Platinum Business Magazine Issue 12

The widest-read business publication in the South East

PLATINUM

ISSUE 12 . 2015

PLATINUM IN THE DIAMOND

ALL THE LAUNCH NEWS

A BOYS DAY OUT SKERRITTS GO RACING

EASTERN PROMISE

PLATINUM Plus: Business Funding Guide International Trade Legal Issues Accountancy Wealth Management Business Travel Chamber News Business Style Editorial Opinion Networking Motoring

TIPS ON TRADING IN ASIA FROM THE ROFFEY PARK INSTITUTE THE BIG STORY

HILLARY CLINTON

THE WOMAN WHO WOULD BE KING

READ ALL PAST ISSUES AT WWW.PLATINUMBUSINESSMAGAZINE.COM

For all your family and personal law needs • Divorce & Family • Elderly & Vulnerable people • Employment & Work • House & Property • Tax planning & Insolvency • Personal Injury • Wills & Estates Our comprehensive, professional and affordable services have been developed to help you plan, protect and achieve the best outcomes for you and your family.

For more information on how our lawyers can help you and your family, please email enquiries@dmhstallard.com.

Brighton 01273 329833 | Gatwick 01293 605000 | London 020 7822 1500 Guildford 01483 302345 | Farnham 01252 723488 enquiries@dmhstallard.co.uk www.dmhstallard.com

WELCOME

ISSUE 12. 2015

We are delighted to bring you a packed issue with news aplenty.

We profile Hillary Clinton, the woman who could one day rule the free world and take a view of her chances of the top office. The Platinum Club launched in the

28

Gatwick Diamond and had a fantastic turnout of the great and good of the business world, and we went to play polo. Well, not the normal polo that you might be thinking about. Try it on a Penny Farthing!

NatWest offer advice on trade missions to boost SME exporting, and, with a look to the future of UKPLC now that we have a new government, Skerritts ask if we

PLATINUM IN THE DIAMOND

All the news and images of the launch of the Platinum Club, Gatwick. See page 28.

should be wary, DMH Stallard ask if the UK is a good place to trade if your business depends on intellectual property and Kreston Reeves discuss what should

MOTORING

be driving your business forward over the next five

Has Maarten finally run

years.

out of cars to review?

See page 76.

When Maarten announced he intended to let loose in a new column entitled Anger Management, we didn’t foresee having to call the legal team in to advise on the copy. Since renamed ‘Utterly Failed Anger Management’, don’t say we didn’t warn you that we would be a publication with a proud, independent voice.

Surrey is calling for a first-class, highly-respected

76

business publication, and, as we aim to please, we will be giving them one. PBM launches the all-new Surrey Edition next month, kicking off with a prestigious

ROFFEY PARK

competition to win a stay at the beautiful Horsley

Michael Jenkins, Chief

Park Hotel, tickets to Wisley RHS and a Mercedes for

Executive of Roffey Park

the weekend. That’s quite a good kick-off for the tired

Institute, has spent much

exec!

of his working life in the

Far East. He offers some

We sincerely hope you enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed writing it.

Ian & Maarten 4

valuable tips on overcoming the cultural divide.

See page 56.

56

THE TEAM AT A GLANCE 6 15 16 24 26 28 31

News

Institute of Directors The Big Story: Hillary Clinton Finance: Natwest Investments: Skerritts Platinum Club in the Diamond Motivational Thinking: Sarah Hopwood

32

Intellectual Property: DMH Stallard

35 36 37 38

Bennett Griffin

40

45 46 50 53 55

Book Review: True Worth Made Gatwick: Growth Forum Business Planning: Kreston Reeves Green Growth: University of Brighton: Green Business: Ecotech Anger Management 1066 Business Awards Gatwick Hilton Women in Business Awards

56 61

Roffey Park Institute

65 67

Marketing: Big Beach

70

Education: Portsmouth University

72

Music Conference Interview: John 00 Fleming

76 78 82

Motoring

Manufacturing: Carpenter Box Education: Young Startup

Northbrook College: Racing for Education

Sharp Insight

106 Wise Words:

Ian Trevett – Director ian@platinumbusinessmagazine.com 07989 970804

Lynne Edwards - Commercial Property lynne@portfoliopublications.co.uk Tel: 07931 537588

Skerritts Race Day

89 Book Review: Harry Page 91 Networking: Emma Pearce 92 Chamber News 100 Working Lunch: Drakes 102 Style 104 Secret Sussex:

Maarten Hoffmann – Director maarten@platinumbusinessmagazine.com 07966 244046

Clive Stevens

Sally Wynn - Senior Designer

Julia Trevett – Accounts Manager 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 published and owned by Platinum Business Publications Limited.

Directors: Maarten Hoffmann and Ian Trevett

THE BIG STORY HILLARY CLINTON

16

Can Hillary Clinton actually succeed and become the most powerful person on Planet Earth? See page 16.

5

{ NEWS }

LOCAL NEWS CLIENT CHAMPION Clive Stevens, Kreston Reeves’ Executive Chairman, was invited to contribute to the newly launched Professional Services Marketing Handbook: How to Build Relationships, Grow Your Firm and Become a Client Champion by Editors Nigel Clark and Charles Nixon and the Professional Services Marketing Group, published by Kogan Page.

The handbook uses ideas, case studies and experience from leading firms across the professions, both in the UK and internationally. Through focusing on the five key themes of growth, understanding, connecting, relationships and management, it also shows how the marketing and business development professional can develop their role into that of a ‘client champion’ – the voice of the client - to both shape and deliver a firm’s client solution and experience.

It includes contributions from some of the industry’s leading practitioners and experts and aims to help marketing and business development professionals, sales specialists, and a firm’s technical practitioners play a fuller role in the future success of their firms.

Clive Stevens contributed to the growth section of the book and was the author of chapter 3, Developing International Networks. Speaking after the launch, Clive said; “I was delighted to be invited to contribute to the handbook. The book provides some great insights and case studies from industry leaders and really is a valuable read. Our principle core value at Kreston Reeves is quality client relationships and service, and we therefore always strive to provide a service that meets and exceeds the requirements of our clients”.

The book launch for the Professional Services Marketing Handbook took place in April 2015 at the offices of law firm White & Case in the City of London. This event saw Professional Service firms from across London and the South East gather to mark the occasion. To read more about this handbook, or to purchase a copy, go to: www.koganpage.com/product/professional-services-marketing-handbook-9780749473464

HANDBAGS AT DAWN There seems to be a row brewing over the future of two of the Sussex coast’s attractions. The i360 on Brighton seafront, due for completion in 2016, has taken the Wheel to task over their application to extend their site for another five years, having agreed to be gone by April 2016.

The trouble is, they have no lease and the i360 would like to be the only major ‘air attraction’ in the City. Now Worthing Borough Council have stepped in and requested they move the Wheel to their seafront.

A spokesman for the Wheel said: “It is not something we would entertain at the moment. We are firmly committed to Brighton. There has been an approach; there have been many approaches, in fact. But it is the Brighton Wheel, it always has been.”

“Our commitment is first and foremost to ensure the jobs we have here, investment and in terms of Brighton and Hove City Council, the rent. We are totally dedicated to Brighton.”

However, he reiterated that for the time being the Wheel is going nowhere, despite an agreement with the council to leave the site next year.

He said: “We are committed to Brighton, we have just spent £500,000 investing in the base and we have no intention of moving.” A high-rise battle in the making.

“Success and failure are both difficult to endure. Along with success come drugs, divorce, fornication, bullying, travel, meditation, medication, depression, neurosis and suicide. With failure comes failure” 6

{ NEWS }

“Early to bed and early to rise probably indicates unskilled labor”

THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE This month Brighton and Hove Energy Saving Co-operative (BHESCO) will launch a bid to raise £1M to fund up to 10 community renewable energy projects. When people put money into the co-operative, they become members and buy shares, giving each investor a 5% return on their investment.

The initiative uses the same ‘Community Shares’ method used by the Bevy pub and Exeter St Hall in Sussex, but on a far greater scale. If successful, it will be the largest community investment in the city’s history.

Kayla Ente, Founder and Director of BHESCO said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for Brighton; not only will city residents be able to make money while doing good, they’ll be part of a community that acts to lower energy prices and lower their carbon footprint. In order to have the biggest impact, we need mass uptake from individuals and businesses across the city. The great thing is anyone can get involved. For a minimum investment of £250, investors will have the opportunity to support an innovative business model that forms a blueprint for energy groups across the country.”

As well as benefitting from the government’s Feed-In-Tariff and renewable heat incentive, which guarantees a fixed price for community generated renewable energy for 20 years, the projects will also make significant savings on energy bills. These factors combined offer strong financial returns, giving investors a 5% annual return on their investment while enabling BHESCO to reinvest any profits in more community owned energy projects.

BHESCO is also working with the local council to install solar panels on schools.

HMRC has provided advance assurance for EIS tax relief for investors, bringing the annual return to over 7% for qualifying individuals.

To apply visit www.ethex.org.uk.

BE THE CHANGE In April, 100 local school students were given the opportunity to meet IT First and 50 other business organisations at ‘Be the Change’, a ground-breaking careers event at the American Express Community Stadium (AMEX).

‘Be the Change’ aims to inspire Year 10 students to consider their future career options. The event was organised by LoveLocalJobs.com, a local recruitment and careers specialist, and was facilitated by social enterprise, Humanutopia. This was the first event of its kind in Sussex.

Students had the chance to meet Paul Goldsmith, CEO and Simon Gregg, Operations Director at IT First, along with other local employers and business volunteers, all of whom offered face-toface advice and guidance about getting started in the workplace.

Simon Gregg, Operation’s Director of IT First, a Founding Partner of LoveLocalJobs.com, commented, ‘When I was offered the opportunity to be part of Be the Change I said yes without hesitation. I believe that it is crucial for the students to have the chance to engage with businesses and gain a better understanding of work life whilst preparing themselves for the world they are going to be entering when they leave full-time education.’

‘Be the Change’ was the brain child of Gary Peters, Founder of LoveLocalJobs.com. He said, ‘It was a very powerful day, bringing together young people with business volunteers from across Brighton & Hove to raise their career aspirations and demonstrate the skills and mindsets required to be the best you can be, in whatever career you choose or find yourself in.’

‘I’d particularly like to thank Simon Gregg from IT First for taking part in this amazing event and making it so memorable for everybody involved. Thanks to Be the Change over 100 local young school students are now much better equipped for the world of work and inspired to be the best they can possibly be, regardless of what challenges they have faced or may face along the way.’

7

{ NEWS }

LOCAL NEWS COAST TO CAPITAL LEP Coast to Capital LEP chief executive Ron Crank has announced he is to retire at the end of the year. Ron has been at the helm of the organisation since its inception in April 2011 and will remain in post until 31 December 2015 whilst a new Chief Executive is appointed.

His retirement will mark the end of a varied career which has taken Mr Crank from corporate life to running his own business and then into local government. “I could not have asked for a better way to end what has been a long and rewarding career than to have had the opportunity to establish Coast to Capital and oversee negotiations with Whitehall which resulted in £238 million of investment in our region” Mr Crank said.

“I will look back over the past five years with great fondness and pride, but I believe that now is the right time to hand over responsibility to someone who will take the organisation forward from 2016 and see the investment programme successfully implemented.”

However, the father of five, with six grandchildren isn’t quite ready to take it easy entirely. Following an extended holiday with his wife, he hopes to have the opportunity to take on several local directorships.

Chairman, Tim Wates, said: “On behalf of the Coast to Capital Board, our team and partners, I wish to thank Ron for his leadership and support. He was instrumental in the establishment of the LEP and has been a first class chief executive, working tirelessly for our region. Ron has steered us through some very challenging times and I thank him for all his work.”

Former chairman John Peel OBE added: “I have worked closely with Ron for the last six years. He leaves a lasting legacy, with Coast to Capital in the best possible position to build on his achievements. Personally, I would like to thank Ron for his support, dedication and business acumen which will be missed by me, the Board and everyone with whom he came into contact.” The search for a successor will commence shortly.

SPEAKER OF THE YEAR 2015 A Brighton-based professional speaker and event compére has been named national Speaker of the Year by the trade body for the speaking industry, The Professional Speaking Association.

Steve Bustin, who speaks at business events across the country on media and communications topics, was given the accolade at the Association’s Spring convention in London in April. At the same event Bustin was also named as top speaker of the year by both the Thames Valley and the Yorkshire regions of the Association.

The awards are voted by all the members of the Professional Speaking Association, so are awarded by possibly the toughest audience for any speaker – the UK’s top speakers. The title Speaker of the Year recognises excellence, not only as a speaker, but also as someone who upholds the professional standards of the industry. Bustin is a Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association, having joined as an Associate and worked his way to full Member, and then been made Fellow in under two years.

Steve Bustin said: “I had no idea I had even been nominated for these awards so it came as a complete surprise. It’s not often, as someone who speaks for a living, that I’m lost for words, but I was completely gob-smacked!” steve@stevebustin.com

“After living with their dysfunctional behaviour for so many years people become invested in defending their dysfunctions rather than changing them” 8

{ NEWS }

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

DUKES VISIT

BUSINESS INNOVATION

Leading healthcare and hygiene supplier Wightman & Parrish was delighted to welcome HRH The Duke of Gloucester to help celebrate the firm’s 100th birthday.

The company has successfully kept up with the pace of change over the years and it’s not the first time they’ve had a royal visitor. In 1959 the Duke’s father came to Lewes to meet company Chairman Michael Parrish’s father to formally open the Lewes Boys club.

Now based in Hailsham, the current Duke spent over an hour chatting to some of the Wightman & Parrish staff and touring the various departments of the operation.

Today, Wightman & Parrish is run by Nicholas Parrish, the fourth generation to take the business forward.

Business people from across East Sussex gathered at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill this month to learn how innovation, partnership working and good design drive success. Around 50 people attended the Business Growth by Design event organised by the University of Brighton in partnership with business support service Locate East Sussex and sponsored by Marshall Tufflex.

Philip Johnson, Director of Locate East Sussex, hosted the seminar and networking event, which began with a welcome from Stewart Drew, Director and CEO of the De La Warr Pavilion, who spoke about how the venue has achieved a sharp increase in commercial profit. Simon Riley, CEO of MakerClub, told the audience how his start-up business teaches high-end digital skills to young people and that plans are in place to franchise his venture.

“Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best”

ANOTHER EXPANSION DELAY The result of a long-running inquiry into the need for a new airport runway in the South East may be delayed for more public consultation and we will remain on tenterhooks over the expansion of Gatwick.

Sir Howard Davies, the chairman of the Airports Commission, has decided to take further evidence on problems caused by air pollution. His decision comes after a Supreme Court ruling in April ordering the UK to do more to improve air quality.

The consultation will begin immediately and end on Friday, 29th May. The final report was expected next month but could now be delayed as a result of the consultation. The Airports Commission began its inquiry three years ago, with the result being put off until after the general election. Sir Howard will need to get a move on as he has already accepted the job of Chairman of RBS, starting in July 2015.

9

{ NEWS }

NATIONAL NEWS PROSPERITY PLAN The most senior management qualifications certified by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) are now available by distance learning. As part of their ongoing commitment to developing senior managers, the Academy has become the first ILM centre in the UK to offer the Level 7 Certificate & Diploma in Leadership & Management using this approach.

The Academy is now one of the largest ILM learning centres for senior level management qualifications in the UK. The company works with an extensive range of clients and students in the public, private and third sectors. Working towards measurable rewards is just part of why the Academy’s approach to career development has proven so popular with busy management professionals. The courses consist of between one and three flexible units which can be worked on when it suits the student; this flexibility allows them to get one-on-one support and learn around specific subjects which are most relevant to their area of work.

Academy director John Parker said, “ILM have developed one of the most innovative and creative approaches to accredited executive development in the market today. By encouraging us to provide such a personalised approach to learning, these qualifications have enabled us to produce courses that focus on impacts for individuals and their organisations, with learning that is very specifically tailored to need.” For more information on the Level 7 Leadership & Management Course visit the Academy LM website: www.academylm.co.uk/courses/ilm-level-7-certificate-diploma

TRADEMARK WARNING Commenting on the EU Court ruling dismissing two trademarks registered by Louis Vuitton, Sharon Daboul, trademark attorney, said: “This trademark loss is a double blow to Louis Vuitton, who has been fighting to protect these marks since 2009. It can no longer claim to have a monopoly on the chequerboard pattern as applied to leather goods and bags, even if it was the first to come up with it. This loss might make it harder for the company to protect its bags against competitors or counterfeiters in the EU as it will no longer be able to rely on its trademark registrations.

“It also serves as a warning to brand owners that trademark registrations are not safe from challenge. An essential function of a trademark is to serve as a badge of trade origin. Trademarks must have distinctive character and a trademark loses its ability to be distinctive if it becomes commonplace in the trade; this can be as a result of the acts, or inactivity of the brand owner. If a trademark is allowed to become commonplace such that it can no longer distinguish a product from competitors, its value is lost and a pro-active third party can apply to cancel it.”

“Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings, they did it by killing all those who opposed them” 10

{ NEWS }

“Do not underestimate your abilities. That is your boss’s job”

SECURITY BREACH A Freedom of Information request has revealed the number of data breaches reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) during 2014. A total of 72 incidents came to light in which private data was mistakenly made available to the public by legal firms. The incidents included flaws within internal systems, poor processes and human error. Some of the key stats are summarised below: •

•

•

•

The most common source of breaches was data being mailed, faxed or emailed to the wrong recipient in error. These simple human mistakes accounted for almost a third (23) of the incidents; Closely following this was the loss or theft of physical paperwork. These breaches accounted for 21 of the incidents; Devices passing out of the control of the legal firm with unencrypted information on them was another prominent cause of breaches (11); Interestingly, data being hacked maliciously only accounted for one incident all year.

Paul Doble, chief sales and marketing officer at DX, an independent secure mail operator for the legal industry, comments: “With the exception of certain civil servants, there is arguably no other profession that has quite as much responsibility for handling confidential information than the legal sector; an issue compounded by the fact that the information often belongs to other companies and interests. As such, the pressure on the legal industry to become watertight where private data is concerned is mounting. Sending documents through a secure postal network is a sure fire way to stop unencrypted information falling into the wrong hands.

A NEW LOOK A South African billionaire has become one of the biggest players on the British high street by taking control of New Look in a deal valuing the fashion retailer at £1.9bn.

Brait, the private equity vehicle of Christo Wiese, said it had reached an agreement with New Look’s shareholders. Brait said it was buying a 90% stake for £780m, marking New Look’s first change of ownership in more than a decade. The deal meant Apax and Permira, which bought the chain in 2004, abandoning exploratory plans for a flotation of the business.

Mr Wiese has been linked with a string of UK retail takeovers in recent years, including a bid for BHS, formerly owned by Sir Philip Green. He is in the process of launching Pep & Co, a new chain, with Andy Bond, the previous boss of Asda.

His takeover of New Look follows a deal for Brait to buy Virgin Active, the health and fitness chain, in a deal valued at around £700m.

It will underline the continuing attractiveness of the British high street to foreign investors, even as consumers increasingly shift their spending online.

POUNDWORLD X 150 Poundworld, the discount retailer, has been sold to US private equity firm TPG for £150m.

The UK’s second-largest pound shop chain began as a Wakefield market stall set up by Christopher Edwards in 1974. The family firm now has more than 280 outlets, as well as 50 Bargain Buys shops selling items at various prices. The US acquisition will enable Poundworld a rival to Poundland - to open new stores and invest in new distribution facilities.

Mr Edwards, 64, along with family members and other senior executives, will retain a minority stake in the retailer. They stand to make millions from the sale. Mr Edwards said: “I began this business as a market trader and we now have millions of customers from all corners of the nation and all walks of life. Still, there is so much more for us to achieve.”

He had “very ambitious goals”, he said.

11

{ NEWS }

NATIONAL NEWS WINDOWS R.I.P Jerry Nixon, a Microsoft development executive, said in a conference speech this week that Windows 10 would be the “last version” of the dominant desktop software. His comments were echoed by Microsoft, which said it would update Windows in future in an “ongoing manner”.

Instead of new stand-alone versions, Windows 10 would be improved in regular instalments, the firm said.

Mr Nixon made his comments during Microsoft’s Ignite conference, held in Chicago this week. In a statement, Microsoft said Mr Nixon’s comments reflected a change in the way that it made its software. “Windows will be delivered as a service, bringing new innovations and updates in an ongoing manner,” it said, adding that it expected there to be a “long future” for Windows, but there will be no Windows 11.

LONDON LAGS BEHIND Exclusive research of 2,500 UK SMEs has revealed that when it comes to exporting, London’s SMEs appear to be losing pace against their smaller neighbours. While 80% of SMEs in the capital currently export, lower export sales have been recorded compared to other cities. The export rate of key British cities that produce goods or services are:

ROLLS ROYCE DESIGN For one day only, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars London showcased some of the extraordinary design and craftsmanship that goes into creating the ‘Best Cars in the World’, as part of the inaugural London Craft Week.

London Craft Week is a new annual event which promises to be a celebration of the very best in British design and craftsmanship. Members of the public were invited to visit the Rolls-Royce London showroom in Berkeley Square between 10.00 and 17.00 on May 7th to witness some of Rolls-Royce’s experienced team of craftspeople demonstrating their skills with wood and leather.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has always followed the ethos of founder Sir Henry Royce to “take the best that exists and make it better, and when it does not exist, design it”. The Rolls-Royce craftspeople proudly follow this philosophy, working with the very best natural materials and constantly pushing the boundaries of their craft to create beautiful and distinctive cars.

Bradford 86% Leeds, London, Manchester, Southampton

Belfast 79% Oxford 78% Leicester, Birmingham 77% Cambridge 76% Bristol, Derby, Portsmouth, Plymouth

75%

Liverpool 73% Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Norwich, Nottingham

72%

Milton Keynes 71% Cardiff, Hull 70% Glasgow, Sheffield 68% Coventry 67% Newcastle 66%

“If at first you don’t succeed, take the tax loss” 12

81%

{ NEWS }

“The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one”

DRAGON BUY BACK Worcester-based Magic Whiteboard are the latest winners of BBC Dragon’s Den to buy back the Dragon’s share of their business.

Neil and Laura Westwood, Magic Whiteboard’s owners, successfully secured a £100,000 investment from Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden in 2008. In return, the Dragon’s took 40% share of the business, which has proved to be Theo’s and Deborah’s most successful investment to date. For an initial £50,000 investment, each has received £400,000 in 6 years.

Having increased sales from £45,000 to £1.2 million a year, and consistently delivering healthy profits, Neil and Laura decided to ask the Dragons if they would sell back their shares.

After negotiations, Theo and Deborah decided to sell the shares. Having worked solidly for 6 years, Neil and Laura used all the profits they had made to buy back the 40%. Deborah Meaden said “Neil and Laura deserve every inch of their success with Magic Whiteboard; they have worked hard and smart; they are dream investees”. The deal was done in 2 weeks and the money has exchanged hands.

Neil Westwood said: “I will always remember sending over the £300,000 (having checked sort code 10 times to make sure it was correct) to both Theo and Deborah from the Lloyds Bank desk in Worcester, just like I was paying a gas

PASSIONPRENEUR

bill.

Share certificates were posted back to us and that was that. I was surprised how easy it was.

Ryman continue to stock our full range of Magic Whiteboard products. We now get to keep 100% of the profits, which is a great incentive to work hard.

Magic Whiteboard is targeting new markets in France, Spain and Germany. Magic Whiteboard has also recently been taken up by 142 Tesco stores and continues to sell strongly online with Amazon.

Multi-award winning Interior Designer, Kelly Hoppen MBE is joining forces with direct selling business Amway UK Ltd to find Britain’s most inspiring business ‘Passionpreneur’.

The search for Britain’s Top Real Role Model is an annual competition that aims to support and celebrate entrepreneurship. Each year, the initiative has a theme and for its fifth anniversary.

Kelly Hoppen and Amway UK are looking for an amazing ‘Passionpreneur’. The winner will be crowned Britain’s Top Real Role Model 2015 and receive a £5,000 cash investment for their business.

The competition is open to businessmen and women who have launched a commercial venture inspired by a hobby, passion or interest of theirs. From photography to upholstery, skydiving to painting, if a passion has become a viable commercial enterprise, trading and registered in the UK, Amway and Kelly want to hear more!

The closing date for all nominations is 7th August, 2015. The judging panel, spearheaded by Hoppen, will draw up a shortlist with the eventual winner being announced on 7th September, 2015. Contact www.btrrm2015.co.uk.

13

Sussex-based Skerritts have won the industry-recognised Citywire New Model Adviser award for the South East for the 5th successive year. The awards were presented by comedian and TV presenter Clive Anderson.

{ INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS }

SME BUSINESS FUNDING

By Dean Orgill Chairman of Mayo Wynne Baxter www.mayowynnebaxter.co.uk • www.iod.com

I

n recent years particularly we have all heard various anecdotes about the state of lending for SMEs. We have probably all formed our own views, and had them reinforced by our discussions at networking events. Recently, however, the IoD researched the position to see if reality matched our perceptions.

It is an important area. The British Business Bank recently reported that small companies account for almost half of the turnover in the private sector and provide 60% of employment.

It went on to say that nearly half of such businesses have growth plans. So where is the funding going to come from for those plans?

The survey of some 1,300 IoD members produced some very useful evidence, some surprising, some perhaps not.

As sources of recent funding for their business it emerged that just over one third of respondents had used bank funding, with almost twice as many using retained profits. Some 17% had obtained their main source of funding from family and friends.

The survey reinforced the anecdotal position that I referred to above, and responses were that banks are charging more for lending and demanding more security. However, what seems to come through is that these comments were neutral rather than critical. Businesses

recognise that banks are being more cautious and appreciate this as a likely consequence of reluctance to go back and re-live the events of 2008.

Again, these comments do seem to me to reflect those conversations we have been having over the last couple of years. Businesses appreciate that the economy needs banks to be part of the landscape on a long-term basis, just as we would want our own businesses to be (even if we have exited them and are watching them fondly from afar), and therefore they need to plan to be sustainable as any other business must.

However, as Malcolm Small, the IoD’s senior adviser on financial services policy, comments, the policymakers do need to understand that banks cannot be asked to do two things at once – that is, recapitalise and lend more at the same time.

Irrespective of the banks’ position, though, the appetite for funding is nevertheless increasing and needs to be satisfied from somewhere.

As a consequence, more businesses are indeed, as was suspected, looking at peerto-peer funding, crowd funding and often a combination of various sources. The variety of combinations available appears to be increasing and more businesses are considering a wider

mix than had traditionally been the case.

Access to alternative sources of funding has, of course, been facilitated by the internet developments. Crowd funding would have been extremely difficult without the advent of the communal access to sources of information which so readily appear on our screens.

However, equity funding has also moved on and become more organised in response to new opportunities to fund, and the comparative returns on a successful investment compare favourably with the more conservative savings options.

So, on this occasion, at least, the network “chatter” appears to be spot-on.

JUST A THOUGHT Do you have an ambition in business that you have not yet fulfilled? If so, what’s really stopping you?

15

HILLARY CLINTON IS THIS THE FIRST FEMALE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD?

By Maarten Hoffmann

{ THE BIG STORY }

N

orth America has recently got into the habit of dynastic reigns. The Bush family had a good crack at it, and if Jeb Bush, the incumbent Republican senator from Florida, has his way, he will upset the apple cart and grab the keys to the White House, which would see three members of the Bush family occupy the office of President of the United States.

But Jeb has one very dominant and forceful mountain of a problem to overcome before his dream, and that of his father, the 41st President, George H.W. Bush, comes to fruition, and that is one Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton.

The Clintons are yet another fledgling dynastic force as one could say that she is only in the running because she was married to the 42nd President, one William Jefferson Clinton.

Quite when being married to a powerful man gave one the right to take over that power is a mystery that only we Brits truly understand.

We have a hereditary royal family where the reins are passed from one generation to another, regardless of ability, experience or the will of the people. But the huge difference here is that the royal family has no real power. The president of the United States is still the most powerful office on the planet and the de facto leader of the free world.

Hillary Clinton was born just after the end of the second world war, on October 26th, 1947 and has served in posts such as Secretary

of State, State Senator for New York, a quite brilliant lawyer and, of course, the First Lady.

Looking at her biography, it would not be churlish to agree with many detractors of Bill, that rather than her getting the top job because she was married to him, it was in fact he that

“It so infuriated Hillary that he could let his libido get in the way of their plans for a generation of ultimate power that the relationship never really recovered” got the top job because she was the power behind the throne. Looking at Bill Clinton’s record, this is not a view with which I disagree.

Rumours abound of their kitchen cabinet meetings in Arkansas prior to Bill running

for office, where they decided that although she would be far better for the job, it was the personable and affable Bill who had the better shot, and therefore she would bide her time and run after him. One Monica Lewinsky put paid to that cosy arrangement when Bill broke their dynastic pact and started jumping on any female with a pulse who crossed his path.

It so infuriated Hillary that he could let his libido get in the way of their plans for a generation of ultimate power that the relationship never really recovered. The word is that he only avoided being whacked with a solid silver candelabra, followed by a humiliating divorce, by agreeing to keep it zipped henceforth and then throw his entire weight behind Hillary’s future campaign. That future is now, as on April 12th she declared her intention to run as the Democratic candidate for the office of President.

Now the race begins to raise the king’s ransom required to run for office. The initial fund-raising goal of $27,000, a pittance in a campaign expected to raise more than $1 billion, is intentionally set low by today’s big-money standards to try and build a broader nationwide network of donors.

An afternoon donor summit on May 14th in New York, which includes an optional tour of campaign headquarters in Brooklyn, features Clinton and her senior team of advisers. It’s the most robust gathering of donors since Clinton formally entered the race.

17

{ THE BIG STORY } Without a highly competitive Democratic primary race, the campaign has struggled to capture the early attention of some donors. Clinton’s presence at the summit underscores the point that donors will be remembered for getting in on the ground floor.

“On behalf of Hillary and the entire campaign,” the invitation says, “we thank you for your early support and leadership and we hope to see you in New York on May 14!”

Clinton has already devoted more days to raising money than meeting Democrats in early-voting states. She held three fund-raising events in Los Angeles alone, part of a threeday visit to California. She’s already done early fund-raising stops in New York and Washington.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm,” Andy Spahn, a long-time Democratic fundraiser in Los Angeles, told CNN. “There is a tremendous desire to be a part of it.”

Spahn, a political adviser to entertainment mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg and others who ultimately sided with Barack Obama in the 2008 campaign, said Democratic donors were largely unified behind Clinton.

Cash is always the first problem of a US campaign, and the Clintons left office in 2001 in considerable debt after fighting countless legal battles over his dalliances and the battle against impeachment. But Bill kept to his side of the bargain and hit the lecture circuit hard, and they are now reported to have wealth exceeding $100 million. In addition, Bill has brought home over $30 million from book sales, with Hilary’s books adding another $20 million. Even daughter Chelsea has done her bit, earning a salary of over $600,000 a year as a reporter for NBC news.

But they are both dogged by rumours of

inappropriate fund-raising and questionable deals with despotic regimes.

Even in the hyper-partisan world of American political publishing, the storm generated by the latest book about the Clintons has been impressive. Clinton Cash by Peter Schweizer went on sale this month, yet already the fuss it has kicked up has hung in the air for days.

As suggested by its subtitle, The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich, the book is an unrestrained attack on the former President and First Lady.

Across its slender 245 pages, it seeks to show that since they left the White House in 2001 the Clintons have engaged in a succession of seedy dealings with shady characters around the world, amassing more than $130m for themselves in exchange for favours.

From Russia to Colombia, Haiti to India and the Congo, the couple has repeatedly blurred the lines between private endeavour, public service, philanthropy and friendship, exposing themselves to blatant conflicts of interest, the book alleges. While Hillary Clinton was working as Barack Obama’s Secretary Of State, America’s top diplomat, Bill was commanding exorbitant speaker fees as high as $750,000 and attracting multimillion-dollar donations to the family charity (now known as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation), often concurrently and in the same corrupt countries.

“Who else in American politics would be so audacious as to have one spouse accept money from foreign governments and businesses while the other charted American foreign policy?” Schweizer asks.

The accusation is powerful. But the push back from the Clinton camp has also been formidable. Well ahead of publication day, the legendary Clinton rebuttal machine cranked into gear, bombarding news outlets with talking points, mobilizing liberal media watchdogs and denouncing the book as a “smear project”.

Compared with previous nemeses such as Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel who stalked Bill Clinton during his White House years, the man at the centre of the current furore makes for a relatively easy opponent.

For a start, Schweizer is unashamedly partisan.

His previous books, known for their brief, catchy titles, How Big Government Liberals Wrecked the Global Economy, Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy, Reagan’s War: The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph over Communism, speak for themselves, as does the fact that he used to work as a speech writer for George W Bush and as foreign affairs tutor to the then Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

If his aim were to show that Hillary Clinton was swayed in her decision-making while US Secretary of State by money flowing to the Clintons from foreign governments and elites, then he has failed – by his own admission – to have found the key evidence that proves it.

“We cannot ultimately know what goes on in their minds and ultimately prove the links between the money they took in and the benefits that subsequently accrued to themselves, their friends, and their associates” Schweizer writes in the book’s conclusion.

“Who else in American politics would be so audacious as to have one spouse accept money from foreign governments and businesses while the other charted American foreign policy?”

In an interview with the sympathetic Fox News (owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also owns Harper, the publisher of Clinton Cash) it was put to Schweizer that he hadn’t “nailed” his thesis. “It’s hard for any author to nail it – one of the strategies of the Clinton camp is to set a bar for me as an author that is impossible to meet,” he replied.

David Bennett, Professor of Modern American History at Syracuse University and author of a 2014 biography of Bill Clinton, said he was wholly unsurprised by what had happened, both in terms of the Schweizer attack and the Clintons’ response to it.

“There’s a new Clinton coming forward for the presidency, and all this is to be expected given what happened to Bill in the 1990s.

He was accused of corruption of money and corruption of power, but nothing was ever found. Filegate, Travelgate, Whitewater: everybody was digging deeply, but as one Clinton aide put it, ‘there was no there there’.”

Certainly, pundits were warning about the problem of the large sums of money flowing into the Clinton Foundation’s coffers, even before Hillary Clinton took up her position as Obama’s global emissary-in-chief. A month before she became Secretary of State, the Washington Post warned in an editorial that her husband’s fund-raising activities were problematic. “Even if Ms Clinton is not influenced by gifts to her husband’s charity, the appearance of conflict is unavoidable.”

Since the foundation was formed in 2001, some $2bn has been donated, mainly in big lump sums. Fully a third of the donors giving more than $1m and more than a half of those handing over more than $5m have been foreign governments, corporations or tycoons. (The foundation stresses that such largesse has been put to very good use: fighting obesity around the globe, combating climate change, helping millions of people with HIV/Aids obtain anti-retro viral drugs at affordable prices.)

It is also true that large donations to the foundation from the Chairman of Uranium One, Ian Telfer, at around the time of the Russian purchase of the company and while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, were never disclosed to the public. The multimilliondollar sums were channelled through a subsidiary of the Clinton Foundation, CGSCI,

which did not reveal its individual donors.

Such awkward collisions between Bill’s fundraising activities and Hillary’s public service have raised concerns, not just among those

“Is she going to be in touch with the needs and dreams of poor America when her spouse and daughter are working with the world’s global elite?”

who might be dismissed as part of a vast rightwing conspiracy. Take Zephyr Teachout, a Law Professor at Fordham University, who has written extensively on political corruption in the US. Teachout points out that you don’t have to be able to prove quid pro quo for alarm bells to ring. “Our whole system of rules is

built upon the concept that you must prevent conflicts of interests if you are to resist corruption in its many forms. Conflicts like that can infect us in ways we don’t even see.”

Teachout said that the Clintons presented the US political world with a totally new challenge. “We have never had somebody running for president whose spouse – himself a former president – is running around the world raising money in these vast sums.”

The threat of conflict of interest is all the greater today, she said, as Hillary Clinton begins to put flesh on the bones of her policy pledges in her presidential bid. “Her policy is being formed as we speak, and how are we to know that the generosity of donors to the Clinton Foundation will not depend on a particular policy outcome?”

Though Bill Clinton insisted this month that his charity has done nothing “knowingly inappropriate”, that is unlikely to satisfy the sceptics from left or right. They say that a family in which one member is vying for the most powerful office on earth must avoid straying into even the unintentionally inappropriate.

But with Bill refusing doggedly to give up his speaker engagements – “I gotta pay our bills” – and with foreign corporations and super-rich individuals still able to donate to the family charity, it looks like this controversy may run and run. Politically, too, Hillary Clinton

19

www.uniglobepreferred.co.uk

0845 180 7817

sales@uniglobepreferred.co.uk

For All Your Business Travel Needs UNIGLOBE Preferred Travel is part of the largest single brand Travel Management affiliation in the world.

Our unique structure allows for entrepreneurial leadership in each of our locations, ensuring a committed local ownership at the point of sale.

We are where you are

6103

{ THE BIG STORY }

“During Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, Hillary emerged as a dynamic and valued partner, and during his subsequent presidency, she took on far more than the traditional role of the first lady”

Of course not. One just has to be human, with the drive and determination to alleviate suffering and poverty.

But who is Hillary Clinton?

As a young woman, Hillary was active in young Republican groups and campaigned for Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater in 1964. She was inspired to work in some form of public service after hearing a speech in Chicago by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., and became a Democrat in 1968.

Hillary attended Wellesley College, where she was active in student politics and was elected senior class president before graduating in 1969. She then attended Yale Law School, where she met Bill Clinton. After graduating with honours in 1973, she went on to enrol at the Yale Child Study Centre, where she took courses on children and medicine and completed one year of post-graduate study.

During her summers as a college student, she worked at a variety of jobs. In 1971, she first came to Washington, D.C. to work on U.S. Senator Walter Mondale’s subcommittee on migrant

workers. In the summer of 1972, she worked in the western states for the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern.

In the spring of 1974, she became a member of the presidential impeachment inquiry staff, which one might reflect came in rather handy when she and Bill were fighting his own impeachment, advising the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives during the Watergate scandal. After President Richard M. Nixon resigned in August, she became a faculty member of the University of Arkansas School Of Law, where her Yale classmate and boyfriend Bill Clinton was teaching as well.

Hillary Rodham married Bill Clinton on October 11, 1975, at their home in Fayetteville. Before their engagement, Clinton secretly purchased a small house that Hillary had once remarked that she liked. When he proposed marriage to her and she accepted, he revealed that they owned the house. Their daughter, Chelsea Victoria, was born on February 27, 1980.

In 1976, Hillary worked on Jimmy Carter’s successful campaign for president while

is confronted with a potential credibility gap between her appeal to ordinary Americans on the presidential campaign trail and the millions that continue to flow to the foundation.

“Is she going to be in touch with the needs and dreams of poor America when her spouse and daughter are working with the world’s global elite?” said Dave Levinthal of the anticorruption investigative organization, the Centre for Public Integrity. “That’s a question she will have to answer, every step of the way.”

But this is a question that many a leader has to deal with. We have just witnessed the return to power of David Cameron, an old Etonian and very wealthy man. Does this mean that to empathise with the poor and disadvantaged members of society that one has to be poor or disadvantaged?

21

Award winning business, tax and wealth advice For a complimentary initial discussion on any of your accounting, tax or financial planning needs please contact Shirley Smith on: T: +44 (0)1293 776152 E: shirley.smith@krestonreeves.com Offices across London, Gatwick and Kent

www.krestonreeves.com

{ THE BIG STORY } But Hillary’s tenure as first lady was not without its controversies. In 1993, she and her husband were implicated in a Department of Justice investigation relating to the Whitewater real estate project in Arkansas. The failure of the project’s bank, Morgan Guaranty Savings and Loan, cost the federal government $73 million. Whitewater later became the subject of congressional hearings and an independent counsel investigation, and in January 1996 Hillary was compelled to appear before a federal grand jury. No charges were ever filed against her.

Trouble arose again in 1998, when the White House became engulfed in the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. Articles of impeachment were brought against Bill Clinton later that year, but in February 1999 the U.S. Senate failed to convict him and he remained in office for the remainder of his term.

Shortly after winning the U.S. presidential election, Barack Obama nominated Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. She accepted the nomination and was officially husband Bill was elected attorney general of approved by the Senate as the 67th U.S. Arkansas. Bill Clinton was elected governor Secretary of State on January 21st, 2009. of Arkansas in 1978 at age 32, lost re-election Some have remarked that Obama made in 1980, but came back to win in 1982, 1984, 1986 (when the term of office was this offer to keep the Clintons on-side, and expanded from two to four years) and 1990. an understanding was reached that if she During Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential kept her head down for the duration, she campaign, Hillary emerged as a dynamic and would have a free run at the presidency.

All politics, but American politics most valued partner, and during his subsequent presidency, she took on far more than the especially, are based on barter. ‘You give me traditional role of the first lady. In 1993 that and I will give you this’. The age-old Del Boy Bill selected her to head the Task Force on trade-off. The trouble with US politics is that the National Health Care Reform. The controversial stakes are so colossal that the level and legality commission produced a complicated plan of some of these trade-offs is to be questioned.

She might yet be undone by her e-mail that never came to the floor of either house.

It was abandoned in September 1994. account. In early March 2015, Clinton faced controversy and criticism when it was revealed Despite this failure, Hillary’s involvement that she had used her personal email address to deepened her interest in health care, and handle official government business during her combining her new-found experience with her past work involving child and family advocacy time as Secretary of State. In a news conference held at the United Nations, speaking initially of groups she championed a number of related causes. In 1997 she was influential in the gender equality and the political situation in creation of the Children’s Health Insurance Iran, Clinton stated that she had utilized her Program, which provided state funding for personal email for convenience as allowed by children whose parents could not afford to State Department protocol. She later turned pay for their health care, and she was also over all governmental correspondence to the instrumental in the passing of the Adoption and Obama administration while deleting 30,000 messages that could Safe Families Act, a series of reforms aimed at American adoption and foster-care systems. be construed as personal. It Hillary also used her influence as first lady is what she deleted that to support various women’s causes. Working her detractors are most with then attorney general Janet Reno, in 1995 interested in, and if she helped create the Violence Against Women they get their way office in the Department of Justice, and working Microsoft will be forced to recover with then secretary of state Madeline Albright those deletions she travelled extensively to nations around the world to promote equal rights for women. and her world

could come crashing down.

It cannot be denied that Hillary Clinton is a whip-smart woman who has dealt efficiently with hundreds of complex personal and

“She is canny, astute, wealthy, well connected and hard as nails” business issues that, if we mere mortals were to suffer one in a lifetime, might well floor us for good. She is canny, astute, wealthy, well connected and hard as nails.

Her work on women’s and children’s rights is to be applauded and her success in this current battle would ensure her place in history.

Margaret Thatcher changed the UK’s political game in proving that a woman could run a country as well, if not a bloody sight better, than a man. This is but chicken feed in the wider world as it does not matter how grand is our delusion that the UK actually matters on the world stage; a woman being voted into the most powerful office on the planet would change the world forever, and I for one, would love to see it.

{ FINANCE }

BOOSTING EXPORTS WITH A TRADE MISSION

By Gary Chown ACIB MCIBS - Chartered Banker Director Commercial Banking NatWest Bank Gary.Chown@natwest.com

T

rade missions aren’t just for the CEOs of major companies; they can be used by businesses at all stages of development.

Here’s how to join one and get the most out of it.

In a nutshell: • Research and contact organisations running trade missions • Identify missions that most suit your needs • Network, make contacts and learn from other businesses

24

Increasing exports is high on the government agenda and businesses of all sizes and sectors are being encouraged to access foreign markets. But those wishing to do so need to carry out their research first and typically this means visiting the country in question. Trade missions – when a group of businesses head to a destination together – can be an efficient and productive way to enter a new market. The camaraderie and support of other businesses maximises the chances of success.

Also, mission organisers typically put on events and networking meetings and utilise their own contacts books to the advantage of those taking part. The government is the main organiser and funder of trade missions for UK companies, although there are also private sector initiatives.

{ FINANCE }

“Increasing exports is high on the government agenda and businesses of all sizes and sectors are being encouraged to access foreign markets” MAIN BODIES The main government agency responsible for trade missions is UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), which organises around 1000 core events and missions each year. These are typically organised by region and sector.

Businesses interested in taking part should visit the UKTI website, which publishes its future missions online. Businesses can create an online account and receive email alerts tailored to them. However, it’s also worth contacting your local UKTI representative, discussing your business and building a relationship with them.

“Businesses of all sizes, from pre-revenue to well-established big businesses, attend trade missions”

JOINING A MISSION Businesses typically have to fill in an application form to join a mission, although some are more selective and there can be competition to gain a place. UKTI is keen to stress that trade missions are not just for big businesses but also smaller companies. Last April it set a target to treble its support to medium-sized businesses (MSBs), which it has reached; 3,000 MSBs now use government export services. As well as trade missions, these services include advice, market research, introductions, company health checks and tailored support. Businesses thinking of heading overseas should also consider other government services.

Businesses of all sizes, from pre-revenue to well-established big businesses, attend trade missions. There is a range of different reasons to join one, be it to gain investment, create deals, build contacts, conduct research or gain publicity. Businesses should be upfront and honest about their intentions and discuss with organisers how to find the right mission for them. Ultimately, the purpose of a mission is to increase trade, although this can be a long-term goal.

MAXIMISING POTENTIAL Businesses pay on the mission and usually need to buy their own flights and accommodation, although there are often subsidies and preferential rates available. It therefore makes sense to maximise the effectiveness of a mission. One of the advantages of being on a trade mission is that there are others around you who can support, mentor and encourage you on the trip. It is generally accepted that being a part of a group improves your chances of success. However, entrepreneurs must also focus on their own business objectives.

Prior to joining a mission businesses should undertake significant market research and gain a picture of their prospective marketplace.

Entrepreneurs would also be well advised to establish meetings of their own that coincide with the mission. Once on board the mission there will be the opportunity to network and learn. For many businesses, it is not always possible to seal the deal while out there, but many testify to having ‘good conversations’ which later lead to business being done. Of course, if a business already has a presence in the territory then this is an ideal chance to visit clients and partners in person and further cement existing relationships.

The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) is another main body to approach with regards to exporting and trade missions. Its Export Britain website contains lists of pending trade missions and connected resources for businesses. The BCC and UKTI have teamed up to create an ‘international network’, which aims to provide support, advice and contacts to businesses across the world.

There are also some private sector initiatives that run trade missions. For instance, agencies Long Run Works and Cospa organise the Clean and Cool Missions for cleantech businesses, which has visited countries such as the USA and Brazil. The missions, funded by public sector bodies such as Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board) and partnered with UKTI, also involve a training and selection process designed for new and emerging companies.

25

{ INVESTMENTS }

SO HOW LONG HAVE YOU GOT?

By Andy Merricks Head of Investments of Skerritts Wealth Management www.skerritts.co.uk

W

hen this was written the result of the General Election was not known.

Regardless of the result, it has got us thinking about something that we mentioned in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and which appears to remain a big problem in Society today – short termism.

Back in 2008/9 we suggested that the democratic system itself would make it a lot harder to recover from the mire in which the world found itself, simply because the remedies would take longer than most elected governments needed to put things right. The electorate would not give politicians the time, if indeed they had the inclination, because any government only has the first two years of its elected term to carry out the harder reforms that would be generally

26

unpopular. Some of these reforms would lose votes for the longer term in any event; thus, continuation of policy (Left, Right or Centre) becomes harder to achieve. But how else is short termism affecting us?

CARPETBAGGING: Remember carpetbagging? It was every saver’s favourite pastime at the start of the last decade as we all played some form of Building Society bingo by opening accounts with the various societies in order to bag the shares when they privatised and turned into banks. Long-standing allegiances were broken in search of a quick 250 quid or so when free shares were dished out. Those that weren’t cashed in immediately were held in the hope that a few more pounds

would be made from the housing boom that followed. The “new” banks were urged by their shareholders to keep up with the pacesetters in the mortgage market and offer more and more outrageous loans in order to keep the share price bubbling. Nationwide Building Society refused to enter this game, much to the disgruntlement of many of their new account holders. The Nationwide remains strong today, because they took the long-term view. Those who entered into the dash to lend to appease new shareholders are all gone or rescued – Bradford & Bingley, Alliance and Leicester, Woolwich, Northern Rock, Halifax, Abbey National – to name a few. How much are the free shares worth today? They withered and died as the financial crisis hit.

Short termism in action.

{ INVESTMENTS }

“In this short-term society in which we live, will it turn out to be yet another way of destroying the longer-term benefits that we are trying to build?”

WHERE IS SHORT TERMISM IN EVIDENCE TODAY?: So where is short termism in evidence today?

It’s all around us. The world of football has long been built around results, but the demands for ill-conceived success have led to a ridiculous turnover of managers. Managers are now “under pressure” if they lose three games in a row. Sadly, it is not just the Boards that show no patience; the fans are even worse. For some reason most football fans expect immediate and constant success from their team, demanding that other people’s money be thrown at the side and demanding change if victories don’t follow. Simon Jordan, when chairman of Crystal Palace, observed, “If I built a 55,000 all-seater stadium, bought Lionel Messi and we won the league, they’d [the fans] still complain about the hot dogs.” In wider society, we all saw how credit cards and housing equity were used as a primary or secondary income to fuel the shortterm demands of the consumer. They wanted it now, with scant regard for how this might affect the future. We are seeing a similar thing today as investment managers.

THE SIX MONTHLY STATEMENT: It is interesting to see how much Woodford Investments raised in their recent fund launch through their Patient Capital Trust. £800 million of new money has gone into the trust and a clue as to what it aims to do lies in its title. It will follow a long-term investment strategy in providing capital to young projects coming out of Oxford University and similar, specifically in contrast to the shorter-term capital that is raised through a number of Venture Capital Trusts in search of a 3- to 5- year exit. We wonder how many of the initial investors in the new trust will still be there in three to five years’ time if the share price hasn’t behaved as they may have hoped. We would wager that some investors have focused only upon who is running it and have missed the aim of the trust entirely. We may, of course, be wrong, but our scepticism arises from our own experience as investment managers.

Now, it is quite right that investors see how their capital is being used and how it is performing, so we have no argument with the notion of a six-monthly client statement.

However, what we have noticed is that clients react far quicker to these than they used to when they received just an annual statement from their insurance company. Their thanks is appreciated when things have gone well – as with the last six months – but it is noticeable how edgy they are if the six-monthly figures show little or no growth, or, worse still, a slight loss. One poor statement is generally acceptable. Two causes consternation.

A third, and they’d be off. In a world in which everyone talks about the long-term nature of investment and where the regulator quite rightly cautions against using short-term results in marketing material, the reality is much like the football manager who comes under pressure for short-term disappointments. Which, naturally, tempts the investment manager to behave in the very short term fashion that is generally frowned upon.

“They withered and died as the financial crisis hit. Short termism in action” We are fortunate here in that most of our clients understand that, if they stick with us through a disappointing period, the longerterm results are more than satisfactory (which is helped by the fact the managers have their own, their families’, their colleagues’ and their friends’ money in their funds too) but other firms may not offer their managers the same kind of support and framework within which to operate.

And this short termism is about to encounter a completely new, and dangerous, arena.

A PENSION IS THE DEFINITIVE LONG-TERM INVESTMENT, RIGHT? YEAH, RIGHT: The new style of short termism that is about to be unleashed is that of pension flexibility. Since April 6th, 2015 the public has been becoming gradually aware that they can get their hands on their pension fund now. As a firm, we had

one or two clients lined up wanting to take their funds immediately, regardless of the potential consequences of doing so. We’ve seen this number grow, and I’ve been the recipient of a mailshot from a firm offering to “unlock my pension” for me. No doubt, these offers will become more commonplace from unscrupulous firms out to make a quick buck before, no doubt, disappearing in a cloud of investor misery and retrospective regulatory action. Some of the requests we have received include needing money for a wedding, needing money for car repairs, needing money for a holiday, needing money for a deposit on a buy to let property, and needing money to clear one of the credit card debts that we mentioned earlier.

All of these are short-term fixes funded by what should be a long-term savings pot. We would argue, the definitive long-term savings pot. The idea of allowing people access to, and responsibility for, their own financial affairs is one that we generally applaud, but in this shortterm society in which we live, will it turn out to be yet another way of destroying the longer-term benefits that we are trying to build? Quite what the answer is, we don’t know. One thing is for sure, though. The headlong rush into short-term gratification is not helping politicians, business leaders, fund managers, football managers, investors and, ultimately, the general public themselves, achieve anything like the stability that leads to longer-term success and peace of mind.

But we’ve gone on about this for too long already. You’ve probably lost me at the second line of this piece and moved on to something far more gratifying.

The information contained within this feature is for guidance only and is not a recommendation of any investment or a financial promotion.

Skerritt Consultants, Skerritt House, 23 Coleridge Street, Hove, BN3 5AB. Tel: 01273 204 999.

27

PC

THE P L AT I N U M CLUB GATWICK

PLATINUM IN THE DIAMOND

Maarten Hoffmann (The Platinum Group), Ana Christie (Sussex Chamber), Jonathan Grant (DMH Stallard), Ana Christie (Sussex Chamber) Daryl Gayler (RBS)

Tim Rush (KPMG)

Maarten Hoffmann (The Platinum Group), Jeremy Taylor and David Montgomery (Gatwick Diamond Business)

Ron Rogers (Prowse & Co) and a strolling player

Samantha Wilding (Style & Grace), Janette Whitney

Jonathan Grant (DMH Stallard),

Jonathan Grant (DMH STallard),

(Whitney Associates), Becky Sharp (Sharp Insight)

Farouk Durrani (Kreston Reeves)

Tamara Roberts (Ridgview Wine Estate)

28

The region’s leading networking forum, The Platinum Club, launched their new location in the Gatwick Diamond this month. The Platinum Club membership is open to business leaders from across the Diamond, or those wishing to do business within the Diamond, and with only four memberships available per business sector any company wishing to meet an eclectic array of senior business leaders would be well advised to join without delay. The venue was the superb Gatwick Hilton Hotel and the inaugural meeting was very well attended by over 70 senior figures, who gathered to enjoy fine Champagne, canapÊs, excellent company and a strolling magician. Meetings are held every month and for further information, contact info@theplatinumclubbrighton.co.uk or telephone 07966 244046

Tim Sadka (Rawlinson Butler), Hannah Staunton (Gatwick Airport), Bola Lafe (Opus Innovations)

Rosemary French OBE (Gatwick Diamond Initiative), Joanne Rogers (Prowse & Co)

Rosemary French OBE ( Gatwick Diamond Initiative), Susannah Davidson (University of Brighton), Mark Tulley (Gemini Print), Fiona Anderson (NatWest)

Nigel Dean (Roffey Park), Guy HIlton (Gatwick Hilton)

Mark Tulle y (Gemini Print), Clarence Mitchell

Simon Clements (Roffey Park), Gary Chown (NatWest),

(The Conservative Party)

Ana Christie (Sussex Chamber)

29

EVEN THE DIRTY MARTINI IS SPOTLESS BAR & TERRACE

Relax in style in the Waterhouse Bar & Terrace, experience our hospitality and enjoy our ‘Perfect Pairings’.

The menu features locally sourced items for a real taste of Sussex, with Hailsham Lamb burger ‘Perfectly Paired, with a Sussex Mule or our decadent Tea by the Sea ‘Seaside Delights’ Afternoon Tea taken on the terrace.

With a car park on site, the Waterhouse Bar & Terrace is the perfect place to enjoy a family lunch with a difference, revel in a gathering of friends or savor any special occasion.

Open daily from 08:00am. For Afternoon Tea reservations please call 01273 775432 Hilton Brighton Metropole, Kings Road, Brighton, BN1 2FU

{ MOTIVATIONAL THINKING }

SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

By Sarah Hopwood, Business Transition expert… driving the change you want. www.sarahhopwood.com

T

he merits of having a USP, Unique Selling Point, are well documented. I prefer SCA, Sustainable Competitive Advantage. The latter suggests the ability to dominate in your chosen market rather than do well.

Dominating your market is achieved by identifying one headline strength that sits above all your others. Market domination is found by excelling in this one chosen area. You will commit to beating your competitors on pricing, service or product… ‘quality of’ sits right in the middle of all three.

Once you have found your SCA you might segment your market place into three areas, segregating A, B & C clients or customers. This segmentation could be based on their spend, frequency of purchase, length of relationship or perhaps largest number of business referrals.

With renewed focus you can now clearly articulate what you actually mean. If you and your staff can’t articulate why you are doing what you are doing, then you will not succeed.

If service is your SCA, then say what aspect of service you mean; is it speed of service, response time or personal relationship? Some call this ‘selling the invisible’.

If pricing, it could be fixed pricing, the cheapest package deals, bundles or no-quibble refunds.

If you have chosen product, then you need to be thinking ‘Rolls Royce,’ so, innovation is key; plus, it must include all parts of the whole.

A good way to test your SCA is to establish a guarantee. If you can’t find the ‘wow’ factor, then perhaps you need to start again.

Many times I have asked reception staff to not just share the vision of the business with me, but also explain why. So often I hear muffled replies reflecting that they have no idea. This, in some ways, is a catastrophe. These people are the front window to your business, especially when

you are not there. They will represent you in all areas – your vision, your core values, your beliefs, business culture and work ethic.

If you’re not careful, you could be ‘spilling your load,’ because, while you are out there ‘rainmaking’ (bringing in the business), you are losing money at the other end. Key, front-line junior members of staff are unwittingly sabotaging you because they are neither properly informed nor being treated as part of your team.

Too many businesses still aim to be all things to all people, the best at pricing, service and product, creating a foggy picture for the very people they want to convert into clients.

SO HOW CAN YOU CLEAR THE FOG? Abundant mentality empowers us to stop being so fearful and to commit to marketing only price, service or quality of product as our SCA. Conversely, leaders with scare mentality do act in fear and fall between the cracks, frightened of losing business as they polarise their offering.

Articulate the problem: What problem are you solving? Every purchase is solving a problem of one sort or another.

It could be you are busy when people are in Stephen Covey’s box 1 “Urgent and Important”.

They are fire-fighting, things are critical. In this case, your SCA could be around managing their stress – and it doesn’t have to cost very much at all. Just being seen on time can make all the difference.

Alternatively, you could be in a place where you are converting a slight interest into a healthy sale.

How can you make your product or service more ‘sticky,’ transforming it from a can have to a must have.

Cost plus: One assumes you have already calculated your cost plus - meaning your overheads, materials, labour and profits - against actual price. Always remember something is only worth what the market will bear. It doesn’t matter how good we think we are or how expensive it was to put together, it is only worth as much as the market will pay.

Value is key: if we fail to communicate our value to the customer, they will just be focusing on cost rather than investment. Packaging, bundling and retainers are also a good way to maximize your value, although, having said that, in my view what trumps this list is your guarantee! Why not post it on your website, on social media and in your paperwork so you demonstrate your total commitment to it?

Features put to the back: Stop talking about these up front; they are boring at this stage.

When attendees are asked ‘what’ they do’ most responses contain a feature in the first sentence.

Wrong. This first sentence should contain something about the problems you solve for clients. So, instead of saying, “I am a professional speaker,” I could say, “I work with event organisers wanting to teach and inspire their audiences to use emotional intelligence as a plug and play for their businesses.”

Explain, show and prove the benefits: WIIFM (what’s in it for me) should be right up front.

Imagine the listener thinking, ‘so what?,’ then smiling and saying, “I have this problem too, and you can help me!”

31

{ INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY }

© AN INTELLECTUAL APPROACH? Is the UK a good place to be if your business depends on intellectual property? asks DMH Stallard’s Robert Ganpatsingh

F

resh out of the General Election, the UK is facing an uncertain future in many respects but when it comes to protecting Intellectual Property (IP), on the whole, the UK has a reputation for stability and having a clear legal framework. Robert Ganpatsingh, Associate in the specialist Intellectual Property team at DMH Stallard, explains why the IP dependent businesses that he advises, both large and small, don’t see the UK in quite the same way and what they can do about it.

In their report, “The UK in 2020: A Vision for Growth in IP rich businesses”, the Alliance for Intellectual Property portrays the UK creative industries as a clear success story, including:

32

•

a £35 billion annual business spend on design; • a music export market worth £1.4 billion, making the UK the largest exporter of music after the US; • a gaming industry which creates £2billion worth of exports annually.

This success is not, in the mind of many of our clients, matched by the protection their IP assets are afforded by the law. This is felt particularly keenly by our smaller clients in the technology and creative industries who do not have the financial power of the large corporations.

It is clear from the report that businesses across the UK appreciate the fundamental

importance of IP in creating growth and there have been some recent successes. In 2014 DMH Stallard, in conjunction with ACID, successfully lobbied the government to introduce a criminal offence for the deliberate copying of UK and Community Registered designs within the Intellectual Property Act 2014. In addition, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC), which allows for more time and cost efficient resolution of IP disputes through a condensed and stricter procedure and a cap on recoverable costs, as well as the use of a dedicated specialist IP Judge, has been widely received as a positive step forward. However, most feel that IP protection in the UK is still lacking teeth.

{ INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY }

“There is an understandable lack of awareness in many businesses of the full range of IP rights available to protect their assets and of how those rights operate”

They feel the deterrents against infringement are nowhere near robust enough to be effective and that the UK government has not been pro-active enough and sufficiently successful in creating, with regards to IP legislation, a stable and attractive territory for IP dependent businesses. They also feel that the UK’s public enforcement bodies are still not doing enough to effectively police IP crime.

In the wake of the General Election it is fair to say that, whilst most parties’ manifestos contained material aimed at securing votes from within the creative industries, they did not provide the answers we had hoped for. In fact, the Conservatives’ manifesto was the most positive from the point of view of the business community, promising to continue with tax incentives for the creative industry, develop anti-piracy projects such as working to block websites which display large amounts of illegal content and stopping search engines displaying results for the worst offending websites.

From an IP perspective perhaps we ought to be grateful for the outcome of the election on this occasion. The Liberal Democrats promised support for modern and flexible copyright, patent and licensing legislation, Labour’s manifesto didn’t include any provisions specifically relating to IP, but did feature content about privacy and technology, however the Green Party proposed reducing the length of time that copyright applies and wanted to restrict patents so they didn’t apply to software. All were, perhaps understandably, spectacularly short on detail as to how plans for better IP protection might come to fruition, leading to frustration from those whose livelihoods depend on intellectual property in all its forms. But it does remain to be seen what exactly the new government will put into action.

On a different note, it is encouraging that there is no end forecast for the long running R&D Tax Credit scheme, which allows businesses to claw back a large amount of their research and development expenditure. This will continue to encourage creativity in business, leaving more cash available to ensure that organisations are protecting their IP rights as fully as they can and are able to invest in educating consumers about

the importance of IP and the consequences of infringment.

Now we have a new government, it is as vital as ever that businesses who are dependent on IP keep up the pressure on the Government to improve IP protection and work hard to provide evidence about difficulties being encountered with IP infringement so that policy makers appreciate the impact of their work.

“IP infringement is damaging to creative businesses, leading to reduced investment in those businesses” IP infringement is extremely damaging to creative businesses, so much so that it directly impacts the investment those businesses can attract. Estimates published in the IP Crime Group’s 2013/14 report place the cost of IP criminality in terms of lost profits and taxes to the UK economy to be in the region of £1.3 billion per year. At the more extreme end of the spectrum, and particularly in relation to counterfeiting, IP infringement is directly linked to organised crime.

As well as lobbying policy makers, businesses must make a continued and growing effort to educate consumers about their responsibilities to not support IP infringement whether carried out by third party infringers or themselves, whether wittingly or otherwise.

What is clear is that, if the UK is to be a better place to run a successful IP dependent business, high priority must be ascribed to reducing IP infringement and that the new government must, with encouragement and evidence from the business community, work hard to create the

protection that the fertile business environment in the UK needs to thrive.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW TO PROTECT YOUR IP • Identify your organisation’s IP and understand it’s true worth to your business; • Register the IP as allowed by the law, and conduct regular searches to ensure any infringement is caught early; • Ensure all contracts contain clauses protecting your business’ IP; • Seek specialist advice to ensure your IP is protected and defended fully.

ABOUT DMH STALLARD Consistently ranked as a leader in the field of intellectual property, DMH Stallard creates and retains value in their clients’ businesses by helping them protect and leverage their intellectual property assets and rights.

The team is made up of intellectual property experts with an outstanding track record across the IP lifecycle from advisory and transactional matters to enforcement and dispute resolution.

We provide intellectual property advice to a range of clients, from SMEs and independent start-up’s through to international corporations, in the technology, media and creative industries.

With our transparent pricing model and efficient processes we provide clients with value for money whilst ensuring that their IP rights are registered, protected, exploited and defended in the swiftest, most appropriate manner.

For more information, or to receive a copy of our “Overview of Intellectual Property Rights”, contact Robert Ganpatsingh at robert.ganpatsingh@dmhstallard.com or on 01293 605093.

Tel: 01293 60 5000 Web: www.dmhstallard.com

33

Mergers and Acquisitions Commercial Property and Development Planning advice Commercial Landlord and Tennant Employment Law Intellectual Property Litigation Charities Debt Collection

{ PROMOTIONAL FEATURE }

NEW ARRIVALS AT BENNETT GRIFFIN Gemma Lawrence Associate Chartered Legal Executive Telephone: 01903 706990 gl@bennett-griffin.co.uk

B

ennett Griffin LLP has announced the appointment of Gemma Lawrence in their Commercial Property Department.

Gemma started her career at Thomas Eggar LLP before moving to Rawlison Butler LLP and has been qualified as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives for ten years.

Rob Fawcett Head of Property at Bennett Griffin said, “Gemma joins the firm at a pivotal time for us as we continue to expand our reach to commercial clients and build further on our solid reputation across the region. Gemma has gained a range of property experience having worked for other leading regional law firms and particularly now focuses on residential development from site purchases to new home sales, secured lending and Landlord and Tenant matters.

“An added bonus for clients of Bennett Griffin LLP of Gemma’s appointment is that she previously worked with Jeremy Wootton at Thomas Eggar LLP for a number of years and along with him built excellent relationships throughout the region. The appointment of both Jeremy and Gemma to Bennett Griffin’s Commercial Property Team secures one of the strategic aims of the firm to provide excellent service to business clients by having one of the

most highly experienced teams in the region.”

Bennett Griffin’s commercial property team of Rob Fawcett, Darren Edwards, Jeremy Wootton, Nigel Turner and now Gemma Lawrence provides legal advice and assistance in all types of property transactions from development land to offices, shops factories and warehouses, acting for both buyers and sellers. They also offer legal advice and assistance for both landlord and tenants in respect of new leases, disputes between Landlord and Tenants and all on going matters in relation to Leasehold properties.

“Gemma joins the firm at a pivotal time for us as we continue to expand our reach to commercial clients” The team have extensive knowledge and experience in respect of advising clients on site acquisitions for both residential and commercial developments and dealing with all aspects of the development including all planning issues to

the build out and subsequent plot sales.

In addition to the Commercial Property team, Bennett Griffin’s Commercial Law team includes experienced Solicitors and Legal Advisors for business clients in Elaine Smith, Nick Tompkin, Hannah Bennett, Steven Netherwood and soon to be Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, Matt Hollamby. This team provides legal services in Dispute Resolution, Employment Law, all aspects of Contract, Shareholder Agreements and Sales and Purchases of Businesses, to name but a few of the services the team provides to give a holistic service to business clients.

Bennett Griffin has a highly experienced Private Client Department, recognising of course that business clients have a private life that needs all the appropriate legal protections such as Lasting Powers of Attorney to cover the unexpected, and hopefully never to happen, situations of business owners losing the capacity due to illness or injury to run their business, so that proper considered arrangements are put in place in that event.

Bennett Griffin plan to continue to bring great Lawyers to the firm over the coming months to enable the firm and our existing Lawyers to provide excellent client focused legal services for business and individuals. www.bennett-griffin.co.uk

35

{ BOOK REVIEW }

HOW TO CHARGE WHAT YOU’RE WORTH AND GET IT A new book by No 1 Amazon Best Seller Vanessa Ugatti explains how to get what you’re worth and discusses the problems of undercharging, discounting and doing too much work for free. Here are her top tips: 1. Understand your value Understanding your own value is the first step to being able to charge what you’re worth. However, in order to do this, you need to deeply reflect on your expertise. Your expertise consists of your professional qualifications, your Continual Professional Development and the experience you have had over the years putting it all into practice.

2. Understand the client’s pain In other words, find out what the client’s problem/s is/are. To do this, it’s vital to ask the client quality, open questions. That is, questions which can’t be answered with a simple one-word answer and begin with words like ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘how’, ‘who’ or ‘why’. When you ask these questions, let the client answer without interruptions, prompting or leading. People use service professionals because they have a problem they need solved. You need to find out what solving the problem will be worth to them and what the problem will cost them if it’s not resolved.

3. Increase your self-worth Self-worth is at the heart of everything we do and it drives our behaviour.

As human beings we are motivated by pleasure or by pain. So we’re either moving towards pleasure or moving away from pain. To put this into a business context, if you don’t feel 100% worthy, how can you possibly charge what you’re really worth? Your perception of what you’re worth is too low.

If someone tells you to raise your fees, it makes you feel uncomfortable. When you feel uncomfortable, what do you do? You move away from whatever is causing that discomfort.

“Self-worth is at the heart of everything we do and it drives our behaviour. As human beings we are motivated by pleasure or by pain”

36

4. Focus on value, not on price If you focus on the price, so will your clients. If you don’t first demonstrate the value of what you do, prospective clients will likely regard the quote you give as high, no matter what price you offer. You have to get them to shift from looking at the price of your service to seeing the value of it. Once they understand the value, the price you quote will actually seem relatively low by comparison.

5. Communicate your value to clients This is another key step in the process of charging what you’re worth. By ensuring that the client knows exactly what they’ll be getting for their money, they’re much more likely to do business with you and pay you what you’re worth. Very often people fail to communicate the value effectively, usually for 3 reasons: because they don’t understand their own value, because they make assumptions about the client’s understanding of the value and, thirdly, because they’re just not comfortable doing it.

6. Get comfortable talking about money Many people are not comfortable talking about money quite simply because they have negative beliefs about it, as expressed in sayings like “Money is the root of all evil, Money doesn’t grow on trees, A fool and his money are soon parted, I don’t deserve to be rich.” It’s imperative that you change your beliefs about money, otherwise it will be impossible to charge what you’re worth.

To order a complimentary copy of True Worth, go to: www.thetrueworthexpert.com/gettrueworth

{ GROWTH FORUM }

Thursday 4th June, Arora Hotel, Crawley

MADE IN THE GATWICK DIAMOND

By Ross Sturley

T

he advanced manufacturing sector is an area of rapid growth. While UK Plc remains unable to compete with the lower-cost economies in most high-volume, low-value manufacturing sectors, areas which involve access to superior skills or technology or a stronger infrastructure are among those in which this country still has a sustainable competitive advantage.

We are lucky to have a strong cluster of companies trading in such sectors in the Gatwick Diamond. They may be attracted here by the airport – many of them export most of their output – but they also value the surface road and rail connections, and the talent pool.

Companies like Elekta – a World leader in new technologies tackling cancer and brain disoders – choose the Gatwick Diamond and build and grow. They have just acquired land next to their existing block to assist expansion.

Access to skills is key, which is where initiatives like the Engineering and Digital Technology Park at the University of Chichester come in. This new facility in Bognor, enabled by £8m of funding from the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, will provide advanced skills to around 500 students a year.

It will include an Institute for Sustainable Enterprise and a Centre for Digital Technology,

enabling the creation of research centres in sustainable operations, data science, and advanced engineering. This should help secure our position as one of the best local skills bases for the sector.

“It’s important that the Gatwick Diamond keep ticking those boxes for such companies, which means continuously improving the environment they inhabit” There is global competition to attract companies like Elekta. With their HQ in Stockholm, they could replicate their Crawley operations anywhere in the world that ticked the right boxes.

It’s important that the Gatwick Diamond keep

ticking those boxes for such companies, which means continuously improving the environment they inhabit. Other locations – Lyon, San Diego, Heidelberg – are all trying to improve their offers to advanced manufacturing companies. We have to do the same to stay ahead.

This will be the subject of the Gatwick Diamond Economic Growth Forum on June 4th at the Arora Hotel in Crawley, a business summit, now in its third year, which brings people together to discuss how we can protect and nurture our precious regional economy.

Speakers from Elekta and the University of Chichester, along with representatives of Gatwick Airport, The Roffey Institute, Brighton University, RBS and others, will be discussing how we stay ahead in the sector.

Last year’s Gatwick Diamond Economic Growth Forum brought 200 leaders from the public and private sectors together to identify and discuss opportunities, to debate threats and celebrate success in the £17.5 billion Gatwick Diamond economy, geographically positioned between Croydon and Brighton and home to 45,000 businesses.

The Gatwick Diamond covers the Council areas of Epsom & Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate & Banstead, Tandridge, Crawley, Horsham and Mid Sussex.

Visit www.gdegf.com for more information.

37

{ BUSINESS PLANNING }

ALL CHANGE, PLEASE? As the face of the country changes, is it time for your business to look in the mirror?

Now that the election is over, who or what is driving your company into the next five years?, asks Maxine Reid, Director of Restructuring and Recovery at Kreston Reeves.

I

t is now the relative calm after the electoral storm and the country has decided who will drive our country forward into the next five years.

However, there remains an air of uncertainty as to what further changes are yet to come.

Against the backdrop of potential tax increases, benefit cuts or an EU referendum, we must all keep our eyes on the ball when running our businesses.

A change in government can signal a good time to assess your business and review both the challenges and opportunities up ahead.

38

A new government will hopefully bring with it exciting new policies to improve our lives.

For some, anticipating changes in policy might mean taking early action to benefit from current rules and policies. An example of this is the current regime for business owners claiming “Entrepreneurs’’ Relief. In 2013 over £2.9m of tax was saved by business owners claiming this relief when they exited a successful business and paid the remainder of its money to its shareholders. It therefore seems to be a hot topic for change in the future and some are advising business owners to secure this relief now before any further changes are announced.

On the other hand, fiscal policy seems set to stay in its current unprecedented state for some time to come. The base rate looks like it will be low for a while and the UK banks are seemingly not in any hurry to deal with problem corporate borrowers for fear of negative publicity. This therefore seems an ideal opportunity for stable businesses to get their houses in order. Treading water doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road provided that one keeps an eye to the future. As John F Kennedy said, “Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future”.

{ BUSINESS PLANNING }

Within our Restructuring T eam at Kreston Reeves we are still seeing a number of trends amongst our clientele: •

•

•

We see many so-called ‘Zombie Companies’.

These are businesses which can survive but not grow. They can keep the balls in the air but can’t make the break to expansion.

We see many businesses taking a real interest in alternative lending products such as crowdfunding and private equity funders.

We see these funding lines increasing as a response to the low base rate.

We see businesses overtrading. These businesses don’t have the cash flow available to be able to buy supplies or stock required to meet customers’ demand.

All these phenomena are manageable if those driving the businesses are on top of the numbers and have strategies to cope.

One recurring theme when I go out to give advice to a new client is the lack of financial information that management have at their fingertips. Finding a cash flow already in existence can be difficult and the suggestion that one might need to prepare a cash flow forecast often brings a look of panic into the eyes of those responsible.

Business owners do have a duty to know whether or not their business is trading profitably. Regardless of whether a business is doing well or not, a forecast is a great tool to get an understanding of the different drivers for your business. If you are a business owner and you don’t have a cash flow yet, prepare one for the next 12 months, review it every month and input your actuals against your forecast.

With a forecast you will be able to register if your business is starting to struggle and thus take steps to steer away from difficulties, or at

least seek advice at an early stage. If you are getting worried about your business, talking to a licensed Insolvency Practitioner does not mean that your business is necessarily insolvent; it actually means that you are a person who takes your responsibilities seriously and that you want to be clear about your options sooner rather than later.

“The suggestion that one might need to prepare a cash flow forecast often brings a look of panic into the eyes of those responsible”

•

•

•

be increased. I once went into a restaurant where gross margin was a mere 10% but following a review of its business model, its clientele and the quality of the product, the management team were able to increase the gross margin to 35%. Their clientele asked why they hadn’t done that earlier.

Look for innovative ways to increase your income stream – for example, are you a retailer who could close on a Monday but open later on a Thursday when your customers are more active?

Are you overstaffed, or do you need to invest in your staff to be able to increase productivity?

There are plenty of organisations out there offering training at competitive prices.

Could you reduce costs by finding cheaper suppliers of stationery, utilities etcetera?

The new government will undoubtedly bring change. The base rate won’t stay this low forever, and the banks already have alternative strategies for dealing with high risk borrowers who breach covenants.

So our message is, anticipate and welcome change, and in the meantime have a good hard look at your business and know its drivers.

Banks are improving their lending to smaller businesses, but the majority are lending cautiously. If funding is required your funder will most definitely ask to see a cash flow forecast and business plans, so if you’re already preparing these the process will be a lot smoother.

Some examples of the issues we have pulled out of discussions with clients, in case they trigger any thoughts for your business: •

www.krestonreeves.com

Competitive margins are obviously important - look for ways in which they can

39

From left to right are: (back row) Robb Cunningham, John Clarke, Dan Baverstock and Lorraine Bell. (front row) Jo Carpenter, Zoe Osmond and Rachel Espinosa.

GREEN GROWTH Ian Trevett meets Robb Cunningham from the University of Brighton’s Green Growth Platform to find out about the current state of the county’s eco-technology industry.

R

obb’s eco-credentials are impressive.

He has spent the last few years living in a house that’s totally off-grid, with solar panels and wind turbines, and is clearly passionate about environmental issues.

Working as a project manager at the university, he was the obvious candidate when the Green Growth Platform was launched, and he believes that Brighton and Sussex are well placed to become an eco-hub.

“I think, nationally, the environmental sectors are growing enormously. We commissioned a report at the beginning of the year on the state of the Low Carbon Environmental Business Services sectors (LCEGS). They’re seeing five per cent annual growth, and that’s likely to continue.

40

“Brighton and Sussex are probably best positioned to grow because we’ve got a strong green focus, including the only Green MP, Caroline Lucas. We’re not aligned to the Green Party, but it demonstrates that there’s an appetite for it. We have really exciting environmental businesses all wanting to grow down here.

“Core to our mission statement is placing Sussex at the forefront of the green economy.

You can see how Wired Sussex has really championed Brighton as the hub of digital outside of London, and they’ve done it really well. That’s where I’d love to see Sussex environmental sectors.

“There are lots of exciting technologies out there that people aren’t aware of, it’s much

more than just solar panels. The University of Brighton has a unit on the Falmer campus called combined heat and power (CHP). It’s a generator that runs on gas and produces electricity as a generator would, but in producing electricity it creates heat, and it takes that heat and uses it to heat the building, so there is very little wasted energy. It’s like getting two for one. A lot of people may never have heard of combined heat and power, but it has lots of potential.”

From a personal point of view, are there any companies you have been particularly impressed with?

“A big game changer will come when we get to a point where we can have sufficiently powerful batteries to store renewable energy

{ UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON }

on a domestic level. Ideally, you could have a battery bank in your garage that has enough juice to run a home overnight, and then get stocked up during the day with a wind turbine and/or solar panels. The batteries need to be smaller and more efficient.

“We’ve got some companies that are exploring battery technology. We also have companies doing exciting things with how you manage your resources within the home, including innovative rainwater harvesting systems and home energy management software.

“We’re working with a very broad range of environmental businesses, One company, Nafici Environmental Research (NER), based in West Sussex, is developing a process to turn waste straw into paper. They use waste straw from the agricultural industry and are developing a process that will enable them to turn it into paper pulp, and their aim is to make a pulp that can be used to make standard paper. They’ve been working with the Green Growth Platform to secure funding to purchase new equipment

that will enable them to create commercially standard paper pulp. The ambition is to replace the use of hardwood in paper production because at the moment we cut down hardwood forests just to create basic paper.

“In terms of the support the Green Growth Platform has provided, we’ve helped NER win funding that has allowed them to purchase upgraded equipment, we’ve helped them with business coaching to market their products and to improve their website and we’ve also helped on their business strategy.

“We’ve also worked with a Brighton-based business called Recharge Cargo, a bicycle courier company. They use electric bikes, which means they can carry quite substantial amounts of cargo, so they have big bikes. And the idea is that they become a hub where delivery vans can come to, drop off the cargo and they then deliver out to Brighton by bike. Their aim is to reduce pollution and congestion on Brighton’s streets but also offer a really quick, efficient delivery service. The company has had some business coaching from us, and we’ve supported them in preparing a bid for funding that will enable them to develop a more sophisticated stock control system.

“One final example of a business we’re supporting - a company called Waterblade. They are developing a nozzle that fits on the end of a bathroom tap and uses much less water than a standard aerating eco nozzle. They’ve worked with the university’s design department in honing a prototype, right down to fractions of angles and tenths of millimetres, to get it working as efficiently as possible. We’ve helped get funding to allow them to do this work and have been able to make use of the 3-D printing facilities at the university to produce the prototypes and test them. We’ve also provided some business coaching to look at where the product could be sold and how to market it.

We’ve also given the business the opportunity to speak at an international water efficiency conference that was running at the university.”

How would you describe the Green Growth Platform?

“We’re funded by the Higher Education Funding Council, or HEFCE. Our raison d’être is to help environmental sector businesses in

Sussex to grow, to give them support that they might need to take their business to the next level and to place Sussex at the forefront of the green economy. We have at the moment 390 member businesses on the network and the demand for our services has been very high.

“A big game changer will come when we get to a point where we can have sufficiently powerful batteries to store renewable energy on a domestic level” “We offer a range of support services for our member businesses, which fall under four headings: One-to-One Business Support Service, where companies get a set number of hours with a business coach, helping with needs such as branding, marketing, grant funding applications and business planning.

“A business may have great tech expertise and an amazing product, but they haven’t got the experience in finding a route to market, developing a sales pipeline or funding it.

“We have a Networking and Events programme, sub-contracted out to the Sustainable Business Partnership. They run business networking breakfasts across East and West Sussex for us that attract 30 or SMEs each, as well as meet-the-buyer events and masterclasses on topics such as raising investment, marketing and tendering.

“Our Innovation and R&D offering is very important. We really exploit our link to the university here, and we match-make where we can bring together academics who have the really strong technical expertise and businesses who know their market really well but may not

41

{ UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON }

have the tech expertise to develop a product or service. We can join them up and get funding to make it happen. This is a very popular service and we’ve have worked on some exciting projects where we’re seeing new products and services being developed that wouldn’t otherwise have happened.

“The final strand to our business support is Skills & Training, and that’s all about up-skilling and addressing skills gaps in the environmental sectors. Where we identify a skills gap, we look to work with the university or FE colleges to create a training course or a programme that might address that skills gap. We also have an internship and placement programme where we offer part-funded internships to the businesses.

We can support with the development of the job specification and advertising as well as provide a grant to contribute to the salary costs. This is a very popular service with our businesses as it allows them to address a skills need they may have without having to commit as much money.

“The Green Growth Platform is free to join for businesses and all of these services are either no cost or low cost. Any environmental business or business wishing to reduce their environmental impact can join at www. greengrowthplatform.co.uk.

42

Do you actually help straightforward companies that need a bit of help making their offices greener?

“Yes, we do. We help companies that want to adopt a more environmentally aware approach to growth, those that want to go on a journey whereby they become an environmental company.

Many of the grants for developing eco-tech firms come from the European Union. Would the predicted Euro referendum put these ventures at risk?

“The UK gets a lot of funding from the EU. Much has been written about how much we send them but we get a fair amount back.

Universities get millions a year through EU funding, and we’ve recently put in a bid for one of our businesses for one hundred thousand pounds. If successful, this money will go to a small client-based SME that is likely to create jobs as a result. Another of our businesses won an EU grant of sixty thousand pounds, that will enable them to commercialise their product here in Sussex, again creating jobs and putting money back into the local economy”.

“One of our mission statements is to place Sussex at the forefront of the green economy”

{ UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON }

The University of Brighton’s Green Growth Platform is hosting a conference called Next Level Thinking at the Eco-Technology Show on 12th June at the Amex Community Stadium.

Robb Cunningham: “We want to give businesses the opportunity to step back from the daily rollercoaster of running a business and take some time out to feel inspired, give a bit of attention to business inspirations, where they might like to go and what it might take to get to their business to the next level, hence Next Level Thinking.

“Our keynote speaker is Michael Ware from BDO (International Consultancy and Accountants) who leads on the low carbon arm of that business. He’s going to talk about the opportunities in the green sector and where it’s going.

“Andy Wood from Adnams Brewery is speaking as Adnams have revamped their business through huge sustainability policy.

“Also we have Syed Ahmed from Savortex, who have developed innovative smart eco-hand dryers. His is a story of taking an innovation and developing it and commercialising it to global success.

“And then we’ve got a local case study, Ollie Pendered of Community Energy South, who are pushing the community energy scene down in Sussex.

“We’ve got four workshops, and businesses can choose two of the four. They are: Developing a Sales Pipeline; Marketing the EcoCredibility of Your Product; Getting into a Big Business’ Supply Chain; and the Internet of Things and Business Opportunities. These will be followed by a networking lunch.”

The event runs from 9am - 2pm, including lunch. The standard rate is £45 – book via the events page at: www.greengrowthplatform.co.uk

43

{ ECO TECHNOLOGY SHOW }

LOW CARBON, HIGH CREATIVITY Discover how to slash running costs and reduce your business’ carbon footprint at the Eco Technology Show

B

righton’s Eco Technology Show is back again on 11-12 June and moving to the American Express Stadium to accommodate rising visitor numbers and improved accessibility. For businesses, it will demonstrate how embracing innovation in technology and low carbon solutions can help slash running costs and streamline business processes.

The Show is packed full of free keynotes, panels, talks and networking opportunities and spread across three seminar areas, five meeting rooms and a communications hub where visitors can get free advice from experts.

Speaker highlights include Julie Allen, Energy Manager, Nandos Restaurants, who will explain how to make the business case for investing in energy efficiency; Rupert Redesdale, CEO, EMA & Kev Sankar of Energy and Utility Skills will outline the benefits of the Low Energy Company Opportunity and explain how organisations can reduce their energy consumption; Sandra Norval, Head of Environment, Thameslink will show how an ESOS audit can open up a range of energy and cost saving opportunities; and Alexandra Hammond, Associate Director, Sustainability, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust will relay the benefits of Energy Performance Contracting.

Businesses looking to export should head to the UKTI talk to find out about the ways that UKTI can help businesses with export ambitions, and those seeking to start low carbon projects can get a handle on what funding schemes & competitions Innovate UK is running to help finance them from Nick Cliffe, Lead Technologist, Innovate UK. One of the Show’s main features this year is the new Innovation Zone. At this showcase of innovative products and solutions in low carbon and environmental technologies visitors will be able to learn about the brightest and newest ideas from up-and-coming businesses in the sector.

Businesses in the Innovation Zone will cover recycling waste water and food, utilising tidal energy and new ways to insulate buildings.

ReCharge Cargo, Brighton’s new cargo bike courier, will showcase its service at the Innovation Zone and will be on hand to explain how the company can deliver throughout central Brighton and Hove, and also to London, at costcompetitive rates using electric cargo bikes.

Joining ReCharge Cargo will be the Solar Cloth Company, which offers lightweight, flexible solar panels that can be easily applied to rooftops, including those which cannot support the weight of traditional solar panels, allowing companies to harness the sun’s energy.

Eco Technology Show Director Nicola Gunstone says: “We are proud to be flying the flag for innovation in the sector. The free stands we have offered will Nicola Gunstone provide a boost to up-and-coming SMEs in the low carbon and environmental technology sectors which perhaps don’t normally have a platform to showcase their products at such an early stage in development.

“We see this as an important investment as some of the greatest ideas come from start-up businesses, which sometimes require support to get them off the ground. Plus, it means Show visitors will get to see the very latest ideas and concepts that otherwise they might miss out on, so it’s a win-win situation!”

The Eco Technology Show will be open from 9.30am-5pm on Thursday, 11th June and 9.30am-4.30pm on Friday, 12th June.

Register today for free at: www.ecotechnologyshow.co.uk.

45

{ ANGER MANAGEMENT }

ANGER MANAGEMENT Utterly failed by Maarten Hoffmann

THE DAY THAT CHANGED MY LIFE

I

n last month’s Dining Out review, I admitted that I don’t eat fish, an odd admission for a restaurant critic, and I have been endlessly questioned over the statement all month, the standard question being, ‘Why? Don’t you like the taste of fish?’

It has absolutely nothing to do with my taste buds, as I quite like the taste of fish. It has to do with a moral imperative, my 20 years’ living in the tropics, and my blinding fury at the total and indefensible ignorance of all of you who do eat vast amounts of fish.

All fish are endangered, and when they are gone, so is the human race. Long before climate change, nuclear war or ISIS get us, the lack of fish will do for us all. Yet, despite overwhelming evidence, you still consume billions of tonnes of fish every day with gay abandon in a selfish and ignorant lemming charge over the cliff to annihilation.

An international team of ecologists and economists has made an incredibly scary prediction. In just a few short years, the world’s oceans will be empty of fish. While that dire prophecy may seem a little alarmist, the scariest thing about it is that it is backed up with good ol’ science fact. It was published in Science, a publication that, if nothing else, does not publish bullshit. Cue terror in the streets.

Back in 2006, the study was done by a man named Boris Worm (whose hilarious name

46

should not detract from his horrible prediction), a man with a PhD from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Along with colleagues in the U.K, U.S., Sweden, and Panama, Worm has predicted that by the year 2048, the ocean will be devoid of fish – which, if it occurs, would effectively end life as we know it on planet Earth.

“You still consume billions of tonnes of fish every day with gay abandon in a selfish and ignorant lemming charge over the cliff to annihilation” In an effort to discover exactly what would happen to the world if there were no more fish in the ocean, the researchers analyzed all kinds of data. What they found was much worse than they suspected. “I was shocked and disturbed by how consistent these trends are – beyond

anything we suspected,” Worm said in a news release.

After doing 32 thorough experiments on a variety of marine environments, the team of researchers looked at the history from the past 1,000 years in 12 different coastal regions around the world. Then they analyzed fishery data from 64 marine ecosystems and how nearly 50 protected ocean areas recovered after their protection.

The news was not good. Overfishing, habitat loss, climate change (yes), and pollution are driving numbers of most species into a faster and faster decline. Keep in mind that this study was published back in 2006, but since then not much has changed. When the study was released, just over 1% of the ocean was deemed protected. As of last year, the World Database on Protected Areas – run by the United Nations Environment Programme – reported that only 2.8% of the ocean is protected, and much of that is only token protection that isn’t effectively enforced.

“This isn’t predicted to happen,” said Nicola Beaumont, a PhD of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the UK, “This is happening now”.

The team of researchers responsible for the study said that the loss of species isn’t a slow moving phenomenon, either. We’re accelerating the problem even as we talk about fixing it. And it’s not an issue of food for humans at all, just

{ ANGER MANAGEMENT }

in case you’re thinking that no fish only means no more cod and chips. Everything in the ocean plays a vital role; think of it as the greatest balancing act ever, and everything involved depends on everything else to stay in sync.

Human beings are the proverbial brick in the washing machine, if you will. Species in the ocean play a vital role in our own survival; among their accidental benefits to human life is filtering toxins from the ocean and controlling algae blooms, which, if left uncontrolled by nature, can have disastrous effects on the planet.

Of course, mass slaughter and over consumption are not the only problems. Climate change, created by humans, also plays its part.

Around 50% of the oxygen we breathe is present in the atmosphere thanks to phytoplankton (photosynthetic organisms that live in the surface of oceans). People often think that trees are the reason we have breathable air, but without phytoplankton, oxygen would decrease by about 50%. Scientists estimate that the oceans absorb around a million tonnes of carbon dioxide EVERY HOUR. As a result our seas have become 30% more acidic than they were 30 years ago. This increased acidity plays havoc with levels of calcium carbonate, which forms the shells and skeletons of many sea creatures, and also disrupts reproductive activity. These threats have led to the phenomenon of ocean

acidification being dubbed global warming’s ‘equally evil twin’. The acidity of seawater will increase dramatically and that would alter the

“On the way back to the dock, I would often see a fishing crew on a small island and wonder what they were doing, until the day I pulled my boat onto the beach and went to investigate.

What I found changed my life forever” rain that falls on our crops. Our livestock eat grass and crops.

No fish - no crops - no livestock - no humans.

Simple.

If we were to lower consumption it would give us the time to reduce emissions, but at this rate you will have eaten them all long before we get the chance.

In my youth, I was living on the edge of the Sea of Cortez in Mexico and, working as a PADI Master Diving Instructor, I spent my days blissfully diving a site called El Bajo, which is a mountain peak 27 metres down and was world famous for schooling Hammerhead sharks.

I would astound my students on every single dive as we would see well over 3,000 Great and Scalloped Hammers on every dive, and it was one of the most awe-inspiring sights I have ever witnessed. On the way back to the dock, I would often see a fishing crew on a small island and wonder what they were doing, until the day I pulled my boat onto the beach and went to investigate.

What I found changed my life forever.

A large mound of juvenile Hammerhead heads. The stink was appalling and I counted 750.

Why just the heads, I wondered, until I questioned one of my dive staff and learnt that their bodies go into ceviche, which is a cheap local dish sold by the ton to tourists, and they knew they were not supposed to use shark, so they chopped the heads off, finned them and pulverised the lot so that no one would find out. A friend of mine dived there last year and over the course of 14 dives he didn’t see one single Hammerhead.

47

{ ANGER MANAGEMENT }

“It takes 4 kilos of dried fish to feed 1 kilo of farmed fish. You do the maths!”

This is the bloody problem. Take the babies and there are no more of anything. I was so furious I started the Cortez Conservation Club, and after taking guerrilla action day after day - including cutting gill nets, sabotaging boats, handing leaflets to tourists, pestering the authorities and publishing pictures - to try and stop this practice, I was ‘requested’ to leave the country and my life was threatened if I ever returned.

Now we have thousands of factory boats across the globe netting 100,000 fish at a time, the bastard Japanese government slaughtering whales, dolphins and every single fish species no matter how foul or diseased. Whilst on the subject, 10 years ago their fishing boats reported a dramatic fall in the catch of Blue Fin Tuna, so favoured by those who like to eat raw fish (Sushi), so instead of investigating and launching urgent research, they simply agreed to a raising of the price of Blue Fin, which sent every able-bodied captain rushing to the boats. Utter madness.

This year a world record was set for the sale of a single large Blue Fin Tuna - $1,76 million US Dollars – FOR A FISH! They will not be content until they have eaten every last one and will then proceed to eat everything else in the ocean. The same goes for every other fish eater amongst this planets ever-expanding population, munching their way through the world’s fish stocks at a rate that can never, ever, be replenished.

48

It’s a chain. Think of a necklace – remove one link and the entire thing falls apart. Now imagine that the links can never be re-created – there we have the problem. No matter how smart we humans are, we cannot replicate a species once it has gone. When one type of fish has gone, it will begin the rapid collapse of the entire system.

“Human beings are the proverbial brick in the washing machine”

Tuna: going. Cod: going. Sharks: going.

Turtles: going. Whales: going…….

Three comments I heard with annoying regularity when I used to lecture on this subject were: ‘You eat cows, pigs and sheep, what’s the difference’?

For any of you out there who might be thinking the same thing, your total ignorance defies belief. We can count the cows and know exactly

how many we have. We can help them breed and maintain their lifestyles. You cannot count fish, and when they are gone, they are gone and we will never know it until some lump of lard sitting in a sushi restaurant somewhere in the world eats the last one!

The second is: ‘Oh, there’s plenty of fish and they will never run out’. The words I have for you on this question, I have been informed by the legal team, I cannot print. Total, blindingly stunning, stupendous, embarrassing ignorance!

The third is: ‘No problem, we can survive on farmed fish’. Farmed fish eat their own crap, so go right ahead. Also, it takes 4 kilos of dried fish to feed 1 kilo of farmed fish. You do the maths!

It is too simplistic to say ’stop eating fish,’ but for pity’s sake, reduce your fish intake and give them time to recover. It has been shown that if humans ate 50% less fish, the ocean stocks could recover within 25 years. But no, you are all too busy to bother with silly things like this; therefore, you will join the other lemmings and eat them all. What will you tell your grandchildren when they ask, ‘Grandie, where have all the fish gone?’ Your response: ‘We ate them all’.

There might be time. Reduce your fish intake by 50% and show this article to your children.

Or die.

Next Level Thinking A conference for green sector businesses and those wanting to explore a more environmentally aware approach to growth.

12 June 2015, 9am – 1.45pm Eco Technology Show, Amex Stadium, Brighton This is an opportunity to step off the rollercoaster ride that is running your business and be inspired, gain insight from leading entrepreneurs and give time to your aspirations.

• Presentations from inspirational entrepreneurs including Michael Ware, Syed Ahmed, Ollie Pendered, Andy Wood • Selection of workshops • Networking lunch Tickets £45 for Green Growth Platform members £95 non-member (membership is free for eligible businesses)

web: www.greengrowthplatform.co.uk email: greengrowthplatform@brighton.ac.uk call: 01273 641949

{ BUSINESS EVENT }

CLOSING DATE FOR POSTAL ENTRIES: 23rd June CLOSING DATE FOR EMAIL ENTRIES: noon on 25th June EVENT DATE: 10th July at Bannatyne Hotel and Spa Hastings, 7pm The gala black tie event will be hosted by celebrity comperes with live entertainment Tickets include: • A welcome drink • A three course dinner and dance • Entertainment

Price £55pp + vat Numbers are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment

at the Bannatyne Spa Hotel, Battle Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN38 8EZ For sponsorship or entry details, contact Faiza Shafeek faiza.shafeek@jpress.co.uk 01323 414493 or 07540406685

Sponsors

The 2015 annual battle of 1066 Country, which includes Rother, Hastings, St Leonards, Rye, Battle, Ore and Bexhill is about to begin. The revamped 1066 Business Awards are now officially open with the Federation of Small Businesses as the headline sponsors again this year.

The awards will be presented at a glittering black tie event to be held on the 10th July at Bannatyne Spa Hotel Hastings. This year’s host will be Danny Pike of BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey.

Don’t hold back - enter the awards and ensure that your company gets the recognition it deserves. The Awards will single out those local businesses which have thrived and grown through innovation, forward thinking, effort and sheer hard work and the contribution they have made to the prosperity of 1066 Country and its communities.

Best Start-Up Business (under 2 years) This award is open to all businesses within the Hastings and Rother area who, at the closing date for applications, have been trading for less than 24 months.

Outstanding Contribution to the Community This award is open to all businesses, who can demonstrate an outstanding contribution to the local community.

Retailer of the Year Award for the retail business that can best demonstrate strong growth, an innovative approach to customer and employee relations together with creativity to enhance sales. This category is open to local independent retailers and to local units of national chains providing they can show how they have impacted on the local community and economy.

Small Business of the Year (1-10 employees) This award is open to all businesses within the area with less than 10 employees that can demonstrate exceptional performance, growth and market leadership.

Medium Business of the Year (10-50 employees) This award is open to all businesses within the area with between 10-50 employees that can demonstrate exceptional performance, growth and market leadership.

Awards organised by JP South Events

Media Partners Platinum Business Magazine Bexhill-on-Sea Observer Hastings & St. Leonards Observer Rye & Battle Observer

Large Business of the Year (50+ employees) This award is open to all businesses within area with 50+ employees that can demonstrate exceptional performance, growth and market leadership.

Eatery (Restaurant / Pub / Cafe) of the Year Award for a local restaurant, café, pub that can demonstrate outstanding creativity, customer service and top quality dining / food in the Hastings and Rother area.

Tourism & Leisure Business of the Year Award to a business that has best demonstrated exceptional financial returns, innovation, strong growth and market leadership in the field of tourism, leisure or hospitality activities.

Young Achiever of the Year Award for an exceptional individual aged under 30 has set up or developed a new business, product or service.

Investor in Training Business of the Year Award for companies demonstrating outstanding commitment to training.

Customer Service Award Award for a company who exceeds customer expectations in its service.

Innovation Award An ability to navigate market conditions is crucial for a business to survive today’s difficult economic conditions.

How has your business adapted to change, or utilized an innovative idea in order to be a successful business?

Jobseeker Award This award is open to all newly employed jobseekers within the Hastings and Rother area who, at the closing date for applications, have been employed less than three months.

Business Person of the Year We are seeing nominations for an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the business community. This might be a significant one-off contribution, or a lifetime contribution.

Lifetime Achievement Award Award for an exceptional individual whose effort and determination over time has made an exceptional contribution to a business and the wider business community resulting in a positive gain for both.

MADE IN THE

GATWICK DIAMOND

THURSDAY 4TH JUNE 2015 THE ARORA, CRAWLEY

Be part of the future of our important economic region!

Book Now via www.gdegf.com SPONSORED BY:

ORGANISED BY:

www.gdegf.com

HILTON LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT. YOUR TERMINAL TO THE WORLD. Whether flying from Gatwick Airport to your holiday destination or planning a London City Break, we are the best hotel for your stay!

Book one of our newly renovated and modern Executive rooms and start your holiday the night before you fly, relaxing at Hilton London Gatwick Airport.

Our Executive rooms offer access to our fully refurbished Executive Lounge, with free continental breakfast, drinks and canapés served between 6:30pm and 8:30pm and complimentary Wi-Fi access.

For room reservations please visit gatwick.hilton.com, call +44 (0) 1293 610 828 or email london.gatwick@hilton.com

South Terminal, Gatwick Airport | West Sussex | RH6 0LL ©2014 Hilton Worldwide

facebook.com/HiltonGatwick | twitter.com/HiltonGatwick

A TASTE OF BRITAIN I

t has been a very busy beginning of 2015 for Hilton London Gatwick Airport hotel, finalising the refurbishment of their 4th floor corridors together with the complete renovation of the Executive Lounge. As if this wasn’t enough, they have also introduced a new British inspired menu in Amy’s Lobby Bar. On Monday 16th of March 2015, Guy Hilton (General Manager) and Caspar Luiken (Director of Operations) together with the Executive Lounge team organised a “Makeover Gathering” to celebrate the re-opening of the newly refurbished Executive Lounge. It was the perfect opportunity to enjoy a great evening with the hotel’s most loyal guests and HHonors members, and to raise their glasses in thanks for a fantastic 2015 and all the improvements that are still to come in this Hilton hotel.

The renovation project of the Executive Lounge included new furniture, wall paper and flooring as well as a new menu created by their Executive

Chef Andy Smithers. The menu will include a delicious Afternoon Tea and different cold and hot canapés to be displayed within their “Aperitif Time” between 6:30pm and 8:30pm.

“A menu designed to please our international and local guests as well as non-residents who are searching for the best of the British cuisine”

Overall, the complete makeover of this comfortable lounge upgraded, and perfected every aspect of the guest experience, making sure that they are providing the best service and that the guests begin their holidays the night before they fly, relaxing at Hilton London Gatwick Airport.

Furthermore, following its renovation at the end of last year, the team in Amy’s Lobby Bar have just introduced a new “Taste of Britain” menu. A menu designed to please our international and local guests as well as non-residents who are searching for the best of the British cuisine.

Amy’s team, lead by Jessen Valaydon (Junior Sous Chef), created this exciting menu which is a celebration of delicious flavours featuring traditional Fish & Chips, a gourmet chargrilled Beef & Marrow Burger and different healthy options, including one of Jensen’s signature dishes a Pear, Walnut, Stilton & Beetroot salad.

53

Do you want to be part of a winning team?

Hastings Direct is an agile and fast moving insurance company which continues to challenge industry convention and remains one of the fastest growing insurance providers in the UK, with over 1.7 million customers. As an ambitious, industry innovator, we are seeking talented individuals to join our multi-award winning team at our head office based in Bexhill-on-Sea. In a culture which recognises achievement and actively promotes career progression, we can offer you the tools to excel and continue to grow with us in the future.

We have a variety of exciting opportunities across an array of business functions including: Technical engineering manager Accountable for managing the IT Infrastructure team across multiple disciplines including databases, servers, storage and networks.

Claims planning business partner To lead a team responsible for forecasting contact volumes and designing appropriate shift patterns and schedules for colleagues across multiple functions.

Senior systems engineer Overseeing the implementation and support of the Hastings infrastructure services across the systems, storage and virtualisation environments, whether these are on-premise, cloud or hybrid configurations.

Senior finance business partner Acting as an integral link between the Finance Department and the wider business, this role is responsible for planning, analysing and reporting on the financial and operational aspects of the company.

Senior network engineer Assisting in the development strategy for the corporate network, creating and articulating network infrastructure solutions, and addressing the core network architecture and design requirements for Hastings Direct.

Contact centre leaders for sales and customer service Leading the Contact Centre in delivering excellent customer service to Hastings Direct customers.

Head of compliance To be accountable for Compliance throughout the company and ensure that regulatory obligations are adhered to in conjunction with the requirements of the business Customer representatives Starting salary of £15,500 with exciting and achievable career development and the opportunity to earn up to £18,500 as you progress.

We’re on the lookout for great people, so experience is not required as we will invest lots of time up front in our fantastic training environment. All we need from you is the flexibility to work when our customers need us and to enjoy working as part of a team. If that sounds like you and you have basic computer and communication skills, as well as the drive to really go places, we want to hear from you.

Mon-Fri 8am to 9pm.

Sat 9am to 5:30pm and Sun 10am to 5pm.

Part time opportunities are also available working evenings and weekends

If you would like to know more about us or any of the above vacancies please visit our careers site at:

www.hastings-careers.com or send us an email to: recruitmentteam@hastingsdirect.com

{ BUSINESS EVENT }

www.sussexwomeninbusinessawards.com Key Dates Semi final Banquet luncheon on the 31st July Cavendish Hotel, Eastbourne Keynote speaker: Fiona Anderson of NatWest Bank Sussex Women in Business Awards Gala Final - Black Tie Awards Banquet Dinner on the 23rd October 2015 Cavendish Hotel Eastbourne Keynote speaker: Amanda Menahem of Hastings Direct For sponsorship or entry details, contact Faiza Shafeek faiza.shafeek@jpress.co.uk 01323 414493 or 07540406685

The Sussex Women in Business Awards celebrates the hard work and achievements of business women in all walks of life, women who wholly or partly run local businesses, women who are in education, women who are in uniform, women who are a one-band business.

More than 225 people attended the 2014 awards, which were designed to highlight the achievements of women from all walks of life; many of whom had little in common other than a passionate desire to succeed in business, to gain recognition for exceptional products, services or ways of working which are new, innovative and outstandingly successful.

The 2015 awards are now open, with Hart Reade Solicitors as the headline sponsors, and media sponsorship from Platinum Business Magazine and Johnston Press South. The awards are organised by JP South events.

BUSINESS WOMAN OF THE YEAR Recognising Sussex’s most successful business women, these women need to show the great drive, dedication and determination that has made a difference in their working environment.

THE INNOVATION AWARD An ability to navigate market conditions is crucial for a business to survive today’s difficult economic conditions.

NEW BUSINESS/START-UP OF THE YEAR AWARD Open to all growing businesses that have started trading since September 2013 and which are owned, part owned or wholly or partly run by a woman.

Headline Sponsor

Media Sponsors

Organised by

SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD (under 10 employees) Open to all businesses within the Sussex area which is owned, part owned or wholly or partly run by a woman with less than 10 employees that can demonstrate exceptional performance, growth and market leadership.

MEDIUM BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD (10-50 employees) Open to all businesses within the Sussex area which is owned, part owned or wholly or partly run by a woman with 10-50 employees that can demonstrate exceptional performance, growth and market leadership.

LARGE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD (over 50 employees) Open to all businesses within the Sussex area which is owned, part owned or wholly or partly run by a woman with 50+ employees that can demonstrate exceptional performance, growth and market leadership.

RISING STAR OF THE YEAR AWARD She may be a star of the present... or of the future. This award is also open for colleges and schools to nominate.

WOMAN IN EDUCATION We are looking for someone working in education who has gone that extra mile for children, teenagers or students or the company work force.

WOMAN IN UNIFORM She can be a woman working in any area of the health sector - as a nurse, doctor or medical technician etc or she may be working in any of the many roles across any sector, for instance as a police officer, ambulance paramedic etc.

WOMAN IN ARTS/MUSIC/DANCE/MEDIA This woman’s full time profession could be in the performing arts, music, the written word or visual medium in all its forms.

EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR AWARD Those companies who demonstrate a comprehensive, female friendly approach.

CONTRIBUTION TO THE COMMUNITY AWARD For the woman who has made a difference to her immediate and/or the wider Sussex community.

MENTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD For the woman who has demonstrated exceptional skills as a mentor.

WOMAN OF COURAGE This winner could be someone who has battled against enormous odds yet still continues to work.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD For the woman who has been ahead of her time for some considerable time.

Enter today www.sussexwomeninbusinessawards.com

AVOIDING CLASHES OF CULTURE Trading abroad is fraught with risk, not least the problem that different cultures do business in different ways. Michael Jenkins, Chief Executive of Roffey Park Institute, is well-versed in the customs of the Far East. Words: Ian Trevett

A

few years ago, there was a series of clever TV adverts for HSBC on the pitfalls of ignoring cultural differences when doing business abroad. The voice-over on one memorable ad read, “The English believe it’s a slur on your host’s food if you don’t clear your plate...,” with a close-up of a travelling executive struggling through an eel dish, slurping the bowl clean, only to see it constantly replenished by the stressed chef. The voice-over continued, “... whereas the Chinese feel you are questioning their generosity if you do.”

The tag line to the campaign was: “We never underestimate the importance of local knowledge.” It was excellent advice. So how do you effectively do business with companies or people from cultures that are so different from ours, notably countries in the Far East? My simple advice would be: talk to Michael Jenkins at Roffey Park Institute.

Roffey Park has 69 years of experience in leadership, organisational development, human resources and coaching, yet many businesses in Sussex and Surrey are unaware of the global impact it makes from its serene location close to

Horsham. Like its unassuming Chief Executive, Michael Jenkins, the Institute won’t be heard boasting about its achievements, but it has plenty to shout about, and it provides executive education and research to many of the world’s leading companies and organisations.

Among the strengths of the institute is the breadth of experience Michael has in doing business in the Far East. At university he took a degree in Chinese Studies, and went on to study Japanese language, politics and economics at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan on a Rotary Foundation scholarship. He was the company’s first British employee in Japan. He then worked for Toyota as a motor industry analyst for four years. Other roles included eight years in Singapore working in executive education and leadership development.

His Singapore connections proved invaluable when he set up a Roffey Park hub in Singapore as its AsiaPacific office.

It is safe to presume that Michael has avoided the cultural traps so humorously depicted in the HSBS adverts. He embraces the differences and advises anyone who wants to do business in Asia to do the same.

There’s a story he tells that illustrates the contrast in business relationships: “I was working in Singapore when one of our clients in Kuala Lumpur called me saying she wanted to meet the next day so she could give me feedback on our service. I checked my diary and suggested the next week, but she was insistent and asked if I could get the next flight.

“Understandably, I was nervous as she wanted to meet so urgently. She met me at the airport and I’ll always remember she asked me, ‘Have you ever eaten fish cooked in coconut milk from the state of Terengganu?’ I said I hadn’t and soon after we were in a kitchen in her high rise office eating this wonderful dish. Finally, we went to the meeting room and she just said, ‘Mike. We are very happy with the programme.’ And that was it.”

It is impossible to imagine such a scenario in England, but face-to-face contact is highly valued in Asia. “In Malaysia there’s an assumption that if your client wants something, you jump to it.

It goes beyond the remit of the most customerfocused business in this country.”

{ TRADING ABROAD }

AN EASTERN WAY OF THINKING “The Institute is modest about its achievements, but it has plenty to shout about, and it provides executive education and research to many of the world’s leading companies and organisations”

Michael Jenkins’ tips for getting by in Asia.

The importance of the Past. The past matters to the Japanese. In a meeting between a Japanese company and a British company it would be common for the Japanese to spend a great deal of the early part of the meeting tracking over the historical touch points between the two organisations.

Brits will say ‘I’m only in Tokyo for three days, can we just get to the point?

If you can stand listening to it all, it will stand you in good stead, but if you say ‘look, guys, I haven’t got all day to talk about this, it’s history’, that will be seen as bad form.

The psychologist Tom Cottle created his Circle Test to ascertain how different cultures perceive time. He asked respondents from a range of nations to scale circles to represent how important the past, present and future were, and position them to demonstrate to what degree they saw them as interconnected. The Japanese see time as highly interconnected, whereas the Americans see the past as entirely detached. The British see the past as relatively unimportant, yet strongly connected to the present.

But they conceive the future as being barely attached at all to either the present or the past.

I would say we are actually closer to the Japanese than the Americans.

Recognise that reminding each other of the good past you share can build trust – and that makes for better business.

Be patient. In The Art of War, Sun Tzu proposes playing a waiting game. He suggested that being the first mover would not always be an advantage.

You let the first mover make the mistakes. Many Chinese companies have waited patiently to build up their expertise. Foreign companies in China are now suffering from that strategy.”

We are always very anxious to seal the deal. There’s a notion that Westerners take one day to decide something and six months to implement it, whereas Easterners take six months to decide something and one day to implement it.

Silence is golden. Silence between Westerners is deeply uncomfortable.

In meetings people are expected to give instant answers and think on their feet. In the East people are given more time to form an answer and are allowed to stay silent while they think about it. If people are silent for some time the questioner may say, ‘Oh, we can go on to something else’, so no face is lost.

Try allowing colleagues the time to fully form their thesis. Rushing people leads to poorer answers, weaker solutions. To not allow thinking time is to the great detriment of the questioner and the person of whom they are asking the question.

A BAROMETER OF WORKING LIFE Roffey Park’s 2015 Management Agenda Survey has been running for 18 years and aims to highlight the views of managers on aspects of organisational life. It is a key barometer of working life. Over 1,300 UK managers from both inside and outside HR and of varying levels of seniority responded to this year’s survey. On this page we summarise some key findings.

PUBLIC SECTOR GLOOM HR managers in the public sector expect the size of their workforce to shrink in the immediate future. The focus in the sector continues to be on reform and changing the way the public sector works. Managing change, retaining and engaging employees continue to be key people challenges in the sector. Our evidence and that of others would suggest the challenge of retaining skilled employees in the public sector may become more urgent rather than less so over the next few years. Just over half of public sector managers responding to our survey report an intention to leave their jobs in the near future.

58

SKILLS AND SUCCESSION By comparison, expectations in the private sector are positive, with the balance of HR managers in the sector expecting to grow the size of their workforces. This is particularly the case for HR managers working in SMEs. The top anticipated people challenge in the private sector is that of ‘finding the right employees in the right markets around the world where the organisation does business’.

There also appears to be a renewed focus on succession planning, with this being one of the top three people challenges today cited by HR managers in the private sector. Although there is still fragility in the EU economy with recent

deflation, it may be that the interest in succession planning reflects a return to confidence and a renewed focus on more long-term planning as opposed to short-term management.

CHALLENGES REQUIRED The most commonly identified people challenge in the not-for-profit sector is that of ‘performance management’. Managers from the not-for-profit sector are more likely to see their culture as one that is supportive but lacks challenge. There is a question, then, as to whether managers in the not-for-profit sector may need to improve their ability to challenge as well as support.

{ MANAGEMENT REPORT }

espoused values of their organisation and those practiced by management; view attempts at culture change as unsuccessful. Junior managers are also less likely to see the culture at their workplace as offering both high levels of challenge and support.

Turning to workers in their fifties and sixties, our data suggests, contrary to previous research, that older workers may be interested in career advancement and promotion opportunities. In this year’s Agenda, lack of promotion prospects is the most common reason those in their fifties and sixties give for seeking other job opportunities. All this suggests that employers need to keep an eye on Gen X as well as Gen Y and should be wary of making assumptions about what they might want or need from work.

“Just over half of public sector managers responding to our survey report an intention to leave their jobs in the near future”

THE UK PRODUCTIVITY PUZZLE: IS BETTER LEADERSHIP THE ANSWER? The UK has an issue with productivity. Its productivity lags behind that of Germany, France and the USA. The reasons for this are unclear and likely complex. That said, it would be strange if the quality of employment and leadership were not part of the problem, and indeed, the solution.

ACAS, the UK Government body focused on employment relations, identifies four key ingredients of a more productive workforce: • • • •

‘TARGETING’ ETHICS Just over half of managers report observing misconduct in their organisation. Digging a little deeper, ‘abusive and intimidating behaviour’ and ‘taking credit for someone else’s work’ emerge as the two most commonly observed types of misconduct. Further, one-third of managers say that they have, at one time or another, felt pressured to compromise their organisation’s ethical standards.

The two most common reasons given are that of feeling pressure to follow their manager’s directives or to meet overly aggressive financial or business objectives. It seems that organisations’ ethical climate is threatened by both a failure to embed values (more than one-third of managers identify a discrepancy between espoused and lived values) and an over-reliance on targets to drive behaviour.

MANAGING MULTI-GENERATIONAL NEEDS? Managing the different needs and expectations of a multigenerational workforce appears at the top of the list of anticipated people challenges identified by HR managers in five years’ time. Despite this, HR managers’ views are split on both the need to and the success of attempts to manage the multi-generational workforce today.

Our data suggests that there are reasons for concern at both ends of working life. Junior managers responding to our survey appear more cynical on several fronts. They are more likely to: see diversity as a ‘tick-box exercise’ in their organisation; observe a lack of congruence between the

Leaders with a vision who value how individuals contribute Line managers who empower rather than control their staff Values that are lived and not just spoken, leading to a sense of integrity and trust Employees who have the chance to voice their views and concerns.

Unfortunately, our data highlights notable gaps in the ability of leadership in many organisations to live up to these ideals: • One-fifth of managers say their leader is ineffective at articulating a vision or empowering staff • Nearly one-third do not regard their manager as supportive and trustworthy; more than one-third of managers see a disparity between the ‘values on the wall’ and the values in practice • Nearly half of employees say they work in low support cultures, where there is a lack of adequate guidance and development to support people in their work • Those wishing to leave their place of employment, poor management and lack of appreciation are two of the top three reasons given for wanting to move on.

NAVIGATING THE ORGANISATIONAL MAZE One area in which leaders responding to our survey appear to struggle is that of the art of managing politics constructively. Organisational politics emerge from our survey as both a key leadership challenge and a source of workplace stress. Silo working, turf wars and clandestine discussions all emerge in the descriptions of organisational politics offered by managers responding to our survey. There is both good and bad politics, destructive and constructive politics. At the very least, our data suggests that managers may need to hone their micro-political skills if they are to navigate better organisational life and influence key stakeholders in the absence of authority.

The full report can be downloaded from www.roffeypark.com The survey was collated and edited by Dan Lucy, Meysam Poorkavoos and Julia Wellbelove.

59

magazine helping YOU stand out from the crowd..

“The magazine Brighton & Hove deserves” Bang & Olufsen, Hove

“Stunning” David Maslen

“A fabulous showcase for our properties” Hamptons-International, Hove

May OUT NOW

“A GREAT read” David Crosby Solicitor

Available at all estate agents and hundreds of selected outlets across the region

www.portfoliopublications.co.uk

{ SUSSEX MANUFACTURING FORUM }

DISCWORLD - PHYSICAL MEDIA LIVES ON...

I

f you thought that digital downloads and internet streaming heralded the imminent demise of the CD and DVD, think again.

The Sussex Manufacturing Forum, held at South Lodge Hotel in Horsham, recently heard how Southwater-based Sony DADC continues to produce millions of discs every year and looks set to continue well into the future, thanks to continuing worldwide demand and consolidation of manufacturing capacity.

Colin Lammie from Sony DADC told members how the Sussex manufacturing facility uses state-of-the-art processes driven by a lean manufacturing culture to produce, package and distribute music and films for a large number

of media suppliers, ranging from Sony Music to the BBC. His step-by-step explanation of the manufacturing process provided a fascinating insight into the rigorous quality control which goes into producing every single disc.

He commented: “While digital downloads and streaming services continue to put pressure on the tangible media market, ongoing and strong demand means that disc technology will remain a key format for many years to come around the world.”

In a busy and well attended meeting, Stuart Noakes, Head of Tax at Carpenter Box Chartered Accountants, provided a post-budget update on the Research & Development Tax Credit scheme

and the Patent Box regime. Simon Chuter of the Sussex Innovation Centre spoke about business growth opportunities, and Dr Rob Warwick from the University of Chichester outlined exciting developments at the new engineering and digital technology park at the Bognor Regis campus, which will attract 500 undergraduate and postgraduate students per year.

The Sussex Manufacturing Forum is open to Sussex-based manufacturers of all sizes and from all industry sectors. It is sponsored by the Manufacturing Group at Carpenter Box and HSBC Bank. www.carpenterbox.com

Our services include: • Accountancy & bookkeeping • Audit services • Tax returns • Tax planning

Passionate about business.

• Payroll services • Financial and investment services* • Wealth management We love to make your profits larger and tax payments smaller!

Go to www.carpenterbox.com to see what our clients say or get in touch on 01903 234094

*Carpenter Box Wealth Management LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

www.carpenterbox.com 61

LIVE THE LIFE YOU HAVE ALWAYS IMAGINED

Godfrey Living are a boutique property ser vices company in Brighton. We are the first choice partner for the property investor.

Property sourcing, research and evaluation.

Our aim is to design and deliver an outstanding experience for all our customers and investors.

Whether we are evaluating, advising, sourcing, marketing or managing properties we will always focus on our customers needs.

Bespoke property management ser vices

At Godfrey Living our property experts will share your vision and support you throughout your adventure.

— +4 4 (0)1273 623003 info@godfreyliving.com godfreyliving.com

Godfrey Investments godfreyinv.com

Sourcing outstanding property oppertunities.

Godfrey Design & Build godfreydesignbuild.com

Creating and developing unique buildings.

Godfrey Living godfreyliving.com

A boutique property ser vices company.

Property acquisitions and sales

Portfolio development and maximisation Investments and developments

Stag House Upper Bedford Street Kemp Town Brighton BN2 1GW

2015

SOUTH EAST BUSINESS SHOW www.b2bsoutheast.com

wledge o n k s i n u e b s e r s o f e r t s n a e t h v o e s network, make new contacts and nal a professio

The South East’s premium business-to-business event is back for 2015

Book Your Stand Now - ONLY ÂŁ299 b2bsoutheast.com/reserve

+VAT

Copthorne Hotel, Effingham, Gatwick Friday 25th September 2015 10.00am - 3.00pm This is a unique event as it unites all sectors of business and is the only marketing medium that brings the buyer, seller and products together at the same time and in the same place.

{ MARKETING }

BUILDING YOUR CASE…

By Louise Walden Director of Big Beach Marketing

D

id you know you are far more likely to buy from a company that has been recommended to you? Research by global information and measurement company Nielsen (www.nielsen.com/uk/en) shows that ninetytwo per cent of us trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of marketing.

This is why we advise our clients to provide a referral scheme to theirs; reward for recommendations that lead to new business.

This can take the form of gift vouchers, discount off an existing service (if accepting gifts is a problem) or a donation to a charity of the recommender’s choice. This can help to overcome any reluctance to give away details of contacts. Sometimes simply asking your customers if they know anyone who might need your services is enough. How often do you ask?

In addition to this, we encourage clients to ask for testimonials from satisfied customers, a short email or letter outlining the good service you provided and their experience of working with you. These can be added to your website, email marketing, social media and proposals,

endorsing what you do. You must check that people are happy to put their name against the quote; it will have no credibility without it.

“Sometimes simply asking your customers if they know anyone who might need your services is enough. How often do you ask?”

The other endorsement we recommend (and possible one of the best) is a case study, a brief summary of a client situation or story that includes the service they chose from you, their experience of working with you and the benefits

Big Beach Marketing Tel: 01273 434552 Web: www.bigbeach.co.uk

they have enjoyed as a result. To add credibility we’ll take photographs of the customer and their premises, which also demonstrates to potential customers that organisations similar to themselves are happy with the services you provide.

To that end we suggest having a variety of case studies for different customer types and industry sectors so that when you are pitching to a new prospect you have a case study that is relevant to them. We find that case studies are a great marketing investment as they possess longevity and are as good as having a reference site.

Your case study could take the form of a video interview, brilliant for SEO on your website, and can be more engaging. Getting people in front of the camera can, of course, be difficult! Some love the camera and others… anyway, we have the process down to a fine art.

So, challenge yourself to gain five testimonials this month from your loyal customers and then use them in your prospect communication. You may find there’s a new case study waiting to happen too.

65

E XPERTS IN DIRE CT MAIL SOLUTIONS

The driving force behind your marketing ●

Expert Direct Mail Marketing

●

Direct Mail Production and Distribution

●

Advertising, Media Planning and Buying

●

Bulk Postal Discounts

●

Design of Mail Packs and Literature

●

Storage and Distribution

●

Prospect Data

●

Web - IVR and Coupon Response Handling

●

Colour and Digital Printing Security

●

Data Capture and Brochure Despatch

●

Direct Mail

●

Database Cleansing and Management

●

E-Commerce Fulfilment

●

CRM Management

●

Digital Media - SMS

●

QR Codes

Nova Direct Ltd, Edward Way, Victoria Business Park, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 9UA E: sales@novadirectmail.co.uk T: 01444 231400

W: www.novadirectmail.co.uk

{ YOUNG START-UP TALENT }

A PEDIGREE BUSINESS

“Jodie made the dramatic leap from the BDSM industry to pet accessories – that’s quite a journey!”

I

n a world where our beloved pooches deserve only the very finest, it’s no wonder that upand-coming luxury leather pet accessory company ‘Hounds and Hides’ has taken the market by storm. 23-year-old Jodie Deakin, founder of the high-end collection, has been on a mission to provide her beautiful French bulldog, ‘Cash’, with the best quality collars and leads, and along the way has blossomed into a successful young entrepreneur.

After spending many years being trained in working with leather, Jodie actually found her passion for the industry whilst working as a Production Assistant at an adult leatherwear company, where she produced top quality leather goods and clothing. After sustaining a wealth of knowledge in leather and developing a passion for the trade, she made the dramatic leap from the BDSM industry to pet accessories, perhaps not the most obvious transition, but

one that has certainly benefited Jodie and the many dog lovers out there looking to treat their pampered pups.

The ‘Hounds and Hides’ website offers beautifully designed, bespoke dog collars and leads made from the finest Italian leather. The aim is to deliver products that not only look stunning wrapped around our furry friends, but are as comfortable as possible - which is, of course, aided by the fantastic quality of the leather. Recognising that every pet is a special individual, Jodie began to offer the option to personalise accessories by having the pooches names embossed onto the leather.

George and Teddy pugs raved about the product, saying “We love our matching collars!

Even better that they are personalised so nobody now mixes me up with my twin Pug!” In February of 2015 Jodie became winner of an entrepreneurial initiative enabling the

company to lift off the ground and begin conceiving new products, her most ambitious concept being a 2-in-1 luxury pet carrier that will also be a fashionable handbag. Having already hooked a large number of overseas customers and gained copious interest from dog lovers, Jodie is hoping the nature of Hounds and Hides will take it straight to Harrods.

Despite her rapid and impressive success in the pet industry taking up much of Jodie’s day, there is still time to photograph the gorgeous Cash with his handcrafted embellishments, which can all be found on Instagram, along with lots of other pups all looking rather fetching indeed.

To find out more about Jodie and her leather pet accessories, please visit www.houndsandhides.com.

67

Sunday 21st June - 9am - 6pm Compete in our annual raft-racing tournament on a beautiful private lake in Chichester - against up to 18 corporate teams from the Sussex business community - in order to raise vital funds for our two chosen charities.

Included in your day: • All raft-building materials (you are welcome to accessorise) • Racing on the lake with your team of 4 paddling as fast as they can* • A delicious lunch for your team served by The Gourmet Chef • Live commentary and music from our compere Tom Foolery • Health and safety equipment (buoyancy aids/helmets) for your team • Snacks and refreshments throughout the day for teams • A sparkling wine award ceremony at the end of the day • 3 teams will be awarded our sought after bath tap trophies!

Spectators welcome to come along and cheer on teams !

Entry Fee £250* For further info visit: www.greatsussexbathrace.co.uk To enter a team, please email: gemma@vividmarketing.co.uk www.facebook.com/SussexBathRace www.twitter.com/SXBathRace

KINDLY SUPPORTED BY

Registered charity number: 1127779

Registered charity number: 256789

*Teams must be mixed sex and commit to fundraising target of £1000 via VirginMoneyGiving.com or via company donation.

{ BUSINESS SCENE }

3.

1.

PC

THE P L AT I N U M CLUB

2.

1. Eleanor Harris (i360), Kevin Smyth (Burt Brill & Cardens) .

2. Sarah Hopwood (Business Change), Adrian McClinton (Rix & Kay) .

3. Carly Chandler & Chris Graham (Gatwick Hilton), Faye Honey-Green (Mercedes-Benz).

THE PLATINUM BUSINESS CLUB, THE GRAND HOTEL, BRIGHTON The Platinum Club held their monthly event at the Grand Hotel recently with the sun shining and fine Champagne flowing.

There was much talk of the exciting launch of the Gatwick branch of this hugely successful networking forum which took place on May 14th at the Gatwick Hilton. For more details on joining the Platinum Club and meeting business leaders for across Sussex, contact info@theplatinumclubbrighton.co.uk or call 07966 244046.

4. Emma Segal and Daisy Fitzsimmons (Pier Recruitment), Becky Sharp (Sharp Insight).

5. Was it something he said?

6. Jonathan Grant (DMH Stallard), James Peach (Kreston Reeves).

7. Michael Wilkins (Allied Irish), Shirley Smith (Kreston Reeves), Richard Pollins (DMH Stallard).

8. Richard Pollins (DMH Stallard) Maarten Hoffmann (The Platinum Group).

6.

4.

5.

7.

8.

69

{ EDUCATION }

SKILLS ON TAP

M

arek Kotas, 53, is studying full-time for his MSc in Project Management at Portsmouth Business School.

“I used to work in project management, but I took voluntary redundancy in order to start my own bathroom installation business. Sadly, the

company did not survive the credit crunch and recession, but when I tried to get back into my previous line of work I found that my skills were out of date.

“I enrolled on this course to give me the qualifications to get back into project management or a related discipline and to allow me to stand out in the job market.

“Project management is all about people, time and risks, assessing what might delay or derail a project.

“We all project manage our own lives all the time, but advanced project management skills are needed in managing complex projects with lots of people and complicated timescales which contractors need to adhere to, for example. It’s about juggling different priorities and finding a way through sometimes competing interests to ensure the final project is delivered on time and on budget.

“I’ve worked on small and large projects and the skills needed are the same whether the project involves six people or 100 people.

“I already lived in Southsea, so deciding to study at the University of Portsmouth was the obvious choice.

“It’s early days, but I am very impressed with the quality of the lecturers. They are knowledgeable, but, more importantly, they are engaging. So far I haven’t come across anything I don’t enjoy. I even enjoy the assignments in a masochistic sort of way.

“Generally, the assignments are the most difficult part of the course. My advice to others thinking of doing post-graduate study is to study full-time if you can and to start your assignments as soon as you get them. You want to aim high in terms of getting the best grade you can and the sooner you start work on assignments the better your chance is of doing well.”

Marek started his course in September this year and will finish in September 2015.

Portsmouth Business School holds regular postgraduate information events where you can meet lecturers and discuss courses. Please visit www.showyoumeanbusiness.com for details.

You’re a professional – so prove it Project Manager

HR Practitioner

Whether you are responsible for projects, HR, marketing, risk management or have ambitions for a top-level executive role, Portsmouth Business School offers part-time and professionally recognised postgraduate programmes for busy working people.

A first degree may not be essential, as long as you have the right attitude and work experience which will have prepared you to succeed. You’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain, so come along to our next open evening – for details please visit www.showyoumeanbusiness.com.

Sales Manager

Head of Programme Transformation

We’ve got our credentials – have you got yours?

T: +44 (0)23 9284 2991 E: pbs-studentrecruitment@port.ac.uk W: www.port.ac.uk/pbscourses

70

THE LEWES & WEALDEN BUSINESS AWARDS 2015 Order your tickets now for the magnificent Lewes & Wealden Business Awards Event at the East Sussex National Hotel 19 June, 2015 The gala black tie event will be hosted by celebrity comperes with live entertainment

Tickets include:

A welcome drink A three course dinner • Entertainment

PRICE

£50pp + VAT

Numbers are limited, so book early to avoid disappointment

Contact Faiza Shafeek on 01323 414493 or email: faiza.shafeek@jpress.co.uk Little Horsted, Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 5ES

CLOSING DATE FOR POSTAL ENTRIES: 1st JUNE 2015 CLOSING DATE FOR EMAIL ENTRIES: BY NOON 2nd JUNE 2015 HEADLINE SPONSOR

MEDIA SPONSORS

AWARD SPONSORS

ORGANISED BY

From left to right are: (back row) Robb Cunningham, John Clarke, Dan Baverstock and Lorraine Bell. (front row) Jo Carpenter, Zoe Osmond and Rachel Espinosa.

ELECTRONIC ENTREPRENEURS The second Brighton Music Conference in June brings together the leading industry figures in the electronic dance music scene from across the globe for two days of trade shows, debates and networking. DJ, producer and entrepreneur, John 00 Fleming explains to Ian Trevett why this is such a significant event.

I

t really took hold with the second summer of love in 1988, when the house music scene suddenly exploded. The hypnotic dance music, which began a few years before in Chicago, was pumped out in warehouse parties, raves and the beaches of Ibiza. It was fun, sweaty, often illegal, sometimes involving substances not approved of by the police - and no-one would ever have dreamed that it would become a vast sprawling industry that would be bigger than ever 27 years later.

Back in 1988, it was about the music and dancing, the DJ just happened to be a guy who particularly passionate about the music. In the

72

age of celebrity, that soon changed and the top DJs and mixers became household names, and enormously wealthy. Forbes estimated that the top ten EDM (‘Electronic Music Artists’) earned $125m in 2013. Calvin Harris (actually a Scottish chap called Adam Wiles), who has collaborated with artists such as Rihanna and Kylie, earned a phenomenal $46m in that year.

Dance music is big business, but typically it took an innovative group of people from Brighton to realise that there is a chance to do something just a bit different. John 00 Fleming started as a DJ in his home town of Worthing, notably at an infamous club called Sterns, and has DJed all

over the world, as well as setting up his own label and producing dozens of albums. Last year he joined forces with Nicola Gunstone and Billy Mauseth (creators of the Eco Technology Show) to create a unique new industry event.

“I was having conversations with people about why there isn’t an event for the industry in the UK, and realised that if it was to happen, I would need to do something about it,” says John. “The UK has played a huge part in the history of the electronic music scene with many of the biggest brands, clubs, labels, DJs and producers being based here, so its makes complete sense to have a conference here in the UK.

{ THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC }

“It was born out of the frustration in seeing the next generation not getting the help, advice or tools to enable them to make a career in the music industry. There are plenty of music courses around in colleges and online, but nothing to give these kids the tools, advice or direction in the music industry.

“We have had fantastic support from the industry and on social media, with support from some major companies and this is just year two. It is a place for agencies, labels, technology and equipment companies to get together and network.

“We are used to being in loud clubs and this is how we do business. I feel tense in a corporate environment, but I feel at home in a music venue and I am used to talking in a place with loud music. So we feel relaxed and get an instant connection.

“We had a super-tight budget, but it was clear that every one wanted it. Last year was chaotic from an organisational perspective as we totally underestimated how popular it would be. We

opened the door and the queue was aleady right round the corner, which we couldn’t believe. We struggled to process the tickets quickly enough but we will be prepared this time.

“The event could have a major impact on Brighton. The Amsterdam Dance Event has been going for 20 years and it is massive for the city and is a massive boost for the tourism in the city, benefitting hotels and restaurants.

“We can also showcase some great local companies such as Function One, who are one of the best sound systems in the world, and their portfolio includes the Russian Winter Olympics.

Also we have the Paramount DJ agency.”

One of the main motivations for creating the conference was to offer advice to new generations hoping to break into the music industry. It is a subject that concerns John.

“The biggest challenge facing new musical talent these days is simply how to make an income. We are here to help identify what areas you can make money from within the industry and understand the changing income revenues.

This is a fast changing industry as technology is moving forward very quickly.”

The music industry critic, David Lowery, poses the questions: “Why do we value the network and hardware that delivers music but not the music itself?”

And “Why are we willing to pay for computers, iPods, smartphones, data plans, and high speed internet access but not the music itself?”

John concurs. “You used to sell vinyl albums for £7-£10, Then CDs arrived and the artist’s earning dropped, then you had downloads, where you will literally receive pence.

“The light at the end of the tunnel is streaming.

There are four or five companies competing to dominate the market, such as Spotify, YouTube, Facebook and Apple. All want to be the leader.

The market is stuck at the moment, so there is a blockage, but once it is sorted out, there will be a chance for artists to make money. People are used to and expect to pay money for TV channels, and pay a lot of money for sports or movies packages. Once we have 5G or 6G, the download speeds will mean that file sizes don’t matter.”

If the opportunity to sell music has dwindled, expectations have soared.

“This is the X Factor generation and they have this mentality, where they see a magical, romantic story of this guy who used to work in Tesco and three months later he’s a pop star. It’s in our DJ and producer culture as well. You get some guy who makes a couple of tracks and bang

off they go touring the world. But that’s all it is - a one-off romantic story. It is in many ways a lazy generation who expect it all given.”

“This is the X Factor generation - they see this guy who used to work in Tesco and three months later he’s a pop star”

If I think back to myself and top DJs like Pete Tong and Carl Cox, we made our own gigs. We carried records in beer crates, created our own scenes and following. It wasn’t always easy. You might set up a rave and it could be highjacked by less scrupulous characters.

“It was about finding a pub or a club that has a quiet night of the week, taking it on and building it up, until you might get the Friday night or a bigger venue. You grow and grow until you get 300 in a night. Then you take it to another city just like you would with a business.

“Music was simply my hobby. I worked hard to buy better keyboards or monitors.”

John got his break when his headmaster asked him to play an under 18s night for the school.

After just one appearance, John was asked to become a resident at the Sterns in his hometown of Worthing. He was aged just 15. But after that his success was down to sheer hard work and passion for his music.

Today, the music scene is so ingrained that you can take courses in DJing at Further Education colleges. However, John feels the courses don’t always prepare students for the real world.

“The actual music skills side seems to be taken care of, there are plenty of music courses in the UK and YouTube is full of tutorials. It’s what happens after you have acquired that skill where the problem lies. There is no longer the infrastructure in place to nurture new talent and guide them through their journey into the music

73

industry. The days of A&R guys are long gone, so artists are guessing their way.

“One guy I met had 50 unfinished tracks and he was just getting frustrated. It was clear that he had the technical know-how, so I suggested he concentrated on sound engineering. What many young people don’t realise is that engineering in a music environment can be just as well paid as song writing.

“The tutors don’t always install a sense of realism. There is huge demand for DJ courses, as being a DJ is like being a pop star. They all want to be the next superstar DJ but there’s not enough space for them all. There are only so many gigs.

“We try to help the students with the benefit of our experience, making sure they know all the aspects of the business. Far too many do these courses, but fail to make it in the business, and up as plumbers or builders.

“The other thing young people have to cope with is the fact they live their lives in public, something we never experienced. When I think of the dumb things we did, I am so relieved there was no Facebook or any other social media. But it is out there now and young people have to be

74

aware of how it can affect their future.

“Don’t put a picture of a marijuana leaf on your Facebook page or any drug references for that matter. Venue owners will think you are trouble, and they have their licenses to think of. The same applies for any potential employer.”

While John has admirable concern for the young generation, how long can the first generation of DJs and producers carry on? Isn’t the nightclub the domain of the young?

“I still love what I do,” replies John. “ The clubgoers are much younger, of course, but we have lived our lives in clubs and it feels normal to be in that environment. But there are no rules to follow. We have had to make it up as we go along as there is no-one ahead of us. When we reached 30 and then 40, there was no-one telling us it was time to retire. Many top DJs are now in their 50s and show no signs of stopping.”

John hasn’t reached 50 yet, but it is clear he has no intention of slowing down either. After all, just like youth, music is wasted on the young!

www.brightonmusicconference.co.uk

“The event could have a major impact on Brighton. The Amsterdam Dance Event has been going for 20 years and it is massive for the city and is a massive boost for the tourism in the city, benefitting hotels and restaurants”

Business Solutions at Lookers Mercedes-Benz.

The GREENER route for your business with our new Mercedes-Benz Electric, Hybrid and PHEV vehicles…

Fully trained and IMI Accredited Mercedes-Benz Business Development Managers

The all new B-Class Electric with ZERO emissions

Mercedes-Benz is proud to be in the UK’s top 10 best “green” fleet manufacturers as named by BusinessCar Magazine.

Mercedes-Benz was recognised as one of the country’s leading green manufacturers ahead of both BMW and Audi. This is thanks to its new low-emission hybrid and plug-in models across the range – in particular, the hybrid C-, E- and S-Class models, plug-in hybrid S- and C-Class, and the all-electric B-Class.

At Lookers Mercedes-Benz, we pride ourselves on putting you and your business first, we understand the needs of our customers, from vehicle funding through to fleet management, you will have the peace of mind that we can provide you with the most efficient and economical service in the area.

Model

P11D Value

CO2

Taxation % 2015/16

Taxable Benefit

Monthly Taxation @ 20%

Monthly Taxation @ 40%

B Class Electric Sport Auto

£31,895.00

0 g/km

5%

£1,594.75

£26.58

£53.16

C350e Sport Saloon Auto

£38,125.00

48 g/km

5%

£1,906.25

£31.77

£63.54

C300h Sport Saloon Auto

£37,380.00

94 g/km

13%

£4,859.40

£80.99

£161.98

C250d Sport Saloon Auto

£34,770.00

109 g/km

19%

£6,606.30

£110.11

£220.21

E300 BlueTEC Hybrid SE Saloon Auto

£40,425.00

107 g/km

16%

£6,468.00

£107.80

£215.60

E220 BlueTEC SE Saloon Auto

£34,815.00

114 g/km

20%

£6,963.00

£116.05

£232.10

S500 Plug In Hybrid AMG Line L Saloon Auto

£87,910.00

65 g/km

9%

£7,911.90

£131.87

£263.73

S300 BlueTEC Hybrid AMG Line L Saloon Auto

£72,205.00

120 g/km

19%

£13,718.95

£228.65

£457.30

S350 BlueTEC AMG Line L Saloon Auto

£70,705.00

157 g/km

29%

£20,504.45

£341.74

£683.48

Business Solutions at Lookers Mercedes-Benz For more details, visit www.lookers.co.uk/mercedes-benz

Mercedes-Benz of Brighton Victoria Road, Portslade, Brighton, East Sussex BN411DY 01273 426 728 Mercedes-Benz of Maidstone Bircholt Road, Parkwood, Maidstone, Kent ME15 9YN 01622 623 711 Images for illustration purposes only. 58051

{ MOTORING REVIEW }

Motoring Editor: Maarten Hoffmann

AUDI TT

THE TEUTONIC ORDER

TECHNICAL STUFF: Model Tested: TT Coupe 2.0 TFSI Engine: 2.0 litre petrol Performance: 0-62mph 6 seconds Top Speed: 155mph Economy: 47.9mpg combined Price from: £29,810 As tested: £41,895

76

T

he Audi TT has been with us since 1999 and was catastrophically labelled a ‘hairdressers’ car’. Simple little throw-away remarks like that by slick and slippery motoring journalists searching for a canny comment can do great damage to the image of a car, and it certainly put many men off buying the TT, and therefore you tend to see more women than men driving them. This is totally unfair, but the label stuck.

That label can now be ripped up as the new TT arrives on our shores, and a thing of beauty it is, too. It is bigger, butcher, faster and far better equipped than its predecessor. The TTs are all turbocharged, and the choice is either the 2.0 litre petrol or diesel or the explosively fast TTS. As l write it has been announced that the TT has won the Diesel Sportscar of the Year Award 2015.

The engine delivers the power with a smooth, constant flow, with no sudden surges, and there is power on tap whenever you want it, at any speed, in any gear. Marry this to beautiful handling, zero body roll and a constant intuitive feel through your hands informing you of what the wheels are doing and you have one of the best coupes on the market. It is just so easy to drive and hit that corner a tad too fast, and it will tell you before you hit the limit, thus giving you time to back off. The grip is stupendous and the suspension firm but fair; and plump for the optional sport suspension set up, and there will never be anything to complain about. Take the S line variant, and the sport suspension is included, and although the four-wheel drive is optional, I would choose it every time. Like most Audis, you don’t really know it’s there until the rain, sleet, hail or snow descends and you find yourself the only driver still on the road. The front wheel drive does occasionally struggle to put the power down efficiently without triggering the traction control, so for me it would be the Quattro every time.

The interior is where you find most of the changes, and it really is a lovely place to be.

The build quality oozes out of every inch of the interior with superb quality materials and panels that fit to within an inch of their lives.

You do have to wonder with German cars quite how they do this time and time again. Every time a new German model is launched, it seems to defy physics as the build quality gets better every time and creates one harmonious automotive union.

The latest creation in the TT is the repositioning of the sat nav. Many designers have played with this de rigueur item of the 21st century but no one has quite worked out how to make it disappear so that we don’t have a screen sticking out of the dash and a range of mind-boggling switches to operate, but I believe

Audi have finally cracked it. They have placed it right in front of you as the entire dial cluster has become the sat nav in a ‘virtual cockpit’: it’s quite ingenious. The speed and rev counter are digitally laid over the map, and with the press of a button you can make the dials smaller and therefore the map larger. If you are not using the sat nav, then reverse the exercise and the dials are larger, with the map lying in the background. It is really very clever and easy on the eyes Importantly, it is also safer as you are not glancing across the cabin to check out where you are but merely dipping your eyes slightly to the cluster.

The result they were looking for has also been achieved; they have freed the space up on the dash and kept it minimalistic and functional so that a three-year-old could work all the switch gear.

The front seats are well designed and grip well on cornering, while the back seats are all but useless for adults and even a bit of a squeeze for kids. They do offer increased load capacity, though, as folded flat they extend the boot so that even a bag of golf bats would fit.

For such a low-slung coupe there is a great unobstructed view from the cockpit, but you still have the bend, twist, drop technique of

getting into the blasted thing. Perhaps that is just because I am an old fart, but once in you are effectively semi-reclining, with your legs straight in front of you in the classic old sports car position, and it feels great.

“They have placed it right in front of you as the entire dial cluster has become the sat nav in a ‘virtual cockpit’: it’s quite ingenious”

This is a driver’s car with great looks, great engine, tremendous handling and a great interior that you really don’t want to get out of.

What’s not to love?

A BOYS’ DAY OUT

By Maarten Hoffmann

T

rying to get a day off is a battle royal as this magazine and the Platinum Club pretty well suck up seven days a week, and I have missed weddings, christenings, family events and the odd funeral in my dedication to you, my dear and loyal reader. Then Richard Skerritt called and asked if I wanted to go motor racing and the diary was cleared in ten seconds flat.

Jonathan Palmer was a Formula 1 driver with Tyrrell, having been F2 and F3 Champion in 1981, and took second place for Porsche at Le Mans in 1985. It’s fair to say, then, that he is a bit of a petrol head and has got the bank balance to match.

Therefore, once retired, what else would any selfrespecting piston head do but buy an old airfield,

78

build four superb racing tracks and then stand in the old Concorde hanger and wonder what mouthwatering array of monster metal he should stock it with. And boy, didn’t he do well.

Having purchased Bedford Aerodrome just north of London, he opened Palmer Sport in 1991, which now carries the reputation of being the world’s greatest corporate driving event. Groups or individuals can book for the day and enjoy a phenomenal day of team building or staff bonding or... who am I kidding... just having fun whilst ripping the hell out of an array of cars that leaves petrol heads breathless.

Richard Skerritt, of Skerritt Wealth Management, organised the day, with twelve highly competitive,

testosterone-filled friends and clients, and we were let loose on a couple of million quid’s worth of metal.

The day started sedately enough at 7.30am with a great breakfast in our personal suite, followed by a briefing by one of the professional instructors, who remained with us for the day. Personally, I hardly heard a word, so keen was I to get going, and soon we were loaded aboard our private bus that would transport us around the site all day from track to track, from heavenly filled garage to heavenly filled garage.

I am thinking I might have died and gone to heaven.

{ PALMER SPORT }

ARIEL ATOM This little tyke was our first dose of Palmer Sport and really is an atomic weapon, with 0-60 in 3.2 seconds, 145 mph and weighing less than a stick of Brighton rock. You are fully encouraged to rev the nuts off the cars, slide whenever possible, make smoke at will and all but destroy the gearbox.

And we certainly had a good go at that!

Professional timing screens are dotted around as real time action is beamed live to those six waiting their turn, and if you are in the first six and think you’ve done well, you then suffer a bottomclenching wait as you watch their times to see who will knock you off the leaders’ board. None of us really wanted to care and we tried to look calm and composed, but we all failed within five minutes as eager faces studied the timing board with fists and teeth clenched. I came an annoying fourth. With sweat pouring, we boarded the bus to the next track.

“From track to track, from heavenly filled garage to heavenly filled garage.

I think I might have died and gone to heaven!”

BMW M4 GTP Not content with the boring old M3, this fully race-prepared M4 is a true Bavarian bruiser with 425bhp, 0-60 in 3.9 and 185mph coming in a jiffy if you are brave enough to keep your right foot planted. I am not sure if I am brave or stupid, but my right foot was so planted that my calf was aching and I was not the only one. Powerslides, screaming tyres and the odd balletic 360 spin were the order of the day, and I was certainly not the only one laughing and howling in my helmet. I came a distant 5th but oh, what fun.

79

CATERHAM 7 SUPERLIGHT

SINGLE SEATER FORMULA 3000

This open-top, light-as-a-feather beast sits there looking all innocent and sweet. Don’t be fooled. It tries to rip your face off and is only really happy when it’s going sideways. Ironically, Caterham Cars have just opened a brand-new showroom in Crawley, and in a couple of weeks’ time they are sending me a road-going Caterham 270S to review.

Now I can’t wait, as this thing is so much fun that I ended up with a sore throat from howling with joy as its tail slides out of every corner and you try to muster the skill to tame it. I guess I did as I won.

Happy boy now!

Lunch! What on earth do you mean, lunch!

There’s no time to waste eating bloody lunch, there’s cars to be driven. But I could hear Richard’s stomach growling so thought better of moaning, and off we went to our suite to enjoy a splendid three-course lunch. No wine was offered for some strange reason!

Now for the serious stuff, but with a full stomach, I was not so sure. F1 style cars were all lined up In brilliant fire engine red livery and in absolutely perfect formation, with a personal instructor for each of us and a long and concentrated briefing from an ex-paratrooper called Sarge, who looked as though he could have picked the car up and popped it into his pocket with one hand. Whatever he said, I wasn’t arguing. We were shown a video of what can go wrong as some chump braked too late into a corner, clipped the front of his mate’s car and spun a few times before flipping upside down at 80mph and ploughing a furrow across the grass run-off area. That halted the frivolous behaviour as we realised this was very, very serious stuff, and a smidgeon of fear could be seen on a few faces.

Jonathan’s son, GP2 champion and the new Lotus F1 test driver, Jolyon Palmer, designed

this track, and didn’t he do a good job. Crafty little kinks, tight hairpins, fantastic high speed chicanes and a 180mph straight concentrate the mind like nothing else can. We came for a laugh and a day out with the boys and here we are about to take our lives in our hands. I haven’t been so excited since I stopped paying alimony.

Full fireproof race suits, gloves and helmets are mandatory as we slide into a space so tight that breathing is an afterthought, stretched out flat to test the pedals, and then the fright of our lives as we hit the start buttons. The vibration through my bum was exhilarating as we were ordered out for two calm laps behind the pace car to learn the track. Then it pulled off and Armageddon was let loose as my right foot planted and I experienced the full 3Gs of acceleration on my body. But there is just no time to think. It is so blisteringly fast that by the time you get going the corner is upon you and then you get 2Gs under braking, another sideways 2Gs in the corner and 3Gs as you accelerate out with the view of the back wheel beside you as you wrestle to get it straightened out and prevent the spin. This is like an assault course for the body and the mind. Everything is a blur as I settle down and focus on the job in hand. Speed and winning – oh, and staying alive, although once you get going that really doesn’t matter any more, and with me thinking that if I have to go, this would be an excellent way to shuffle off my mortal coil.

These are not brakes that you delicately tap.

You stand on the brake pedal with full force if you want to slow this behemoth down and bang the paddle shift through the lightning fast gears to hurl yourself to the next corner. The race-tuned Cosworth 3-litre V6 at my back was howling and the power to weight ratio makes it feel like a 10-litre V24! I didn’t win, but I really didn’t care (much) as I was having so much fun. The chequered flag depressed me as I think I could have done that all day.

{ PALMER SPORT }

“This Le Mans style rocket ship sits a millimetre off the ground and looks like sex on wheels. The down force is startling, and the faster you go, the better it grips” JAGUAR JP-LM This Le Mans style rocket ship sits a millimetre off the ground and looks like sex on wheels. The down force is startling, and the faster you go, the better it grips. Same track and out we go. Wow. More Gs, more speed and more screaming with delight. Now, the third corner has nearly caught me out a few times; one slight lapse in concentration and I was off and spinning – at 120mph! Thank God I remembered the instruction, let go of the wheel and tucked my hands in my lap as I went on the merry-go-round from hell with the constant fear that it would dig in and send me cartwheeling across Bedfordshire. It didn’t, and it eventually came to a juddering halt, upright, bathed in tyre smoke and covered in grass, and I laughed so hard I nearly popped a vein. Even a near death experience is a hoot, and as I saw Richard and the boys flying round the track, I realised I was losing time and got going again. I didn’t win, obviously, but by this point I didn’t give a damn (much).

We staggered back to the suite for cream teas and cakes and then enjoyed the awards ceremony for fastest driver in each car and the coveted Driver Of The Day silver cup. This is a silly bit of fun at the end of a hard day, and although Dave Sitton nicked the DOTD trophy, which was well earned, I was embarrassingly and childishly proud of my trophy for fastest in the Caterham race, and it sits atop the fireplace as I write.

As expected, a day like this is not cheap, and at just south of £1000 per person, we dropped £12,000 on the day, and that is a lot of money, but I think you know what I am about to say next.

Yes, worth every shiny penny, and then some.

Thanks to Richard Skerritt for a brilliant day, and, thanks to the in-car video cameras, I can now sit here and relive it time and time again. I don’t, of course, as I am far too busy.

There was more: the Caterham shoot-out with back to back cars on identical short tracks that requires supreme skill to do as many doughnuts as you can, and the Land Rover Defender course that slams you through rivers on see-saws of death, and 40-degree banks that had me wondering quite what to do with the lunch that was about to make a repeat appearance. I can only imagine the size of their tyre replacement bills!

Anyone who claims that Formula 1 is not a real sport needs therapy.

As we arrived back to the garage after the final lap of the day, I couldn’t get out of the car. With the adrenaline receding, I felt like I weighed a ton, with limp arms and legs and a neck made of custard. Once lifted out of the car, I realised what supreme athletes F1 drivers are. They race for two hours non-stop at three times the speed I had been doing and in anger. Remarkable.

{ SECTION TEXT HERE }

RACING FOR EDUCATION

Many colleges teach motor sport engineering, but few have their own racing team. Not only do Northbrook College run a team, they have their own driver and compete nationally. Ian Trevett met resident professional racing driver Shane Kelly from Team Northbrook Racing (TNR) to find out more about this unique course.

S

hane Kelly is a professional race driver who is also now an educator. Having competed at most levels, winning the Formula 3 championship in 2006, he is also a stunt and test driver, trying out F1 cars for size. He is now the resident driver for Team Northbrook Racing (TNR), the team set up to complement the Motorsport Engineering course at the college. Which must create a dilemma: does he concentrate on training up our future engineers or does he go flat out to win every race?

82

“There is a fine line and you can get carried away with the whole race weekend,” replies Shane. “You start thinking, ‘We need a bit more speed’ and you need that competitive spirit. If you go and work for McLaren, you get a bonus from winning, even though you’re an engineer on a computer at home. I think sometimes that’s what’s lacking in many courses. At Northbrook, you see some students coming in who are very quiet, and then you see them getting involved in a team, getting that team spirit. They’ve got

something to go for and they become an integral part of it. I think it’s massively important.”

So it’s win at all cost?

“Yes, of course. It’s motorsport, and it’s a big industry. It is engineering all the way, but all that engineering is focused on getting a trophy at the end of the day. All the team wants the fastest lap time.”

Surely there can be no other course as exciting - and competitive. So how far can a college compete, and how did such a venture develop?

{ NORTHBROOK COLLEGE } “When we first got the car, we started just doing sprints to get students into it and started doing the Brighton Speed Trials. Sprints were easier to do than a full race weekend. I think we broke into it slowly, but we always had a plan to go race, and the car we’ve got is a racing car, not a sprint car. So it is important that we started racing.

“We have built up the races through the seasons, and this year we have entered the Monoposto Championship, which is the biggest single-seater championship in the UK, so we’re up against proper teams and proper drivers.

The venues are Mallory Park, Castle Combe and Donington Park. We are a bit further from Brighton, so it’s the whole package of logistics and arranging events, managing events, which the students will really benefit from.

“You see some students coming in who are very quiet, and then you see them getting involved in a team, getting that team spirit” “Our car is a 1996 Van Diemen Formula Renault, which sounds quite old, but, actually, technology- wise it’s still quite relevant. It’s a space frame car, which has a tubular chassis, so it’s not carbon fibre. It’s has an eight-valve engine, which is the older version of the Renault.

And it is still quick enough.

It depends how you gear it to the circuit, and you could probably reach 155 mph. We gear it to get optimum revs from the engine, so you’re normally looking around 135 around Brands.

Cornering is key, so mechanical grip is important.

That’s what the guys work on with the car.”

How does it work with the engineering study side? Do you get the students to take the car apart and put it back together again?

“The trouble with racing cars, is that they are never ready to go. Any racing car is quite high maintenance. You’re forever changing it, forever setting it up. There are set regulations for championships as well, so you’re always going to be working around these to get the maximum allowed out of the car.

83

“There’s an itinerary that we do before every round. We are testing regularly, which is important. We’re trying a lot of things, a lot of different things to make the car faster, to get a better lap time. And that’s engineering. We get technicians working on different parts, allocate jobs, and they’ve got a big responsibility on each of them. The students do all the maintenance and the engineering.

We’re running a Foundation Degree at the moment, which is a two-year course. We used to run the BSc Honours top-up for the full Honours Degree course and we’re hoping to get that back in September, so it will be a full three year course again.”

Motor racing is an extremely expensive sport.

How can a Further Education College compete?

“We’re lucky to have a couple of sponsors to help with on-going costs such as tyres. Backing is always an issue for teams and we’re the same. It’s important we get as much funding as possible, not just for the mechanics, but also for transport and general expenses.

“We’re not looking for millions of pounds. It’s a

84

case of getting a structure, getting a solid season booked in where the students can get involved.

“They get such indepth experience.

They’re actually changing ratios on gear boxes at race days.

Some people in race teams can’t do that” “It’s catch-22. The more money we have, the more we can promote the different series we go into or the different car we have. For me, it’s always been about having a car that’s a little bit

newer than we have. The technology is the same, but a carbon fibre monocoque car like a Formula 1 car would be nice.

“It is a good proposition for a company; sponsoring education is always a good tool.

Sponsoring a racing car gets you noticed, especially when you can show off the car in an unusual place, which is the best thing ever. That gives a lot of attention, but I think the education side has the greatest benefit, unless you can afford to put money into big championships on TV. Then you’re going to get your money back.

“Our longest-running sponsor is Kendricks Tea & Coffee. They started giving us refreshments with the team, just having an association with it, and then they upped their game and started buying us tyres as well, which, when you’re talking £800 for a set of tyres, is a big chunk of our budget that we don’t have to find, so we can focus on somewhere else.

“Peter Webb from ETI (Electrical Temperature Instruments) has been very supportive. One of the ways they have helped is by providing us with temperature sensing equipment for our tyre

{ NORTHBROOK COLLEGE }

ETI (Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd) is delighted to support TNR (Team Northbrook Racing). As a business we have been on the periphery of motor sports for some time, supplying numerous F1 racing teams and tyre suppliers in the UK with digital thermometers and tyre temperature probes. As a business we have also had a long association with Northbrook College. When the opportunity came along to sponsor TNR, it was therefore an easy decision for our marketing team. Best of luck to TNR for the coming season.

Peter Webb, Managing Director, Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd.

technicians, so it’s a very linked-up thing, which is very clever.

Those are our two main sponsors, and we’ve got Airweld as well, who help with specialist welding, which is handy for the race car. They are hosting some masterclasses in welding for the students as well. No money changes hands; what they have done for us adds up.

“The course started in 2009/2010 and we have alumni who have gone on to places like Ford, Aston Martin, JLR, the India F1 team, Maclaren Road Cars, Ricardo and even Dyson.

We see our students going into large blue-chip auto industry organisations, often as engineers or design engineers.

“They get such in-depth experience. They’re actually changing ratios on gear boxes at race days - some people in race teams can’t do that.

Our students are in the garage doing exactly the same job next to guys who are pros. It’s not work experience; it’s actually, if you will, a real-life job in at the deep end.

“We always take the motorsport students in their first year around Ricardo, show them

around, and then we show them around a MacLaren engine production line, from concept through to manufacture design stage.

“We have an affiliation with the University of Brighton, and they accredit all our courses for the Foundation Degree. We sell the course on the fact that if you do a motorsport engineering degree at a university you’re going to be with 130 people in a lecture theatre. We have between 15 and 20, so you get a personal touch. And, of course, we run a car that is very rare, especially for a Further Education College. To be able to go in and work on cars and be in that first-hand industry out there, getting that experience, is invaluable.

“We support the Big Bang event that we organise at the college here, and that’s a really great opportunity for people who are still at school to come in and have a look at the car.”

Are you an engineer in your own right?

“I suppose you could say I am a motorsport engineer, but I haven’t got an engineering qualification.

I ran my own teams, and had success quite high up in motorsport. I think that practical

experience is as valid as a qualification. So to take both to a potential employer is key.”

I believe you have a career in film as well?

“Yes, I was in Rush, the F1 film. I drove in that, on camera. That kicked it off, really. I’ve driven in Fury with Brad Pitt, and Tanks, and done a lot of film since then. I’ve been to Abu Dhabi this year for about four weeks, doing a live stunt show.”

What’s your party trick?

“I would say doing hand-break turns in tight spaces, especially in big vehicles, which is always good. We were in quite big American vans, and trying to hand-break those things around tanks and stuff is quite good. I quite enjoy that.

Presumably, you have always had a passion for cars?

“Definitely. My dad raced grass track cars in the 70s. At eight years old I jumped in a go cart and went up from there and never really stopped.

So to be still doing it now is great.”

TNR welcomes interest from potential business sponsors, please contact Maxine Green on: m.green@nbcol.ac.uk or 01903 273101 www.northbrook.ac.uk

85

PENNY FARTHING POLO

86

Photos by Graham Franks

Special guests of Chestnut Tree House, including Midhurst estate agency, Henry Adams, attended the first senior international of the English polo season at Cowdray Park Polo Club on Saturday 16 May, and raised over £20,000 for the Sussex children’s hospice.

England beat a combined team from The Americas 6-3 in the St.Regis International match, in an epic show of horsemanship. Earlier Cowdray Park was treated to a unique new experience, demonstrating some fine skills on two wheels - penny farthing polo. Somehow the teams representing England and Scotland managed to negotiate the tricky task of staying aboard the rickety bikes, whilst wielding mallets. Unbelievably they also managed to score 12 goals between them. The match, organised by Neil Laughton to raise funds for Chestnut Tree House, was a great spectacle, and not without risk. A mangled ruin of a bike demonstrated this wasn’t for the faint-hearted. Afterwards the players invited the audience to try out the penny farthings, including the editors of this esteemed publication. They both testified that it’s not as easy as it looks! The Penny Farthing Club is looking for new members. If you would like to try out one of these eccentric lopsided vehicles, go to www.pennyfarthingclub.com. Membership costs a mere £15 a year. The Penny Farthing Club is also looking for sponsors to help fund damaged parts (new wheels cost £500 each). Sponsorship would include private company / client event training sessions and PR exposure. Why not support this wonderful celebration of British history and quirkiness. Email neil@laughton.co for details. www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk

87

We’ll Spring Clean your data for

FREE Give us your database this spring and we’ll return it leaner, more more valuable. And it won’t cost you a penny.

Powering up your data

We will run your database against our in-house, data cleaning software including PAF, MPS and De-Dupe at no cost to you throughout April and May. It’s a great offer beacause you’ll actually make money: • The next time you do a mailing, you won’t be wasting the costs of postage and production for duplicate or wrongly postcoded • Add to that the increased response rates from correctly targetted and addressed recipients.

• Your database will be more valuable because your mailings will be much more cost-effective.

• By running the data through our MPS suppression software we’ll ensure that you won’t generate complaints from customers and prospects.

• Our FREE offer, to clean your data, will help to maintain your brand’s good name and reduce your administration costs from complainants and ‘gone-aways’.

• We will also tell you how many deceased, gone-aways and home movers are in your database so you can decide to remove or update them at a discounted rate of 20%

off our usual prices.

Making the right connections We use leading edge technology and clever software utilised by skilful, knowledgeable staff to ensure that your mail gets to the right person, at the right address every time.

Call us now to take advantage of these great Spring offers on or email us on sales@novadirectmail.co.uk

01444 231400

w w w. n o v a d i re c t m a i l . co . u k

{ BOOK REVIEW }

THE WORLD OF HARRY PAGE

I

t Just Came Floating By is a fascinating book about the hectic life of one of Britain’s top newspaper photographers during the heyday of Fleet Street.

Harry Page spent over thirty years travelling the world photographing some of the biggest stories, from the horrors of war and disasters to outrageous celebrity shenanigans, to grace the national press.

This is a truly enlightening and informative look behind the scenes at the story behind the stories vividly told for the first time, embracing the royal family, A-list celebrities, presidents and prime ministers, the horror of the Asian tsunami, the Lockerbie bombing, the Kosovo war correspondent and the return of great train robber Ronnie Biggs from Rio in a private jet.

Jerry Hall, Mick Jagger, Nick Leeson, Tony Blair, Gary Glitter, Princess Diana, David Beckham, boxer Chris Eubank and princes William and Harry are just a few of the big names in this engrossing book, plus the Miss World Years, and not forgetting Blackie the Donkey and much more. Harry Page photographed them all.

Harry Page was one of the stars of that Golden Age when the enormous egos of tabloid proprietors clashed with each other in the constant battle for circulation, and did so by employing very talented photographers and

journalists, not only to provide the images and copy that their readers wanted, but also to ensure that their work arrived back in their offices in time for the first edition. If you want

“If you want to read about the glamour of a wet afternoon at Winchester Crown Court, or the hardship of photographing Diana on Necker island (Branson place), this book offers a rare insight into that chaotic world”

This is an amazing insight into an amazing career of a man who has photographed everything that has shaped our lives in the last 30 years; the sights, sounds and contrasts in what he has seen and done is astonishing and this is one of those books that you tend to finish in one sitting.

Available for download as an eBook on Amazon http://amzn.to/1iOJDgC

to read about the glamour of a wet afternoon at Winchester Crown Court, or the hardship of photographing Diana on Necker island (Branson’s place), this book offers a rare insight into that chaotic world.

89

{ NETWORKING }

NETWORK REVIEW - SPEED NETWORKING WITH SUSSEX BUSINESS BUREAU

By Emma Pearce, Marketing Consultant outsourced marketing services and social media training www.pearcemarketing.co.uk

Y

ou may well imagine, or have direct experience of, speed networking being an exhausting, repetitive task of speaking as fast as you can to every individual, knee to knee in a very noisy room. The relentless pace means you can’t really focus or take notes about those you should be listening to.

Yet, the principle of speaking to everyone is an attractive concept, particularly when compared to open networking events, where you may spend three hours out of the office but only talk to a small number of people.

Sussex Business Bureau offer a completely different and enormously more enjoyable approach where you really can speak and listen to everyone in the room.

SO HOW DOES IT WORK? The event uses a unique format created by Paul Yates-Smith. It’s under copyright as their intellectual property. Essentially, everyone meets everyone, but this is achieved with each person only delivering their short presentation between 4-8 times, depending on the numbers attending. You have about 1.5 or 2 minutes to present each time and can allow for a couple of questions within that. Everyone is also given a set of tailored notation sheets with accompanying business card that enable you to record key points from each person you listen to.

The whole event is highly facilitated to ensure everything goes smoothly - all with a great injection of fun. There is also time for open networking and advice to make the most of your attendance.

THE AGENDA FOR EACH EVENT IS: • 30 minutes - registration, open networking • Introduction - explanation of how the session will run • Speed Networking Session 1 - 40 mins to an hour, depending on numbers • 20 minute break - refreshments, time to chat to other attendees • Speed Networking Session 2 - 40 mins to an hour, depending on numbers • Advice on how best to follow-up with all your new connections When asked about his format, Paul Yates-Smith said “We wanted to create an effective networking event that gave everyone an experience where they met as wide an audience as possible but could still hear each other and have fun too. It’s all about enabling business owners to talk, build trust and, ultimately, increase trade. We recently tracked back on results from an event in Brighton and it had led to over £100,000 of business introductions! That’s great for a relaxed, nonpressured marketing activity!”

WHERE DO THEY TAKE PLACE? • Brighton Race Course - 4.30 pm - 7.30 pm - once per month • Eastbourne Cavendish Hotel - monthly • Hastings, at The Sussex Exchange – monthly, in partnership with The Best of Hastings (no lockout) • Plus - special “Let’s do Breakfast” speed networking events before the annual Let’s do Business exhibitions open in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings (no lockout).

All session fees are donated to a chosen charity.

•

Plus - Lewes Speed Networking session before the Lewes Business Expo each year (no lockout) - with entry fees donated to a local charity There are now also sessions in Brentwood in Essex and more coming across Sussex. Paul explained that he is “looking for partners to deliver more regularly in Eastbourne and elsewhere in Sussex too.” If you have a strong personality and plenty of get-up-and-go, he would love to hear from you.

KEY FACTS • Location: Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings… more coming!

• Frequency: monthly • Size: typically a maximum of 35 • Time: early evening, plus some breakfast events • Lock out: yes in some locations - full exclusivity available, or standard system of 1-2 from each profession/category.

• USP: Highly facilitated, unique format, meet everyone, notation system for accurate follow up, revolving audience to keep attendees fresh each time you attend an event - it’s like a visitors day every time!

• Minute round: 1.5 - 2 minutes, depending on attendee numbers • Speaker slot: no • Cost: pre-pay per session - typically £20 inc. VAT for non exclusive position or £30 inc VAT for fully exclusive lockout position Find out more at www.sussexbusinessbureau.co.uk

91

{ CHAMBER NEWS } ACES

EAST SUSSEX NEWS To become a Member of ACES just join your local Chamber of Commerce in East Sussex. Full details at www.acesalliance.org

THE ALLIANCE OF CHAMBERS IN EAST SUSSEX ACES IS THE ALLIANCE OF CHAMBERS IN EAST SUSSEX LINKING 4,000 BUSINESS MEMBERS ACROSS THE COUNTY. If you belong to one of the Chambers of Commerce in the panel below, you are automatically a member of ACES. This means that you can share your company news in these Platinum Business pages – without charge. Just email your news item

to your local Chamber with a high resolution picture and they will pass it on to the ACES press office.

Alternatively, if you would like to network with progressive business people from across the county, you can attend one of the varied ACES events or the BEST4Biz Conference in October 2015.

Also, ACES has a strong voice with local policy makers and can lobby on your behalf to remove barriers to business. Just call ACES on 01323 641144 or check www.acesalliance.org to see how they can help.

TEA AT THE TOP Over 50 business associates and clients of Sanders Property Management enjoyed a Champagne afternoon tea at the View Hotel in Eastbourne. The event was part of the company’s ten-year celebrations and was held as a thank you to the Directors of the various blocks and estates for their help and assistance over the years.

Peter Sanders, Managing Director of Sanders Property Management, was delighted to be celebrating the milestone ten years in the property management business in Eastbourne and said, “This event enabled the company to show the clients how much they are appreciated.

Some of our guests here today are the original first clients that came on board when we started the business.”

The company was borne out of Peter Sanders’ frustration with the service provided by the industry of managing agents, prompting him to purchase a freehold on a block of flats in April 2005 with the intention of “setting new standards in residential block management”.

Over the last decade the business has seen a recession and property crash, but this family firm has grown year on year to the point where

Battle Chamber of Commerce www.battlechamber.org.uk

Bexhill Chamber of Commerce 01424 842892 www.bexhillchamber.co.uk

Crowborough Chamber of Commerce www.crowboroughchamber.co.uk

it is now one of the leading independent block management companies in the area. This growth has seen expansion into surrounding towns such as Bexhill, Hastings, Seaford, Newhaven and Hove.

Sanders are proud to be working with the original clients who employed them when the business first started up and most of the business nowadays comes from recommendation, a true testament to the hard work of the team at Sanders.

Eastbourne UnLtd Chamber of Commerce 01323 641144 www.eastbournechamber.co.uk

East Sussex County Council 01273 481570 www.eastsussex.gov.uk

Federation of Small Businesses 01424 754686 Reg Office: 01323 482018 www.fsb.org.uk/eastsussex

Peter Sanders has been involved in the property industry since 1992 and Lisa Sanders since 2001, and, together with their dedicated property team, they offer a wholly reliable and professional service with a focus on personal attention.

As an independent company, Sanders are able to offer a more flexible service than many managing agents. So, if you are looking to instruct a new block or estate management company, or simply want to know more about Sanders, call them on (01323) 736442.

Hailsham Chamber of Commerce 01323 310531 www.hailshamchamberofcommerce.co.uk

Hastings Chamber of Commerce 01424 205500 www.hastingschamber.co.uk

Heathfield Chamber of Commerce 01435 865858 www.heathfieldchamber.co.uk

{ CHAMBER NEWS } ACES

IS YOUR WEBSITE MOBILE RESPONSIVE? And if not, why not? According to an Ofcom study in 2014, while 83% of UK adults now go on line regularly, a massive 62% of adults use a smartphone.

Julian Perrott, Managing Director of Barkweb says, “Any website design company worth their salt will tell you that they’ve seen an exponential rise in mobile access to the internet to the point where half of a typical website’s traffic is from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

It is therefore vital that your website should automatically alter its configuration to the device that is accessing your site.”

Not only is responsive design the best practice from a user experience perspective, helping the user to navigate and interact with the site easily, it also serves an SEO purpose because Google now uses responsive design as a ranking factor for searches made on mobile devices. This means that you can improve the performance of your site in search engines by improving the mobile-friendliness of your website.

The SEO benefit of responsive design isn’t anything new. In 2013 Google announced that they would penalise sites in mobile search results that weren’t configured for smartphones

and the developments in late 2014 mean that Google now take this one step further, rewarding sites for being mobile-friendly (with an icon next to search results that indicates a mobile friendly site) so users can select from search results sites that provide a better mobile experience.

BarkWeb design all new websites with responsive design so that they work perfectly on tablet and mobile. A recent shift in their process is that now, during concept creation, they actually

design from a ‘mobile-first’ perspective and retrospectively unfold the design to fit to desktop so that it looks great on both.

Barkweb specialise in creating the latest mobile-friendly responsive design technology and will ensure your website looks its best on any device. Check out their website from your smart phone at www.barkweb.co.uk or call them at 01323 735800.

ACTIONMAN STIKES AGAIN Andy Camfield, Managing Director of 6 Steps Limited of Eastbourne, Sussex, won an ActionMAN Award at the European Business Excellence Forum and ActionCOACH EMEA Region Conference. The conference was hosted at The Troia Design Hotel Conference Centre, Grandola, Portugal in April.

Andy earned this award thanks to the powerful work he has done with his clients throughout Sussex over the course of the past year, including coaching businesses in market growth, the recruitment of great people, increased efficiency and quality of products and services with great profit increases.

ActionCOACH Founder & Chairman, Brad Sugars, presented the award.

A delighted Andy Camfield said, “It has been a great year of growth and learning within

The Institute of Directors 0207 766 8866 www.iod.com

Lewes Chamber of Commerce 07919 382316 www.leweschamber.org.uk

Locate East Sussex 0844 415 9255 www.locateeastsussex.org.uk

our business, and this has been achieved by a strong team performance. The benefit of a solid team both locally, nationally and globally gives us all the ability in driving excellence in service and brilliance in results.

As an ActionCOACH business owner Andy takes the most pride in the success of his clients and the fact most of his clients have had their best trading performances ever during the last 12 months.

ActionCOACH, the world’s largest business coaching firm, was established and founded in Brisbane, Australia by Brad Sugars in 1993 when the concept of business coaching was still in its infancy. Since franchising the company in 1997, Sugars has helped business coaching become more mainstream and has grown the company to more than 1000 business coaches operating

Newhaven Chamber of Commerce 0800 107 0709 www.newhavenchamber.co.uk

Peacehaven Chamber of Commerce 01273 586222 www.peacehavenchamber.co.uk

Seaford Chamber of Commerce 0800 881 5331 www.seafordchamber.co.uk

in 55 countries. ActionCOACH specialises in coaching small to medium-sized businesses as well as executive teams and group coaching.

To learn more about Andy Camfield, go to www.andycamfield.com To learn more about ActionCOACH, go to www.actioncoachGB.com/ and www.actioncoach-franchise.co.uk

South East Local Enterprise Partnership 01245 431469 www.southeastlep.com

Uckfield Chamber of Commerce 01825 722607 www.uckfieldchamber.co.uk

Wealden District Council 01323 443322 www.wealden.gov.uk

RO W

TH EW OR

LD !

We are delighted to announce that following our total domination of the Sussex market, we are launching a Surrey edition of this magazine in July 2015.

This exciting move will see the publication available right across Surrey and in the Autumn of 2015, we will launch the Hampshire edition.

We would like to thank all our readers and corporate partners for helping us make Platinum Business Magazine such a roaring success and we will endeavour to keep up the hard work of bringing you a relevant, informative and interesting business magazine.

SE S U YS A D TO

A H ND A EY R UR S , X

RE I SH P M

OR OM T –

If you would like to expose your company to hundreds of thousands of business rightcompany acrosstothe South East, get in touch.

If you would like toreaders expose your hundreds of thousands of business readers right across the South East, get in touch.

W: www.platinumbusinessmagazine.com W: www.platinumbusinessmagazine.com E: maarten@platinumbusinessmagazine.com E: maarten@platinumbusinessmagazine.com 07966 | Twitter: @platbusmag Tel: 07966Tel: 244046 | 244046 Twitter: @platbusmag

{ CHAMBER NEWS } BRIGHTON

RIDING THE WAVE TO BETTER BUSINESS

By Alice Cuninghame of Cuninghame Copywriting

R

ide the Wave offers local businesses the chance to get specialist training, build networks and find support. The programme was created four years ago by Brighton and Hove City Council and Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce, working in partnership. The council provides leadership and funding. The Chamber uses its expert knowledge of local business to design and deliver a programme that meets business needs. All the events are either free or offered for a minimal charge, making them accessible to all, even the smallest and newest.

This year’s Ride the Wave ran from November to March, with 334 businesses taking part.

Many of them were Chamber members, but the majority, 272 of the 334, were not. Some events were cross-sector, aimed at new and pre-start businesses, those wanting to become more environmentally friendly, and those wanting to start tendering for public sector contracts. Other targeted specific sectors: social enterprises and charities, creative businesses, and food and drink businesses.

The Chamber was able to use its on-theground understanding of local business needs to develop a programme which offered real value. Businesses were able to gain knowledge and make connections they’ll be able to use for years to come. Ride the Wave is about solving problems and giving businesses the skills and confidence they need to grow and innovate.

Brighton and Hove’s business community is as diverse as its people, and Ride the

Wave reflected that. In one workshop, social enterprises learned how to improve their brand identity. In another, creative businesses learned how to charge what they’re worth – with a case study on chocolate! And in another, people with

“Brighton and Hove’s business community is as diverse as its people, and Ride the Wave reflected that” a business idea learned how to make that idea into a successful business.

Businesses came away from Ride the Wave sessions inspired and ready to take action.

The programme had a 100% satisfaction rate among attendees, with the majority saying they came away in a better position to grow their businesses than before. Much of that success

can be credited to the workshop leaders. They were chosen for their real-world expertise; they had made their business growth journey and were able to pass on the lessons they had learned.

Comments made by attendees demonstrate how much value the programme was able to give to businesses.

Lauren Pysk, of Lauren Pysk Photography, said, “It was so valuable to get support from the other five businesses in my group and we’re going to keep in touch.”

Jess Willow of Frameworks for Change said, “The presenter was very knowledgeable on the subject, humorous and engaging. She got me thinking about pricing in a way that I hadn’t previously.”

Workshop leader Rowan Wallis, of Sustainable Business Partnership said, “Working with the Chamber is good fun, and their Ride the Wave programme is always professionally delivered”.

If you missed out this year, look out for next year’s Ride the Wave programme. Until then, Brighton Chamber of Commerce runs training and networking events throughout the year. www.businessinbrighton.org.uk

95

{ CHAMBER NEWS } CRAWLEY & GATWICK

A WORD FROM THE WISE

News from the Chamber A NOTE FROM CHAMBER PRESIDENT PAUL ROE Uncertainty seems to be a bit of a theme at the moment with the election and the wait for the decision on Gatwick’s second runway. There isn’t much I can do to help these uncertainties. The crystal ball became cloudy a long time ago!

But there is another area of uncertainty I can give some helpful advice about. We’re in the brave new world of flexible pensions, whereby most pension holders over 55 will be free to withdraw whatever sums they wish from their pension pots, subject to tax deductions, of course, albeit not at the previously punitive rate of 55%.

In fact, there are now many options to choose from, with tax traps to avoid, and many predicting a large number of scans to defraud the unwary.

The Government says it will help with its Pension Wise initiative, but they will only outline options, not advise, and I heard this week that 10,000 phone and face-to-face meetings are available for this through Citizens’ Advice Bureau offices. That won’t go very far.

We are well blessed with independent financial advisers in the Chamber, so please ensure you seek professional advice before you undertake anything radical for your pension pots. Withdraw in haste, regret at leisure!

KEEP EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES HEALTHY

Lifescan, part of Spire Healthcare, has been helping employers by providing specialist health checks for over 10 years. The health checks we offer at Spire Gatwick Park are different. Using advanced healthcare technology – including CT scans and blood tests – we aim to provide insights into an individual’s current state of health and to help maintain health for longer.

Lifescan is also the only independent provider to offer its patients a free follow-up consultation when this is identified as appropriate following one of its CT health checks.

We offer flexible and efficient appointments.

The longest appointment time is one hour, and we’ll extend the discounted corporate price to an

96

employee’s partner or spouse, even if they are paying for it themselves.

Tel: 01892 741210. www.lifescanuk.org/company-schemes.

GATWICK DIAMOND MEET THE BUYERS RETURNS FOR 14TH YEAR

The annual Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyer events are supported by Gatwick Diamond Initiative, Gatwick Airport, Crawley Borough Council, West Sussex County Council and Horsham District Council. Last summer the event attracted household-name buyers such as Gatwick Airport, Nestle, Canon, Ministry of Defence, Sony, Balfour Balfour Beatty, VolkerFitzpatrick, Wates, Thales, Skanska and Carillion.

The 2015 programme will feature workshops running from April onwards, and the main Gatwick Diamond Meet the Buyer event will take place on 7th July at the Arora Gatwick Hotel.

Find out more on www.gatwickdiamondmeetthebuyers.co.uk ECONOMY UPDATE • UK job creation continued in the three months to February with almost a quarter of a million more people in work. A second month of zero inflation also supported a respectable rise in price-adjusted pay. Yet weak price growth across most of the advanced economies is mainly due to lower oil prices, and the cause of that is partly weak global demand. Hardly encouraging.

• The UK economy’s metamorphosis into a jobs machine continued in the three months to February. The employment rate hit a record high of 73.4%, while unemployment fell to 5.6%. A decent sign of business and labour market strength is that employers want to hire. The number of fulltime employees rose by 191k over the quarter.

Equally welcome was the fall in both youth and long-term unemployment.

• Average pay grew by 1.7% y/y in the three months to February. As inflation was zero, real pay rose by 1.7%, too. The good news is that this

is the fastest rise since March 2008. The not-sogood news is that annual pay growth is still below the 2.6% annual rise employees typically received prior to the 2008 recession.

• According to official measures, UK house price growth slowed to 7.2% y/y in February, down from 8.4% y/y in January. London, usurped by both Northern Ireland and the East of England, lost its top spot in the price growth league table. Informally combining the range of indices suggests prices are currently rising by 5%-6% annually. The official measure also provides a glimpse at who’s buying. Not surprisingly, it seems to be better-off, more secure families and wealthy executives who are making up a shade under 50% of home buyers in the UK. Daniel Sibley, NatWest Commercial Bank 077686 4769 / daniel.sibley@natwest.com

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Jun 24th 2015 – 8.00am. Breakfast at The Hawth Email: Jose@crawleychamber.co.uk Crawleychamber.co.uk Please check the website for the latest updates and more planned meetings.

To book visit: www.crawleychamber.co.uk

{ CHAMBER NEWS } EASTBOURNE

THE HAPPY SECRETARY Eastbourne UnLtd Chamber of Commerce www.eastbourneunltd.co.uk | Tel: 01323 641144

Is the ‘traditional’ secretary a thing of the past?

W

ith today’s growing technology many company executives have introduced savings by carrying out their own administration. Typing your own letters is easy with Microsoft templates and spell check, but is mundane administration really a good use of your time? Could you generate more income by concentrating on your core business?

Administration could be performed by others while you go out and win that big contract.

There is also an ever growing avalanche of e-mails to manage. Reading 100 emails a day may feel like a hard day’s work but will it win you more sales? Some emails are vital but others are just a waste of your time. You can’t risk ignoring them, so how do you tell the difference?

More company executives are employing people to handle their email flow and complete mundane administrative tasks that need to be done but will not earn your company the big bucks.

If you are not ready to employ full-time secretarial support, there is an alternative.

Angela Lacey, Managing Director of The Happy Secretary Ltd, says, “I strongly believe there are managers out there who still require an effective secretarial service as and when necessary to allow them to focus on their core business.

They don’t need a full-time secretary, but they

do need help controlling their paperwork on an ad hoc basis, and that is precisely why this company was formed. “ Angela is growing her business by finding and supplying good quality administrators and secretaries on a part-time basis to help growing businesses in East Sussex.

As a ‘modern’ secretary are you unhappy in your job?

Along with looking for business people who need secretarial support, Angela is looking for more staff who may be looking for a change.

“If you are unhappy in your job or have had a falling out with a work colleague, you may be thinking of resigning if things don’t improve. In total confidence I may be able to help you just by lending a listening ear. So please… don’t suffer in silence; call me and join a growing band of happy secretaries who are making a real difference to local businesses.”

For more information, call Angela Lacey at The Happy Secretary, Suite 13, 5 Hyde Gardens, Eastbourne, BN21 4PN on 07414 875747, or email info@thehappysecretary.co.uk.

Alternatively, check her website at www.thehappysecretary.co.uk

CHAMBER GOLF DAY The competition for the Chamber Golf Trophy will be held on Friday, 10th July, 2015 at the Royal Eastbourne Golf Club, and is sponsored by W Bruford.

Coffee & Bacon Rolls will be available from 11.00am, and tee times will be from 12.00pm.

There will be prizes for the top three teams as well as prizes for the longest drive on the 7th hole, nearest the pin on the 8th, 13th, 15th, 17th, and 18th holes and nearest the pin in 2 on the 9th hole.

The day will conclude with dinner and prize giving. There will be a raffle during the evening in aid of Chestnut Tree House, and prizes for this will be most welcome.

In addition, there will be a free Business Card Draw to win a bottle of port donated by the Eastbourne Arndale Centre.

Join us with a team of four golfers or come on your own and make up a team.

Costs are: Members £55 inc VAT, NonMembers £65 inc VAT. Please call Siobhan on 01323 641144 for a booking form.

97

{ CHAMBER NEWS } WORTHING

SAYING NOTHING Small businesses were virtually ignored in the election, says Gillian Fielding As a small business owner I watched the election news avidly with the expectation of major pledges from all the political parties for initiatives for small businesses. This was not an unreasonable expectation because the 4.5 million small-tomedium-sized businesses in this country are the lifeblood of the UK economy: we pay more taxes and employ more people than the larger companies and any government needs to support us in order to grow our economy.

Oh dear. So much for reasonable expectation: none of the political parties made any significant pledges to us as a group and the manifestos were all DULL! And that’s surprising, as I at least expected the Conservative party to focus on the economy and business. After all, it’s their main ‘success’ from the last few years of government. But I think the election took even their eye off the ball as the first quarter’s GDP figures, announced in April, show only a 0.3% growth overall, and that average contained only one growth area, the service industry, while the other areas, including construction and manufacturing, were all down.

Not a good set of figures for the Conservatives, and naturally they’ve been very quiet about them.

And the reason, of course, that none of the political parties made any major statement in any area is because they all knew there would be no single controlling party as they were expecting another coalition government.

Consequently, they all hedged their bets and tried to stay in neutral territory and not say or pledge anything meaningful in case it alienated them from one of the other political groups. It’s nonsense, really, and what we need from our politicians – like in our businesses - is firm, definite decision making and action.

98

But we were clearly never going to get that, and then I realised that it actually didn’t matter, because what is great about our small-andmedium-sized businesses are the individuals who own and run them, and the fact that all the change we need for the UK economy is in our hands.

As a group small business owners can cope with anything that any government or any economic cycle can throw at them, and what we need to concentrate on is not the external factors that emerge from the differences in political opinion but the internal factors that are us as individuals.

It’s our determination to succeed that matters, our drive and motivation for what we do, our support for one another that helps, as well as our personal belief in our producst and services. And it is in the decisions we make and the actions we take that the UK economy will thrive, prosper and grow, whatever the political landscape. www.worthingandadurchamber.co.uk

“So much for reasonable expectation: none of the political parties made any significant pledges to us as a group and the manifestos were all DULL! ”

{ CHAMBER NEWS } SUSSEX

INVEST IN TALENT! That’s the message to the new government from the chambers, says Ana Christie, Chief Executive of Sussex Chamber of Commerce

TALENT is one of the key issues the British Chambers of Commerce would like the Prime Minister to address.

The Director General, John Longworth, from the British Chambers of Commerce, has congratulated the Prime Minister on his election victory, on behalf of the 52 accredited Chambers in every nation and region of the United Kingdom and the growing network of overseas British Chambers and business groups helping companies to trade around the world.

In John’s letter, he has asked that the Prime Minister take bold action on six issues that will determine the UK’s economic future: PUBLIC SPENDING: business wants a plan for fiscal consolidation that is carefully balanced with the overriding need to nurture growth and investment.

TRADE: business wants a long-term partnership with government to kindle an export revolution.

To urgently put in place measures that use the ingenuity and drive of Britain’s entrepreneurs to address the unsustainable current account deficit.

TALENT: business and government must also do more together to equip young people for the world of work and enterprise. Do not fail bright young people who never see the front gates of a university, who also have so much to contribute to business and the country.

INVESTMENT: create bold tax incentives for UK

companies that make long-term investments in people, plant, premises and export growth.

Grow the British Business Bank and continue the drive to tame regulatory burdens.

“The Sussex Chamber of Commerce is pleased to be launching Young Chamber on the 14th July”

EUROPE: business wants fundamental reform of the UK’s relationship with the EU, safeguards that prevent decisions on the economic interests being taken by the Eurozone, and a referendum on that settlement.

INFRASTRUCTURE: irreversible commitments to new airport capacity in the South East of England – and to the delivery of the positive road,

rail, energy and communications enhancements announced during the last parliament.

John Longworth will be discussing the above issues further with the Prime Minister.

One of the incentives of the British Chambers of Commerce is to roll out Young Chamber throughout the country to help address the talent issue mentioned above.

The Sussex Chamber of Commerce is pleased to be launching Young Chamber on the 14th July.

In conjunction with St Paul’s Catholic College in Burgess Hill, the Chamber is inviting member businesses to talk to students about their industry. It will offer an excellent opportunity for students to gain information from businesses including skills needed to enter certain industries.

The incentive for business is to have input before young people enter the world of work, providing them with a real understanding of the opportunities available and the skills, aptitudes and attitudes that business needs. Employers can raise their community profile, creating a positive image amongst young people and their families.

For further details on the letter from the BCC to the Prime Minister, or to learn more about the launch of Young Chamber, please contact us on 01444 259259.

Alternatively, review our website: www.sussexchamberofcommerce.co.uk

99

DRAKES HOTEL Maarten Hoffmann samples the delights of the stars...

D

rakes Hotel on Brighton seafront is as close to a celebrity hotel as one can find on the south coast, with guests such as Kylie Minogue, Woody Allen, Will Young and Sophie Dahl recently gracing this perfectly formed Georgian town house. Drakes offer 20 rooms, and although compact, they have been superbly designed and, apparently, Kylie’s favourite room is 301, with a huge free standing bathtub, located in the window overlooking the pier. Although a very obvious target for the paparazzi trying to get a shot of her in the buff, it has been developed on the 3rd floor to ensure that only seagulls get the pleasure of that particular view. And I do not mean the football team!

“Good food in any restaurant is really only half the battle. Good ambience and great service is the other half and in this regard, Drakes do not fail”

In the basement is the Restaurant at Drakes, which is the crown of this boutique establishment, attracting many food lovers from all over Sussex to its understated elegance.

Chef Andrew MacKenzie has created a menu of simplicity, combining the highest quality seasonal ingredients, complimented by robust flavours, and the term simplicity is most certainly a compliment. Far too many chefs these days go for the hugely complicated menu with a smidgeon of shock and awe that overextends the talent of the kitchen. Not at Drakes.

My dining partner was Amanda Menahem, Director of the region’s largest employer, Hastings Direct Insurance. She is not exactly the easiest diner to please, so this should be interesting.

{ WORKING LUNCH }

The basement dining room is well laid out and quite cosy, with an expanse of exposed brick wall and beautifully prepared tables. It’s quite a small dining room, but good things are known to come in small packages.

I ordered the pork and truffle terrine with a date chutney, and I do love a good chutney but am not usually that keen on dates. My concern was unjustified as it was splendid, and the chutney had a slightly tangy taste that complimented the terrine perfectly, and truffle will always be in the top ten of any list. I would put it on my cornflakes in the morning if I could. Amanda plumped for the maple glazed quail breast with Farro risotto. The quail was perfectly cooked, and although I wouldn’t have chosen that for a starter, she was spot-on with her call. The Farro risotto (misspelt on the menu) is an ancient Italian wheat grain that works so much better than pearl barley.

We followed this with tenderloin of pork with creamed potatoes, Stornoway black pudding and buttered kale and cider for me and fillet of line-caught sea bass with parsnip purée, roast leeks, baby parsnips and hazelnut pesto for Amanda. Thinking I might have slightly overdone it with the pork, I soldiered on and did not regret it at all; the kale and cider were a perfect combination. The black pudding from the Scottish isle of Lewis has very subtle flavours held together with fresh blood and is a perfect partner to the pork. The locally caught sea bass was a picture on the plate, perfectly cooked, and the hazelnut pesto was a revelation.

Good food in any restaurant is really only half the battle. Good ambience and great service is

“ Beautifully arranged on the plate and prepared with such dexterity and technical skill, you have to wonder how on earth Kylie is the size she is as I really could of eaten this all day” the other half, and in this regard, Drakes do not fail. The staff is very attentive, but not so much so that you feel you are being watched. The barman sure knows how to mix a Margarita, which I consumed quite a few of as I was on a wine ban for a month. I am not sure that when the doctor said ‘knock off the vino for a month’ he would have approved of me replacing it with tequila, but hey, he wasn’t there now, was he?

Whether I was up for pudding or not, the minute I read the description of mango cannelloni with passion fruit sauce, I knew I had to have it as it sounded so enticing, and I just had to know what on earth it was. It was brilliant. Cannelloni style tubes made from, and I am guessing here, icing sugar and mango purée: long, crispy cylinders filled with the most stunning mango sauce I have ever

tasted. To compliment this was smoked pepper and vanilla ice cream that was just right to accompany the mango, beautifully arranged on the plate and prepared with such dexterity and technical skill, you have to wonder how on earth Kylie is the size she is as I really could have eaten this all day.

One is also left wondering what on earth the Michelin star system is good for when Drakes has still not been awarded one. It would appear that the Michelin folk do not have a high regard for restaurants in hotels, but this falls over when we look at South Lodge – hotel and Michelin star restaurant.

The best way I can summarise our meal at Drakes is to say that the Michelin star people have lost their minds. Oh, and Amanda was very happy, which must be worth another star at least!

THE RESTAURANT AT DRAKES 44 Marine Parade Brighton BN2 1PE www.drakesofbrighton.com Tel: 01273 696934

101

WHAT IS SMART CASUAL?

A

n invitation lands on the mat. You rip open the envelope and scan the details. Your eyes drift to the bottom to check the all-important dress code and your heart sinks as you see the dreaded phrase ‘smart casual’.

What exactly is ‘smart casual’? It’s a question many of us have been asking for years, particularly men (women find it much easier to interpret). Many men spend their working week in suits and find it difficult to pull together a more casual look. These days, even occasions that were traditionally formal (such as going to the theatre, opera and even some christenings and weddings) now strike a much more informal tone.

‘Smart casual’ is an extremely ambiguous term, subject to wide and varied interpretation. In this article I’ll be exploring those various interpretations and giving you some guidance on how to make smart casual work for you, whatever the occasion.

BLAME THE AMERICANS I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise that the phrase ‘smart casual’ originates in the United States. Evidently, it was first used in 1924, in the Iowan newspaper The Davenport Democrat and Leader. The paper defined it thus: ‘The sleeveless dress with three-quarter overblouses, in smock appearance completing it for street wear, is accorded various interpretations. It is at once practiced and gives a smart casual appearance.’

The term ‘business casual’ emerged in the 1950s and referred to the office equivalent. As we know, by that time the suit had become the accepted daily wear of office workers in Britain.

In reality, ‘business casual’ meant wearing an alternative to the traditional business suit,

102

perhaps in a lighter cloth or colour. Work environments and casual wear have both moved on considerably since the ‘50s, of course, so what do ‘smart’ and ‘business’ casual mean for us today?

Let’s start with Debretts, who provide the following guidance: A dress code of smart casual requires that you look smart but not overly formal. That in itself is not very illuminating.

Unfortunately, they then add to the confusion, citing a division between ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ smart casual.

{ PLATINUM STYLE }

Samantha Wilding Tel: 07833 084864 Email: Samantha@styleandgrace.eu Website: www.styleandgrace.eu Twitter: @alwayschicUK

‘FORMAL’ SMART CASUAL According to Debretts, ‘formal’ smart casual ‘requires a jacket or blazer, flannels, needlecord trousers or chinos, a shirt with a collar and smart shoes, not necessarily lace-ups (but not trainers or sandals).’ You can wear a shirt and tie but an open collar is also acceptable.

Now I would argue that a tie is not necessarily required, but it really does depend on the occasion and your host.

‘INFORMAL’ SMART CASUAL Debretts permit jeans in their definition of ‘informal’ smart casual, but specify that they must be ‘smart, clean and dark in colour’. They add that ‘other than in high summer or on the beach, trousers are better than shorts and polo shirts better than collarless t-shirts.’ I believe dark jeans are a godsend for many an informal event – think parties, barbecues, etcetera – so it’s wise to invest in more than one pair.

IN THE OFFICE I worked for a prominent financial services firm for several years, which introduced the concept of ‘dress down Friday’ with disastrous results, particularly in the summer. Men (and some women) would come into work in shorts, flip flops, sandals and trainers, and all sense of decorum went out the window. I am of the view that these four items are never acceptable in a professional environment (unless you work in a creative industry – but that’s another article entirely).

For more casual days in the office, the key is to find the right balance between the two extremes. I would advise sticking to shirts or polo shirts with chinos or very dark jeans. And always, always with closed toe shoes (think suede brogues, chukka boots or, even better, release your ‘inner Italian’ and go for suede loafers in a vibrant tone).

A FEW GOLDEN RULES: • Dark denim and chinos: these two are your ‘go-to’ options for smart casual trousers.

They work for a wide variety of occasions and can be dressed up (or down) with a shirt and smart blazer (or polo shirt or even a good quality, well-fitting t-shirt). They are also a great basis for ‘business casual’ • Avoid ‘sportswear’: tracksuit bottoms, baggy sweatshirts and trainers (unless they are leather or dark trainers) are a definite ‘no-no’. Wearing these evokes laziness, slovenliness – surely not attributes you want applied to you. I find they are usually worn by men who are not acquainted with the rugby ball, golf club or tennis racquet • I would part company with Debretts and say that there is no need to wear a tie, even with ‘formal’ smart casual. An open collar shirt and blazer can be a great look for a

•

•

casual party, lunch or meeting Also avoid plaid flannel shirts, especially ill-fitting ones, unless you want to look like Jeremy Clarkson or a lumberjack Most importantly, pay attention to the fit of whatever you choose to wear. I’ve said this before: so many men let themselves down with ill-fitting, baggy shirts, jeans and trousers. If you are on the heavier side, don’t wear things that are two sizes too big – it only makes you look bigger. If you are of slight build, slim fitting shirts and jeans will create a neat, streamlined silhouette.

Keep it simple. If you are in doubt about the dress code at a particular event, ask your host.

And remember, ‘casual’ does not mean sloppy.

Keep your standards as high as if you were dressing for business or for formal occasions and take pride in your appearance. After all, you never know who you might run into…

103

{ SECRET SUSSEX }

SECRET SUSSEX SHARP INSIGHT

T

he recruitment industry often suffers from mixed reviews as there is often a wealth of new companies out there that presume it is easy and dive into the sector, lacking the

prerequisite skills and contacts to really make an impact. This can lead to the candidates becoming disillusioned with the business and often not knowing which companies are able and which are not.

Becky Sharp has been involved in the sector for over ten years and has recently launched her own company, Sharp Insight, and, after many years in the business with some of the largest firms, she certainly knows her stuff. Sharp Insight is based in Brighton but operates all over Sussex, offering the right candidate for the right job, and the proof of the pudding is that she is busy seven days a week with new clients and a raft of eager candidates vying for her assistance in locating that dream job.

We caught up with the dynamo that is Becky and asked her why she set up the new company and what she can bring to the sector: “I realised there was a gap in the market for a consultant to offer a different way of approaching recruitment.

Passionate about delivering an honest and ethical service, I set up Sharp Insight, an executive search and head-hunting agency. I pride myself on taking a non-sales approach and on building strong relationships with candidates and clients.

Many candidates tell me that they are called about irrelevant roles and that there is often a lack of communication. My approach is to listen and ensure I fully understand the requirements from the client or candidate, and only deliver

relevant high calibre professionals. Throughout the process, I keep the flow of communication going”.

“I pride myself on taking a non-sales approach and on building strong relationships with candidates and clients” Sharp Insight works across all industry sectors, but with a strong focus on positions at management level and above, in a variety of roles, including board, technical, HR, marketing, sales, finance, change management and creative. Since they launched in September 2014, the business has gone from strength to strength, working with one of Britain’s top employers, a FTSE100 company and a number of global organisations.

Callisto Associates www.callistoassociates.com

104

{ SECRET SUSSEX }

“My approach is to listen and ensure I fully understand the requirements from the client or candidate, and only deliver relevant high calibre professionals”

The UK needs jobs, but more importantly the right people in the right jobs to ensure longevity and that professional recruitment companies play a vital role in joining the dots and taking some of the pressure away from HR Directors, fully preparing the candidate and ensuring the right candidate is put forward for the right position.

Sharp Insight is certainly bringing a new focus to the industry, and, having spoken to a number of their clients, it is clear that they are rapidly building a solid reputation for efficiency, professionalism and exceptional attention to details.

We spoke to Seran Bentley-Thoburn, Global Director of CIBT and asked her about the services of Sharp Insight: ‘Becky has been recruiting for CIBT for many years. I am so pleased to see her set up her own business as she is a credible executive search consultant, who clearly takes pride in her work. She has a refreshing approach and has been successful in placing fantastic candidates into both our UK and European offices. We have developed a great working relationship with Sharp Insight’.

One might say that Becky brings an insightful perspective to the sector.

EXECUTIVE SEARCH

becky@sharpinsightuk.co.uk | 07966 763 767 www.sharpinsightuk.co.uk 105

{ WISE WORDS }

Words

Issue 12 Wise

Clive Stevens, Executive Chairman Kreston Reeves www.krestonreeves.com

I

joined my firm, Kreston Reeves, straight from school at the age of 18. Forty years later, I am now Executive Chairman, following nearly 20 years as the firm’s Managing Partner. In that time the firm has grown sevenfold to a fee income approaching £21 million, and partner profits have trebled.

I have always wanted to ensure that my business could survive into the future. It has been my life, and I want it to continue successfully after my retirement, which is why we are dealing with succession issues now. However I do worry about longevity; today, we seem to be too focused on the short term to build something better in the long term.

Any Idiot can face a crisis – it is day to day living that wears you out This is a quote from Chekov that I carry around in my diary. I most admire people who have spent time and trouble developing something worthwhile rather than people who are ‘in it for a quick buck’. This is the problem with a lot of short-term financial dealings. The real success stories are people who are in it for the long haul: Dyson, Sugar and Branson all come to mind.

Most people can do the right thing in a crisis, but can they do it day in, day out? You have got to admire people who put up with adversity

106

or challenge every day and win through. This applies whether it is a business or personal problem. They are the real heroes.

Adopt, Adapt, Improve As a young, newly qualified Chartered Accountant, my boss told me to join the local Round Table to meet other business people of my age. I did as I was told and never looked back.

“For me true happiness is all about service – to my firm, its people, our clients and the community at large” Without Round Table I doubt I would have acquired the skills to mix socially, speak in public, hold a debate or organise things. The organisation taught me so much and I will be eternally grateful for that and for the friendships that have continued throughout my life. I see

former Tablers contributing to civic life in all sorts of ways, which is why I take the Round Table motto ‘Adopt, Adapt, Improve’ to heart. I try to follow that in all I seek to do.

For me true happiness is all about service – to my firm, its people, our clients and the community at large. That has been at the root of my personal philosophy, and it has held me in good stead my entire adult life. I hope I have made a real positive difference to the lives of those around me.

I count myself fortunate to have a happy home life with my wife Brigitte and our two sons, Matthew and Simon, as well as being able to build and develop a successful business that has enabled me to travel the world as a director of Kreston, our international network.

It has never been about money, but if you think that monetary rewards could make you happy (and my experience as a practising accountant is that they very rarely do), the biggest secret in the developed world is that if you offer something that people want, with the right level of service, then no one has yet made bags strong enough to carry away the profits you will make.

In the final analysis, I hope my family, friends and colleagues would say that I have served them well. After all, When the time comes for your life to flash before your eyes, make sure it is worth watching.

Stag House, Upper Bedford Street, Brighton BN2 1GW