Platinum Business Magazine Issue 71

THE LARGEST CIRCULATION REGIONAL BUSINESS PUBLICATION IN THE UK

ISSUE 71. APRIL/MAY 2020

A Sign of the Times

CONTENTS 13

CRAWLEY IN CRISIS? Will Crawley be an economic victim of Covid-19?

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CHESTNUT TREE HOUSE Hospices are facing a huge challenge during the lockdown. Why not get involved?

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MOTORING Maarten Hoffmann rounds up the latest motoring news

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NATWEST Sadly, scammers and conartists are taking advantage of the chaos. Here are 5 tips to avoid being a victim

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THE BIG READ As roads empty and flights are grounded, has there been one silver lining? The earth is taking a breather from pollution and wildlife is flourishing. What should we learn from this?

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THE DOUGHNUT MODEL Amsterdam is looking at a whole new ecomomic model, which could revolutionise public policy decisions

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KEN BLANCHARD 7 ways people react to change - and how businesses should respond

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KRESTON REEVES Why management reporting is more important than ever during a lockdown NATWEST PMI The latest business survrey is out. How scary will it be?

KNILL JAMES Why stable businesses should be encouraged to acquire struggling firms

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HAINES WATTS How to be an effective manager in exceptional circumstances

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LEARN A LANGUAGE Time on your hands? Why not take on a new challenge?

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DMH STALLARD Everything you need to know about furloughing

VERLINGUE How pensions are affected by the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme STARTUP SUSSEX THE WINNERS The Sussex Innovation Centre announces the 2020 winners OFFICES.CO.UK A call for help for businesses in serviced offices

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Sterling Moss A tribute to the legendary ‘Gentleman Racer’

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CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS How the childs rights organisation is bring a little joy into people’s homes

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4COM How to make business calls with all the distractions of home life

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VODAFONE How the mobile giant is playing its part in the fight against Covid-19

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SIGNATURE SAFARIS Helping children in Botswana get to school safely

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BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION The club is offering free tickets to essential workers

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ROCKINGHORSE Be a Hero for the children’s charity

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GATWICK DIAMOND BUSINESS Join in one of GDB’s virtual events All rights reserved. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions relating to advertising or editorial. The publisher reserves the right to change or amend any competitions or prizes offered. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent from the publisher. No responsibility is taken for unsolicited materials or the return of these materials whilst in transit. Platinum Business Magazine is owned and published by The Platinum Publishing Group.

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Welcome T

his is the first of our mid-month issues, which represents our attempt to assist in preventing business isolation.

ALL pages in this issue are totally free of charge after we announced that we were open to take press releases from any company in the South East who had news to get out there.

We can’t make PPE or assist the NHS but what we can do is use the Platinum platform to inform our readers, and do it at no cost.

Our region will really need to pull together after this nightmare passes, especially as the article on page 13 suggests that Crawley could be the worst hit town in the entire country!

We are ALL in this together and we will ALL come out of it together and we MUST be there for our friends and colleagues who’s businesses are suffering or lost to this invisible enemy.

We are a strong and powerful community and soon we will need to prove it.

Maarten Hoffmann Publisher And while you’re here...

Platinum Publishing enjoys the largest circulation of any business magazines in the UK, reaching over 720,000 readers across the South East and this includes 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

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Great relationships Great conversations Great futures

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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.

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Now, for tomorrow

national

news

Jewish Paper to Close

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he world’s oldest continually published Jewish newspaper, the Jewish Chronicle, is being put into liquidation as the coronavirus hits print advertising revenues.

First published in 1842, the paper has been struggling for years and the

virus was the final hit.

The decision to seek voluntary liquidation came after the papers board established that is would not be able to survive the impact of the pandemic and, sadly, the paper will be gone forever.

Bank Bosses Donate Millions

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everal bank bosses have pledged to donate sizeable chunks of their salaries to various good causes relating to the pandemic.

Alison Rose, chief executive of the RBS Group will give £419,000, which is 25% of her remaining fixed pay for 2020 to the National Emergencies Trust Coronavirus Appeal and she ruled herself out of receiving up to £1.935 million bonuses this year.

In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.

BUSINESS WISDOM The RBS Chairman, Sir Howard Davies will give away the same proportion of his remaining fee that will amount to £140,000.

Airbnb Berated

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irbnb hosts have been accused of irresponsible and dangerous behaviour for advertising their properties as ‘Covid-19 retreats’. Laws brought in to combat the spread of the virus states that holiday accommodation should be provided only to key workers who need to self-isolate.

The Airbnb head office got involved and shut this offer down before it really even

got started but people do need to understand that when this is all over, there will be a day of reckoning for those that attempt to profit from the pandemic.

HSBC Chairman, Mark Tucker will donate his entire 2020 fee to helping healthcare workers in Britain and Hong Kong.

Lloyds chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio will waive his bonus, as much as £1.8 million and Barclays chief executive, Nigel Higgins will donate a third of his fixed pay.

Get your facts first. Then you can distort them as you please 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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national

news

Going, Going, Gone

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he department store Debenhams has filed for administration and has described the current trading conditions as ‘unprecedented’.

Last year the debt-laden company was taken over by its lenders, and this time management is battling the effects of £600m of debt and has already closed 22 stores. This move looks to threaten all 140 stores and 22,000 staff. Another high street name withers and dies, joining Carluccios, Carphone Warehouse, Chiquito Restaurants, Byron Burgers, Laura Ashley, Honest John, Jessops, Oasis, Warehouse, Kath Kidson, Brighthouse, TJ Hughes, Clintons and Beales Dept Stores!

We generate fears while we sit. We over come them by

action. Fear is nature’s way of warning us to get busy BUSINESS WISDOM

Einstein stands test of time

J Virtual Art

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f you have ever fancied visiting the Museum of Modern Art in New York or even the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, now is your time to do so from the comfort of your armchair. One of the wonderful initiatives to save us from lockdown hell comes, surprisingly, from Google. The tech giant has teamed with 1,200 museums and sightseeing spots across the globe to bring us virtual tours of world-famous exhibitions - and it’s free. You will find it at artsandculture.google.com.

apanese scientists have used a Tokyo tourist attraction to demonstrate one of the hypotheses of Einstein’s theory of general relativity - that time goes faster at higher altitudes.

They used an optical lattice clock that can measure fractions of a second to 18 decimals places. It is so accurate that it would take 30 billion years to lose a second. One was placed at the top of the 634m Tokyo Skytree and another at the base.

They discovered that at 634m, the clock ran faster by 4.3 nanoseconds per day one nanosecond being a billionth of a second. Over a year this amounts to a difference of 1.6 microseconds, or millionths of a second.

Einstein’s theory says that the gravity of a large body such as a planet distorts the space-time around it, causing time to move more slowly close up and to speed up the further away it is.

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Local

news

Planning for after the pandemic

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om Hosking from ActionCOACH Brighton is offering Brighton and Hove business owners access to a 90 Day Planning Webinar. These are free to attend and Tom takes business owners through important things to consider and focus on in challenging times. He then takes all the delegates through a robust planning process.

Those that attend the webinar come

away with their own 90 Day Plan, which is based on the goals that they have identified. They have a week by week list of strategies and actions, with clear ownership as to who and how these will be delivered.

Tom says, “In times as challenging as these I’m offering a number of gifted programmes and webinars for business owners in Brighton and Hove.

The recovery will come, and we need to use this time to prepare for that.

Every business owner I speak to mentions how their 2020 plan has gone out of the window. The Webinars take place each week.

To register for the next one visit the Events section of the ActionCOACH Brighton website. brighton.actioncoach.co.uk/events/ covid-19-90-day-planning-webinar/

Hurst College switches to remote learning

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urst College has switched to remote learning with most teachers working from home broadcasting live lessons to pupils’ homes. In addition, there are a small number of teachers on site to cater for pupils whose parents are key workers.

The new way of learning is as close to the normal timetable as possible. In the Senior School the day begins with house meetings followed by assembly with hymns, and with an assembly in the Prep School.

Plenty of co-curricular activities have been introduced including a virtual choir rehearsal, CCF housekeeping activities, virtual dance classes and circuit training.

“The response from staff, pupils and parents has been excellent – demonstrating Hurst spirit at its very best. I am extremely proud and

grateful to each and every member of the Hurst Community in these challenging times”, said Tim Manly, Headmaster.

Sandown - Business as Usual

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ne of the many pleasures we are missing is the opportunity to test-drive the 2020 new plate motors. Like most dealerships, Sandown Mercedes-Benz has had to close the showroom doors, but they are still offering the high quality support their customers expect.

Gavin McAllister, Managing Director of Sandown, said: “We have a dedicated team of sales professionals who are

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available to engage with you over the phone, video call or electronically. Our team has operated in this way for many years and I assure you that they will provide you with a personal and enjoyable experience without your needing to leave your home.

“For our customers who have already purchased a new or approved used vehicle that has a planned handover date in March or early April, we will be managing these handovers on site in line with the strictest hygiene standards.

“As part of this process, we will complete all of the documentation remotely and the cars will be handed over on site with very limited interaction. We’re

also happy to deliver the vehicles directly to your door with a non-contact process. We’ll then follow up with a virtual telephone or video handover to provide a full explanation of the controls.

“In line with the government guidance, our workshops will remain open to assist our customers, especially those that are key workers, with their mobility requirements during this challenging time. www.sandown-group.co.uk

Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked BUSINESS WISDOM

Movers & Shakers Finance recruitment and has over twenty years’ experience in the field.

Claire Jones joins the Public Practice accountancy team working with MD David Waddell.

David said: “I’m thrilled that Kate and Claire have joined Harvey John.

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arvey John are pleased to welcome the two newest additions to the team.

Kate Williamson joins the Commercial Finance team specialising in Senior

“Introducing two experienced recruiters to the business not only further strengthens the team but the quality of service that we can offer to clients and candidates.”

Free wills consultations

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he Jonathan Lea Network have recently noticed an increase in enquiries about wills. They hope this is more to do with many of us having more time to think these things at home, rather than any perceived threat to someone’s life expectancy.

Their Wills and Probate specialist solicitor, Chris Lawn is available for free initial consultations via Zoom for anyone who may like a will arranged. We are offering Platinum Business Magazine, Dynamic Magazine and Surrey Business Magazine readers a special discount (when mentioning the code Platinum JLN), whereby we can ad-

vise on and produce basic wills for £250 + VAT and basic mirror wills for £450 + VAT. Email alice@jonathanlea.net to arrange a free consultation with Chris via Zoom.

Due to budget cutbacks, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.

BUSINESS WISDOM

ACUMEN helpline

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CUMEN BUSINESS LAW, a specialist business law firm, says the main question asked by so many of its clients has been: ‘Can we survive this?’

“Every single business I have spoken to in the last week is asking themselves that question”, says Penina Shepherd, Founder & CEO of Acumen.

To help its business community, the team at Acumen have set up a complimentary helpline answering the burning questions most businesses ask.

Acumen have also implemented a Corona Crisis Pay As you Go Scheme (PAYG). Acumen is subsidising this scheme so the business community benefit from up to 50% discounted off their normal fees.

If you wish to have free legal advice about how you or your business have been affected by the Coronavirus and to discuss the Corona PAYG scheme, please email office@acumenbusinesslaw.co.uk with your telephone number and the relevant legal expert will get back to you.

Inspiring an Olympian

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ith many of us working at home, we have been fascinated by what people are getting up to with more time on their hands.

MD of Rose Media, Aneela Rose has taken the opportunity to teach her six-year-old daughter how to throw a javelin.

Aneela said, “It’s a bit different and fun, and we’ve even started posting

videos on Instagram (aneela.rose) My mini me is fantastic considering the javelin is twice her size and she’s never held one before!

Her posts had an unexpected response. Olympic legend Tessa Sanderson saw the videos and messaged Aneela to say she has now been inspired her to pick up her javelin again and involve her children!

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BUSINESS NEWS

Crawley Crisis?

Crawley is likely to be the UK town worst affected by coronavirus job losses. A think tank warns that more than 53,000 of 94,000 jobs in the aviation-reliant Sussex town are at risk

About 18% of jobs are in aviation, compared with 1% on average

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rawley has been identified as the place in Britain at highest risk of widespread job losses amid the coronavirus crisis, according to a report warning that the economic damage will fall unevenly across the country.

In a report highlighting the uneven economic damage caused by the coronavirus crisis for various places and groups in society, the Centre for Cities warned that about one in five jobs in large urban locations were vulnerable.

More than half of all jobs in the town are at risk of being furloughed or lost, according to the Centre for Cities thinktank, which said Crawley’s high reliance on the aviation industry placed it at the heart of the economic storm.

Gatwick, the UK’s second busiest airport after Heathrow, has closed its north terminal and reduced runway hours for at least a month, while British Airways has temporarily suspended flights from there.

As an employment hub for the nearby Gatwick airport, Crawley has the highest proportion of jobs in the aviation and aircraft manufacturing industries of 62 large towns and cities the thinktank examined, meaning its local economy could be the hardest hit in Britain.

Crawley had one of the fastest growth rates for self-employment in Britain before the coronavirus struck, driven by an explosion in taxi work given its location close to the airport between London and Brighton.

The number of people working for themselves in the town has increased by more than two-thirds between 2008 and 2016, according to the Centre for Cities, reflecting a boom in precarious work over the past decade as the economy recovered from the financial crisis.

Jobs in retail are also at risk

More than 53,000 jobs are classed as vulnerable and very vulnerable in Crawley, of about 94,000 in the area.

About 18% of jobs are in aviation, compared with 1% on average across other big towns and cities.

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The Silver L Whilst we all sit at home wondering when this nightmare will end and what sort of society and economic landscape we will be faced with, l thought we should take a peek at something positive that has arisen from the crisis. By Maarten Hoffmann

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Lining

THE BIG READ

With virtually zero movement of cars, planes and boats, a massive decrease in factories belching out toxic fumes, the absence of human litter, river dredging and human interaction with the oceans, we are seeing a massive resurgence in wildlife, sea-life and the quality of the air we breathe.

Take a look out of your window - no plane contrails in the sky, no ships on the sea, no one on the beach - it is a little like a dystopian horror movie where the human population has all been wiped out and nature is back in control.

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ithin weeks, China’s use of coal dropped by 40% by their six largest power stations and the countr y ’s air qualit y rose by 11 . 4% .

Satellite ima ges show that the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions rapidly fad ing away across Italy and Spain.

The first thing to consider, says Kimberly Nicholas, a sustainability science researcher at Lund University in Sweden, is the different reasons

empty streets of some of the world's largest urban areas.

Film footage of a civet cat roaming the deserted streets of Kozhikode in the Indian State of Kerala went viral on social media, while a puma turned up in the centre of the Chilean capital Santiago, a city which is under curfew.

"This is the habitat they once had and that we've taken away from them," said Marcelo Giagnoni, the head of Chile's agricultural and livestock service.

In the Calanques National Park near France's second city of Marseille,

"Covid 19 presents humans with a unique opportunity to roll back on our ‘so called’ progress, respect our environment, respect the horrific danger it presents and see this unique time to re-balance the planet." that emissions have dropped. Take transport, for example, which makes up 23% of global carbon emissions.

These emissions have fallen in the short term in countries where public health measures, such as keeping people in their homes, have cut unnecessary travel. Driving and aviation are key contributors to emissions from transport, contributing 72% and 11% of the transport sector’s greenhouse gas emissions respectively.

As more countries order their human populations to stay at home to limit the spread of coronavirus, wild animals have been spotted exploring the

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wildlife "is reclaiming its natural habitat with surprising speed", according to the park authority's president, Didier Reault. With walkers, bathing and boating banned, the puffins who used to stay on the small islands in the most protected areas are now extending their range, he adds.

In Europe, wild boar have descended from the hills around the Catalan city of Barcelona, while ducks were seen walking near the Comédie Française theatre in central Paris.

In the Mediterranean, dolphins have reappeared in several ports. Emboldened wildlife has returned to wander

our cities and towns, according to Romain Julliard, head of research at the French Natural History Museum.

In Nara Park, a popular Japanese attraction, more than a thousand deer can roam freely throughout the year with tourists often lining up to feed them.

People who live in the city of Venice have reported seeing fish and ducks in the canals after coronavirus lockdown left the streets and famous canals empty.

In one of the more unusual incidents being attributed to the new coronavirus outbreak, a turf war between dozens of street monkeys and temple monkeys broke out in Thailand's historic city of Lopburi. According to city residents, the furry fracas likely resulted from a sharp dip in tourism to the 800-year-old city — and thus a dip in free food offerings to thousands of local monkeys.

So far so good but there is a dark side to all this. It is the very destruction of the natural habitat that has given rise to the coronavirus. Take the generally accepted case of the current outbreak, that of the ‘wet’ animal markets in China. So called ‘wet’ markets are such as you can purchase your dog, cat, bat or any other form of wildlife and they will kill it for you on the spot - with the same knives that they have been using all day to slaughter a parade of different creatures. If we accept that the virus came from infected bats, it is easy to see how this crisis started with an array of bats on sale for immediate slaughter for that tasty lunchtime snack.

Even though China recently banned

THE BIG READ

open air markets that trade wildlife (yeah, right), the government has issued guidelines for treating COVID-19 that include medicines containing bear bile, according to National Geographic. This will now lead to the mass slaughter of the bear population and who knows what little pathogens those guys are carrying.

This is natures way of saying ‘stop eating the bloody wildlife’. But of course humans are the dumbest of all animals and will not listen even after the horror show we are currently attempting to survive.

Only a decade or two ago it was widely

thought that tropical forests and intact natural environments teeming with exotic wildlife threatened humans by harbouring the viruses and pathogens that lead to new diseases in humans such as Ebola, HIV and dengue. But a number of researchers today think that it is actually humanity’s destruction of biodiversity that creates the conditions for new viruses and diseases such as Covid-19, the viral disease that emerged in China in December 2019, to arise – with profound health and economic impacts in rich and poor countries alike.

In fact, a new discipline, planetary health, is emerging that focuses on

the increasingly visible connections between the wellbeing of humans, other living things and entire ecosystems.

Is it possible, then, that it was human activity, such as road building, mining, hunting and logging, that triggered the Ebola epidemics in Mayibout 2 and elsewhere in the 1990s and that is unleashing new terrors today?

“We invade tropical forests and other wild landscapes, which harbour so many species of animals and plants – and within those creatures, so many unknown viruses,” David Quammen, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Pandemic, recently wrote in the New York Times. “We cut

"The better we manage nature, the better we manage human health.”

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"Emboldened wildlife has returned to wander our cities and towns" the trees; we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts.

When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.”

Some, like rabies and plague, crossed from animals centuries ago. Others, such as Marburg, which is thought to be transmitted by bats, are still rare. A few, like Covid-19, which emerged last year in Wuhan, China, and Mers, which is linked to camels in the Middle East, are new to humans and spreading globally.

Other diseases that have crossed into humans include Lassa fever, which was first identified in 1969 in Nigeria; Nipah from Malaysia; and Sars from China, which killed more than 700 people and travelled to 30 countries in 2002. Some, like Zika and West Nile virus, which emerged in Africa, have mutated and become established on other continents.

Kate Jones, chair of ecology and biodiversity at UCL, calls emerging animal-borne infectious diseases an “increasing and a very significant threat to global health, security and economies”.

In 2008, Jones and a team of researchers identified 335 diseases that emerged between 1960 and 2004,

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at least 60% of which came from animals. Increasingly, says Jones, these zoonotic diseases are linked to environmental change and human behaviour. The disruption of pristine forests driven by logging, mining, road building through remote places, rapid urbanisation and population growth is bringing people into closer contact with animal species they may never have been near before, she says.

The resulting transmission of disease from wildlife to humans, she says, is now “a hidden cost of human economic development. There are just so many more of us, in every environment. We are going into largely undisturbed places and being exposed more and more. We are creating habitats where viruses are transmitted more easily, and then we are surprised that we have new ones.”

Jones studies how changes in land use contribute to the risk. “We are researching how species in degraded habitats are likely to carry more viruses which can infect humans,” she says. “Simpler systems get an amplification effect. Destroy landscapes, and the species you are left with are the ones humans get the diseases from. There are countless pathogens out there continuing to evolve which at some point could pose a threat to humans,” says Eric Fevre, chair of veteri-

nary infectious diseases at the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Infection and Global Health.

“The risk of pathogens jumping from animals to humans has always been there. The difference between now and a few decades ago, is that diseases are likely to spring up in both urban

and natural environments. “We have created densely packed populations where alongside us are bats and rodents and birds, pets and other living things. That creates intense interaction and opportunities for things to move from species to species,” Covid 19 presents humans with a unique opportunity to roll back on our ‘so called’ progress, respect our environment, respect the horrific danger it presents and see this unique time to re-balance the planet.

The “wild” must be kept “wild.” It is time to restore our forests, stop deforestation, invest in the management of protected areas, and propel markets for deforestation-free products.

Where the legal wildlife trade chain ex-

"We disrupt ecosystems and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host.

Often, we are it"

ists, we need to do a far better job of improving hygiene conditions. And of course, there is the urgent need to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, the fourth most common crime committed worldwide.

The better we manage nature, the better we manage human health.

This is why the post-2020 biodiversity framework that countries around the world are expected to agree on this year matters greatly. An important pillar in our post-COVID recovery plan must be to arrive at an ambitious, measurable and inclusive framework, because keeping nature rich, diverse and flourishing is part and parcel of our life’s support system. Even more important when you consider that between 25-50% of

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pharmaceutical products are derived from genetic resources.

And as the engines of growth begin to rev up again, we need to see how prudent management of nature can be part of this “different economy” that must emerge, one where finance and actions fuel green jobs, green growth and a different way of life, because the health of people and the health of the planet are one and the same, and both can thrive in equal measure.”

Alas, this is unlikely to be the case. Humans are selfish creatures who feel the wild exists for their fun and games, with an unlimited supply of everything.

Take for example the catastrophic crash in the Tuna population over the past 20 years. As they became harder and harder to catch, the price simply rose thus encouraging more to be caught as the profits soared. Finally, as the Tuna population totally crashed and very few were ever being caught,

instead of recognising this for the dire warning it was to stop fishing until they recovered, on the very rare occasion when a large Bluefin Tuna was actually caught, the top price in Japan went up to $2.3 million for ONE SINGLE FISH. The result of the current outbreak will be a global economic crash that will take a generation to climb out from under and therefore, once we are set loose again, we will fight even harder for dominance, we will build build build in every area in our attempt to get back to where we were. And where were we - top of the food chain - eating, shooting and destroying everything in our path until our own ultimate demise.

And now we hear that a tiger in the Bronx Zoo in New York has tested positive for the coronavirus. Thought to have been passed on by a keeper who was asymptomatic stated the zoo’s Chief Vet, Paul Calle: “This is the first time anywhere in the world we have

seen a person infect an animal”. Another pet cat was diagnosed last week and there are now a further seven sick animals at the zoo.

This is not only worrying over the thought that animals could pass it to humans but far more worrying is the fact that humans can pass it to animals. They could be catching a very rare disease from the very animals that gave it to us. We’ve become the host - the superspreader. What a wonderful circle of life.

Instead of seeing the current pandemic as a warning to mend our ways and try to rebalance the planet, we will see it as a factory reset and when the starting gun fires, we will be off and running directly towards our own oblivion.

Note: With a publication remit to steer away from dire predictions of gloom and doom, please read the Doughnut Model on page 38. Perhaps we can hope, learn fast and mend our ways…

Local

news

Carpenter Box set up an advice hub

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ith businesses having to trade under extremely challenging and unprecedented conditions and for this reason, Sussex and Gatwick-based chartered accountants, tax and business advisers, MHA Carpenter Box have now set up a dedicated hub on its website available via www.carpenterbox.com/coronavirus.

The purpose of the hub is to provide

Be Hospitable to each other

EP

Business in Hospitality, is calling for all hospitality businesses to make contact as a community, talk and be there for each other during what are unprecedented times.

There is a growing risk to mental health as vulnerable employers and workforces across the world of hospitality, face dark times ahead surrounding job security, financial stability and an increasingly uncertain future.

Chris Sheppardson, CEO at EP Business in Hospitality believes the issue is much deeper: “Many are feeling lost, anxious and concerned right now. Hospitality professionals are, by their very nature, people centric.

“They are naturally extrovert and they thrive on social interaction.

“Arguably isolation will be hardest for this sector so it is vital they have a network of people they can call on, for nothing more than a simple chat.”

Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious; Great speech is impassioned; small speech cantankerous BUSINESS WISDOM

practical advice and guidance for businesses and individuals in one place, rather than searching a multitude of sites for various information.

Information will be updated with guidance from the Government as and when it becomes available and will also include resources and guides to help businesses during these uncertain times.

The hub also provides information on

the business support packages announced by the Government, which include supporting SMEs with payroll costs; creating temporary loan schemes; business rates holidays; the provision of small business grants and delayed tax payments.

Viisana joins Meyado

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ince its launch in 2015, Viisana has quickly grown to become one of Vitality’s largest and most successful Exclusive Associates. To continue the journey, Viisana has been searching for a solution that allows it to offer a broader range of insurance, lending and investment options for its customers.

ViiSana can announce it has joined the Meyado group of companies, to lead their protection insurance proposition and UK growth plans.

Meyado is an established internationally renowned financial services group, operating with a wealth of experience gained over 25 years. They offer a complete range of products, including pensions/investments, life

and health insurance, mortgages and secured lending – all of which will be available immediately.

For existing customers, it is business as usual aside from a change in contact details, which are now: Tel: 01273 461468 Email: protection@meyado.com More information can be found on www.viisana.com.

Massive Data Breach

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arriott International admitted that it has suffered another data breach, affecting up to 5.2 million people. This follows the well-documented data breach highlighted in November 2018 where the records of approximately 339 million guests were exposed in a catastrophic cybersecurity incident.

Having already received an intention to fine from the ICO to the tune of £99m for that, Marriott will be more

than aware of its responsibility to ensure that the information it shares and stores is appropriately protected.

Not only does this news raise further concerns for Marriott, but it also serves as a reminder to all organisations that they must constantly be working to enhance their data security systems and protocols to avoid similar breaches. It will be interesting to see if further action is taken by the ICO.

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7 Common Reactions to Change and How to Respond to Them

By Ken Blanchard, Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Leadership Expert and Thought Leader

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or L&D professionals, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly increased the pace and importance of creating flexible learning options for people. For example, right now we are reaching out to our clients to discuss immediate concerns and offering as much flexibility as possible to ensure the health and safety of their employees, including alternatives such as virtual and digital learning.

As you may be noticing, people have a lot of emotions and assumed constraints around change. For years as part of my talks, I’ve run a little exercise that helps people surface these feelings and thoughts.

I’ll ask people to pair up and go through an exercise of secretly making changes to their appearance and then having their partner see if they can identify all the changes they made. First, I have them make five changes. In a second round, I have them make ten more changes.

People sometimes think this is an observation exercise, but it’s really a change exercise. You should see the looks on people’s faces when they are asked to change five things about their appearance―and hear the howling and complaining when they are asked to change ten more!

During the debrief I share a few observations about people’s reactions to change. See if you’ve experienced any of these:

faces the same thing. For the change to be successful, it is crucial for people to feel connected and understood.

Offer the support people need.

1) People will feel awkward, ill at ease, and self-conscious. Change means doing something different and, as such, people will almost always react with some degree of discomfort.

In fact, if you don’t feel awkward when you’re trying something new, you’re probably not really doing anything differently.

Be mindful of people’s feelings during this time.

4) People can handle only so much change. Beyond a few changes―or even just one if the change is significant―people become immobilized and less productive.

The best response: Have a clear plan and strategy for focusing people’s energy on the few desired behaviours that will produce the greatest results.

2) People initially focus on what they have to give up. It’s human nature for an individual’s first reaction to a suggested change to be a personal sense of loss. To move forward, you must deal with this sense of loss. It may seem silly, but individuals need to be given a chance to mourn their losses, perhaps just by taking time to talk with others about how they feel.

Give people a chance to process what’s happening.

3) People will feel alone, even if everyone else is going through the same change. It is also human nature to have a “Why me?” attitude about change, even if everyone around you

“It is human nature to have a ‘Why me?’ attitude about change”

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5) People are at different levels of readiness for change.

Although almost everyone will experience some resistance to change, some people will start getting excited about the change, while others will dread and resist doing anything differently for as long as they can. Anticipate that not everyone will be on the same timetable.

6)

People will be

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP concerned about having enough resources. As individuals in an organizational setting are asked to do things differently, they may perceive that since they are being asked to do more, they will need additional resources.

To remain competitive in today’s markets, however, organizations must be more productive with the same or fewer resources.

Be ready to explain the need for belt-tightening.

7) People will long to revert to their old behaviour. Typically, when the focus on a change effort ends, people hope to return to what they were doing before. Though this behavior is natural, managers must counteract it.

When we revert to old behaviours, we lose all we have learned.

“You should see the looks on people’s faces when they are asked to change five things about their appearance!”

Help people understand that change keeps everyone forward focused—and that’s a good thing.

Keep these seven common reactions in mind as you deal with this latest wave of change. By providing the support people need to adapt successfully, your organization can navigate this change.

Remember, you’re not alone. Make sure you reach out to others. If we can help, let us know. Together we will successfully navigate this change. www.kenblanchard.com

Training the World’s Best Managers

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Information is King Management reports will keep entrepreneurs on top of their business says Jenny Crockford, Business Advisory Manager at Kreston Reeves Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic dominates, business owners need to be on top of their business as well as in it. And that means good and regular management information.

REGULAR MANAGEMENT INFORMATION IS VITAL. Business owners need insights into which of their products and services make money, the level of sales needed to meet overheads, the impact of advertising and marketing campaigns, and any annual trends that may impact cash flow, such as seasonal peaks and troughs.

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t is not uncommon for entrepreneurs and business owners to very quickly become buried in the day-today running of the business. Long hours and working weekends are often the norm has a business takes off.

But as the business grows into the equivalent of those awkward teenage years or when a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic strikes, it is important that business owners keep on the business to get those overview insights. It is the difference of being in a trade and being a businessperson.

A business from all outward perspectives may look profitable and successful, but rapid growth brings its own challenges.

Cashflow is king and is often the trigger for a business owner to look at how the business performing and how it might need to evolve.

Management information is needed to help business owners plan for both the short and long term.

Short term issues will typically include cash in the bank to meet tax liabilities such as the quarterly VAT returns, performance of individual product and service lines, the focus for sales teams, and any over-reliance on one supplier or customer.

Longer-term issues will typically include financing requirements and current and future financial commitments.

Management information should be used to aid decision making with a view of keeping a business owner on top of the business.

MANAGEMENT REPORTING Management reports will, quite natu rally, be different from one business to the next, but they will typically include some if not all of the following.

Debtors - Debtor reports outlining who owes the business what and the length of outstanding invoices are essential. Businesses owners need to keep on top of its debtors, chasing for payment, and agreeing credit terms and limits. Depending on terms, business owners may want to look at its debtors at least once a month.

Bank balance - What is in the bank is not necessarily a good indicator of financial health but is critical in meeting short term liabilities. Check regularly.

Turnover by product or service lines - An understanding of where the money is coming from is vital. It will allow business owners to decide items to drop, where greater support is needed, and where to focus time and energy. Review turnover against profit per customer/client and time spent at least quarterly.

“It is the difference of being in a trade and being a businessperson.”

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Profit - The saying that ‘turnover is vanity, profit is sanity’ rings true. A monthly profit and loss report showing income and expenses is vitally important, helping to spot trends, gaps in management information, and where costs are rising and when it might be time to renegotiate with suppliers.

FINANCE

Tax - Paying the HMRC on time is important to avoid unnecessary penalties. Ensure management reporting includes alerts to upcoming tax liabilities.

ONLINE ACCOUNTING Online accounting tools, like Xero and Quickbooks, make the creation of management reporting easier, quicker and in real time. It is possible to create dashboards that links to a bank account allowing business owners to make decisions based on the current financial position.

Reports are often visual showing trends more clearly and include builtin checks to ensure information is as accurate as possible. Reporting offers greater flexibility, allowing, for example, debtor lists to include contact details to make chasing debts that much easier. Online accounting also allows the use of specialist apps, such as staff expenses or invoicing

factoring. By integrating these, the record keeping process becomes more efficient and so creates time for looking at the output reports.

Online accounting and its reporting puts management in touch with the information that matters most at anytime and anywhere.

Making Tax Digital, which amongst other things requires businesses to file all VAT returns online, and Real Time Information on payroll software adds further weight to the importance of online accounting tools and the management information they provide.

HELP IS AT HAND The good news is that business owners do not need to do this all by themselves or rely on online accounting software. A good firm of accountants can help identify the best systems to put in place to ensure management

information is as accurate as possible and delivered in a timely way.

But a great accountant can tell the story behind the figures, helping business owners make sense of the numbers. A second and fresh pair of eyes can help business owners makes greater sense of the financial information. They should play the role of a ‘critical friend’ challenging a business owner to perhaps focus on things they may have overlooked or have been putting off.

Jenny Crockford is a Business Advisory Manager at accountants and business advisers Kreston Reeves. She can be reached by email: jenny.crockford@ krestonreeves.com.

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Business activity declines at fastest pace since November 2008 P

rivate sector activity in the South East of England dropped at the steepest rate since November 2008 in March, according to the latest NatWest PMI® data. Central to the renewed downturn was the fastest fall in incoming new business since data collection began in January 1997.

Respondents linked declines in both output and order book volumes to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Amid weak demand conditions, firms continued to cut staff numbers in March, with the rate of job shedding the quickest since June 2009 and sharp overall.

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

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the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors posted 37.2 in March, tumbling from 52.0 in February, to signal a renewed reduction in private sector activity in the South East.

Panellists associated the fall with the COVID-19 outbreak. Moreover, the rate of contraction was the most marked since late-2008.

At the UK level, activity declined at the fastest rate on record during March.

As was the case in the South East, the strength of the downturn was unprecedented.

Private sector firms in the South East signalled a renewed fall in incoming new business during March, with the rate of decline the steepest recorded in over 23 years of data collection.

Key Findings • Most marked contraction in activity for over 11 years • New business falls at sharpest pace on record • Workforce numbers decline at quickest rate for over a decade

According to respondents, the coronavirus pandemic led client demand to collapse.

Amid weak demand conditions, private sector firms in the South East continued to reduce workforce numbers in March. The rate of job shedding was the fastest for nearly 11 years and sharp overall.

March data highlighted a reduction in the level of outstanding business, as has been the case in each month

BUSINESS SURVEY

South East Business Activity Index sa, >50 = growth since previous month 70 60 50 40 30 '97

'99

'01

'03

since October 2018. According to panellists, lower activity requirements allowed firms to direct resources to unfinished orders. The rate of backlog depletion was the quickest since December 2008.

Cost burdens facing the South East’s private sector firms rose further during March. The rate of input price inflation was the softest for over four years, however, and moderate.

Meanwhile, average prices charged for goods and services declined for the first time since August 2015. Panellists reported that firms were discounting to remain competitive amid weak demand conditions. Although only mild overall, the fall was the quickest since late-2012.

Nonetheless, private sector firms in the South East, remain optimistic with regards to activity over the coming 12 months.

The level of positive sentiment fell to the lowest on record, however, with respondents noting that the COVID-19 outbreak weighed on expectations.

'05

'07

'09

'11

'13

'15

'17

'19

COMMENT

Stuart Johnstone, Managing Director, London & South East, Corporate & Commercial Banking “Business activity in the South East’s private sector contracted at the fastest pace since November 2008 during March, with incoming new business declining at the most marked rate since data collection began in January 1997. Panellists linked declines in both activity and order book volumes to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Meanwhile, firms reduced workforce numbers further, with the rate of job shedding the quickest since the global financial crisis in June 2009. Furthermore, firms’ confidence with regards to output over the coming year plum-

meted, indicative that the impact of the pandemic will be both far reaching and significant.”

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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WEALTH MANAGEMENT EXECUTED BEAUTIFULLY 28

www.pmw.co.uk

We pride ourselves on our ability to provide independent, sophisticated and bespoke financial advice.

Aissela, 46 High Street, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9QY 01372 471550

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FINANCE

Buy a Business Save the Economy!

By Kirsty Wilson, Corporate Finance Director at Knill James

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ens of thousands of more secure businesses must be encouraged to buy distressed enterprises to give the economy a boost as it faces the economic fallout from the pandemic.

I believe stable firms can play a role in helping the economy by making acquisitions. The issue is that we are not an acquisitive nation. SMEs rarely

buy other businesses.

There were less than 5,000 deals across the UK in the past three years involving SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) with less than ÂŁ25m turnover. The natural course of business will not help this situation. We need Government to put in a series of incentives to really

encourage mergers and acquisitions, so struggling business owners do not just shut down their business, and make their workforce redundant.

We need to do something which encourages maybe 250,000 businesses to make an acquisition of a failing business in their sector, or even a different sector, to diversify.

The Corporate Finance Network reported last week that 18% of businesses were likely or probably going to fail and this helped convince the Chancellor an overhaul was required of the support offered.

They have now proposed to Treasury that Local Enterprise Partnerships should be given more money for companies willing to safeguard jobs, and a tax incentive should be put in place with HMRC to help reduce the risk of buying a distressed business, which will then need considerable work and skill to be turned around.

The founder of The Corporate Finance Network, Kirsty McGregor says “I have already sourced providers for the operational logistics - a business sales database to match these companies, and accountants and lawyers ready to run a very streamlined deal process. It could be ready to launch in a week.�

"The issue is that we are not an acquisitive nation. SMEs rarely buy other businesses."

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Kirsty Wilson, 01273 480480 kirstyw@knilljames.co.uk www.knilljames.co.uk

FINANCE

Leading effectively

in exceptional circumstances

By Dan Morgan, Managing Partner at Haines Watts Esher Decision making under pressure

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here is no easy route through a crisis but a leader’s response to it is critical in maintaining trust and providing reassurance to your workforce and beyond. As a leader you cannot control the situation but you can control your response to it.

Below are some key tips on good leadership in exceptional circumstances.

Effective communication Communication to anyone involved in your business needs to be regular, clear and considered. This will be much more effective at showing you are on top of a situation than an overconfident approach that falls down as the crisis develops. If there is a sense that you are withholding information then your credibility may be brought into question which is likely to cause further panic.

Fostering an open and safe environment will allow your teams to voice their concerns to you without fears of repercussions. This means you can stay on top of what is actually going on in the business, allowing you to make more informed decisions.

Most leaders I know only like to act once they feel they know all of the facts. When you are experiencing a major disruption to your business this may not always be possible. It is vital that you make quick decisions. This doesn’t mean you need to rush into anything but in an evolving situation you can only act on the information available at the time. You’ll need to trust your gut, remembering that it’s your instincts that got you to where you are now.

Try to see the positives in the decisions you make during a crisis. Some can continue to be beneficial in the long-term e.g. implementation of new technology to get you through certain situations can improve efficiencies when your business is returning to normal.

What to focus on and what can be let go of During a crisis you need to focus on what keeps your business running and invest your time in making them as secure as possible. For example, this may be: • Your team • Cash flow • Customers • Supply chain Empowering the right members of your team to make day to day decisions will give you breathing room to reflect on the challenges and plan a way forward. Bigger projects aimed at growing your business may not be business critical or appropriate in the circumstances you find yourself in.

They will therefore need to be postponed to allow you time to reconcile your resources and plan for the new normal.

Being an empathetic leader As a leader you must acknowledge and respect the challenges your team are facing in both their professional and private lives as a result of a crisis.

Remember that we are all human and your teams are likely facing the same worries and concerns as you.

Running regular ‘check-ins’ can provide an opportunity for your team to voice their challenges as well as their successes. Listening to your workforce and understanding their concerns will allow you to understand what adaptations need to be made to help your team balance their priorities in truly exceptional times. This will only result in a more committed workforce benefitting everyone in the long run.

Stress and fatigue will limit your ability to make effective decisions so continue to allow yourself time to switch off and focus on your own wellbeing as well as your teams’. This will be vital to ensure you are at the top of your game for the duration.

T: 020 8549 5137 E: esher@hwca.com www.hwca.com/accountants-esher

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Is there a better time to... learn a new language?

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he process of learning a brand-new language is never easy. It can be overwhelming to decide where to start and understanding which methods work best for you, some people learn better via audio apps and others prefer sitting in a traditional classroom. Your memory is like a muscle, you need to exercise it on a regular basis to stay strong. The more you work it, the more powerful it then becomes. If you are following the right strategies and you’re putting in a consistent level of hard work, your brain will begin to memorise foreign language efficiently for the long term.

To help you on your way to learning and remembering a new language, the experts at Absolute Translations have revealed the best techniques available

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to help your brain absorb a whole new diction.

1. Use favourite platforms

When you’re doing something you love, nothing feels like a chore. A good way to pick up phrases and sentences of a foreign language is by slotting them into your everyday life. Memorise lyrics to original songs in a foreign language or translated songs that you already know – this will allow your brain to make the connection between common words.

You can also watch TV shows you’re familiar with (e.g. Friends) dubbed in a foreign language or watch the original series with subtitles – this way you can make a note of common words at your own pace.

2. Develop mnemonic memory tricks Mnemonics are creative shortcuts; you can memorise large chunks of information by linking them to our memories.

These can be acronyms, short rhymes or mental images that help to remember words. You can also create a memory palace to integrate vocabulary.

The technique is based on the use of an imaginary layout, a subject travels through each location in which they all hold a new word to learn in conjunction to their actions.

3. Start with 100 common words

Not all vocabulary is commonly used, you don’t won’t to find yourself learning about clothing and kitchen utensils

LEARNING

but forgetting to learn about what part of the town you live in. Start with 100 of the most common words used and make numerous sentences over and over again until you get the hang of it.

Learn enough grammar to be able to do this enough to hold conversation with people. Focus on high-frequency words to quickly improve your ability to communicate.

5. Personalise

7. Interactive and fun

Your brain is more likely to recall words if they are linked to familiar faces or items, if you’re creating a flashcard for ‘brother’, the chances of you remembering the word increases if you use a picture of your own brother! Try customising your flashcards with fun images, places you like and food you love! This unique technique is effective in learning the 100 common words.

Flashcards are efficient and allows you to learn in a flexible setting. If you find yourself having a few moments spare, flash cards add up to big language gains over time. You can go traditional and buy index cards, write down vocabulary words which you want to memorise and colour code them. If you prefer going digital there are many online programs which allows you can create your own flashcards plus access one’s other people have created. It is possible to find useful words to study without creating the cards yourself.

6. Repeat and apply

It is important to make the learning experience fun. Don’t just read the words from your cards, hear how to pronounce them and say them out loud yourself! The more you take the words for what they are, the easier they will become to remember. Make your lessons interactive by incorporating all your sense, why not visit a farm whilst learning about what the different animals are called?!

About Absolute Translations

Starting from one founding translator working across four languages in 2000, Absolute Translations has grown into a globally respected company providing expert translation in over 200 tongues.

It was the first ISO 17100:2015 certificate holder in the UK .

For any enquiries, contact Jayna at jayna@datadial.net www.absolutetranslations.

4. Flashcards

When you’re learning a list of words, recalling them aimlessly isn’t going to help forever. Your brain is more likely to remember things once they’ve been applied to real life conversations. Applying what you’ve learnt by speaking to a teacher or friend is crucial as it continues the learning. A good way is to practise writing the same word in at least ten different sentences as soon as you’ve mastered it. Repeating it in context will help you to make sense of what you’ve learnt moments ago.

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Furlough &

Workforce planning Rebecca Thornley-Gibson, Partner in DMH Stallard’s Employment Team, on what we know (and what we don’t know) about furloughing

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he majority of organisations have now taken the difficult but necessary steps to address the impact of Covid-19 on staff. Those steps may include utilising “furlough”, introduced to many as a new concept by the Government support package in the form of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). In addition it is likely many will have put in place other temporary measures such as reductions in hours and pay.

Social distancing, lockdowns and closures of workplaces have severely im-

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pacted business life but even with the relaxation of the restrictions there is a growing realisation that many companies will look very different in a few months and will need to consider what their staff requirements will be on a mid to long term basis. Those companies who use the time now to ensure they understand and are using furlough to maximise long term business success and ensure they are ready for the future in respect of numbers of staff, skill base and experience will be better placed to meet the challenges ahead.

Furlough Considerations

Although the announcement of the CJRS on March 20th gave employers much needed breathing space to determine future employee needs and avoid initial redundancies, it soon became clear that the lack of detail about the scheme raised many questions.

There have been three updates by HMRC, on March 26th, April 4th and April 9th, which have provided further clarity but there remains some unanswered and important questions.

LEGAL The following sets out what we do know and also explores the known unknowns about the scheme. It should be borne in mind that the CJRS does not change existing employment law and is a payment scheme to allow wage costs to be reclaimed from HMRC.

CJRS: What we know so far • A temporary scheme open to all UK employers who had created and started a PAYE payroll scheme on February 28th 2020 or who have enrolled for PAYE online • The scheme is open for at least three months from March 1st 2020 • Its intention is to support employers whose operations have been severely affected by Covid-19 • Employees must agree to be furloughed, it cannot be imposed, and agreement needs to be recorded in writing and a record kept for five years • An employer can decide who they ask to be furloughed but must take into account discrimination legislation in their selection decisions

• Up to 80% of furloughed employees’ usual monthly wage costs, up to £2500 a month, plus Employer NICs and minimum auto-enrolment employer pension contributions on that wage can be claimed from the HMRC online portal which is expected to be available by 20 April • The scheme covers all employees, workers and salaried company directors on the PAYE payroll on February 28th 2020

28th 2020 cannot be furloughed and claimed for as part of the scheme • If an employee was placed on unpaid leave before February 28th 2020 they cannot be furloughed • If an employee is working on re-

Many employers want employees to use annual leave now rather than build up large amounts of annual leave to be taken later in the year

• The scheme also covers employees made redundant or who stopped working for the employer since February 28th 2020 if they are re-hired by their employer. It is the employer’s decision whether they wish to re-hire

• Employees who have transferred under TUPE to a new employer will be able to have their wage costs claimed by the new employer if they are furloughed • An employee hired after February

duced hours or pay they are not eligible for the scheme • A fixed term employee’s contract can be renewed or extended during their furlough period and the grant claimed for the extended period whilst the CJRS continues • A furloughed employee cannot undertake any work whilst furloughed by the employer claiming the furlough wage costs from HMRC

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• A furloughed employee can work for another employer whilst on furlough if their employer permits this, they can take part in volunteer work and they can undertake training provided they are not providing services or generating revenue for the employer. The updated guidance states “Furloughed employees should be encouraged to undertake training” • Annual leave will accrue during the furlough period • If an employee is on sick leave or self isolating and therefore receiving SSP they cannot be furloughed whilst they are in receipt of SSP

• An employee needs to remain on furlough for a minimum of three weeks but can be brought back to work on a rotating basis and therefore furloughed multiple times provided it is for a minimum three week period • An administrator can use the CJRS to claim wage costs • The CJRS contains further detail about calculation and components of the wage costs to be claimed from HMRC.

• An employee shielding in line with public health can be furloughed • An employee who is unable to work due to having caring responsibilities resulting from Covid-19 can be furloughed. This will include those who are looking after children because schools and nurseries are closed and also those who need to look after dependents who are ill or self isolating due to Covid-19 • Maternity, adoption, shared parental and paternity pay and leave rights remain but whilst an employee is receiving statutory pay in respect of these rights the employer will not be able to claim the furlough wage costs • An employee can be made redundant whilst on furlough – statutory redundancy payment rights and unfair dismissal rights are maintained during furlough

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CJRS : What we don’t know

Annual Leave Although annual leave will accrue during furlough it is unclear whether the taking of annual leave during furlough will break the furlough leave period. If it did do this then the next issue would be how that impacts on the claim for wage costs from HMRC. Further official Gov.Uk guidance on this is quickly needed as many employers want employees to use annual leave now rather than build up large amounts of annual leave to be taken

later in the year or in the event they left employment which they would be entitled to be paid for.

Until clarity is provided on this point employers should be cautious about requiring people to take annual leave during furlough. ACAS guidance initially suggested annual leave could not be taken during furlough and employers would not be able to require employees to take it but the latest ACAS guidance (non-binding) stated that employees on furlough could take annual leave.

It is also unclear if annual leave is to be permitted during furlough what the correct calculation of the holiday leave should be i.e. 80% being the wage costs paid to the employee or 100% utilising the normal remuneration calculations for annual leave set out in the Working Time Regulations. We expect the position will be that 100% of wages should be paid for annual leave taken during the furlough period.

When employers will receive the grant from HMRC The online portal for claims is not yet open and taking into account the numbers of claims that will be received it is likely that grant payments will not coincide with the dates employers are contractually obliged to pay staff.

HMRC have said they expect the claims portal to be open by April 20th with reimbursements being paid by April 30th but this will not be soon enough for April pay dates. Therefore employers will be need to be ready to pay staff the agreed furloughed wage costs even though they may not have received the HMRC grant.

Timing of Collective Consultation requirements Proposals to terminate the employment of 20 or more employees for redundancy reasons will require a collective consultation period of 30/45 days depending on the numbers to be made redundant.

Whilst seeking to place employees on furlough is not in itself a redundancy, if an employee does not agree to the furlough changes it may be necessary to then move to either a forced change to terms and conditions or dismissals for redundancy reasons. It is not expected that the proposal to put employees on furlough will at that stage require collective redundancy consultation but employers do need to consider carefully when the consultation requirement is triggered.

The guidance published on April 9th makes specific reference to the possibility of engaging collective consultation processes to procure agreement to changes to terms of employment

and this is an area likely to be subject to considerable scrutiny. However the time periods involved in collective consultation and the temporary duration of the scheme do not sit comfortably together.

Phase 2 Planning The furlough period will end and employers will move from the dependency on the CJRS to having to fund all wage costs again and employers will need to consider a range of measures to achieve costs savings and create the right workforce for the future.

Collective consultation requirements, as referred to above, will be necessary where large scale redundancies and/ or changes to terms and conditions are required. Establishing the framework for collective consultation now will save time and money when plans need to be activated.

Tough questions will need to be asked on what skills and experience are essential to the business moving forward and how many employees will be needed. Having a clear business rationale will support communications with employees who will be impacted and provide evidence of business need in redundancy and changes to terms and conditions scenarios.

Selecting employees for redundancies

is often where companies come legally unstuck in being able to show a fair and reasonable selection criteria and application of that criteria to individuals. Employers need to ensure they have objective selection criteria and preparing that now to use if necessary will be time well spent. As will be collating and reviewing the evidence that will be used to apply that selection criteria to individuals who may be at risk of redundancy.

Employment Tribunals will still apply the fairness tests to dismissals and any actions taken in the next few months which are likely to result in redundancies will be scrutinised for fairness when assessing claims.

With the fog of furlough starting to lift with updated guidance and employees having certainty over levels of pay until the end of May, employers now have time to not only address needs for the future but also to reflect on the largely positive spirit of co-operation that has been seen from employees in response to tough measures. Maintaining and improving good employee relations have never been needed as much as they are now.

www.dmhstallard.co.uk

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CHARITY NEWS

Make Chestnut Tree House part of your team!

Getting involved with your local children’s hospice has never been easier and it can have a big impact on your business’s reputation.

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hether it’s payroll giving or dreaming up funky fundraising fun, becoming a corporate partner or taking on a challenge, however your team choose to get involved, your support will help local children with life-shortening conditions and families live For the Now. Lots of companies give their time and fundraising efforts through a variety of ways and, however you choose to get involved you will receive support from a dedicated Fundraising Team to guide you through your journey.

So, why not see if there is something your company can get involved with too?

For expanding your network We hold regular networking events across Sussex which provide fantastic opportunities to meet other like-minded businesses and grow your contact list.

For strengthening your business reputation Sponsoring an event will give you the opportunity to place your brand in front of other influential people and businesses, whilst showing that you support a local cause. Chestnut Tree House has lots of opportunities available, from sponsoring a hole at a golf day to being a headline sponsor at our annual fundraising ball, The Snowman Spectacular.

For exciting team bonding opportunities Adventure-seekers or adrenaline junkies? Marathon sprinters or a group of weekend walkers? Get your team together, choose a challenge and jump, run, climb, sail, cycle – or get really muddy! Challenges are a great way to bring teams together for a common cause.

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For boosting staff morale Volunteering is a great way to boost staff morale and have a day out of the office, whether getting muddy and gardening at the Hospice, sorting through fantastic treasures at the retail distribution centre, or joining a cheer squad for our marathon runners, there is something to suit everyone.

Don’t just take our word for it…

“We put our work with Chestnut Tree House at the heart of our activity and it’s a win-win for everybody”.

If you were to ask someone, ‘would you rather jump off Worthing Pier or dance as Danny Zuko in front of hundreds of people?’ most people would recoil and say –‘neither!’

However, Matt Turner, CEO of The Creative Group, decided to challenge himself and do both. To date, Matt’s fundraising efforts have helped to raise over an incredible £100,000 for local children and their families.

“Working with Chestnut Tree House has helped raise our profile and win great business,” says Matt. “The staff at Creative Pod (part of The Creative Group) really enjoy the partnership.

They volunteer at many events and organise and host their own fundraising event - an annual rounders match which sees several businesses battle it out for the championship trophy.

“Chestnut Tree House is a charity I have worked with for several years and is one that is very close to my heart. I

Matt Turner and Marcella Whittingdale

look forward to every event I am part of,” continues Matt.

“I am a big advocate of the many benefits of partnering with a charity, particularly a local charity. It’s not all about the big fundraising events, there are all sorts of ways to get involved with Chestnut Tree House and I would encourage all businesses – big and small – to partner in whatever way works for them.”

Find out how you and your business can support local children with life-shortening conditions, and their families.

Visit www.chestnuttree-house.org.uk, email corporate@ chestnut-tree-house.org.uk or call 01903 871846 / 01323 725095.

CYBER SECURITY

5 Coronvavirus scams to avoid

NatWest’s Rachel Blackamore, Managing Director of Personal Banking in London and the South East, tells us about five common scams you should be aware of to protect your business and personal accounts.

• If you are ever asked to do any of these things, refuse and contact us immediately using the number on the back of your card or a number you trust. If possible, call us back from a different phone or mobile.

• Pass this information on to your family and friends, especially the more vulnerable in our society.

W

e know scammers are using this current period of uncertainty as an opportunity to try and take advantage of the general public and their worries. We’ve seen an increase in criminals exploiting the coronavirus and using this as part of their scam tactics. Stay alert to any suspicious behaviour and remember to always: • Be vigilant against unsolicited phone calls, texts or emails about coronavirus from anyone. The bank will never ask you for your full PIN or password, card reader codes, or ask you to move money from your account.

• Never download attachments, software or let anyone remotely log into your computer following a call or email you’ve received out of the blue.

FIVE CURRENT SCAMS

1. Fake cures These are emails that claim there’s a cure that’s been covered up by various governments. There are a number of variations of this email. But it’s likely to ask you to click a link to receive more information about the cure. Do not click on this link as it’ll take you to a webpage that captures your bank login information.

2. WHO impersonation emails Scammers are sending out emails that look like they come from trusted organisations, like the World Health Organisation (WHO).

An attachment in the email claims to provide safety measures to combat coronavirus but opening it actually infects your device with malware that monitors your online activity and captures your information.

3. Coronavirus tax refund Criminals are bombarding mailboxes with emails saying you’re entitled to a tax refund due to coronavirus – but it’s a trick. HMRC will never contact you by email to discuss tax refunds, so don’t click or respond. Report emails like this to phishing@HMRC.gov.uk

4. Purchase scams Watch out for emails, ads, posts, texts or phone calls advertising anything to do with coronavirus – whether it’s for facemasks, vaccines or access to testing kits – any deals that look too good to be true usually are.

Some emails claim to be from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO) and request Bitcoin payments.

You’ll be told that you’re donating towards a cure or paying for essential coronavirus information. These approaches are very likely to be a scammer trying to get their hands on your money or personal details.

5. Offers to make quick money There has been a huge increase in criminals trying to lure people into becoming money mules through ‘get rich quick’ job offers during these uncertain times. If a job ad looks too good to be true – it probably is.

The personal consequences of allowing criminals to pay money through your account can be life-changing.

Reject any offers of cash to let someone else use your bank account, it’s simply not worth it!

For further information on how you can protect yourself visit: Personal customers: https://personal. natwest.com/personal/fraud-and-security.html Business customers: https://www. business.natwest.com/business/security.html

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The Doughnut Model Maarten Hoffmann reports on how Amsterdam is embracing a whole new way of thinking when it comes to public policy decisions

“A

doughnut cooked up in Oxford will guide Amsterdam out of the economic mess left by the coronavirus pandemic,” writes Daniel Boffey in The Guardian.

While fighting to keep citizens safe in the Dutch capital, Dutch officials and the British economist, Kate Raworth from Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute have also been studying how the city will rebuild in a post-Covid-19 world.

The conclusion? Out with the global attachment to economic growth and laws of supply and demand, and in with the so-called doughnut model devised

by Raworth as a guide to what it means for countries, cities and people to thrive in balance with the planet.

food and clean water to a certain level of housing, sanitation, energy, education, healthcare, gender equality, income and political voice. Anyone not attaining such minimum standards is living in the doughnut’s hole.

The outer ring of the doughnut, where the sprinkles go, represents the ecological ceiling drawn up by earth-system scientists. It highlights the boundaries across which human kind should not go to avoid damaging the climate, soils, oceans, the ozone layer, freshwater and abundant biodiversity Between the two rings is the good stuff: the dough, where everyone’s needs and that of the planet are being met.

Doughnut Economics

The model has been formally embraced by the municipality of Amsterdam as the starting point for public policy decisions, the first city in the world to make such a commitment.

“I think it can help us overcome the effects of the crisis”, said Amsterdam’s deputy mayor, Marieke van Doorninck, who joined Raworth in an interview with the Guardian via Skype before the launch. “It might look strange that we are talking about the period after that but as a government we have to … It is to help us to not fall back on easy mechanisms.”

“When suddenly we have to care about climate, health, and jobs and

Raworth’s 2017 bestselling book, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist, has graced the bedside table of people ranging from the former Brexit secretary David Davis to the Guardian columnist George Monbiot, who described it as a “breakthrough alternative to growth economics”.

Boffey reports that the inner ring of her doughnut sets out the minimum we need to lead a good life, derived from the UN’s sustainable development goals and agreed by world leaders of every political stripe. It ranges from

Project Amsterdam

“The goal of economic activity

should be about meeting the core needs of all but within the means of the planet.”

housing and care and communities, is there a framework around that can help us with all of that?” Raworth says. “Yes there is, and it is ready to go.”

Meeting core needs The central premise is simple: the goal of economic activity should be about meeting the core needs of all but within the means of the planet. The “doughnut” is a device to show what this means in practice.

Raworth scaled down the model to provide Amsterdam with a “city portrait” showing where basic needs are not being met and “planetary boundaries” overshot. It displays how the issues are interlinked.

“It is not just a hippy way at looking at the world,” says Van Doorninck, citing the housing crisis as an example.

Residents’ housing needs are increasingly not being satisfied, with almost 20% of city tenants unable to cover their basic needs after paying their rent, and just 12% of approximately 60,000 online applicants for social housing being successful.

One solution might be to build more homes but Amsterdam’s doughnut

ECONOMICS highlights that the area’s carbon dioxide emissions are 31% above 1990 levels. Imports of building materials, food and consumer products from outside the city boundaries contribute 62% of those total emissions.

Belgium was with the European commission in Brussels, where she says great interest was expressed.

“The world is experiencing a series of shocks and surprise impacts which are enabling us to shift away from the idea of growth to ‘thriving’, Raworth says.

“Thriving means our wellbeing lies in balance. We know it so well in the level of our body. This is the moment we are going to connect bodily health to planetary health.”

Lifting eyes to the horizon Van Doorninck says the city plans to regulate to ensure builders use materials that are as often possible recycled and bio based, such as wood. But the doughnut approach also encourages policymakers to lift their eyes to the horizon.

“The fact that houses are too expensive is not only to do with too few being built. There is a lot of capital flowing around the world trying to find an investment, and right now real estate is seen as the best way to invest, so that drives up prices,” she says.

“The doughnut does not bring us the answers but a way of looking at it, so that we don’t keep on going on in the same structures as we used to.”

Both recognise the need for national government and supranational authorities to get on board. Raworth’s last meeting just before the lockdown in

41

Covid-19 & Workplace Pensions Q&A The Employee Benefits team at Verlingue answer the questions they have been asked about the impact of the lockdown on pensions

O

ur Employee Benefits team has received a large number of questions relating to Workplace Pensions in the last week, and we thought it would be a valuable exercise to share our understanding of the current position for employers. The following Q&A Guide is in line with our current understanding of the expectations set out by The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

Can the employer put their scheme on a contribution holiday?

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) have confirmed that they expect employers to continue making contributions into their scheme, and we would encourage any employers to do so if they can.

What should employers do if any members want to stop paying contributions?

Members can stop/restart their contributions at any time.

Automatic enrolment rules also give employers the option of stopping their contributions, if members decide to stop making contributions. However, if it’s an occupational scheme, they’ll need to check the scheme rules, and for any other scheme – the contracts of employment as they may have a legal obligation, which means they need to continue paying the contributions.

As an employer it is illegal to induce or coerce employees to opt out of a workplace pension scheme.

What should employers do if any members stop paying into their pension, but they want to continue paying in contributions?

If the member’s contribution stops, employers will need to stop deducting contributions from their salary.

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Similar to the previous question, employers will need to check to see if there are any conditions that apply to minimum/matching contribution amounts.

Do employers need to make pension contributions if employees take unpaid leave?

If the employer is not paying any salaries, then they wouldn’t need to make any pension contributions.

However, the government have introduced a support measure for employers known as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help them retain their employees. We’re expecting employers will continue paying the employees they’re retaining in the normal way, which also allows contributions to continue being paid into the scheme.

Any payments the government make as part of this scheme, will be paid to the employer. We understand the available grant will be based on the following criteria: • 80% of (gross salary + Employer NIC + minimum AE Employer pension contribution) subject to the £2500 monthly cap* The grant will not fund further Employer NIC or AE Employer pension contributions on any top-up salary paid by the employer. *Gov.Uk – Guidance/Claims for wage costs through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – 26th March 2020 What we do not know at this time is how this will impact backdated pension contributions and any members that need to be re-instated back into the scheme.

If employers need to reduce salaries, do they still need to make pension contributions?

If the salary has been reduced, any pension contributions the employer makes, should be based upon the revised salary. It’s important employers check that any reduced pension contributions are still in line with any specific arrangements they have with employees.

Many employers will be using qualifying earnings as their definition of pensionable pay. If employees’ earnings fall below the lower earnings threshold (£6136 for 2019/20 tax year) in a pay reference period then you will not need to make a pension contribution on their behalf. *Lower earnings threshold expected to be £6240 in the 2020/21 tax year subject to parliament approval.

PENSIONS If employers are taking on any new employees, should they still enrol them into the scheme?

Yes. Until TPR provide any other advice around new joiners, employers should continue to enrol (or re-enrol at the 3 year cyclical period) any new employees into the scheme in the normal way. This would include an employee who wishes to opt in.

We appreciate that current circumstances will be challenging for employers, however until TPR confirms otherwise, employers should try to make their pension contributions as soon as they can.

If any employers are concerned about

sis. If they decide to make the change, they’ll need to: • let their pension provider know • keep a record of this in case TPR ask for evidence in the future • tell their employees What happens if employers need to let some of their employees go either short term or long term?

Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, all UK employers will have access to support measures. It’s designed to help them continue paying their employees’ salaries during these times, and hopefully avoid having to let some of their workforce go.

If employers do need to let their workforce go, they’ll need to follow the normal rules and process for termination of employment, make any final payments into their pension scheme and complete the notification of leaving process on the scheme.

"Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, all UK employers will have access to support measures"

Should employers continue making pension contributions if members are off sick?

Yes. Employers will need to continue deducting contributions from the members’ salaries. Statutory sick pay is part of the qualifying earning rules for automatic enrolment.

If the current situation means that employers cannot make their pension contributions on time, what are their options?

how they can continue to meet their ongoing duties, we suggest they speak to TPR. Can the employer change the certification basis of their scheme?

If the scheme’s contribution basis meets the statutory minimums, then, yes, they can change the scheme’s ba-

There is more information regarding guidance for employers and the support available on the Covid19: support for business Gov.uk website by clicking on the following link; ht tps://w w w.gov.uk /governme nt / publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/ covid-19-support-for-businesses­

If you have any queries, please contact Verlingue Employee Benefits Consultant Stewart Neale on 07557– 740300 or stewart.neale@verlingue. co.uk who will be happy to help you.

The above information is based on our current understanding of the position for employers. Much of the information has been sourced from the Royal London adviser website except where highlighted. We are expecting the Pensions Regulator (TPR) to provide more information in the coming days so it is possible the above content could be subject to change.

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SUSSEX INNOVATION

StartUp Sussex The Winners

AI-powered revision app and a biodegradable plastic alternative each win prizes worth £10,000 in annual StartUp Sussex competition

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new alternative to plastic film packaging and an interactive revision app powered by artificial intelligence won their young creators prizes worth £10,000 each at last week’s StartUp Sussex awards.

The annual enterprise programme, delivered by Sussex Innovation for students and recent graduates from the University of Sussex, reached its climax as the recipients of prizes worth a total of £57,000 were announced. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the traditional live awards ceremony was cancelled in favour of a more intimate virtual celebration with the finalists, mentors and judges on Friday 27th March.

The 2020 StartUp Sussex winner is MSc Experimental Psychology student, James Bowyer.

His business, Reviso.ai, brings the dearly-missed library study session online through gamification and AI. It enables students to discuss reading materials, brainstorm, plan essay points with supporting research and enjoy interactive revision.

The Social Impact Prize is awarded each year to the enterprise with the most potential to bring about positive social change. The 2020 winner is BSc Product Design graduate Lucy Hughes, whose invention Marinatex provides a planet-conscious alternative to plastic film for the packaging industry, fabricated from fishing waste products.

As well as earning the title of University of Sussex Entrepreneurs of the Year, the winners received a £10,000 prize consisting of a cash award from the

44

programme’s sponsors and ongoing membership, consultancy and marketing from Sussex Innovation.

“I’m incredibly thankful to the team, the University and Sussex Innovation,” said James Bowyer, founder of Reviso.ai, “From the very first session of hearing so many inspiring new ideas, to the deeper connections and comradeship that grew over time, I loved every minute of StartUp Sussex. The funding will help us to develop new bespoke essay and research features, as well as paying for support with areas like marketing.”

“I’m delighted to have been awarded the Social Impact Prize,” said Lucy Hughes, founder of Marinatex. “The path ahead for a start-up like Marinatex can sometimes seem daunting, but the programme has given me the skills and confidence to gain momentum.

“I’m really grateful for all the support I’ve received so far, and I’m looking forward to becoming a member of Sussex Innovation.”

The winners emerged victorious from an initial pool of nearly 100 students, who began the programme all the way back in October. The 11 finalists each presented their business plans in a live video pitch last week to the StartUp Sussex judges, a ‘Dragons’ Den’-style panel consisting of local investors, entrepreneurs and representatives from the University.

“I want to commend all of this year’s finalists for doing such an excellent job with their business plans under challenging circumstances,” said Simon Chuter, Student Enterprise Manager at Sussex Innovation. “We have two worthy winners in James and Lucy, but the standard across the board was exceptionally high. I’ve had the pleasure of running this programme for the last five years and it

Highlights • Reviso.ai founder James Bowyer is named University’s entrepreneur of the year • Social Impact Prize won by Lucy Hughes for Marinatex • More than £50,000 worth of prizes handed out to student and graduate start-ups

never fails to amaze me, the talent that keeps on coming through the door. I wish them all every success as they move forwards with their enterprises”.

“I’ve enjoyed being on the StartUp Sussex judging panel for a few years now,” said Nigel Lambe, Chief Executive of Sussex Innovation. “It’s always inspiring to see the diversity and creativity on show in all of the pitches, and a tough decision when we have to pick the winners.

“Ultimately, James and Lucy were both able to demonstrate a very clear problem that their businesses are helping to solve, and made a very convincing commercial case for how they plan to go about it. The depth of talent this year was extraordinary and I am quite sure most of finalists will go on to grow successful businesses.”

As well as one-to-one mentoring with the Sussex Innovation support team, the finalists were advised by 2018 winner Molly Masters, received presentation skills coaching from improv troupe The Maydays, and financial guidance and a £1000 bursary from Santander Universities UK. The Social Impact Prize is

funded by a generous private donation from a Sussex alumnus.

In a surprise announcement, Santander Universities provided an additional £15,000 of funding on top of its sponsorship of the finalists and StartUp Sussex winners, with a £3,000

cash award to first, second and third place in StartUp Sussex, covering the founders’ living costs during their first year of operation. A fourth-place prize worth £6,000 was also offered for one more deserving finalist.

The other 2020 winners: 2nd place in StartUp Sussex. Rebecca Fitzgerald (BA Media Practice) received an £8,000 prize for her product, SaviourSkin – a plant-based, skin positive, minimally formulated skincare range for millennial and gen-z consumers suffering with sensitive skin and skin complaints.

In 3rd place, Oscar Sanz (BSc Computer Science) and Ola Oladapo (BEng Mechanical Engineering) received a £6,000 prize for their enterprise, Dash, which aims to be the first commission-free ridesharing platform in Europe.

In 4th place, William Roberts, Thomas Gray and James Howes received a £6,000 prize for their brand, West Pier Drinks. They have produced a bold local brand of flavoured rum with a sustainable focus.

In 2nd place in the Social Impact Prize 2020, Yoko Inagaki (MA Globalisation, Business and Development) received an £8,000 prize for her social enterprise, Manasa Mora. She intends to provide the first reliable laundry facility in Madagascar, helping to reduce serious health threats such as malaria and save time for working mothers.

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SERVICED OFFICES

Help needed urgently

for serviced office tenants

By Jonathan Ratcliffe from Offices.co.uk

S

erviced office tenants are set to miss out on £100m of Business Rates grant cash. Small businesses who occupy serviced offices, and those who work from home, have missed out on £100m worth of relief which at £10,000 per business could have been a lifesaver for many.

“Put simply, if you don’t have a business rates account for your business with your local authority you get nothing”, explains office expert Jonathan Ratcliffe from Offices.co.uk The loophole means that if you occupy serviced office space where rates are included (bundled into the serviced package) you are not eligible for the support.

“We think this could affect around 5% of small businesses in the UK, many who are struggling to continue, and

it would be an absolute lifesaver”, explains Ratcliffe Grants are awarded based on Rateable Value – a quick fix in unprecedented times which means that if your office had a RV of less than £15,000 you got a £10,000 cash grant to see you through.

“We are in no way criticising Chancellor Rishi Sunak, absolutely not, he’s had to make some complex decisions in a very short time period, it’s just that businesses in flexible workspaces are missing this lifeline of cash through no fault of their own”, he adds.

We are writing to Chancellor Rishi Sunak to ask for the following adjustments to the Small Business Grant Funding scheme:

Brighton’s Plus X offices will be state of the art - but will service office tenants be helped through the current crisis?

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1. Recognise all Serviced Office and Co-working tenants as “small businesses with a Rateable Value (RV) of £15,000 and under” 2. Make available cash grants of £10,000 for these tenants immediately 3. Pay this grant before the 30th April 2020 “It’s a real travesty that just because the rates are paid centrally by the provider that small innocent businesses are missing out on key cash at exactly the time they need it - this month.

April 30th is when many small businesses will reach breaking point without help."

Go to www.cleankill.co.uk or call

MOTORING

RIP Sterling Moss The Gentleman Racer

By Maarten Hoffmann

T

certainly miss our conversations and am truly grateful to have had some special moments with him. Sending my prayers and thoughts to his family’.

Although he never won a World Championship, Moss was runner-up in four consecutive seasons from 1955 to 1958 and finished third in each of the three seasons after that. His influence spread way beyond his results and he was known as much for his panache behind the wheel and his acts of sportsmanship, as for his remarkable skill and daring. Formula One champion, Lewis Hamilton stated: ‘Today we say goodbye to a racing legend. I will

Born in London and raised in Berkshire, Moss became known as the greatest driver never to win the World Championship. His most famous near miss came in 1958 after he sportingly helped to prevent British driver, Mike Hawthorn, his British rival in a Ferrari, from being disqualified when he had been accused of reversing on the track in the Portuguese Grand Prix.

With only two more races remaining in the season, Moss would go on to finish one point behind Hawthorn due to his act of sportsmanship.

ributes poured in from around the world upon the news that British motor racing legend, Sir Sterling Moss has died aged 90 after a long illness, not thought to be connected with the coronavirus.

In his F1 career, he won 16 of the 66 races in which he competed and was forced to retire from top-level competition in 1962 after a crash at Goodwood left him in a coma and partly paralysed for six months.

His widow Sussie said: ‘He died as he lived, looking wonderful. He simply tired in the end and he just closed his beautiful eyes and that was that. It was one lap too many’.

He features in every policeman’s verbal repertoire when pulling over speeding motorists with the famous line ‘Who do you think you are, Sterling Moss?’

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Motoring News Sales plunge

N

ew car registrations for March saw a steeper fall than during the financial crisis, according to the motor industry.

Data from the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show a drop of 44.4% compared with last year.

March is usually one of the strongest months of the year for the car industry. But the Covid-19 outbreak has taken a heavy toll, forcing potential customers to stay at home for the past month.

New number plate registrations are released in March and September every year. But last month new registrations dropped by about 200,000 compared with the same period last year.

They fell to the lowest level in March for more than two decades.

All of the UK’s major car factories suspended work last month, and it is not yet clear when they will reopen.

In total, 254,684 new cars were registered in March according to the SMMT, a fall of 203,370 compared with March 2019.

Demand from private buyers and larger fleets fell by 40.4% and 47.4% respectively.

At the same time, the numbers of petrol and diesel cars reaching the country’s roads were down 49.9% and 61.9% respectively.

However, registrations of battery electric vehicles rose almost threefold to 11,694 units, accounting for 4.6% of the market, while plug-in hybrids grew by 38%. Hybrid electric vehicles fell 7.1%.

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McLaren Synthetic Fuel

M

cLaren is advancing plans to create a development car that runs on synthetic fuel to prove the technology’s validity as an alternative to battery-electric vehicles for lowering the ecological impact of motoring, COO Jens Ludmann has revealed.

While the project is still in the planning stage, Ludmann revealed that the company believes synthetic fuels can be a viable alternative to electric power if the production of batteries is included as part of an EV’s total CO2 impact.

Ludmann said: “The technology around synthetic fuels is still being developed, but if you consider that it can be produced using solar energy, easily transported and then pumped [into cars] as we know today, there are potential benefits in terms of emissions and practicality that I’m keen to explore.

“Today’s engines would need only small modifications, and I would like to see this technology get some more airtime.”

However, he stressed that he doesn’t envisage synthetic fuel engines replacing battery-electric vehicles.

“It’s too hard to say with certainty how far off synthetic fuel is from reaching production reality,” he said, “whereas battery technology is here. Then you also have the potential to combine synthetic fuel with a hybrid system, which would make it cleaner still.

MOTORING

Help with Finance?

T

housands of drivers await an update on pressure-easing measures designed to help them meet car finance payments amid the coronavirus crisis.

Car finance customers struggling to keep up with payments due to drops in income were given hope by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which hinted at an announcement soon. We understand a lifeline could come in the form of an interest-free payment freeze, as already unveiled for the likes of loan and credit card customers.

Christopher Woolard, interim chief executive of the FCA, said that measures already put in place are designed to provide people with “short-term financial support through what could be a very difficult time. We know there is still more work to be done, and we will be announcing further

measures to support consumers in other parts of the credit market in the future, including in the motor finance sector next week,” he said.

Formula 1 Steps Up

T

he majority of F1 teams have worked out ways to use their engineering facilities to boost production of ventilators.

F1 said the aim was to “provide as much help and assistance as we can”.

A spokesman said: “The F1 communi-

ty is engaged in discussions with all the relevant stakeholders regarding this issue and we will provide further details in due course.”

A number of teams have applied-technologies divisions that can directly feed into the national production ca-

pacity of ventilators in the UK and Italy, particularly McLaren, Red Bull, Williams, Mercedes and Ferrari.

Of course in the ever competitive world of F1, this has been turned into a mighty team challenge and NHS patients will be the winners.

Surge in demand for GlucoRx

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NEWS

Clowns v Corona C

hild-rights organisation Clowns Without Borders UK (CWB) is livestreaming clown workshops into living rooms to help promote laughter and play.

Amidst the solemnity of the current coronavirus outbreak, Their work is usually reserved for refugee camps, wants to help remind us all of the healing power of laughter and how it can be used to provide respite and relief at challenging times.

Sharing live, weekly workshops and daily clown activities, the organisation will encourage children – and hopefully their parents – to embrace their inner clowns.

CWB UK has provided psychosocial support for children affected by humanitarian disasters since 2014.

Since then, the organisations have collaborated in more than 13 countries around the world with performances and workshops in numerous humanitarian contexts. These include sharing laughter with children and their communities after Typhoon Haiyan and the earthquakes in Nepal and across refugee camps in Europe and Bangladesh.

Annabel Morgan has worked with Clowns Without Borders as an artist for the last six years. She says, “We know that opportunities for play are diminished at the moment because children have to stay indoors and are unable to spend time with their friends. Our job is to share laughter with children and families across the world who need emotional respite. Laughter has a role to play in this crisis, too. Our clown workshops or Clown Camp are a gentle reminder that children need to play.”

“It’s important children feel a sense of normalcy at this time.

We are in a unique position to provide such opportunities and support the well-being of children at this time,” said Director Samantha Holdsworth. “Humour can help us process and accept what is happening. Without it, our current situation could become overwhelming. That’s the opposite of what children need right now. They need play and laughter to help them express themselves and interpret what is happening.”

Clown Camp is a series of daily activities shared to support its weekly clown workshops, encouraging children to create their own clown shows as a catalyst for spreading laughter and joy. The charity is requesting donations from everyone who takes part, with all money raised helping them to bring that same joy and laughter to children in refugee camps across Europe and Rohingya children in Bangladesh. www.clownswithoutborders.org.uk

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Local

news

Construction Expo moves

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he South East Construction Expo and Awards are moving back to Thursday October 8th 2020, at the South of England Event Centre.

Free to attend, the expo is dedicated to the construction sector and brings together clients, contractors, devel-

oper, consultants and other related industries from across the UK. The South East Construction Awards 2020 will focus on six categories.

Carole Black from South East Construction Expo said, “The awards will celebrate our heroes in this industry.

We have an exciting panel of judges and are seeking entries for categories ranging from best construction project to best architectural design, best contractor to best supplier.

“We are also looking to celebrate women in the industry and want to reward the best apprentice on a construction project in the South East.” www.constructionexpouk.co.uk

14th Century Cave Discovery

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team of rail workers delivering landslip repair works near Guildford have uncovered a small cave believed to be from the 14th century.

Initial findings suggest that it was a later medieval shrine or hermitage associated with the early 14th century chapel of St Catherine, the ruins of which are situated on the hill nearby.

Mark Killick, Network Rail Wessex route director, said: “This is an unexpected and fascinating discovery that helps to visualise and understand the rich history of the area.”

Tony Howe, historic environment

planning manager and county archaeologist at Surrey County Council, said: “The discovery of this cavern is tremendously exciting. It’s very early in the process of understanding its full significance, but the potential for knowledge acquisition is huge.”

Surge in demand for GlucoRx

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major supplier of diabetes products to the NHS is dispatching 1,000,000 blood glucose testing strips a week following a 100% surge in demand.

GlucoRx, a winner in the 2019 Surrey Business Awards, is a major supplier of quality diabetes products to the NHS and has helped save the health service more than £150 million in the last two years.

Following social distancing measures,

staff at the firm’s base in Guildford, Surrey, have been working flat out to ensure essential diabetes equipment is distributed to pharmacies across the country.

Chris Chapman, group managing director, said: “GPs across the country have closed their doors and are now operating a telephone triage system.

As a result people are presenting prescriptions to last for a longer amount

All generalisations are false. Including this one.

Buy-to-Let hit

by Covid

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he latest research by Deposit Replacement Scheme, Ome, has found that the impact of the Coronavirus could cost buy to let landlords nearly £14.9bn should tenants be unable to pay rent during the crisis.

The government has announced that they would suspend new evictions and halt new possessions proceedings to the court during the Covid crisis.

Ome’s research shows that there are 5.2m households currently within the private rental sector and without the ability to work and pay their rent, the buy to let sector could see a loss of £4.97bn every month. Over three months this climbs to a huge £14.9bn.

London is home to the biggest sum regionally with a potential £4.9bn lost in three months alone.

of time. I know locally of people receiving 12 to 16 week prescriptions.

Our blood glucose testing strips are going out the door by the pallet load.”

We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it that to consume wealth without producing it.

BUSINESS WISDOM

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WORKING FROM HOME

How to phone from home Avoiding the pitfalls of making a business call when home life gets in the way

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aking business calls from home? You may want to rethink your phone etiquette

With many UK office workers now operating from home, conference calls have undoubtedly become part of the daily routine. Business telecommunications provider, 4Com, investigated the nation’s thoughts on bad telephone manners, revealing the habits to avoid.

According to the research, the five most annoying phone habits, are: 1. Someone having a conversation with someone else in the background (43%) 2. Being interrupted whilst speaking (42%) 3. Someone not listening/clearly appearing distracted (41%) 4. Being put on hold (39%) 5. Someone eating their food/having a drink whilst speaking (35%) Playing music in the background (29%) and speaking too quietly (28%) or loudly (16%) were also cited as bugbears.

To ensure your calls run as smooth-

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ly as possible, Mark Pearcy, Head of Marketing at 4Com, offers five tips: 1. Sit in a separate room to others in your household. If you are at home with members of your household make sure they don’t interrupt you while on a call. Tell them you’re going on an important call, sit in a separate room and make sure nobody distracts you during this time.

2. Make sure everyone has time to speak. It’s important to make sure that each person is engaged in the call and has the chance to have their say without being cut off.

Put your microphone on mute while you’re not speaking, take a few seconds after someone has spoken before you respond to make sure they’re finished, and if you start speaking at the same time as someone else, stop and let them speak first.

3. Make sure you’re present. Make sure you’re listening to everyone who is speaking and responding when necessary. A video call can sometimes

help with this as there’s nowhere for you and your colleagues to hide!

4. Have a snack, drink or break before your call. Before a long call, make sure you have eaten so you’re not doing this while speaking to your colleagues. It’s perfectly fine to have a drink while on a call but try not to do it when you’re speaking. I’d also recommend taking a toilet break before a call to avoid needing to break and put your colleagues on hold mid-call.

5.

Speak at the right volume. It’s important not to shout or whisper while speaking on a call and speak at the volume you would normally; using headphones can help with this if you’re struggling.

Mark concludes: “It’s never been more important to understand the etiquette of proper phone communication.

“Having good manners on the phone, and making sure everyone is heard and understood, is more important than ever at this difficult time.”

TELECOMS

A smart way to fight Covid-19 T

he Vodafone Foundation and scientists at Imperial College London are asking smartphone users across the UK to come together to support a project to speed up research into effective treatments for Covid-19. The Corona-AI project will be delivered through DreamLab; an award-winning app developed by the Vodafone Foundation and launched in 2017 to facilitate cancer research.

To get involved, all people need to do is download the DreamLab app and activate it every night whilst they sleep and charge their phones. This collective processing power creates a virtual supercomputer, capable of processing millions of calculations. The project uses Artificial Intelligence to trawl through data and identify existing drugs and food molecules that could benefit those with the infectious disease. The more people that plug in, the quicker possible treatments will be found. No personal data from the user’s device is affected or used in any way.

The Corona-AI project is split into two phases: 1. Phase 1 will identify existing drugs and foodbased molecules with anti-viral properties that may benefit those with Covid-19.

2. Phase 2 will optimise combinations of these drugs and food molecules to provide potential drug treatments and nutritional advice for those with Covid-19.

Once the research is complete, it will be made available to the medical

profession to facilitate clinical trials.

In addition, any food-related findings will be translated into dietary advice that can be implemented by the medical community for patients recovering from Covid-19.

Dr Kirill Veselkov from the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London, who is leading the research, said: “We urgently need new treatments to tackle Covid-19. There are existing drugs out there that might work to treat it; and the great thing about repurposing existing drugs is that we already know they are safe and therefore could get them to patients quickly. However, we have to do difficult and complicated analyses using artificial intelligence and all of this takes a huge amount of computing power. DreamLab creates a supercomputer that enables us to do this important work in a relatively short timeframe.”

Helen Lamprell, Trustee and board member of the Vodafone UK Foundation and General Counsel and External Affairs Director at Vodafone UK said, “We’re working hard to keep the UK connected during this challenging time. We ask everyone to come together and harness the collective power of their smartphones by connecting to DreamLab. If everyone in the UK connects, we have the potential to really make a difference in the fight against Covid-19.”

To download the app, search for DreamLab in the App store for iOS or Play Store for Android. Vodafone customers can activate DreamLab for free using either mobile data or Wifi connectivity. Those on other networks will be asked how much data they would like to donate to power the app, or can connect via Wifi.

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TRAVEL

All Aboard the Ele Express Local Botswanan Bus Service Helps Give Children a Safe Ride to School

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pecialist safari operators Signature Safaris are helping to support a new project to get the children of Botswana to school safely, alongside the country’s elephants.

The new initiative helps local children get to school safely by avoiding paths often walked by their largest neighbours, elephants. City dwellers never need to worry about such a thing on their daily commutes, but in Okavango Delta panhandle sharing your walking route to school with an elephant is an everyday reality.

The new buses provide the perfect solution to a problem that has been troubling the residents in the area for a long time. Along the panhandle are villages, schools and clinics, but it is also a stretch that is frequented by wild African elephants. The route that is so widely used by humans and elephants alike has unfortunately result-

ed in fatalities, so the new bus service is a much needed addition to the area.

The initiative acts as part of a wider plan for tourism in Africa to help mitigate the human-wildlife conflict of the area. The strategy celebrates the elephants that are part of Botswana’s heritage and acknowledges all the benefits they have brought to the country’s thriving tourism industry.

The buses themselves have been adorned with beautiful illustrations of the majestic beasts and equipped with educational material so that they promote the crucial message that humans can find ways to live alongside wildlife and mutually benefit.

During the school day, the buses are also used to transport clinic patients and doctors to where they need to go, benefiting every part of the community.

Visitors to Mapula Lodge with Signature Safaris will be helping to fund this initiative along with a number of other charity organisations to help the buses run smoothly.

Mapula Lodge offers visitors the op-

portunity to see the bus in action as well as being the ideal base to explore this special region of Botswana. Located in a concession North of Vumburra, this quiet area of the Okavango Delta offers safaris at a leisurely pace meaning you get a real sense of tranquillity and a chance to enjoy the diverse range of wildlife.

Accommodation is set under the shade of trees, compromising of nine canvas-and-thatch cottages – spaced for privacy. The sunken deck area and fire pit are a must for the quintessential sundowner.

Activities in the area include game drives, traditional mokoro or boating safaris through lily-filled channels of the Delta, fishing and exploring the area on a soaring helicopter or hot air balloon flight.

Signature Safaris use their passion for Africa and its wildlife to design bespoke once in a lifetime holiday itineraries for their clients. They can be contacted at info@signatureafricansafaris.com or 01342 811787

Local

news

Email phishing attacks rise 667%

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yber criminals are cashing-in on the COVID-19 crisis by launching a wave of Coronavirus-related email attacks, according to new research from Barracuda Networks.

Barracuda researchers have been monitoring global phishing activity around Covid-19 recording 137 inci-

dents in January, 1,188 in February, rising to 9,116 in March so far.

A variety of phishing campaigns are taking advantage of COVID-19 to distribute malware, steal credentials, and scam users out of money. The attacks capitalise on the fear and uncertainty of their intended victims.

Brighton Chamber pitches in

Barracuda’s research team have seen three main types of phishing attacks using coronavirus COVID-19 themes — scamming, brand impersonation, and business email compromise..

See Page 37 for advice on avoiding Covid-19 email scams

Get free cyber security advice!

B

righton Chamber is supporting local charities during the Covid-19 crisis.

Together Co is Brighton’s loneliness charity and they are experiencing a huge increase in demand for their services right now. They are supporting vulnerable people to maintain social contact, have access to essentials and helping them to stay safe.

You can help by donating or volunteering. £10 could pay for a phone befriending volunteer to be trained to support an at-risk person; you can donate on their justgiving.com page If you’d like to volunteer, they are looking for phone befrienders and people who can help take shopping to those who can’t get out.

Brighton & Hove Food Partnership are coordinating the city’s efforts to get food to people in poverty who are vulnerable or isolated because of COVID-19. You can make a donation at their justgiving.com page to help pay for food and other essentials.

The Sussex Community Foundation has set up a new fund (which has raised £169K so far) and is giving grants (swiftly) to local charities and community groups who are on the front line of community action to help people suffering as a result of Coronavirus outbreak. You can donate at sussexgiving.org.uk.

I think it’s wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly.

BUSINESS WISDOM

C

rawley-based start-up, ITHQ is offering free advice and support around cyber security and remote working platforms, prioritising their local business community.

Scott Nursten, CEO, says: “We all need to stand together at this time of extreme stress. It’s time to stop selling and start helping each other, so ‘solidarity, not sales’ is our message.

“We deliver secure, high performance infrastructure and platforms that allow remote teams the freedom of being able to safely access any data they need from any device.

“This is critical right now. Many businesses simply were not prepared for a sudden shift to remote working. It’s completely understandable – even expected – that they’re feeling a sense of panic. We feel a sense of responsibility to offer our skills to help.

We commit to helping businesses in Manor Royal and beyond navigate the next few difficult months in any way we can. I’m inviting any business to call me with their concerns. Let’s see if I can help you.”

ITHQ specialises in cyber security, hybrid cloud, digital working and data analytics. While the company is new, its founders are all experts in their own fields, with 75 years’ top-level experience between them.

020 3997 7979 transform@ithq.pro https://ithq.pro

55

SPORT | FOOTBALL

Tickets for Heroes Brighton and Hove Albion donates free match tickets to NHS workers

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righton & Hove Albion have ringfenced a minimum of one thousand tickets covering future matches to be donated to front line NHS heroes fighting the coronavirus.

The club board unanimously approved the decision and have now invited other Premier League, EFL, Scottish and Northern Irish senior clubs to consider following suit with an appropriate number, either for one specific match or spread across a number of fixtures when football resumes and NHS staff are able to attend games.

Chief executive and deputy chairman, Paul Barber suggested a club-to-club baton approach and has already nominated fellow south-coast Premier League club AFC Bournemouth as the next in line. Cherries’ chairman Jeff Mostyn is keen to rise to the challenge.

Barber explained, “We are working on a range of things across all areas of the community and I hope this will just be the start.

“We fully appreciate football is the last thing on anyone’s minds at this mo-

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ment, but we feel this is a small way in which we can show our gratitude for those NHS staff on the front line who are fighting the battle on behalf of all of us and give them something to look forward to.

“Of course the biggest support we can all show our NHS heroes is by following the crucial government advice on social distancing, self-isolating, hand hygiene and using tissues to catch, kill and bin coughs and sneezes.”

Cherries’ chairman Mostyn added, “We are absolutely delighted to match Brighton’s gesture and commit to one thousand tickets, and we will pass the baton to another club.”

Albion and Bournemouth will contribute the tickets to any NHS worker and their families once football returns, with full details to be announced in due course.

Checking In Barber also revealed how checking in with elderly Albion fans during the coronavirus crisis has been an ‘uplifting’ experience.

The club’s chief executive and deputy chairman is one of more than 70 staff members, including owner Tony Bloom and head coach Graham Potter, who have been phoning fans aged over-70 to check on their wellbeing and to make sure they have food and medical supplies.

He said: “Twenty-odd years ago the community saved this football club so it was really important in this unprecedented period that we found a way to keep in touch. “ The first two people I phoned were in their garden, but they were really appreciative of the call. We had a good chat, a few laughs and joked about what they’d been up to. We checked and made sure they had the food they needed and any pharmacy requirements they needed.

“It’s a small thing we can do but I think it’s the right thing to do and it’s been great. It’s been uplifting for me personally, funnily enough, also the others who’ve been in the calls. It gives you a little sense you’re contributing to something.”

CHARITY NEWS

Join the Rockinghorse

FORCE!

The new ‘Rockinghorse Force’ pack forms part of the charities larger ‘Be a Hero for Rockinghorse’ campaign launched two weeks ago on their website and social media feeds.

Being stuck at home is a challenge for the whole family but Rockinghorse’s new kids’ activity pack aims to give children something to do whilst still raising vital funds for the charity.

The campaign aims to reinforce the message of how important it is to keep funding the small charity to enable them to carry on providing support to the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton.

During the last financial year Rockinghorse gave away nearly £450k of funding to a variety of projects aimed at supporting sick children including eight new ventilators for the HDU at the Royal Alex – vital equipment during the current Coronovirus outbreak.

However, their funding stream has been severely diminished due to events such as marathons and gala dinners being postponed.

Sid Sloane, Rockinghorse Trustee and CBeebies presenter, explains why now, more than ever, the charity needs help; “Rockinghorse has been providing life-saving equipment to help sick children across Sussex for over 50 years.

However, due to the current situation, their funds are being seriously depleted, and this will directly impact on the support the Royal Alex can provide.

“There are lots of ways that you and your family can get involved and raise money, even while you are confined to your home.

“Children respond amazingly well to being set a challenge and this new pack provides lots of these along with games, puzzles and fundraising ideas, many of which are also aimed at helping around the home. Whatever you can do, big or small, will really help Rockinghorse at this incredibly challenging time.”

Sid Sloane

The Rockinghorse Force.

The new Rockinghorse Force centres around building a team of heroes dedicated to making a difference by raising money for Rockinghorse Children’s Charity.

Within the pack there are four challenges for children to complete which their family and friends can sponsor them to take part in. These challenges include problem solving, helping, making and activity tasks all designed to be both fun and interesting.

Participants can then post pictures of their achievements on social media using the #BeaRockinghorseHero hashtag or send their success stories into the charity. Everyone who sends in their completed activity pack along with the funds raised will received an official Rockinghorse Force Certificate and badge so everyone will know what they have achieved.

Along with the pack, Sid will also be reading stories for younger children and these videos will be posted on the Rockinghorse website every week.

This will be a great opportunity for children to enjoy a story and some quiet time so look out for these in the coming weeks.

To find out more go to www.rockinghorse.org.uk/news/join-the-rockinghorse-force/

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VIRTUAL EVENTS

The gdb Virtual Event Programme As you will already be aware, gdb have had to cancel many upcoming events due to the current Covid19 crisis.

During these unprecedented times, we want to let you know that we are still here to support you and your business.

Below is a selection of gdb Virtual Events to help keep you connected with your fellow members. Follow the links to book your places and please check the Events Page on the gdb website for regular updates https://www.gatwickdiamondbusiness.com/11-events.html

Tuesday 21st April Stress Busting amid the Corona Crisis 11:00-12:30 Jo Sawkins, Wings Wellbeing Free of Charge

Wednesday 22nd April Survive & Thrive: Positive Mental Health & Wellbeing 13:00-14:00 Sussex Innovation Free of Charge

Thursday 23rd April Marketing Ideas for Your Business 12:30-13:30 Claire Scaramanga and Simon Leadbetter, Directors of Scaramanga Agency Free of Charge

Friday 24th April gdb April ‘Virtual Members Meeting’ 11:30-12:15 Stay connected with the gdb Team and your fellow Members Free of Charge – gdb Members only Monday 27th April Google Drive and Collaborative Working with G Suite 12:30-13:30 Jane Hames, Director and Lead IT Trainer, Glide Training Free of Charge

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Wednesday 29th April Survive & Thrive: Making and Maintaining Sales 13:00-14:00 Simon Chuter, Innovation Advisor and Student Enterprise Manager, Sussex Innovation Free of Charge

Friday 29th May gdb May ‘Virtual Members Meeting’ 11:30-12:15 Stay connected with the gdb Team and your fellow Members Free of Charge – gdb Members only Tuesday 2nd June Should I consider selling my business now and what is it worth?

10:00-11:15 Ken Gorman, Director at Transworld Business Advisors - London South West Free of Charge

PLATINUM

EVENT MANAGEMENT Platinum Event Management is one of the leading event management agencies in the South East specialising in corporate events and award ceremonies. Our company was built on the principles of excellence, passion and dedication.

As expert award ceremony organisers, we understand how important these events can be, and more importantly, how to deliver them.

Whether it’s in business, consumer, private or B u CO sin N es FIR sa M s u ED su a

Due to the recent global outbreak of COVID-19, we have decided to postpone some of our events until later in the year.

Please continue to visit www.platinumpublishing. co.uk/awards for further updates.

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B u CO sin N es FIR sa M s u ED su a

NOVEMBER 19th, 2020

DECEMBER 3rd, 2020

Aw P O ai t ST in PO g N ne E w D da te

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PLATINUM

EVENTS

Aw P O ai t ST in PO g N ne E w D da te

public sector, our team has over 15 years of experience to create a winning formula for any type of business.

www.platinumpublishing.co.uk

Aw P O ai t ST in PO g N ne E w D da te

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