Platinum Business Magazine - Issue 75

THE LARGEST CIRCULATION REGIONAL BUSINESS PUBLICATION IN THE UK

ISSUE 74 . JUNE 2020 ISSUE 75 . JULY 2020

MARCUS RASHFORD The power of celebrity NATWEST

Cautious Optimism

KPMG

The New Reality

Travel

Sharm el Sheikh

EQUALITY MATTERS

The debate around racism

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To feed the most vulnerable we needed great service from our bank Joshua Owens-Baigler Director, Angelina Restaurant

At NatWest, we approved a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan for Angelina Restaurant in Dalston. This not only enabled them to keep their staff on, but to provide around 500 meals a day to local vulnerable people.

Search NatWest Business

Here to support you Security may be required. Over 18s only. Subject to status. Business use only. Any property or asset used as a security may be repossessed or forfeited if you do not keep up repayments on any debt secured on it.

CONTENTS 10

DMH STALLARD The importance of succession planning.

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KRESTON REEVES The future of tax.

34

SUSSEX INNOVATION How to lead your team out of the lockdown.

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MANOR ROYAL The BID launches a Covid-19 recovery plan.

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AVANTIS WEALTH 7 principles of investment in uncertain times.

NATWEST Signs of some cautious optimism?

VITEX Jeremy Taylor launches a Virtual Trade Experience.

HR DEPT A new office in Elstead.

46

CLEANKILL Are mice taking over empty offices?

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NATWEST ACCELERATOR Focus on Physio Fast Online.

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ENGAGE The evolving world of employee benefits

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BRIGHTON FESTIVAL Andrew Comben's vision for the future of the arts.

54

GATWICK AIRPORT Ramping up operations

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TRAVEL Sharm El Sheikh

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MIDLIFE HUB A new Brighton-based social enterprise.

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COVER STORY A campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford prompted a government U-turn. Is this a sign of how powerful young celebrities can be?

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HAINES WATTS Practical considerations for business recovery.

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KPMG Is the new reality an opportunity to reset the South East?

36

BIG STORY The debates around the Black Lives Matter movement.

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MOTORING NEWS Maarten's Hoffmann's roundup of the latest developments.

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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! u o y k n a h t to all our wonderful customers for your support over the past months... www.brightongin.com info@brightongin.com

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Welcome So the old normal has gone, the new normal is here and we cautiously try to re-open the economy.

Within minutes, Leicester is locked down again and we see that this is not going away and we are just going to have to learn to live with it until a vaccine can be developed.

So in that vein, here is the July issue of the UK’s largest circulation business magazine with all the news and views from our region. KPMG look at reasons to be optimistic, NatWest are cautiously optimistic and Haines Watts look at the practical considerations in getting back to work. Marcus Rashford

demonstrates what social media can do to change things and we look at what needs to be changed to end prejudice against the BAME community. We review Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt with some stunning imagery by our very own Publisher.

And so much more. We hope you enjoy this issue and please get in touch if you want to see more or less of anything.

Upwards and onwards toward the new normal - whatever on earth that is. It will be what we make 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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national Mini Reactors

news

Natural ability without education has more often attained to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.

CICERO, ROMAN STATESMAN, PRO ARCHIA POETA (62BC)

Harrods Open

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consortium of British businesses led by Rolls-Royce have submitted proposals to government to accelerate the building of a new fleet of mini reactors in the north of England.

The consortium - which includes construction and engineering firms Laing O’Rourke, Atkins and BAM Nuttall - would use UK intellectual property to build the reactors. Working with partners in Canada, France and the US, it is estimated that exporting small nuclear reactor technology could be worth £250 billion to the UK if the programme is successful.

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Gatwick Scapegoats

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couple arrested, their home raided by armed police, 36 hours in custody and all for an unfounded accusation that they were responsible for the drone fiasco over Gatwick Airport in December 2018.

Around 1,000 flights were cancelled, police deployed special ‘drone catching’ bazookas and all hell broke loose over reported sightings of drones buzzing around the airport.

Sussex police have paid out £200,000 in compensation for false imprisonment and wrongful arrest and it is generally thought that it was the police’s own drones that caused the mayhem.

Let us also remember that the £200,000 does not come out of the Chief Inspectors pockets but yours and mine, the taxpayers.

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he expert Harrods Corporate Service team is on hand to support companies as they take steps to re-establish their business. From the recognition of a business hero within an organisation to a simple reconnection with an important client, Corporate Service will propose, select and deliver gifts directly to the recipient, beautifully wrapped and with a personal message.

Corporate Service is able to access all 330 departments across the store, from the world-renowned Food Halls and exquisite Beauty Halls to Technology, Fine Jewellery and Shoe Heaven. In addition, Gift Cards of any denomination or personalised Gift Card experiences may be purchased for redemption in-store. U.K. and International delivery are available.

Tracy Finn, Head of Corporate Service at Harrods, comments, “Over the past weeks, the team at Harrods has worked hard to ensure that we may re-open the store safely. We are delighted to be re-opening the Corporate Service department and look forward to serving our valued clients.”

To speak to the team and to place gift orders please contact corporate.service@harrods.com.

national Pain to Come

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news

he number of workers on UK payrolls dived more than 600,000 between March and May, official figures suggest.

Meanwhile, the number of people claiming work-related benefits - which includes the unemployed - was up 126% to 2.8 million.

The early estimates reflect the impact of around six weeks of lockdown in which large parts of the UK were shut.

But economists say the full effect on employment will not be felt until wage support schemes end in October.

"The slowdown in the economy is now visibly hitting the labour market, especially in terms of hours worked," said Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

"Early indicators for May show that the number of employees on payrolls were down over 600,000 compared with March."

Separate figures published by HMRC showed that a total of 9.1 million workers have now been furloughed.

Amazon Challenge

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ovid-19 has not been a harbinger of doom for Amazon, unlike the case with many other firms. Its share price has actually increased since March - hitting a record high last week.

It turns out online retail isn't a bad space to be in when all the shops are shut. Jeff Bezos' mantle as the richest man on the planet seems safe, for now.

But around the world, governments are looking at Amazon and asking whether the tech giant is - well - too big.

Does it use its dominant position unfairly?

The EU now looks set to charge Amazon for anti-competitive behaviour. This could cost Amazon a lot of money and could alter the shopping experience it offers customers.

Making a splash

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he lockdown and uncertainty over summer holidays has led to a boom in business for one Sussex company who are now recruiting a ‘Staycation Designer’ to help them meet demand.

Horsham based Compass Pools has reported a 600% increase in orders for home swimming pools as millions of us prepare to spend our summer holidays in the UK with ‘Swimming pools’ becoming one of the top 10 Googled products in the UK.

To meet increased demand the company is now on a recruitment drive, which could also help those that have been made redundant from the travel industry.

Compass Pools made headlines last year after they designed a one-of-a-kind, death defying swimming pool that sits 200 metres above London’s skyline.

To apply for one of Compass Pools’ new vacancies, visit www.compass-pools.co.uk/careers/

I feel my heart glow with enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven, for nothing contributes so much to tranquillise the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.

MARY SHELLEY, NOVELIST (1818)

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Succession Planning DMH Stallard's Olga Powell considers why succession plans should be top of the agenda for a lot of private businesses as Inheritance tax changes may affect businesses in a way that they do not anticipate. who distrust their heirs more than they dislike the Inland Revenue”.

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n a world which has experienced unprecedented change as a result of COVID-19 and is now beginning to pick itself up one step at a time, it is natural to feel shaken and uncertain about the future. However, people are resilient and so is business, especially family businesses, because they are built around people and those people tend to be instrumental to its success.

One matter remains certain, however, and it is the unpopular matter of death duty, aka Inheritance Tax. No doubt, Roy Jenkins, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, would have been disappointed to note that his distinguished political career was being marred by a single quote, yet there it is again and it never gets old “Inheritance Tax is a voluntary levy paid by those

The current successor to the role paints a more trusting picture, but be in no doubt tax revenues are falling, unemployment is rising and even with an optimistic financial outlook, the gaping hole in the government coffers would need to be filled in with something else.

While Inheritance Tax has never been the crowning jewel in the Treasury’s books, it is not to be scoffed at with OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) predicting the tax revenue to rise to £5.3 billion in 2019-20.

Add to this a report put together in January 2020 by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on suggested Reform of Inheritance Tax and any weathered tax practitioner would shortlist this to be a clear potential candidate for a tax change alongside business property and agricultural property reliefs.

Business Property Relief Business property relief, which was extended in 1992 by John Major to 100%, was supposed to encourage business owners to transfer businesses to their families but instead it resulted in the owners retaining control and continuing to own their businesses until their death because they passed to the heirs free of tax anyway.

“Inheritance Tax is a voluntary levy paid by those who distrust their heirs more than they dislike the Inland Revenue”.

ROY JENKINS MP

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Currently, unlisted trading companies, partnerships and unincorporated businesses qualify for 100% relief providing the owner acquired and held those assets for at least 2 years before death or gift; and 50% relief is given to assets and land used in the business by the owner. Investment companies do not qualify although some may qualify in a trading group of companies providing the group has been structured with the right focus on maximising the relief.

Agricultural Property Relief Agricultural property relief is less straightforward, but largely applies to farmland and farmhouses on their agricultural value. The relief again is given at either 50% or 100% and a minimum period of ownership of 2 years is also required. While hopes of property development are desirable in normal circumstances, they are not so advantageous when it comes to valuing an

LEGAL

agricultural asset for Inheritance Tax purposes. Any potential housing development value could outstrip the modest agricultural value by a large margin making the relief insignificant by comparison.

With the recent cut in the Entrepreneurs relief for Capital Gains Tax, business property relief and agricultural property relief are likely to be on the Chancellor’s radar for a review and a possible trim, if not an abolition.

Succession Planning It is a fairly well-known fact that plans of succession are not top of the agenda for a lot of private businesses. Yet now, more than ever, they ought to be as taxation rises may affect those business in a way that they do not anticipate.

Succession planning for you and your business does not mean you surrender control. Controls can be imposed through the use of trusts and corporate structures designed to allow the business to continue its day to day operations and without introducing too many new faces to the management structure.

Passing on a portion of your business now means that a valuable relief can be claimed with significant tax advantages which will not only benefit your heirs but also, your business, because in the event of a change to taxation rules, it could be placed in jeopardy following your death to meet the tax liability.

For those who are considering selling the business in their lifetime, getting advice on Inheritance Tax and the timing of it cannot be under-estimated.

Most business owners are rightly being advised on Entrepreneurs Relief for Capital Gains Tax, but reviewing your Inheritance Tax as part of that planning should not be overlooked especially if gifts to family members are also contemplated from the sale proceeds.

Most gifts will remain on a tax clock for seven years as they are classed as PETs (Potentially Exempt Transfers) so if a donor of the gift dies during the seven year period, the gift becomes chargeable and is assessed for Inheritance Tax purposes. With the right planning, gifts into trusts can make use not only of the business property relief but also of the Entrepreneurs Relief on

the eventual sale of the business, so timing of the tax advice is key.

On the subject of timing, let me leave you with a case of Swain Mason v Mills & Reeve which serves as a reminder to those who do not take heed of the Inheritance Tax advice. In 2007 Mr Swain completed a sale of his business to the management team. He was advised on Entrepreneurs relief and following completion of the MBO, attended a hospital 2 weeks later for a routine operation. He died on the operating table and his daughters brought in a claim against the lawyers who advised on the sale on the basis that had Mr Swain delayed the sale until after his operation, his estate would have been entitled to claim business property relief at 100% against Inheritance Tax. The daughters were unsuccessful in the claim because the lawyers proved that they were not instructed to advise on Inheritance Tax under their retainer.

www.dmhstallard.co.uk

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Looking ahead The future of tax As part of the Kreston Reeves Looking ahead series, Andy Wallis looks to how Covid-19 might change the future of tax.

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he cost of government support to individuals and the businesses affected by Covid-19 in the UK has already topped £100bn and will continue to rise. It is unlikely that we will ever know the exact figure, but we do know that government will, at some point, need to put in place measures to boost its coffers. So what might the future of tax look like?

Tax is complex, detailed and challenging. In looking at how tax might change it would be easy to fall into the trap of examining individual taxes and how they might be tweaked to raise revenues. That is a discussion that will unfold in the coming months and possibly years as changes to the tax system are announced through the everyday course of politics.

There are, I believe, some larger and more fundamental questions that government should now look to address with regards our relationship with tax.

And as we begin to emerge from our Covid-19 lockdown now is the right time for government to start this national conversation.

There are three areas that should be explored: fairness, transparency and personal tax.

raise taxes on income to better and more directly fund the NHS and social care.

Personal tax

It is also important to keep in mind the austerity measures introduced by government after the 2008 crash. There

Income tax, national insurance and VAT are the three largest contributors to government coffers and affect each of us in the UK. Changes to any one of these three would generate significant additional revenues for government.

A universal 1% increase in income tax rates could raise revenues of c.£6-7bn per annum. It is worth noting that the return of the 50% tax rate for additional rate payers is not likely to raise significant revenue and the resultant behavioural change could actually lead to a reduction.

Covid-19 has shown society the importance and value of the NHS with overwhelming support for our carers.

But it has also shown its weaknesses, particularly with regards social care.

A better funded NHS and social care system is needed.

Government could use Covid-19 to

“Covid-19 has led Government into radical programmes of support to businesses and individuals. It is likely to lead to further radical thinking on tax. ”

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WORK will be little appetite to see government explore that option.

Any tax increases would be difficult for government, particularly the Conservative one now in office. It would mean moving away from its election manifesto promises made at the end of 2019. But I believe there is a window where there can be an open, frank and honest conversation with the nation.

That conversation needs to be underpinned by the next two themes – fairness and transparency.

Fairness and transparency The tax regime in the UK is complex and that complexity helps to hide transparency. Without transparency it

is all too easy to believe that it is an unfair system, where large corporates and high earners can avoid paying what many might think is due.

National insurance was originally a tax designed as a safety net in terms of health and employment but has been increasingly blurred with income tax.

The different treatment for employees and the self-employed has also led to perceived unfairness. There have been many discussions about the merging of income tax and national insurance, but it has proven too difficult and complex. It may be that there is renewed motivation for an overhaul of income tax and national insurance in order to improve fairness and transparency on how income tax and national insurance contributions are channelled to

health and social care.

It may also be the case that VAT increases are likely in the medium to longer term once the economy has bounced back. Whilst those spending more incur more, any rise would still impact those on lower incomes. A VAT increase is traditionally unpopular for this reason, perhaps it may be more palatable now, especially if targeted at more luxurious goods and services.

Covid-19 has led Government into radical programmes of support to businesses and individuals. It is likely to lead to further radical thinking on tax.

Kreston Reeves is hosting a series of practical webinars helping businesses to look ahead and plan for a post Covid-19 future. To view topics and details of our ‘Looking ahead’ webinars or to register your place please visit www.krestonreeves.com/webinars -Author: Andrew Wallis Corporate and International Tax Partner andrew.wallis@krestonreeves.com 0330 124 1399

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INVESTMENT

Seven Principles

of Investment in Uncertain Times

by Rod Thomas FCA, Chairman, Avantis Wealth Ltd

even Principles of Investment in ncertain Times

W

hether you invest for income, savings or capital growth, the last 20 years have been dominated by uncertainty and dramatic changes to investThomas FCA,ment markets.

The impact of this incredible fall in bank base rate has been calamitous. It has effectively wiped any income from millions of investor portfolios invested in Gilts or bank and savings accounts.

man, Avantis Wealth Ltd

Many investors have failed to generate decent returns on Buy-To-Let (BTL) Property their money, and face even more difficulties in choosing what doincome, now.

Many investors, in recent years, have chosen to invest in her you investtofor savings or capital growth, the last 20 years have been property and receive rental income. Sadly, BTL property no nated by uncertainty and dramatic changes to investment markets.

Falling (and failing) investments for 20 years! longer offers the same profitability. Review the Nationwide investors have failed to generate decent returns on their money, and face even more prices across 40 years; index of house lties in choosing what to do now.

Investment in shares has been the mainstay of many investportfoliosfor for20 around g (and failing)ment investments years!100 years. But consider the performance of the FTSE 100 index, which measured approx. tment in shares hasatbeen theofmainstay of many portfolios 7,000 the turn the millennium.

On investment April 1st 2020, it stood for around 100 . at 5,500, a loss of 22% over 20 years.

onsider the performance of the FTSE 100 index, which measured approx. 7,000 at the This On is aApril massive underperformance by anyone’s f the millennium.

1st 2020, it stood at 5,500, a loss standards of 22% over 20 years. and a serious blow to millions of investors!

s a massive underperformance by anyone’s standards and a serious blow to millions of ors!

Government Gilts and Savings Accounts ernment Gilts and Savings Accounts

Most have also held income producing assets,forparinvestors have alsoinvestors held income producing assets, particularly retirement or to ticularly for retirement or to supplement other sources. ement other sources.

Investment income primarily depends on interest rates. We

tment incomenow primarily depends on interest rates. have have the lowest bank base rate everWe (fornow more thanthe 300lowest bank base ver (for moreyears!) than 300 years!) at just 0.10% pa. at just 0.10% pa.

Over the period from 1975 to 2018, a period of 43 years, property has delivered an ave the period from 1975 to a period years, propcapital growth fromOver £100,000 to £220,000, a 2018, rate of 1.85%ofa43 year.

Very disappointing. erty has delivered an average capital growth from £100,000

Not only is capital to growth questionable, the costs owning and running buy-to-let prop £220,000, a rate of 1.85% a year.ofVery disappointing. have also escalated, significantly reducing the net rental yield.

Not only is capital growth questionable, the costs of owning and running buy-to-let property have also escalated, significantly reducing the net rental yield.

mpact of this incredible fall in bank base rate has been calamitous. It has effectively any income from millions of investor portfolio’s invested in Gilts or bank and savings unts.

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To-Let (BTL) Property

investors, in recent years, have chosen to invest in property and receive rental me.

od from 1975 to 2018, a period of 43 years, property has delivered an average h from £100,000 to £220,000, a rate of 1.85% a year. Very disappointing.

pital growth questionable, the costs of owning and running buy-to-let property calated, significantly reducing the net rental yield.

Have you heard the saying; ‘If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got.’ What you have now needs real improvement!

Look outside the box and consider new investment options.

Mainstream investments have mostly failed to deliver for twenty years! How long does something have to fail before you say ‘enough is enough’.

Principle No 2: Fixed is better than variable In a time of uncertainty, fixed income beats variable income every time.

If you are seeking income to live on now, or to build up your savings for the future, then knowing – in advance – what you will receive and when you will receive it is crucial.

ows a rise of 38% in private renting costs since 2005, whichAthas impacted all Avantis Wealth we are massive believers in investors being This chart shows a rise of 38% in private renting costs since 2005, which has impacted all landlords.

Challenge

assured of what they will receive in return for investment – fixed income with a fixed payment schedule, whether monthly, quarterly, six-monthly or annually.

The Big Challenge you do to generate income where every major asset class has failed deliver, Principle No to 3: Insist on Rewarding Returns 0 years? These Seven Principles may show the path.

So what can you do to generate income where every major What do you consider to be a reasonable return on your inasset class has failed to deliver, broadly for 20 years? These

o 1: Forget the “same Seven Principles mayold, showsame the path. old”

vestment money? Most investors anticipate a very low return in the range of 1% - 3% annually.

ard the saying; ‘If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting 1: Forget “same old, same old” At Avantis Wealth our focus is on investments that offer from always got.’Principle What No you have the now needs real improvement!

the box and consider new investment options. Mainstream investments have to deliver for twenty years! How long does something have to fail before you s enough’.

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7% to 15% annually. Investors are often surprised that this level of return can be achieved at modest risk.

We believe that rewarding returns are absolutely essential for everyone who invests.

Principle No 4: Short-term is better than long-term The longer the term of investment, the greater the risk. Who knows what will happen in any sector or with any company over the next 5-10 years? It’s difficult enough to have any confidence in the next 12 months. So our focus is on short term investments typically over 12-36 months, but still providing rewarding returns. It’s a powerful combination!

Principle No 5: Diversification offers real benefits In my opinion, the most important time to have a diversified portfolio is in uncertain times where the economic outlook is poor.

Diversification means holding a variety of assets in your portfolio. If you hold one investment and it fails, you could lose 100% of your money. But if you held more, the chance of them all going bust at the same time is small, assuming they are diversified. Therefore, the level of risk is much reduced.

Principle No 6: Underpin your investment with security We are great believers in bringing security to all investments.

Security is a positive addition but rarely offers perfect protection.

Here are key points about the provision of ‘security’.

• Any security is better than no security • A first legal charge over property is the best available option.

• There are many security options: First legal charge, second legal charge, personal guarantee, corporate guarantee, debenture, charge over other assets etc.

• The lower the quality of security, the higher the investment return that is required.

• For many investments, including the bulk of regulated investments like shares, there is no security at all!

Principle No 7: Waiting costs you money When there are significant shifts in the marketplace, and shocks to the system, investors are naturally concerned, often choosing to ‘sit and wait’ before investing.

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Recent market uncertainty has been driven by the dot.com crash in 2000 and 2001, the housing crash followed by the financial crash in 2008-2009 and now the coronavirus pandemic of 2020.

Sitting and waiting appears to be a low risk strategy. However, being out of the market carries a significant cost, viz; EXAMPLE Suppose you invest in a fixed income investment offering 10% pa, for 10 years.You reinvest profits.

For a £100,000 investment, your return would be £259,374 after 10 years.

Now assume you wait for 2 years before investing.Your return on £100,000 is £214358.

This delay has therefore cost you £45,000 in lost income!

I suggest you explore ways to protect yourself from the vagaries of the market. My recommendation is to consider fixed income, short-term investments with rewarding returns.

Bringing it all together The Seven Principles offers a new approach to investment, intended to delivery better returns.

Think about the value of these Principles for your own investments and adopt the ones that you believe will add value to your strategy .

Remember that nothing is certain in investing. Capital is almost always at risk and you may get back less than you invested, or in a worst case lose all the capital invested. I recommend that you take advice from a regulated advisor before changing your investment strategy.

If you would like to explore investment opportunities which match the Seven Principles, without cost or obligation, just email invest@avantiswealth.com , call +44 1273 447299 (UK office hours), or visit our website at www. avantiswealth.com.

Our focus is you Outstanding legal advice for individuals, families and businesses.

For business We make it our business to know your business, working with you to add value and to deliver tailored legal services with energy and creativity whether you’re an established market leader or an ambitious start-up.

For you Your family’s security and wellbeing are your priority.

And we have the legal skills and knowledge to support your plans and the challenges life brings.

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Our success depends on understanding your needs Please call or email to discuss how we can help you: 03333 231580 enquiries@dmhstallard.com

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dmhstallard.com

Some cautious

optimism

17 June 2020

The new NatWest UK Small Business PMI® survey shows signs of optimism as downturn in business activity eases, but small firms are especially cautious ® about outlook

NatWest UK Small Business PMI

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Slide in business activity eases, but small firms are especially cautious about the outlook he new NatWest UK Small Business PMI® survey has identified a clear improvement in the business environment since April, with the downturn in private sector output moderating from the record drop at the peak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

UK Small Business Activity Index

May ‘20

26.3 Apr: 14.6

Dec ‘19 - May ‘20 60 50 40 30 20 10 UK overall

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However, small businesses are more cautious about the year ahead outlook than their peers in all three main sectors covered by the new survey, prompting NatWest to unveil a Small Business Taskforce to support its customers through the next phase of recovery.

Key findings

Key Findings

• New survey on small businesses shows signs of optimism with slower downturn in business activity during May • Widespread use of furlough scheme for small firms helps retain staff

Signs of a turnaround were highlighted • Small firm’s expectations lag by a rise in the supporting Small Busibehind those reported by larger ness Activity – which monitors Signs ofIndex a turnaround as downturn in activity slows during May firms output at private sector companies with 1-49 employees in the services, • NatWest unveils Small Business Widespread use of furlough scheme helps retain staff construction and manufacturing secTaskforce to respond to findings tors – from 14.6 in April to 26.3 in May. and support customers with next phase of recovery Business expectations lag behind those reported by larger firms Nonetheless, the index remained below the 50.0 no-change value and ® Employment among small signalled the second-fastest in Business This new NatWest UK drop Small PMI trends is a monthly index designe businesses have been moremanufacturing, resilient business activity since the start of and challenges faced bythesmall enterprises in the s than elsewhere in from each of main health em series in 1998.

Small manufacturers sectors as the UK economy begins to emerge thethepublic categories of activity monitored by recorded the slowest drop in output, ® May data from the NatWest Small Business PMI point to a clear imp survey.

However, survey responfollowed by service providers, whileUKthe seen during April, sector with the in privatea sector dents experiencing slump inoutput reve- moderat those in the construction post-downturn nues overwhelmingly commented onoutbreak. edreported the fastest pace of decline. at the peak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) use of the government’s job retention Small businesses continued to exSigns of a turnaround were highlighted by a rise in the All-Sector Smal scheme to help keep on staff. perience a severe shortfall of new which monitors output at private sector companies with 1-49 employe work in May and reported widespread 26.3 inclosures May. Nonetheless, the index remained below the 50.0 no-chang Downturn in service sector business across their supply second-fastest drop in business activity since the start of the series in 1 business activity eases from chains, despite a boost as some parts April'sfollowed record by service providers, while of recorded the UK economy began todrop reopen the slowest in output, with social posted distancing measures. sector the fastest pace of decline.

May data highlighted that small serSmall businesses continued tovice experience a severe shortfall of new w sector companies remained unDifficulties sourcing materials, rewidespread closures across supply a bo der severetheir strain, despitechains, a boost despite in stricted transport business capacity and the UK economy began to reopen with social distancing measures.

Diffic some areas as parts of the economy need to find alternative suppliers all restricted transport capacity thetoneed towith findsocial alternative began reopen distanc- suppliers placed a particularly strong burden on and measures.in Atthe 25.9, the Business small costs in May, especialon business small business costs in May,ing especially manufacturing and co Activity Index was well below the 50.0 ly in the manufacturing and construcEmployment trends among small businesses have been more resilien no-change mark and the second lowtion sectors.

of the main categories of activity monitored by the survey. Howe experiencing a slump in revenues overwhelmingly commented on use retention scheme to help keep on staff. Small businesses are much mor ahead outlook than their peers in all three main sectors covered by the

A dynamic small business sector is undoubtedly a pre-requisite for gr and the latest PMI results illustrate the urgent need to help these firms a

ECONOMY est since the start of the survey in 1996.

Around 60% of small UK service providers reported a drop in business activity during May. The proportion recording a fall in output was down from 78% in April, but it exceeded the equivalent figure for large service sector companies in May (49%). On a more positive note, the percentage of small service sector firms signalling activity growth in May (11%) was up from just 6% in April.

Small manufacturers record softer output drop than in April Latest data indicated that small manufacturers fared better than companies of the same size in the service and construction sectors during May. A number of firms commented on a phased return to work with production schedules adapted for social distancing measures. That said, the index measuring manufacturing output at small businesses remained well below the 50.0 no-change value, with the rate of decline but now exceeding that seen across the sector as a whole.

Around 59% of small manufacturers reported lower production in May, while only 19% signalled an expansion. The proportion signalling a rise in output was up from just 12% in April.

Sharp construction sector downturn continues amid rapid drop in new work May data pointed to sustained weakness across the construction sector, but a gradual restart of work on site with social distancing measures helped to moderate the overall rate of decline. However, material shortages held back smaller construction firms leading to them showing a faster drop in business activity than larger firms during May, which reversed the pattern seen in the previous month. Survey respondents often cited a lack of new opportunities to tender and project cancellations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

COMMENT Andrew Harrison, NatWest's Head of Banking “This survey demonstrates the support that small businesses need as they adapt to a very different world. That’s why we’re establishing a Small Business Taskforce with a range of partners, including the British Chambers of Commerce to ensure that we can play our part

in supporting our customers and by extension the UK economy. We know customer behaviour is going to change rapidly as a result of the crisis and we want to do everything we can to be here for our customers when they need us most.”

Stephen Blackman, Principal Economist, NatWest “During crises, surveys signal mood as much as activity. And the slight uptick in May’s Small Business PMI tells us that, at least, the worst should be behind us. As the survey highlights, the furloughing schemes have been instrumental in limiting the scale of job losses across the UK. “The question is, what happens as these schemes unwind? And here the news is mixed. More than a third of small business in services ex-

pect a further reduction in activity this year. Yet, fewer firms now anticipate a reduced workforce than they did in April and there’s even tentative signs, via VAT reports, that new businesses are starting; though modestly, it must be stressed. It’s worth noting that most of what is captured in this survey occurred before further easing in lockdown measures. Directionally, this is just what we hoped to see. It now needs to accelerate.”

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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BUSINESS GRANTS

Help for Social Enterprises NatWest charity launches £1m grant fund to help social enterprises survive coronavirus crisis • £1 million Coronavirus Response Fund launched by Social & Community Capital; an independent charity funded by NatWest • Grants worth between £5,000 and £50,000 available for social enterprises, charities and community business that employ people from vulnerable or disadvantaged groups • Funding will help bridge income gap so organisations can survive the current crisis Social & Community Capital (S&CC),

an independent charity launched by NatWest in 1999 to support social enterprises and community businesses, has today announced a £1 million Coronavirus Response Fund to help organisations that have suffered a loss because of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Grants between £5,000 and £50,000 are being offered to organisations across the UK that employ people from vulnerable or disadvantaged groups. This funding aims to bridge the income gap so that organisations

survive the crisis and continue to have a positive impact in their communities.

Alison Rose (pictured on the cover of our sister title Dynamic), CEO at NatWest Group, said: “Many social enterprises, community businesses and charities that form an integral part of our local communities have unfortunately seen their incomes affected by the ongoing pandemic, and we want to do what we can to offer our support.

These grants will help champion the vital work that these businesses and charities do, so that they can continue to make a difference to those that need it most.”

Megan Peat, CEO at Social & Community Capital, said: “We know that people and families rely on the great work of local charities and community businesses, but we know that no one has been left unaffected by this devastating pandemic. This is why we want to help those organisations that employ people from vulnerable or disadvantaged groups and who have suffered a loss of trading income with our grants so that they can continue to have a positive impact in their communities.”

Applications for the NatWest Social & Community Capital Coronavirus Grant Fund will open at 9am on Monday 22 June. Full information on the grants, including the application form and how to apply, are available online at www.natwest.com/scc

20

Join our ‘Looking ahead’ webinar series Many businesses are focusing on their immediate issues, on doing what they can to survive this unprecedented period of mass uncertainty. However, it’s still important to remember to pause, breathe and look up from the current circumstances at the bigger picture. Where some see challenges, others see opportunity, adaptability and innovation.

The aim of our ‘Looking ahead’ series is to help your business achieve a brighter future with practical guidance and tips. Details of the webinars from this series are below: Looking ahead... for the rest of this year

Looking ahead... to the future with purpose

24 June 2020 | 10:00am - 11:00am

23 September 2020 | 9:00am - 10:00am

• Sourcing funding • Cashflow management • Employee welfare/resilience

• The importance of ‘purpose’ and reviewing your business’ purpose • Sustainability • Corporate Social Responsibility

Looking ahead... to 2021

22 July 2020 | 11:00am - 12:00pm

• Finding your entrepreneurial spirit and opportunities and innovation in chaos/crisis • Exploring routes to market Looking ahead... to the next 3-5 years

Looking ahead... retaining agility - rain or shine 28 October 2020 | 10:00am - 11:00am

• Funding reserves, resilience and contingency planning, crisis planning/management • Importance of looking for opportunities in crisis

26 August 2020 | 12:00pm - 13:00pm

• Focusing on rebuilding, reviving and stabilising your finances • Funding • Corporate finance • Trading internationally

For more information on our Looking ahead webinar series and to register to join: Visit: www.krestonreeves.com/webinars Email: events@krestonreeves.com

21

COVER STORY

THE POWER OF

The People How a young footballer used his celebrity to change government policy

By Maarten Hoffmann

I

It was not long ago that it would have taken a titanic battle, months of high level networking and a contact book from heaven to change government policy. Times have changed and now all it takes is a social media campaign, fronted by a popular figure and hey presto, policy is changed.

plement what his mum could provide.

She was the head of a single-parent family of five children, working fulltime on the minimum wage.

It was on March 19th that Marcus Rashford first went on social media to highlight his fears about the impact that shutting schools would have on disadvantaged children.

When Boris Johnson stood before the nation on the evening of March 18th to tell the country schools had to help combat the spread of Covid-19, Rashford immediately knew what that would mean. While most parents wondered how they were going to manage childcare, Rashford wondered how kids growing up as he had would get fed.

He may be a high-profile Premier League footballer now, but it is only 11 years since the Manchester United and England striker needed breakfast clubs and free school meals to sup-

"Guys, across the UK there are over 32,000 schools. Tomorrow all of these will close. Many of the children attending these schools rely on free meals, so I've spent the last few days talking

22

to organisations to understand how this deficit is going to be filled," he wrote.

The start of the six-post thread received 42,500 likes on Twitter. Just under 13 weeks later, Rashford posted again. A rather simpler message.

"I don't even know what to say." It received 709,000 likes.

In between, Rashford had helped supply the equivalent of three million meals. He had highlighted the damage caused by the 'invisible issue of food insecurity'. He had received messages of support from Liverpool and Manchester City. He had changed government policy.

As Rashford returns to his day job, it

EDUCATION “While most parents wondered how they were going to manage childcare, Rashford wondered how kids growing up as he had would get fed”

is worth understanding why, at the age of 22, he has been so willing to step out of his comfort zone. It is worth understanding how he has ended up so revered and admired for his work away from the football field.

Rashford articulated his back story in the emotive letter he sent to MPs on Monday.

"As a family, we relied on breakfast clubs, free school meals, and the kind actions of neighbours and coaches," he wrote. "Food banks and soup kitchens were not alien to us; I recall very clearly our visits to Northern Moor to collect our Christmas dinners every year. It's only now that I really understand the enormous sacrifice my mum made in sending me away to live in digs aged 11, a decision no mother would ever make lightly.”

For one of the most recognisable sport stars in the country, this was a brave move. It opened the door on a life Rashford could, if he wished, now leave far behind as he is currently paid £200,000 per week. He is not far into his career but he has already earned enough to ensure none of his family need worry about their next meal ever again. Yet that memory in itself does not tell the whole story.

It is informative to hear of the time Rashford spent, already then a highly-rated academy hopeful, kicking a ball about with his friends at public coaching sessions set up close to his home by the Manchester United Foundation.

By that time, his promise as a footballer was already evident. If his coaches in the United youth set-up had known of these impromptu sessions, they would almost certainly have been

23

COVER STORY

“The fall-out included a number of racist posts aimed at him on social media”

stopped, in just the same way as then manager Louis van Gaal would have recoiled had he known Rashford went for a kick-about with mates at a Power League complex within hours of making his United first-team debut in 2016.

"There is an argument that these experiences humanised him more than would have been the case if he had just gone through the system," says a club source, who has watched Rashford's development from an early age.

"He has a strong family, who are very down to earth. His mother is a great role model. It is part of what keeps him grounded.”

Rashford's willingness to help out with the wider community has been obvious for some time. When volunteers were asked to attend Foundation events, Rashford was amongst those who regularly responded. It was soon obvious he was able to communicate with youngsters and make them feel at ease.

"Probably because of his background, there was an empathy and a rapport which the kids really responded to.

Kids loved being in his company and Marcus seemed happy to be there. He still does," says the United source.

This interaction should not be dismissed as insignificant.

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For as Rashford's career was progressing rather faster than many imagined, from England's Under-16 team in November 2012 to selection for Roy Hodgson's Euro 2016 squad threeand-a-half years later, he never lost touch with his roots. "After he made his debut, we asked if he would come back to the school," says Simon Pyne, a year three teacher at Rashford's old school, Button Lane Primary in Northern Moor.

"We were having a school disco one night. I was in the office talking to one of the administration staff when a group of lads appeared at one of the doors and buzzed to see if they could come in because they were all Marcus and his mum

former pupils. We didn't recognise any of them at first but Marcus was there.

"He walked into the disco and all the kids were there. He was brilliant. He chatted to them, did a quick question and answer session with them and had photographs taken. He was absolutely amazing.”

Rashford has donated to the school.

On another Christmas visit, he handed over £1,000 so the school could provide the children with a selection box each to take home. His ties to the area are so deep he has a tattoo of the house he lived in at that time on his stomach.

But it was an unrelated, unfortunate event last August that focused Rash-

On England duty; Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck and Trent Alexander-Arnold

ford's mind on what more he could do.

Rashford missed a penalty in a home defeat by Crystal Palace. The fall-out included a number of racist posts aimed at him on social media. Days earlier, his United team-mate, Paul Pogba had been similarly abused.

Those close to Rashford said he had already started to become more inquisitive about how the public perceived him. After the Palace experience, he thought 'this isn't OK' and started to take more control.

As a child at school Rashford had helped fill gift boxes to give to those in need. He remembered this. At Christmas 2018, he personally delivered items including thermal underwear, gloves, toothbrushes and toothpaste to homeless people in Manchester.

Twelve months on he partnered with Selfridges for a similar campaign.

The gesture was well received. But for Rashford, it was not enough.

In January, he suffered a back injury against Wolves. It was feared it might end his season. Rashford and the people who work closely with him began to investigate suitable partners to help deal more comprehensively with the social issues affecting his home city.

The work was still in its infancy when it became obvious what a devastating toll Covid-19 was going to take. By the time the prime minister announced schools would shut, Rashford had told FareShare he wanted to make a donation and that he wanted to help.

A nationwide charity, FareShare collects surplus goods from the food industry. It might be from manufacturers or from farmers. It might be because orders have been cancelled, or mistakes in packaging have been

made. Through their partners, Fare Share then divert the food to charities, including lunch clubs for the elderly or the kinds of breakfast club Rashford used to attend.

"Those sorts of organisations are about 25% of the 11,000 organisations FareShare supports across the UK," says the charity's commercial director Alyson Walsh.

"These are children who have potentially not eaten since the previous day's free school meal, so getting breakfast to them is massive. Marcus knew about this because he had been to them.” Rashford's elevation to national hero had begun.

In his interview with the BBC after Johnson's staggering U-turn, Rashford boldly declared: "I don't want this to be the end of it because there are

“These are children who have potentially not eaten since the previous day's free school meal, so getting breakfast to them is massive. Marcus knew about this because he had been to them”

25

With England's best known waistcoat model

more steps that need to be taken. People are struggling all year round, so we need to learn more about the situation they are in and how we can help them best.”

the European Championships in July 2021, Rashford is going to be quite busy. So, for him, it is a question of identifying the projects and situations where he can help.

Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Thursday that Rashford's impact has been "more important than any game of football".

But the reality is Rashford does play football for a living.

On June 1st, that meant a powerful social media statement in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Three days later it meant standing up for an autistic black boy shown in a video being bullied by two white youths in a park.

He does have a long-term desire to one day establish his own foundation, so he can be hands on in developing projects that would benefit the community, but for now, football must take priority again. And until the end of

Since suffering racism himself, Rashford does not see why he should step away from subjects he cares about.

As the past few days show, far more will embrace him for it than reject him.

“For one of the most recognisable sport stars in the country, this was a brave move.”

26

And, if they do, he reasons he doesn't want that kind of person attaching themselves to him anyway.

Those at FareShare believe Rashford taking a stand can help drive lasting change, beyond what has already been achieved.

"Food insecurity is an invisible issue," says Walsh. "People talk about raising money for illnesses they have been affected by. There is not so much conversation around 'I am raising money for a Foodbank because my sister skipped lunch three times last week'.

"People don't talk about it because it can be a reflection on their circumstances. But the fact Marcus is doing so, not only shines a light on it, it also adds credibility because he has benefited from these clubs and seen how they work.”

Times are certainly changing and, in this instance, for the better.

national MILLION MISSED

M

ore than one million people have fallen through cracks in government schemes designed to support them during the coronavirus crisis, MPs say. The Treasury Select Committee called on ministers to plug gaps in the schemes to fulfil the government's promise of "doing whatever it takes".

Freelancers and recent employees are among those who cannot access support. The Treasury said the schemes protected millions of jobs and livelihoods. But the committee's interim report, which was unanimously agreed by members, said it was still not enough.

"The Treasury's interventions have been welcomed by many but rolling out financial support at pace and scale has inevitably resulted in some hard edges in policy design and some critical gaps in provision," the committee said.

"The government must assist these people if it is to completely fulfil its promise to do whatever it takes to protect people from the economic impact of coronavirus.” An area that really needs to be looked at are Company Directors who pay themselves through dividends rather than salary, who have been totally ignored.

news

Moral Compass rediscovered

I

Ikea has said it is planning to repay salaries paid by governments around the world under furlough schemes.

It is set to repay nine governments, including the US and Ireland.

However, it does not include the UK as although the furniture chain furloughed 10,000 UK workers it did not claim back their salaries from the government. Other firms are also refunding furlough pay, with Games Workshop and the Spectator magazine both saying they will repay the UK government.

The best portion of a good man’s life is his little nameless, unencumbered acts of kindness and of love.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH - POET

Construction Woe

T

ravis Perkins, the builders’ merchant, is cutting 2,500 jobs in the UK, almost a 10th of its workforce, and closing 165 stores as it expects weaker demand for materials in the next two years in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company is the UK’s largest distributor of building materials and owns a number of chains including the DIY retailer Wickes and Toolstation, with 2,154 branches around the country.

Travis Perkins has started a consultation of its staff on the job cuts and the branch closures, which will reduce its network by 8%. The job losses will

also affect non-store roles in distribution, administrative and sales, and reduce its 30,000-strong workforce by 9%

27

Business recovery Practical considerations for business owners

By Daniel Morgan, Managing Partner at Haines Watts Esher flexible and adaptable, after all, no one can be certain about how this crisis will unfold, and remaining stuck in a plan that no longer reflects the changing climate can only be detrimental.

It is important to remember that anything you implement in the short term will not be ‘business as usual’ but a way to get through the current situation.

Those who can remain adaptable in the coming months are likely to remain strong.

U

p until now, businesses have been in crisis management mode, but as they look forward to a post-lockdown world, it is vital business owners plan effectively to prepare for an uncertain future. Any plans you make will need to remain

Your people will be a top priority for your business and sharing plans on what each stage of emerging from lock down will look like will be important.

Communicate this to your people as transparently as possible. You need to keep them engaged and motivated and this comes from understanding what

they need to be doing now and how this impacts future plans for the business.

Getting your team back into the office will be a gradual process and you need to consider individuals needs when implementing this. Guidelines need to be decided and enforced to protect those back in the office, some considerations may be, how to allow for social distancing, cleaning of workspaces and communal areas such as kitchens and toilets and how your teams will get to work. If many rely on public transport, for example, is it feasible that they will be able to reach the office in a safe and responsible way?

Some will have found home working difficult with flatmates, families or inefficient workspaces causing issues with productivity and will want to be back

FINANCE

as soon as possible. Others will have found home working a lifeline for balancing other aspects of their life and it is important to respect both sides of the spectrum when making any decisions.

When planning for the future of your business your customers and their needs will dictate a lot of the practices you implement. Create a forecast for your demand and what could impact this. Will some service lines experience demand more quickly? Will the geography of your clients impact demand?

Are you expecting demand to come from existing clients or new business?

Then develop a plan on how you will be able to meet this demand.

"Your people will be a top priority for your business and sharing plans will be important." erwise there is a risk they will become disengaged and demotivated. Your team have been on the ground implementing these initiatives and talking to clients, they will also have invaluable insights into the changing client needs.

Your customers’ needs are likely to be different and ensuring that your business understands and can fulfil these needs is going to help your business stand out and remain relevant to your customer base.

When considering any cost cuts it can be easy to see some as ‘quick wins’ to save money in the short term. However, it is important to not only look at shortterm impacts but how any changes will affect the business in the long run.

Will these changes impact your future business goals? Are these goals still relevant and achievable? Will making a cut here create a snowball effect of problems in the future? All things to consider in your planning.

If this planning results in some areas of your business being reduced or costs cut then, again, it is vital you communicate this to your teams openly and explain the reasons behind this. Oth-

Cash will remain king, therefore having a cash flow forecast that is regularly reviewed and updated is key. In the recovery phase, managing working capital, and weaning the business off gov-

ernment tax deferrals, will need careful management and planning to ensure a smooth transition back to the new normal.

At Haines Watts we pose the right questions and together with our business planning experts have practical methodologies that can help you frame your thinking to support you as you work through what is next for your business.

For more information: https://www.hwca.com/accountants-esher/ T: 020 8549 5137

The New Reality

- an opportunity to reset the South East

By Tim Rush, Office Senior Partner, KPMG in Gatwick

T

he “New Reality” is a phrase I hear often as we emerge out of lockdown and businesses not only try to comprehend the immediate impact of the crisis, but also how COVID-19 will change our economy over the longer term.

The lockdown has amplified two pre-COVID trends -

In terms of headline numbers, our recent analysis found that the South East would see 2020 GVA growth of -7.4%.

(2) Population dynamics, such as increased life expectancy, focus on health and wellbeing, and life-long learning to support multiple careers.

However, delving deeper into the numbers showed a mixed bag for our region with those economies most reliant on transport manufacturing, travel and international tourism likely to see the greatest economic damage this year.

What COVID-19 has done for our regional business leaders and policy makers has given them a new perspective and, possibly, an opportunity to reshape their operations in response to these trends.

(1) Technology developments – such as automation, data proliferation, industrial revolution 4.0 and the emergence of software as a service; and

tions collaborating in order for their businesses to operate. With digital strategies now taking centre stage, the innovation that sits with our startup and scale-up community will be vital to our success and it’s important they are showcased and introduced to businesses that could benefit from

Technology is the future Areas such as Crawley could see GVA growth fall to minus double digits this year, as the full impact of the crisis on airports and its supply chain take hold. But other places such as Reading, Worthing and Epsom will see growth fall by less than -5%, being least affected due to the prominence of pharma and professional services firms.

Open for business?

From issues around transport, a safe return to the workplace and employment, to technology and the survival of both small and large businesses, re-opening the South East presents some big challenges but also an opportunity to accelerate and address some of the key issues that have been holding the region back for years.

Most businesses had a digital strategy in play, but their ‘technology debt,’ as I like to call it, was high. This ‘debt’ is the underspend in technology that businesses have been going through over the last few years. And yet, the way in which technology has taken centre stage in recent months has accelerated the tech agenda.

Businesses of every size and sector across the region are looking to work more effectively, embed more technology and become leaner as they return from lockdown. Digital channels will become key for engaging with customers, while automated processes will become a primary driver of productivity—and the basis of flexible and more efficient supply chains.

During lockdown, we saw organisa-

30

“Digital channels will become key for engaging with customers, while automated processes will become a primary driver of productivity”

BUSINESS FOCUS

their skills, insight and technology.

The region is positioned well to leverage its strength in high growth, technology-powered industries and highly skilled talent pool.

The pandemic has also hyper accelerated the need for local businesses to retrain and re-skill its working population with digital skills. With a strong tech community, we are in a good position to be a UK leader in this - which will have a positive impact on the economic and societal issues that the region faces.

A particular challenge that I would like to see tackled is how private sector business leaders can collaborate with the public sector, whether that is Lo-

cal Government, LEPs and the higher education sector, to deliver the skills we need. There is also an opportunity to re-shape Further Education as universities will need to review their business models, which have traditionally relied so heavily on overseas students.

The future of work A key legacy of the pandemic will doubtless be a sustained rise in working from home. This has the potential to benefit the country’s regional economies through a re-drawing of the geographical limits on our labour markets.

the South East and local talent to interact more widely, creating labour markets perhaps two or three times the previous size, stimulating an opportunity and productivity boost on the back of a more fruitful skills market.

Access to opportunity and regional productivity could be boosted by an enlarged talent pool for employers and a greater commutable area for ambitious employees.

We may also see more diverse regional economies evolve as firms are able to establish new offerings, confident that they will be able to attract the right skills without them being on their doorstep.

It offers opportunity for employers in

31

Business leaders are already looking at how jobs are realigned to skills and task, rather than traditional job roles, and there is a recognition that employee skills will be fluid and will change to meet new roles that emerge, or respond quickly to market disruption.

In time, other key considerations will include how organisations shape, plan and monitor their workforce, drive its performance using data, and attract and retain the best resource.

The role of policy makers Long before Coronavirus, the Government had put regional growth at the heart of its economic agenda.

In a post COVID-19 world, the need for spend on infrastructure and to build stronger regional economies is even more important.

City regions have become effectively smaller and conversely, from a practical perspective, functional economic areas will get bigger. These outcomes will result from a change in our approach to being in the workplace, as a proportion of the workforce will com-

32

mute less frequently in the long term.

As seen in the pandemic, communities and place played a key part in lockdown and this trend will continue with more people heading to local high streets and supporting local businesses rather than travelling further afield.

This sense of community is a great time for policy makers to boost their local economies.

Businesses will need to work more closely with policy makers to give them insights to trends in demand, employment, recovery and how people are working in order to shape more effective policies around transport, skills and commercial property to meet the new world reality in the South East.

We could also see better collaborations between LEPs to strengthen intra-region connectivity and access to economic hubs, for instance drawing on the Oxford-Cambridge arc, which is supported by four LEPs in the South East region.

Finally, we must not forget the elephant in the room. Through the inter-

vention measures the government has “invested” heavily in the SME market, whether through CBILS and/or the Job Retention Scheme.

As this unwinds, there potentially will be greater influence that can be exerted on companies that were recipients of the intervention, whether that is through pushing ahead with the ESG agenda, a review of companies that claimed on JRS and how to repay the guaranteed debt – buyer beware!

We have much to get through in the short term, but if we can take a moment to indulge ourselves in looking to the future, I do see a productivity opportunity to come from this crisis and the region has the chance to emerge stronger in the ‘new normal’ – whatever that eventually looks like.

Tel: 01293 652705 www.kpmg.co.uk

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33

INNOVATION

Start Leading out of the Lockdown The business consultancy team at Sussex Innovation have developed a new, purpose-built programme of virtual workshops, research briefings and agile decision-making tools, designed to help business owners lead their teams out of lockdown.

T

he world has changed dramatically since the start of 2020, and nearly every business is still navigating what the ‘new normal’ means for them. For some, this has meant a radical rethink in order to stay productive and regain revenue, while for others it has meant adapting to serve new and emerging customer needs.

Sussex Innovation’s Hot House programme for summer 2020 has been redesigned in response to the challenges of lockdown, with six new coaching and consultancy packages for owners of scaling businesses to develop their plan of action, survive and then thrive.

If you’re part of the leadership or management team from an ambitious scale-up company - whether you’ve got 5 staff or 100 – it will help challenge your thinking, uncover new opportunities and grow your business.

The Lead Out of Lockdown series is available as a course made up of six discrete modules. Founders can choose to either follow the entire course, or pick and choose the areas where they and their team need the most support.

Via Sussex Innovation’s partnership with the European Regional Development Fund, a number of modules will be available fully funded.*

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The six packages of strategic support each include a combination of one-toone coaching sessions with Sussex Innovation’s specialists, bespoke research and collaborative workshops, focusing on a different critical area of the business: Leading out of lockdown Feel more confident and capable as a leader by uncovering your core leadership skills and how to play to your strengths – using your natural personality, values and communication style to boost your team’s morale and productivity.

Market research: what now for your sector?

Get ahead of the competition by working with a team of researchers to understand the opportunities and pitfalls behind emerging technological, behavioural and commercial trends.

Hear how your industry is responding to Covid-19, the financial picture and how your customers’ needs may have changed.

Stress-testing your business model Reshape your business for the new normal, interrogating the key building blocks of your business in response to a changing world. Does your customer have the same needs and problems, and how do you serve new markets?

Do your supply chain or resourcing model need an urgent, radical rethink?

Testimonials We wouldn't have considered a research-led approach, or had the resources to pull it off, without the team's help.

It got us a foot in the door, helped us to reach a range of potential clients, and ultimately grow our business.

Alistair Crombie, One Research It's like having a team of non-exec directors on your board - to me that's what it was. When you come to Sussex Innovation, they do everything that those non-exec directors are supposed to do.

Mark Bailey, Sciensus They exceeded my expectations - Simon was patient, collaborative, respectful, and expertly guided me through a great marketing campaign process. His creative energy was delightfully infectious, and I left the session feeling excited and empowered.

Antoinette Daniel, Just Helpers

Financial planning when cashflow is king Get financially fit to weather the economic storm. Work with a team of accountants to navigate risk and stay ahead of your cashflow. Model best and worst-case scenarios, get advice on R&D tax credits and identify ways to maximise your financial position for the year ahead.

Reboot your sales and marketing Cut through the noise and get actual customer engagement, with budgets

stretched and audiences tuning out.

Get your team focused on the activities that will make the biggest difference to the bottom line, with an agile plan to reach and then engage your ideal customers.

Media training for a noisy world Get your story heard by developing clear messages and compelling stories. Learn how to hone both your personal and organisational brand into a concise narrative, then how to find and leverage the press best suited to help

tell your story. * With funding from the ERDF, qualifying SMEs can access either the market research module or any other two packages without charge.

Visit info.sinc.co.uk/lead-out-oflockdown for more information and to book your course.

This project has received funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediary body Greater London Authority) is the managing authority for the ERDF. Established by the European Union, the ERDF helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation and businesses, create jobs and regenerate local communities.

35

BIG STORY

Equality Matters The Black Lives Matter movement has created a welcome momentum for change. But the issues raised are not always simple and straightforward.

By Maarten Hoffmann

O

ver the years we have become accustomed to the black lives matter slogan. Depressingly, it seems that little has changed. Lip service is paid, a cop or two is fired and then everything goes back to the normal status quo. Not this time it would appear.

Racism in all its forms is just plain wrong, must be punished at every turn and should be wiped out, along with sexism, ageism and all forms of discrimination and most others isms.

Easier said than done and certainly in the States it would appear that direct violent action is their only remaining option - and remember, this is a country that boasted a black President for eight years who, to be frank, did absolutely nothing to ease the situation. If a black President fails to change anything what hope have we got with the current tango’d moron that sits in the oval office!

The problems in the US spread around the world like a virus and we now see leakage into the UK’s colonial past, with the destruction of statues, the renaming of streets and buildings and total carnage and violence on our streets.

Regarding the shameful killing of George Floyd, some consideration should be given to the police who have to deal with the appalling street violence in so many US cities. I lived in the States for six years and l saw it first hand, time and time again. Some of the cops are stone cold racists and should be routed out, fired and, in some cases, jailed but what they go through day in, day out is eye-opening, and many are just plain terrified every single day they start up the cruiser - as would l be.

which he was jailed, resulted in him ramming a loaded gun into the stomach of a pregnant women, having broken into her home, and threatening her if she did not tell him where her valuables were. George Floyd was 6’4” and built like a professional boxer. On the day he was arrested and murdered, his system was awash with Fentanyl, cannabis and methamphetamine, strong mind altering drugs. He also had heart disease, hypertension and sickle cell disease and, ironically, was positive for Covid-19.

Take George Floyd - a man represented by his friends and family as a gentle giant who would not hurt a fly. Well, one look at his arrest record changes that.

Nothing here lends itself to justifying his brutal and inhuman death but many cops are absolutely terrified every singe day. In 2018, 47 cops were gunned down whilst in the course of their duties with an average age of 37 years.

2007 - Aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon 2005 - Assault 2004 - Assault 2003 - Trespass 2002 - Giving false details to the police 2001 - Failure to identify 1998 - Theft with violence 1998 - Theft from person And so it goes on. The 2007 case, for

Then we had another shocking murder by a cop against Rayshard Brooks the following week, who was shot in the back three times whilst running from police. Murder for sure but why did he run? He ran to escape the warrants out for his arrest. In 2014, he was arrested for a ‘vehicle incident’; 2014, a violation for an offence with a gun; 2015, he fired his weapon but no action was

“Many cops are just plain terrified every single day they start up the cruiser - as would l be.”

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BIG STORY “It is my strong belief that the disproportionate crimes committed by black men in the US is NOT caused by their DNA but by the disproportionate number of deprived black families vs white families.” taken and his most recent arrest was whilst he was drunk or drugged and was passed out cold in his car in the middle of a drive-thru. When he had finished beating the living daylights out of the cops trying to cuff him, he stole a taser and whilst running turned and fired it at the cop.

Again, nothing here justifies his death and the cop should be done for murder but this claim of innocent poor black guys going about their lawful lives is a massive misrepresentation of the facts.

So, is this a problem with black men being violent criminals or is the entire system slanted against them? It’s important to note that black men commit nearly half of all murders in the States, which is astounding when you take into consideration the fact that they only make up 12.5% of the population.

Black men are disproportionately likely to commit homicide and to be the victims. In 2008 the offending rate for black men was seven times higher than for whites and the victimisation rate was six times higher.

As we found out, 93% of black victims were killed by black attackers and 84% of white victims were killed by whites.

Alternative statistics from the FBI are more up to date but include many crimes where the killer’s race is not re-

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corded. These numbers tell a similar story.

In 2013, the FBI has black criminals carrying out 38% of murders, compared to 31.1% for whites. The offender’s race was “unknown” in 29.1% of cases. What about violent crime more generally? FBI arrest rates are one way into this. Over the last three years of data – 2011 to 2013 – 38.5% of people arrested for murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault were black. Clearly, these figures are problematic. We’re talking about arrests not convictions, and high black arrest rates could be taken as evidence that the police are racist.

So why are black offenders – and young black men in particular – over-represented in America’s crime statistics? Judging from research, there is a wide spectrum of views on this, from unapologetic racism to militant refusal to blame the problem on anything but historic white racism.

Some criminologists think we could be simply confusing race for poverty or inequality: black people tend to offend more because they tend to be more disadvantaged, living in poorer urban areas with less access to public services. A study of violent crime in deprived neighbourhoods in Cleveland, Ohio, found that reductions in poverty led to reductions in the crime rate in

exactly the same way in predominantly black and white areas, suggesting poverty, not race, is the biggest factor.

And surely this is the deciding factor?

Then add in institutional racism and you have the heady mix that led to the recent murders.

Cops suspect black men of being more likely to be the villain, as demonstrated by this recollection by Professor John J. Dilulio from New York: "Once when I was unloading 100-pound flour bags at a downtown pizzeria where I worked, the cops came zooming up the sidewalk, got out of their cruiser, and pushed my pal and co-worker, Willie Brown, against the wall. They did not touch me. Willie, an illiterate black man then in his

forties, had done nothing. I protested, and the cops sped off as quickly as they had come: “Sorry, kid, we got a call that somebody was stealing.” But the only “somebody” they grabbed was the black man, and the only apology they issued was to the white boy” If you look at the US or the UK, much of the crime is committed by deprived, undereducated people. The ‘underclass’ who have little prospects for the future, are deprived of the opportunities we all take for granted and are destined for a hard life. Imagine how that feels when we all dash past in our shiny new cars, having enjoyed a £200 lunch, on our way to the gym and then the cocktail party that evening whilst planning a three week vacation in the Loire Valley! If l were them, l might well bang you over the head and nick your wallet!

It is my strong belief that the disproportionate crimes committed by black men in the US is NOT caused by their DNA but by the disproportionate number of deprived black families vs white families. The system is tilted against them and has been since they were dragged back to the continent in the bowels of slave

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“Given the equal opportunities, as Obama demonstrated, your colour would not dictate your position in life.” ships. It is poverty that must be addressed first. Given the equal opportunities, as Obama demonstrated, your colour would not dictate your position in life.

The UK is not that different. Thank goodness our cops don’t have guns and we are certainly a more advanced society than the US in this regard but a look at the Covid-19 rates across the population is fascinating.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that people from ethnic minority backgrounds are ‘disproportionately’ dying with coronavirus. A number of reviews, including by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Public Health England (PHE), have now concluded that this is the case.

Suggested reasons have included

existing health inequalities, housing conditions, public-facing occupations and structural racism. There were at least 3,876 deaths of black and minority ethnic (BAME) individuals in hospitals in England up to June 9th This means that, where ethnicity is known, BAME people represented 15.5% of all deaths to this point.

Some of the highest death and hospitalisation rates during the outbreak have been in London, where 40% of the population are from ethnic minority backgrounds (according to the 2011 census). But even when you adjust for where the coronavirus outbreak has hit hardest, the ONS, the think-tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and PHE, all conclude that people from ethnic minorities are being disproportionately impacted.

This is not because of their race, skin colour or origin, it is due to the fact that BAME citizens are far more likely to work in low paid, customer facing jobs. There are, of course, other factors. While there is no conclusive evidence that minority groups are more at risk from the disease, some are more likely to have certain underlying health conditions.

Black and other ethnic minority individuals make up a large share of jobs considered essential in tackling the virus, many of which are public-facing. One in five people working for the NHS in England, for example, is from an ethnic minority background, and these numbers are even higher when we look solely at doctors and nurses. Black people are more likely to be overweight than white people, while both Asian and black populations have been found to have a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease, according to the IFS. Both of these have been linked to higher coronavirus death rates.

It concludes that: • Black people are 1.9 times more likely to die compared to white people • Bangladeshis and Pakistanis are 1.8 times more likely to die • Indians are around 1.5 times more likely to die Analysis from PHE showed that once in hospital, people from BAME backgrounds were also more likely to require admission to an intensive care unit. Various factors can play into these health inequalities including socio-economic situation, access to health care and deprivation. It's worth noting that deprivation in general, regardless of ethnicity, appears to play a role.

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According to ONS, the death rate in the poorest communities in England and Wales is twice as high as the wealthiest.

Issues with self-isolation in larger households could also play a factor. Just under a third of Bangladeshi households are classified as overcrowded, as are 15% of black households, according to government statistics. Only 2% of white British households are classified as overcrowded.

Therefore, it seems obvious that one’s job plays a big role in the infection/crime rate and many jobs are dictated by the level of poverty endured during childhood. Jobs, income and living conditions are generally dictated by education, opportunity and parents background.

Although there is certainly racism rampant across vast swathes of the country, the inclination to believe that more crime is committed by black rather than white criminals is not because of their colour or DNA but due to their socio-economic background. We need to even out our society to ensure that those who have little receive more from those that have most. It surely cannot be right in 2020, that 0.6% of the worlds population owns 39.3% of the wealth whilst the bottom 95% only hold 28.4%. In the US, the top 20% own 77% of all the wealth in the entire country.

This is where the problem is coming from. It is not due to skin colour, it is due to massive inequality caused by historic bias.

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

Gatwick brings global trade opportunities closer

We’re more than just an airport 42

CHARITY NEWS

A BID for recovery Manor Royal BID launches a Covid-19 recovery plan

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Covid-19 Manor Royal Business District Recovery Plan has been published by the Manor Royal BID (Business Improvement District) outlining support for the area's recovery.

The plan will be used to organise the actions and decisions of the Manor Royal BID allowing it to feed in to the work of the town wide Crawley Economic Recovery Taskforce set up by Crawley Borough Council, of which the BID is a part.

From the short-term shock and initial response (Phase 1) through to the restart phase (Phase 2) and eventually, in the longer term, a planned return to growth (Phase 3), the Recovery Plan covers a range of objectives and actions to help Manor Royal recover from the worst economic downturn in a generation.

Trevor Williams, Chair of the Manor Royal BID, said; “With the devastating effect of Covid-19 on the economy, our plan responds to the challenges we are facing

and how the BID can ensure that Manor Royal Business District continues to be a place where businesses want to operate and invest. Our long term aspirations include, investment in transport infrastructure, renewable energy generation, better facilities, improved parking management, development of small workshop and Industrial units, an Innovation Hub and much more.”

Councillor Peter Smith, Cabinet member for Economic Development at CBC said: “I am delighted that Trevor Williams, Steve Sawyer and the Manor Royal BID have put a good recovery plan together so quickly and agreed to join our Town wide Crawley Economic Recovery Taskforce. Working together is the best way to help our residents and businesses to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic in a way that works for everyone and will deliver jobs and prosperity for our Town."

Councillor Bob Lanzer, Cabinet Member for Economy and Corporate Resources at West Sussex County Council, said, "It is great to see the

Manor Royal BID operating in such a forward-looking way by preparing a comprehensive recovery plan. This is an expression of confidence in the future, in our ability to work collectively to restore the Crawley economy and so benefit our residents and the wider West Sussex community". www.manorroyal.org See the Manor Royal BID Recovery Plan at: www.manorroyal.org/covid19

Manor Royal Business District provides the employment foundation for both Crawley and the wider Gatwick Diamond area. It is home to more than 500 businesses providing jobs for 30,000 people, 18,000 of whom commute to the area from outside the town. By itself, Manor Royal accounts for 40 per cent of Crawley's total employment and, according to the Ratings list, provides over 700 individual rateable business units.

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GLOBAL NETWORKING

Do you know where you are going?

As a professional networker and meeting convenor working in the travel and aviation sector, few people are more squarely in the Covid19 crosshairs than Jeremy Taylor.

Gatwick into a ghost town and sent travel bookings tumbling.

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ince 2018, Jeremy Taylor's business, The Company Connector has introduced dozens of large organisations to the people who matter most to them – stakeholders and potential partners.

Using London Gatwick airport as a hub, he has shaken more hands than he cares to remember and built countless networks, both for international trade delegations and for British exporters. But overnight the Covid crisis has halted all conferences, turned

Jeremy has therefore pivoted to create a new business – ViTex, the Virtual Trade Experience. With international conferences off the agenda for the foreseeable future, ViTex enables British exporters to connect virtually to trading partners overseas and helps foreign trade delegations make vital connections with UK businesses.

Utilising video communications and remote delivery, you will meet your prospective partners, clients, suppliers and collaborators to build the network you need to succeed in any market or any destination, promoting your products and services while establishing a commercial presence.

ViTex Sessions provide a place, online, for businesses to meet and to discuss trading opportunities as well as pro-

mote a region. The ViTex Team have access to over 30 destinations and are building this network so you can reach the markets you need.

At the moment, there are positive discussions with Argentina, Bulgaria, the Middle East and a number of cities in the USA. But where do you want to go to? Let Jeremy know & he will delve into his contact book & set up the best connections for you.

Each ViTex Session is no more than 2 hours and is hosted and facilitated to ensure all participants are engaged and generate real commercial collaborations. How does it work?

The Event starts with a 10-minute overview of each destination, delivered by experts in trade from that destination. Each participant is then paired with a likely business from the destination in a Breakout Room for 15 minutes, and then allocated to another room and so on, taking part in up to 5 meetings. We then reconvene and you agree your next steps - full contact information of all participants will be distributed after the Event.

Fees - £30 / €35 / $40. Delivered by www.TheTradeConnector.com Call us on 0 (+44) 78 31 14 80 64 connect@TheTradeConnector.com

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BUSINESS NEWS

New beginnings for

The HR Dept Woking and Guildford Martine Robins explains why it was time to upgrade her offices even in times of uncertainty

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aving set up The HR Dept Woking & Guildford nearly four years ago, providing outsourced HR support primarily to local SME businesses, I took the decision to move into a new office at Tanshire Park, Elstead.

Having expanded my business last year, the plan was to find an office that could support our continued growth.

We were really fortunate that Tanshire Park was recommended to us. It is an ideal location, with great amenities too.

We had enjoyed two weeks of being in our new office before the Government lockdown forced us to revert back to working from home. Despite this, we have been lucky to be able to work from home and still continue to support our clients during these challenging times.

However, we are really looking forward to getting back to our great office and getting to know the Tanshire Park community once again – socially distancing, of course.”

We see it as a step to getting back to some form of ‘normality’ in these challenging times. We also want to continue to support other local small businesses and find innovative ways of doing that to help them and the wider economy.”

The discussion has since turned to questioning the need for office space when it can be a huge expense for businesses and the COVID-19 pan-

demic has seen a need, where possible, for flexible working particularly working from home. I can appreciate that for some business owners this will be a burning question now but for us, it is more than just having an office.

office but ultimately, we look forward to welcoming clients and business partners to visit us again at our beautiful rural setting.”

We wanted to be part of a business community and have access to facilities that will enable us to hold seminars and undertake training in the same location.

While we have transitioned to more virtual options at this time and will continue to utilise them, we still want to be able to facilitate hosting events when it is safe to do so “Luckily, we had managed to notify everyone that we had moved to a new

For more information about The HR Dept Woking and Guildford, visit www.hrdept.co.uk/wokingandguildford, phone 01483 603001 or 07392 311318 or email martine.robins@hrdept. co.uk.

Elm House, Tanshire Park, Shackleford Road, Elstead, Surrey, GU8 6LB

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PEST CONTROL

The Mice will play Empty offices have become playgrounds for mice during the pandemic, says Cleankill Managing Director Paul Bates

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here are reports that some businesses don’t envisage employees returning to their offices to work until early 2021 due to the risk of contracting COVID 19 and the difficulties of putting social distancing measures in place.

This means there are many buildings that are being left empty, particularly in cities like London and Bristol, and offices are becoming ‘playgrounds’ for mice.

At the same time, these businesses or the premises owners will be looking at ways to reduce costs while their buildings are unoccupied. Pest control should not be one of them for several reasons. Alongside continuing or even increasing pest control visits, work outside to keep vegetation cut back and sites clean and tidy is extremely important stresses Cleankill Pest Control Managing Director, Paul Bates.

Paul explains: “Prevention is always better than cure. The cost of a pest control prevention contract with regular visits is quite minimal compared to other services business normally have to pay for such as utilities - and the consequences if you don’t have a contract can be serious.

“Riser cupboards and floor voids are motorways for mice and infestations can spread quickly. If there isn’t a contract in place and a large infestation takes hold the costs can be huge. This

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will include emergency treatments to get rid of the pests and then make sure they are kept under control. Other costs could include damage to infrastructure such as wiring and pipe work by rats and mice, goods having to be disposed of and an increased risk of fire from damaged electrical cables.

Other factors to consider include a delay in staff being able to resume working in the building while problems are being sorted out.”

It is also worth considering that your insurance may not pay out if you are found to have not had a pest control contract in place and this resulted in a fire or other damage.

Business owners should be aware that there is legislation in place that requires them to keep their buildings pest free. This includes The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 in the United Kingdom that creates a duty on local authorities to control mice and rats. The legislation grants powers to local authorities to compel landowners and/or occupiers to take action to keep land free from rats and mice.

Notice can be served requiring treatment and/or the carrying out of any

structural repairs or other works such as proofing buildings and removing accumulations that might provide harbourage/sustenance for rats and mice whether or not there is an existing infestation.

There is also the Environmental Protection Act 1990 that can result in

“It is worth considering that your insurance may not pay out if you are found to have not had a pest control contract in place and this resulted in a fire or other damage.” fines if there are inadequate measures to prevent access by pests.

Should Defra become aware that a local authority is failing to discharge its responsibilities it has certain default powers to initiate action.

BUSINESS NEWS

Midlife Magic Making the midlife a positive place to be – introducing the Midlife Hub

By Matilda Sjoberg, Membership & Marketing Executive at Brighton Chamber The Midlife Hub is a brand new, Brighton based social enterprise that aims to inspire people to take an action-based approach to their midlife. New to Brighton Chamber, I caught up with co-founders, Rosi Viljoen and Deb Pasley to find out more about their exciting new venture.

Tell us a bit about The Midlife Hub – what is it and who’s it for?

We want to help people make a midlife plan, and we’ve brought together businesses and events that will help them make that plan a reality. On our website, (www.themidlifehub.com) people can find midlife related services and events; anything from yoga teachers and nutritionists, to career coaches and talking therapists, to fitness instructors and financial advisors. All the businesses listed have passed our six-point quality check to ensure they are trusted and reliable.

Everyone is welcome, basically anyone who feels like they need inspiration or support in their midlife. Our doors are open.

What was the inspiration behind creating The Midlife Hub? We wanted to create something that we felt was missing when we reached our own midlives, because we felt we didn’t get the support we needed. Like many people, we only realised how the changes that midlife bring were affecting us once we were experiencing our own midlife crises.

We’d met for a coffee (which turned into a beer) and as we started talking and sharing our stories, we realised

we both had a passion to help other people have a better experience than us.

How have you found starting a business at this time, during a global pandemic?

Many of the people we’ve talked to have said despite the lockdown turning much of their life sideways, one silver lining is that they found it has given them more time to stop and reflect, to think about their needs, and how they want to spend their time in future. Because so much of what we champion is about emotional and physical wellbeing, we’ve found that people have been open to the services we’re providing during this time.

What’s been the most difficult aspect of launching The Midlife Hub? I think one of our biggest challenges to start with was to engage people in our idea when it was just an ‘idea'.

Luckily we had lots of ‘early adopters’ who really believed in our concept and were happy to join us. They really gave us the encouragement to forge ahead with our mission.

How’s it going so far?

We’ve had really positive responses from everyone so far. The midlife businesses we are working with (many of whom are small businesses or sole traders) are happy to be associated with other like-minded people and to be reaching a wider audience through our site and marketing platforms.

Visitors to the website have told us they love the fact that they can access a range of information and support across different aspects of midlife, all in one place.

Deb Pasley

Rosi Viljoen

What’s your ultimate goal?

There’s usually a negative association with reaching your midlife. We want to inspire people in their 30’s+ to plan ahead, and for people in their 40s and 50s to really make their midlife an exciting adventure.

Rosi and Deb are on a mission to reinvent the midlife. If you are, or know of a midlife business that would like to get involved, get in touch on hello@ themidlifehub.com.

To learn more about The Midlife Hub and the resources available, visit themidlifehub.com

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Great relationships Great conversations Great futures

We are an award-winning firm of Chartered Accountants, Chartered Tax Advisers, Business Consultants and Independent Financial Advisers with a reputation for innovation and excellence.

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.

www.carpenterbox.com

Now, for tomorrow 48

BUSINESS GROWTH

NatWest Accelerator Entrepreneur of the Month – July 2020 Katie Knapton of Physio Fast Online my passion for people to be able to access accurate and evidence- based advice. On discussing it with a patient (who had run a successful business and had investor contacts) he got it and before I knew it, I was pitching to investors for an early fund raise to get going.

The vision for PFO was to make quality physiotherapy advice, education and management accessible via a video appointment. Highlights have been setting a website up and the service being up and working!! Also how many people think it is a good idea validation is essential!

I

decided at the early age of 13 years old that I wanted to be a Physio slightly sad but happily a decision I have never regretted. My alternative of a ballerina was squashed fairly early on by a lack of ability and talent!

I trained at Kings College Hospital and then worked at Guys rotating around the different specialities. People often assume we just do sports injuries, but physios are also involved in areas like neurology, respiratory, care of the elderly and cardiothoracic care.

I then travelled to Australia and enjoyed working in Brisbane mainly treating patients in a private hydrotherapy pool.

On returning I worked at St Georges in London where I specialised in the musculoskeletal area where I stayed for 9 years eventually becoming an advanced practitioner in Orthopaedic clinics and being involved in training physio staff and students. After leaving London I set up my own private practice in Sussex.

PhysioFast Online (PFO) came out of

The main difficulties we have faced at that pre-Covid time is that there was a barrier to the thought of a physio consultation via a video having any sort of benefit or validity. Also, my knowledge of the business world was limited so this part has been a very steep learning curve.

Initially the plan was to offer the service to the NHS and direct to customers, but the barriers were a lot higher and harder than we initially thought.

So, the focus had to change towards a more B2B model.

This meant a change in mindset and to begin the slow but steady networking to gather contacts to enter the business world. We are still not quite there but things are looking more positive.

on learning about leadership requirements and found individual coaching sessions run as part of the accelerator programme really useful to keep sight of the bigger picture!! Simon Sinek and his 'Start with Why' was great, plus trying to understand emotional intelligence and Daniel Goleman’s insightful book was useful. I also attended a leadership course which was really beneficial.

My advice for any budding entrepreneurs is that you need passion and drive and to genuinely believe in what you are doing, but also be realistic and grounded - a tricky mix!!!. Often things will not go as you plan but picking yourself up and learning adds to the whole “journey”.

I have learnt loads and met some amazing fellow entrepreneurs and certainly would never regret giving it a good go.

I am pushing myself to do things that I would have thought were beyond my capabilities and skill set.

www.physiofastonline.co.uk Email: katiek@physiofitonline.co.uk

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

To find out more about the Accelerator hub, email BrightonAccelerator@natwest.com

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The Evolving World of

Employee Benefits

by Nick Hale, Founder and UK Director of Engage Health Group

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ince COVID-19 hit our shores many UK businesses have had their benefits strategies tested, with HR leaders now starting to reflect upon how well they fared when their employees needed more support than ever before. Nobody could have predicted what we have all experienced, however some businesses, by virtue of investing in their people over the years, have been on the front foot and performed particularly well during these tough circumstances.

In the past, employers have been sold various Employee Benefits with the narrative solely focused around protection, highlighting scary tales of what it could mean if the worst happened.

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It’s a shame really, and a huge opportunity missed that those advising businesses have not instead, adapted their patter to promote wellbeing and focus on areas where employees can extract regular and meaningful value.

their own capacity. It is now reported that NHS waiting lists could reach 10 million for non-urgent procedures, so whilst private treatment hasn’t been available of late, it’s a market that is expected to grow dramatically.

Of course, the protection element shouldn’t be discounted, but in a world where Employee Benefits and their incumbent tertiary services are developing at rapid pace, a more holistic approach to benefits consultancy should be sought.

Let’s start firstly by considering how various Employee Benefits were ranked by Employer and Employee alike, pre-COVID-19 (see bottom of page).

Health Cash Plans were also largely under-utilised as appointments for dental, optical and physiotherapy (which make up the lion’s share of claims) couldn’t take place. In terms of employee popularity, Cash Plans have overtaken traditional medical insurance because cover for everyday healthcare costs inspires a higher perceived value. It is believed that these claims will now catch up as employees are able to access treatment.

Some of the most highly rated benefits from this research, such as Private Medical Insurance, have been rendered almost inaccessible over the last few months as the NHS, rightly, commandeered private settings in preparation for a potential rise in the COVID-19 infection rate. Thankfully, the swathe of patients needing hospitalisation didn’t materialise and our NHS coped fantastically well within

The real “stars of the show” have come from the in the form of Wellbeing Services, which historically rank low in employer/employee perception, but deliver brilliantly.

Ironically, these are often the most inexpensive benefits to provide and frequently come free as part of existing products, but are unknown to the employers or poorly communicated.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS Emerging Employee Benefits

Telemedicine/Virtual GP A few years ago, there was a suggestion that GPs could work six days a week in order to better serve patients and reduce waiting times. In truth, up to 70% of GP consultations do not require any physical examination, and therefore the rise of Telemedicine (via smart devices/apps) is a great initiative. If the 70% were all to access remote services instead, it would generate significant capacity for the remaining 30% who required more face-to-face time.

What’s more, there is huge benefit to employee and employer alike when this is offered through work: • Employees can choose a time which suits them to speak with a GP, meaning less down-time and faster triage/diagnosis.

• Employees can select a GP based on specialism and gender, with photos of ailments able to be taken and uploaded in advance of the call.

• Prescriptions can be approved on the call and delivered directly to home addresses.

• Technology is evolving to incorporate new initiatives, such skin cancer detection as part of the app/phone camera.

Employee Assistance Programmes Shortened to EAP, the aim of an Employee Assistance Programme is to provide confidential, independent, impartial and unbiased guidance to employees who could be suffering in a range of lifestyle areas.

• Bullying and harassment • Stress • Identity & LGBTQ • Domestic abuse • Bereavement Behavioural Economics/Gamification More and more benefit providers/insurers are adopting behavioural economics into their products. This acknowledgment that traditional insurance products only deliver value when the worst happens and don’t engage the workforce, has encouraged new entrants who want to interact with employees throughout the policy year.

One example is Yulife, a provider that offers Group Life, Income Protection and Critical Illness plans, but with significant focus on rewarding healthy behaviour. Employees who have access to products like this have continued to engage with them during lockdown, and have remain connected with their employee benefits even if furloughed.

There is no one-size-fits-all when developing a company employee benefit strategy, but whatever is decided upon, communication is absolutely paramount. The benefits that have been most heavily utilised during the last three months are actually the benefits which are deemed as secondary considerations at point of sale/implementation.

Some of the key areas that employees utilise an EAP are as follows:

Engage Health Group is an independent, whole of market Employee Benefits Consultancy offering design, broking, implementation and management services, completely free of charge to businesses with between 3 – 3000 employees, worldwide. Visit us at engagehealthgroup.co.uk

• Mental Health • Eldercare • Addiction • Terminal illness • Debt and financial problems

Tel: 01273 974419 Mob: 07834 952516 Skype: Engage Health Group nick.hale@engagehealthgroup.co.uk www.engagehealthgroup.co.uk

With a 24/7 helpline and counselling sessions included, employers can feel assured that they are not only satisfying their Health & Safely obligations, but also supporting employees who might otherwise not have a sounding board or advice outlet available to them.

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Future Festival Andrew Comben, Chief Executive of Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival, shares his vision for the future of arts and culture in Brighton.

By Lauren Psyk From our own audience surveys and national survey data it’s clear that people will be very keen to attend live events again. The question is when!

We’re collaborating with the government and with organisations across Brighton to determine the conditions under which it will be safe and viable to reopen venues. A whole host of protocols are being considered including cleaning standards, capacity limits and temperature testing.

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n homes across Brighton fresh bread had been baked, coffee had been percolated and croissants warmed in readiness for the inaugural ‘virtual’ Brighton Chamber breakfast, where 50 Chamber members came together online.

And what better way to kick off the new-style breakfast than with Andrew Comben, Chief Executive of Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival as the guest speaker. Andrew talked us through both the challenges and opportunities presented by the Covid-19 crisis, and shared his vision for the future of arts and culture in Brighton in a post-pandemic world.

We caught up with Andrew after his talk so he could elaborate on some of the points he raised and share them for anyone who couldn’t be there on the day.

Do you envisage a blend of online and live events in future and have you any thoughts yet on how this might work?

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We have learned a lot over the last few months - we’ve gone beyond simply streaming, offering Brighton Festival at Home and providing online music tuition to more than 3,000 students.

We feel there has been a real shift towards making events participatory and engaging.

We’re also embarking on some really exciting work as a 5G testbed so whilst we’ll never want to let go of the importance of the live experience, delivering more online that brings both the live and the online experience together is something we definitely want to develop.

How might Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival work to stimulate consumer confidence in returning to live events?

We’re keen to restart as soon as we can, as Brighton Dome and the whole cultural sector contributes a huge amount to the local economy, stimulating tourism and spending in the city.

CULTURE Online isn’t a solution to everything, with high numbers of people still without access to the internet, but we want to build on everything we’ve learned this year and continue to widen access to as many people as possible.

What we missed - the 2020 programme

How is Brighton unique in its resilience, preparedness and ability to innovate?

Brighton has been a well-networked city for a long time, but its spirit of openness and partnership feels more important now than ever.

There’s a really impressive amount of practical collaboration going on right now in the cultural and creative industries sector, and between businesses, charities and the voluntary sector.

With everyone fighting to survive it would be understandable if people didn’t see working together as a priority, but actually the reverse is true.

I am sure this will be what sees us through, but I am also sure we have to use this moment not just to innovate, but to design solutions that are more inclusive and more sustainable in the future.”

We’re also looking at ways we can continue to make a positive contribution to Brighton’s culture and the economy even while our venue is closed.

In what ways have online events enabled better inclusivity for communities in Brighton and how will you look to preserve this in future?

We helped keep the spirit of the Children’s Parade alive this year by encouraging families to have their own mini parades at home. This meant children and families across the region were able to participate in ways they wouldn’t otherwise have been able to, particularly those with special educational needs.

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GATWICK NEWS

Ramping up

Operations O

perating hours will increase to 06:00-22:00 and North Terminal operations will resume with easyJet, Wizz Air, Ryanair, Belavia, Vueling and Blue Island flights. Whilst we have remained open throughout the COVID-19 epidemic – for repatriation flights and for the transportation of key medical supplies – we have hugely scaled back operations, including consolidating into our South Terminal.

This is a positive first step in helping our sector to recover. The recovery will be slow, and we continue to push the government to help our industry, not least through the replacement of the 14-day quarantine system with more evidence-based, country-by-country measures that allow for travel when safe to do so.

The health of our staff and passengers remains our top priority. As such, key measures at the airport will include:

• Passengers will be required to wear a face covering throughout the airport with Gatwick staff mandated to wear face coverings in passenger-facing areas of the terminals. Face mask vending machines will also be made available at the airport.

• Encouraging good hand hygiene with ample, well signposted hand washing facilities and numerous hand sanitising stations - including touch-free models - throughout

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• Frequent, enhanced deep cleaning of common-use surfaces throughout the airport with dedicated teams visible to respond to any passenger concerns on cleanliness • Social distancing procedures in place at check in, security, gate rooms, seating in departure halls and in restaurants, bars and shops • Installation of Perspex screens throughout the terminals, including check in desks, and gate rooms.

As we ramp up operations, sustainability will continue to be a key part of our strategy. We have just published our latest Decade of Change report on how we are doing on a range of sustainability measures.

In 2019 we continued to deliver in all areas while increasing our focus on local economic and community initiatives, further improving our recycling rate, and collaborating with industry partners on the roadmap to decarbonise UK aviation.

We have committed publicly to become a net zero airport well before 2050, and to play our part in UK aviation getting there too. As we evolve our next Decade of Change plan, we’ll seek to build on what we have already achieved.

We know the importance of a strong Gatwick to the region and to the country as a whole. That is why we are do-

ing everything we can to get our sector moving and help fuel the economic recovery. I hope you will do all you can to help support our endeavours over the coming weeks, but also through the expected turbulent years ahead.

We have been clear on what is needed from government, which includes:

1. Make borders fair: Develop risk-based quarantine rules and Foreign Office advice on a country-by-country basis, and build ‘air bridges’ between countries 2. Unlock capacity: Allow airlines to take over vacant slots through a resumption of ‘use it or lose it’ slot allocation rules

3. Protect jobs: Extend the furlough scheme to April 2021, protecting thousands of jobs in airports and airlines

4. Free up communities: Allow airports the same business rate exemptions as other businesses, freeing up local authorities from rate collection

5. Streamline regulation: Provide a common-sense approach to regulation and fees for the Civil Aviation Authority, air traffic control, and others.

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Sharm

El Sheikh

Following on from my tour of the best dive sites in the world, visited during my years as a Master Scuba Instructor and dive resort developer, l thought we would come a little closer to home with the best dive destination within five hours flight from the UK.

By Maarten Hoffmann

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TRAVEL

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arrived in Sharm el Sheikh in 1992, when Sharm was fairly undeveloped as a dive destination as the Egyptians hadn’t yet caught onto the enormous tourist income that can be generated from diving. The Israelis, who held the Sinai desert until 1982 after the 6-day war, were not so slow and had started development before they were forced to give it back. Once Egypt had the area back, they were a tad

confused by the small buildings with water tanks and compressors and it took a German friend of mine, Ralph Schmidt to arrive and explain what was going on. Ralph convinced them to let him have a crack at opening dive tourism and launched Sinai Divers the next year and, as they say, the rest is history.

Sharm rapidly became one of the premier dive sites in the world and upon my arrival in 1992, there

were less than 700 tourist beds available - when l left five years later there were over 43,000.

Sharm is an incredible location, situated at the very tip of the Sinai Peninsular with the Red Sea lapping its shores. The Red Sea is famous amongst divers for its remarkable array of marine life and, after the Sea of Cortez (featured last month) is the second finest diving sea on the

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GREY WHALE

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planet. Permanent sunshine, crystal clear water, over 200 different types of hard and soft corals, walls, dramatic drop off’s and hundreds of species of fish all go to make this a superb dive and holiday destination.

expert and everything in between. To the north, you have the Straits of Tiran where you find three islands named after famous 19th century British cartographers - Jackson, Gordon, Thomas and Woodhouse.

The region first came to fame when Jacques Cousteau used it as the location for Conshelf ll in 1962, an exciting project to see if it were possible for humans to actually live underwater. He developed a revolutionary underwater habitat in which five divers lived for a month and proved the point. Amazingly, remnants of the site are still there and, ironically, it has become a dive site.

Reserved really for advanced divers, here you find Hammerhead Sharks, huge rays, turtles, stunning schools of fish, massive hump head Parrot fish and the elusive Tiger Shark. I could bore you for hours about the dives done here but suffice to say, it is stunning. No one is allowed onto the islands themselves as they were recently sold to Saudi Arabia and in my day, they tended to shoot at you if you stepped foot on the islands and that always tends to mess up your day!

From the airport, it is a short drive through one of the most beautiful deserts in the world to Naama Bay, the centre of the town and my home for many years. From here, divers have easy access to hundreds of stunning dive sites, from beginner to

Along the coast during the hour boat trip, you pass countless dive sites all framed by the backdrop of the rolling sands of the Sinai Desert and, be there at

A FRIENDLY WHALE SHARK

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sunset, and you will see one of the most magical views of your entire life.

There are too many dives sites to mention but l will feature two of the best in the world - the drop off at Shark Reef and wreck diving on the SS Thistlegorm.

Shark Reef is literally the very tip of the Sinai and sits within the Ras Mohamed Nature Reserve, a desert location awash with wildlife but it is underwater that the action really gets going. The dive is a 1,000 metre wall that plunges into the depths and with the entire Red Sea laid out before you, there are mass upwellings of currents that drive nutrients up from the sea floor and, in turn, attract some of the largest schools of fish l have ever seen. The wall itself is also teeming with fish with every nook and cranny packed with life but it is the blue that really turns me on.

Put the wall behind you and swim out into the blue with 1,000 metres of sea water beneath you and wow the largest school of Snapper l have ever seen, surely numbering into the thousands, and in l go. To get lost in a school of large fish like this is truly memorable until they suddenly part and you realise they are running away from something - something big. And indeed, when this happened to me it was indeed a

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BROTHER ISLANDS

NAAMA BAY

A SQUADRON OF MANTA RAYS

5m Oceanic White Tip shark shot in, in an attempt to grab a Snapper and very nearly got me. I am not sure who was most surprised - l would vote for me and once l changed my wetsuit, we carried on!

You just don’t know where to look as there is so much going on in every direction, To my left, two Leatherback turtles, straight ahead a massive school of Blue Tang, behind me the wall with giant Moray Eels poking out and to the right, a 15 mt Whale Shark cruises in to see what all the fuss is about. Then a pod of the resident Risso Dolphins sweep in with a few black tips sharks off in the distance - and it is still only 11am!!!! I implore you to dive Shark Reef before you die.

The second of my favourite dives is the wreck of the SS Thistlegorm, an armed British merchant ship that was sunk in 1941 by 2.5 tonnes of high explosives dropped by two German Heinkel He 111 aircraft. The ship was packed to the gunnels with military equipment destined for the British Army’s Western Desert Force - it never arrived.

Discovered by Cousteau in 1956, it was untouched since its demise and packed with BSA Motorcycles, crates of Bren guns, thousands of cases of ammo and shells, army trucks, Lee Enfield rifles, aircraft parts and two LMS Stanier Class steam locomotives.

Sitting at only 30m, it is one of the finest wreck dives in the world. Removal of anything is strictly prohibited and this was a lesson l learnt the hard way. On one dive with fellow Instructors, whilst sea trialling a new live-aboard dive boat we commissioned built in the Suez, we decided that a few of these items would look great mounted outside our dive club, so we set about bringing up two motorcycles and a crate of rifles, which resulted in two nights in jail for gun running. Seriously, they arrested us for gun running as we had brought up the rifles - rifles l might add that were coral encrusted and would never fire again but it was the only charge they could think of. All charges were dropped when a few friends turned up with ten cartons of Marlboro cigarettes.

ST CATHERINE'S MONASTERY

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THE WRECK OF THE SS THISTLEGORM

LA PAZ

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TRAVEL

Dropping down from the boat brings the wreck slowly into view and with anti-aircraft guns still positioned for firing and the holds open, revealing row upon row of weapons and motorbikes, it is a sight you will never forget. Then it is an hour in and out of holds, sitting in the driving seat of army trucks and exploring the weird find of two steam locomotives blown clear and laying next to the hull. All the while, you are studied by schools of Tuna, Barracuda and Snapper with Moray Eels, Lionfish, and Scorpion fish weaving around the wreck - no wonder The Times noted this as one of the top three wreck dives in the world. Care should be taken though as there are still thousands of rounds of live ammo and shells littering the site. I must have done over 100 dives on this site and there is always something new to see.

In addition to the shore based dive sites, there is of course the rest of the Red Sea to explore and this is best done by liveaboard dive boat. One of the best is to the Brother Islands, around 200km south of Sharm and noted for the lighthouse on Little Brother, built by the British in 1883. The islands are really only for experienced divers due to their isolated position, strong currents and large pelagics.

Sadly the islands are currently closed to divers due to a few attacks by Oceanic White Tips, which are very large and aggressive sharks but not normally any trouble for divers unless, as in this case, a few blithering idiots think it’s a good idea to try and shark feed, therefore teaching the sharks to come in close and get a free snack - of course, they don’t know where the snack ends and the diver's arm starts..

Stunning diving and voted by CNN as one of the top ten dive destinations in the world and forget the sharks you have more chance of being hit by lightening - twice. In a red hat. On a Tuesday There is so much more aside from diving, such as the desert. I spent

several weeks in the desert with a nomadic Bedouin tribe who were the family of a good friend and l can honestly say that is was one of the most remarkable and eye-opening periods of my life.

Then there are wadis, oasis and St Catherine's Monastery. In the middle of absolutely nowhere, and dating back to AD330, this is the oldest continuously inhabited Christian Monastery in the world and is the site where God appeared to Moses in the Burning Bush.

Never destroyed during its long history, it is original, unique and a site of holy pilgrimage for many.

I have a long love affair with the Sinai, with the Red Sea and, of course, the diving and as this world-class location is only 5 hours by direct flight from the UK, it is almost in our back garden.

Unfortunately, since the 2015 explosion that downed a Russian passenger plane, direct flights have been suspended as the bomb was, allegedly, placed on board at Sharm airport but you can still get there via Cairo. The upside of fewer divers is that the corals are healthier. All the fish that were scared away by flocks of tourists have returned, there are cheaper hotel rates and no crowds.

Go, you will never ever regret it.

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MOTORING

McLaren marks Le Mans Motoring news by Maarten Hoffmann

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cLaren Automotive is celebrating one of McLaren’s greatest motorsport achievements – victory on its first attempt in the 24 Hours of Le Mans – with a special edition 720S coupé.

Just 16 of this Le Mans edition will be available in Europe, from a total of 50 worldwide. I spent a week with the 720S last year and it immediately gained a place as one of the my top 5 favourite cars of all time.

The 720S Le Mans has been created to mark 25 years since McLaren F1 GTR #59 won the world-famous endurance race. Driven by JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya, the car took the chequered flag on June 18th, 1995.

Three other McLaren F1 GTRs finished in the top five, with victory at Le Mans also ensuring McLaren a place in

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motorsport history as winners of the French 24-hour classic, the Formula 1 World Championship and the Indianapolis 500.

Taking the 720S supercar to a new level of exclusivity, each of the Le Mans edition cars carries a dedication plate featuring a ‘McLaren 25 Anniversary Le Mans’ logo. The VIN of each car will begin with 298, in recognition of the number of laps completed by the race-winning F1 GTR – one more than its closest rival.

The fully-functional roof scoop channels air to provide additional cooling for the powertrain and helps to drive heat evacuation – ideal for the additional demands of circuit driving. The carbon fibre louvred front fenders reduce aerodynamic lift generated by the rotation of the front wheels, as well as reducing vehicle weight.

720S Le Mans owners will be able to experience the astonishing performance delivered by the mid-mounted, 720PS M840T 4.0-litre McLaren engine. The twin-turbocharged V8 propels the car from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 2.9 seconds, 0-200 km/h (0124 mph) in 7.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 341 km/h (212 mph).

A carbon fibre Monocage II central structure and Proactive Chassis Control II suspension system help to ensure that the 720S is the lightest car in its class, with an unparalleled breadth of dynamic ability.

The McLaren 720S Le Mans is available to purchase now, from £254,500, with first deliveries in September. Prospective owners should contact their nearest McLaren retailer for more information or to place an order.

Concours of Elegance

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he Concours of Elegance will go ahead in the spectacular gardens of Hampton Court Palace this September. The rare car show will grace the palace gardens in late Summer, following their re-opening this week. The Concours of Elegance 2020 – September 4th/6th – will be the first major international concours d’elegance event since Amelia Island in March Liz Young, Head of Events for Historic Royal Palaces said ‘We are thrilled to be re-opening our gardens this week, and very excited that this means the Concours of Elegance can go ahead in September. It is always a brilliant event, with the palace gardens making a spectacular backdrop for the cars on

show. We look forward to working with the event organisers to ensure that all of our guests can have a safe and enjoyable visit.’

The Concours of Elegance takes place within the 60-acre Fountain Gardens of the palace, measuring ¾ of a mile in length. From its very inception, the event has sought to avoid feeling crowded, allowing the cars the space they deserve.

James Brooks-Ward, Thorough Events CEO, said: “Clearly, above anything else, we want to ensure that we’re hosting our event responsibly.

As September nears, we’ve become confident that all the pent-up demand we’ve seen from visitors, commercial

Established in 2012, the inaugural Concours of Elegance was held within Windsor Castle to mark the diamond jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen’s reign. Organised by Thorough Events, the first Concours of Elegance set a new global benchmark for a classic car concours; winning prestigious awards in the process; unheard of for a ‘start-up’ event in its first year.

The second Concours of Elegance was held in 2013 to equal fanfare at the historic Royal Palace of St James in London, with the widely acclaimed third Concours set in the stunning grounds of Hampton Court

partners, car clubs and car owners can be satisfied, with the approval of our friends at Historic Royal Palaces.

We’re incredibly grateful for their support, and that of our presenting partner A. Lange & Söhne, in allowing us to develop our event into something we feel isn’t just safer than ever, but more exciting than ever too.”

Tickets to the Concours of Elegance are available to buy now, and should government guidance change to negate the running of the event, all tickets will be refunded or deferred to 2021.

The limited number of tickets can be bought from: www.concoursofelegance.co.uk/tickets

Palace in September 2014, before heading to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in 2015.

Only cars of the highest calibre are invited to the Concours of Elegance, from all over the world, painstakingly selected by the Concours Steering Committee; a respected team of authoritative historic car experts.

A key objective of the annual Concours of Elegance is to raise significant sums for charity. www.concoursofelegance.co.uk

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MOTORING

'The most famous car in the world' Now, 55 years after the last new DB5 rolled elegantly off the production line at Aston Martin’s global manufacturing base in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, work is once again under way there on a strictly limited number of new DB5 models.

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ubbed ‘the most famous car in the world’ and renowned as being among the most desirable and sought-after classic Aston Martin models, the DB5 has become a byword for timeless style and sports car desirability.

Fewer than 900 saloon examples were built by the brand between 1963 and 1965, with by far the most famous of the original owners being the world’s best-known secret agent – James Bond – who first drove the car that is today inextricably linked with him in the 1964 film, Goldfinger.

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Created in association with the producers of the James Bond films, EON Productions, and featuring a broad suite of working gadgets first seen on screen in the 1964 film, the Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger Continuation cars are history in the making.

The latest in Aston Martin’s phenomenally successful Continuation car programme which began in 2017 with the DB4 GT Continuation the new DB5 models represent among the most valuable new cars yet brought to market by the British luxury brand.

Each DB5 Goldfinger continuation car is priced at £2.75m, plus taxes.

• Rear smoke screen delivery system • Rear simulated oil slick delivery system • Revolving number plates front and rear (triple plates) • Simulated twin front machine guns • Bullet resistant rear shield • Battering rams front and rear • Simulated tyre slasher • Removable passenger seat roof panel (optional equipment) • Simulated radar screen tracker map • Telephone in driver’s door • Gear knob actuator button • Armrest and centre console-mounted switchgear • Under-seat hidden weapons/storage tray • Remote control for gadget activation

MOTORING

The Bulli Concept T

he new VW e-BULLI is a crossover of high-end classic and high-tech electric vehicle. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles unveils the e-BULLI as a concept vehicle – a 1966 classic with 2020 electric drive.

Equipped with the drive system components of the latest Volkswagen electric vehicles, the concept vehicle is based on a T1 Samba Bus produced in 1966 and comprehensively restored.

Volkswagen Transporter marks the world’s longest production run with the 70th anniversary The Transporter – also known as Bulli, Kombi, VW bus or Microbus – first rolled off the Wolfsburg production line on March 8th 1950, and since then 13 million have been sold. The record-breaking Volkswagen Transporter has celebrated its 70th birthday, making it the world’s longest production run for a commercial vehicle.

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Roadster Restore O

ne of Britain’s leading E-type restoration specialists, E-Type UK, has recently completed a complete period restoration on a glorious 1972 Series 3 V12 Roadster.

Residing with a private owner in Middlesex, South East England, this vehicle was once owned by Liverpool and England Legend, Kevin Keegan OBE. Finished in period with a factory correct Jaguar Willow Green exterior and matching biscuit leather interior and

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hood, the car retained the same charm as when it rolled off the production line in 1972.

The vehicle’s current owner approached E-Type UK to restore the vehicle to its former glory after suffering an unfortunate accident, which left the 70s classic battered and bruised.

This once loved E-Type arrived at E-Type UK’s Kent-based facility for bodywork crash repair and a full respray in its original colour.

Finance offer based on a Mercedes-Benz Agility agreement. Vehicle condition, excess mileage and othcharges may be payable. 2. Payable if you exercise the option to purchase the car. 3. Includes optional urchase payment, purchase activation fee and retailer deposit contribution (where applicable). *Orders/ edit approvals on selected E-Class Saloon models between 1 July and 30 September 2019, registered by 1 December excluding Mercedes-AMG models. Guarantees may be required. Offer cannot be used in onjunction with any other offer. Some combinations of features/options may not be available. Subject to vailability. Over 18s only. Finance is subject to status and provided by Mercedes-Benz Finance, MK15 BA. Sandown Group is a credit broker and not a lender. Sandown Group is authorised and regulated by he Financial Conduct Authority in respect of regulated consumer credit activity. All New and Approved sed cars sold by any Sandown Mercedes-Benz Retailer is subject to a purchase fee of £129 inc VAT. Prices orrect at time of going to press 07/19. Images for illustrative purposes.ww

The Sandown Group Here at Sandown, our customers are our main priority. We have over 35 years experience in the Mercedes-Benz brand, so we’re proud to call ourselves experts in the field.

Our dedicated team are here to assist with your every need. Whether you’re looking for your next new model, or need a little help maintaining your current pride and joy, we are committed to providing you with the best service possible. We are just as passionate about your vehicle as you are, so when you choose to visit a Sandown retailer, you can rest assured that your experience will be nothing short of first-class.

We have seven retailers throughout Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire located in Basingstoke, Dorchester, Farnborough, Guildford, Hindhead, Salisbury and Poole, each equipped with a friendly and knowledgeable team. So if you’re in need of a service, are searching for your latest vehicle upgrade, or are on the hunt for a fleet of business cars, we’re the people to visit.

We look forward to welcoming you with a smile at your local Sandown Mercedes-Benz retailer soon!

0330 1780038 Mercedes-Benz of Basingstoke Mercedes-Benz of Dorchester Mercedes-Benz of Farnborough Mercedes-Benz of Guildford

www.sandown-group.co.uk Mercedes-Benz of Hindhead Mercedes-Benz of Poole Mercedes-Benz of Salisbury

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