Zermatt Peak is Zermatt’s premier luxury chalet, located just minutes away from the centre of Zermatt in a landmark position with break-taking panoramic views, particularly from the 4.5 metre floor to ceiling lounge windows. Designed to an exceptional standard, the chalet’s interiors are luxurious and of the highest quality, including a stateof-the-art TechnoGym®, in-chalet ESPA treatments and a sauna and hammam. Sleeps up to 13 people, and includes a private chef, a dedicated concierge throughout your trip and a 24-hour private chauffeur.

Price from £46,500 per week Contact Go Bespoke on 020 8935 5779 for more information on current offers and availability.

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Businesses local to Gatwick are 50% more likely to export than the national average

Gatwick brings global trade opportunities closer

We’re more than just an airport 56

BUSINESS SURVEY

Travel SNIPPETS One for your bucket list

W

ith its brand new, custom-built aircraft set to take flight in 2021, Four Seasons Private Jet has released two new itineraries for its inaugural season. “Remote Wonders” and “Ancient Explorer” will add new destinations to the once-in-a-lifetime itineraries including Jordan, Egypt, Easter Island, and Angkor Wat, as well as stops at two new Four Seasons properties in Athens and Madrid.

New openings

Guests will travel aboard an allnew private jet, fully customised by Four Seasons. The A321LR aircraft features a spacious lounge area; and 48 custom-handcrafted seats that extend to lie fully flat and are paired with plush ottomans, and that provide 6.5 feet of personal space. Prices start at £135,000pp based on double occupancy.

E

xperimental Group have unveiled two new additions to their growing portfolio. Established by three childhood friends, the Group started with speakeasies in Paris and New York and have expanded to restaurants and hotels, a beach club in Ibiza and now an agroturismo in Menorca and a boutique hotel opening in Venice. Perfect for a long weekend, prices start at £200 per night with an exclusive opening offer – call the team at Go Bespoke for more information on 020 8935 5779.

It’s time to book your…

European Holiday Market et into the holiday spirit with a magical weekend at the iconic outdoor Christmas market in Frankfurt, one of the largest and most beautiful in Germany, set on St Paul’s Square on the Römerberg.

The market dates back to 1393 and is now an incredible Winter Wonderland, including more than 200 stalls full of festive fare, an art exhibition as well as delicious yuletide specialities and the traditional fairground attractions.

If you’re big on the festive season, you won’t want to miss the official opening on 25th November at which you can also enjoy singalong Christmas carols led by The Frankfurt Opera.

G

Go Bespoke recommends: Stay at the stylish Gerbermühle on the banks of the Main River – double rooms from €117 per night.

Dates: November 25th – December 22nd 2019.

Open every day 10am-9pm (11am-9pm on Sundays).

Location: Römerberg, St Paul’s Square, Mainkai (Main Quay), Hauptwache and Friedrich-Stoltze-Square

Design Hotels

BA’s new Club Suite businessclass seat

B

ritish Airways has welcomed its first Airbus A350 at Heathrow Airport, featuring the airline’s new Club Suite business-class seat. The airline is due to take delivery of 18 A350s, with four joining its fleet before the end of 2019 and the first A350 will enter service on the Heathrow-Madrid route with long-haul flights starting soon after, including routes to Dubai, Toronto, Tel Aviv and Bangalore. The new seat offers 40% more storage than the previous business-class offering, and includes Wifi, a vanity unit and mirror, and an 18.5 inch in-flight entertainment screen.

57

Gatwick Airport

helping local businesses to reach new heights How the local tourism industry and food and drink producers are making the most of having Gatwick on the doorstep

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atwick Airport is vital for the region’s economy and drives local trade and employment.

It also acts as the region’s gateway to the world, welcoming 5.5 million overseas visitors a year.

The region’s tourism industry benefits in particular and these visitors have been shown to spend around 9.7 million nights and £1.3 billion in the area each year. They also support over 5,000 local jobs.

While these numbers are impressive - with London just up the road - competition is stiff. With that in mind, the aptly named ‘Gateway Gatwick’ group formed in 2018 to help the local tourism sector make the most of having the UK’s second largest airport on its doorstep.

tional partners such as airlines and tour operators. It also provides on-airport promotional space to help market local attractions to the 46 million passengers who pass through every year.

age producers with airport buyers including shops, restaurants and hotels from across the region. Attendees range from start-ups to established producers including Crumbs Brewing,

Gatwick Gateway is a long-term, sustainable partnership and is designed to spread the benefits that the airport generates across the region.

Its latest collaboration is a marketing campaign targeting passengers in the airport with a series of new guides on getting the most from the local area, even if with limited time to spare. The guides include bespoke itineraries on where to visit with anywhere between three to 12 hours available. Key themes also showcase the local Active Outdoors, Amazing Gardens, Castles and Stately Homes, English Wine, Gin and Ale.

It brings together regional partners, including the airport, local tourism bodies and local authorities, and allows them to share information and co-ordinate and amplify activity promoting local tourism.

As well as driving visitors to local attractions, Gatwick is looking to form other long-term partnerships by hosting local food and drink producers at its first ever ‘Meet the Local Producer’ event.

For example, Gatwick provides insight from - and gives access to – interna-

Taking place this month, the event will link up over 40 local food and bever-

Stewart Wingate, Gatwick CEO, and Louise Goldsmith, Leader of West Sussex County Council, launching an on-airport promotional space promoting tourism across the county

58

TRAVEL “Gatwick Gateway is a long-term, sustainable partnership and is designed to spread the benefits that the airport generates across the region” Reigate, Kent Crisps and Harley House Distillery – producers of Sussex Gin. The airport already stocks several local suppliers but is keen to give more the opportunity to hook up with businesses interested in purchasing their goods. Airport retailers currently stock Surrey’s Silent Pool Gin and

Kent’s Fudge Kitchen, and also Five Hop Lager from the Hogs Back Brewery Co. in Surrey.

Airport restaurants and bars also use local producers such as Ridgeview Wine from East Sussex, Brighton Gin, and stock ales from Westerham Brewery and Denbies Whitedown Brut from Surrey.

The Gatwick Gateway group and Meet the Producer events are just two examples of airport partnerships that help to boost local business and industrial sectors.

The airport plays a key role in business groups such as Gatwick Diamond Business, Chambers of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses.

It also works in partnership with local authorities and regional partnerships such as the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, Develop Croydon, Gatwick Diamond Initiative, and the Greater Brighton Economic Board to identify and address economic priorities.

While the opportunities the airport brings cannot be take for granted, these alliances and partnerships help to ensure the most is made of them – to the benefit of Gatwick, the region’s business and industrial sectors, and the local people they employ.

Gatwick Airport initiates planning process to use its existing Northern Runway A move that kick starts the region’s biggest private investment for many years

G

atwick Airport has formally started the process to bring its existing Northern Runway into routine use by submitting a notice to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) of its intention to prepare an application for development consent.

This action establishes the ‘Gatwick Airport Northern Runway’ project on the PINS website and is the first step in the Development Consent Order (DCO) application process.

The airport has also submitted a ‘Scoping Request’ to PINS, which sets out the proposed approach and key issues to be included within the process.

Following the publication of its master plan in July, Gatwick announced it would prepare a planning application known as a DCO – through a rigorous statutory pro-

cess. The application is to bring the airport’s existing Northern Runway into routine use for smaller, departing aircraft alongside the main runway by the mid-2020s.

Tim Norwood, Gatwick’s Chief Planning Officer, said: “As the biggest private investment in our region for many years, the start of the process to use our existing Northern Runway is a significant milestone. This project has the capacity to offer significant local economic benefits, new jobs and an exciting future for the region.

“As we take our plans forward, we are committed to working in partnership with our local communities, councils and partners to ensure we grow sustainably and present information in a clear and transparent way, including a more detailed stage of public consultation on the project next year.”

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TOWN FOCUS

BURGESS HILL

The ambitious growth programme for Burgess Hill is fully focused on creating a 21st century sustainable town

T

he Strategic Growth Programme for Burgess Hill is the most ambitious programme of change anywhere in the sub-region.

With an ambition to transform the local economy – boosted by a £62m town centre investment - the programme will create thousands of jobs in technology-led industries, deliver thousands of new homes, improve transport infrastructure and provide more green open spaces.

The town holds quite a prestigious business status. It is part of the Gatwick Diamond Business area and currently boasts the second largest business park in Sussex, with around 300 companies, employing over 8,000 people. Filofax’s UK headquarters are based here as well as Technetix’s global headquarters and American Express Europe. HPC Precision engineering, which manufactures parts for some of the most iconic British cars,

Quality of life...

Mid Sussex has been ranked within the top 20 districts in the country for quality of life

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and Roche (Swiss), the leading pharmaceutical and in-vitro diagnostics healthcare company both have a major presence in the town.

With well-established medi-tech and bio-tech industries in Burgess Hill, there has been strong demand for a high-tech business park to encourage new business growth to the west of the town. The proposed Science & Technology Park will see 50% of new jobs earmarked for graduates and will be supported by high-tech full fibre infrastructure. The park will not only create a high number of skilled jobs, but it will also lead to the development of research into commercial products and services, making this a centre of excellence for productivity and sustainability.

In addition, the local community and its infrastructure will also be boosted by a £6.5m housing investment from the government. 3,500 of the proposed 5,000 homes are scheduled to be delivered through the Northern Arc project which will not only deliver new homes but also two primary and one secondary school, a centre for com-

munity sports and leisure, play areas and green spaces.

With regeneration on its agenda and a track record for promoting a great quality of life, Burgess Hill’s ambition to become a dynamic hotspot as well as a diverse retail and leisure destination is well underway.

The Hub

Glenbeigh Developments Located in the western business growth corridor, south of the A2300, The Hub is an exciting new 15 hectare state-of-the-art employment space, providing up to 50,000 sq m of business opportunities, of which up to 14,000 sq m will be for distribution and warehousing; much of the remainder is expected to be technology-led businesses offering sustainable high value jobs all supported by a fully-fibre digital infrastructure.

Burgess Hill and the wider Mid Sus-

FOCUS ON BURGESS HILL Burgess Hill in numbers

Town Centre Regeneration NewRiver

NewRiver, the owners of the Martlets Shopping Centre, has exciting plans for the £65m regeneration of the existing out-dated shopping centre. As one of the UK’s largest owners of convenience-led community shopping centres, NewRiver’s plans are focused on creating a vibrant family orientated destination for the Burgess Hill community that provides an attractive blend of retail, leisure and community uses that will be relevant and sustainable for the long term. This £65m regeneration programme will not only include new shops and restaurants but will

also deliver new residential units right in the heart of the town.

NewRiver’s vision will deliver a thriving community hub for people who live, work and visit the town, with exciting new brands and experiences with a greater choice of places to shop, eat, drink and stay.

The redevelopment will bring new shopping and dining facilities as well as a 10-screen Cineworld cinema, a 63-bed Travelodge hotel, 174 additional car parking spaces, improved public realm and a new purpose-built library.

£65m town centre regeneration

5,000 THOUSAND

new homes

15,000 NEW JOBS

19 hectares

OF NEW EMPLOYMENT SPACE

upgrade to A2300 sex area has over 7,000 businesses and the lowest level of unemployment in the county. The Hub is the first of one of many major employment development sites for the town which will further boost this impressive statistic. With work on the first unit – a new 4,000 sq m warehouse for global courier company DPD – completed, and plans for phase 2 underway (a new home for Roche Diagnostics’ UK distribution centre), planning permission has been secured for five more units with further space being created for start-ups.

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Burgess Hill Strategic SPRING 2019

Burgess Hill town centre redevelopment timeline

62

Construction work commenced at the site of the new library

2019 SUMMER 2019

Lidl moved to new Leylands Road store and the second project open day took place for the revised town centre plans

FOCUS ON BURGESS HILL

Growth Programme

2020 SPRING 2020

AUTUMN 2019

Target date for construction of main phase to begin

Planning application submitted for revised town centre redevelopment

Completion of the development

developments will also provide substantial community spaces.

9

Planning decision on the revised scheme

TRANSPORT

1

Road infrastructure A £23m investment into the A2300 with plans to widen/upgrade this main access route into Burgess Hill from the A23.

2

Improved transport links A total of £21.8m transport improvements will create more sustainable travel measures, improve connectivity, congestion and journey times.

BUSINESS

3

The Hub A landmark new employment space to drive greater business investment to the town through 15 hectares of new employment space.

4

Science & Technology Park A centre of excellence for productivity and sustainability, the new Science & Technology Park will create a new high-tech business growth corridor to the west of the town.

2022

SUMMER 2022

WINTER 2019/20

6

Schools and facilities The Northern Arc will provide two new primary schools as well as a secondary school plus new community hubs and a dedicated Centre for Community Sport.

7

Town Centre Regeneration The £65m regeneration of the town centre will bring new shopping, dining and leisure facilities along with renewed public spaces.

HOUSING

8

Northern Arc A strategic site for up to 3,500 new homes (30% affordable) and employment space as well as delivering all supporting social and transport infrastructure.

Keymer Tiles (Developer - Croudace) What was once an old tile works, this 19-hectare site will include 475 new homes (30% affordable) alongside new community leisure, health and retail facilities.

10

Fairbridge Way (Developer - Glenbeigh) As part of the Northern Arc, the site will provide up to 325 homes (20% affordable) and will include a wide range of house types and tenures to cater for housing demand in the local area.

11

Kings Way (Developer - Persimmon) The Kings Way site will deliver 480 new homes (30% affordable) alongside a new neighbourhood centre and up to 18 hectares of open space including a new park, pedestrian and cycle routes.

COMMUNITY

5

Green open spaces Greater access to the countryside as well as a new network of scenic walkways and cycle routes the Northern Arc and other

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FOCUS ON BURGESS HILL

The business of coffee Why corporate entities are turning to a premium in-house coffee provision

T

he rise of the coffee culture is something all employers should take seriously, as many studies have proven good quality coffee in the workplace can boost employee productivity, engagement and overall attitude towards work.

Not only that, an in-house provision can end the daily ‘coffee run’ which sees employees leaving the premises and spending around £3 for a coffee in branded outlets like Costa and Starbucks.

By contrast, the ingredients for a cup of barista-quality Esprada® coffee would cost no more than 20p (including sugar, milk, cup and lid), and with recent advances in bean-to-cup technology, the range and quality of beverages is arguably superior to their

high street counterparts. The benefits of providing free premium coffee and refreshments will greatly outweigh this tiny company investment.

coffee drinking which boosts social engagement, improves teamwork interaction and creativity. As well as the money-saving and social benefits of providing workplace coffee, studies have shown there are many cognitive benefits too, thanks to the nutrients and caffeine in coffee - keeping employees more awake, alert and focused.

Esprada® has over 30 years’ experience in helping workplaces across the UK to boost their employee happiness and productivity by providing a complete corporate coffee service.

Giving employees free perks helps them feel valued, and in-house refreshments encourage communal

Call us on 01444 259650 to talk to our team, request a free two week trial of our coffee machines or arrange a demo at our showroom*. Or visit esprada.co.uk for inspiration. * Terms & conditions apply

RAISING THE BAR IN WORKPLACE REFRESHMENT Esprada delivers superior coffee, state-ofthe-art coffee machines and refreshment solutions for corporate workspaces in Sussex, Surrey and London.

• Local service for rapid installation, deliveries and call-outs • Book an informative demonstration at our Burgess Hill showroom • 2 week free trial service available* *Terms and conditions apply.

Visit esprada.co.uk Oakwood House, 7 Victoria Way, Burgess Hill, RH1 5 9NF

Request your trial or book a demo now! Call 01444 259650 or email info@esprada.co.uk

Printing your success As a full service printing company, we are here to help and advise. We will share our experience and capability to plan, print & deliver all your business print requirements.

Our free professional advice, fast estimates, in-house litho, in-house design, coupled with our hands-on care and attention to detail to ensure you get the results you need every time.

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Can an employer be forced to take back an ex-employee?

by Dan Soanes, Solicitor and Director at Sherrards Employment Law Clients often ask that question at the door of tribunals. The idea of having to give the employee their job back is unthinkable. As in the divorce courts, emotions often run high on these occasions. However, unlike the divorce courts, employment tribunals actually do have the power to order reinstatement.

If an employee is found to have been unfairly dismissed, the tribunal can award compensation and order the employer to take the employee back.

I

Can you imagine how awkward that first day back at work would be?

t’s every employer’s worst fear, when faced with a claim from a disgruntled ex-employee; “Might we have to take them back?!”

Thankfully, in the recent case of MacKenzie v University of Cambridge (2019), the Court of Appeal ruled that

courts have no power to enforce such an order. What that means in practice is that employers can refuse to take the employee back and instead pay them an additional compensatory sum of up to £27,300 - on top of the awards of up to £102,194 they may already have been ordered to pay.

Mrs MacKenzie had tried to invoke European law – arguing that her human rights were breached when her ex-employer refused to take her back.

So, employers can sleep easy – you won’t be forced to take back your disgruntled ex-employees. However, as the figures above demonstrate, getting a dismissal wrong is potentially an expensive mistake and one to be avoided if possible.

Leaders in Employment Law providing “commercially driven and practical advice” Sherrards is a leading specialist employment law firm, providing employment law advisory services, HR consultancy and employment related training from our offices in Sussex and at Heathrow. Praised by the leading directories of the legal profession for providing “commercially driven and practical” advice our clients include organisations in the private, public and voluntary sectors.

With five specialist employment lawyers we can offer you fast, efficient and practical employment law advice. Our no-nonsense, business-minded approach will help you to get to the root of the problem and deal with it effectively – and legally!

Human Resources Do you need expert input for an HR project? Or are you looking for a made-to-measure HR service? Whatever the size of your organisation, a Sherrards Human Resources Consultant can deal with the spectrum of modern business issues. If you would like to know more about how we could meet your HR needs please contact our HR Team today.

Head Office: 4 Albourne Court Henfield Road Albourne West Sussex BN6 9DB Tel: 01273 834120 email: advice@sherrardslaw.com

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Heathrow Office: Abbey House 450 Bath Road Longford Heathrow Airport UB7 0EB Tel: 0208 757 5670

www.sherrardslaw.com

FOCUS ON BURGESS HILL

A blossoming new community in Burgess Hill Award-winning homebuilder CALA Homes creates aspirational homes in some of the most sought-after locations across the UK

A

number of its developments can be found across Sussex, including the popular Hammonds Gate development in Burgess Hill.

The development launched in December 2018 and 70% of the properties have already been sold. Located off Hammonds Ridge, just a mile from the town centre, Hammonds Gate offers a collection of contemporary three and four-bedroom homes and two-bedroom apartments, boasting the high quality build, light and spacious interiors and high specification for which CALA is renowned. The properties have proved popular with young professionals, growing families and investors alike.

As well as providing much-needed new homes in Burgess Hill, CALA has also worked with the local community to ensure it leaves a lasting legacy.

Through the planning process, CALA made a contribution of £625,000 towards local education, community facilities and infrastructure. The town has also benefitted from CALA’s Com-

munity Bursary scheme, an annual initiative that supports local charities and good causes. £4,000 has been donated to help the work of local charities including Windmills Opportunity Playgroup, Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity and Haywards Heath Foodbank. CALA has also sponsored Friends of Woodlands Meed’s music festival.

Nicki Dennis, sales and marketing director for CALA Homes South Home Counties, said: “Hammonds Gate offers a country lifestyle close to the bustling centre of Burgess Hill. The significant regeneration locally was a key part of our decision to invest in the town and our buyers have certainly

identified it as great place to live.

“The excellent schooling, good commuter links and local facilities have made the development popular with a range of buyers and we don’t expect the remaining homes to be available for long, “One of the best things about being in Burgess Hill has been the wonderful community that we have become a part of and we are delighted to have supported a number of local causes which are doing such great work in the community.”

Hammonds Gate is ideally located for commuters with Burgess Hill railway station providing connections direct to Brighton in approximately 15 minutes and London Victoria and Clapham Junction in under one hour.

With just a selection of 3 and 4 bedroom homes remaining to choose from and priced from £399,950, home buyers are urged to visit the development to secure their dream property in this ideal location before it is too late. Buyers can take advantage of schemes such as up to 100% part exchange and the government-backed Help to Buy scheme where they could purchase their home with just a 5% deposit.

For further information call 01444 847 323 or visit www.cala.co.uk

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FOCUS ON BURGESS HILL

Celebrating with Roses Burgess Hill-based business Rose Media Group (RMG) celebrated its 15th anniversary by throwing a glitzy party at Malmaison Brighton

F

rom the moment guests arrived they were treated to a decadent affair with fabulous canapes, fizz and fun. Clients past and present listened to speeches from Jet and Hunter, stars of the iconic 90s TV series ‘Gladiators’, and local personality Jack the Lad. The sporting tie-in was a nod to RMG owner, Aneela Rose, who became a World Powerlifting Champion in 2018 and a British record holder this year.

On the night guests, who dressed in fushia pink to represent RMG’s brand colours, watched live artwork being created on windows that mapped out the night unfolding, visited RMG’s history room that summarised the last 15 years of business and won quirky awards celebrating their time with RMG. Drinking and fun continued well into the night.

James Crossley (aka Hunter) and Di-

ane Youdale (aka Jet) provided the guests with inspirational tales on re-inventing themselves post-Gladiators, a theme which is not unfamiliar to RMG: The company has re-invented its vision several times throughout the past 15 years resulting in longevity, a growing client-base, and an expanding team.

RMG Founder Aneela Rose commented: “It was wonderful to see so many faces, old and new, helping us celebrate our 15th year in business. Diane and James both provided fantastic speeches which were a big hit with the guests, who were all too familiar with them as huge TV personalities in the 90s. I would personally like to thank everyone for supporting us throughout the past 15-years and coming along to party with the RMG team. We have very exciting plans ahead and we can’t wait to get cracking on another successful 15-years.”

www.rosemediagroup.co.uk

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JOIN HOMELINK FOR

A UNIQUE COMMUNITY GALA at GLYNDEBOURNE OPERA HOUSE on 17 November to mark 20 years of preventing homelessness in Sussex BOOK TICKETS AT www.glyndebourne.com

© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Leigh Simpson

Presented by

K ATIE DE RH AM and other VIP hosts Performers include:

BRIGHTON’S CHOIR WITH NO NAME HOMELESSNESS CHOIR GLYNDEBOURNE CLASSICAL SOPRANO DAME FELICITY LOTT BBC CHOIR OF THE YEAR WINNERS, LEWES SINGS GOSPEL GUITAR VIRTUOSO RICHARD DURRANT SPECIAL ONE-OFF PERFORMANCE FROM HMP LEWES STAFF CHOIR AWARD WINNING STREETFUNK HIP HOP DANCE GROUP VIP Packages available for corporate sponsors Find out more about our work at www.leweshomelink.org.uk To discuss how you can support our future work please contact us at homelink.lewes@gmail.com

@HomelinkSussex #homes4homeless

FOCUS ON BURGESS HILL

The business of

cleaning

Eco-friendly Sussex Cleaning & Care’s organic year-on-year growth goes hand in hand with Burgess Hill’s major economic growth plans

S

ussex Cleaning & Care Ltd (SCC) is the ‘go to’ commercial cleaning contractor in Sussex, servicing offices, schools, medical centres, industrial units, communal areas and sports and leisure venues.

Since 1978, it has built an enviable reputation for reliability, honesty, professionalism and above all, delivering the best quality services at realistic and sustainable prices.

All work undertaken complies with ISO9001/ISO14001/Safe Contractor management systems and all 240+ staff are directly employed, uniformed and hold photographic ID. Operating solely in Sussex and based on the county crossroads A23/A272 at Bolney, it is ideally located to service its clients quickly and decisively.

What sets it apart from its competitors is its total commitment to deliver consistent quality services through local management structures with a low contract to Area Manager ratio.

Through its experience within the cleaning industry and its knowledge of service companies who perform particularly well in Sussex, it is able to offer a total package of services managed by the company on its clients’ behalf, enabling them to totally focus on their own core business.

The cornerstone of quality in SCC is the calibre and commitment of its people and collaborative environment in which they work. Evidence of this was Ruth Everest, Quality & Compliance Manager, winning the ‘Invaluable Star’ category in the BHBPA (Burgess Hill Business Parks Association) awards in May.

May 2019: Ruth Everest (centre) receiving the Invaluable Star award in Burgess Hill Business Parks Association Awards from broadcaster Jennie Bond

This follows the ‘Eco Warrior’ award SCC won in the inaugural event for their environmental achievements two years earlier and sponsored by SCC this year.

These simple but crucial methods of operation have contributed to organic year-on-year growth for the 23 years the current directors have been in control of the company. This is on-target to exceed £2.6m turnover this year.

Robert Morris, SCC’s Commercial Director, said: “Our growth has gonehand-in-hand with that of the Sussex economy. We have seen major growth and regeneration from a wide range of business sectors in Crawley, major growth of digital companies in Brighton and now we are seeing major regeneration and commercial development on our doorstep in Burgess Hill”.

warehouse development home to GeoPost UK.

currently

SCC’s largest client is based in Burgess Hill and it cleans other landmark buildings in most towns including the Amex Stadium where it started its ninth season as the matchday cleaners of Brighton & Hove Albion FC. BHAFC’s decision back in 2010 to contract SCC for this work emphasises the positive trend of larger organisations moving away from National Service Providers to local companies who are more customer focused, know the local labour force better and can react to needs, change and service issues quicker. www.scc-ltd.co.uk

The Hub in Burgess Hill is literally a stone’s throw away from its office/ warehouse building and is well on its way to becoming a prime industrial/

71

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aking changes in your professional life is never easy.

Whether it is seeking a different role, returning to work or starting a new business – it takes a great deal of time, effort and energy. A luxury many of us don’t have juggling with life’s daily demands. For women who want to realise their career ambitions, staying put is probably not the best option. Instead of wasting numerous hours on research and networking, you can now get the support you need in a single day – at the new Women in Business Expo 2019, October 16th17th, Farnborough.

Think of it as the ultimate form of career self-help as the event will have all of the right resources and advice to support professional females. There will be a huge network of experts to help turn around flagging careers or turn light bulb moments into real-life businesses. Some of the most successful global companies will offer genuine recruitment opportunities and a range of selected specialist companies will provide practical services for start-ups.

Women in Business Expo will provide both information and inspiration, with headline speakers Karren Brady, Michelle Mone and Caprice Bourret sharing stories of their professional journeys at the pinnacle of British business.

A fitting tribute to the calibre of the event, Karren Brady is one of the UK’s most high-profile businesswomen and has won numerous awards for services to business. Karren will give an invaluable insight into her wealth of experience and passion for supporting entrepreneurs and business. She is a champion for women and is sure to inspire visitors with a topical talk on the burning issues facing females in the workplace.

Michelle Mone, also one of Britain’s most influential business women, is a renowned entrepreneur and a strong advocate for equality in business.

Michelle’s multiple businesses have gone from strength-to-strength, developing beyond the original umbrella of her own Ultimo brand to encompass 15 different patented inventions.

Caprice Bourret will present a similar tale of professional success, discussing how she started from nothing and manged to build various businesses

by playing to her strengths. Caprice will cover everything from women in the workplace, to small business start-ups and the impact of operating in a volatile economy.

Many leading recruiters suggest that people looking to make a career transition need to spend seven to eight hours per week for several weeks to prepare, research and network.

Attending Women in Business Expo 2019 means taking just one day out of your schedule. Allow yourself some valuable career me-time and you could finally seal your professional future in less than 24 hours.

wibexpo.co.uk

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recruitment The

REVOLUTION Emma Cleary: Flexible working is becoming seen as an important element of a positive company culture and vision, but there is still a long way to go.

Most of my time is spent discussing with CEOs and founders of small and medium sized businesses the benefits that flexible workers can bring.

Promoting flexible working can attract the talent and skills needed to plug the shortages we have in the South East.

Platinum Business Magazine: Do you find that people often assume that flexible working means part time?

EC: I think there is an assumption that flexible workers are not as engaged as full time workers, which is scandalous! When a candidate is working a reduced hours week, it is generally because they need some balance in their life, whether it is for parenting, caring, mental health, dogs, horses or study (just to mention a few), it is not because they want to spend the other hours on the beach – though in fact that’s cool too!

What we promote at FM is that flexible working allows an individual choices which helps create a ‘Work and Life in Balance’! Happy workers means better productivity and engagement – and happy business owners!

PBM: Can a successful business NOT offer flexible working today?

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RECRUITMENT

Emma Cleary is the director of a recruitment agency which specialises in flexible working. Platinum Business Magazine asked her why this service has become so in demand…

EC: Most businesses that I talk to have some form of flexible working policy, not many have a flexible recruiting policy, although that is growing. However, we have a number of clients who are growing their businesses with a flexible workforce and see the beauty of a results driven culture rather than presenteeism. It would appear that not many companies are brave enough to put their hands up and recruit based on a flexible culture yet!

We felt that there was a lot of talk and not a lot of action – starting with the task force on flexible working and to a certain extent the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development).

We decided to get some guidelines down using experience from 20 business owners and HR specialists of their experiences of the pros and cons of how to implement a flexible working practice in business. We are publishing these as a white paper in October.

we haven’t come across many jobs that really can’t be made flexible with a bit of creative thought and determination.

PBM: Why should candidates and employers choose Flexibility Matters?

EC: Flexible recruiting opens the door on a pool of talent that generally speaking doesn’t register with mainstream recruitment agencies. At FM we get to know our candidates and the businesses we place them in in order to get the right fit for all. It is all about people and relationships and we feel that we are pretty good at both.

My challenge to business owners would be to try this great way of getting amazing talent - and there is no fee attached to your business until you take on a candidate. What is there to lose?

Save rent

For most businesses, the two main costs are people and property. Flexible working lets employers lower the latter. Lambeth Council claims it will save £4.5 million per year in property running costs by making sure that no more than 60% of its staff are in at one time.

Attract talent

Some 30% of the UK’s working population (8.7 million people) wants flexible working but doesn’t have it, yet only 6% of advertised jobs with a salary above £20,000 actually offer it.

Retain talent

It costs more than £5,000 to hire a new employee in the UK. When you add costs associated with getting the newbie up to speed that cost exceeds £30,000, arbitration service Acas recently reported, and more than £35,000, according to analysts CEBR. In its 2012 study, HR institute the CIPD found that 76% of employers saw staff retention improve when they offered flexible working.

Improve productivity

PBM: How does your business work? www.flexibilitymatters.co.uk EC: Our core business is to assist our registered candidates – some 2,500 – from a huge range of professions to find flexible work. This could be on a full-time flexible basis, with home or remote working, or on a reduced hours part-time basis. Each role is different and every client’s need is different, but

The Flex Appeal business case:

This argument has become as undeniable as the case for acting on climate change: 81% of senior managers believe flexible working improves productivity. Three in five people who work flexibly put in more hours as a result of being allowed to do so. Another report found that 72% of businesses reported increased productivity as a direct result of flexible working.

“This argument has become as undeniable as the case for acting on climate change: 81% of senior managers believe flexible working improves productivity”

75

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Developers East Sussex

Developers East Sussex, the organ isation seeking to make a difference by helping to delive r high quality commercial and residential developments acros s the county, has a new Chair following the appointment of Jona than Buck well.

Taking over the role of Chair from Derek Godfrey of Ellis Building Contractors, Jonathan commented : “East Sussex shares many of the challenges and opportunities faced by other parts of the South East, notably creating the new home s and community services for the growing population and place s for them to work. It is vital that we bring local authorities and the development community together to help foster a better understan ding of everybody ’s role and to support the local economy.”

MOVERS BUSINESS & SHAKERS SURVEY

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Welcome to our sixth instalment of the latest business appointments and promotions across the business world; see who’s doing what and where, including those ones to watch How do you cut through the white noise of recruitment? You lower the volume.

At Harvey John, recruitment is far from a transactional service.

It’s about fostering long-term partnerships within our core markets. Quality over quantity.

Specialising in Accountancy, Tax, and Legal since 2004, Harvey John are an international recruitment firm with two offices in the heart of Brighton and a team of 15 individual skill-sets, each united by a shared vision of how recruitment should be.

By immersing ourselves in every corner of these markets, we maintain an incredibly niche expertise, enabling us to simplify the most complex of searches. And whether that assignment takes us across Sussex, London, Europe, Asia, or the Americas, our deep sector knowledge - paired with our multi-faceted methodology means that we provide local solutions on a global scale.

And so, by lowering the volume, we strip ourselves from unnecessary pressures and, in turn, become a trusted partner to companies worldwide.

Contact us Tel: 01273 820808 Email: info@harveyjohn.com www.harveyjohn.com

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MOTORING

e d a c e D e h t f o s r Ca Platinum

ff

by Maarten Ho

H

aving been reviewing cars for over a decade, l thought it high time l summarised my thoughts and presented, for your delight and delectation, my choice of cars of the decade.

I have left out certain cars – those super and hyper cars that you will never drive and never even see as they are produced in limited numbers,

mann

snapped up from pictures alone by high net worth individuals and investment consortiums and stuffed into a garage as an investment, never to see the light of day until auction time, where the same process starts all over again.

Eliminated cars such as Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Pagani and Koenigsegg.

a temp controlled garage and you can see an increase of up to 50% a year! I am not interested in these cars, l want cars we can use, enjoy and drive every day. I make no apology for the number of German cars in the line-up as they are just some of the best cars built today and every other manufacturers benchmark.

Drive these cars on the road laying down a coupe of thousand miles, and the value plummets. Hide them away in

Here are my CARS OF THE DECADE followed by my all-important top CAR OF THE DECADE.

TOP SMALL CITY CARS

TOP MID-SIZE HATCHBACKS

Fiat 500

This is a hoot of a car with bags of personality and it makes me smile when l drive it. Definitely top of the pile

from £11,250

Audi A1

Great build quality and it will run forever. Stylish design and faultless quality.

from £17,735

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Mini 5dr

Sold by the bucket load and still great value and a cool personality

Audi A3

Nippy round town, good space and great build quality

from £17,635

from £26,735

BUSINESS SURVEY TOP LARGE SALOONS

BMW 5 Series

TOP COMPACT SUVs

from £38,985

An old stalwart that’s been around for an age but still going strong as the car of choice for the executive

from £36,820

Jaguar F-Pace

I really like this car. Great looks and a great price. It is more stylish than its rivals.

Alfa Stevio

Mercedes E-Class

Also been around a while but the new models are smooth and classy

from £36,895

Alfa’s don’t fall apart anymore and this is a winner for the company

Audi Q5

from £41,520

Audi’s SUV flagship, solid, spacious and a great drive

Audi A8

from £36,519

Larger than the rest but a great car loaded with kit

TOP JAPANESE CARS from £36,895

Sorry, l couldn’t find any!

TOP SALOONS

Mercedes A-Class

Audi A4

Solid as a Panzer tank and a great drive with the right engine

Great build quality, great ride and great residual.

Brand new model with a floating dash.

from £30,750

BMW 4 Series

Replaced the tired 3-Series, solid and a good involving drive

from £23,160

VW Golf

An icon that still draws the buyers because it is a great car

Jaguar XE

from £33,915

JLR have been doing well lately and this is a great saloon option

from £22,080

from £35,040

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MOTORING TOP LARGE SUVs

Volvo XC90

from £52,235

Since the Chinese bought the company, some great cars are being produced

from £83,655

Range Rover

The best of the best since 1970. Nothing even comes close. Still going strong, the Range Rover just gets better and better and still trumps all-comers when it comes to all-round day-to-day use.

Mercedes GLE

from £55,385

A great new model with style and tremendous build quality

TOP SPORTS SALOONS

Audi RS5

TOP COMPACT SPORTS

from £68,985

Rip your face off speed with five seats. Love it.

Alpine A110

from £46,000

An old badge reborn, great looks and hilarious fun sideways

Porsche 718 Cayman A shape that is little changed for the past 100 years perhaps but a great car in this sector

Mercedes AMG E63

Fast as hades, full of kit and bags of style.

from £78,935

Audi TT RS

BMW M5 Comp Pack

The perennial favourite, with flair and massive speed - if you can control it.

from £91,600

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from £44,790

No longer a hairdresser’s car but a barnstorming drive and fast as hell

from £54,895

BUSINESS MOTORING SURVEY TOP ELECTRIC CARS

The UK’s top selling cars in 2018:

MODEL SALES

from £69,700

Tesla Model S

Ford Fiesta

52,921

VW Golf

39,220

Ford Focus

37,988

A stunning car that shows what electricity can do to our everyday motoring lives. Stupidly expensive but stupendously fast

Vauxhall Corsa

34,653

Nissan Qashqai

34,498

Jaguar I-Pace

Mercedes A-Class

33,486

VW Polo

27,455

I really like this car, it is highly useable and bags of style

Ford Kuga Mini Kia Sportage

Tesla Model 3 from £64,495

25,116 24,125

from £55,385

22,367

from £39,990

At last an affordable mass market Tesla – it should take over the world – if the world ever fits enough charging stations

The UK’s most unreliable manufacturers in 2018: MODEL

FAULTS PER 100 VEHICLES

Peugeot 77

TOP ESTATE CARS

Skoda

88

Hyundai 90 Nissan 94 Suzuki 94 Vauxhall 95 Kia 101 Mini 103 Volvo 106 Honda

Audi RS6 Avant A monster of a car that will carry a sideboard at supercar speeds

from £80,000

The world’s fastest cars in 2018: MODEL PRICE

BMW 5-Series Touring

The extended back just adds to the appeal as it drives like the saloon

Koenigsegg Agera RS

£1.7m

Hennessey Venom GT

£1.1m

Bugatti Chiron

from £38,895

Mercedes E-Class Estate from £39,980

109

Again, as good as the saloon with bags of room and style

£2.6m

W Motors Fenyr SS

£1.4m

Pagani Huayra

£3.2m

Zenvo TS1 GT

£1.1m

Noble M600

£200,000

Lamborghini Aventador S £350,000 Ford GT

£420,000

McLaren 720S

£208,000

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MOTORING

e d a c e D e h t f o Car Platinum

T

his prestigious trophy offers me a conundrum as with over 85 cars a year tested and reviewed and some crackers in there, how on earth do l select my Car of the Decade.

R E V O R E G N RA

I decided the benchmark should be the best all-round car that achieves the majority of ticks on my list – luxury, speed, style, space, residual value, and a car that is just as at home

in a field as it is driving up to the swankiest black tie event. Now it just got a whole lot easier as there is only one car on the planet that fits all these criteria.

exhibited as an ‘exemplary work of industrial design’. They used a Buick derived Rover engine and, as with all yank cars, with a huge 3.5-litre V8 engine they only managed to get 130bhp out of it!!

the RR looked as if it had lost its way – and its market.

The Range Rover The iconic Range Rover (RR) first saw the light of day in 1967 when designers Gordon Bashford and Spen King set about creating a larger model than the standard Land Rover, with the original moniker being the Road Rover. The first prototype, (reg: SYE 157F) had the classic RR lines but with a different grill and headlight configuration.

The design that actually made it into production was finalised in 1969, finally with the Range Rover name.

They hid the name under the guise Velar, derived from the Italian ‘valare’ meaning to veil or to cover. Today of course we have a model called the Velar but more about that later. The RR was finally launched in 1970 at the Musee du Louvre in Paris and was

82

I purchased my first RR in 1979 when it was still a tad utilitarian but nevertheless, it was a shock to the system that such a high riding car was stable, comfy and full of style and in those days, the amount of space was remarkable and only found in huge ugly estate cars or vans. It still had vinyl seats, a plastic dash and rubber carpets and was designed to be hosed down after a tough day on the farm. Farmers tended to stick with their truly utilitarian Land Rovers and

The other drawback was that it was only a three door but, ever quick in responding to customer feedback, the five door as we know it today was launched in 1983 and here it found its true market – city dwellers with a place in the country therefore they had for the first time a car that could do it all.

This flagship model is now in its fourth generation and has never gone out of style but has just become fatter and heavier as the price has risen therefore they needed to stuff it with every bit of tech kit they could find.

Sport Although there is only one true Range

BUSINESS SURVEY

Even the Queen loved it

Rover, called the full fat, there is now a delectable selection of derivations of the original. The RR Sport was launched in 2004 as a shorter, sportier version and it’s great and sells well but they removed one of the iconic features of the full fat – the shooting seat. The rear tailgate opens in two parts and leaves you with a seat for putting on boots, sorting the kids or dogs, picnic or just sitting and watching the polo.

This, in my opinion, was a mistake but what do l know as it sells by the truck load and the SVR version is a total revelation that something this high and heavy can be quite that fast. In the US, the Sport is the biggest seller of all Land Rover products. How about a RR that does 175mph and 60mph in 4.3 seconds! And it sounds like Heidi Klum gargling rocks!

Evoque Then in 2011, we saw the launch of the Evoque – a more compact car with only vague connections to the original but a very good car indeed as l have tested all of them over the years. A few old dinosaurs call it the ‘Ladies Range Rover’ which l guess is not so far from the truth as it does

SPORT

have a majority of female owners. In 2012, they launched the convertible Evoque at the Geneva Motor Show that looks a little like a Silver Cross pram, proving that not all cars benefit from having their roofs sliced off. A new version has just been launched and it is sleeker, more stylish and will sell by the bucket load.

Velar In 2017, we saw the launch of the Velar, that iconic code name for the very first RR and again, this is a variant on the original designed to capture a new market. I have reviewed all versions and it is a fine-looking car with many of the original attributes.

It is very smooth with even the door handles popping in and out at will, to

ensure the side visual is uber smooth.

It drives like a full fat but is lighter and is based on the Land Rover platform, sharing many components with the F-Pace and XF Jaguar models. In 2018, the Velar was voted the Most Beautiful Car in the World.

Environmental controversy The Range Rover has attracted its critics of course, with Greenpece storming the production line in Solihull in 2005 with concerns about the environmental impact of such large, luxury vehicles, and one of the original designers, Spen King even blamed RR owners for using their cars in urban areas which was ridiculous as that is how they marketed the car.

EVOQUE

83

MOTORING VELAR

The term ‘Chelsea Tractor’ was aimed at the RR as so many school runs were performed with the car but it is unwise to ever criticise the buyers of your cars for using the vehicle in the manner in which they so choose.

It also got hammered in the JD Power index for being costly, over complicated vehicles that are loaded with very expensive parts. They also noted a legacy of faults and problems with overall quality, dependability, sales satisfaction and customer service. According to an American automotive journalist, “Land Rover doesn’t care about JD Power ratings because it doesn’t need to care” since people “still line up for months to pay full sticker.” I have to say that l have many friends with RR variants and l have owned four myself and reviewed every single model in the line-up and l have not heard of one single problem with any of them.

Vogue I have just spent two weeks with the new Vogue model in France and it performed flawlessly in every respect. It is economical, with the new 3.0-litre Turbocharged V6, giving 275bhp, 60mph in 7.4 seconds and a top speed of 130mph yet returning 31.5mpg which ain’t half bad. We had five people on-board at all times

OFF ROAD

VOGUE

with a load of luggage and camera kit and it was as if l was the only person in the car. The weight made little difference to the drive and it was super comfortable, with every bit of kit you would ever need and it just wafts you to wherever you want to go.

Of course, that includes up mountains and down dales as one of the many unique aspects of the car is its superlative off-road capabilities. It will literally go anywhere and with spec like the All-Terrain Progress Control, Low Traction Launch, Roll Stability Control, Hill Descent Control and Electronic Air Suspension, this will make anyone look like an off-road expert as the car does all the work.

Point and squirt like nothing else out there and we might all recall Top Gear’s Clarkson being the first ever to drive a Discovery to the summit of Ben Tongue, a Highland peak near Inverness. Using all the kit from the RR it just proved, in his usual boorish but highly amusing manner, that it really will go anywhere. Using the various auto modes, just let the car do the job and if it finds itself stuck, it will cycle through the menu and locate another mode to do the job whilst you sip vintage Krug and listen to Radio 4.

The Range Rover in all its forms is a

unique car that covers every base and, as mentioned, manages to tick all my boxes.

Speed – select the Sport SVR and it will swivel your eyeballs under acceleration.

Stylish – and then some.

Space – it is huge inside and will house everything you throw at it.

Luxury – spec it up and it feels like one of the most luxurious cars on the market.

Residual value – looking at the Glass’s Live Retail data, in its class the RR is only beaten on residual value by the Lexus NX and the Mercedes G-Class with 61.5% of its value retained over three years. And it is better than both of them.

And Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) are not slowing down its development one bit. The 2018 facelift model debuted with a new aluminium monocoque that cost over a billion to develop, making it lighter by half a tonne and now comes with the P400e plugin hybrid, pairing a 296bhp engine with a 114bhp electric motor claiming 101mpg and 31 miles of all-electric range.

The Platinum Car of the Decade – the truly iconic Range Rover. Frequently imitated, but rarely bettered or even equalled.

TECH STUFF: Model tested: Range Rover SDV6 Vogue Engine: 3.0-litre turbo Power: 275bhp Speed: 0-60mph 7.4 seconds Top: 130mph Economy: 31.5mpg combined Price from: £81,900 Best deal found: Harwoods, Crawley

85

Make The Grand exclusively yours with private dinners, Christmas parties and annual social events.

Our unique spaces and innovative menus offer the perfect backdrop for end of year celebrations.

86

grandbrighton.co.uk/Christmas

BUSINESS PARTIES SURVEY CHRISTMAS

The Perfect Party Join Brighton’s grandest Christmas celebration

W

ith the countdown to Christmas now fully underway, The Grand Brighton is here to help you celebrate in true style throughout the festive period.

From November 30th through to December 21st, the iconic seafront hotel is opening its doors for the festive party season.

Grand Christmas joiner parties are a truly unique event which we always look forward to – catching up with our favourite business leaders from across Brighton, Sussex and the surrounding areas, as well as meeting brand new contacts. You never know what could happen, but it’s always a great night out.”

Whether you’re still looking for a venue to throw your own exclusive office event, or are looking for a black-tie party to join, your invitation is waiting to enjoy a spot of mingling with a mince pie with the rest of Brighton’s finest businesses.

2019 JOINER PARTY DATES Join a Christmas party at The Grand Brighton from just £45 per person

By no means a networking event, joiner parties are a relaxed way of meeting SME and independent businesses from across the city and beyond. Perfect for smaller groups, why not join a selection of party nights as an alternative way to celebrate the end of year.

Guests are encouraged to dress to impress in anticipation of dancing to local DJs in either the hotel’s original ballroom, the Albert Room, or the majestic Empress Suite, where they’ll enjoy the wonderful atmosphere of the hotel’s historic spaces accompanied by festive entertainment.

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a spot of fine dining, and joiner party packag-

es include wine and a mouthwatering three-course dinner along with all the traditional trimmings. Highlights include traditional Christmas options of turkey ballotine accompanied by braised winter vegetables, as well as a less traditional but vegan-friendly selection of dishes from spiced Andhra tomato kura curry to a carrot falafel and orzo salad.

Team members travelling from afar also have the option of upgrading their party ticket and nursing any sore heads from a night well enjoyed with room serviced breakfast, with a selection of rooms available during the Christmas period.

Alison Edwards, Sales Director at The Grand Brighton says; “The last few weeks of the year are a fantastic time for businesses to come together to celebrate their achievements, reward their teams, and get to know one another in a relaxed atmosphere. Our

• Saturday 30th November • Friday 6th December • Saturday 7th December • Thursday 12th December • Friday 13th December • Saturday 14th December • Wednesday 18th December • Thursday 19th December • Friday 20th December • Saturday 21st December Private parties can also be booked throughout December and January, with special rates available on off peak dates in the new year for those who work over the Christmas period.

To join a party at The Grand Brighton or book the space exclusively for your team contact conference@ grandbrighton.co.uk or call 01273 224300

87

HURRICANE ANDREW

By Maarten Hoffmann

T

he shocking images of the havoc wreaked on the Bahamas with the arrival of Hurricane Dorian makes me want to weep and rush over there to help. Why you might ask does it affect me this way.

Cat Cays, and then it turned its attention to my island. After getting all the tourists and non-essential staff off before it hit, eight of us stayed in a dumb attempt to protect our businesses and homes.

On August 23rd 1992, l was living in the Bahamas on a stunning little island called Harbour Island, a part of the larger Eluthera Island at the northern tip of the chain. Life was good. I owned a small boutique hotel with extensive scuba facilities and we spent our days diving with sharks, rays and anything else we could find to terrorise and fascinate the guests. On this day, my life nearly ended.

An American chap called from New York and asked us to rapidly move to his house at the southern end, the only concrete structure on the island, to stay alive. We listened and moved and thank heavens we did as there was absolutely nothing left of my house. It hit at 1pm on the 23rd and l have never experienced anything like it. The storm surge lifted the sea by three metres, on an island that was two metres above sea level, and the land disappeared.

The largest and most powerful hurricane ever formed in the Atlantic hit us with sustained winds of 175mph and gusts up to 195mph, ripped my paradise apart, killed 65 people and destroyed every home and business.

Hurricane Andrew was the most powerful Category 5 storm to have ever hit the islands and 800 homes were destroyed in the first few minutes on the

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We started hiding in the south of the house as the north end was destroyed and then, when the eye was above us and it was as calm as a summers day, we switched to the centre of the house where there was a sunken bathroom.

The eye passed and all hell broke loose again and the south end was destroyed and we were buried in the cen-

BUSINESS SURVEY ANGER MANAGEMENT “Since then, l have lived through five further hurricanes whilst living in the Caribbean” tre of a collapsed building as 175mph winds ripped everything to shreds.

The noise was indescribable and can only be likened to a hundred high speed freight trains continually passing overhead whilst trees, bricks and the occasional body slammed into the wreckage, at speed. One of the girls

stood too close to an intact window as it shattered and received a large shard of glass to the head and my time in the hole was consumed with removing the glass and trying to stop her bleeding to death. We were absolutely terrified for the best past of nine hours as it very slowly churned its way across the island, acting like a grinding machine.

(it had). On day seven, l saw a small dot on the horizon which over the next three hours grew larger and larger until we identified it as a large grey ship, that eventually dropped anchor, swung in the tide and l saw the words HMS Bristol. My heart leapt as we had survived – and we were rescued by a British Destroyer to boot.

Eventually, the noise subsided and we spent over three hours digging our way out of the sunken bathroom to a sight l can only describe as the after effects of a nuclear bomb. On an island l had never seen from end to end before due to the mass of palm trees and foliage, it was stripped clean and l could see forever as every single last palm tree was gone, every house, building and jetty was wiped from the face of the earth.

PM John Major had diverted the ship from its normal duties as all the US aid was rushing into Florida that had been hit hard and we were left to fend for ourselves. Eventually, we were choppered off the island and dropped at Orlando International Airport where we had to sleep for two days whilst they removed all the upside down aeroplanes from the runway and, eventually, l was given a refugee ticket and flew home to London.

Ironically, it was a lovely day with burning sun and shimmering sea – as if nothing had happened bar the destruction. Surreal is the only word that comes to mind. Of the folk who died, l lost six good friends, my business, my house and my livelihood.

Since then, l have lived through five further hurricanes whilst living in the Caribbean but nothing, absolutely nothing compares to what we went through.

So, with ‘only’ 65 dead as a result of Andrew, spare a thought for the survivors of Dorian that hit at roughly the same speed but stalled over Abaco for two days!!! Two days in a meat grinder that, to date, has killed 2,500 but that is set to rise dramatically. The destruction is total and lives will never be the same again. And in the ten years it will take to rebuild, it will inevitably be hit again – and again and again.

The next six days were spent like Robinson Crusoe, scavenging for water and food, we ended up drinking the water from an intact cistern we located and free diving for lobster. Six very, very long days went by where we felt as if the world had forgotten us

“Of the folk who died, l lost six good friends, my business, my house and my livelihood”

If you can, send money and with the south of the islands undamaged, choose it for your next vacation – they need you as never before and the Bahamian people are amongst the sweetest, kindest and most generous people l have ever met.

ANGER MANAGEMENT

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Supporting your local children’s hospice Chestnut Tree House is getting ready for this month’s Make a Will campaign and plans are well underway for The Snowman™ Spectacular, the charity’s biggest night of the year

The Snowman™ Spectacular

This month is Make a Will month P

T

hroughout October, local solicitors are offering appointments to write or update Wills in return for a donation to Chestnut Tree House, the children’s hospice for Sussex and South East Hampshire.

A number of local solicitors have signed up to the scheme, generously waiving their Will-writing fees for appointments this month. Instead of paying the solicitor for their professional advice, they are asking for a suggested donation to Chestnut Tree House.

According to research from earlier this year, over half of UK adults (54%) don’t have a Will, meaning their loved ones may not be provided for when they pass away.

Make illanddmiffakeereance aW

2019 and ring October ill Month te your Will du ce. Make A W Write or upda spi ho ’s ren local child offering their support your local solicitors by d rte po sup is generously tion to urn for a dona services in ret House.* e Tre t nu est Ch ns: imum donatio *Suggested min a joint Will. ll or £160 for £110 single Wi illmonth rg.uk/makeaw t-tree-house.o ity tnu hes w.c Registered char ww no 256789 01903 706351 rg.uk ut-tree-house.o wills@chestn

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“Having a Will is crucial to ensure that your property is distributed in the way you want, so we hope that people will be prompted to make or update their Will during October,” says Rosie Last, Development Fundraiser at Chestnut Tree House.

“We are really grateful for the support of local solicitors in providing appointments during October. It costs £116.79 per hour to provide all of Chestnut Tree House’s community services, which allow children with life-shortening conditions and their families to receive care in their own home, so the suggested donations of £110 for a single will and £160 for a joint Will could make a real difference.”

Solicitors across the region are taking part. Anybody who would like to take advantage of this offer can contact their chosen solicitor and book an appointment to take place this month quoting ‘Chestnut Tree House Make a Will Month’.

More information, including the full list of participating solicitors, is available at www.chestnut-tree-house. org.uk/makeawillmonth or you can contact the charity on 01903 706351 or wills@ chestnut-tree-house.org. uk

reparations are well underway for The Snowman™ Spectacular 2019, which is taking place on Saturday 30th November at the Hilton Brighton Metropole. The annual fundraising ball, which is now in its 12th year, celebrates over a decade of association with the charity’s friend and Patron, Raymond Briggs CBE, and his beloved character, The Snowman™. It is the biggest event on Chestnut Tree House’s fundraising calendar and couldn’t take place without the generous support of sponsors.

Chestnut Tree House would like to say a special thank you to Willmott Dixon, who are headline sponsors of The Snowman™ Spectacular 2019. Thanks also to Amber Scaffolding, Creative Pod, E3, ECE Architecture, Eurovine IT, Gemini Print, Gusto Wines, Hilton Brighton Metropole, Oliver & Graimes, Platinum Publishing Group, and Sussex Life for sponsoring this year’s event.

The Snowman™ Spectacular 2019 is already sold out but there is a waiting list so please visit www.thesnowmanspectacular.org.uk for more information or to register your interest.

To find out more about upcoming events, and how you or your business can help Chestnut Tree House support local life-limited children, visit www.chestnut-tree-house.org. uk, or get in touch on corporate@ chestnut-tree-house.org.uk or 01903 871846 / 01323 725095

CHARITY NEWS

The Best of

British rugby & cricket The Eastbourne Best of British lunch

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ugby legend Rob Andrew was the special guest speaker at a Best of British lunch at The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne in September. Over 200 guests enjoyed a threecourse lunch and raised £13,300 for the Rockinghorse children’s charity.

Now Chief Executive of Sussex County Cricket Club, Rob Andrew began his sporting career playing rugby. He rose to fame as one of England’s Rugby Union stars back in the 1980s and continued in his role as fly-half at various clubs until 1999.

His claim to fame was a last-gasp drop goal which gave England victory over Australia with the last kick of the 1995 Rugby World Cup quarter-final. His feat was emulated by Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal which won the World Cup for England in 2003. With tongue firmly in cheek, Rob took the opportunity to remind the audience how much more difficult his goal was!

Rob also has enjoyed a brief career in first-class cricket and in January 2017, was appointed Chief Executive of Sussex County Cricket Club.

With a varied sporting career to reflect on, Rob recalled tales from both his rugby and cricket eras, and discussed his move into

management, enjoying his time in charge of Sussex.

From funds raised at the lunch, Rockinghorse has pledged to support Hazel Court School in Eastbourne. Hazel Court is a special school for children and young people aged 11-19 years old who have severe disabilities and complex needs.

The school is currently fundraising for a brand new state-of-the-art sensory room to further improve the facilities for its students. Rockinghorse is delighted to be able to support the project thanks to funds raised at Best of British Eastbourne.

Ryan Heal, Chief Executive of Rockinghorse and organiser of the Best of British events, said, “Supporting Hazel Court means that we are able to bring the school a step closer to making their sensory room dreams a reality.

“Therapy support staff will be able to use the brand-new sensory room for assessment development and to implement therapeutic programmes, helping to improve physical and sensory processing.”

The headline sponsor of the lunch was Rix & Kay Solicitors LLP. The co-sponsor, was FirmBalls, and the media sponsor was Platinum Publishing Group.

The Best of British sporting lunch will return to the Hilton London Gatwick Airport Hotel on Friday November 8th with special guest, cricket legend, David Gower OBE. Tables of 10 are available now for £750. To book, email info@bestofbritish.org.uk.

To find out more about Rockinghorse and the work they do to support babies, children and young people in Sussex, visit www.rockinghorse. org.uk

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Image: Stephen Lawrence

SPORT | ACTIVE SUSSEX Crawley Old Girls (COGS) won The Grand Hotel Community Impact Award 2018

From Sussex Sports Awards

to a World Cup The Sussex Sports Awards, hosted by Active Sussex, is one of the most impressive evenings in the county’s sporting calendar

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he awards, now in its 17th year, celebrate and showcase Sussex’s sporting success stories and the phenomenal heroines and heroes who have contributed at all levels, across all walks of life.

after only six entered in 2016, two of which were from Crawley Old Girls.

Additionally, they were invited to St. George’s Park for the FA People’s Cup launch and also took part in the Sports

A perfect example of this is the multi-award winning football based initiative – Crawley Old Girls (COGS), winner of The Grand Hotel Community Impact Award 2018.

The accolade was in recognition of championing activity through football and reaching out to “the lost generation” of women footballers.

Shortly before the Sussex Sports Award success in November 2018, Crawley Old Girls had been working with the Football Association (FA) and featured in their national TV advert for the People’s Cup. This saw over 50 teams entered in the ‘over 35 category’

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Image: Jade Harker Photography

Over the years, incredible, community based projects, that have changed lives for the better through sport and physical activity, have graced the award’s stage before going on to make an even bigger impact in their local communities.

Bags, organised the first ever Old Girls “World Cup” - held on the rest day of the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019, as part of a festival of football for women of all ages at the Soissons FC ground in northern France.

Over two hundred women from all over the UK and beyond travelled to the event, some of whom had never played football before, and the story featured on the BBC One programme - Inside Out South East.

Relief 5 live-a-side event in Manchester playing against Robbie Savage’s XI. Since the award win the initiative has gone from strength to strength, currently boasting over 100 players; ten times the number of participants since they started in 2015 and now running three sessions a week to cater for the varying levels and abilities.

And not content with Sussex domination, Carol Bates (Crawley Old Girls Founder and Chair), along with Jo Treharne from the Canterbury Old

“It was really unbelievable and humbling to win a Sussex Sports Award – because it’s so prestigious. It was an amazing night that we’ll never forget,” explained Carol.

“We were showcased, and word spreads! We were able to reach out to even more women and give them the opportunity to play football. Our story keeps encouraging more people to get involved and we have lots of exciting plans in the pipeline to keep getting the message out there.”

For more information about this year’s awards, nominations, sponsorship opportunities or to book tickets please visit: www.activesussex.org/ news-events/ssa

SPORT | BOUNDARY CLUB

Kevin Keegan comes to Sussex

Sussex sports fans would love it – LOVE IT – to be able to spend an evening with the former Liverpool, Hamburg and England striker

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oin footballing royalty in the splendour of the Grand Hotel, Brighton for Where Cricket Meets… Kevin Keegan on Friday November 15th. A legend of the English game, Keegan will share tales from his 50 years as a player, manager and pundit.

Guests will also enjoy a sumptuous three-course lunch, heads and tails, a charity auction and raffle. All proceeds from the day will go towards the work the Sussex Cricket Foundation and Matthew Hobden Trust do in changing lives through cricket. Tables

are already selling fast for this unique event, so visit www.sussexcricket. co.uk to secure your place.

Would you like to be Kevin’s special guest for the day? Headline sponsorship of Where Cricket Meets… Kevin Keegan will see you and your guests enjoy a VIP drinks reception and a table of ten with Kevin and Jean Keegan, as well as promotional signage at the event, your company logo on all collateral and social media and online promotion. Find out more by emailing foundation@sussexcricket.co.uk.

DIARY DATES Thursday October 24th Double amputee and Invictus Games athlete, Murray Hambro Wednesday December 11th Boundary Club Christmas Party For more information about how to become a member, call 0844 264 0201 or email the boundaryclub@ sussexcricket.co.uk

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SPONSORED BY

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12pm Friday 8th Nov 2019 Featuring Special Guest Speaker:

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SPORT | FOOTBALL

Hope inspires Brighton Women’s football in England is on a dramatic upward curve, especially since the popularity of the FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer.

F

But those people, bereft of thought or context, are missing the point. Women’s football is different to the men’s game. It’s slower, more considered, with less rolling around, but with the same level – or maybe even a greater level – of intensity and excitement.

For those of you on Mars during the summer, the FIFA Women’s World Cup attracted the highest viewing audiences for any UK television event in 2019. In among the impressive viewing figures would have been those who wouldn’t have been able to resist watching where once they derided the game.

Images: Paul Hazlewood, Club Photographer, Brighton & Hove Albion

So what made those sceptics watch it? To insult it? To deride it in order to escape their insecurities surrounding their own masculinity. Or maybe, just maybe, they had been won over to a sport which is genuinely exciting, full of skill, purpose and tenacity – and to cheer England on. Good. Let’s have more then, please.

Image: Brighton & Hove Albion FC / Geoff Penn

or years, women’s football has been derided as a poor, inferior product compared to the men’s game. Indeed, they’ve only been able to say that since 1971, when the FA finally removed its archaic law, which had banned women playing in official matches.

Aileen Whelan jumps for joy after scoring against Chelsea

With that in mind, the FA Women’s Super League kicked off in September, with Brighton & Hove Albion, led by former England manager Hope Powell, taking their rightful place for the second season among the elite.

The fans have responded accordingly.

31,000 attended the Manchester derby, while 24,000 watched Chelsea play Spurs. These figures, hitherto unheard of in English women’s domestic football, are almost certainly as a direct result of the excitement generated by the World Cup. Brighton’s season has started with two draws – away at Bristol City, and an incredible result against mighty Chelsea at Crawley. In both instances, Powell’s team were left kicking themselves at

not talking all three points, with Chelsea equalising in the 91st minute.

And while we are mentioning Crawley, if Brighton & Hove Albion really wish for the women’s team to flourish, it’s imperative that they get them playing much closer to home. 25 miles to an out-oftown stadium with few public transport facilities is going to put people off. A highly respectable 1,300 crowd watched Brighton play Chelsea, but the previous home game, which was played at the Amex, attracted over 5,000 fans.

This will urgently focus the club on getting the women playing in Brighton on a permanent basis.

It’s something the Albion are acutely aware of, and it can’t happen soon enough.

UPCOMING BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION FIXTURES PREMIER LEAGUE at The Amex Stadium

BARCLAYS WOMEN’S SUPER LEAGUE at The People’s Pension Stadium, Crawley

Sat 5 Oct – Tottenham Hotspur Sat 26 Oct – Everton Sat 2 Nov – Norwich City Sat 23 Nov – Leicester City Sat 7 Dec – Wolverhampton W

Sun 13 Oct – West Ham United Sun 17 Nov – Birmingham City Sun 1 Dec – Reading

To book your hospitality at upcoming fixtures, please visit www.BrightonAndHoveAlbion.com or call the hospitality team on 01273 878 278 or email hospitality@brightonandhovealbion.com

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H THE PLATINUM PAUL (Dev Assist) ADDISON v MAARTEN (Platinum) HOFFMANN PART 10 - ‘The Blind Rally Driving Challenge’

Paul Addison and Maarten Hoffmann, ahead of not watching where they’re driving

As many of you will know, Laurence Elphick has moved onto pastures new and we wish him the very best at the Grand Brighton, which, as it is Platinum’s second office, will result in seeing even more of him. By Maarten Hoffmann

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o, that left me to fill his boots, if you pardon the pun – just as it involves racing fast cars in a mad challenge. Almost as if l had planned it!

energy and spends much of his time giving back to good causes as was the case with the Paddle Boarding Challenge, which is back next year, bigger and better.

back – with Alpacas and Emu’s roaming free across the acreage. It was a little surreal, like Mad Max meets Dr Doolittle! This was the same buggy he ‘flew’ across the Sahara in, as you do!

Neil Laughton, of Laughton & Co, who previously had coached, with hilarious results, Laurence and Paul to race Penny Farthings has quite remarkable

Paul and l duly turfed up to Neil’s country pile in the Downs to be met with a huge field and an off-road buggy with a massive propeller on the

The aim – rip around the track getting your bearings and warming up, although it got more fun when Neil bet me a tenner and beat me by 1.8 sec-

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SPORT | PLATINUM CHALLENGE

CHALLENGE H

Paul imitates every BMW driver...

... as does Maarten

onds grrrr. I still owe him that tenner.

nating from Neil, it was a blast.

Then don the blackout goggles and listen to Neil’s instructions from the co-pilot seat, the fastest around in one lap and then another swerving between the cones. Now, Neil being an ex-military man with a short fuse for idiots, ended up screaming such as ‘not that way you blithering idiot’ which just added to the fun of the day.

Having taken up the reins from Laurence, l am relieved to say l won by 2.4 seconds – how, l don’t know but a good day was had by all.

It is really disconcerting to be blindfolded and in charge of anything mechanical but once you shut out the roar of the engine and the racket ema-

It’s still 7-3 to Paul and does he have a dastardly plan up his sleeve with the next suggestion – jumping off a mountain with a wing on your back!!!

And he has his own canopy – yeah, of course he does! I have never refused a challenge and l am not about to start now so see you up the mountain.

The Platinum Challenge – helping to raise funds for Rockinghorse Children’s Charity. If you can help, all donations will be very much appreciated www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/platinumchallenge10

Maarten thanks Neil Laughton for keeping him alive

SCORE SCOREAFTER AFTERONE TENEVENT: EVENTS: PAUL PAUL 1-07–3 LAURENCE PLATINUM

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SPORT | CRICKET

Cricket stopped work Brilliant summers of cricket aren’t an annual occurrence, so make the most of them. Alan Wares of The Albion Roar briefly reflects on those times cricket has stopped him from doing what he was doing

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espite being first and foremost a football fan, the greatest-ever sporting occasion I have been to is the 2006 C&G Trophy Final (domestic cricket’s equivalent of the FA Cup Final) between Sussex and Lancashire.

It was an incredible day; Sussex were skittled out for 172 on a sticky wicket.

Lancashire fans, with their one tedious, droning chant, felt that the trophy was theirs for the taking. James Kirtley, Eastbourne born-and-bred, then proceeded to take five wickets all LBWs - to leave Lancashire 15 runs short of the target. Mushtaq Ahmed, the little fluffy love bundle, and the greatest player in the greatest English cricket team of the noughties played his part, as did the careless Lancashire batting line-up.

of them; not that that mattered. If two of them weren’t firing on all four cylinders, the other two would be firing on six. Sussex eased themselves into the T20 quarter-finals without too many dramas, only to be outdone by current holders Worcestershire. It was an insipid end to some wild cricket played under the lights.

Talking of Jofra Archer - A Star Is Born.

As highlighted in Platinum Business Magazine earlier this year, Archer’s turn on the world stage was approaching, and he didn’t disappoint.

He made his international debut in an Ashes test match at Lord’s - no pressure there then – and immediately blew life into an otherwise moribund

Ashes series. The duel with world No.1 batsman Steve Smith has already gone down as one of the most exciting sporting spectacles ever. It culminated in Smith being knocked out by yet another terrifying Archer bouncer, while the latter look on with carefree ambivalence.

Archer finished the series with 22 wickets in four matches, most of them induced by sheer terror, and not a bad way to start your international career.

For an England fan, Jimmy Anderson’s replacement has probably now been found. For a Sussex fan, the tragedy is that we have lost our man to the international stage - almost certainly for quite a long time.

I lost my voice for four days; so hard was I cheering.

The 2005 Ashes series was also an incredible spectacle to behold, gripping two countries for an entire summer (alright, Aussie winter) before England finally regained the urn.

To the mind of the sporting purist, these kinds of events are hard to replicate, especially as you really do have to be there.

This summer, we got to witness here in Sussex - all too fleetingly - an astonishing bowling line-up of Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills and Rashid Khan. Most clubs would bite your hand off for one of them. We saw all four – in one sitting – at Hove. You really did have to be there - and I was.

We probably didn’t see the best of all

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Platinum Cricket sponsored by Extech Cloud, Greenacre Court, Burgess Hill RH15 9DS 01444 443200 Email: hello@extech.co.uk www.extechcloud.com

Pictures of Jofra Archer bowling are usually a blur.

So here’s one of him batting in the Cricket World Cup

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