Surrey Chambers Magazine issue 08

SURREY CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

The Official Surrey Chambers of Commerce Magazine

April/May 2018 - Issue 8

FOCUS ON...

BRIAN BLESSED OBE

Dorking & Leatherhead

Meet our new President

Shakespeare in Guildford

Our Super Growers

How to Retain & Acquire Talent REVIEWED:

VW T-ROC Audi SQ7 GROUP

PLATINUM PUBLISHING

SURREY

EPSOM DOWNS RACECOURSE PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

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CATEGORIES COMPANY OF THE YEAR LARGE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR SME BUSINESS OF THE YEAR BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD BUSINESS IN THE COMMUNITY AWARD BUSINESS INNOVATION OF THE YEAR BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR CORPORATE FUNDRAISER OF THE YEAR EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR FOOD & DRINK DESTINATION OF THE YEAR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AWARD START-UP OF THE YEAR TOURIST DESTINATION OF THE YEAR CHAMBER MEMBER OF THE YEAR

HOW TO ENTER VISIT: WWW.SURREYBUSINESSAWARDS.COM • • • •

Review the categories and determine which are most appropriate for your business.

Download the entry template and write your entry ensuring that you address the criteria outlined.

Keep each entry to no more than one thousand words over four pages.

Save entry as a pdf and submit online.

RULES OF ENTRY • • • •

Each business is permitted to enter a maximum of three award categories.

Entry is open to all businesses conducting the majority of their business in Surrey.

Each entry will be charged £50.00 per entry which covers administration costs and deters inappropriate entries.

All entries must be submitted by 17:00hrs on Wednesday July 11th 2018.

SURREY CHAMBERS

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STRATEGY

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SURREY CHAMBERS

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Welcome

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THE BIG STORY BRIAN BLESSED OBE The larger-than-life patron of the Guildford Shakespeare Company talks to Molly Edwards

At a Glance 8

Meet the President

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Policing Surrey

11 Member News 14 NatWest – Be Aware 18 Brian Blessed 23 Farrow Creative – Who are the heroes?

24 Surrey Digital Awards

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BRANDING HEROES

25 Wilkins Kennedy – Auto-Enrolment

The customer is always the star, says Sam Farrow

26 Herrington Carmichael – Commercial leases

28 DMH Stallard – Taming social media

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DIGITAL & GROWTH AWARDS Surrey’s digital stars and the county’s super growers.

31 Haines Watts – Succession planning

32 Travel – Shake hands in Abu Dhabi 36 Surrey Super Growth Awards 38 Town Focus – Leatherhead &

FOCUS ON...

Leatherhead & Dorking

Dorking

52 Modern Slavery 54 Talent Acquisition & Retention 63 University of Surrey

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65 New Members

TALENT ACQUISITION & RETENTION The Santander Breakthrough Debate

67 British Wax 68 Mercedes-Benz 70 Motoring – Audi SQ7 72 Motoring – VW T-Roc

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MOTORING Maarten Hoffmann reviews the Audi SQ7 & the VW T-Roc

74 Surrey Chambers Events 76 Surrey Chambers Golf Society 79 Mailing Expert 81 Sponsor a Surrey Chambers event 82 Join the Chamber

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. Surrey Chambers Business Magazine is published and owned by the Platinum Publishing Group Limited.

SURREY CHAMBERS

PLATINUM PUBLISHING G R O U P

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SURREY CHAMBERS

Issue 8 - 2018

A word from the CEO Intrepid Surrey businesses During the week of disruption through the various snow storms, Surrey Chambers continued to deliver our documentation services to exporters sending goods around the world. We even managed to carry on with one of our networking evenings, held at Roffe Swayne’s offices in Godalming. Not only are Surrey businesses creative and vibrant but also intrepid!

Challenges of recruitment I am often asked what the main issue facing businesses is and currently I am being told that recruiting staff is the biggest challenge. With close to full employment in Surrey, expanding and building a team is becoming increasingly difficult. The number of people migrating into Britain from other countries fell to 244,000 during the year to September 2017, down 29,000 from the same point in 2016, official data showed recently. These figures are no cause for celebration. At a time when businesses are seeing record skills shortages, falls in the levels of migration from the EU, for whatever reason, will only exacerbate the problem.

Our recent survey work showed that only 2% of firms look to hire directly from the EU in the first instance, preferring to hire locally. When skilled staff simply can’t be found, a fall in migration makes it harder for firms to maintain their existing performance – much less grow their business. The fact that skilled people are choosing not to come to the UK to work is a cause for real concern. Now would be a good time for an increase in Apprenticeships, upskilling people to take the jobs of the future.

Many people will know that 2018 is the 100 year anniversary of women getting the vote (those over 30 and with property!) and as always we celebrated International Women’s Day on 8th March. This took place at the fabulous Nescot College in Epsom and our theme was around flexibility. Flexibility is key to a thriving business and we are challenging businesses to look at what changes they could make to help their teams be more productive. This would also have a really positive impact on recruitment and would make jobs more accessible to a wider pool of labour.

British Chambers of Commerce Conference The theme of our National Conference was around fixing the basics at home and many things that we lobby government on were covered.

The sort of things that were highlighted were the need to deal with the 7 billion pounds of unfunded repairs on local roads across the country, so that businesses and their employees can get from A to B. It included the need to deliver new and improved railway infrastructure, capacity improvements at our airports, and new runways. There also needs to be a real plan to rid Britain of mobile phone ‘not spots’, particularly along our road and rail corridors, which stop firms transacting business – not to mention the amazingly poor broadband connections that too many of our firms face.

If all of these issues were addressed we would be more than ready for whatever is in store for us internationally!

Surrey Chambers of Commerce can be reached on 01483 735540, info@surrey-chambers.co.uk, @surreychambers

Louise Punter

CEO Surrey Chambers of Commerce

The Team

PUBLISHER The Platinum Publishing Group

Head of Design: Amanda Harrington Travel Editor: Rose Dykins Sub Editor: Kate Morton Motoring Editor: Maarten Hoffmann

GROUP

PLATINUM PUBLISHING

Website: www.platinumpublishing.co.uk

CHAMBER EDITOR Molly Edwards Molly.Edwards@surrey-chambers.co.uk Tel: 01483 735545 Web: www.surrey-chambers.co.uk If you have a news story for publication, email molly.edwards@surrey-chambers.co.uk

Directors: Maarten Hoffmann maarten@platinumpublishing.co.uk Tel: 07966 244046 Ian Trevett Ian@platinumpublishing.co.uk Tel: 07989 970804

Advertising Director: Lesley Alcock Tel: 07767 613707 lesley@platinumpublishing.co.uk

For Surrey Business Awards enquiries email fiona@platinumpublishing.co.uk

For all editorial and advertising enquiries email lesley@platinumpublishing.co.uk SURREY CHAMBERS

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President’s Column

A WORD FROM OUR PRESIDENT Introducing Steve Coburn

S

o, a lot has happened recently… Yvette Etcell, who many of you will know from her role at Gavin Jones, has now retired and is living in Wales. That also means she has retired from her position as the President of the Surrey Chambers. So, as the Vice President, I’ve stepped up and assumed many of her duties. I chaired my first Chambers Council meeting this month, and my first Board Meeting.

One thing struck me, though. We are a membership organisation, and both the Council and the Board are here to represent that membership. But, our membership is very diverse. We may be a small geography in the South East of England – but we have members who are on very different parts of their business own journey.

From the energised start-ups, full of optimism, desperately seeking new customers and expert advice; to the small businesses who have carved out their niche and are comfortable with their direction and focus; through to the growing SMEs who are battling recruitment challenges as their business continues to grow; to the larger professional services firms with multiple partners looking at succession planning; and on to the large global businesses who operate on a much larger stage than many of us could possibly understand.

As you can see, the challenges faced by all of Surrey’s businesses are going to be very different. Yet, the Chambers has a duty to represent all of those businesses and provide support and assistance where it can.

When I first joined the Chambers, we were a small start-up business. We knew what we were doing, when it came to ‘fixing computers’ – but we didn’t know what we were doing when it came to the wider aspects of running a business. VAT Returns?

HR Advice? Contracts? Marketing Strategy?

Statute of Limitations? The Chambers were a valuable source of advice for us in those early years.

Then, as we grew, we were desperate for

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new customers. We’d chase any opportunity for revenue to support our growing cost base. The Chambers were there to help provide a useful forum to meet other local businesses at their Networking Events.

And now, as we’ve become a larger business with a UK-wide focus, the Chambers is there again, to help us meet our peers and share knowledge. I’ve learned a lot from the other

I hope to use all of this experience and knowledge whenever I chair the Chamber’s Board and Council meetings. All businesses share common themes. But many have completely different challenges. And I need to make sure that all of them are represented.

So, please get in touch with me if you have any stories to share. The more members that I meet in this role, the better I’ll be able

members I’ve met. I’ve listened to their challenges and seen how they have resonated so closely with our own business.

to understand all of the challenges, and the better I’ll be at helping the Chambers to properly represent your needs.

But, I’ve also learned that we’re not a ‘larger business’! Seeing those companies around us, who employ more people, and enjoy different challenges, has made me realise that there’s still a long way to go on our own business journey!

In the meantime, can I take a moment to thank the outgoing President, Yvette Etcell, for her service to the Chambers. As I’m just beginning to learn, it’s quite a daunting role that she performed!

Thank you.

Policing Surrey

INVESTIGATING A NEW HQ David Munro, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey

The current headquarters at Mount Browne

L

ike any other organisation or business, in policing we have to constantly look to the future to ensure we are staying ahead of the game.

A big part of what has been occupying the minds of the Chief Officers at Surrey Police and myself as we plan for the long-term has been our estate and more precisely the buildings our staff work from.

You may have read in the media recently a significant announcement from my office that we have begun a search for a new Force headquarters site in Surrey.

Work is underway to identify a new location in a more central area of the county, likely to be in the Leatherhead or Dorking area, to replace our current base at Mount Browne in Guildford.

It is no secret that some of our current buildings are outdated, poor quality and expensive to manage and maintain. Our new plans are designed to deliver long-term savings by disposing of some of our buildings and creating a modern and cost-effective estate that will allow us to meet the challenges of

modern policing.

The project is expected to take at least four to five years to complete and the planning team have already instructed agents to start the search. If a suitable location can be found, it will replace the current sites at Woking and Mount Browne and also Reigate police station as the main eastern divisional base.

It is really important to stress that this is not a withdrawal from policing in our local communities – there will still be a police base in every borough where our Area Policing Teams and Safer Neighbourhood Teams will continue to operate from.

Surrey Police has been at Mount Browne for almost 70 years and has played a key part in the proud history of Surrey Police so this has been a really big decision to make.

But the most important factor in planning our future is that we provide value for money for the public. Designing a new HQ gives us a unique opportunity to really think about what we could do differently to deliver an even better service to residents. We have

looked carefully at the potential budget for the project and whilst there will be inevitable relocation costs involved, I am satisfied this investment will provide savings in the longterm.

Bricks and mortar are only part of the equation of course. Our officers and staff are the single most important thing that makes Surrey Police tick.

Whilst we appreciate a big location move such as this will mean a longer journey to work and disruption for some, for others it will offer new opportunities.

What we must provide for them all is a modern and welcoming working environment fit for a police service in the 21st Century.

We are still at an early stage in our plans and there is much work to do in identifying and securing the right location. However I feel it is important to be share our thinking with our staff, the wider public and those in our business community at this point and I will keep you updated as these plans develop going forward.

SURREY CHAMBERS

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News

MEMBER NEWS Royal Gardener’s Final Work Unearthed at Gardening Week Event Surrey’s ‘best-kept secret’, Fetcham Park, joins the likes of Chatsworth and Longleat as new evidence reveals the original garden was the final completed work by celebrated gardener George London (1640-1714). The findings unearthed by local historian Vivien White and recently published in The Gardens Trust journal, Garden History, will be unveiled at a special event on May 2nd, during National Gardening Week (30th April – 6th May).

A highlight of the event will be a lively interactive Gardener’s Question & Answer panel, chaired by BBC garden expert Jean Griffin. Visitors to the privately-owned Grade II* listed mansion near Leatherhead, now an award-winning business centre and exclusive event venue, will see how George London’s garden would have looked in the early 1700s. The historical building with its elaborate plasterwork, decorative gold leaf, and original murals by Royal artist Louis Laguerre, will be open to explore.

The event is in association with Perennial, the UK’s only charity dedicated to helping horticulturalists in need for over 175 years. Peter Newman, chief executive at Perennial, said, “Perennial supports all those working within the horticulture industry across the UK and funds raised as a result of this event will enable us to reach more people with one-to-one personalised advice, support and financial assistance.”

www.fetchampark.co.uk

Canapés and Conversations Resourcing4HR is hosting its third networking event for The Southern Home Counties Canapes and Conversations on May 16th 2018. This is an informal opportunity to meet HR professionals across different industries and network whilst socialising.

The event is being held at The DoubleTree by Hilton, Victoria Way, Woking between 6pm to 9pm.

Resourcing4HR is an independently run boutique HR Recruitment Consultancy, set up to support HR professionals at all levels and across all industries, by sharing our knowledge and expertise from within the HR arena. Ours is a partnership approach offering a tailored, flexible service to meet the needs of clients and candidates.

Sapna Sharma is the dedicated regional HR Specialist recruiter covering the Southern Home Counties and London. Sapna began her career in recruitment in 2000. Genuine and approachable she has gained a unique insight and deep understanding of the HR market. Attention to detail and the ability to build long term relationships with clients and candidates, she has a real passion for business. A natural networker who believes in traditional business values of professionalism, courtesy and exceeding expectation. If you are interested in attending the event, please contact Sapna at sapna@resourcing4hr.co.uk or call on 07769651309.

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

Specialist eye care in Guildford Based within BMI Mount Alvernia Hospital, Eye Care Surrey is a new comprehensive centre for private eye health and eye surgery in the area. The new advanced facility is the result of a significant investment by BMI Healthcare. Eye Care Surrey provide a service led by experienced senior Consultants from a patient’s first consultation to the completion of their treatment.

The centre brings together a highly skilled team consisting of local ophthalmic Consultants supported by a team of specialist ophthalmic nurses, practitioners, orthoptists and optometrists. The team will work in a high quality hospital environment and provide a wide range of eye health services.

The centre offers the latest ophthalmic equipment and diagnostic technology available for scanning both the front and back of the eye. This allows the Consultant to make the correct diagnosis and treat appropriately. The equipment in the centre is supplied

by Alcon UK, who specialise in cutting-edge innovation and breakthrough technology for eye health.

Tel: 01483 570122 www.bmihealthcare.co.uk/hospitals/bmi-mount-alverniahospital SURREY CHAMBERS

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News

MEMBER NEWS Award-winning service at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre It’s official! Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre provides the Best Customer Service in the area of Lifestyle and Leisure across Guildford, as awarded by Experience Guildford for 2017.

The Theatre is committed to making sure everyone can enjoy first class drama, and are expanding relaxed performances, signed shows, and special productions for injured ex-service personnel and school groups.

‘I am so grateful for the commitment of all our staff, who work hard in every part of the Theatre to ensure our customers enjoy their experience with us,’ said Madeleine Coleman, Funding Executive.

Their warm welcome is also legendary backstage, as a regional favourite of touring companies, actors and crew. ‘The Arnaud has become the launch pad for our work. The stage crew are very good, they are a skilled team,’ says Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE, Playwright, Director and Producer.

‘It’s very, very well run, this place. The staff and backstage team really look after you,’ said actress Maureen Lipman.

For show sponsorship, Corporate Social Responsibility work and other individually tailored benefits packages to suit your business goals, contact: funding@yvonne-arnaud.co.uk or call 01483 535818.

Challenge raises over £900 for Phyllis Tuckwell “Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation”

The Guildford office of Smith & Williamson, the accountancy, investment management and tax group, has raised more than £900 for Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care as part of the charity’s Accumulator Corporate Challenge 2018 initiative.

Smith & Williamson’s team was given a £50 note by Phyllis Tuckwell to invest in innovative fundraising activities for the 50 day challenge between 15th January and 5th March. The enthusiastic team organised a range of different activities, most of which were food or drink related, such as providing a tuck shop and hot lunches, which always prove popular with people.

This latest challenge brings the total that Smith & Williamson’s Guildford office has raised for Phyllis Tuckwell to more than £9,000 over the past 18 months.

All of the money raised will go towards funding the supportive and end of life care that Phyllis Tuckwell provides for local patients and families who are living with an advanced or terminal illness, such as cancer. www.smithandwilliamson.com

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• @SmithWilliamson

SURREY CHAMBERS

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Cybercrime

BE AWARE IN 2018 Social media spying, mobile malware, Brexit investment scams and World Cup rip-offs… NatWest reveals the EIGHT money scams to be aware of in 2018

A

new report from NatWest and The Future Laboratory has identified the top ways they expect scammers and fraudsters will try and get their hands on consumers’ cash in 2018: from social media spying and planting malicious software on smart phones to Brexit, money muling and even taking advantage of the excitement around the Royal wedding. NatWest has also compiled advice for how consumers can keep themselves safe.

The NatWest Digital Safety 2018 report has found that while the banking industry is working hard to combat digital frauds and scams with innovative new systems, criminals are constantly coming up with new and more sophisticated ways to try and defraud customers.

NatWest is urging consumers and the banking industry as a whole to remain vigilant in order to stop scammers in their tracks.

As part of its commitment to protecting its customers from fraud and scams, NatWest has worked with research agency The Future Laboratory to analyse data from the last 18 months to predict eight frauds and scams expected to emerge as 2018 gets under way: 1. Social media spying: As we move into 2018 we can expect to see financial fraudsters target consumers in an increasingly personalised way. People can be very liberal with posting information on social media and might not realise how much they’re giving away, but to a fraudster the posts can be very helpful in setting up a scam. For example: A fraudster might spot a post from someone about moving to a new house and know it’s likely they will have funds from their previous property hitting their bank accounts soon. This could result in the fraudsters impersonating their solicitor and requesting for funds to be misdirected to them.

2. Malicious software on smartphones: An emerging threat is how malware will manifest in mobile banking on smartphones.

Malware is the malicious software criminal gangs use to spy on victims’ browsing habits. Up until now, malware has mainly been restricted to PCs, laptops and tablets, but it’s expected the threat will grow among mobile devices and people who ‘jailbreak’ their phones are especially at risk.

Digital Safety 2018

Digital Safety: 2018

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3. Bogus Brexit investments: As we enter 2018, Brexit remains a confusing issue for many people. Consumers should be wary of attempts from scammers to use our divorce from the EU to push fake investment opportunities. For example, scammers may email customers, warning Brexit will decimate their savings, and that they urgently need to move them into a seemingly plausible, but actually fake, investment product, safe from any potential Brexit fall out.

4. FIFA World Cup forgery: Football fanatics will be desperate to get hold of tickets to matches in Russia this summer for the World Cup. Tens of thousands of loyal fans will be hoping to head to Russia and looking for bargain tickets and travel companies to get them there. Some sites will sell tickets that are either fake – or will never arrive. It is also expected that counterfeit package trips to Russia will be sold by fake travel companies. These trips will never materialise, and the money will have disappeared into the pockets of criminals.

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5. Money mules: Mule recruiters are predicted to trawl social media for potential targets – particularly cash-strapped students in university towns – and use them to inadvertently launder money.

Money mules receive the stolen funds into their account, they are SURREY CHAMBERS

Cybercrime

then asked to withdraw it and wire the money to a different account, often one overseas, keeping some of the money for themselves.

6. Royal Wedding fever: It’s not just Prince Harry and Meghan Markle getting married this year, lots of other couples will be tying the knot too. As the cost of weddings increases, experts fear brides and grooms are becoming easy prey for scammers who tempt victims with extravagant offers at bargain prices. Scammers can set up fake websites within minutes for elements of the big day like venue hire, catering, or wedding dresses that can look exactly like the real thing. Fake wedding planners will take people’s money and disappear into thin air.

7. Stealing hearts… and money: More than 16 million people were using dating apps in 2017 and this number is set to increase in 2018. Criminals create fake profiles to form a relationship with their victims. They use the messaging functionality to quickly (and subtly) mine personal details – where a person lives, a pet’s name, favourite sports team – and steal the customer’s identity and open credit cards and loans in their name.

Alternatively, they work to build a trusted relationship with their victim. Just when the victim thinks they’ve met the perfect partner the scammer asks for money – for example; they need money to pay for travel to come visit.

8. First-time buyers: With house prices beginning to fall in 2018, scammers are at the ready to steal deposits from first-time buyers who are desperate to own their first home. For example, computer hackers monitor emails sent by a solicitor and then they pounce, pretending to be the solicitor and telling them the solicitors’ bank account details have changed.

Julie McArdle, NatWest Security Manager said, “At NatWest, our top priority is keeping our customers safe and secure online. Financial fraud is now the most common crime in the UK, and we want to help our customers understand the different types of scams that

might emerge in 2018 and how they can best protect themselves.”

“Scammers are dogged in their attempts to get their hands on people’s money and are always looking for new ways to get ahead.

This means banks and customers need to evolve alongside scammers too. By being aware and staying ahead of scammers, we can stop them winning and keep the country’s money safe and secure.”

To download the report, please visit: https://www.rbs.com/rbs/ news/2018/03/natwest-reveals-theeight-money-scams-to-be-aware-ofin-2018-.html

To help customers navigate these potential frauds and scams, NatWest has developed its top tips for consumers to remember when banking online: 1. Be vigilant. Just because someone knows basic personal details (such as names and addresses or even a customer’s mother’s maiden name), it doesn’t mean they are genuine. We advise customers to listen to their instincts – if something feels wrong then it is usually right to pause and question it.

2. Customers should always follow their bank’s security advice and never provide remote access to their device when asked to do so following a cold call.

3. Customers should be cautious with what they disclose on social media and take precautions to ensure that their profile is private and only viewable to people they know.

4. We advise that customers should keep their mobile devices’ operating systems up to date to ensure that they have the latest security patches and upgrades. Think carefully before jailbreaking or rooting a device as it may weaken security and expose it to additional risks.

5. A genuine bank or organisation will never ask a customer to transfer money for fraud reasons or contact them out of the blue to ask for their PIN or full password. Stay in control and have the confidence to refuse unusual requests for information.

SURREY CHAMBERS

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What is your appetite for risk?

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Interview

The Voice Molly Edwards meets national treasure, Brian Blessed, who is the Honorary Patron of Guildford Shakespeare Company

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King Lear

B

rian Blessed has had an acting career spanning over 50 years, from his notable roles in Z Cars and Flash Gordon, to his escapades as ‘Grampy Rabbit’ in Peppa Pig. He has an iconic voice and a huge bushy beard that you would expect to see a small woodland creature living in! Brian Blessed is undoubtedly one of our national treasures.

There are few actors about today that have a passion for Shakespeare quite like Blessed, he has starred in four of the five Kenneth Branagh Shakespeare adaptations and has had many roles quoting ‘the Bard’ on stage too.

He may be a Yorkshireman born and bred, but Brian Blessed is no stranger to Surrey.

Having lived in the county for many years his local presence is certainly known. In 2016 he was made the Honorary Patron of Guildford Shakespeare Company (a local professional site responsive theatre company) where many fans will have seen him performing in the title role of their production of ‘King Lear’.

Not only a performer, Brian sees himself as ‘half actor, half explorer’. Having endured many different adventures Brian is the oldest man to go to the North Magnetic Pole on foot, he attempted to climb Mount Everest three times, survived a plane crash in Venezuela, All photos courtesy of Matt Periera

completed over 800 hours of space training in Russia, and let’s not forget, he is one of the voices on the TomTom Sat nav - there isn’t much Brian Blessed hasn’t done. It is safe to say he has a huge zest for life!

Brian Blessed is well known locally for his love of animals and it’s no secret that he has over 200 in his Surrey home. Written in his lively style, he asks people to have his voice in mind when reading ‘The Panther in my Kitchen: My Wild life with Animals’ which was released in November 2017 and is a laugh out loud book, depicting the true joy animals can bring and how important it is to care for them.

❝

One of my biggest loves is adventure, and my biggest passion in life is our individuality…

❞

The 81 year old actor/explorer is certainly not content with sitting still, Brian is touring the UK until October 2018. ‘An evening with Brian Blessed’ sees him discuss all his adventures to date. With many dates sold out,

it is an evening not to miss!

I caught up with Brian to talk about his incredible work with the Guildford Shakespeare Company, his brand new book and the adventures he is still yet to have.

Guildford Shakespeare Company have been running for 11 years, how did you get involved with them?

They (GSC) knew I was in the area, and I went and saw one of their productions, which I thought was bloody marvellous! I wanted to be part of them, so they invited me to be their patron, they said ‘come and do King Lear with us’, and that’s how it all started. Sarah Gobran and Matt Pinches (Founders of GSC) are both just incredibly talented and I think it’s the most enterprising company in the land!

In my opinion the most important thing in the UK is the arts, you come here and we have the theatre, the galleries, the opera houses, we’re like a floating museum. I just feel that Guildford is such an active area for the arts, the whole area vibrates with ambition.

Over the years I have done many performances here, such as Peter Pan and of course King Lear, and I think the Guildford SURREY CHAMBERS

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Interview Shakespeare Company are a miracle! I am Patron of it and it gives me great happiness.

Guildford Shakespeare Company have had rapid growth with their outreach programs developing their work with not just young children but the elderly too, what do you think of these local opportunities?

very much want to do a big play with Guildford Shakespeare and make it one of the greatest bits of theatre ever created, because they are just so inspirational.

What has been your favourite performance by the company so far?

I just think they are so adventurous. People say to me when I go off climbing Mount Everest or the North Pole, ‘is it dangerous what you do?’ I say the greatest danger in life is not taking the adventure. I look on art as an adventure.

I feel it’s limitless what Guildford Shakespeare can do, they have some fantastic actors and what they do locally is just wonderful. I just can’t praise them enough, not just as a Patron, but working with them also.

Caroline directed Henry V with GSC and she did it with only 10 people. I was gob-smacked, they moved the audience around the cathedral, it was all done economically and it was a very good concept.

The production was sensational.

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You have to treat Shakespeare with a healthy disrespect because it is for people to act. Rather than read it, go and do it! He is the crème de la crème and he covers everything.

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You played King Lear in Guildford Shakespeare’s production in 2015, are there any plans for you to perform with them again?

I intend to direct one or two productions in the future. Caroline Devlin (Director) did ‘King Lear’ with me and I intend to work with her again. I want to do several things, one being Harold Pinter’s ‘The Room’, it’s a very short play and was done when I studied at the Bristol Old Vic, where I met Pinter for the first time, it’s an amazing one act play.

I

I also thought Two Gentlemen in Verona, which is very rarely done, was one of the best I’d seen. It had great simplicity and invention, it was just beautifully done and Matt (Pinches) working with that dog was absolutely magic. Yes, I think that’s my favourite so far.

Do you think British people appreciate Shakespeare as much as they should?

Well I think with Shakespeare, if it’s done well and if you get it right, there is nothing more real. You have to treat Shakespeare with a healthy disrespect because it is for people to act. Rather than read it, go and do it! He is the crème de la crème and he covers everything. He has a phenomenal grasp of human nature, his vocabulary was 15,000 without him we’d be on 300!

Ultimately I think Shakespeare belongs to the world, he is universal.

You released ‘The Panther in my Kitchen: My Wild Life with Animals’ at the end of last year, the book discusses your relationship with all kinds of animals and the joys of our relationships with them. What can new readers expect from this book?

Well I’ve written several books and I’m very lucky that they have been best sellers. This book is about animals, about my life with them since the 1960’s. The book really talks about how ignorant we were about wild animals, especially when I was a child in the war years. In those days you could buy an elephant or a leopard from Harrods, and we would buy and rescue these animals and send them back to their country of origin.

At the moment we are the guardians of this planet, and this book is about learning from animals and our relationships with them, and how we have learnt to look after wild animals as well as my stories of how we rescued animals from all over the world.

Do you have many animals living in your house now?

Well I have domestic animals, you know ducks, hens, dogs and cats. I never have any money, because I spend it all rescuing domestic animals.

I work with the RSPCA, World Animal Protection, Born Free Foundation

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and people like that.

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Interview What do you prefer, stage or screen or voice over?

Films, audio, television, they are all part of the same tapestry. I can be very objective because I’m an explorer as well. In Shakespeare Hamlet says acting is ‘holding up the mirror to nature’ and of course as an explorer, climbing Mount Everest, going to the North Pole or climbing Kilimanjaro, that is life!

One of my biggest loves is adventure, and my biggest passion in life is our individuality that’s what I tell audiences. Nature doesn’t cheat, we’ve all got something that somebody else hasn’t and you’ve got to be able to bring it out. Don’t let the bastards grind you down! My point is we have Everest’s everywhere it can be your garden, your kitchen or your school but there must be no dream that isn’t dead.

You are quite the adventurer, what’s next for you?

Oh yes, I am going to the bottom of the sea, I’m going to go all over earth. In Russia there are five mountains that haven’t been climbed by the British, if you climb all five you become the ‘snow leopard’ and get given an award by the government. I want to do that. I’m going to bloody space! I want to go to Mars, I want to go beyond all of it.

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You have to go and write your own script in life. There’s no end to what we can achieve.

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But anyone can do this, you have to go and write your own script in life. There’s no end to what we can achieve.

You are already into your 2018 tour ‘an evening with Brian Blessed’ what can the audience expect from this show?

They can expect me to be inspirational, be myself and I’ll be one with the audience. There are speeches, adventures, acting, singing and even philosophy and it becomes a great happening. We all grow from it and it all becomes a celebration of life. People come away feeling 1 million dollars and have thousands of ideas themselves. The evening is going to be about them, the audience.

The Panther in my Kitchen: My Wild life with Animals is available from Amazon.com

King Lear

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Interview

REACHING OUT How Guildford Shakespeare Company embraces Outreach Work

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he aim of Guildford Shakspeare Company, which was co-founded by local thespians Matt Pinches and Sarah Gobran, is to produce Shakespeare that is exciting, engaging and accessible, while remaining faithful to the original works.

Last year, their Education and Outreach Department engaged with over 4,000 people, young and old and they are dedicated to working with all sections of society, running several outreach programmes with some of the most disadvantaged areas in Surrey.

“National statistics show Surrey as a highachieving, prosperous county. However, this can hide the most deprived areas within its boundaries. If you look at education alone, Surrey contains 17 schools achieving exam results well below the national average.” explains Ant Stones, GSC’s Head of Education and Outreach.

Rapid growth in the last 18 months has enabled GSC to employ a new member of the Education and Outreach team, which has allowed them to enrich their depth of work and reach even more people across the South East. Through work with funding partners GSC have an exciting array of projects already up and running, with several in development for 2018 and beyond.

2018 marks the third year of GSC’s collaboration with Delight Charity. Every year GSC takes especially adapted Shakespeare plays and workshops to ten disadvantaged Primary Schools in Surrey. Last year, they divided the children into the feuding Capulets and Montagues with Romeo and Juliet. In 2018, GSC will tour a new production of Macbeth, Shakespeare’s gripping tragedy.

Four professional actors share the main roles and narrate key moments to ensure the children follow the story. The audience are involved through creating soundscapes, slow motion fights and the ever-popular Shakespeare puppet, ‘Little Will’. The children are also invited to step up on stage to take on important characters, such King Duncan and the Witches. Even teachers aren’t safe, as one ‘lucky’ staff member becomes Macduff in the final fight to the death.

“It was the best performance we’ve ever had at the school and I’ve been a Year 6

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GSC Founders and Patron Brian Blessed at launch

teacher for a long time!” Cathy Waters, Town Farm Primary School.

The Community Foundation for Surrey have enabled GSC to provide free performances and workshops for GCSE students at three disadvantaged secondary schools; Christ’s College in Guildford, Ash Manor School in Ash and Oakwood School in Horley. GSC are delighted that Natwest will also be supporting their school’s work in 2018. Through their Skills and Opportunities Fund they will deliver a new programme with Guildford’s King’s College this year.

Through a new relationship with The High Sheriff Youth Awards, this year GSC has offered bursaries for children who would benefit greatly from their in-house drama clubs, but who’s family wouldn’t normally be able to afford it. This is the first year GSC have been able to grant three children from

Weyfield School a free, year-long placement in their Saturday Drama Club. GSC constantly host a variety of children on work-experience and are currently 7 months into an extended placement for a child who has been signed off from school, due to mental health difficulties.

“GSC has had such a positive impact over the years on both his confidence on stage and also his love of Shakespeare.” Club Member’s Mum Looking ahead, GSC have several other outreach projects in the fundraising stage, as they begin to expand their work outside of schools.

If you would like to learn more about GSC’s outreach work or would like to sponsor one of these projects, please contact Ant Stones, GSC’s Head of Education, education@guildfordshakespeare-company.co.uk, 07956 000759.

Branding

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO Companies have long sought to make their brands the hero in their customer’s story. But what if they’ve been getting things entirely the wrong way round?

By Sam Farrow of Farrow Creative

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randing loves buzzwords, and one of the current favourite is ‘storytelling’.

This goes beyond creating content: it’s a complete narrative picture, bringing together facts, feelings, experiences and interpretations, drawn from every contact your customer has with you. Stories are what shift your brand from being a simple commodity to a presence people want to have as part of their own lives.

Every story, of course, needs a hero – and conventional brand thinking dictates that the brand itself is the hero, riding to the rescue and dispatching all the customer’s needs, wants, desires and pain points at a single, swashbuckling stroke.

But maybe that’s all wrong. A story is also a journey; and in a business transaction, who’s making that journey? It’s not your brand: it’s the customer. So really, shouldn’t they be the hero?

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A story is a journey; and in a business transaction, who’s making that journey? It’s not your brand: it’s the customer. So really, shouldn’t they be the hero?

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To flip this inherited wisdom round, we have to consider where the customer’s journey takes them. Put simply, it begins at Awareness, passes through Consideration, and ends up at Decision. And like the hero of any story, they need someone to help them on the way: think Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, or Dumbledore in Harry Potter. That’s

what your brand has to be: a guide or mentor, showing giving them the information, advice and counsel they need to reach that final resolution.

What does this mean in practice? In essence, you need to demonstrate to your customer that you care more about their needs than you do about your own brand, image and sales.

At the start of the journey, your brand has to provide the emotional connection, appeal and trust to make them want to take the first step down the road towards a purchase.

While they’re considering, your brand needs to provide the information and advice they need to make an informed choice, and the reassurance that they’re heading in the right direction. As with any good yarn, there will

be obstacles on the way: they’ll look at other brands, they’ll lose interest, something else will demand their money and attention.

Your brand has to stay with them, and steer them back on to the right path. And as they approach the denouement, you can use offers, free trials, discounts, tutorials and other added value content to get them safely over the line.

So think about the journey your customers when they buy products or service from you; then work out what your brand can do to make that process easier, smoother - and also more exciting. It could be the opening of a whole new chapter.

farrowcreative.co.uk

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Business Awards

Surrey Digital Awards

THE WINNERS M

any of the most progressive businesses, schools and charities from across the county walked away from HG Wells Conference & Events Centre, in Woking, with gold, silver and bronze awards on March 15th.

The awards were presented by special guests from SDA18 sponsors including c2i Woking Digital, projectfive, Nimbus Hosting, WS Planning & Architecture, Barclays, Denbies Wine Estate and the Key Supporter Surrey Chambers of Commerce.

Guildford web design company Plug and Play received top marks in Best Online Retailer and Best Website for their project Book F1, before high-end estate agency house picked up Best Use of Video for Business and Best Website: Small Business, for their excellent site constructed by Guildford agency Flourish. go6 media, in Horley, also saw double after scooping the top award in Best Website: B2B for their work on behalf of drone filming service Aerial Blue and in Best Website: School, Education or Charity for London Bus Theatre Company.

Clinching gold in Best Blog for the second year running was John Adams of Dadbloguk.com while Rhiannon Ford Divorce Consultancy made the top of the podium for Best Use of Social Media for Business.

Dorking web designers OH Creative picked landed gold for their third year in a row.

First place in the Best Website: Lifestyle & Culture classification was claimed by Muddy Stilettos (Surrey) and NMP Live by NXT Digital Solutions – based in Guildford – came out on top in Best Website: Sports & Entertainment.

Avala Catering by Thunderbolt Digital were victorious in Best Website: Tourism & Hospitality.

Also supporting the SDAs were Clare Reeves Voiceovers, Tandridge District Council, Noise PR, Capricorn Media and designsixtyfour.com

The Winners Best Blog in association with c2i Woking Digital GOLD – Dadbloguk.com SILVER – Rejuvage BRONZE – Expert Home Tips

Best Website: Lifestyle & Culture in association with Denbies Wine Estate GOLD – Muddy Stilettos (Surrey) SILVER – The Spot by 5and3 BRONZE – How to Cook Good Food

Best Online Retailer GOLD – Book F1 by Plug & Play Design SILVER – Aemyrie by Thunderbolt Digital BRONZE – Caviste by Valiant

Best Website: Marketing & Creative in association with Nimbus Hosting GOLD – OH Creative SILVER – Equals Creative BRONZE – UX Design Agency by Plug & Play Design

Best Use of Social Media for Business in association with Barclays GOLD – Rhiannon Ford Divorce Consultancy SILVER – taxhelp.uk.com BRONZE – Raymond Weil by Thunderbolt Digital Best Use of Video for Business GOLD – house. by Flourish SILVER – Anna Mason Art BRONZE – Content Creatures Best Website in association with Surrey Chambers of Commerce GOLD – Book F1 by Plug & Play Design SILVER – Aemyrie by Thunderbolt Digital BRONZE – house. by Flourish Best Website: B2B in association with projectfive GOLD – Aerial Blue by go6 media SILVER – CSMB by Thunderbolt Digital BRONZE – Waytime IT Support by Watb Creative

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Best Website: School, Education or Charity GOLD – London Bus Theatre Company by go6 media SILVER – Authorfy BRONZE – The Orpheus Centre Best Website: Small Business in association with WS Planning & Architecture GOLD – house. by Flourish SILVER – OH Creative BRONZE – Reigate Business Guild Best Website: Sports & Entertainment GOLD – NMP Live by NXT Digital Solutions SILVER – Book F1 by Plug & Play Design BRONZE – Motul by Kyan Best Website: Tourism & Hospitality GOLD – Avala Catering by Thunderbolt Digital SILVER – Foxhills Club & Resort BRONZE – Grayshott Pottery by KPC Creative Communication

Section Text Here

AUTO ENROLMENT: changes are just around the corner There are some changes on the horizon for employers and employees paying into pension schemes that could see an increase in contributions. Tommy White, Partner at Wilkins Kennedy, looks at what employers need to do now in order to remain compliant – before the deadline is up.

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he Pensions Regulator recently announced that there would be some changes to pension scheme contributions, both for employers and employees. There will be two stages, with the first stage kicking off in April 2018. If your organisation has staff employed on the payroll, you will need to get your skates on to ensure you remain compliant.

Auto Enrolment was introduced in 2010 and came into force from October 2012 as a measure to help ensure that every employee was offered a workplace pension by 2018.

Every employer was given a staging date which required them to enrol all staff into a pension scheme by that date and ensure they were paying the minimum amount into the pension scheme.

What has changed?

Employers are still required to offer a pension scheme to employees and they are still required to make pension contributions by law. The minimum amount that employers are required to pay into an Auto Enrolment pension scheme however will shortly be increasing.

This will be phased in over two stages – the first increase must be in place from 6 April 2018 and the second from 6 April 2019.

Increases will vary according to what employers and staff pay into a pension scheme, as it is typically based on earnings. For the 2017/2018 tax year this earnings range is between £5,876 and £45,000 a year, and for 2018-2019 it is expected to be between £6,032 and £46,350 a year.

Most employers use a pension scheme which requires a total contribution of the 2% which is the current minimum level. However, this minimum will increase at set times over the two phases. The Pensions Regulator website states: “contribution increases from the current minimum of a total contribution of 2% of qualifying earnings take place on 6 April 2018, rising to 5%, and on 6 April 2019, reaching a total minimum amount of 8%.”

If these increases are not actioned, then the pension scheme will no longer be classed as qualifying and cannot be used for auto enrolment. If you are unsure as to what your current contributions levels are you will need to check the documents that were sent to you when the scheme was set up.

No exceptions Phasing applies to all employers with staff enrolled in an Auto Enrolment pension scheme. If you do not have any staff enrolled in a scheme, for example self-employed contractors, or you already pay above the increased minimum amounts, then you do not need to take any further action.

You can download our latest update from the Wilkins Kennedy website at www. wilkinskennedy.com/resource-centre for more information, including assistance in calculating contributions, with variables such as commission, bonuses or overtime.

Alternatively you can contact the payroll team at Wilkins Kennedy to discuss how to take matters forward.

Guildford – 01483 306 318 – guildford@wilkinskennedy.com Heathrow – 01784 435 561 – heathrow@wilkinskennedy.com

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Legal

COMMERCIAL LEASE RENEWALS Why PACT is gaining traction.

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usiness owners who lease their commercial premises and Landlords of commercial property should look again at an alternative process for lease renewal negotiations.

Lease renewals are coming around more frequently than they did 10-15 years ago, which is largely due to the lease period being much shorter.

PACT (Professional Arbitration on Court Terms) was created back in 1997 with the aim of taking lease renewals out of the formal Court system. It really did not catch on and the attitude of the Courts to lease renewal applications had a lot to do with that.

The Courts used to be only too happy to regard the parties to lease renewal applications as they were able to deal with the timetable and progress by themselves. It was more a negotiation and the only reason the Court application had been made in the first place was because of statutory requirements.

It did not really “fit” into the Court psyche. As a result, the parties could easily get the Court to rubber stamp agreements to extend dates

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and delay any meaningful involvement by the Court.

Key Differences

made a Court application to protect their right to renew can be extended by agreement. That can be quite stressful, not to mention requiring a very close watch on the extension dates; because if you cannot get a further extension, you have to have actually issued the Court application before the first extension expires.

If you get that wrong you lose your statutory entitlement to have a new Lease. Once that happens you either have to move out or accept the terms your Landlord demands to get a new Lease.

1. Both the Court process and PACT will have a timetable for things to be done by the parties. The Court is much less likely to agree to extend the timetable even if both the parties are asking for it. Indeed under the Court Rules only one extension of no more than 28 days can be agreed by the parties and only if it does not jeopardise an existing Hearing date.

The Court process also has a more robust approach to missed dates than it used to. Its time limits have to be met or you run the risk of serious consequences, including having your Claim thrown out or being ordered to pay the other sides costs caused by the delay and the latter assumes you can persuade the Court to “forgive” the original failure in the first place.

Under PACT the timetable is largely in the control of the parties and if they wish to agree an extension they can do so.

So why should you now seriously consider using PACT when you have not bothered before?

2. The Court is very keen to limit Expert evidence to that of a single jointly instructed Expert. The Court has the

If the negotiations start in good time and both Landlord & Tenant can quickly agree terms, then a new Lease can be prepared and signed before the old one expires. Then it is simply a case of the new Lease seamlessly coming into force as the old one ends.

Unfortunately things are rarely that neat.

The statutory timetable for a Tenant to have

Legal

power to order this even if both sides have expressed a view that they want to appoint an Expert each.

Under PACT the parties can agree to the appointment of an Expert each and get on with it. This is particularly important in the context of arguments over what is or is not “market rent”.

3. The leasehold renewal Court process is normally conducted in the County Court system. You may have a number of different Judges dealing with the case as it goes through the process and there is no guarantee that any of them will have any particular expertise in the commercial property market.

Under PACT the parties will be able to agree the identity of the person(s) who will determine the issues that they cannot sort out between them – this may be a Surveyor for arguments over rent or service charge issues and/or a Solicitor for arguments over the technical drafting of a new Lease. If the identity of the person cannot be agreed, an application can be made to The Royal Institute of Chartered

Surveyors (RICS) and/or the Law Society to appoint a suitable person. That ensures that the issues will always be determined by someone with the requisite experience and expertise.

4. Court fees are increasing significantly and although the Court can and does demand the parties comply with deadlines, its own administration is rife with delay due to funding cuts, lack of personnel and fewer courts are having to cope with more work.

Lengthy delays in getting Hearing dates are regretfully commonplace.

PACT should be faster and potentially less expensive. There are two types of PACT process.

to the use of PACT before the deadline for the Court application has expired, they enter into a written agreement. That agreement confirms that no Court application should be made until the PACT process has been completed and will often include specific agreement to extend the time for such an application. That protects the possibility of one party playing “dirty” and trying to use the suggestion of PACT as a means of running the clock down so that their opponent loses the right to make a Court application.

If you want any help with this please contact Herrington Carmichael on drteam@herrington-carmichael.com

The first is after you have made your Court application. If both sides agree, you can shift the determination of the issues into PACT by lodging a Consent Order with the Court to that effect and in most cases the Court will happily endorse it.

The second bypasses the Court system altogether. If there has been no Court application and assuming the parties agree SURREY CHAMBERS

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Legal

THE REGULATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA S

ocial media has been in the news recently and not all the coverage has been good. We will all be aware of the recent Facebook/Cambridge Analytica controversy, and Facebook alone has some two billion users. The power and the influence of social media platforms has been pressed to the top of the agendas of both politicians and regulators.

Social media platforms, Facebook among them, argue that with gigabytes of data being

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Many have been quick to condemn the social media platforms, citing what they feel is their ‘hand-washing’ of any responsibility for what appears on their sites.

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uploaded by their billions of users each day, holding them responsible for what appears in

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certain accounts on their platforms is unfair.

To what extent these platforms are ‘actors’ in their own right and to what extent they can then be held responsible for what appears on their website, is the question of the moment.

In the UK, the question centres on whether the platforms can be defined as ‘publishers’ rather than simply billboards or technology firms. The distinction is critical. A ‘publisher’ is responsible and liable for what is written and can be sued in the civil courts for defamatory comment or, for example, prosecuted in the criminal courts for incitement to racial hatred, whereas a ‘billboard’ cannot.

Many have been quick to condemn the social media platforms, citing what they feel is their ‘hand-washing’ of any responsibility for what appears on their sites. What is the case, is that the position of platforms has developed within the terms of the debate.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, stated in August 2016 that Facebook was ‘a tech company, not a media company’. His view was that Facebook bore no responsibility for

Jonathan Compton, Partner in DMH Stallard’s Guildford office what was posted by its users. But his position had changed by late 2016 when he said that Facebook was ‘a new kind of platform’ and continued, ‘…we feel responsible for how it is used’ (The Guardian, 22 December 2016).

Let us look at some numbers (courtesy of the UK regulator Ofcom – reported in August 2017): 88% of over 18s in the UK have

Legal home internet access. For the UK, one report estimated that 74% of UK adults accessed news online (Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, ‘Digital News Report 2017: United Kingdom’, 2017). In terms of Facebook alone, the same Reuters report estimated that that platform was used by 70% of individuals in all the markets surveyed (including the UK), and 47% of people accessed news via the network.

So, the stakes are high. Recent issues have centred on fake news, extremist content, online bullying and harassment and, more recently, allegations of election/political interference.

At one end of the regulatory debate, the editor of the London Financial Times, Lionel Barber, argued that Facebook is a publisher like any other. As such, it, and all other social media platforms, should be themselves liable to civil suits for defamatory comment and to

the rigors of the criminal law for issues such as incitement. On the other end of the spectrum, Professor William Dutton of Oxford University’s Internet Studies department argues that with so many contributors, social media platforms cannot reasonably be expected to monitor content in the way that, say, news organisations can.

January 1st 2018. The EU Commission has launched a consultation on fake news.

Matt Hancock, for the UK government, has announced consultation on ‘a world-leading framework for understanding online conduct’ (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Speech: The Future of the Internet’, 13th September 2017).

We hold newspapers responsible for their content precisely because the newspapers have editorial control over their content.

Newspapers decide what goes onto their sites in a way that social media does not.

In the US, of course, the home of many of the social media platforms, the courts have the power, in the last resort, to break up monopolies. It is a power rarely used, but it exists.

Regulatory responses in other jurisdictions have included French plans to tighten the rules on posts made during election periods. Germany has gone further: a maximum €50million fine if platforms fail to remove illegal material within 24 hours of notification, which came into force on

For more information contact Jonathan on 01483 467433, or email jonathan.compton@dmhstallard. com. www.dmhstallard.com

DMH STALLARD IN THE NEWS top industry awards, fundraising and even the recent heavy snowfalls across the country.

Tony Hyams-Parish

When the snow fell, and the schools closed, the media wanted to know what rights working parents have when their children had to stay at home.

an unexpected incident, and school closures due to weather are likely to fall under these rules. Whilst there is no absolute right to pay in these circumstances, employers tend to be flexible and allow time to be made up or, alternatively, holiday taken.

Tony Hyams-Parish is an employment Partner at DMH Stallard and was featured extensively in the press all over the UK. Tony said: “The law does allow employees to take a reasonable period off to deal with

“What came as a bit of a surprise was to find my comments about the situation being used in newspapers in Scotland and just about every town and city between there and the south coast!”

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n addition to the enquiries the team at DMH Stallard receives from clients, the firm is also high on the radar for journalists who need a legal specialist to provide expert comments on a story they are covering.

Since January 2018, the firm has appeared in over 200 different media, including TV, radio, newspapers and magazines. The range of subjects covered is very broad, from banking, finance, intellectual property and house building, to senior level appointments,

SURREY CHAMBERS

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Taxation

DO SMEs SHY AWAY FROM SUCCESSION PLANNING? Asks Dan Morgan, Partner at Haines Watts

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MEs are widely recognised to be the backbone of the UK economy and essential for propping up employment.

Ensuring the longevity of these businesses is fundamental to economic stability and growth.

It’s therefore worrying that so few SME business owners have a clear succession plan.

A study by The Economist Intelligence Unit shows that 64% of business owners aged sixty do not have a plan for appointing a successor to their role when they retire. Which implies that they’ve not really given proper thought to how the business will continue to run and prosper without them.

Why are SMEs not planning for succession?

and over time they are nurtured into the role.

There is no simple answer but a few key themes emerge when you talk to owners.

Many are too busy running the business to think about letting go. Facing the fact that you will one day have to give up your life’s work is also emotionally challenging for many owners. For others, there is no evident successor in the business so they simply ignore the issue.

For other businesses, an outside appointment is the right choice. Again, who and what the business needs is clearly identified and a plan is in place to secure this person well ahead of time so that continuity is ensured.

Compounding these challenges are more complex issues such as poor pension provision, which fuels the need for owners to retire later.

Then there is the raft of complex internal barriers to selecting a successor, particularly in the case of family controlled companies.

There are many different routes succession can take and the motivation of the founder will drive the ultimate outcome. Following some basic steps now can help owners to formulate their plan.

What good succession planning looks like It is no co-incidence that the businesses with robust succession plans are those that have solid business plans. These plans identify individuals in the business who have the right qualities, motivation and skills to lead the business in the future. There are clear leadership development and career plans in place to support these individuals. Often more than one person is identified as a possibility –

Embracing succession- don’t delay

5 steps you can take now to manage succession

and make sure you’re picking people who’ll be best for the business not those you like the best 4. Identify skills shortages that may hold back your business and hinder succession planning 5. Work with your advisers to maximise the enterprise value of your business so that you realise your financial expectations when you retire Owners are uniquely bound to the businesses they create – emotionally and financially. Carefully planned and managed succession is the best way to ensure the owners retirement doesn’t mean the death of the business but rather signals the next chapter in its life.

1. Develop a written plan before circumstances rush you into succession.

This means having a clear vision of what you want things to look like by the time you hand over the reigns

For more insight into the life of UK SME business owners, read the latest research, For Love or Money: The Secret Life of the Business Owner. www.hwca.com/for-love-or-money

2. Involve key staff or family members in the succession plan to garner support and consensus

For more information on how Haines Watts support business owners visit www.hwca.com/accountants-esher

3. Identify potential successors early

Haines Watts has offices in Esher and Godalming.

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Travel - Abu Dhabi

Shake Hands in

ABU DHABI

With the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the emirate’s grand plans to become a global cultural hub are starting to take shape. Rose Dykins reports.

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n 2007, the Cultural District of Saadiyat Island was a humble, low-lying piece of reclaimed land off the coast of Abu Dhabi.

Ten years and $1 billion later, thanks to the vital manpower of an immigrant workforce, the Louvre Abu Dhabi has landed upon the island. And it’s as otherworldly and ethereal as the artistic renderings promised it would be.

Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, its 7,500-tonne domed roof with traditional Arabic patterns cut into it allows scattered sunlight into the space below, coined the museum’s “Rain of Light.” In the external courtyard, still pools ripple from the breeze flowing in from the Persian Gulf, their water lapping at the museum’s white cuboid buildings. Inside, the 55 exhibition rooms

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Abu Dhabi has been frequented by business travellers for decades, but its vision for the next ten years is to become a bucket list destination for culturallyminded tourists

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house the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s fledgling permanent collection. Currently comprising nearly 130 pieces - including Picasso’s Portrait of a Lady and Leonardo da Vinci’s La Belle Ferronniere - the collection is being showcased

in the “Birth of a Museum” exhibition, running from April 22nd until July 20th.

Rather than being an extension of the Paris art institution, the Louvre Abu Dhabi is a museum in its own right. Adopting the brand name of a world-famous attraction is intended to reflect the calibre of the work on display here, and to put Abu Dhabi firmly on the map as a cultural destination to be reckoned with. The same goes for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Borrowing the name of another established cultural brand to represent the quality of its exhibits, the art museum was originally due to open on Saadiyat Island last year (though according to the latest reports, construction is yet to begin). Frank Gehry has modelled its design on Arabic wind towers - a

Travel - Abu Dhabi

Plaza at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Photography Roland Halbe

Louvre Abu Dhabi’s ërain of light © Louvre Abu Dhabi, Photography Mohamed Somji

wacky gold and silver structure contrasting with the shimmering serenity of the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

In addition, Saadiyat Island will also gain the Norman-Foster-designed Sheikh Zayed National Museum, which will present exhibitions about Emirati culture. Named after the emirate’s former president, the museum’s five towers will represent the five pillars of Sheikh Zayed’s vision for Abu Dhabi, each one mimicking the shape of a falcon’s wing.

It’s no secret that the emirate’s ambitions to become a pinnacle of global culture are part of its plan to lessen its dependence on oil (which still accounts for roughly 30% of its GDP) and create a more sustainable future.

Some cynics from the outside have accused the emirate of “importing” culture for profit.

While it’s true that the emirate’s population may not currently have the same established museum-going habits or visible anarchic artistic subcultures as other parts of the globe, it’s rather patronising to suggest that there’s no demand for these things from Abu Dhabi’s people, and that the emirate has no culture of its own to showcase. While the grandeur of the plans for Saadiyat Cultural District are undoubtably designed to attract the attention of the rest of the world, the idea is also to provide a platform for Emirati culture and achievement, to be enjoyed by local people as well as tourists.

In February, Abu Dhabi Louvre launched a temporary “Highway Gallery”. Ten billboards along the emirate’s EE/11 Sheikh Zayed highway - which connects Abu Dhabi with Dubai - presented pieces from the museum’s collection, while the UAE’s three main radio

Louvre Abu Dhabi’s exterior © Louvre Abu Dhabi, Photography Mohamed Somji.jpg

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Travel - Abu Dhabi

WHERE TO STAY RITZ CARLTON ABU DHABI GRAND CANAL The “Highway Gallery” along the EE11 Sheikh Zayed highway stations provide explanations of each one. This is just one example of plans to generate local excitement and cultivate a wider appreciation of the world-class art on residents’ doorstep.

Compared to fun but gaudy Dubai, Abu Dhabi has a more authentic feel. The flourishing wildlife of its mangrove forests, the awe-inspiring beauty of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and the uniqueness of Al Ain Oasis - the first UNESCO Heritage site in the UAE, offering a glimpse of what the nation looked like before the oil boom changed everything forever - all offer ample reason to visit. Pair these with the gleaming facilities and supreme luxury of its five-star hotels, and you have an extremely attractive location for hosting corporate incentives and events.

As EXPO 2020 in Dubai grows ever closer, neighbouring Abu Dhabi’s hotel already rich hotel stock is experiencing growth. Marriott International will open an Edition hotel (its high design boutique brand) along the waterfront of Al Bateen in the Abu Dhabi Marina; it will have 198 rooms, a “gourmet market”, a pool bar and 900 sqm of meeting

and event space. And Jumeirah Hotels, which already has a heavy presence in the UAE, recently announced it will open Al Wathba Desert Resort in September. Set 50km from the centre of Abu Dhabi, it will be a luxurious “quintessential Arabian hotel” with 90 rooms, 13 villas, a conference and meeting space and an off-site desert camp.

Abu Dhabi International Airport is also about to gain a significant extension. Aiming to be “number one in the world in terms of customer service” the eagerly-awaited Midfield Terminal should be ready for operation by the end of 2019. With a striking x-shaped design, the new facility will have 35,000 sqm of retail options, and will be able to handle 84,000 extra passengers per year.

Abu Dhabi has been frequented by business travellers for decades, but its vision for the next ten years is to become a bucket list destination for culturally-minded tourists. If it can continue to carve out its own niche, and deliver on its dazzling plans for attractions, the sky’s the limit.

With a design inspired by the Italian Renaissance, this decadent hotel is within walking distance of the Sheikj Zayed Grand Mosque. It’s home to one of Abu Dhabi’s largest outdoor pools, has two private beaches and the top-floor club lounge offers canal views. Its Southeast Asian restaurant, LiJang, has an open kitchen where you can watch noodles and dim sum being crafted. ritzcarlton.com

EASTERN MANGROVES HOTEL AND SPA BY ANANTARA Set along a waterway flanked by mangrove forest, this resort has a tranquil feel. Its 220 rooms include the swish Royal Mangrove Suite, with its own private entrance and pool. The Anantara spa is a standout feature with traditional Middle Eastern treatments on offer, while Impressions restaurant is a popular spot for weekend brunch thanks to its vast variety of international food stations. abu-dhabi.anantara.com

GRAND HYATT ABU DHABI Opened at the end of last year, this ultracontemporary property has seven food and beverage options, including a Japanese eatery, a Latin grill and a cigar bar. Its 428 rooms include eight penthouses, two private cinemas, and there’s 4,600 sqm of event space in total. To top it all off, there’s a private beach, two outdoor swimming pools and a spa.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

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Travel - Abu Dhabi

TOP PLACES FOR A MEETING OR EVENT LOUVRE ABU DHABI

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Inspire delegates with a show-round of the new architectural icon.

Guided tours can focus on the story of how the museum came to be, or the masterpieces it holds within its walls. louvreabudhabi.ae

ARABIAN NIGHTS HERITAGE VILLAGE

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Covering 85,000 sam - including 3,000 sqm of event space - this exciting venue lies in the heart of Abu Dhabi’s desert, surrounded by sand dunes, so delegates can sleep under the stars. Activities such as sand sledding, camel riding and night safaris are all on offer for groups, and there’s a traditional dining hall that can host Bedouin-style meals. arabiannightsvillage.com

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YAS LINKS ABU DHABI

With an 18-hole championship course, a nine-hole academy course and a range of packages for corporate groups, including fun zones and team building activities, Yas Links Abu Dhabi golf academy is a gem, and its plush clubhouse has meeting space for up to 300 delegates. yaslinks.com

ROSEWOOD HOTEL ABU DHABI

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While there are plenty of slick hotels with gigantic ballrooms to choose from in Abu Dhabi, this five-star downtown hotel is a great choice for intimate events.

The al fresco Glo bar is the perfect place for a cocktail reception, while Sambusek restaurant serves delicious Lebanese cuisine in a smart yet understated setting. rosewoodhotels.com

YAS MARINA CIRCUIT

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Abu Dhabi’s pistol-shaped Formula One circuit regularly hosts corporate groups for test drives of concept cars such as the Chevrolet Camaro, so they can burn rubber down the palm-tree lined racing strip (delegates must bring driving licences for this). Other options include passenger rides in a three-seater dragster, which amps up to 100 km/ph in less than two seconds, or team go-kart races around the North Circuit. yasmarinacircuit.com

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Business Awards

SURREY SUPER GROWTH AWARDS

Surrey Super Growth Awards return to recognise the fastest-growing companies.

Surrey Super Growth 2018 – recognising and celebrating the fastest growing businesses in Surrey

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t’s well understood that achieving sustained business growth isn’t easy. So it’s vitally important that we continue to celebrate the success of Surrey-based companies that are driving rising demand, increasing employment and generating wealth and prosperity. The Surrey Super Growth Awards return for a third year to do just that.

The Surrey region is a significant and growing contributor to the national economy with sector strengths which include manufacturing, advanced engineering, digital technologies, professional services and pharmaceuticals. Surrey has over 60,000 active businesses contributing to a regional economy worth £40 billion, a highly-skilled workforce and some of the highest employment rates in the country.

Surrey Super Growth is a collaboration between leading regional law firm asb law, Lloyds Bank and national accountancy firm

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RSM, with the Surrey Chambers Business Magazine as media partner. The awards produce a unique index of the fastest-growing private businesses across the region and celebrates their success at a special breakfast event which will be held later this year.

Unlike traditional business awards, there is no cost involved in participation and companies do not need to apply to be included provided full accounts are filed at Companies House over a four-year accounting period. This information is assessed against rigorous qualifying criteria to identify the fastest-growing companies.

Russell Bell, Senior Consultant, at asb law explained: “Despite the continuing uncertainties in our economy, there are many companies out there achieving remarkable sustained growth, creating jobs and helping build the national economy. Surrey Super Growth gives these businesses the recognition

they deserve and the opportunity to join other businesses in celebrating their success.”

The Surrey Super Growth team is busy analysing financial information filed at Companies House and creating an index of the 60 fastest-growing private businesses across the region. Jon Da Costa, Partner, at RSM, explained: “We’ll shortly be contacting all the Surrey-based companies that are finalists.

Surrey Super Growth is a great opportunity for them to celebrate success, increase brand exposure and attract the best talent. All of this with no cost and minimal effort.”

Gavin Potter, Growth Relationship Director, for Lloyds Commercial Banking, commented: “It’s great to see so many local companies across all sectors achieve such strong profitable growth rates. Surrey Super Growth provides a great opportunity to recognise and celebrate the success of these businesses and their talented management teams.”

Business Awards

Steve Brown (left), Finance Director, Marbank Construction Ltd explains their growth success to Awards host Simon Fanshawe at the 2017 Surrey Super Growth Awards

Jon Da Costa, Partner at RSM, speaking at Surrey Super Growth 2017

The fastest-growing company in last year’s Surrey Super Growth Awards was Marbank Construction Ltd with an outstanding growth rate of 527% over a four-year accounting period. Steve Brown, Finance Director, explained: “It was a huge pleasure to receive the award on behalf of everyone at Marbank and my sincere thanks to the organisers, asb law, Lloyds Bank and RSM. My own ‘take-away’ point was the diversity of the companies present, and to realise that such impressive growth is being achieved by so many Surrey companies.”

The Surrey Super Growth analysis is currently underway and shortlisted finalists will shortly be contacted. Should your company meet the awards criteria below but has filed abbreviated accounts at Companies House without profit and loss data, you still have an opportunity to be assessed for inclusion in this year’s awards. Please send full accounts for your latest available and three preceding financial years to neil.gardner@asb-law.com before 5pm on Friday 27th April 2018.

The winners will be announced at a special awards breakfast taking place at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge on Thursday 28th June 2018.

Russell Bell, Senior Consultant at asb law, welcomes finalists at last year’s Surrey Super Growth Awards

The Surrey Super Growth 2017 winner’s photo (L to R): Andrew Clinton, Managing Partner, asb law LLP; Steve Brown, Finance Director, Marbank Construction Ltd; Sarah Nichols, Associate Director, RSM and Gavin Potter, Growth Relationship Director, Lloyds Commercial Banking.

Surrey Super Growth Awards Criteria • Privately-owned business, trading and registered in Surrey.

• Growth in turnover measured over a four-year accounting period based on latest full accounts information filed at Companies House.

• Minimum turnover of £2m in base year.

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LEATHERHEAD AND DORKING Surrey’s commuter towns are leading the way for becoming some of the UK’s top spots to live and work. With transformation on the horizon, we discover what Leatherhead and Dorking have to offer.

The countryside surrounding Dorking Photo Credit: www.johnmillerphotography.com

Often described as the “powerhouse for the rest of the UK economy”, the Greater South East region, where Leatherhead and Dorking are located, is the single largest contributor to the UK economy. Boasting some of the world’s leading headquarters for technology, telecommunications, biotechnology and engineering outside of London, Surrey remains one of the wealthiest counties in the UK. With a high proportion of residents working in financial services and claiming the highest proportion of millionaires in the UK, this county is a business hub for multi-national corporates and innovative small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

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LEATHERHEAD

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et in a particularly picturesque part of the Surrey countryside lies Leatherhead and Dorking. Forming part of the North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the market town of Leatherhead enjoys multiple connectivity with the UK. With immediate access to the M25 by road, excellent rail links with a frequent and direct service to London Waterloo, and being the exact midpoint between the UK’s two largest international airports, Gatwick and Heathrow, its location makes it an outstanding town to trade with and do business in. An estimated 12, 000 people work across Leatherhead with the headquarters of a number of leading companies based here, including the headquarters of the Police Federation of England and Wales, and ExxonMobil, the world’s largest publicly traded international oil and gas companies. It has also long been home to a cluster of research centres, and with fears that there is a failure to supply and retain suitably trained and motivated young people in the science, technology and engineering sectors, there are plans to create a science and research park near Junction 9 of the M25 in Leatherhead.

Alongside this, Leatherhead is located on the bank of the River Mole, minutes from the chalky headland of the North Downs. Flowing down from Box Hill, the River Mole provides the town with one of its most picturesque features, and has become home to more than 50 species of birds. Shell Bridge, where the river splits and adjoins two islands, is one of three Grade II listed ornamental bridges in Leatherhead - a worthwhile visit when on a meandering spring walk.

Leatherhead Town Bridge Over The River Mole

Leatherhead from the air

THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW • Leatherhead’s much-loved former live music venue, the Bluesette Club played host to musicians such as Cat Stevens, Ronnie Wood and Marc Bolan in the 1960s and 1970s. Even guitar legend Jimmy Hendrix once jammed to a crowd there.

• British film icon, Sir Michael Caine, best-known for his distinct cockney accent, resides in Leatherhead.

• Donald Campbell, a former resident of Leatherhead, set the world land speed record in his boat, the legendary Bluebird in 1964.

This world record took place on a lake in Crawley, now known as Campbell Lake.

IN MUSIC Leatherhead secured a place in modern music history when, in 1974, producer Nigel Gray set up the Surrey Sound recording studios in a former village hall in the north of the town. In 1977, the recordings of much of the early repertoire of The Police, including “Roxanne”, «Message in a Bottle” and “Walking on the Moon” took place here, followed by the Grammy Award-winning album Zenyatta Mondatta and its hit single “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”.

The 1960s mod rock band, John’s Children, was formed in Leathered in 1963 by Andy Ellison and Chris Townson, former pupils of nearby Box Hill School. Briefly featuring future T. Rex frontman, Marc Bolan, the band made a name for themselves with their outrageous live performances which resulted in being booted off a tour with The Who in 1967.

IN THE ARTS Leatherhead Drama Festival was founded in 2004 and is the UK’s largest drama festival, in which schools and drama schools from around Surrey and beyond, compete for the Sir Michael Caine Drama Awards, the Richard Houghton Awards and the ‘Fire & Iron’ New Writing Awards. Sir Michael Caine, patron of the festival, presents the awards at the Gala Awards night each year.

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DORKING

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he charming market town of Dorking is steeped in history, and a wander through the town will transport you back to Roman times. With its scenic setting, bustling town centre, varied architecture, pretty streets and public spaces, Dorking possesses a more independent side of business, having been identified as a town with a thriving market culture that boasts arts and crafts shops, boutiques, art galleries, eclectic vintage shops and antique traders. It also boasts an open-air shopping district, St Martin’s Walk here you’ll find a wealth of bars, cafes, and restaurants, and Dorking halls, a popular cinema and theatre complex.

Estate Agents Jackson-Stops placed Dorking second in its list of the top commuter hotspots for 2018, based on annual home price growth and season ticket costs. And there’s no questioning why. Dorking is sought after for its close proximity to London, lower house prices, top-rated schools including Hurtwood House, and beautiful surrounding villages. And what’s more, Dorking boasts England’s largest single estate vineyard. Denbies Wine Estate, located just outside Dorking, was established in 1986 and boasts over 600 acres, 265 of which are vines.

Denbies produces internationally award-winning cool climate sparkling wines using the traditional grape varieties, grown on chalky soil, it has also an excellent reputation for producing award-winning premium still wines. Denbies wine range is annually awarded international medals, including an IWC Gold for Denbies Greenfields Sparkling and a platinum trophy for its now renowned dessert wine Noble Harvest.

The estate is one of the most respected wineries in the south-east with two restaurants, wine and gift shop, conference and banqueting facilities, a micro-brewery and farm shop. The original Farmhouse accommodation offers bed and breakfast with seven en-suite double rooms, located in the heart of the vineyard with sweeping views over the North Downs. In 2019, the Farmhouse will be extended and Denbies will be opening the first Vineyard Hotel in the UK with 17 bedrooms. This summer look out for the Secret Vineyard Tasting Trail, a unique opportunity to experience areas of the vineyard not normally accessible to the general public. Or enjoy an afternoon tea vineyard tour - includes a vineyard train tour followed by an afternoon tea hamper on the Farmhouse lawn.

LOOK OUT FOR The Dorking Film Festival, which takes place every year, is a film festival that shows films with a local flavour from Dorking, Surrey and the south-east of England, as well as independent films and world cinema.

THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW

• Scientists working on the UK’s first atom bomb narrowly avoided Polesden Lacey is a beautiful nearly dropping a five tonne Edwardian house and estate, replica on Dorking in the located at Great Bookham, near Dorking. early 1950s. The dummy Extensively remodelled in 1906 by one of device was being flown Britain’s richest society hostesses, Margaret to a top secret military Greville, who boasted monarchs, maharajas test site in Suffolk when it and millionaires as her friends, Polesden Lacey came loose in the bomb is one of the National Trust’s most popular bay, luckily the bomb properties. It was even said that the future doors held.

George VI and Queen Elizabeth

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spent part of their honeymoon here in 1923.

Every wondered what the giant silver chicken is doing on the Deepened roundabout just outside of the town centre? The ‘Dorking’ was a chunky breed of cockerel bred by the Romans for its meat, and even caused Queen Victoria to have quite a soft spot for the bird, as she praised the quality of the meat sold here. Standing proud at 10ft tall, the giant silver cockerel was commissioned by Neil Maltby, Chairman of Mole Valley District Council at the time, and created by sculptor Peter Parkinson to celebrate the town’s association with the bird.

The cockerel image now features on numerous road signs and commemorative pieces, and many local clubs and societies have adopted the cockerel as their emblem.

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WHAT’S NEW?

West Street is an entire street • The chalky soils around the North almost completely dedicated to Downs are very similar to the earth antique shops and will have you where famous names such as window shopping till you drop. Plans to Bollinger and Dom Perignon plant retain Dorking’s market culture include their grapes in France. a new Sunday ‘flea market’ in West • Dorking and nearby Box Hill were Street - billed as Surrey’s answer to Portobello Road. chosen as part of the route for the 2012 London Olympics cycling road race.

“DORKING: THE GREATEST MARKET FOR POULTRY IN ENGLAND”.

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Photo Credit: www.johnmillerphotography.com

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LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Dorking Business Improvement District (BID) Dorking Town Partnership, the newly formed Business Improvement District (BID) voted in last summer by businesses in Dorking, is working on its five-year business plan. By working together and investing collectively in local improvements, they plan to benefit businesses by driving footfall, growing the local economy and contributing to the wider aspirations of the community.

The BID is currently going through a rebrand process, working on a marketing plan to raise the profile of the town and its businesses.

Charlotte Whitaker, Dorking Town Partnership’s BID Manager, explains: “The West Street market is part of a bigger inspirational piece of work, designed to make Dorking more attractive on a Sunday to residents, visitors and businesses alike. We have a unique market town offering the delights of the caves, the museum and established antique shops which are all on West Street, and so we’re keen to preserve this as part of Dorking’s singular identity. These will complement the proposed antiques, ‘junktiques’, vintage brocante, artisan food, and florists all within a Sunday market”.

The plan is part of several different ideas for the possible regeneration of a number of different market concepts around Dorking, and Dorking Town Partnership are hoping that this particular project will stimulate the exploration of possibilities throughout the town as a whole.

Dorking Town Partnership also have exciting plans for a Rob Walker Centenary Festival to be held on the 21st October 2018. The Rob Walker Racing Team (one of the most successful privateer motor racing teams)

was based at Pippbrook during the 1950s and 1960s. This unique motorsport event will bring together up to nine historic Rob Walker racing cars for a parade lap around Dorking town centre.

Representatives from local businesses form the board of directors and are responsible for ensuring the business plan is being completed.

There is currently a resident’s position available on the board. If you are a resident of Dorking and would like to apply to sit on the board of Directors in an observational role please contact: charlotte@ dorkingtownpartnership.co.uk

Transform Leatherhead Working in partnership with Surrey County Council, Coast2Capital, The Environment Agency and a number of other partners, Leatherhead is set to benefit from a £4.9million regeneration project which will see the face of the town change in epic proportions.

Major developments include Bull Hill/Red House Gardens which will be developed to provide a mixed use development site. The Riverside Quarter will transform the area by the River Mole at Claire and James House, and is being positioned as the town’s unique selling point. Plans include a proposed decked viewing point, a pedestrian footbridge, natural play areas and enhanced Swan Centre regeneration scheme riverside walks linking the various business parks. £1.4 million of investment has been approved by Mole Valley District to improve the shopping experience in Leatherhead for residents and visitors with larger shop units proposed at The Swan Centre. Plans also extend to a new cinema complex and big name brands.

Riverside Quarter regeneration scheme

Bull Hill Plaza regeneration scheme

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Boutique Recruitment in Surrey Fletcher George was established in 2007 as an independent finance and accountancy recruiter. They work with finance and accounting professionals resident locally in South West London and Surrey including the Hampshire and Sussex borders. They recruit for both Public Practice and also for commercial businesses in the local area.

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I’d recommend Fletcher George Recruitment for their professional approach by going the extra mile to ensure the perfect match between employer and employee. I found that the effort in trying to find out about the individual put them in a different league to other agencies.

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Fletcher George have found us three senior staff in recent years, all of whom are still with us. As a small firm it’s particularly important that we employ the right staff and Fletcher George have never let us down.

Unlike some agencies, they don’t waste our time sending candidates who are clearly not suitable – we’ve found that all the people they send are worth interviewing and are serious candidates.

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www.fletchergeorge.co.uk

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Fletcher George have played an important role in our recruitment policy over the past few years. Their close attention to our requirements and time taken in understanding our business have helped our practice to grow and hence we have returned not just for replacements but for additional roles required as well.

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A really friendly, down to earth approach to recruitment. Genuinely couldn’t recommend anyone better. Fletcher George certainly differentiated themselves by really engaging with me and tailoring the job search. They found me the perfect job

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01372 364160

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We have worked with a number of agencies, but what sets FG apart from the rest is that their service is, like the best run professional service firms, based on relationships and understanding what the clients need.

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Lisa and her team have been a godsend for recruiting not only our own professional staff but also for several of our clients’ in-house finance functions. Lisa quickly got to know our business, me, what makes us different and what candidates ‘fit’ our rather unique organisation. We have sometimes taken on candidates we didn’t know we needed!

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FLETCHER GEORGE Lisa Wintrip

Describe what your business does…

Fletcher George is a privately owned, independent, boutique financial recruitment consultancy based in Surrey. We pride ourselves on attracting and placing the very best people at all levels within Public Practice and commercial businesses, large and small.

We are committed to offering a professional and honest recruitment service to all our clients and candidates.

Our particular strengths are in recruiting for Practice at Partner level, Client Portfolio Managers, Tax Consultants and Graduates.

We also work closely with owner-managed businesses to recruit at Financial Controller and Finance Director level.

What makes your business special?

We provide all the services you would expect from a larger recruitment company, but with the added personal touch that comes from investing time in really understanding our clients. Our Company Directors, Darran Crellin and Lisa Wintrip, have over forty years of financial recruitment experience between them and are happy to go the extra mile to match the right people to the right opportunity. We strive to build long lasting relationships with our clients and candidates

and have a sound track record of delivering a first-class, quality service. But don’t take our word for it – we like to think that our testimonials speak for themselves: “We have always found both Lisa and Darran efficient and effective in their search for solutions. Their ability to think ‘outside the box’ has connected us with candidates we might have otherwise missed out on.”

Senior Partner, independent Surrey firm.

“Lisa has both intelligence and integrity.

She understands that success in business depends on building trust and long-term relationships with your customers - not just trying to turn around a fast fee. She genuinely has your best long-term interests at heart. I cannot recommend her highly enough.”

ACA Qualified Practice Manager placed in a Middlesex firm of accountants.

Why is Leatherhead a good place to do business?

Leatherhead is not a town that ‘rests on its laurels’ either and we are watching with interest the proposed developments contained in the local economic regeneration plan for Leatherhead. Aptly named ‘Transform Leatherhead’, the plan’s vision is to build on the town’s strong foundations and to create a market town fit for the future. With these plans in place, we know Leatherhead will continue to be a magnet for the very best people, employers and employment opportunities now and into the future. We are delighted to be at the epicentre of this vibrant location and to be working with top quality local firms and local candidates.

Fletcher George Recruitment Thorncroft Manor, Thorncroft Drive Dorking Road, Leatherhead, KT22 8JB T. 01372 364160 W. www.fletchergeorge.co.uk

When we were choosing where to open our office, we were attracted by the town’s buoyant local economy, excellent transport links, range of quality office spaces on offer, its highly skilled talent pool, and the attractive surrounding countryside. You might say, it’s a town that ticks all the boxes!

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Part of the Dynamic Edge Group

Your trusted IT partner Managed services Voice solutions Infrastructure hosting Software development GDPR preparation IT strategy dynamicedge.com 4401372 940 290 SURREY CHAMBERS

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DYNAMIC NEWS FOR WAYTIME Waytime acquisition expands IT company’s workforce and service offering

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ward-winning technology firm Waytime Technologies has been acquired by Dynamic Edge, increasing the award-winning company’s staff from 8 to 33 and expanding the available service offering.

Waytime, who are based in Leatherhead, Surrey, will now be part of the Dynamic Edge Group which has offices in Aberdeen, Inverness and Dundee. Expanding south of the Scottish border, the new premises creates scope to add to a 300+ client base which spans up and down the UK, from Southampton to Wick.

New and existing clients can expect to benefit from a greater range of specialist IT services with the increase in staff, including cloud and voice solutions, IT support and training, web, app and software development and GDPR support.

Rob Hamilton, CEO of the Dynamic Edge Group, said: “Before the acquisition we sought a business with similar expertise, values and commitment to customer service as Dynamic Edge. Waytime is an ideal fit for us in all respects.

“In addition, and like Dynamic Edge, it has several oil and gas clients, and with these being based in the London and Guildford areas that was also a factor in moving forward with this deal. We’re looking to take the business to the next level.

“Dynamic Edge has grown year-on-year for

the past eight years. We initially considered at the Scottish Central Belt for our next expansion but opted for the London area, partly due to its strong connection with the oil and gas industry.

“There is huge scope for a proactive IT business; one that is constantly reviewing operations and providing a number of key, managed solutions. The addition of Waytime increases our workforce and gives us access to the south-east of England market but it also has clients in other parts of the UK. We’re delighted with the deal.”

Dynamic Edge was established in 2009 in Aberdeen and expanded its operations into Inverness with the acquisition of Alchemy Plus Business Solutions. The Bank of Scotland

supported that acquisition in 2015 and has also supported the Waytime deal.

Dynamic Edge also extended its interests into Dundee in 2015. CEO Rob Hamilton moved to Surrey in August with plans to grow the business in the region and will be based at Waytime’s Leatherhead office.

Waytime was named Business of the Year at the 2017 Leatherhead and District Business Awards.

Both Dynamic Edge and Waytime are Microsoft Partners. For further information please visit www. dynamicedge.com, email enquiries@ dynamicedge.com or call 01372 940 290.

Part of the Dynamic Edge Group

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FETCHAM PARK:

Surrey’s best kept secret?

“There’s a feeling of change in Mole Valley,” comments Fetcham Park’s house manager, Kate Ainsworth, who reports a notable increase in enquiries for office space and meetings in recent months. “The local business community is thriving, from start-ups to SMEs. Larger organisations are also relocating away from the city, as the quality and benefits of local facilities improve to meet demand.”

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ften described as Surrey’s ‘best-kept secret’, Fetcham Park has been part of the small community of Fetcham, near Leatherhead, since 1705. Its influence as a leader in Surrey’s business scene, however, is wide and far-reaching. In 1999, the Grade II* listed property was repurposed as a business centre with modern offices, and the ornate, historic rooms are now utilised as public areas and meeting spaces.

Conveniently located 35 minutes from the UK’s two major airports at Heathrow and Gatwick, and with easy access by road and rail, Fetcham Park attracts dynamic local and international businesses in search of a prestigious location to call their own.

In addition to serviced offices, private meeting and event facilities are available for hire. In recent years, Fetcham Park has welcomed high-profile companies such as Facebook, eBay and Exxon to the house for corporate away-days and private dining with a difference. Delegates can relax in private, uninterrupted surroundings with six acres of landscaped grounds to enjoy during breaks.

Fetcham Park’s ability to service the business community doesn’t just start and end with well-appointed modern offices. The house and grounds also benefit from plenty of on-site parking, a bicycle rack, and there are several picturesque walking and running routes around the property to explore. Fetcham Park offers enterprise-grade IT with bespoke packages tailored to your use, ergonomic and flexible desking, secure access, and the facility to move and change configurations within the building to suit your immediate and future business needs.

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With local office space at a premium for individuals and small teams, and an increasing workforce of independent start-ups and consultants, Fetcham Park provides office based and virtual services with a prestigious address and a dedicated phone number. Call answering, a drop-in space to collect post and deal with urgent messages, and a professional business environment for client meetings, at favourable room rates, during the start-up period when a full-time office may not be required, all supported by a dedicated Client Services Team. This offers your business the seamless transition to an office space without the costs and interruption of an address and number change when the time is right.

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The local business community is thriving, from start-ups to SMEs. Larger organisations are also relocating away from the city, as the quality and benefits of local facilities improve to meet demand.

A tide of change in Mole Valley

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As Mole Valley District Council prepare to launch its new Economic Prosperity Strategy, promising a pro-business approach to the local economy, exciting times lie ahead for Fetcham Park.

An example of this is The Inspiration Space, a new networking organisation for Surrey’s growing community of start-ups, creative professionals, and small business owners.

Regular meet-ups, workshops and talks are hosted throughout the area including Fetcham Park, The Inspiration Space’s HQ. At these meetings, key speakers actively engage with people from across the county to exchange ideas, share knowledge, swap skills and collaborate, creating an enlightened environment for proactive business development.

Among their recent events was a creative workshop with chalk paint inventor and entrepreneur Annie Sloan, and a motivational morning with guest speaker Craig Goldblatt, encouraging guests to ‘Stop Being Afraid…And Do What You Love’ during a lively, inspiring two-hour session.

The house has also played host to sportsmen and women including John Surtees CBE, Damon Hill OBE, and Paralympian Rachel Morris; international businesswoman Susan Harmsworth MBE, journalists Michael Buerk and Kate Adie, and TV presenters Eamon Holmes and Ruth Langford. Fetcham Park is truly the perfect backdrop for every type of meeting, discussion or private dining.

Big city working The desirable and convenient location, just 25 minutes by train to central London, does much for Fetcham Park’s credentials. Add to this a beautiful period property, modern multisized offices, open-air spaces and a dedicated management team, and it’s easy to see why the business centre is thriving.

But the Fetcham Park difference is so much more than bricks and mortar. For

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LEATHERHEAD & DORKING nearly 20 years, the house has experienced the changing face of local and international business, and adapted to meet client needs and the economic climate. Looking beyond the latest technology and workplace trends that influence Fetcham Park’s long and short term plans for growth, the company has retained close ties with both Leatherhead and Surrey Chambers of Commerce, the CBI and RICS. Central to this is the long-time support of strategic Chamber initiatives with the aim of helping to promote local business and boost the economy, plus involvement with Local Enterprise Partnerships. Currently, the Leatherhead Chamber use the house as its base for administration communications, committee meetings, and a drop-in centre for one-to-one meetings.

The Fetcham Park difference The secret to Fetcham Park’s longevity?

“Our ability to adapt and change with the times and the needs of our clients,” reflects Kate, “while our surroundings are steeped in history, our approach is modern, flexible and forward-thinking.

“Clients enjoy the benefits of a refined working environment that meets their needs, away from the hustle and bustle of city life, with the huge bonus of plentiful parking. For us, it’s not just about comfortable workspaces and the latest technology; we cater for so much more. From on-site personal training and car valeting, to informal networking and fun events.

“With complimentary filtered water, tea and Nespresso machines on each floor, a quality sandwich and soup service, and a tuck-box for breakfast or the late afternoon munchies, our residents are fully catered for in order to promote a positive working environment.

“We continue to actively support and promote healthy working habits with plenty of breakout areas, a residents’ only space with a communal table to have lunch and enjoy a chat with others, or simply to read the newspaper in peace away from the desk. To enhance our Workplace Wellbeing Initiative further, postural strength training and desk analysis are available in addition to walking maps, bike racks, on-site showers, ergonomic Herman Miller chairs, LED task lighting and height adjustable desks. It’s Fetcham Park’s attention to detail which sets us apart.”

Experience the Fetcham Park difference for yourself. Call the team on 01372 371 000 or visit www.fetchampark.co.uk

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Denbies Wine Estate

England’s Largest Vineyard Indoor Wine Experience tours and tastings Outdoor vineyard tours & trail The Gallery Restaurant

A la carte/panoramic views over the vineyard

The Conservatory Atrium Restaurant

Open all day for refreshments/lunches/ afternoon tea

Shopping Art Gallery Farmhouse Accommodation Surrey Hills micro-brewery Village Greens Farm Shop New for 2018, Guided history tours

To find out more call 01306 876616 or visit www.denbies.co.uk Denbies Wine Estate Ltd, London Road, Dorking Surrey RH5 6AA T. 01306 876616 www.denbies.co.uk Email: events@denbiesvineyard.co.uk Company Registered in England No 9822843

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Designed by pre: www.designbypre.com SURREY CHAMBERS Photo credits: visit www.denbies.co.uk

Find us on Facebook /DenbiesWineEstate

Follow us on twitter @denbiesvineyard

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LEITH MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS LIMITED Please describe what your business does…

Leith Mergers & Acquisitions Limited is an award winning M & A advisory firm who offer professional advice to company owners across the South of England. Leith work with clients across the corporate sector who are considering either selling their company or growing their portfolio through targeted acquisition. We typically work on business sales of up to £40 million.

What makes your business special?

At Leith we believe we offer a truly personal and thorough service to our clients, only working with a small number of company owners at any time which allows us to offer a uniquely client focused and flexible approach. We offer all the resources you would expect from a corporate advisory firm but we deliver our service personally. Leith was founded with the aim of providing a hands-on, results driven service and we remain passionate about protecting this business model because we know that this level of focus alone consistently achieves results.

David Nelson, Leith’s Managing Director, works alongside each of our clients throughout the process, every step of the way. David handles all negotiations, chairs client meetings and liaises between all professionals on the buy side and sell side from engagement to completion offering expertise with common sense and in plain English. We are proud to have recognised as a leader in our field winning a number of awards for the quality of the service we provide.

How long have you been in Dorking?

As a family David and founding partner Sophie Nelson relocated to Dorking from living in London in 2011 driven by the desire to base the company in a location central to the hub of the South-East whilst also being conducive to raising a young family.

Why is Dorking a good place to do business?

It was important for Leith to be based in a location with excellent travel links to London and the Home Counties, with the majority of the Company’s clients being based in the South-East of England. Many prospective buyers travel from around the world to meet with our clients and it is therefore important for our location to be near London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports. Dorking is an attractive and thriving location from which to work and is also home to an important network of professional partners with whom Leith work on a regular basis.

www.leithma.co.uk david.nelson@leithma.co.uk 01306 646890

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REGUS LEATHERHEAD A global infrastructure built for businesses

Please describe what your business does…

We have built an unparalleled network of office, co-working and meeting spaces for companies to use in every city in the world.

It’s an infrastructure to support every business opportunity.

Our network of workspaces enables businesses to operate anywhere, without the need for set-up costs or capital investment.

It provides our customers with immediate cost benefits and the opportunity to fully outsource their office portfolio.

It’s a network designed to enhance productivity and connect 2.5 million likeminded professionals: an instant global community, and a place to belong.

What makes your business special?

The benefits of Regus include: • OPERATE ANYWHERE Create a business presence in practically every city in the world with our continuously expanding network of workspaces in cities, airports, service stations, public buildings and railways.

• IMMEDIATE COST BENEFITS Only pay for the space you need. Add or

reduce workspace on flexible terms, from an hour to many years with no set-up costs and no capital investment needed.

• FULLY OUTSOURCED Partly or fully outsource your office portfolio, with one contract, simple reporting, a dedicated account manager and 24/7 customer service. Office amenities set up and ready to use, with Wi-Fi, receptionist, kitchen and cleaning included.

• ENHANCE PRODUCTIVITY Use the app to access the network, find and book space, and manage your account.

Benefit from professional and inspiring work environments, 60 million Wi-Fi spots and thousands of business lounges around the world.

• INSTANT GLOBAL COMMUNITY Access to a global community of 2.5 million like-minded professionals. Promote your business via our community marketplace and monthly networking and knowledgesharing events.

How long have you been in Leatherhead?

Regus have a number of fantastic facilities in the local area including Redhill, Reigate, and Crawley. The Leatherhead centre has been open for more than 10 years, and has

continued to thrive due to the increase in demand for workspace on flexible terms from local professionals. The Leatherhead centre occupies two floors across Dorset House, offering a range of flexible working options including co-working space, offices of varying sizes and layouts, virtual office services, meeting rooms and hot desks.

Why is Leatherhead a good place to do business?

The area is an excellent location for business due to its large concentration of successful national and international companies, as well as its good communications to the rest of the UK. Richard Morris, UK CEO, Regus, comments: “Leatherhead is already a popular location with insurers, banks, oil companies and publishers. Combined with its excellent transport links, this makes the town a great location for Regus. The centre is already a very successful centre, and we fully expect it to continue on the up.”

Website & Phone Number: To find out more, call us on 0800 756 2501, visit regus.co.uk or download our App.

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Modern Slavery

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

H

ow often do you get your nails done?

Your car washed? Pass a homeless person begging in the street? The chances are we all do these things fairly regularly but do you think about the workers who carry out these tasks or the homeless person who’s suddenly gone missing from their usual spot?

Modern Slavery, a crime hidden in plain sight.

Government research has shown this issue to be much more prevalent than they thought and in 2015 the Modern Slavery Act was passed which aims to fight against this trade in human beings and big businesses can now be held accountable and fined large sums if slavery forms any part of their supply chain.

Do you also think about the supply chain you use as part of your business? Where are your goods and services coming from, who’s supplying those?

As a result of modern slavery, people are treated as commodities and exploited for commercial use. This affects men, women, boys and girls. They can all be a subject for exploitation and tricked into slavery by accepting the offer of a job or educational

These people could all be victims of

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opportunities and then find themselves trapped in slavery. Once this has happened they can be traded between criminals and warned of terrible consequences if they try to escape. They are often too scared to contact the police as a result. You also have to keep in mind that often the victims have no concept that they are a victim of slavery. They can consider that the conditions they are being kept in are normal and are reluctant to leave.

The Surrey Police force lead for Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, Detective Superintendent Karen Mizzi said ‘Modern Slavery and the trafficking of people is a

Modern Slavery serious crime and globally it ranks as one of the most lucrative businesses for organised criminal groups. It is our (Police) responsibility along with statutory, non-statutory and third sector partners to work together to identify and support victims, pursue offenders in order to bring them to justice’.

However, this is not just a job for law enforcement modern slavery is an issue that we all need to face, including those in our local business communities.

Estimates suggest that there are over 20 million victims of forced labour throughout the world and the majority of these are believed to be exploited within private sector businesses such as manufacturing, construction and agriculture.

When, in March 2015, The Modern Slavery Act became law, law enforcement agencies were given stronger powers, so perpetrators receive suitable punishment and victims can be better protected and supported. The Act also requires businesses to take responsibility not just for what they do, but what is done in their name.

Large businesses with a turnover of more than £36 million are now required to monitor and control their operations and supply chains. They have to make a statement each financial year on the steps they have taken to eliminate slavery and trafficking from their business model. Smaller businesses also have a responsibility as they can be part of those supply chains which are monitored in how they operate in respect of the Act.

MODERN SLAVERY - A CASE STUDY Surrey Police achieved its first conviction for Modern Slavery following a multi-agency crackdown in Walton-on-Thames last summer.

Laszlo Egeresi, 37, and Gabor Olah, 25, both of Molesey Road, Hersham, were found guilty on 9 March of human trafficking offences following a five-week trial at Kingston Crown Court.

They were arrested after officers carried out warrants on three addresses in the early hours on Friday, 23 June. They were joined by officers and staff from the National Crime Agency, the Department of Work and Pensions, The Salvation Army and the Red Cross.

Officers were acting on information that EU nationals who were working legally as kitchen staff were being exploited for excessive accommodation, transport and administrative costs.

The activity was focused on establishing the status of workers at the locations to see if they were victims of human trafficking or were being exploited through slavery, poor living conditions or low, non-existent wages, or through financial exploitation for the benefit of others.

The challenging case involved months of hard work as well as having to persuade one of the victims to come back from Hungary to give evidence.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Alex Protts said: “We were delighted with this result after months of hard work. This operation was not only about tackling those that exploit vulnerable people through human trafficking and modern day slavery but also to hold out a lifeline to help those that are victims of these crimes.”

Surrey PCC David Munroe said: “Modern slavery is sadly a big industry and I believe there is a clear role for businesses to identify, avoid and report it.

“It could be happening in your area. It could be happening right now in front of your eyes. I would ask you to please be vigilant to this type of criminality, particularly in any supply chains you may have, and report any illegal activity to the authorities.

“On July 3rd we will be holding an event in conjunction with the Surrey Chamber of Commerce, called Modern Slavery and Your Business, from 7.30am to 10.30am at the Guildford Harbour Hotel. We will be looking at Modern Slavery in Surrey and why tackling the labour supply chain matters to business.”

You can find out more at www.modernslavery.co.uk or call the modern slavery helpline on 0800 0121 700.

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Breakthrough Moments - A Santander advertisement feature

BREAKTHROUGH MOMENTS TALENT ACQUISITION & RETENTION In Association with Santander

Facilitated by Maarten Hoffmann. Edited by Ian Trevett THE DEBATE PANEL CB – Colin Berkeley, Regional Director, Santander Business SD – Susan Davies, Commercial Director Santander Business LE – Laurence Emmett, Director Cranleigh Recruitment VF – Viki Faulkner, Head of Apprenticeships, University of Brighton KH – Keith Herrmann, Director of Employability and Careers, University of Surrey

Colin Berkeley

Susan Davies

Laurence Emmett

Viki Faulkner

Keith Herrmann

HOW DO SMEs RECRUIT MILLENNIAL TALENT? LE: Our business is an SME employing 12 people, and as we recruit ourselves we see what challenges are faced elsewhere. The common issue is competitiveness as you have to be in a strong position to compete for the best talents in the market. Companies often don’t recognise how competitive it is out there. They’re looking at what they need from the person coming in for an interview rather than actually looking at what they can give that person.

The struggle isn’t finding people. We’re finding them and they’re out there to be found. Actually convincing them to join your business can be the difficult part because the good people out there will be interviewing to three or four companies in one go.

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Breakthrough Moments

BREAKTHROUGH MOMENTS Talent Acquisition & Retention In Association with Santander

ARE CANDIDATES EFFECTIVELY INTERVIEWING THE COMPANY? LE: I think it’s now 50/50. Big companies post videos on YouTube and people think: “Wow, I want to work for that company.” But people now come into companies almost expecting it to be like Google. Few companies can match Google but you have to work out: “What can we give to this person coming in today?” It’s not just a salary and a career path, but all the other life benefits. It’s tough because everyone’s doing the same thing.

If you’re clear about your company culture then that person can make a good decision. If you haven’t got stated principles or haven’t thought about what they are, you’re not going to get that across in a meeting.

The worst interviews you can have are just throwing questions at a candidate, ushering them on their way and then two weeks later getting back to them about the feedback.

SD: Even as a large organisation we have to compete. We have a graduate intake every year and they go through a rigorous process in order to get through the programme. But we have to pitch to them too.

We do a presentation then we have a ‘speed dating’ style format, which is quite gruelling. The dynamics have shifted considerably.

LE: I do a PowerPoint presentation where I talk about the history of the business, where we are right now and how we are looking ahead.

It’s all very realistic, we don’t ham it up at all. And my two co-Directors then perform the interview.

I’ve done the nice sell and I’ve projected a good side of our business and then the other guys come and say, “This is the reality of what you will be doing.” It’s very rare that people walk away from our company not feeling like they felt we put an effort into their experience. And also it’s rare that we lose people. It’s taken us five or six years of losing people to realise we had to keep stepping our game up. Keep it tight, have a good process, be organised, treat them well, keep them informed – and you’ll find the right people are going to stick with you.

CB: If you want really good, engaged candidates you’ve got to make a little bit of an effort. I am in favour of looking for students who’ve got a bit of a broader life experience such as placements or time abroad.

This has had the effect of self-regulating their enthusiasm because they’ve just seen more. They’re still excited and they want to add some value but they know it’s probably not as it looks on TV. VF: It is a competitive market out there and not all businesses have really picked up on that, particularly in those shortage sectors. We do a lot of work in construction and the built environment, in digital, IT – there are huge skills gaps here. And for smaller companies to attract and retain and get a good graduate coming out of university, you’ve got to compete for those graduates.

For example, with our ‘Built Environment’ students, we have 100% employment straight out of university - and we could fill the roles again and again and again. We have companies turning up and saying: “I could give one of your students a job.” And we have to say, in the nicest possible way: “Get in the queue!”

We can’t turn them out fast enough. It is a sector with an ageing workforce, it’s very under-skilled, it’s looking down the gun barrel of Brexit and a likely skills drain there. It knows that it needs to invest, particularly at those higher levels.

These are professional technical qualifications, so people are coming out of here with a lot of practical experience as well and are job-ready.

We want to expand these courses but we struggle to recruit staff who can teach with the right level of industry experience.

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Breakthrough Moments

BREAKTHROUGH MOMENTS Talent Acquisition & Retention In Association with Santander

THERE IS AN INTERESTING DILEMMA. DOES THE SKILLS SHORTAGE ALSO AFFECT THE TRAINERS? VF: It is self-perpetuating. We work very closely with our FE college partners in subjects such as construction, engineering and manufacturing, but the colleges can’t attract enough qualified trainers to train the staff. We’re increasing the number of people that we’re training but it is four years before they come through the system. We’re always trying to look into the future and project what the workforce need is.

KH: Millennial students do have a real sense of the values of a company that they look at as they consider their options after graduating. It is slightly offset by a misunderstanding amongst students and amongst parents about student debt which is sadly encouraging more students to see their university experience as a transaction: “I’m here for three or four years, I’m going to incur £57,000 of debt. I must go out and get a job as quickly as possible.”

in-between the second and third year of university are so much more employable and have a much more realistic view of the workplace as well.

KH: They get really frustrated about not being able to have an impact. They’ve all been geared up as a generation to have an impact in their own lives and those of others and they join organisations and become incredibly frustrated. There is a lot of churning after graduating which is a major challenge for employers.

All of our undergraduate students have the opportunity to do a professional training year in industry as part of their degree programme. Some students choose not to do that here because they feel they want to get their studies over and done with as quickly as possible and then get out there and get a job. But they don’t realise that that year in industry is what gives them the competitive edge with employers.

VF: We also try to encourage all of our students include a year-long placement. On a lot of our courses it’s mandatory, on other courses it’s optional. Those students who have taken that year in employment

IF MILLENNIALS ARE GETTING FRUSTRATED IN THEIR CAREERS, IS IT NOT INCUMBENT UPON THE UNIVERSITIES TO ADJUST EXPECTATIONS? VF: We can suppress their expectations but do we want to? Don’t we want to turn out a generation of people who do want to make an impact, who do want to make a difference, who do want to go into a company and make a positive contribution from day one? We’re turning

out a generation of students who are actually thinking, “I’m here to offer something to this company and I have value from the beginning.”

LE: We have found that in the first two years we almost have to retrain their thought process. They come into the world of work slightly under-prepared for how tough it is to survive in a cut-throat working environment. We almost break our staff down a bit before we build them back up. We do that by giving them a lot of constructive feedback but constant support. We attach ourselves to these guys and micromanage them for the first six months and then slowly let the reins back off again.

KH: That’s a very mature approach to talent development. Many employers are looking to recruit a graduate into a functional role and then they say, “You’re in the job, off you go.” And that’s massively damaging. I can understand the need of a business to fill roles because they have functional requirements. Unless you support that, as you described, and provide a scaffolding frame that sits around a graduate, particularly in their early career development, then they won’t stay.

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Breakthrough Moments

BREAKTHROUGH MOMENTS Talent Acquisition & Retention In Association with Santander

ARE WE PREPARING OUR STUDENTS FOR A GLOBAL MARKETPLACE? KH: It is very important to prepare students to become globally competitive, so engaging with modern languages is vital. We won something called a ‘Global Graduate Award in Languages’. We won another one in sustainability and we’ll soon be creating a ‘Global Graduate in Employability’. This is all about helping our students prepare to become global graduates.

We do find the international students are far more active than the British students. International students are global by definition.

They’ve got two or three languages, they’ve travelled to come and study here, they’ve got their cultural understanding, global mindset and they’ve got a way of thinking and absorbing. British students somehow

aren’t. That’s a sweeping generalisation but they are at a competitive disadvantage and to some extent we need to work with employers to help them understand that.

Successive governments have not emphasised the importance of a foreign language, and by that I mean at age five, not at age 18. Many high school students across Europe are encouraged to travel as part of their experience, and even as part of the curriculum; they come to London or other parts of the UK as part of their learning journey.

VF: I would say it’s not about UK students not being up to par, it’s about UK students not having a global mindset in the way that international students do.

ARE THERE REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN SKILL SHORTAGES? SD: Absolutely. My region includes the manufacturing heartland of the Midlands where the skills gap is very acute. There is an ageing workforce and part of the reason is that, over the past 20-30 years, successive governments have focused on education rather than apprenticeships. Now we have many people now who are retiring and those sectors just cannot get the talent into roles.

Added to this is the talent drain in certain parts of the country, with people seeing the grass being greener in London and the South East Having visited many engineering and manufacturing firms, you can see that younger people don’t see them as a glamorous choice in comparison to a Google-style, fancy, funky office in the centre of London.

KH: How are we selling manufacturing to young people? If you think about it, your mobile phone has tons of components in it. Young people are excited about the things like Google and coding and all these technological gadgets. We should be selling the opportunities to them: “Here’s a global challenge. Here’s a telecom sector that’s trying to develop 5G technology. Isn’t that exciting?” And yes, that involves manufacturing but it also involves coding and software development and problem solving and big data.

SD: It is about branding. We were working with a business, a foundry that manufactures the brakes that go into one of the most expensive cars in the world. Focusing on this can capture the imagination of children – a much more compelling sell than: “Come and work in a foundry in the Black Country.”

saved one Australian client AUD1.1 million by using pre-hire assessment tools. Unilever uses something called Hire View. They video their management team and then the new recruiters get to assess whether they think they want to work for your management team. Is AI going to change the way we recruit and work?

LE: There are certain areas that are going to be totally disrupted. Will we pay someone to drive in 15 years’ time? I think absolutely not. The industries that will be disrupted include farming, travel agents, cashiers in shops, accounting, stock trading, fast food workers, telemarketing…

But there are going to be jobs created. You could look at the fact that there are sustainability managers being hired by corporates and this role did not exist 15 or 20 years ago.

CB: The mundane parts of jobs will disappear, which leaves the interesting and the creative parts. When I was away at the weekend I travelled through Heathrow and I barely had any contact with human beings. The baggage handling, checking in, passport control is all done by machines. There are no people around anymore. The whole landscape is changing but younger people are used to this.

KH: Big companies are already using AI to get to the right person.

If they’ve got x thousand people applying for 30 jobs, they’ve got to narrow those x thousand down to a shortlist. These companies have an incredibly sophisticated recruitment process.

VF: We have got an image problem in manufacturing, construction, care, hospitality and in engineering. And a lot of those things need to be re-positioned and re-purposed.

MH: IBM have an Artificial Intelligence pioneer called Watson. They use that to grade their candidates. They’re putting their candidates into the computer and it’s telling them which ones they should be using, according to a ‘FIT’ score that is calculated. Another company called Predictive Hire has an SAS cloud-based analytic solution provider which SURREY CHAMBERS

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Breakthrough Moments

BREAKTHROUGH MOMENTS Talent Acquisition & Retention In Association with Santander

(...continued) LE: Personally, I like the human touch. I’ve worked with some large businesses that have the technology to assess candidates, but they use it alongside their interview process. They don’t screen through

how unconscious bias could surface. A bit of diversity from different backgrounds, a good mix of men and women and ages can make it a more rounded business. So I think that’s a positive about the AI.

technology. I think that’s quite dangerous. The first message is that that company doesn’t want to talk to you in any way, they don’t want to engage with you. You’re going through a series of tests just to be able to then speak to that company. I don’t know what sort of message that sends out.

VF: The application forms that come to us have no names, no dates of birth, and no gender on them, so we shortlist without anything on the form to affect judgement. It’s quite a useful thing to have in place to ensure that no bias creeps in.

SD: It is a consequence of the sheer volume of applicants that the companies are facing and there has to be an element of automation.

VF: It is a balance. There are certain companies like Rolls Royce that will get hundreds of applications. They sponsored 20 people through a degree apprenticeship in engineering and got over 300-400 applicants.

Can somebody really sit down and read in great depth and detail through every single application? It’s not until you get the applicant pool to a manageable size that you can then use personal judgement.

CB: One of the positives about using the Artificial Intelligence to do the sifting is that is avoids any unconscious bias. I went on a course where we were all given a pile of CVs to sort to highlight

HOW CAN YOU RETAIN STAFF? CB: We spend quite a lot of time and energy on employee engagement. We run a global engagement survey across the whole of the Santander Group, and we take very seriously the responses that we get back. It takes a lot of energy and sometimes you get feedback that is difficult to hear, but engaged people are productive and efficient..

SD: We champion talent assessment, looking at the talent within our business, understanding the career aspirations and then doing something about it. As a manager you can spend an awful lot of time focusing on the people who need support or who are maybe not performing as expected, but the people who are getting on with the job can be forgotten and they can become disenfranchised quite easily.

Supporting career development with ongoing learning or working with them to get them onto the next step of their career is very important. People can often only see quite a linear path. We are looking at succession in the business, because it’s expensive to go out and recruit. It has to be better to find the talent within rather than going outside. We have to give the right signals in terms of culture and talent retention.

LE: The major reason why people look to move is not for money - it’s for development and because they found that they’ve plateaued in their business and the company they’re working for can’t offer them anything more. They might have a job that fits a certain structure but they grow beyond that structure – and that person will eventually leave.

Most companies are aware of this so it’s about continuously reminding your team what the next step is for them and making sure that they actually want to go there.

A company should be paranoid about losing their own staff. They

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should really care about that. We’re terrified of it. We’ve got a team of moderately experienced recruiters now, we’ve trained them all up from scratch, and to lose them now would be devastating. We’d have to start again. So we continuously remind them, two years from now where can you be? We’ve actually just done vision boards where you cut loads of magazines up and cut articles apart and they put on all the things they want to achieve personally and with us in the next two years. We do it every year. We need to make sure that they’ve got a path forward with us.

Breakthrough Moments

BREAKTHROUGH MOMENTS Talent Acquisition & Retention In Association with Santander

DO WE OVERLOOK OLDER EMPLOYEES AND RETURNING MUMS? LE: If someone is looking to change career at a later age, it’s really tough to start again, but age is irrelevant generally.

It depends on the sector. We tend to recruit people over 50 into the Health & Safety sector, where there’s a real dearth of talent in the younger age group.

If it is a physical role and the applicant is unable to perform the tasks, then age will be an issue but that would be more down to a health check rather than your age. We have an ever-expanding ageing population and I think there needs to be more creativity when it comes to working with an older generation. As far as older applicants are concerned, they need to be agile and be willing to ‘unlearn’, rather than saying: “This is how I used to do things.”

CB: We welcome flexible working that suits parents, though in certain parts of our business it is easier to accommodate their needs. For example, in a bank branch, a ‘ten-to-two’ employee works really well because the lunchtime period in branches is often a busy time and it allows full-time staff to take a lunch break.

As an employer in general we are very keen to be flexible and accommodate variable hours. We’ve got a responsibility to do this and it’s a good way of retaining people and it shows we want to support our people and means that we have a good work culture.

SD: Many women who want to come back into the workplace are comfortable with the convenience of working in a branch-type environment, but it’s also about how they can develop and have real opportunities. It may start with a returning mum wanting to work a few hours a week, but they also want to get back into their careers and we want to offer flexibility. The technology now means people don’t have to be in an office all the time.

KH: Smaller companies often still have a very conventional view about the workforce. We need to re-think and re-configure how people engage with work. The crucial thing is the signals that we give people.

If we don’t help people understand that this business is open to women who want to go to managing the family process then people just won’t bother. If we don’t say to the older generations that they have value and that value is recognised and rewarded, then we lose that talent.

LE: That talent does have to re-invent itself and I see that just in reading CVs. Sometimes I look at a CV from someone of an older generation and think “That needs a lot of work.” Straightaway it is apparent that this person hasn’t kept up with the times. You need to make sure you are computer savvy, understand what social media is and be aware of all the modern tools that are required of the modern workplace in order to stay competitive. Ultimately you’re losing competitive edge if you’re letting the world get ahead of you.

KH: I would suggest employers have a responsibility with those categories of employees to help them re-purpose, re-configure and re-train. Most folks who fall into this mature category have not written a CV for 15, 20, 30 years. Expecting them to understand how a 21st century CV works is wholly unrealistic.

LE: If you go on Google you can find out how to write a CV within seconds and that shows straightaway whether you’re trained to work in the modern workplace. If anybody says to me “I’m not sure how to do this anymore”, I would say you’re lazy because you can find that out in three seconds on your computer or on your phone. It proves the argument: If you haven’t got the tools to find out how to do something properly then maybe you’re not aware of what the tools are and you need to get trained in these things.

VF: It’s really important people have access to lifelong learning opportunities. We can’t just put everything down as the responsibility of an employer. It has been upsetting and disappointing to witness the huge dip in lifelong learning and part-time learning that we’ve seen over the last decade or so. There has been a 58% fall in parttime learning across both HE and FE since 2010 and that’s been a real disadvantage for people who are trying to come back into the workplace.

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Breakthrough Moments

BREAKTHROUGH MOMENTS Talent Acquisition & Retention In Association with Santander

IS THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM FIT FOR PURPOSE? ARE APPRENTICESHIP WAGES SET SO LOW THAT A YOUNG PERSON WHO HAS PARENTS WHO CANNOT SUPPORT THEM CAN SIMPLY NOT AFFORD TO DO AN APPRENTICESHIP? VF: Where we have a misunderstanding is that there is an apprenticeship minimum wage which is set at £3.50 per hour, just as we have a national minimum wage which is set at £5.60 an hour. The fact that the government says you must pay an apprentice the minimum wage of £3.50 an hour is a safety net. Most employers in most sectors will pay more than that and will pay at least the minimum wage.

It is a training salary. These people have to be employed by you as an employer, paid a salary but have a minimum of 20% off the job training, so you’re supporting them in that way.

Of course, some people are paying £3.50 an hour – personally I don’t think that’s a good employer, so I would shop around to find someone who pays more.

KH: The emphasis on apprenticeships is a major and very positive development by the government. For two or three decades, employers have simply not invested in their people. That’s why we sit with the problems that we have today in the economy. It’s a very positive thing that employers are obliged to pay the Apprenticeship Levy.

Some employers just consider this to be an extra tax and others have bought in apprentices without really thinking about the requirements of their business.

But many companies think strategically about where they can invest in apprenticeships from Level 2 all the way through to degree apprenticeships. There are niggles and bureaucratic processes, but it offers employers the ability to take a major step change in being more proactive about investing in their workforce. And that can only be a good thing for the competitiveness and the productivity of their business.

VF: It’s not just about bringing new talent into your organisation.

You can use apprenticeships to upskill your existing workforce. You can now do a senior leadership Level 7 apprenticeship which would include the MBA programme.

SD: We’re looking at our internships as a whole because they have tended to come from business and finance degrees. However, our operating model is very diverse. We need good technicians, we need people with digital and IT skills and actually probably want to attract as many graduates from engineering backgrounds, for example.

CB: We support Santander partner universities with their internship and apprenticeship programmes. Internships and apprenticeships give candidates a real life experience and helps them with employability.

We have a social responsibility in the community that we operate in to support and help people. The intern programme isn’t only open to Santander customers. So if you’re an SME in the marketplace, you bank with another bank but you’re interested in having an intern that is partly funded by Santander, you can also apply.

VF: The internships that Santander has been sponsoring with our students have been such a bonus for SMEs. It’s really valuable.

We recognise that students will need to build up the skills of entrepreneurship. Many of them will actually not be coming out and looking for a traditional job but might want to work for themselves and start up their own business. And even if they don’t, those entrepreneurial skills might kick in later, particularly as a woman returnee you might be looking at a different way back into the job market.

ARE THE YOUNG PEOPLE FROM THE GOOGLE GENERATION MORE LIKELY TO CREATE THEIR OWN START-UPS? VF: We have over 300 students a year going to our business start-up classes and last year we had more than 100 new businesses spinning out of student projects. Part of that is because we have a large creative media art school. They often need to be self-employed. They may be brilliant artists or theatre practitioners but have no understanding of how to write a balance sheet or a pitch.

CB: The entrepreneurship programmes at universities are often an add-on to the course they’re doing. I’ve been involved in the ‘Start-up business journey’ at the University of Kent where they run a series of lunchtime or evening lectures on finding an idea and how to bring it to life. We talk about different sources of finance and we get involved with Dragon’s Den events. The students are really very engaged in it.

SD: There is also a growth in multiple careers. Someone may be a web designer/yoga instructor/lifestyle guru all wrapped into one – a

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collection of micro careers.

LE: With the future of automation shadowing over us I’d say that’s the best way for people to adapt to the world of work of the future. A long way ahead, beyond what we can see now, there is going to be a completely different working environment for most people. So I think it’s a good thing that people are more flexible and they can change.

Breakthrough Moments

BREAKTHROUGH MOMENTS Talent Acquisition & Retention In Association with Santander

HOW ARE WE COPING WITH NEW WAYS OF WORKING? VF: Building comfortableness with remote working is really important. We still haven’t lost the notion that presentee-ism is more important than the actual productivity.

is supposed to be very outward-facing and it’s actually wrong when they’re all there. But I equally feel as disturbed inside when there’s nobody there all day. I can’t help myself thinking: “Where are they?”

SD: We’re in a transitional phase. You always have multiple generations in the workplace but the generation coming through has got a very different way of working and different expectations. We need to get the very best out of both ways of working and that’s what we’re all wrestling with a bit at the moment.

It’s even harder for older generations. I usually work from home on a Friday, and my father just can’t understand what I would be doing at home. It is totally alien to him.

VF: We do find ourselves in a transition period and sometimes it isn’t easy to adapt. There’s a large team that sit outside my office that

KH: Managing remote working is a skill and it’s a capability that organisations can’t just organically develop. You’ve got to work at it to ensure timelines and project targets are met. It doesn’t just happen magically.

HOW WILL BREXIT AFFECT THE FUTURE OF EMPLOYMENT, TALENT ACQUISITION AND RECRUITMENT? KH: The uncertainty at the moment is massively unhelpful for the university. We’re having to constantly reassure our staff, which is a great tragedy. It’s shocking, the lack of political courage that the current government has with regard to Brexit. It’s so narrow-minded and it’s not globally orientated at all. They keep talking about all these global trade deals. Nonsense! Not if they’re portraying the kind of mindset that they have.

There are major concerns around recruiting international students.

Numbers are down across the sector already as a whole, and the crude reality is that international students subsidise British students.

Universities are global by definition. They attract talent and people from different cultures, from different ways of life, from different countries.

PRESUMABLY THERE’S ALSO A FUNDING ISSUE BECAUSE THERE WAS A LOT OF EUROPEAN RESEARCH MONEY COMING INTO UNIVERSITIES. VF: We’re a net gainer from EU research funding. Because of the quality of UK universities and the UK university research profile we attract a lot of funding from Europe and a lot of collaborative work is funnelled through here. We hope that that’s retained It’s not only about the funding itself, it’s about whether we want to cut ourselves off. Do we want to only do research and development staring at our own navel. Collaborating as part of a European-wide network is so much better; the learning is so much faster.

SD: We’ve yet to see what the impact will be but I suspect there will be some, undoubtedly, and that is a real shame. We have diversity amongst our teams and that brings a richness and a real dynamic that.

If we were to lose that, I fear for the business going forward.

LE: It’s business as usual right now. We’re just being asked to

find people and we’re not being told to steer away in any way from Europeans. I think heads are buried in the sand waiting to see – and then there’s going to be a huge reaction.

CB: The only comfort I take is that, in my experience, there is a very strong desire for Europeans to come and work and live in the UK. There is a lot of talk about the UK having quite a weak bargaining position but actually we buy a lot of goods and services from Europe. I think it’s very much a two-way street and I am hopeful that they will find a way.

Maybe they won’t call it freedom of movement but maybe it will be something under a different name; because Europeans want to come here.

We’re a very tolerant society and there’s a lot of opportunity here.

And lots of people in the UK want to go and work in Europe as well. If movement is restricted too much, we’ll all be poorer for it.

Any SMEs interested in finding out more about the Santander SME Internship Programme, please contact Colin Berkeley on colin.berkeley@santander.co.uk SURREY CHAMBERS

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urrey Business School, Centre for Management Learning offer the first credit bearing Post Graduate Certificate (PG Cert) in Management Education in the UK. The unique programme is aimed at practitioners who are passionate about educating the next generation of leaders in business schools or in industry and who want to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

The PG Cert in Management Education runs over six months, January-July and consists of four modules. The first three modules are taught online and the final module takes place on campus as a three day summer school. Over the six months students will learn about the Business School Environment, pedagogic approaches in Management Education, innovation and leadership in Management Education and practically apply their knowledge during the three day summer.

While students learn online they are supported by a personal learning coach and individual weekly 121 coaching sessions and webinars.

The coaching approach of this programme add value to the student development and is a distinct feature of this programme.

The first cohort started in January 2018 and students have now completed their first module.

Student Richard Williams, Former Group Managing Director Mott MacDonald (UK), describes his experience as follows: “I have been pleasantly surprised how wide and interesting the syllabus for the PG Cert in Management Education has been. The on-line approach has provided great flexibility which allows me to choose when I study to fit in with my busy daily schedule.”

Tom Cairns, Director SalesTechnique (UK) shares his experience: “I joined this course and program because it has been designed for individuals with professional experience in management who want to transition into teaching. Having completed module 1 ‘Introduction to Management Education’ I can say that the experience so far has been very positive. The module content is good and is provided adequately online through the Surrey University Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). I was allocated a personal learning advisor to guide me through the programme and its assessments. The coach has proved invaluable both to guide me through the VLE and to help understand subject matter content and requirements for assessment.”

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structured and innovative programme that combines academic rigour with an outstanding technological platform to deliver this course. A highly capable and supportive team anticipates the needs of each busy practitioners. Weekly personal learning coaching sessions and webinars replaces geographical distance and the feeling of being on your own. A flexible and highly relevant learning experience is advanced by a remarkable blended learning approach. It is a world-class product».

Graduates from this programme will have equipped themselves with skills to effectively teach relevant management subjects and will have therefore the opportunity to make apply for teaching fellow positions, associate roles, and management education consultancy roles in relevant institutions or companies or even take their studies to Master or PhD level.

Applications for the next intake January 2019 are open now. Each application will be assessed and followed up with an interview of the applicant.

If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact the Programme Director Dr Christine Rivers, c.rivers@ surrey.ac.uk or send a generic email to cml@surrey.ac.uk.

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New Members

NEW MEMBERS Surrey Chambers of commerce welcomes it’s latest member companies CHARITY

HEALTH & WELLBEING

MGSO4: Epsom & Ewell Arts Festival Tel: 01372 811066 Contact: Ali Waters www.mgso4festival.org

The Working Mind Tel: 07487 643912 Contact: Tom Wavre www.theworkingmind.co.uk

I am 1 in 4 Tel: 07831 285830 Contact: Tom Wavre www.iam1in4.com

Margaret Dabbs Tel: 01483 440367 Contact: Zoe Nutley www.margaretdabbs.co.uk

CMPP Woking Tel: 01483 743816 Contact: Christie Simpson www.cmppwoking.org.uk

TrueInvivo Contact: Nigel Biggs www.trueinvivo.co.uk

YMCA Downslink Group (Guildford) Tel: 01483 532555 Contact: David McSween www.ymcadlg.org

CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY Louis Scot Property Tel: 01895 590090 Contact: Ian Morgan www.louisscot.com Accrue Workplaces Tel: 01932 503259 Contact: Ellie Murrell www.accrueworkplaces.co.uk Weybridge Business Park Contact: Beth Stephens www.weybridgebusinesspark.com

FOOD & DRINK Jacobs Well Ltd Tel: 01276 300143 Contact: Andy Radcliffe www.thejacobswell.com

HOTELS/RESTAURANTS/ VENUE Surya Hotels (Thatchers Hotel) Tel: 01483 280503 Contact: Andrew Vales www.thatchershotel.co.uk

IT & COMMUNICATIONS UPSOFT Tel: 08004 714753 Contact: Ursula James www.upsoft.co.uk FireLight IT Solutions Ltd Tel: 07725 053311 Contact: Damian Kiernander www.firelightit.com

LEISURE & ENTERTAINMENT Surrey County Cricket Club Tel: 02075 826660 Contact: Ed Roland-Price Surrey Nests Tel: 07798 893957 Contact: Suzanna Hayes

Strictly Travel Ltd Tel: 01428 652660 Contact: Sue Carne www.strictlytravel.co.uk

MARKETING & PR Torre Cerrano Marketing Company Contact: Evan Steffanson www.torrecerrano.co.uk

RETAIL/WHOLESALE TABi Tel: 02038 119003 Contact: Jerry Horwood www.ta.bi Castle Arch Commodities Tel: 07794 432032 Contact: Jake Nixon George Rain Jewellers Ltd Tel: 01428 288230 Contact: Oliver Ballard www.georgerainjewellery.com

TRAINING & EDUCATION Staines Preparatory School Tel: 01484 450909 Contact: Paulo Coll www.stainesprep.co.uk EJO LLP Tel: 014287 751549 Contact: Elizabeth Johnson www.ejo.co.uk Perfect Presentation Tel: 01483 340699 Contact: Jaz Blake www.ppresentation.co.uk

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Business Profile

BRITISH WAX Can you explain what your business does?

British Wax is a 4th generation familyowned company supplying specialist waxes for a whole range of different uses, whether creating in wax or bronze, removing or styling hair, making organic candles or sealing bottles of craft gin.

Our strengths are designing specialist waxes and supplying natural waxes. We have a long tradition of refining beeswax, and in recent years have added other natural and organic waxes to our range.

As wax designers, we have people coming to us who may want a substance to do a certain job. If we think that wax could be the answer, then it’s up to us to design, develop and manufacture it.

How did the company start?

In the early 1900s my great grandfather

bought waxes for Boots the Chemist, mainly dealing with German suppliers.

When war broke out in 1914, industry still needed wax, so he decided to fill the gap by establishing a manufacturing plant near Redhill. The business developed after the war and by 1920 had started supplying Madame Tussauds, who we still serve today.

Continuity really is in our DNA, so we still use the same accountants and bank, and our longest-serving employee is just about to retire after 60 years’ service.

Managing Director, Rob Case-Green

What are your growth plans for the future?

We’re looking at growth in the personal care, food and drinks markets both home and abroad. We are also starting to work in closer partnership with our beeswax suppliers in Kenya. To aid our growth plans, we are also looking for a new site in the Redhill area.

Sidney, Alfred and Roderick Case-Green c1955

Since 1914

Passionate about Wax REFINE

Beeswax Candelila Wax Candle Wax Carnauba Wax Casting Wax

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18-20 Holmethorpe Avenue, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 2NL

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Motoring

THE FULL HOUSE

by Motoring Editor, Maarten Hoffmann

T

his top of the range Q model from Audi is so packed with stuff that it is a surprise it accelerates. It seems a little like a lesson in how to take everything you have in the parts bin and stuff it into one car.

❝

It seems a little like a lesson in how to take everything you have in the parts bin and stuff it into one car.

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This 2.5-ton, 17ft rocket would have been built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel were he still alive. Technically, this is a feat of engineering rarely surpassed and making this behemoth get to 60 in less than five seconds really is quite a feat. The 4-litre V8 under full acceleration

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feels like the tarmac would ripple backwards rather than the car moving forwards. You get twin sequential turbochargers and then something they call an electrically powered compressor that forces air into the cylinders and this EPC fills the lag that often comes with such turbo technology. I don’t really have the space here to list the rest of the tech gizmos but suffice to say that if they could dream it, they did and then stuffed it into this car.

But unlike the lesser model, the SQ7 gets a specification that can also include an optional torque vectoring, sport rear differential for its Quattro four-wheel drive system and the electromechanical active roll cancellation system.

It corners pretty damn flat for such a high car, goes like stink off the line with a satisfying

Inside you get superb quilted leather and the brilliant Audi virtual cockpit that allows you to customise the dials, and just about everything else, and places the Satnav on the 12.3 inch screen and in the centre of the dial cluster. This first appeared in the new TT and

growl, will storm up Ben Nevis and has seven seats. All it needs is a teasmade and you are hot to trot. When they mentioned that it develops 429bhp and a monstrous 664lb ft., l thought it churlish not to test it and good grief, they are right. It is blisteringly fast, sounds like heaven on toast and will stop on a dime. Even more impressive when you recall it weighs in at 2.5 tons. And, like the standard Q7, it offers four-wheel steering as an option.

l fell in love with it instantly. It is as close to a head-up display as you can get but for good measure they stuck a HUD in as well. If you get lost in this car you really are a total prat.

And then there is the embedded SIM card that delivers internet services and comes with three months of free data. Audi Connect offers Google Earth and Street View, news, weather and traffic plus oodles of entertainment functions. Take the B&O 3D surround system

Motoring and the cabin will fill with 1920W of musical heft.

The drive is relentless as there is so much power on tap that it feels as if you will never run out, and keep the right foot buried and it will just keep going and going and going until you either run out of courage, road or planet.

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l thought it churlish not to test it and good grief, they are right. It is blisteringly fast, sounds like heaven on toast and will stop on a dime.

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Competition comes in the form of the full fat Range Rover and the ‘ugly as sin’ Porsche Cayenne Turbo and it is quieter, cheaper, efficient, more easy-going and comfortable than either and, believe it or not, this is circa £21,000 cheaper than both of them. So, would you like a blistering, growling V8 behemoth with the best dash in the world and £21,000 spondoolies in your pocket. Of course you would.

TECH STUFF Model Tested: SQ7 Quattro TIP Engine: 4.0-litre V8 Turbo-diesel Power: 435bhp Performance: 0-62mph 4.9 seconds Top: 155mph Economy: 37.1 combined Price from: £72,460

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This 2.5-ton, 17ft rocket would have been built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel were he still alive.

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Motoring

T ROC & ROLL

by Motoring Editor, Maarten Hoffmann

T

he new Volkswagen T-Roc is the latest incarnation of the ultimate crossover and arrives at the same time as the Scirocco dies and that tells the story. Small low coupes are out of favour as crossover SUV’s come of age. Bloody silly name but l will try to look beyond that.

The T-Roc is not some fancy 4x4 with outstanding towing capabilities - it is simply a butch Golf on steroids. Does it work - it most certainly does and l was taken by this little beauty within minutes of driving it. It doesn’t try to be something it is not - it’s a car. It rides higher affording great visibility and being a VW, it is superbly bolted together, looks great and drives beautifully.

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The T-Roc is not some fancy 4x4 with outstanding towing capabilities - it is simply a butch Golf on steroids.

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They have tried this before, and failed.

In the 80’s there was the Golf Country, and then the Cross Golf and the failure came as they were trying to extend their popular Golf range and fiddled with it until they, eventually, realised that the Golf is a Golf. Then, whilst looking at the popularity of the Tiguan and the Touareg, the lightbulb moment arrived and the T-Roc was born. This is a really good looking car and is VW’s version of the Audi Q2. It also goes up against the awful Vauxhall Mokka, Toyota C-HR, Fiat 500X, Nissan Qashqai, SEAT Ateca and the Honda HR-V and therefore, it has no competition at all as it leaves them all in the dust.

Design wise, with its curving roofline and sloping C-pillars, it is a hit. It also squats on the road with a relatively wide stance and if you were looking for the perfect crossover, here it is.

Engine wise you would have four choices and AT LAST, three petrol and only one solitary diesel. In petrol form you have the 1.0-litre 113bhp, 1.5-litre 148bhp and the 2.0-litre 187bhp. The mucky diesel offers 148bhp in the 2.0-litre TSI turbo with a 1.6-litre coming along soon. If you look at the rapid 2.0-litre petrol, you would have all the car you would ever need. And these top end models come with part-time four-wheel-drive as standard.

Inside it is not the most spacious and, as with all VW’s, it is a tad spartan but you get everything you need in the place you need it.

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Motoring Damn that German efficiency. Decent room for five with lots of options for colour changes and trim variations. The Active Info display screen does it all and phone pairing is a joy and you get four driving modes - pick Sport and rip the knob off. You also get the now obligatory door light that shines logos on the ground when you open it and the annoyingly obligatory dings and dongs whenever you do anything other than sit still and don’t move. I really do not need a ding to tell me l have just opened the door - l know l have opened the door due to the large hole to my right. My car also came with the optional Sport pack affording me sports seats, stainless steel pedals, red brake callipers and black rooflining that made the whole thing appear even sportier.

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This perky little thing has a cuddly personality that will force many to give it a name.

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My 1.5-litre petrol was smooth and rapid enough with great traction and security on wet corners and stopping in a hurry. Really people, move on as there is nothing to see here. Just that damned German efficiency.

The entry level 1.0 TSI comes in at £18,950 with its nearest rival the VW owned SEAT Alteca coming in at only £280 less - really, there is no competition here. Of course, they get you on the extras as you need to pay for for SatNav and more for Apple CarPlay but at least that’s your choice and worth every penny.

The market is stuffed full of crossovers and the choice can be a tad bewildering but no more. This perky little thing has a cuddly personality that will force many to give it a name. The T-Roc stands head and shoulders above the rest and has made the bewildering choice much simpler. If you want a compact, well built, high riding car that will hold its value, buy the T-Roc. You’ll get over the name - eventually.

TECH STUFF Model tested: 1.5 TSI SEL EVO Engine: 1.5-litre Power: 148bhp Performance: 0-62mph 8.3 seconds Top: 127mph Economy: 52.3mpg combined Price from: £23,705 As tested: £24,520 SURREY CHAMBERS

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Chamber Events

SURREY CHAMBERS EVENTS DIARY 2018 To find a full list of our 2018 events visit http://my.surrey-chambers.co.uk/eventcalendar.aspx

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th April

BUSINESS BREAKFAST AT THE BULLDOG 09:00 – 10:30am Price: Member Rate: £9.00 +VAT | Non Member Rate: £9.00 +VAT Event Location: The Bulldog, 56 London Road, Ashford TW15 3AF This is a joint networking business breakfast brought to you by Surrey Chambers of Commerce, Spelthorne Business Forum, Hounslow Chamber of Commerce and Ashford Chamber of Commerce and is an excellent opportunity to make some new contacts.

There is no registration needed, just turn up on the day.

Although our website says the event is free, the cost for attending with a full breakfast or continental breakfast is £9 and includes coffee and tea. Monies to be paid direct to the Bulldog on the day.

Parking:- There is a large car park at The Bulldog

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th April

BWIS AFTERNOON TEA & NETWORKING 15:00 – 17:00 Price: Member Rate: £20.00 +VAT | Non Member Rate: £25.00 +VAT Event Location: Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village, Down Lane, Compton, GUILDFORD GU3 1DQ Join Business Women in Surrey for Afternoon Tea and Networking at Watts Gallery.

This informal event is a fantastic opportunity to network with fellow business professionals, grow your network and enjoy afternoon tea and a complimentory tour of Watts Gallery.

Who are Business Women in Surrey?

Surrey Chambers Business Women in Surrey (BWiS) is a local network of like-minded business people – male and female – sharing ideas, knowledge and skills via workshops, seminars and events.

BWiS is led by co-chairs Claire Dee (Director, Claire Dee Communications) and Sally Pritchett (Director, Something Big) and is about celebrating all

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Watts Gallery that is great about our local business women.

About Watts Gallery Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village is a unique Arts & Crafts gem nestled in the Surrey Hills. Discover Victorian paintings and sculpture in the historic Watts Gallery before treating yourself to lunch or a cream tea in the Tea Shop. Stroll to the nearby Grade-I listed Watts Chapel, taking in the beautiful woodlands and grounds, or find out more about the lives of our founders G F and Mary Watts on a tour of the artists’ home, Limnerslease. Finally, discover art for sale in the Watts Contemporary exhibition in the Pottery Building along with a wide selection of gifts, books and homewares in the Shop.

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th April

CHAMBER POWER BREAKFAST - THE FUTURE OF SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY 07:45 – 09:30 Price: Member Rate: £20.00 +VAT | Non Member Rate: £30.00 +VAT Event Location: Doubletree by Hilton, Victoria Way, WOKING GU21 8EW Join us, alongside Andy Mellors, Managing Director of South Western Railway at Doubletree by Hilton, Woking who will be providing us with their franchise plans, the challenges they’re facing, their progress to date and ultimately their forthcoming enhancements.

Andy Mellors, Managing Director, South Western Railway

Chamber Events Andy has worked in the rail industry for 30 years and joined FirstGroup in 2002. He has held the position of Engineering Director at a number of train operators including First North Western (2003-2004) and First Scotrail (2004-2007) prior to moving to First Great Western (now Great Western Railway) in 2007. Andy was also Deputy Managing Director at GWR and, during his time there, oversaw significant fleet transformation, culminating in the introduction of new electric multiple units in the Thames Valley as well as finalising preparations for the introduction of the new Hitachi Intercity Express Trains. He was appointed Managing Director for the new South Western Railway franchise, a FirstGroup and MTR joint venture, which commenced operations in August 2017.

About the venue The four star DoubleTree by Hilton Woking, has just completed a multimillion pound refurbishment and re-launched as a luxurious and brand new four star hotel. Key changes include: a full refurbishment of all bedrooms and dining areas, offering contemporary and stylish decor, a dedicated Hilton HHonors floor with stunning views and ultimate luxury facilities, a gymnasium-exclusively for in house residents, a new contemporary conference room for large meetings and events and a magnificent new lounge and reception area.

DoubleTree by Hilton Woking hospitality starts with a warm chocolate chip cookie upon arrival and continues through to the refurbished Restaurant and Bar area, an ideal place to unwind in a relaxed atmosphere, to our 170 spacious guestrooms that offer the Sweet Dreams by DoubleTree Sleep experience, for a great night’s sleep. You can be assured every detail has been taken care of.

Timing: 07:45am - Arrival with teas and coffees 08:00am - Speaker 08:30am - Breakfast and discussion 09:00am - Further networking 09:30am - Close

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th April

HAVE YOUR CAKE & EAT IT! AFTERNOON NETWORKING 14:30 – 16:00

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th April

CHAMBER POWER BREAKFAST ECOMMERCE STRATEGY FOR SMES 07:45 – 09:30am Price: Member Rate: £20.00 +VAT | Non Member Rate: £30.00 +VAT Event Location: Denbies Wine Estate, London Road, Dorking RH5 6AA Networking brings about the potential for success, which is why we should take every opportunity to meet new businesses and business people that we can.

Come and join us at these regular informal breakfasts being held at Denbies Wine Estate, with speaker Jason Russell from Magentity who will be looking at the 5 key strategies that SMEs could benefit from.

Examples will be taken from the websites of our guests, and so this is certainly a breakfast not to miss!

Jason has worked within the ecommerce industry since the late 1990’s, and has a successful track record in all aspects of online marketing and ecommerce achieving high standards of best practice and adopting an innovative approach to achieving business objectives. His experience extends to working in both B2B and B2C environments, these include internet solutions companies and leading online B2C businesses in the luxury beauty retail and gaming industries, where he was responsible for identifying and successfully implementing Ecommerce strategies.

Magentity are an innovative, experienced digital agency that’s people led and data driven to help your business stay ahead and perform better. We recognise each business has its own DNA, therefore we take the time to understand what you’re looking to achieve before providing tailor-made ecommerce and digital services that empower you to attain your business objectives and deliver profitable results.

Timing: 07:45am - Arrival with teas and coffees 08:00am - Speaker 08:30am - Breakfast and discussion 09:00am - Further networking 09:30am – Close

Price: Member Rate: £8.33 +VAT | Non Member Rate: £12.50 +VAT Event Location: The Hog’s Back Hotel & Spa Farnham, Farnham GU10 1EX Surrey & Hampshire Chambers of Commerce invite you to our afternoon networking. Following on from last years success, this is the perfect opportunity to grow your business connections by meeting a wide range of companies from locations around the Surrey and Hampshire border.

Format: Facilitated networking Refreshments: Tea and coffee with scone or cake Don’t forget to bring plenty of business cards!

Denbies Wine Estate SURREY CHAMBERS

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Golf

SURREY CHAMBERS GOLF SOCIETY Why not join a thriving Business Networking Golf Society?

Now in its 22nd year, it is open to all business people to join.

Swinley Forest Club House

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Golf

2018 FIXTURES WEDNESDAY 18TH APRIL

WEDNESDAY 4TH JULY

THURSDAY 11TH OCT

Walton Heath GC

Worplesdon GC

Camberley Heath GC

Bacon rolls, tee off from 9:00am, 18 Holes (Old Course) followed by carvery lunch, ends 5:30pm

Bacon rolls, tee off from 9:00am, Two Tee start 18 Holes, followed by three course carvery lunch, ends by 5:30pm

Bacon rolls, tee off from 10:00am, late lunch, ends 5:30pm

SCGS & SCC Members £150.00 + VAT Guests £165.00.00 + VAT

SCGS & SCC Members £120.00 + VAT Guests £135.00 + VAT

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THURSDAY 9TH AUGUST

I think we must be pretty unique to have such a regularly well attended golf days throughout the year – testimony to the quality of the courses and the fact that we have a really big core of business players that enjoy meeting up with each other ANDREW LANE

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TUESDAY 15TH MAY Coombe Hill GC Bacon rolls, tee off 8:30am, 18 Holes, followed by a three course lunch, ends by 5:30pm SCGS & SCC Members £TBC + VAT Guests £TBC + VAT

WEDNESDAY 12TH JUNE RAC GC Epsom Bacon rolls, tee off from 9:00am, Two Tee start (Old Course) 18 holes followed by three course late lunch, ends by 5:30pm SCGS &SCC Members £105.00 + VA Guests £115.00 + VAT

Cuddington GC Tee off 1:30pm, 18 Holes, two course supper, ends 9:00pm

SCGS & SCC Members £TBC + VAT Guests £TBC + VAT

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Excellent Society, brilliantly run, can’t fault anything JASON LURIE

SCGS & SCC Members £70.00 + VAT Guests £85.00 + VAT

WEDNESDAY 12TH SEPT New Zealand GC Coffee/Bacon rolls, tee off from 8:45am, 18 Holes, late lunch, ends 5:30pm SCGS & SCC Members £TBC + VAT Guests £ TBC + VAT

THURSDAY 8TH NOV

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Swinley Forest GC Bacon rolls, tee off 8:45am, 18 Holes, late lunch, ends 5:30pm SCGS & SCC Members £TBC + VAT Guests £TBC + VAT

TUESDAY 4TH DEC Woking GC Bacon rolls, tee off 9:10am, 18 Holes, followed by lunch, Ends 5:30pm SCGS Members £TBC + VAT Guests £TBC + VAT

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Success in golf depends less on strength of body more on strength of mind and character ARNOLD PALMER

SURREY CHAMBERS

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HUB

VIP

PACKAGES Rub shoulders with artists, producers and partners at our exclusive Fringe Hub. The most sought-after space at England’s largest arts festival with pop-up performances, live music, beer garden and bars.

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SURREY CHAMBERS

AN UNEXPECTED, ENTERTAINING AND EXCLUSIVE LOUNGE BAR AT THE HEART OF BRIGHTON’S BIGGEST FESTIVAL

Book a bespoke package at our beautiful new venue, ‘The Greenhaus’, at the Fringe Hub and wow your clients and special guests. From small intimate gatherings and meetings, to a full take-over co-hosted with Brighton Fringe.

FROM £25 PER PERSON OPEN DAILY 4 MAY - 3 JUNE

Fringe Hub, Brighton Spiegeltent Old Steine Pleasure Gardens Brighton BN1 1GY P: 01273 764904 E: FRINGEHUB@BRIGHTONFRINGE.ORG W: BRIGHTONFRINGE.ORG/SUPPORT-US/HUB

Direct Marketing

RESPONSIBLE MAILING How to minimise the environmental impact of direct mail plastic by David Vaughan, Director of Mailing Expert.

M

y goodness, it’s all over the news at the moment isn’t it?

And rightly so - humans use so much plastic that our beloved planet is being trashed. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking, ‘What’s the point of trying to limit the use of plastics? Little old me can’t make a difference to such an immense global problem.’

Here at Mailing Expert, we’re firm believers in doing what we can to protect the environment. There’s that famous quote, sometimes attributed to the Dalai Lama, but most likely an African proverb: ‘If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito!’.

So, here are our mosquito bites into the flesh of unnecessary plastic use:

Direct mailing and plastic wrapping

wrap, with a special additive that means it only lasts for 1-2 years in landfill before being absorbed into the ground as a harmless residue.

Polythene wrapping mailed items is popular, especially for brochures and magazines, helping to protect products from water damage and wear and tear. However, smaller items can be mailed plastic free, so think about using postcards, paper envelopes and one-piece mailers for your marketing; be creative and standout from the crowd.

We can offer all of these alternatives to our clients. These are great products although they do have a shorter shelf life, since they start to degrade as soon as they’re in contact with light and/or oxygen, and come at a higher cost.

Using “good” alternatives

We always use suppliers with excellent environmental standards

• There are recyclable, bio, oxo-degradable, compostable and photodegradable plastics available for mailing envelopes and bags.

• Shrink plastic film which breaks down is available, but it’s NOT truly biodegradable (yet), even if advertised as such. It is ‘degradable’ because the molecular structure doesn’t change, or if it does, it will take decades. The best thing to do here is minimise the thickness of the film you use. (It’s worth noting here, that weight-for-weight paper uses 100% more power in its production than plastic, so it too has an environmental impact).

• For packaging, there’s shredded cardboard and paper, and material made from corn or potato starch. There is also biodegradable bubble

Here’s a quote from one of them: “We implement a strict environmental policy which ensures that we exercise proper control over our activities, to discourage environmentally damaging and wasteful practices. As a minimum, we comply with all requirements of legislation and are always striving to achieve ever improved standards.”

We recycle!

Even if some plastics aren’t waste-friendly, they can be reprocessed into a form which means they can be used again for other applications which require lower grade material, such as refuse bags, fertiliser sacks, chairs, benches, tables and pallets. For this reason, we sort and recycle our plastic waste. It’s about giving things we do a little thought. So we only use soap bars in our loos and not those dispensers (the tops are very difficult to recycle).

Why not join us?

Richard Rogers, the British architect, once said, “The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved.”

How about it?

SURREY CHAMBERS

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Up to 67% off † Business Breakdown Cover for Chamber members Service level

Roadside

Relay

Relay Plus

Home Start

Accident Management

Fleetwide 1

3

3

3

3

3

Fleetwide 2

3

3

3

3

Fleetwide 3

3

3

Standard Price

Difference

£89.08

£248.00

£158.92

£80.12

£213.00

£132.88

3

£65.92

£198.50

£132.58

Fleetwide 4

3

3

3

£56.96

£163.50

£106.54

Fleetwide 5

3

3

£48.13

£120.00

£71.87

Fleet Europe

£24.00

£46.50

£22.50

Minibus Rescue

£196.67

£332.00

£135.33

£177.49

£314.50

£137.01

3

Offer Price

Specialist 2

3

3

3

Specialist 4

3

3

3

£152.38

£247.50

£95.12

Specialist 5

3

3

£98.75

£166.00

£67.25

3

The table below gives you more details about the specific services which can be included within our Business Breakdown cover Roadside

Repair or recovery to the AA’s choice of appropriate local repairer.

Relay*

Transportation of vehicle, driver and up to 7 passengers to a UK mainland address if prompt local repair not possible.

Relay Plus*

Extended Relay service to include one of three alternative arrangements for driver and passengers; car hire, accommodation or public transport services.

Home Start

For breakdowns at or within ¼ mile of your home address.

Accident Management

Takes the hassle out of arranging repair, recovery and insurance claims after an accident or vandalism.

For more information or to take up this offer, please contact your local Accredited Chamber of Commerce.

Direct Debit. To make life easier, you can now pay for your breakdown cover by Direct Debit.

Based on Fleetwide 3 Standard rates for 3-6 vehicles. All the above prices are per vehicle per year, inclusive of IPT (Insurance Premium Tax). All prices are subject to change. Fleetwide cover does not apply to: specialist vehicles, ie: taxis, mini cabs, hire vehicles, ambulances, police vehicles, vehicles on tradeplates, minibuses, privately owned vehicles (unless used for business purposes), motorcycles and courier vehicles (all of which can be covered on Specialist rates as above), or any vehicles over 3.5 tonnes gvw.

Terms and conditions apply. *Relay and Relay Plus services are not provided at or within ¼ mile of driver’s home address.

Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Offer prices are only available while your Chamber membership is current. We reserve the right to review pricing at any time.

Full terms and conditions available on request by calling 0800 55 11 88. Business Breakdown cover is provided by Automobile Association Developments Limited (trading as AA Breakdown Services).

Relay Plus is underwritten by Acromas Insurance Company Limited. Acromas Insurance Company Limited is authorised and regulated by the Commissioner of Insurance, Financial Services Commission, Gibraltar, and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, United Kingdom. Acromas Insurance Company Limited is a member of the Association of British Insurers. Head Office: 57-63 Line Wall Road, Gibraltar. Registered Number 88716 (Gibraltar). UK brand address: Acromas Insurance Company Limited, Enbrook Park, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 3SE. Automobile Association Insurance Services Limited is an insurance intermediary authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

SURREY CHAMBERS Registered Office: Fanum House, Basing View, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 4EA. Registered in England and Wales number 2414212. †

BCC_0617

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Sponsorship

BECOME AN EVENT SPONSOR

S

urrey Chambers of Commerce holds over 150 events a year spread across the county. We host regular breakfast meetings, industry specific forums and corporate dinners perfect for entertaining clients. These events are designed to give you the chance to enhance your business network, find new customers and local suppliers, and meet other dynamic business people.

Sponsoring a Surrey Chambers event allows you to raise your profile and brand awareness within the county and showcase your expertise as a company. By sponsoring an event you can take advantage of the Surrey Chambers of Commerce subscription base and reach your target audience. It’s the perfect opportunity to make new connections and be seen to be leading and influencing.

What can I sponsor?

With over 150 events a year there can be a lot to choose from.

Surrey Chambers hosts a wide variety of events and all of these can be sponsored.

• Hot Topics - We react to the latest news and trends affecting the business community and run a number of targeted events throughout the year. They provide a great opportunity to get in front of senior decision makers but often come up at short notice. They tackle topics such as Brexit, cyber security, pensions and much more.

• Property and Construction Forums - A series of events If you choose to sponsor a Surrey Chambers event, you will receive around issues affecting businesses working in the construction complimentary tickets to the event as well as your stand/pop-up banners and and property industries. promotional literature, with branding on badges and your delegates list. You • Business Women in Surrey Events - Business Women in will also receive promotion before, during and after the event across all Surrey Surrey is a specific stream of events designed to highlight and Chambers social media channels, and press coverage in the Surrey Chambers of celebrate the achievements of business women in Surrey.

Commerce Business magazine.

• Flagship - Our flagship events include the summer BBQ, If you are interested in sponsoring a Surrey Chambers of President’s drinks reception and an annual Christmas lunch.

• Chamber Power Breakfasts - Our Power Breakfasts are a fantastic opportunity for businesses to connect in a friendly and relaxed environment.

Commerce event, please contact: Molly.Edwards@surreychambers.co.uk or call 01483 735540

4 Steps To Perfect Posture

Why is posture important?

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart

Good posture promotes confidence and a self-assured image.

2. Imagine a string pulling you up through the top of your head, straightening each vertebra.

This is essen�al for controlling your self-portrayal and making a posi�ve impression in a business situa�on, such as a networking event, presenta�on, or job interview training.

3.Roll both your shoulders backwards at the same �me, making sure they are level.

4. Puff out your chest but without overarching your back.

Find out more: ppresenta�on.co.uk Look out for another “cut out and keep” in the next issue!

Disclaimer: To be used for educa�onal purposes only and does not cons�tute medical advice.

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Membership

JOIN THE CHAMBER Can your business afford not to be a member of Surrey Chambers of Commerce?

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Surrey Chambers of Commerce is the county’s largest independent, not-for-profit business support organisation that helps businesses to connect locally, nationally and globally in order to gain customers, suppliers and knowledge.

S

itting at the heart of the business community, Surrey Chambers of Commerce connects you to opportunities, skills, knowledge and valuable contacts. We can help you grow and develop, by promoting your business, introducing you to new customers, keeping you informed and representing you locally, regionally and nationally.

With a membership representing businesses of all sizes across every sector of the economy, the Chamber works hard to ensure that the continued prosperity of Surrey takes into account the needs of business, as well as providing a range of high quality services to help businesses grow and meet new potential customers, including making introductions into over 40 countries.

Surrey Chambers of Commerce is an integral part of the Surrey business support network and alongside its partners offers specialist advice, knowledge and information on a wide range of issues facing local businesses.

We can: • Help you to find new customers – raise your profile, increase your brand awareness and generate new business by using our website, publications and database to communicate with thousands of business people.

• Connect you to other businesses – we run over 100 events a year that give you the chance to enhance your business network,

find new customers and meet like-minded and other successful business people.

• Expand your network overseas – we provide friendly, professional advice and assistance and help you obtain necessary export documentation. Our relationship with 28 accredited overseas British Chambers means we can introduce you to our global network of experts to make your journey much easier.

• Develop you and your workforce’s knowledge and skills - we run a range of training events throughout the year and can introduce you to a variety of training providers.

• Represent you – we believe it is important that you and your business are fairly represented locally, regionally, nationally and where appropriate, internationally on issues affecting business. We work closely with Surrey County Council, the eleven local borough councils, district and two Local Enterprise Partnerships and we feedback and provide input to the British Chambers of Commerce who talk directly to government, influencing policy and strategic decisions.

• Support your local community – we are passionate about contributing to the wider community and encourage you to work with us. We support a variety of local initiatives, providing you with the chance to give something back, whilst raising your company profile.

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• Save you money – we can provide you with a variety of discounts designed to save your company money. As well as national deals you will benefit from exclusive discounts offered by other Chamber members. You too can offer a special deal to a member.

Surrey Chambers Members have access to four key services for your protection and peace of mind: • ChamberHR – advice line and website resources • ChamberLegal – advice line and website resources • ChamberH&S – advice line and website resources • ChamberTax – advice lines for taxation and VAT All of these advice lines will be accessed via one phone number – 01455 852037 and the HR and legal lines are available 24/7, 365 days a year.

WANT TO KNOW MORE? If you would like any further information about joining Surrey Chambers of Commerce please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.

Call: 01483 735540 Email: molly.edwards@surrey-chambers.co.uk Visit: www.surrey-chambers.co.uk

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SURREY CHAMBERS

WE STILL HAVE STANDS AVAILABLE

ACT NOW

TO BOOK YOUR SPOT

130 EXHIBITORS 6 SEMINARS 900+ ATTENDEES

E E FR TRY EN SURREY SPORTS PARK - GUILDFORD GU2 7AD SURREY CHAMBERS

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SURREY CHAMBERS